Split (1)

train · 199k rows

post_text stringlengths 0 17.5k	post_title stringlengths 8 314	comment_texts listlengths 1 74	num_stories int64 1 74
	[WP] The protagonist wants to destroy the world, while the antagonist wants to rule it.	[ "So like, the protagonist wants to put everyone out of their misery and the antagonist wants to enslave everyone to his/her purpose? Intereseting I guess, 2 sadistically evil people fighting each other for their own crazy moral sensibilty. In my opinion, it would make sense if the ending were them both killing each other. Two immoral forces, battle, until death. So the reader learns they were both full of it. \n\nOr maybe they should team up against a 3rd, moral, more socuilly just force, only to be defeated or to be victorious only to turn on each other and kill each other in the end, leaving the reader thinking screw morally good or bad, this stuff is subjective.\n\nOr maybe, the second fascist force and the third, more morally good capitalist, superhero archetype force, will join forces against our nihilistic, existentialist, evil protagonist.\n\nOr perhaps you could write a diary, or a journal, try to see through the eyes of a maniac, reading as you slowly see the seemingly peircing ontology that our 'madman' protagonist is convincing us of us. We see through his eyes, and slowly see that existence is nothing but pain. Indeed, he may be the protagonist, but seeing through the clouded veil of thought that our protagonist persists as righteous and perhaps even rational, a few questions may arise. Such as, is there 'good and evil', or perhaps an even more important question due to its practicality in modern society, how easily can our morality he swayed, our reason predicicided by idealogy, our judgements be prejudiced?" ]	1
	[WP] In a world of superpowered beings, you're the only powerless human. One day you wake up and fine every single person is terrified of you.	[ "What's that smell? I'm still half asleep, stumbling to my feet before I trip over last night's half finished pizza box. The fall wakes me up and reminds me that my head is still pounding after three straight days. As I start climbing back to my feet, I feel this intense heat against my face. I lift my eyes and see my entire studio apartment on fire. \n\nYou think I'd be scared, but I live in a world full of assholes with super powers. They love reminding me that I'm the only person with none so I'm sure one of them will come and put out the fire. I'm going back to sleep. \n\nAt least, that's what I usually do, but this migraine is worse than ever. I check behind my bathroom mirror and no good, I'm all out of pills. As I come back to my bedroom, the fire's much bigger and it's getting hard to breathe. What the hell is taking them so long? \n\nBefore I could get to the floor, the glass on my windows start to shatter and small balls of fire land scatter throughout the room. That's not normal fire! I can't even get close enough to the windows to check, but it has to be Jalen Blaze. Why the hell is he doing this to me? I haven't done a damn thing to him.\n\nCrap, there's no time to figure that out. I have to get the hell out of here, but the door knob's so hot I can't even touch it. Do I take my chances with the windows? The fire's closing in around me, no choice left. I grab a towel and get ready to jump. Please make it!\n\nSuddenly, a huge gust of wind knocks me back in and a brick wall springs up, locking me in with the fire. The smoke is already choking my lungs when I yell out, \"Help! Someone save me! Why are you doing this to me?\"\n\nI didn't expect an answer, but surprisingly, a handful of voices answered back through the walls of fire. \"It's all your fault!\" \n\nThe voices are so clear, whose power is this? \"I haven't done anything to you people,\" I yell back, but the pain in my head gets worse. \n\nThey keep shouting, \"Your disease has spread to our children, Monster! Die.\"\n\n\"I'm innocent.\"\n\n\"Die.\"\n\n\"Shut up.\"\n\n\"Die!\"\n\nThe ringing in my head won't stop. \"I said shut up!\"\n\nI don't remember what happened, but the pain in my head is gone and the voices stopped. When I open my eyes, I realize why. \"Oh my god. What have I done?\"", "I woke up covered in sweat. I have had to change the sheets every night for the past week. The smell of bacon, eggs, and waffles lingers in the air. \n \n“Good morning, sweetie! Would you like some syrup for your waffles?,” my mother asks way too bubbly for this time of day. \n \n“Yeah! Is that even question?!,” I hastily reply, more chipper than usual. \n \nMy dad lowers the newspaper and looks over at mom, “Honey… did you hear about the Jones’? Danny ended up just like Tammy Clements the other day. Completely comatose. The doctors don’t know what’s happening, but I suspect it’s the Alchemist Alliance poisoning people. Just like the Madhatter gas attack in 97… Wasn’t that in China?” \n \n“Japan, dear. It was Tokyo. Those poor people are still crazy,” she replied with a distressed tone. \n \nI stand up from the dining table, my heart pounding out of my chest.\n“I don’t feel so good…,” as the darkness closes in on my vision. I start falling backwards, but my mom catches me with her telekinesis. \n \n“…Where am I?,” I ask, confused from my surroundings. \n \n“It looks like puberty finally hit, my boy! Your powers have finally arrived. I told you you’d be a late bloomer! Haha! We ran the genetic testing and it seems like your body was a little overwhelmed… You have two sequences of powers. We haven’t seen this before, and it may be a little unstable, but we’re not surprised. With powers being around for the last 200 years, it was bound to be a mutation sooner or later,” the doctor spouted as if it wasn’t the best thing since sliced bread. \n \n“I finally have powers?! Can I test them?!,” I asked in a hurry. I was so worried that I would never get them. \n \n“Let’s go to the testing room, just in case they’re still unstable. Your vitals are fine. No more passing out on us, okay?,” the doctor said sternly. \n \nUpon arriving at the room, I excitedly raised my hands and looked at a book on the table. It disappeared in an instance, appeared floating in the center of the room, turned to ice, hit the floor, shattered, and each fragment exploded into a void sucking in the floor. The fragments exploding were the last thing I saw before passing out again. \n \n“Son…. Son…. Are you okay?,” my dad said worriedly, holding my hand with a tear rolling down his cheek. \n \n“Why do…….Why do I keep passing out?”, I asked, nearly swimming in a bed of water from sweat. \n \nThe doctor comes over and puts a hand on each of my parents’ shoulders. “Tim… Julia… it has been three days,” he says, pressing a red button hooked up to the IV in my arm. I start feeling immediately relaxed. “We have to make sure that he calms down,” he says with teeth nearly chattering. “They’re here.” \n \nMy ears suddenly hear the news from the other room, as if the speaker is in my head. \n \n“Breaking news… fifty two more comatose victims in the last 3 days. Doctors are still unsure of the cause, but after genetic testing, they have found that their powers in their genes are degrading at a rapid rate. We’re asking everyone to please wear masks at this time to ensure that it is not an airborne sickness. Make sure you do not contact anyone out of the ordinary. Schools have been canceled this week to ensure the potential contamination is dealt with. Do not panic. Doctor John Stapleton from University Hospital has told News 5 that this is probably nothing more than the 20th Anniversary of the Alchemist Alliance.” \n \nMy eyes squint at the doctor’s lab coat and I notice the same name – John Stapleton. \n \nDoctor Stapleton sighs and says the unthinkable, “The comatose victims are not due to the Alchemist Alliance… The Legion has guards posted outside right now,” he remarks as he suddenly grabs another controller with a different button. As he presses it, I feel as if I never have to sleep again. “We have to keep him awake. The Legion has verified what I have feared due to him passing out. They registered his unique power in the database…” \n \n“…Oh my god, doctor… What is it?,” my mother says, her hand over her mouth as she’s fighting back tears. I levitate off the bed, not controlling any of my own movements, eyes rolling into the back of my head. The whites of my eyes showing, and turning vantablack. I look over at the Doctor and my parents, as the guards are trying to break into the steel door of the room which I melted to the frame. \n \n“Dream Eater,” I whisper, as I pass out again.", "I heard the snickering behind me, and I already knew I'd be the butt of the joke. I was always the butt of the joke. The Great Nothing. Lameman. The jokes had about as funny as I was powerful. After centuries of super powered humans, I was born, the anomaly, the boy with no powers. I tried to hide it, but by second grade, everyone knew.\n\nI spun around to see Flamez, the big hulking, flame-wielding jock. \"What?\" I shouted at him, but he just continued to snicker. I didn't have to wait for an answer as I felt the top of my head grow hot. He'd set me on fire (again). I let out a yell as I started to slam my hands on my head, burning them.\n\nI felt the icy cold, knowing his little buddy, Waterwaterwater, had doused my entire body in the coldest water he had. I wiped the water out of my face to see them both doubled over in laughter. I felt myself grow hot again, but it was from rage instead of fire. Against my better judgment, I flung my arms out in front of me, and shoved Flamez. He was too busy laughing to defend himself and fell to the ground. He stopped laughing for a second to look at Waterwaterwater, but just started rolling on the floor, laughing harder than ever.\n\n\"Is that all you got, No-Man?\" he choked out through the laughter.\n\nI was beet-red, and I'm sure a crowd had gathered around, but I didn't stay. I ran, as fast as I could. I knew I couldn't outrun Rap'd or GigaGo if they had decided to chase, but I was hoping everyone was too busy laughing at the stupid, powerless boy to think to chase me.\n\nBy some miracle, I made it home. I heard my mom humming in the kitchen, and she may have yelled something at me for being home from school early, but I didn't stay in one place long enough to hear. I bounded up to my room and slammed the door. I jumped into my bed and buried my face in my pillow. The adrenaline was wearing off, and I finally started to feel the stinging on my scalp, telling me that it was burned again. \n\nI took deep breaths into the pillow and felt the heat of a few tears on my eyes. I had to stop crying. Men don't cry. Heroes don't cry. But I was no hero. I wasn't even a man. I was a poor, fragile boy, and I'd never be anything else. I remember all of the tests, the men in lab coats, and friends and family trying to scare a power out of me, but it was no use. Eight years ago, the geneticist confirmed it. I simply didn't have a superhero gene. The first one they'd ever seen. I wanted to believe they were wrong, but the hope died a long time ago.\n\nI don't remember dozing off, but I did. I was woken up gently by my father, BlueBirdMan. He would never understand. Even a run-of-the-mill power like his would be better than this hell.\n\n\"I heard you got in a little fight this afternoon,\" he said softly. I didn't even lift my head from the pillow. I squeezed my eyes tighter, hoping to fall back asleep. He continued, \"You have to be careful, sport.\" I took my hand and shoved him away without even looking. He sighed and I heard him leave.\n\nI fell back asleep without dreaming until I awoke to hear my mother murmuring outside with a voice I didn't recognize. \"That's impossible. He doesn't have any powers,\" she said.\n\nSuddenly, the other voice said sternly, \"Don't go in there!\"\n\nMy eyes shot open, and I turned from my pillow to face the door.\n\n\"He's my son!\" she exclaimed. She looked over at me, and her face turned white. She stood in my doorway with two men in suits, sunglasses, and earpieces, the whole nine yards. \"Danny...\" she said, but her voice trailed off.\n\nI started to sit up, but the men in suits immediately held their arms out, ready to shoot whatever powers they had. \"Stop right there!\"\n\n\"What's going on?\" I asked, my heart pumping. \n\nMy mom thrust her arms out between me and the men in suits. \"Stop!\" she exclaimed. \"Let me talk to him!\"\n\nOne man looked at the other, both of their arms still outstretched. \"What is the protocol for this?\"\n\n\"There is no protocol,\" the other replied. They stood in silence before they finally gave each other a nod, then turned to my mom to nod at her as well. They took a step back, but kept their arms pointed at me.\n\nMy mom walked halfway to me and shakily asked, \"Son, what did you do?\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" I said, growing angry and afraid, my heart running a race I didn't think it could win.\n\n\"Your father... that boy at school...\"\n\n\"Dad?\" I asked, throwing my covers off.\n\n\"Stop right there!\" the suits yelled again.\n\n\"What happened to dad?\" I screamed.\n\n\"His powers... they're gone,\" she replied.\n\nI stared at her. \"What do you mean, gone? How?\"\n\n\"You took them,\" she answered.", "(The typo was too good to ignore. So here we go.)\n\nI doubled checked my backpack to make sure all my equipment was there, didn't want to leave anything behind my first day on the new job. It was tough, getting through cop school without super strength to kick down doors or skin invulnerable to bullets, but I studied hard and knew the letter of the law better than 99% of my graduating class. The remaining one percent was Steve Farkas, and his super power was the ability to completely absorb the knowledge in a book by eating one if its pages. Weird, but useful. Fortunately, Steve was terrible at writing essays that didn't involve just rattling off facts until the other side of the argument went away, so I managed to sneak into that cushy valedictorian spot by knowing the spirit of the law better than Steve ever could.\n\nI got to work, got my locker assigned, dropped my backpack in it, and got changed. The new uniform was crisp, and the badge looked good on my chest. Since I was such a bookworm, I wasn't surprised by my first assignment; serving citations for minor civil rights violations, and investigating claims before writing new ones. Under the Civil Use of Powers Act, discrimination against someone for having a particular subset of powers or lacking thereof came with a hefty fine. I planned to use that to my full advantage. Nowhere did the law say I couldn't be the one who was discriminated against by the people I wrote up.\n\nI started with writing up the parents who abandoned me after my infant powers test came back negative, the first person in history to do so. They seemed saddened by it, but understood my motives. We actually started getting coffee together on the weekends after that, it's strange the things that can help people reconnect. Then I drove the squad car over to orphanage and wrote up that bitch who had me assigned to the house with the developmentally disabled kids without even talking to me. Sweet kids, but even the caretaker admitted I didn't belong and that I wasn't getting the help I needed. Turns out being the only guy in the world without super powers might mess with your head a bit, who knew? Next up was that asshole Craig Blanche for using his mind reading powers to cheat off my chem tests in high school, and Mr. Lipzig for letting him get away with it by calling it \"practice for the powered quiz bowl tournament.\" Craig was so far up Lipzig's ass the whole year and vice versa. I laughed my ass off when the team from Mega City Prep Acadmey beat them. It only took one guy with counter mind control powers and their whole strategy fell apart.\n\nThen I started on the long list of heroes and villains who interrupted my commute by wrecking a highway, or plowed through my apartment when fighting among the sky scrapers. I got a good deal of pushback in the first few weeks. Then the courts starting ruling in my favor, so the public moved on. A few of the villains tried to ambush me on the job or in secret. I put a stop to that real quick. Causing bodily harm allows the fines levied to be increased exponentially. Dr. Monstro broke my arm and got fined for half his net worth. No one came near me after that, too scared. Yeah, one of them could probably finish the job, but on the odd chance they didn't pull through, say goodbye to that hard earned bank robbery money.\n\nMaybe I shouldn't have been so harsh in my early rampage. It'd be nice to walk in public without the constant looks of fear. Everyone tripping over themselves to get out of my way or be nice to me, for fear of using their powers in a way I'll deem discriminatory. End of the day, I'm just enforcing the law. They treated me like garbage for years, maybe it made me bitter, maybe I'm just karma punishing them for their arrogance. Who knows?", "The supers had kidnapped me in my sleep. That much was obvious. The how was the interesting part. I didn't even wake up during the move and here I was in the most luxurious amd comfortable room I'd ever seen. Hell, even the pillows in the huge king size bed were the right range of firmness. There was a soda fountain and a snack bar and the walls were soft, plush velvet. \n\nThat didn't make me feel any better, as Master Mind and Brute Force were in the room, watching me wake up. As the only person in the entire world who didn't have super powers, I was used to people laughing at me, mocking me. Hell, I'd even come to expect scientific curiosity. But what I saw on their faces was different. It was something I had never seen in someone else but knew the feeling by heart. It was worry.\n\nI threw the covers off the bed and stood, stumbling slightly in my haste to get up. Brute was immediately by my side, ensuring I didn't trip and holding me like you would hold a baby. Or like you'd hold an armed grenade, if you didnt have the physical endurance of 32.5 me's. \n\n\"What's going on? Where is this? Where am I?\" I asked them. I looked down. \"Where... where are my normal pajamas?\" These silver cloth PJs were definitely not mine. \n\n\"Calm down, Paul,\" Master Mind warned me. \"We don't want to get your heart rate up. Stay calm, breathe evenly. And be more careful, we wouldn't want you getting hurt.\"\n\n\"Was that a threat, Master Mind? Are you going to have Brute Force here break my arms? What did I do to deserve this from two of the world's most revered heroes?\"\n\n\"Oh no! By no means... no, we've got you here because you need protecting. For everyone's sake.\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\"\n\nMaster Mind sighed, rubbing his temples. He walked to a plush, red velvelt chair and sat, scrubbing his face with his hands. \"Do you feel any different? Did something happen to you recently?\"\n\nAh, my old friend worry. I felt it creeping in, at the back of my mind, like sand filling a hole left in the beach after attempting to dig a moat. Unless you were Sandman, who won the yearly sand castle competitions.\n\n\"Nooo... why? Do I look funny? I don't feel super strong or anything.\" Beside me, Brute Force silently shook his head, backing away from me.\n\n\"Miss Fortune? You may come in now,\" Master Mind called out. One of the velvet walls swung open and a woman walked in, a super who I had never heard of. Weird. Why would two of the best heroes in the world be working with a nobody? And why was that door hidden until just now? And why was there no door handle on the inside? And here comes worries friend, fear.\n\nMiss Fortune... was extreme. It was hard to desrcibe what she looked like, other than saying she looked like one of the two extremes. Upon first look, she was a hag, a crone, a wizened old woman, hideous and with shadows where her teeth were. But she walkdd upright and proud and when the lights fell on her, her teeth glinted and her full lips framed a beautiful smile and she waa literally the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen, until she walked back into the shadows. It was disorienting, to say the leaat. She walked to the wall and sit in the shadows, her dark hooded eyes watching me.\n\nMaster Mind cleared his throat. \"Miss Fortune, would you please explain the circumstances for Mr. Paul here?\" \n\nOut of that wizened old face, a sound like honeyed wine flowed. \"You're not super. You're a plauge now. You're a villain with no end, a hero with no counter. And no one knows why.\"\n\n\"Uuuhhh.. what?\"\n\nMaster Mind sighed. \"You musy bear with us. Miss Fortune is a seer. The most powerful one there is. As such, there are prices to pay for her visions. She has trouble being concise. It's not an effect of her power, it's just her personal choice. Isn't that right, Miss?\"\n\n\"Fuck you.\"\n\n\"That's about right. Just get to the point please. Some of us are on very tight dea... schedules.\"\n\nI glanced at Master Mind. \"You were about to say deadlines. Why didn't you say deadlines?\"\n\n\"Because,\" Miss Fortune piped in, \"that would be in terrible taste. I had a vision, and before you ask, all my visions come true. They might not make a lot of sense sometimes and sometimes I only see bits and pieces, but the less I see, the more certain I am of it. And I only saw one thing regarding you, Paul. I don't know how and I don't know why... but the second you die, every super loses their powers.\"\n\nSilence. Absolute. Nobody spoke and whatever was outside the room was absorbed by the thick walls and the velvet on absolutely everything.\n\nI broke first. \"What?\"\n\nBrute Force chuckled, a raw, rasping noise. He looked like he wanted to smash something, break something, but he alao knew that certain problems required more delicacy than he knew how to use. \n\n\"You heard the lady, Paul. If you die, we lose everything.\"\n\n\"But how? I'm not immortal. And I'm weak. I'm the Inferior. Everyone knows that I don't do anything. The second I trip and hurt my head or get old and die, what then?\"\n\n\"No one knows. Miss Fortune couldn't get us more detail than that. But that's about as precise as her visions come. No ifs or buts about it. And just like that, you're the most important person in the known universe.\"\n\n\"And what if someone, like one of the League of International Momentous Evildoers decide to come after me? What if they find out?\"\n\n\"You don't understand, Paul. This isn't about good and evil. This is about the fabric of reality as we know it. They know. They've got Destructor and Collosus outside this facility right now. They're protecting you too.\"\n\n\"The League? What about\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Master Mind cut me off. \"The Guild, Headquarters, and the Clandestine all know too. Every major villain group, along with all major hero guilds, have sent representatives to make sure nothing happens to you. This isn't about good vs. evil anymore, Paul. This is survival.\"\n\nRealization trickled into my brain. \"This is a prison, isn't it. A cushy one but a prison nonetheless.\"\n\n\"Yyess...\" Master Mind begrudged. \"But don't think of it that way, think of it as a safe house.\"\n\n\"That I can never leave?\"\n\nMaster Mind rubbed his face again. \"Yeah. That you can never leave.\"\n\nI sank onto the bed, dread filling my thoughts. And then, inside it all, a spark. \"And if I refuse? If I threaten to walk out of here now?\" \n\nBrute Force raised an eyebrow. Master Mind locked eyes with me. Miss Fortune didn't move. \"In that case,\" Master Mind said, his voice a low hum that filled the silence, \"then we will stop you.\"\n\nI laughed. \"At what threat? Breaking ny legs? Encapsulating me in a space bubble? No one has mastery over time. That's been proven; anyone who did would be executed immediately by international convention. And if you lock me in here, well goodness knows, I could trip and hurt myself or I could refuse to eat. Hell, I've heard that thousands of years ago, monks used to literally starve themselves to death.\" \n\nMaster Mind stood, looming over me. \"You don't have that much control over yourself. Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be.\"\n\nI laughed again, deeper this time, trying my hand at a true, hearty laugh that I couls be remembered by. \"Try and stop me. I dare you. And from now on, know this. I'm no longer Paul.\"\n\nI stood at the open doorway, hands on my hips, gleaming in silver pajamas. \n\n\"I am Cataclysm.\" " ]	5
	[WP] A governmental big brother system calculates your "averageness" through a variety of variables. Once a year, it is legal to kill the most average person. You have been chosen	[ "When the announcement came out on the television, I was excited to see my project in its first year of deployment. This was my moment, they said it would be all over the news tonight. I had worked for years to put together the algorithm to find the most average people in the world. I hadn't been to the gym since the project started, my skin had gone pale, and I had lost most of my friends, but my programming and other skills had gone through the roof. Sure I had lost some of my old talents, but I knew how many variables went into the machine. With all the variables, I thought I was a pretty lucky guy. Luckier still, no one was around me to see my face flash up on screen. I stared at it blankly for a second, the features of the man blending into that \"dull, average guy you won't remember when you leave the party,\" before recognizing the picture I had sent out to a few friends earlier that week.\n\nGetting over my stupor, I quickly rummaged through my drawers to find anything that would make me stand out. That's what they wanted. All I found was some torn jeans, red turtleneck, white v-neck... I couldn't even trade out my contacts for glasses, since those had broken years ago (and who had time to fix them?). None of this would do. I grabbed a black hoodie, the most edgy thing I owned, and pulled it on as I made my way towards door. I went down and through the parking garage, hoping to get to my car before anyone else showed up. Guys like me didn't venture far from home, and if we weren't at work we were at home. People knew that.\n\n\"Hey..! Uh.. They're looking for you, didn't you see the news?!\" I cringe at the familiarity of the voice, but it's obvious from his stammering that he couldn't remember my name, either. The news hadn't even mentioned me in the introduction of the broadcast. I turned towards him with a slight grimace, trying to shrug off the hysteria welling up inside me.\n\n\"You don't say?\" I gave him my most dumbfounded look, trying to contort my face just enough. I just had to get out.\n\nHe nodded, rambling on about how brilliant this new system was, as if I wasn't part of it. As if I didn't already know. I see him reach down as he gets to the final part, and I mirrored him.\n\n\"Right, and it's really not that bad what they ask me to do...\" Praying I was right, I pressed the button through my jeans. I held my breath, waiting. After a moment, he tipped over, lifeless. This new AI was useless; I had learned how to turn off the Jehovah's witnesses bots years ago, and exploiting the bug was simple enough. My teammate had programmed the new AI to be nonthreatening so the average person wouldn't run from them. It made it that much easier with his slow, inviting motion.\n\nI turned back to head towards my Civic, tripping over myself and landing square on my face and palms.\n\n\"Yeah.. average..\" I muttered, pulling out my keys and pushing up my invisible glasses. I cursed quietly to myself on the rest of my way to the car for letting my average be weighed down by so much I had forgotten or lost in the past few years." ]	1
My idea was that the Joker was Batman from another universe who ended all crime. Not even Jaywalkers were left. With his entire life devoted to a goal he met he went insane from boredom and lack of purpose. Then I thought not everyone might think thats a good plot how about just simplifying it and let them figure out the details	[WP] Batman learns the Joker is actually Bruce Wayne.	[ " Batman stepped forward, watching as the Joker came towards him. \"Your times up, Joker.\" He said, \"There's no running away.\" The Joker continued to step closer to Batman, pulling a knife from under his coat.\n\n\"I've got to give it to you,\" Joker said, \"We've both outdone ourselves on this one. The only thing left is for you to fight me.\" He stopped with his knees bent and knife outstretched menacingly in Batman's direction. \"Come on Batty, afraid?\"\n\nBatman took two steps closer to the Joker and threw a hard punch. The fist connected with the sound of shattering bone. Then the Joker leaped forward stabbing with his knife furiously, cutting into the weak areas in Batman's armor. Batman threw him onto the ground and pounded his fist into the Joker's chest. The Clown Prince cough blood into Batman's face with every hit to the chest. Batman then backed away, looking at the mangled body. \"You know Batman,\" Joker said, \"Where not that different, you and I. You've undoubtedly got yourself quite the kill count, as have I. We might as well be-\"\n\nBatman stomped his foot on the Joker, smashing his face in. When he backed away, he could swear there was something different. There wasn't any face paint. Or the coat. Batman took off the helmet and wiped his face. He noticed a large amount of white paint had rubbed off, probably from the fight. Then with his other hand he wiped his mouth. Red paint.\n\nHe staggered back into the wall. He sat down and put his head between his knees. \"I'm not him,\" he muttered, \"I'm not him. I'm not him. I'm not him.\" Then a laugh began to come up from inside him. The laugh bursted forth from him in a harsh, gritty tone." ]	1
	[WP] Much like night at the museum, everything in Disneyland comes to life at night.	[ "Penny's legs hurt as she squeezed them tighter underneath the chipped plastic treasure chest. It was getting quieter in the park at this stage and the carts on the roller-coaster were emptier. She giggled softly to herself, trying to keep hidden from any park employee, she wasnt just a little smug at having hidden from her parents for so long. \n\nShe shifted in her seat and the lights went off. The animatronic people suddenly stopped and a loud bang echoed through the tunnel, the gates to the ride had finally been locked. It was eerily quiet in hear, with shadows of robotic statues distorted along the walls, reflected by the faint glow of green emergency exit lights. \n\nPenny waited another couple of minutes, just to be sure that the park had fully closed. This was Disneyland after dark, she wanted to stay for the whole night and see what it was like without the busy throngs of people crowding every shop, ride and drowning out every last bit of magic this place held. Convinced that being here alone was the only real way to see it, she hatched a plan only a 7 year old could. Hide until the park closed and stay here forever. \n\nAs she waited in her hiding spot, Penny started to doubt her master plan. The quieter the park got, the more she started to hear things. \n\nWas that whispering? But there was no one else here. \n\nShe decided to stay hidden and wait, but as she looked out from under the treasure chest the distorted shadows seemed to become more distorted. They twisted and turned, morphing in out of the shapes of people and monsters. \n\nShe didn't like this anymore, Disneyland wasn't nice. A scratching noise was coming closer to her and whispers were getting louder. \n\nPenny closed her eyes tight as tears started to well up, her little hands covered her ears to keep the sounds away. Even with her eyes closed she could see a bright light shining on her face, the voices were louder but her inner voice drowned the noises out with screams. \n\nSweaty and shaking, she rocked back and forth as the vibration of hurried footsteps echoed up the tunnel. With that the young girl wailed, screaming for her mommy and daddy. As her cried left her mouth she could feel hands grabbing at her,dragging her out from under her little nook and away from her only cover and into the dark. \n\nWhen employees open up the Weird and Wonderful World ride in Disneyland they always prepare themselves. The robotic people who populate the scenes are known for moving, they aren't always where they were the day before. Their faces change, their expressions and where they're looking. \n\nThe rumour spreads that sometimes, not often, if a child goes missing and they wander into the ride, there will be a new addition to the Weird and Wonderful World. \n\n--- \n\nSorry for rushed ending. Messed up half way through and had to change the end. Totally forgot what the prompt was as I wrote it cause I decided to change the end. Oh well! It happens to everyone" ]	1
	[WP] You've been calling your SO's phone once a week for 3 years to hear their voice once more after they perished in a car accident. One day, their prerecorded message changes, and what it says horrifies you.	[ "One might believe three years is long enough to move on. I haven't saddened myself with their thought in too long a time to remember. The accident, the funeral, our families constantly reminding me of my worth to them, all finally done. As to our agreement, all proceedings had been held at our house. Only our house. I watched specifically from our kitchen window as her coffin was left in the backyard. \n\nBut memories cannot replenish the feeling that overcame me with her voice. Unknown to anyone, aside my phone company and myself, I have paid for her line simply for the memory of her final remaining words.\n\n\"Yeah, it's Jaime, leave me a message and I'll try to call you back soon!\"\n\nRather plain, but the only living piece left. I left her for another week, allowing her message to become fresh again on our next meeting.\n\nOn the next Saturday, I called her again.\n\n\"Yeah, it's Jaime. If you ever get out, call me and we'll catch up, okay?\"\n\nThe message had changed. Astounding. Had someone tampered with it? I called ten more times, and again I heard the new message. This was, of course, the act of some hooligan. They were surely laughing about this somewhere miles afar. I peered outside the front window, and remarked something about my surroundings: Time stood still. The same cars and pedestrians I had been observing since her death had not moved. It then occurred to me that they hadn't moved in three years. Even during Jaime's funeral, only the attendees moved as real beings.\n\nI stepped to the front door, surely one of them could explain themselves. However, the door could not be opened. Looking through the glass, my reflection reminded my of the moment of impact. Even then, I looked into my reflection for help. I saw her face in the car mirror, Jamie's skull cracking against the steering wheel as I fruitlessly pressed the brake...\n\nI hadn't left the house in three years, hadn't stepped into the paradise that lay before me. Perhaps this seclusion prevented my wife from answering? I believe she is out there. I need to go to her.\n\n---\n\nIf you enjoyed what you read, I've got more over at r/fireark760writesstuff !", "The lady in front of me was counting pennies. I shot the cashier a sympathetic look. Or a glare. Hard to tell, since I'd just waited through a line eight customers long on a Tuesday morning to be delayed by a literal penny pincher. I would have stormed out. I should have stormed out. But I needed my coffee, so I just kept glaring. Dumb broad ordered five drinks, forgot her stamp card, and paid in coins. Pennies. \n\nBy the time I had gotten my drink, I was late for the shuttle, so I had to take the bus. The shuttle is for my company's employees and takes us to work in about half an hour. The bus ride, which takes about an hour, is for those down on their luck, and while I do not harbor any grudge towards that particular demographic, they tend to neglect personal hygiene. It lurched and bumbled down the streets, stopping every other intersection, giving the pungent individuals ample time to board and wordlessly sit next to me, coughing and scratching their greasy hair, causing a rain of dandruff to roll off their Wal-mart brand insulated jacket and soak in the remains of my coffee. \n\nMy phone buzzed. Mom. And of course she'd call me when I'm on public transportation. Just to shout at me about this or that. Why does she have to be so arrogant as to demand that I immediately forsake whatever I'm doing and give her my full attention? I'd block her, but my phone was running low on saved messages anyway. I clutched it tight, as if to shut her out. I did not need this today. But of course she left a message anyway. \n\nHate filled woman. I let a few minutes pass. Take a few deep breaths that I instantly regret. The man next to me smells like old mustard. At times like these, I have a small escape. A number I can dial. To remind me of a life before all of this. \n\n\"Hi, this is Alex, I'm not available to take a call right now-\" \n\n\", so please leave your name, number, or email.\" I completed for him, rolling my eyes. \n\n\"so please leave your name, number or email.\" The phone repeated, as it had countless times. \n\n\"End beep.\" I muttered. But the phone continued. \n\n\"Oh, and Sam? You should really listen to your mother's call.\" End beep. \n\nShit. Did that just happen? I dial the number again. \n\n\"Hi, this is Alex, no seriously listen to your mother's call.\" End beep. \n\nNever before had I felt so alone in a crowded bus. I dialed it one last time to be sure.\n\n\"She's your mother.\" End beep. \n\nI listened to my last message. \n\n\"Samantha, please come home. The accident wasn't your fault. We spoke to Alex's parents, and they don't blame you. It's been three years, Samantha. I don't know how many messages I've left.\" \n\nHer voice broke. \"We forgive you. We forgive what you did with your grades, your career, your future. We forgive everything you've said. You're right. We don't understand. But please come home. We can start over. We'll pay for you to go back to school. We have enough saved up. We were wrong to say what we did. We just want our little girl back. We're sorry, Samantha. We're so, so sorry.\" \n\nI don't know when I started crying. By the time I'd stopped, I had missed my stop. Well, guess that solidified my decision. Before calling in my two week's, I dialed another number. \n\n\"Hi, this is Alex, I'm not available to take a call right now, so please leave your name, number or email.\" End beep.\n\n\"Thanks.\" ", "ring. ring. ring. ring\n\nHey, it's Annie B, leave me one!\n\nHi, Annabelle. I miss you so much, every day. It's been eight days since you... since you passed on. I'm going to call you every week, and... maybe you'll hear these or maybe not or I don't know, I love you so much and...\n\n\nHey, it's Annie B, leave me one!\n\nHey Annie... I had a dream about you. You thanked me for these messages. That's all, you just said thank you. I mean, it wasn't like exactly you in appearance but I knew it was you. I love you and I'll talk more next week... this past year has been really tough, but I feel like you've supported me the whole time. I love you.\n\n\nHey, it's Annie B, leave me one!\n\nHey A-B, it's been almost three years... these messages have to be getting to you, I just know it. I've seen signs from you! Like the mailbox flag being halfway up like you always teased me about. And the spoons were sorted properly in the dishwasher, just like you always told me to do it. I miss you so much but I feel like I'm going to see you really soon! I love you!!\n\n\nHey, it's Annie B, leave me one!\n\nHey Annie-baby, I've been meeting a lot of new people after I moved. It was hard leaving 'our' apartment, but... it was time. It's been three years and three months since you died in the car crash, and I still miss you and love you, but I keep getting mail for you from old insurance companies and banks and shit like that. I love you\n\n\nHey, it's Annie B, leave me one!\n\nHey babe, it's Jeremy. I'm... I'm worried that your voicemail inbox is going to fill up in the next few weeks... You've been such a great friend these past three and a half years, and I don't want to lose that... I'm going to try to expand your mailbox size next week. I miss you so much. I wish you were here to meet Debby. You two would be best friends, I just know it. \n\n\nHey, it's Annie, leave a message!\n\nHey babe, it.... wait, did that? Uh... I think something went wrong. I'm going to call back just to make sure.\n\n\nHey, it's Annie, leave me one!\n\nOkay, that was weird. Anyway. I miss you and wish you could... wait. Did that...\n\n\nHey, it's Annabelle, I'm out with Jeremy right now, leave a message!\n\nUh, what the hell. Annie? Are you... are you there?\n\n\nHey, it's Annabelle, I really don't like that shirt, Jeremy. She* bought it for you, didn't she? I'll leave her one\n\nAnnie... A-B... babe... what's going on? Are you... alive?\n\n\nHey, it's Debby, leave me one!*\n\nHey girl, glad you're staying away from my man. Time to finally terminate this phone line." ]	3
	[WP] A girl falls in love with someone on a subway. What she doesn't realize is that person is riding the subway for the last time.	[ "Friday. Night. The tube. It is definitely one of the most interesting places, in which you can find yourself. The compartment is nearly empty. With exception of a girl. And a boy. Oh boy, and doesn’t it sound like a redundant, verbose love story already? During one of the long strings of thoughts and daydreaming, she looks straight at him. She catches his sight. Her heart starts to heavily pound. And as usual in such a story, she thoughtlessly decides to talk to him. \n\n\n\nHis blue eyes, which fully complement his darker skin, try to pierce her soul, as he tries to understand how such an angelic creature could have been created by God. And how merciless he is. His palms start to sweat, as he doesn’t know what to do. Sound of her footsteps is echoing through the train, as his thoughts rush through his mind. Because really, every boy in such a situation freaks out. What does she want? Will I make a good first impression?\n\n\n\nShe slowly approaches him. At his face, she sees a glimpse of … remorse? Fear? Empathy? Suddenly her mind catches up with her legs. Maybe it wasn’t such an great idea, girl? \n\n\nThe boy stands up.\n\n\nThe girl stops. Two steps back.\n\nHe shouts something.\n\n\nShe hears.\n\n\n“Allahu akbar”\n\n\nIt was his last ride on a tube.\n\n\n\n\nPS: Gonna check the spelling in a few hours.", "She's been told it's rude to stare but she can't- no, she doesn't want to pull her eyes away. \n\nNever had she wanted to be so noticed by someone...Look at me she begged silently...but never had she wanted to be so ignored. Don't look at me. If you do, I'll be too shy...I'll look away...\n\nThe train rumbled along; turned a corner. He swayed.\n\nHe gripped the metal pole he was holding tighter and she shivered, imagining that it was her skin.\n\nStrong hands. Long fingers - piano fingers. Glossy nails - trimmed...neat...\n\nI wonder what you smell like...\n\nProbably like a light drizzle, she guessed. \n\nShe leaned her head back and let her eyes trace his outline. Her pad was in her purse. The irresistible urge - like an insane itch - to draw him came over her, and her fingers twitched. She adjusted her strap. \n\nThe movement caught his attention, somehow, and he looked over. \n\nTheir eyes met. \n\nHe smiled. \n\nAnd she...\n\nShe looked away.\n\nShame made her blood boil. She cursed herself for being so weak, so...so...shy.\n\nUgh! What am I, in middle school? And, of course...\n\nShe mentally groaned as she felt the unwanted - but oh, so familiar - heat flaring up in her cheeks to signify that she was, in fact, blushing. \n\nTentatively, she peeked up -and as if matters couldn't get worse - she saw him making his way over. \n\nWHAT?! WHY?! \n\nThe train slowed and the person sitting next to her got up to get off. She almost reached out to yank them back down, but restrained herself. Then thought:\n\nI could get up and go too. Pretend like this is my stop. Yes, yes, good plan..He'll never know.\n\nBut before she could bring her plan to fruit, he was sitting beside her, and she felt paralyzed. \n\nHis lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.\n\n\"What?\" she blurted out, a bit too loudly. The people near by glanced over and his face turned a little red, even though he kept his smile on.\n\n\"I said hi.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" She turned her head away from him, stand off-ish. \"Hello.\"\n\n\"I couldn't help but notice that we usually end up in the same train compartments together...\"\n\nHer heart fluttered a bit at his acknowledgent that he noticed her. \n\n\"...and I would like you to stop it.\" His tone turned sharp and authorative. \"Actually, I want you to get off at the next stop.\"\n\n\"Wait, wait\" she told him, pushing her palms through the air in front of her as her face contorted in disbelief. \"What? Who do you think you're talking to?!\"\n\nHer voice was beginning to get high again and it was starting to attract attention from others close by. Attention, apparently, that the man didn't want.\n\nHe slouched down in his seat and gave everyone a politician's smile and wave, while whispering to her through gritted teeth:\n\n\"Look...I need you to just listen to me on this. When we get to the next stop, get. off.\"\n\nShe thought she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes; a little boy trapped in an adult's body and trying to prove that he was a man; that he wasn't scared...\n\nBut scared...scared of what? she wondered, as the train slowed into the next stop.\n\nHe looked over at her.\n\nTheir eyes met.\n\nThis time she didn't look away.\n\nHe nodded. \n\nThe doors opened and people poured out and in. She stood up and stepped out. \n\nThe train left the station, and before she had even made it off the platform, she heard the explosion. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "\"Treasure Island?\" he asked with a trace of amusement in his melodious voice. \n\nShe glanced up from the pages, a slight smile dancing across her lips. \"Oh, yes... I've been unable to resist the pirate fables since I was little,\" she answered. \n\nHe observed her a moment, before taking a seat beside her. \"I hate these things,\" he admitted as the tracks rumbled beneath them, the tunnel scenery flying past the windows. \n\n\"But without them, you wouldn't get to interrupt strangers who are trying to read,\" she teased. \n\nHe laughed. \"Fair enough. Normally I keep to myself, just like everyone else in this bustling city, but today felt... Different. It doesn't hurt that you smile when you appear to be at a good part,\" he said, nodding to the book still clutched in her hands. \"I decided that's a person worth talking to. A person who still gets lost in the magic of pirate fables.\" \n\nShe blushed and looked down, pushing an ebony lock of hair behind her ear. \"For someone who stares at people on the subway, you're rather flattering,\" she told him. \n\nHe smiled, his green eyes not leaving her face. \"People ought to be told more often how beautiful they are - inside and out,\" he replied with a shrug. \n\n\"Terribly progressive of you. Don't you know we're all supposed to keep our heads down and blow through life, looking out for ourselves?\" \n\n\"Terribly cynical of you,\" he retorted. \"Though, admittedly, something I'm guilty of,\" he confessed. \n\nShe smiled, her blue eyes bright as the train came to a halt. \"Well subway stranger, this is my stop,\" she said, getting to her feet. Strangely, she hoped to see him again tomorrow. And the next day. \n\n\"Michael....\" he said. \"Don't forget to hold onto that magic, pirate girl.\" \n\n\"Elizabeth,\" she replied, before stepping out the opening doors. \n\n--------------------------------------------\n\nElizabeth flipped on the television to hear the evening news as she plopped down on the couch. Bending over her bowl of ramen, she froze when she heard the news anchor's next words: \n\n\"Michael Rhodes has been identified as the man who chose to end his own life this afternoon. Michael, 27, threw himself onto the tracks of the subway before anyone could stop him.\" " ]	3
	[WP] In our world there are 'Painters', people who can change the entire landscape of Earth as if it were a canvas. Places like Antartica and the Sahara Desert are examples of different paintings. One day, in the centre of America, a black void emerges from an unknown Painter.	[ "For the first time in my entire life, I found myself totally and utterly stumped. And I'd seen it all, you know. I was there when the Ancient Egyptians raised their first pyramid from naught but heavy sandstone bricks; after watching their slaves die in droves, I decided to help them, painting stones from thin air. I was there to watch as the Chinese laid their final stones upon the so called great wall. I was there to witness the Romans fall, and laugh as their might became their undoing. But, as I stood on the precipice of this black and empty void, I felt well and truly lost. So I did the only thing I knew how. I painted.\n\nMy long, thin fingers moved deftly, shaping asphalt and concrete like clay. Objects, even people, melted under my touch, dissolving into the very essence of creation. Roads reformed under my watchful gaze and plants bloomed once more, their stalks and leaves billowing up wherever and whenever I willed them to. Hapless pedestrians stopped to watch, looking first at me before allowing their gaze to shift down, their eyes searching for the bottom of an infinitely deep pit. Yet something was off. The void seemed to pull at me, yanking at everything around it. It seemed to absorb my painting's golden glow, sucking it in like some insatiable demon in search of food. I didn't think it possible, but the dark pit darkened even more. A rank odor wafted up and I retched, waving a hand before my face, watching with incredulity as a figure floated up from the abyss.\n\nThe woman hovered over the void, her shapely figure scantly clad in writhing shadow. She looked around, confused. Possibly drunk, or maybe high. I'd seen stoners in a similar state, back when I let myself indulge upon such substances during the age of the hippie. She gave a start, realising she'd become the subject of attention. More shadows flew up from the void and she grasped them with her hands, pulling them about her body. In the distance, a siren wailed.\n\n\"Um,\" I started. I cursed inwardly. I never stuttered. I never said 'um.' \"Hello.\"\n\nShe turned again, her eyebrows contracting into one long, sculpted line. A shadow darted towards me, almost tentatively. My touch dissolved it into a fine golden powder. It was her turn for her eyes to widen as I wrapped myself in creation's golden glow, lifting myself into the air.\n\n\"You...\" The woman trailed off, her thin arms and frail hands pawing at the air around her. \"You can fly!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I replied. \"Evidently so can you.\" The woman looked down then smiled, revealing her pearly white teeth. They gave off an odd sort of glow, reflecting sunlight into my eyes.\n\n\"Apparently so,\" said the woman. Her eyes seemed to eclipse, but just for a second; even the whites were shrouded in darkness. \n\n\"Charmed.\" I floated over and spread out my palms, facing downwards. Golden dust fell from my fingers, coagulating beneath my feet until I'd formed a floating patch of dirt. My own flying island burst forth with new life, plants and animals popping from the ground with little puffs of dust.\n\n\"Please,\" I said, gesturing to the ground before me. \"Sit.\"\n\nShe sat. I sat beside her and twiddled my fingers. A small porcelain tea set appeared beneath my hands, teapot filled to the brim with fresh Vietnamese green tea. I inhaled, smelling the scent of the bittersweet beverage. Leaning over, I grasped the teapot and poured two cups. The woman grasped one, giving me a small smile of gratitude. Abruptly, she doubled over, a hand placed over her growling stomach.\n\n\"So...hungry,\" she managed to gasp. \"Need food...need...\"\n\nMy island began to dissolve beneath her fingers. The shining glow of creation dimmed as she breathed in, absorbing its light. When she finished, my island was no more. I grasped my cup of tea, the only item that remained untouched by her darkness. I stared, unafraid but thoroughly confused. Below us, random onlookers began screaming in fear, watching as black tendrils lashed out, breaking and disintegrating anything nearby.\n\n\"What,\" I began. The woman looked at me sheepishly, ashamed of what she'd set in motion.\n\n\"I just wanted to be a painter too.\"\n\n\"You weren't one before?\"\n\n\"No.\" The woman, more childlike than adult, shook her head emphatically. In that moment, I knew what she'd done. And I knew she could not be permitted to live, not like this. She would consume all of creation whether she wanted to or not.\n\nA blade of light burst forth from my outstretched palm, piercing her in the stomach. The woman was thrown back where she slammed into a nearby building, sending fractures radiating across its walls.\n\n\"Why?\" She asked plaintively, her eyes filled with confusion, her words laced with pain. Golden light leaked from the wound in her stomach, falling down into the gaping maw below.\n\n\"I'm sorry. I had to,\" I replied. A tear of pity dripped from the corner of my eye. It had always pained me, death. For all my years, I had no idea of what lay on the other side.\n\nI stood by her as she died, holding her hands in my own until her last breath fled her tiny frame.\n\n*\nEdit:** I'm getting serious about writing; responding to prompts is quite fun. I'm still new, and my sub is quite empty, but I've created one all the same. Feel free to check out my sub, called [Lone Wolf Studios](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lone_Wolf_Studios/)!\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] In a world of heroes,You have the ability to see the flaw/weakness in everything, & know the best way to defeat it, allowing you to overcome any obstacle.But you are a depressed nihilistic mess with nothing to challenge you. until the day you meet a mysterious girl who is seemingly flawless.	[ "\"What...is your name?\" I asked slowly, my mind still trying to wrap around this impossible girl. She turned to me and smiled, her long black hair with red highlights, perfectly muscled yet still beautiful body, and strange, gothic outfit creating a near blindingly perfect silhouette against the suddenly setting sun (when did that happen? As far as I could remember, it was noon when I found this mysterious woman...) With a snap of her fingers, she froze time around us and crossed her arms before responding to me. \n\n\"My name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way...but my friends call me Mary Sue.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Most people have a shoulder angel and devil advising them. You have a shoulder robot and Elder God.	[ "#Purpose\n\n&nbsp;\n\nAt the age of thirteen everyone is said to get a physical manifestation of good and evil on their shoulders. One for good and one for evil. It is said that depending on the personality of the individual, those manifestations can be different.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI've always wondered who I am and what my purpose was, excited to see what those manifestations would become. One day it came, my thirteenth birthday.\n\n\"Awaken my child.\" A voice came from aside of me.\n\n\"It is time you saw the balance of your own self.\" I groggily awoke, the clock said 02:23. The exact time it is said that I was born, thirteen years to this date.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"YES HUMAN. AWAKE.\" A more mechanical voice said from my other side.\n\nI rubbed my eyes and turned towards them.\n\nOn one side of my bed there hovered a light, warm and crisp... On the other a small robot that looked like it was built from a webcam and some old parts.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"You have a question my child?\" The glowing bright light said to me.\n\nI thought for a moment, how does one phrase the question that they have always wanted to ask? Who am I? What am I supposed to do?\n\n\"What... What is my purpose?\" I asked the light.\n\nSilence fell for a few seconds.\n\n\"Your purpose? My child, we don't have purposes predefined by others, our purpose it to find our own purpose, as it were. Some may call that family, others adventure. However I suppose some of do have a predefined purpose...\" The light said turning it's direct light to his robot counterpart.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"I PASS THE BUTTER.\"\n\n&nbsp;\n\n---\n\n^Thanks ^for ^reading, ^this ^was ^a ^short ^one ^simply ^leading ^up ^to ^a ^silly [^reference.](https://youtu.be/ekP0LQEsUh0?t=53s)\n\n^Any ^edits ^are ^for ^grammar.\n\n/r/Camel_Writes", "With the gun in my hand, I stopped to consider - would I really benefit from the murder of these 5 people? I needed some help with this indecision, so I called up the two most important facets of my personality.\n\n\"Razzeklaploth, JOHN, am I doing the right thing here?\"\n\n\"It depends: are you sacrificing her to a benevolent deity, or a malicious one? Because some dimensions get a little pissy about the whole 'taking another's life' situation.\"\n\n\"No, it's just for personal pleasure. Is that a problem?\"\n\n\"WE SHOULD ALL GET-A-LONG\"\n\n\"No, the God's don't really recognise something not done specifically in their respective names. You might get some benefit if you sacrifice to Slixalote, Harbinger of Entropy, but he's noticeably fickle with part-timers\"\n\n\"And John? Do you have an opinion on the matter?\"\n\n\"THIS WILL HELP US GET-A-LONG?\"\n\n\"Well, it certainly seems like Razzeklaploth thinks it's a decent idea. I just simply want to make sure I'm in the right.\"\n\n\"MEH\"\n\n\"Two abstentions and a positive makes a positive I believe?\"\n\n\"Seems like it's all sorted out!\"\n\n\"START WITH THE LIVER SO WE CAN ALL GET-A-LONG\"\n\nfin", "The bar was quiet for this time of night, but he was determined not to leave empty-handed. His eyes scanned the dimly-lit gathering, slowly mulling over his options. There. The blonde, in the black dress that shimmered alluringly under the amber glow of strained lightbulbs. \n\n''I'm gonna go for it.'' He muttered, downing the last of his disappointingly thin cider. As he stood up, smoothing out his shirt, he paused for a moment. ''What do you guys think?''\n\nA short binary screech tugged at his eardum as Advisory Unit TN501 booted up. He was humanoid, for the most part, although his gangly arms and legs would look more at home on a ragdoll than a man. His was a monotone voice that buzzed away almost constantly, always calculating the most efficient route home, how fast his heart rate would become after any amount of physical labour, how much more alcohol he could handle (roughly 7 units, he estimated). When women were involved, though, he was uncharacteristically quiet.\n\nSteve hated TN501, but he might as well get his time's worth out of him.\n\n''Initial scan indicates a 0.15% blood alcohol content. Theoretical: Increase in percentage leads to exponential decrease in clear judgement. Practical: Amount of alcohol required to reach critical point exceeds daily budget. Suggested action: Get a real job.'' Although he knew it was impossible, Steve could've sworn that the buzzing took on a smug tone towards the end.\n\n''Hmph. Buzzkill.'' Steve rolled his eyes, and TN501 dissolved into thin air. What a dickhead. He turned slightly, making sure to keep his eyes away from his left shoulder as his other companion began to materialise. \n\n''I A M T H E B E G I N N I N G A N D T H E E N D'' screeched Pt'agh, Lord Of The Void Beyond, in a tone that seemed to reverberate inside Steve's skull. He saw the vast nothingness, the abyss that awaited all when the cold embrace of death finally embraced them. The world melted away, the twilight blazing into unbearable flashes before dying like a gas fire into imperceivable darkness. He was falling, ever falling, and there was no end in sight.\n''Come on dude, you know I hate it when you do that.'' He shook his head, clearing the thoughts of eternal damnation from his mind. ''If you're going to corrupt my immortal soul, at least give me some advice.'' With that, the incomprehensible mass vanished, and Steve was, once again, alone.\n\nBut more alone than he remembered. She was gone. A feeling of disappointed fell on his shoulders, and he meekly approached the stool where she'd been sitting. What happened? She was right there...\n\n''Alert! Alert!'' TN501's voice cut his reverie short like an alarm clock made of dying cats. ''Environmental scans indicate unknown energy in dangerous quantities. Theoretical: Possible risk of structural damage to DNA. Practical: You won't listen to me''. And he was right. Steve didn't. He knew exactly what had happened.\n\n''Goddammit, Pt'agh, again? You know I had an eye on her...'' The beast arose once more, the screams of another soul trapped in his endless void echoing in his voice.\n''I T O T A L L Y S A W H E R F I R S T''. Again, that mind-numbing reverberation, the pitch-black and the cold of the realm of the dead. Steve pulled back immediately, a disgusted grimace tugging at his lips.\n''Fine, fine. Whatever you say. Just try not to get entrails in the carpet again.''", "I didn't think the demon and angel thing was literal until I turned 13, when the depths of my subconscious summoned them to my shoulders to sit there for every one of my waking moments. I stilk don't think the demon and angel thing is literal.\n\nYou see, I have a robot and an elder god sitting on my shoulders. A Hal 9000 and Cthulhu kind of deal. Less Pure and Evil than media represents, more lawful neutral and chaotic neutral.\n\nIt's been nine years since they started giving me the worst advice possible, and somehow I'm still alive. Not just alive, but in college. Like a real person that isn't batshit crazy.\n\nI sit up in my bed and rub my eyes. First day of spring break, time to get a coffee and see what the gang is planning.\n\nThen it hits me that I'm not in my bed. I'm naked on Sonder's kitchen floor, and I have an awful headache.\n\nYOU WERE VERY DRUNK AND MADE A LOT OF POOR DECISIONS\n\nMY WORD WILL GUIDE YOUR MANY SPAWN AND I WILL REIGN OVER A NEW ERA OF HUMANITY. HE NEXT GENERATION WILL UNDERSTAND PAIN.\n\nI spoke to them in my head as I grabbed a soda from her fridge and went to look for my clothes. \"Hal, who was there? C, what did I mess up?\"\n\n'THE GANG' AND ABOUT 60 TOTAL STRANGERS WERE HERE\n\nYOU MATED WITH FOUR WOMEN, COUNTING SONDER TWICE. THE OTHER TWO ARE TOTAL STRANGERS AND YOU WILL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN\n\n\"Alright, I can work with that. Now shut up while I talk to real people.\" I found my or someone else's underwear on the couch and found Pollux lying in the bathtub texting someone. \"Where's everyone else?\"\n\nHe ran his hand through his messy dark hair and sighed. \"Sonder brought Castor and Azero with her to get us all fast food. I think J is puking outside. Glad you finally managed to cover up your junk.\"\n\nYOU WILL HAVE TO DISCUSS YOUR SEXUAL ACTIONS WITH SONDER OVER BREAKFAST WITH THE GANG, OTHERWISE THERE WILL BE AWKWARD TENSION AND THE GROUP WILL COLLAPSE\n\n\"Cool, I'm starving. You need me to grab you anything from the living room?\" I offered.\n\nPollux took up the offer quickly. \"Yeah, I want my white jacket from under the stool. Don't mind that the stool is in like five pieces, it'll be fine.\"\n\nAs I walked out of the bathroom, Pollux crawled out of the bathtub. I threw him his jacket and put on my shirt, wedged in the cushions near where my underwear was.\n\nTHEY ARE HERE\n\nSonder unlocked the door and held it open for Castor and Azero to carry J inside. They set them on the ground and went back to grab the bags of food from the sidewalk.\n\n\"What did you get me?\" A bag came flying in from the door at me and I managed to catch it, seeing that it was Castor who tossed it at me. I flipped him off as Sonder responded.\n\n\"Just a burger. I didn't know if you were going to puke at food like J is, so I got something anyone else can eat if you didn't want it.\"\n\nI pulled the coffee table to the center of the room and sat down, unwrapping the excessive amount of packaging on ny food. \"Anyways, while Pollux and Castor might still be too drunk to remember this, did we bang last night?\"\n\nHer face turned red and Castor replied first. \"I'm a borderline alcoholic, you can count on me remembering this conversation like any other.\"\n\nSonder stammered out a reply. \"Did- I uh- are you... alright with that? We were both drinking a lot and uh it just kind of led to that I swear I'm on the pill so-\"\n\n\"It's cool. Tightens up the group more than anything. Although it does feel weird that Azero would have to sit that out, I totally would've been down for a-\"\n\n\"Don't bring me into this, jackass.\"\n\nYOU ARE AN IDIOT. YOUR LIFE IS CRUMBLING AND YOU KNOW IT.\n\nSAVE THIS CONVERSATION OR YOU WILL END UP LOSING EVERYTHING AND DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL\n\nI sighed and ignored the assholes on my shoulder again.\n\n\"Can someone pass me a drink? I've got a headache like hell.\"", "Medicine school teaches you how to learn 2 physiology volumes in a fortnight , shows you how to handle delicate situations and it even makes you get over your fear of seeing a decapitated head on a table during your first year of university.\n\nHowever it does not give you any advice if paranormal forces are involved.\n\nAnd so Samantha was stuck with Tartuffe, a 2 inch red bodied imp sitting on her left shoulder, and Achilles, a winged robot of the same size as his companion, sitting on the right shoulder. \n\nAt the age of 35 and after 7 years of being in the medical area Samantha simply pushed away the idea of the 2 deities stating that she was either going mad because of the stress or someone had been playing a really long prank on her.\n\nThough physically harmless, Tartuffe and Achilles sometimes interfered with Samantha’s career which made it impossible to reason with scared patients who thought they were dying.\n\n„Just tell her to go sacrifice a goat and tell her I promise I’ll make her immortal. They always fall for it.” Tartuffe spoke.\n\n„My analysis shows that there is a 67% chance the human sitting in front of you will exaggerate the diagnostic. It also shows that the human will go home after you tell it its results and search for much worse symptoms.”\n\nWide eyed, Samantha tried to concentrate on the poor woman’s voice as she was telling everything that had happened to her in the past 24 hours.\n \n“And then my cousin, who is a ghost whisperer, started reading some incantations and after that she told me that I would go mad unless I drank exactly 0,2 millilitres of ethanol.”\n\n“You don’t say…” The doctor kindly spoke as the veins in her cornea screamed murder. \n\n“Jesus.” Tartuffe uttered as he stretched his hooves.\n\nNeither creature seemed to have had an impact on the tolerant doctor until years later when a certain incident almost turned into the opposite of her job.\n\n„Get out of my way or I’ll smash your god damn face in I will!” \n\nSamantha’s ears seemed to have picked up the thick southern accent accompanied by heavy footsteps well as a panting woman with the same voice as before was approaching the patient’s room. \n\nSamantha looked over the medical file again.\n\nDamien Green. Age 21. Involved in a car accident, high alcohol levels found in his bloodstream, presumably it was his first time drinking legally and decided to have more than enough. \n\n„Damien! Oh, Damien!”\n\nImploring as if about to start reciting a sonnet, the woman approached the wounded’s bandage covered face and started to analyse it. \n\n„What happened to him?” The red faced female spoke. \n\n„Car accident. Fortunately he is in stable condition. Just a few more investigations, some administered medicine and injections and he might be on his feet again in no-„\n\n„Medication? My boy don’t need no medication, he needs God.” The woman abruptly interrupted Samantha, taking out a plasticized photo of a saint.\n\n“Hey! I know that guy!” Tartuffe remarked as if about to jump from the shoulder and rip the image to pieces.\n\n“Another deity similar to us? My database shows no information of such.” Achilles intervened.\n\n“He sits at the entrance of heaven like oh look at me with my big staff, I’ll show you a staff-“\n\n“Tartuffe, it is inappropriate to speak such words with a female human present.”\n\n“I’ll say whatever I want, you tinfoil piece of trash.” \n\nTrying to regain her train of thoughts Samantha attempted reasoning with the woman.\n\n„Ma’am, that’s silly, his bones won’t heal as fast unless we administrate him calcium and all the other vitamins.”\n\n“Silly? I’ll show you silly when you burn in hell for throwing all these random things into people’s bodies.”\n\nA storm of thoughts soon followed again.\n\nTartuffe: “50 bucks says she’s going there before anyone else.”\n\nSamantha: “Ma’am.”\n\nAchilles: “I suggest aborting the mission as there is a 78% chance of the event leading to violent repercussions.” \n\nWoman: “You think I don’t know what you’re doing to all the patients? I watch TV, I know everything!”\n\nSamantha: “Madam.”\n\n“AND I KNOW GOD WILL HEAL EVERYONE IN THIS HOSPITAL WHILE ALL DOCTORS WILL GO TO HELL WHERE THEY DESERVE.”\n\nTartuffe: “Uh, oh.”\n\nSilence filled the room as the vicious tornado of words had ended.\n\nLiterally feeling her brain stem explode, with macabre bloodshot eyes Samantha walked next to the bed and without thinking pressed her finger on the IV perfusion tube which pumped the fluid into Damien’s body, stopping it from flowing.\n\nAfter 3 seconds of complete stillness the heart monitor started going insane with beeping sounds as the almost lifeless body started convulsing in the white sheets.\n\n“What’s going on?! What are you doing?!! DAMIEN! STOP IT!!”\n\nMere seconds passed as her slender fingers let go of the perfusion. She leaned her knuckles on the bed to look at the benevolent woman on the opposite side.\n\nAnd with frost dead words she spoke:\n\n„Where’s your God now?”\n", "Today is my nephew’s birthday, and I’m standing here feeling entirely out of place. The box of Legos, a ninja something set, in my hand is slowly getting soaked in my sweat as a dozen hyperactive kids run around the house ignoring me every bit as much as the adults are ignoring me: my sister and I don’t get along.\n\n\n“Oh, hi Drew,” she said when I showed up. Followed by “Soooooooooooooonnnny!! Darling, it’s so good to see you!” to Sonny standing in line behind me. Sonny is their realtor. Looking around their plush living room, hardwood floors, tray drop ceiling broken up by sweeping archways and accented by hanging chandeliers, I do have to admit they got a nice home at an obscene price. \n\n\nMy nephew finally notices me and runs up with an exuberant, “Uncle Drew!” \n\n\nI grin and stick the sunday-comics wrapped present in his face. His eyes light up and fails to notice the two sweaty handprints flanking both sides of the box. He tears the wrapping off with utter abandon, and his expression drops. \n\n\n“Oh, thanks Uncle Drew,” he mutters before tossing the Lego set onto the couch with the other discarded toys before running outside to join his friends.\n\n\n“I believe I did indicate that the Ninjago Lego set had only a 37% probability of being acceptable,” I hear from my left shoulder. Morality Bot 3000 sits there; I call him MB for short. I was told there would be a proper replacement for him within three months. It’s been two years. That was also about the time my sister stopped returning my phone calls.\n\n\n“MB, I know, but the Minecraft set was a hundred bucks. This was more reasonable.”\n\n\n“What is money in the eternity of a childhood remembering a bad gift?”\n\n\nI have nothing to say to that.\n\n\nA strange, unintelligible noise that sounds like a pig vomiting and hiccuping at the same time comes from my right shoulder where Chaugnar Faugn sits. I just call him Chug, because he’s obsessed with eating. Morality Bot 3000 is a cube with lights, speaker box and a metallic voice; Chaugnar Faugn is a squat, grey… thing. Large grey ears, like an elephant, and a bright pink trunk with a greedy mouth at the end. Beady little red eyes stare out unflinchingly. \n\n\nMore pig vomit noises. \n\n\n“Chug,” I sigh, “I don’t speak the elder tongue. Speak in common or don’t speak at all.”\n\n\nIn a slow, halting voice that sounds like some inhaling while talking, Chug says, “We… eat… legos…?”\n\n\n“No, that would be rude.”\n\n\n“We… eat… boy...?” \n\n\n“That would be ruder.”\n\n\nI wrap my hands around my body, then put them in my pocket, then at my side, and back in my pockets. Without the present to hold, my hands feel especially useless and I feel especially out of place.\n\n\n“I have calculated that 95% of the adult attendants here are holding a beverage or food of some kind. The 5% that isn’t holding anything, is you. It is my recommendation to get something to eat and drink.”\n\n\n“Agree… with… cube… food…” Chug waves his pink tentacle trunk about, mouth snapping at the end. He is never so happy as when there is food about. \n\n\n“Fine.” I make my way over to the table of goodies and can’t help but note the Minecraft tablecloth underneath. I mentally map out the nearest liquor store on the way home. The money I saved on the Lego present today is going straight into a bottle of wine.\n\n\n“Vodka…” Chug chortles.\n\n\nFine, Vodka. \n\n\nI pour two glasses of punch and hand one to Chug. MB requires no food, but I do need to remember to plug him in at night.\n\n\nThere’s a high pitched whine from my shoulder that startles me. Chug is giddy with delight: he loves sugar, and there’s enough in this punch to send a diabetic into a coma. I survey the room, catch my sister’s eye and she turns away. Then I see Donna holding two cups of punch, but otherwise alone. She’s my sister’s friend from high school. We always used to flirt harmlessly as teenagers. I saw on facebook that she’s recently divorced. Maybe I shouldn’t talk to her. It could be in bad taste to talk to her at this time. \n\n\n“I calculate a 14% chance that you will strike out if you attempt conjugal relations, however I also calculate a 93% chance that you will have a successful conversation if you speak to her just as a friend.”\n\n\nTruthfully, conjugal relations are the last thing on my mind. But having someone to talk to instead of standing around like a dipshit at a kid’s party sounds way better. \n\n\nI look to my right shoulder for advice. Chug squeals, and throws his empty cup to the ground. I’m pretty sure he said something to the effect of, “Chaugnar Faugn demands the immediate sacrifice of a hundred virgin sugar cane plants!” Or something to that effect. I’m starting to pick up pieces of the ancient one’s tongue. \n\n\n“Hello Donna,” I say as I sidle up beside her. She smiles at me in a sincere way that melts my anxiety. Small creases around her eyes remind me that we’re not kids anymore, and that she’s one of those lovely people that is so prone to warm smiles.\n\n\n“Drew, how are you? I didn’t know you’d be here!” She hugs me in an embrace. The first hug that I’ve had in months.\n\n\n“Eat… her…” chug says in my ear. I’m terribly grateful that no one else can hear, nor see, him at that moment. \n\n\n“I’m doing well, how have you been?” \n\n\n“Oh, well, you know. Things are rough between Sammy and I,” she says and tells me the story of the divorce. I nod and pretend it’s all new information to me. Anything is better than standing alone. The conversation continues and twists and turns through topics beyond recent de-couplings. It takes me back. Endless summers sitting on the back porch, staring at the stars – before the stars cursed me with Chug – and talking to Donna for hours while my sister is inside, making out with her boyfriend of the moment. It never occurred to me until now, Donna was one of the true friends I had growing up. It wasn’t until my sister pushed me away that I stopped seeing her in any capacity. \n\n\nDonna refills her punch and I politely refuse a second glass. My head is already swimming from all this sugar. \n\n\n“Want… more…”\n\n\nI try to hush Chug silently while Donna’s back is turned.\n\n\n“What’s that?” she says as she turns back around.\n\n\n“WANT… MORE!! WANT MORE!WANTMORE!” Chug screams. There’s something you need to know about Chug, and the rules of the Spiritual life Advisors – that’s what the conscience on your shoulder is called – they can’t interact with anything in the human world directly unless I touch it first. I had to hand Chug his cup. But they can sway, and impact the world through their human host. \n\n\nSo that’s what drove Chug to grab my hand, fly it forward, seize the cup out of Donna's hand, and knock it back into his mouth. Most of it got in his mouth, a fair amount also splashed the kids behind us.\n\n\n“I… I…” I try to make up an excuse. Donna just laughs and tells me that she can get another for herself. While her back is turned, I seize the little pink trunk of Chug and pinch it with every amount of strength and anger I have. Chug doesn’t care; he’s had his sugar. \n\n\nDonna returns and we continue our conversation. The topic turns decidedly nostalgic. Maybe she too misses the days of old. If nothing else, I miss having a friend. \n\n\n“Where’s the birthday boy!” My sister calls as she walks into the room. Her face illuminated by ten burning candles on the cake in her hand. Drew bounces up and down clapping with excitement. \n\n\n“I calculate, you should run,” MB says.\n\n\n“I, what?” \n\n\nChug, it seems, was not in a forgiving mood after I pinched his snout. Out of instinct and fear, I turn to my right, and there’s nothing on my shoulder. Chug is behind my head. \n\n\n“WANTMOREWANTMOREWANTMOREWANTMORE!!!!!” He seizes large fistfuls of hair, and drives me forward where I piledrive, face first, into the cake and burning candles. I’m momentarily grateful for the human automatic reaction to close my eyes so only my eyelids are burned. \n\n\nScreams erupt all around and the unmistakable sound of a kid, specifically a nephew, crying. I stand up and wipe the frosting from my eyes. The first thing I see is my sister’s apoplectic eyes filled with burning rage and anger. She’s pointing at the front door. \n\n\nI get the message, and don’t even try to make excuses. I just leave. \n\n\nI stop and sit on the front stoop and spend a moment to wipe the frosting out of my hair. \n\n\n“Thanks a fucking lot, Chug.” \n\n\nChug is covered in frosting and happily licking his own body. He grunts a single noise over and over, that I’m pretty sure is ancient tongue for sugar. \n\n\n“Drew,” I hear a voice behind me. I turn and see Donna. She smiles and says, “Don’t worry about it. Your sister has always been a bit of a bitch. Call me sometime; we’ll get coffee.”\n\n\nShe gives me a hug, and I feel a tiny tongue lick on my cheek. As she’s walking away, I see a small elephant like creature, but not Chug, covered in frosting, sitting on her right shoulder.\n\n\nI don’t think I’ll be invited to any more Birthday parties, but I think things are going to be OK.\n\n\n\n\n\n", "\"Skin her flesh, drink her blood, and wear her face as a mask.\"\n\n\"Nonsense. The proper way to go about it is to access the skull so we can examine her mental code and check for viruses.\"\n\nI was silent for a moment, glaring at my two shoulder apparitions.\n\n\"Guys,\" I said eventually. \"I'm trying to ask her out on a date, not kill her.\"\n\n\"I know that,\" the tiny Eldritch horror on my right shoulder said. \"I know all, from the archaic Age that preceded this universe, to its infinite End.\" Yet somehow, it sounded like he was making a weak excuse. Elder Gods didn't blush, but I had developed a certain instinct for his moods.\n\n\"Of course,\" the gleaming tiny bot on my left signalled. \"I calculated the probabilities of your succes already. They were so low that you might as well take desperate measures.\"\n\n\"Wow. Thanks guys, that's encouraging.\" \n\nA man wondered, now and then, if it wasn't a bit crazy to listen to the morality of his shoulder apparitions... me, I'd \n long ago come to the conclusion that I was already stark-mad for seeing mine.\n\n\"Well don't just stand there processing the view,\" my bot-conscience said. \"Parse some words with her. Inaction gives a probability of zero.\"\n\n\"Bah, I've bid my time for 3 billion eons,\" the Elder God grumbled, \"And I'll destroy this universe yet! You'll see! Millions will scream in agony as-\"\n\nI tuned them out, and walked up to Sarah.\n\n\"H-hey,\" I stammered. \"What's up?\"\n\n\"Oh, hey Dave. Did you get my message about the party next friday?\"\n\n\"Yeah, seems like fun,\" I said, smiling nervously.\n\n\"What is this concept, 'fun'?\" little bot asked. \"I cannot find any corresponding data.\"\n\n\"Fun means they're going to sacrifice ten virgins and bathe in their blood,\" the Eldritch said wisely.\n\n\"Ah, I will store this away for later.\"\n\n\"So listen,\" I said quickly, before more damage could be done. \"Sarah, I've been meaning to ask you for a while now...\"\n\nShe looked up, her warm brown eyes suddenly perked with bright interest. \"Yes?\"\n\n\"I- I think you're really cute,\" I blurted out. \"And I was wondering if you'd want to go get some coffee with me?\"\n\nShe stared at me, and for a tense moment both apparitions raged at me:\n\n\"OIL, SHE WANTS OIL YOU STUPID HUMAN-\"\n\n\"...fountains of blood, enough to coat the planets and stars-\"\n\nThen, Sarah smiled, and my heart faltered at that smile. \"Sure. When do you wanna go?\"\n\nThe two voices in my head abruptly cut out, and I glanced at both my shoulders to see that the two apparitions were gone, for the first time in my life.\n\nI repressed a grin, smiled charmingly and said: \"How about we go right now? I know this great place, really close, where they...\"\n\n----\n\nDave and Sarah walked off, and two apparitions watched them go.\n\n\"Our little boy,\" the robot said, transforming into an angel and wiping away a proud tear. \"All grown up.\"\n\nThe Elder God had transformed as well, into a tiny devil. \"This new, radical approach to morality really paid off,\" he said with a smug grin.\n\n\"Yes, yes, you were right,\" the angel acknowledged grudgingly. \"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?\"\n\n\"Of course I was right, we demons know humanity far better than you lot.\" The tiny devil casually lit an even tinier cigarette, and poked jestingly at his companion's side. \"Force morality on them and they will never accept it. All we had to do was show'im what lies outside the spectrum of conventional choices. That way he could naturally discover the appeals on his own.\"\n\nThe angel sighed. \"I don't know. Actually, I feel like I made some compelling arguments at times. If we'd all stick to a code, you know-\"\n\n\"Oh please! If anything, the glorious destruction of the universe is way cooler. I feel like he listened more to my side of things...\"\n\nThe two bickering voices faded off as the apparitions went on to their next human. Drifting up from below on the sunlit street, laughter drifted up from where Dave and Sarah were enjoying their first date.\n\n----\n\nr/Writeful_heir" ]	7
	[WP] You and the rest of your infantry battalion are stuck in the middle of a mimefield. Describe your experiences.	[ "\"If we come to a mimefield, our infantry attacks exactly as it were not there.\"\n\nThese were the words the General had issued before the march today, and at the time it hadn't seemed like it would be that bad. The sun was out, just a few clouds in the sky, and long, long expanses far as the eye could see. We'd marched in peace for at least a few hours, but halfway across the long open field we were currently traversing one of my soldiers stopped suddenly, and screamed out, loud as can be, \"OH NO!\" \n\nWe all turned to look at him, but it was too late. He was trapped. \n\n\"Captain please! I'm too young to die!\" He was shaking in his boots, the poor man on the edge of tears already. But we all could see. He was doomed, and there was no saving him now.\n\nThe white faced man next to him was very clearly showing us that there was a box around the two, and there was no way out. \n\n\"I'm sorry, James. I should've realized...\" My hands felt useless in front of me, and all I could do was hang my head in shame. \n\n\"Wait sir! There's more!\" I turned around to the voice, looking where the soldier was pointing. There were whiteface wearing men all over the field, all around us. They were in front of us, behind us, to both sides. They were in boxes, they were blowing in the wind, a few of them even had-\n\n\"Shit! Shit! Help! Please somebody help!\" Johnny had been caught by one. He was being dragged towards him with a rope. The mime, blank faced, kept pulling that invisible rope, dragging Johnny towards him. Johnny struggled, but there was nothing he could do. He was caught. A few of the other men went and tried to pull him away, but the mime only seemed to have a little more trouble pulling on that rope, and Johnny kept moving that way. \n\nAnother mime suddenly started blowing really hard in the wind, and a couple men opened their eyes hard before they were swept away by the storm, slammed against the ground and being pushed by the strong wind. Within seconds they had been pushed into one of the Box Mimes, and from that point on they were doomed. \n\n\"I don't wanna die...\" James kept muttering, weeping as he banged against the invisible prison. \n\nWe gotta get out here, I thought, any more of this and the entire regiment will be lost. \n\n\"Alright boys! Follow me, we gotta move fast and move calmly, or else these mimes will take us all down. They can smell your fear, remember that. On me!\" And I started walking one way, towards what looked like the least dense exit. The rest of my squadron, although nervously, walked along behind me, glancing back and forth at the mimes all around. James kept banging on that cage, yelling at us not to leave him. I simply said it was too late for him. Johnny screamed as he kept being pulled through the dirt. I simply said it was too late for him. Jacob and Jack, the two men taken by the wind, kept yelling out in pain as they were slammed against the sides of the box by the vicious winds. I simply said it was too late for them. \n\nWe walked along, trying to minimize casualties. We lost a couple of good men as we approached the exit. Jay slipped on a banana peel one of the mimes threw underneath him, and then the mime got him with his rope. Jim got hit in the head with a ball one of them threw, and stumbled into the box of another one. Jeb got caught behind a wall one of them was leaning on, and then he couldn't find a way out, but eventually accidentally stepped into one of their boxes. \n\nBut we made it to the exit, I stopped at the end, ushering each of the remaining men out, telling them to hurry up. I wasn't losing any more of my team today. They were all out, and I was just about to exit when I felt it. \n\nA slight tug on my chest. Just a teeny bit of pressure, but I knew. \n\n\"Captain, come on! Let's go.\" Jaden said to me. I looked at him, looked at all of them. I nodded, my face being crossed with a bittersweet smile. \n\n\"Go on.\" I said, \"It's too late for me.\"\n\nAnd then the pull began, and I was being dragged through the dirt, towards the horrible white faced demon that taunted me. If there was one last thing I was going to do, I was going to bring that damn thing down with me. I roared as it pulled me into it's box, and with the last bit of energy I could muster, I leaped at it. " ]	1
	[WP] You wake up just to find yourself in another persons body, you have all memories so you go on a journey to find yourself just to find out you died yesterday.	[ " This is real, I don't care if you believe me or not but I'm typing from this \"Hannah\" girls laptop currently on a train back to California. My story is...kind of insane and will sound fake, hell I don't believe it but when I pinch myself it hurts so I don't know what to think. \n\n All I know is it feels real, the sounds of the man talking to some woman on his phone behind me, the baby crying at the end of the train car, the fact that every time I look around I have to move her long blonde hair out of my face, the train moving and subtly shaking all feels too real.\n\n I remember the day before I was like this, the day of too, but that last hour was...blurry. I still can't remember the feeling of dying but...it's like a movie almost, that's the best I can describe it. So maybe I should tell the story from the start.\n\n I wasn't the happiest person and was living a mundane life but I had a few friends, some family I liked being around, I spent a lot of time on my phone but a lot of people did too (lucky enough I got that back, and I remember passwords so I can probably do something about that) Anyway that night it all happened I was drunk with my friends, more than the usual few drinks I'd have so I was quite hammered for the first time in a while. I had to piss so I had my friend who was driving stop the car at a building I work at and that's all I remember... I know what happened now but the memory of it escaped me or didn't form cause of the alcohol. But then it happened, the sun woke me up by shining in my eyes and I knew things were different.\n\n You know one thing these movies don't cover is that when you wake up as the opposite gender, and pretty skinny, you can feel it...like the sense of where your body parts are that's all off and you can feel the new parts...anyway standing up and staying up was also difficult due to the new center of gravity but I managed. I looked down at myself and saw my new form, it was wearing pajamas and a tank top and it honestly felt alien. I walked over to the mirror and looked at myself, she didn't look bad and if I wasn't so confused this would be a little cooler. \n\n Her room was a little messy with some clothes on the floor and posters of some singers like Selena Gomez and a few others on the wall, there was a nirvana one too so I guess she had interesting taste like I did as I had a mixture of genres in my phone too. I headed to her closet, some band shirts some flannel and some girly clothes, the shoes were about the same mixture of \"tomboyish with a few girly things\" so I grabbed a few things. A blink 182 t shirt, some red flannel shirt, some jeans that seemed a little looser than the skinny jeans that were in her closet, and a pair of normal converse. At least her style matched mine a little.\n\n I changed clothes trying to respect her privacy as I didn't know if someone was watching, if I was stuck like this maybe I'd try a few things later but not until I got answers. I headed out the door once I was dressed and had her phone that was on her table. The house was nice, a typical family home that you'd probably see in a sitcom like full house. I went to the kitchen and there was a note on the door, it read \"Hannah we will be home later, love mom and dad\" I was thinking \"is that who I am now?\" And grabbed an apple to eat. I looked for her purse or something and eventually found one of those long wallet like things with a small hand strap girls have...I still don't know what their called. It had an ID that said \"Hannah\" on it, I don't feel comfortable sharing the last name. But I was 20, cool I gained three years if this is permanent as I was 23 before (though every time I see an alcohol cart go by on this train I get a little annoyed) I also found a college ID card...great, I'm definitely not smart enough for college.\n\n I put my hand on my forehead...or her hand on her forehead...whichever, I was wondering what to do so I found her laptop and looked up my old name... nothing, I guess I'll have to look. I got onto her phone and it was locked but I got in somehow, I guess I know her passwords. I got into a banking app and this girl had...quite a bit of money so I thought a trip to my home wouldn't be too much by train even if it was cross country since I saw \"California\" on the ID. \n\n This was all interrupted by the fact I had to go piss... and all I'll say about that is it was...different, but after all that and leaving a note that said \"I'm gonna stay at a fiends for a few nights\" I didn't know if I'd get in any trouble for that but I had to try to find out what happened. I left bringing her laptop and a little clothes then went to a train station and got a ticket. I got on the train and rode to my city in Iowa. Along the way a guy tried to sit by me and eventually left when I ignored him, this was probably gonna get annoying eventually but I don't really know since it'd only been a few hours as Hannah by then. The train arrived a day later and I had a call from Hannah's parents along the way, they were actually pretty easygoing and just told me to be careful at my friend's house.\n\n It was night when I got back and I headed to my old apartment, my parents cars were gone and I obviously didn't have a key so I headed to a hotel nearby and slept there. When I woke up I looked at my hand...still hers... so I got dressed seeing as I wouldn't shower until I had to... I headed by my apartment again and the cars were still gone, I hoped everyone was okay and thought maybe something would be in the paper or the news so I got a taxi to the newspaper place by a park in my city and looked through it, nothing big really but when I got to the obituaries... my name was there.. \"I'm dead?\" I thought while feeling like passing out. It turns out my body was found by the river being carried by a guy. I dropped the paper and looked around wondering what I do now.\n\n I decided to go to where my last memory was and got to the alleyway of the building I work at. There I found my wallet and the things that were in my pocket. I wondered how they got there and walked back to my apartment, if this was a movie or something it'd start raining or something but it was actually pretty sunny. When I got to my apartment I used my key and got in as my parents cars still weren't there. My cats greeted me like they knew it was me so I pet them and got a few things, my phone and a few small things I'd want to keep to remember my old life. I petted my cats one last time and left to go back to California to live my new life. \n\n So here I am, wondering what comes next, do I go to her college or something? I'll find it out later, I'm tired and need to rest so I'm gonna put some Katy Perry from my phone on and a drift to sleep." ]	1
	[WP] write for the most twisted and cruel character possible.	[ "June 10 2016\n\nMy name is Dr. Nikhil Roy. This is an experiment. I want to see how to psychologically break someone with a lasting effect. So I'm recording this. I want to keep track of every step. I chose not to seek volunteers, this way the data is unaffected. I have decided to put on a mask and voice modulater to increase the subjects fear. He is in a windowless room to prevent any attempts to escape. I'm going to start its daily treatment now. Recording will continue through treatment for comparison purposes.\n\nGood morning\n\n\"Where am I? Who are you? Please, I'm scared!\"\n\nYour treatment begins today. Please stay still.\n\n\"PUT THE GUN DOWN, PUT THE GUN DOWN, PLEASE!\"\n\nBang. \n\nBLAM\n\n\"AHH, NO, PLEASE, STOP!\"\n\nBang. \n\nBLAM\n\n\"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, DON'T SHOOT ME-\"\n\nBang, bang.\n\nBLAM BLAM\n\n\"DAMMIT, MY LEG!\" \n\nYour treatment is over. There's a first aid kit in the corner.\n\nChk\n\nSubject is predictably scared. The next recording will be after one month.\n\nJuly 10th 2016\n\nAfter one month of treatment, subject can be heard crying through the door. He occasionally wakes up and screams. His initial anger seems to have dissipated. I will begin treatment\n\nGood morning \n\n\"Oh god, ple-\"\n\nBang.\n\nBLAM\n\n\"AHHH! Why do you miss, I'm a yard aw-\"\n\nBang. \n\nBLAM bang\n\n\"Please, I'm asking whatever piece of good that you have in you, just let me go! I'll do anything.\"\n\nBang, bang, bang.\n\nBLAMBLAMBLAM\n\n\"UNHH, YOU HIT ME, STOP STOP STOP. LET ME GO, LET ME GO, LET ME G-\"\n\nToday is your last treatment. I'm going to knock you out and leave you in the woods so you can't trace me. \n\nTHUD\n\nTreatment is over, I'm moving to secondary observation.\n\n____________________________\n\nMichael Brown was kidnapped on June 9th 2016. One month later he was found in the middle of a national park, bleeding and unconscious. He reported being tortured by a masked individual, being shot over and over. After another month of nightmares, he goes to see a psychiatrist in hopes of solving his issue.\n\n\"Every night I think back to that room, that sack he wore over his face, and I scream. It was my girlfriend who forced me to come here.\"\n\n\"Well, good thing you're in my office now! Ill have you fixed in a month, bang!\"\n\nMichael winces, thinking of his nightmare. The doctor grins slightly.\n\n\"Ah, that was probably a trigger. I'm sorry. This is a clear cut case of PTSD,\" He apologizes.\n\nMichael tries to brush it off \"It's fine. Thank you for this, doctor.\"\n\nThe doctor smiles again. \"Call me Nikhil.\"\n\n\n\nAWW SHIT, I'M BACK! Make sure to check r/thebad_comedian for more! " ]	1
	[WP] you come to gain super strength and invulnerability, and have been using your powers to better humanity. But one day you come to realize that every time you've been shot, stabbed or harmed, it's some random person that instead receives the damage. Do you continue being humanity's champion?	[ " It's been ten years and I find this out now? I believe I'm helping people but is it worth it? The next person my injuries bounce to could be someone I love,could be a doctor that cures cancer. I don't want to hurt someone trying to save someone else, thats why I'm making a public announcement at the United Nations tomorrow telling the world of my discovery and asking them if they still want me as there champion. \n\n \"Hello everyone I know some of you are wondering why I called this conference but I need to ask a very simple question but it has grave consequences. Do you still want me as your champion?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n Of course they said yes what am I thinking I need to tell everyone NOW! \n\n \"Thank you very much everyone I'm honoured. I've saved so many lives and helped a lot of people. I still don't know how or why I got these powers and I tried to do the best I could to make up for that fact. But I've made a discovery that will shock you and may change some of your minds. Everyone has seen me in battle and knows that I can't get hurt no matter what has been thrown at me. What I have found out is that every single time I get shot ,stabbed , punched and kicked the pain and wounds get transferred to someone else in the world. Every time I saved someone by standing in front of a bullet another person died. Every single time. So I ask again... do you still want me as your champion?\"\n\n--------------------------------------------\n\nHey first time writing on here tell me what you think and if I made any mistakes or broke any rules👍" ]	1
	[WP] You are being stalked by a girl.	[ "This story is based on an experience I had with a girl once. Some liberties are taken.\n\nHow can she not be trusted? Sure, she is a tad odd and has her ticks, but she is a nice person. Her outlook on the world is just different from you is all. She's alright deep down inside and you know it. She'd never do anything crazy to you or your friends. You know that is the case, but why does she not feel right? Why is there that lingering feeling of distrust around her? What did she ever do to you? Rather, what will she do to you?\n\nI just don't feel alright around her. I don't think she'll do anything to me. I don't know her and she doesn't know me. Ha, maybe she doesn't feel alright around me. Who knows what she thinks about me. Maybe she sees me as just another loser dork with glasses. I'm nothing special, she's just going to be another person to come and go in my life and I will be that to her.\n\nYou've only ever seen her a few times, but those few times something wasn't quite right. Was it how she constantly spoke of death and sex in the same vein? Her incredibly odd infatuation with blood as if something of an aphrodisiac? Well, we all have our fetishes, right? There's no reason to see her as untrustworthy simply because of that, you're just being paranoid. That has to be it, you're just being paranoid and a tad judgemental.\n\nIt's true, we all have our weird interests. It's not like I am clean and pure. I'm into some weird things too and it may seem extreme to me, but what if some of my own interests are extreme and weird to her? I am just way too judgemental and untrusting. I know for a fact that she it's not going to get weird and act up on me. I just need to calm down!\n\nMaybe it had to do with her infatuation with you. She always spoke to you in an almost worship-esque tone. That can just be explained away as you not having someone see you as worth something, right? You've been pushed down and kicked around all your life and you just have low self esteem. It's just a tad odd to have someone see you in a different light. As the old song go, it's not unusual at all, right? Right, you just have a hard time someone seeing you as worth something.\n\nExactly, it's not like I haven't had my own weird interests in people. We have all been there. It's nothing odd, it's nothing to worry about. I just need to leave well enough alone and let it all be. I know this just has to be an innocent crush. Nothing at all to worry about. I just need to relax.\n\nOr maybe... it was that night she showed up at your window at night glaring in. You know she didn't see you. She must have had a reason, right? It's not weird, you must just be taking this out of context. You'll probably talk to her tomorrow and you must just have missed her knocking on the door and she wanted to see if anyone was home. She must be feeling just as odd as you. That must be it, you're just taking this out of context!\n\nI know we all do our weird things sometimes. Do I really want to say this was done for one reason or another? You know you have been late to class a few times and your teacher thought you were lazy and stupid and never knew you were taking care of your parents and sisters! I know I must be taking this out of context. I just need clear my head and talk to her. \n\nMaybe it was when she showed up in your window again with a knife screaming threats into house saying if you don't have sex with her she'll kill you and then herself. Screaming about how this was all your fault because you led her on. That has to be it, this is all your fault! You did everything wrong here, you owe this to her and you need to go out there and make this right! This is it, this is all your fault! You are entirely in the wrong!\n\nThis is all my fault, this is my fault, this is my fault and I need to give her what she needs! I need to make this right, if I had just done it right none of this wouldn't have happened! I shouldn't have led her on, I should have either given it to her or just stated I am not interested! I should have let her known! There's nothing left I can do, I have to fix this! I have to give her what I owe her! I can't calm down! I can't calm down! I can't calm down!\n\nNo, it can't be. No, this isn't your fault! You did nothing wrong! Maybe you need to stop blaming yourself for all of this and finally stand up for yourself! Maybe you need to stop blaming yourself every time something beyond your control! You know now you need to stop giving her excuses and realize her for what she is! She is a lunatic and you kept saying you must be too harsh! You knew all along she was crazy and now it's time to set this right! She is entirely in the wrong! This is it, make this right!\n\nI... I have to set this right. I am going to talk to her." ]	1
	[WP] "So, explain to me how magic isn't real," said the wizard.	[ "\"I don't know a spell to make you have an orgasm, ma'am,\" the wizard said. \"I don't think such a crass thing exists.\"\n\n\"Well of course it doesn't,\" the barfly replied. \"Because magic doesn't exist.\"\n\nSelena didn't have enough money to pay for her next drink. She made this one count. The wizard wasn't a regular at this particular bar. She had seen him at others. She saw a lot of people at a lot of bars, but she remembered the wizard. He always wore his robes. His entrances were fantastical, like most wizards. But she didn't remember those wizards. They had fantastical entrances, but his were the most. \n\n\"That's hilarious,\" said the wizard. He manufactured a laugh in response to her declaration. \"My name is Marcus, ma'am. And if you haven't noticed, I am a wizard. I would know if my profession was a lie.\"\n\nWizards always thought they knew everything, but barflies knew more. Selena knew more. Anyone who went around town wearing robes and a dorky hat didn't know as much as they thought they did.\n\n\"It's your right to believe that,\" Selena said. \"I'm out of money, so I'll be on my way. Good luck with your magic.\" She grabbed her jacket and started to dismount the bar stool. The wizard blocked her exit with his hand, and she stopped.\n\n\"Wait,\" Marcus said. \"I'll buy you a drink. And then I'll show you a spell. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it isn't real.\"\n\nSelena smiled. She could stay, for a drink. She sat my jacket back down and turned to the bartender. The wizard bought her a beer. He bought one for himself too. She sipped the beer. The wizard opened his book. \n\nHe skimmed the pages, and settled his finger on a long sentence.\n\nHe read the words out loud. A small light appeared above the bar. It shined brighter than the bar's own lighting. Magic. \n\n\"See, a light. So, explain to me how magic isn't real,\" said the wizard. He had triumphed. How could Selena say that magic wasn't real if she was looking right at it?\n\n\"Neat,\" the woman said. \"Make it dance.\"\n\n\"It doesn't dance,\" Marcus said. \"It's a light spell. It makes a light.\"\n\n\"Well cast a dancing light spell then,\" Selena asked. \"I'd like to see a light dance.\"\n\n\"I don't think there is a spell for a dancing light,\" he said. He looked through his book. \n\n\"Well if it can't make me orgasm and it can't make the light dance, what can magic do?\" Selena asked.\n\n\"All sorts of things,\" he answered. He flipped through his book, and showed Selena long sentences in a language that she couldn't read. \"This one makes a fireball, and this one shoots a missile of magic.\"\n\nMarcus looked excited. He had already won, and now he was showing what else he could do. He thought he was powerful.\n\n\"Can't you get a new book?\" Selena asked. \"One with more spells?\" She finished her beer. Marcus was showing off. He couldn't stop so soon. He bought her another.\n\n\"There's only one book,\" Marcus answered. \"It has all the spells, I don't need any more.\"\n\n\"Who wrote the book?\" she asked. She looked interested. Marcus let her hold it. She drank her second beer.\n\n\"The wizards of old,\" he replied. \"They wrote the book, and the wizards of the tower reprint it for the new wizards that they train.\"\n\n\"Why doesn't everyone have a book?\" asked Selena. \"Why only wizards?\" She found the sentence that Marcus had read. She couldn't read the language, but she remembered the page.\n\n\"Because only wizards can do magic,\" boasted the wizard. Selena read the sentence. She remembered how to pronounce it. She said it just like Marcus had. Nothing happened.\n\n\"See? It doesn't work, only for wizards. The tower awakens them, and then they can do magic,\" Marcus explained. \"As they get more confident in their abilities, they can rewrite reality with just their will.\"\n\n\"Why do you have the book?\" Selena asked. It was hard to pronounce the words from the book. She didn't speak the language. But Marcus did. And the book was heavy. \"It would be easier if you memorized them.\"\n\n\"It doesn't work like that,\" the wizard answered. \"You have to read it from the book, or it doesn't work.\"\n\n\"And who makes the book, again?\" asked Selena. She finished her second beer. \n\n\"The tower, of course,\" the wizard said. He bought her another beer. She wasn't understanding this. He couldn't let her leave until she did.\n\n\"So this tower,\" she said. \"They make people wizards. And they make these books. And then you can do magic. But you can't do it without the book. And you can't do it without becoming a wizard.\"\n\n\"That's right!\" said Marcus. \"You're finally getting it!\"\n\n\"Are there other places that make wizards?\" Selena asked. She sipped her third beer. \"Or is it just the tower?\"\n\n\"Just the tower, of course,\" the wizard replied. \"Don't you think you would have heard of another place that made wizards?\"\n\n\"I was only checking,\" Selena said. \"You know, I have a sister. Or I did. She joined up this group. They were religious. They worshipped a man who healed people. He made a blind man see again.\"\n\n\"I have a spell to heal people,\" the wizard said. He was proud of that. \"Maybe the man was a wizard.\"\n\n\"He did it without a book,\" she said. \"Now my sister thinks she can heal people too. He told her so.\"\n\n\"But she can't?\" Marcus asked. He was interested. Selena paused. She took a drink of her fourth beer.\n\n\"Nope,\" said Selena. \"I watched her try. She put her hands on a man. He was lame, and he was homeless. She told him he could walk. He told her that she couldn't. But she couldn't hear him. Some kind of brainwashing, I imagine.\"\n\n\"That's insane,\" cried the wizard. \"To think that she could be fooled by that man!\"\n\n\"It is,\" agreed Selena. \"I guess when someone takes you in to a group and tells you that you're special, you believe them. They do something to you, and then you believe that you can do special things. Things you couldn't do before. But only specific things.\"\n\n\"You aren't insinuating that your sister's situation was anything like my own?\" the wizard said. He was annoyed. Selena scarfed down her beer. It was the fifth. \"I can do magic, you saw me do magic.\"\n\n\"One time, I drank way too much,\" said Selena. She ignored his protests. \"I saw a bunch of things that weren't possible. I even saw bright lights. I thought I was cold, but I wasn't. I thought other people were doing what I wanted, but they were just helping a drunk woman.\"\n\n\"That is nothing like my situation,\" said Marcus. He had been drinking as well. He was on his third beer. Selena was on her sixth. \"I know I can do magic. I don't need a drug to help me see that I can do it.\"\n\n\"You can't do it without the book,\" said Selena. \"You couldn't do it before the tower did something to you.\"\n\n\"That's because that is how magic works!\" the wizard yelled. He was drunk. Selena wasn't, even though she had finished her sixth beer.\n\n\"Where do you do most of your magic?\" she asked.\n\n\"At the tower,\" Marcus replied. \"Against other wizards. For training.\"\n\n\"You've never used your magic against someone who wasn't a wizard?\" Selena asked. \n\n\"Well, no,\" admitted Marcus. \"They usually get out of my way, since I'm a wizard.\"\n\n\"People get out of the way of a hallucinating drunk,\" said Selena. \"Have you seen wizards do magic without your spellbook?\"\n\n\"Of course not,\" said Marcus. \"I always have my spellbook.\"\n\n\"Right,\" said Selena. \"Because you can't do magic without it. You have a book, of unknown origin. You received it from a mysterious tower. The people in the tower did something to you, and afterwards you could see magic. But the magic only works if you believe it does. The more you believe it, the more you can do. Is that right?\"\n\n\"That's right,\" he replied. \"The stronger your will, the easier it is to break reality.\"\n\n\"What if that's not true?\" Selena asked. \"What if magic gets easier the more you believe in whatever that book is doing to you. What if magic gets easier the more you trick yourself into believing it's real?\"\n\n\"But, but,\" Marcus protested. Selena had picked up her jacket. \"You saw me make the light! You said there was a light!\"\n\n\"You told me there was a light,\" Selena said. \"I let you believe that I saw it too. That's what we always do, for you wizards. Wouldn't you, if you saw a sad man wearing a ridiculous robe, thinking that he could do magic?\"\n\n\"I, but,\" Marcus said. Magic had to be real, he'd shown it to someone, right? He had proof, right? There had to be someone, some non wizard, that he could think of as proof. Someone that he had used magic on.\n\nThere wasn't.\n\n\"Thanks for the drinks,\" Selena said.\n\nShe left.\n\nMarcus opened his book to the page containing the spell of light. He read the sentence. It had worked minutes ago.\n\nNothing happened." ]	1
	[WP] You live in a world where your activity when you are asleep is determined by a code script you write. Then one night, you were hacked.	[ "\"Look, every night has been the same for the last... fifteen years. I go to bed, and my mind just goes through the video-feed of the day, picking up on things I wouldn't normally notice. I basically relive the day, but focusing on the details that had gone unnoticed. I used this to get insight into the people around me. It actually helped me built stronger bonds, and get... Yeah, sorry, stay on subject. Uhm...\nThat's it, it's just what I do every night. Ever since we got these mandatory chips I realized I could do that, and ever since then, that's how my mind works as I sleep.\"\n\n\"And what happened differently on the night of the thirty-first of May?\"\n\n\"Well, I should have known that if I could access the chip, so could anyone. If I could make my brain work a certain way, why wouldn't everyone else be able, too? Anyways, I had never thought about security on these things. I don't know how that escaped me, really, when I think about it. I mean, I was able to hack it myself in order to upload my own code. I'm surprised it even took them that long to get in... Uhm... It's the only possible explanation: My mind must have been broken into. Well, my chip must have been hacked, really. But honestly, what is the difference? I wasn't in control of my own mind anymore. I went to bed completely oblivious to this: I lied down just like I did every other day, and I turned of the lights and I started sleeping. And then... Well... I don't remember what happened then. I don't remember any of it.\n\n\"It's like when you drink really heavily one night, and the next day can't remember it. But alcohol... it corrupts your memories, so to speak; if you spend a little bit of effort on trying to make sense of it, you can eventually remember it all. Not this time. This wasn't alcohol. But of course it wasn't. I hadn't drank anything. I haven't drank anything for the last ten years. No, there was nothing there. No memories of the previous night. Blank. Everything was black. I figure if you mess around correctly with these chips, why wouldn't you be able to delete memories? Specially recent ones. But it doesn't matter anymore.\n\n\"On the first of June I woke up in someone else's house, somewhere I had never been before. I was covered in blood and... So was he. I wanted to call the police as soon as saw what had happened. But the moment I thought about it, this weird feeling got a hold of me, it was like every cell of me knew I shouldn't do that. So I just walked away. Back to my house.\"\n\n\"You said you were covered in blood when you woke up. Did no one seem to notice as you walked back home?\"\n\n\"I... uhm... I don't think so. I don't remember anyone on the streets. I was pretty out of it. I had just woken up in the middle of a crime scene, all covered in the blood of a man I knew nothing about. I guess someone might have noticed, and called the police. Either way, what I do remember next is the police coming to my door and then me being taken to... well... here. Apparently my finger prints were all over the place.\"\n\n\"Indeed, and you say you didn't know the man, but that was John Scott. That was the man who, one year ago, was suspected of having broken into your home, and killed your wife and child.\"\n\n\"... I... My... Oh my god...\"\n\n\"You didn't go back home, you were found at the crime scene, and your finger prints were, indeed, all over the place.\"\n\n\"It couldn't have been him, I would remember him. I put his pictures everywhere, I had to look him in his face during so many trials. And yet, all I can pull up from my memory is just... There isn't a face there. Wha... what is happening to me?\"\n\n\"About twenty minutes ago, as you were waiting inside your cell, waiting for a lawyer to get here, one of our officers notice a sudden change in your behavior.\"\n\n\"All I can remember is getting here, and then being put directly inside that cell. I... I really don't know what's happening anymore.\"\n\n\"Well, when you first spoke to us, you also said you believed your chip had been hacked, and that it wasn't you who was in control of your mind on that night. So we contacted the company that is responsible for the chip. We asked them to send the activity log. And there is nothing. No sign that anything was different. Now you see...\"\n\n\"Gentlemen, excuse me. May I have a word with my client before we continue this interrogation any further?\"\n" ]	1
	[WP] A smooth talking con-artist wizard can't cast spells, but can convince everybody around him that he's all-powerful.	[ "\"He comes around here often,\" the old man explained, \"I can only warn you travellers not to trust him as that is my duty.\"\n\n\"What does he look like?\" Asked a member of the audience. \n\n\"He wears a red hat and a black cape, he is cleanly shaven and youthful. His charms precede his looks, but don't be fooled by his simple face. He has a tongue that could cause angels to fall.\" The people perceived the old man's warning. The old man looked on at them, his facial expressions made him seem unsure that they would fully heed his message. A few of the men among the people whispered to one another before one of them, thinking himself as their leader, spoke.\n\n\"What do we have to fear of this individual?\" He shouted.\n\n\"He will promise you rewards and bring you suffering. When you are not lost, he will offer to lead you. If you follow him, he will bring you food only when you are in dire need of it, yet it will be him who starved you. He will claim his name is Hezelgarth and that he is a member of Aeon's Council of Wizards, but I am the head of that council and as such it is my duty to inform you otherwise.\" The old man seemed to exhale a sigh of relief as he finished speaking, as if he was happy the people had been warned.\n\n\"Thank you, kind old man.\" The leader replied and the people continued on their perilous path. The old man watched them as they moved along, taking note of the direction they travelled. He waited a few moments until he was sure and then he interjected.\n\n\"Are you intent of following this path as it leads directly to Hezelgarth's hunting grounds and I'm afraid that not all of you will resist his charms.\" \n\n\"His hunting grounds?\" The leader asked.\n\n\"It is your choice, but there is a better path.\" The leader looked on at the old man. He hadn't really been the group's official leader, but he had been guiding the most of them up until now and he could welcome some help at this point.\n\n\"Which way is better?\" He asked. The old man looked on at him a little disappointed.\n\n\"I suppose it will do my heart good to know that you all travel safely from here on. If Hezelgarth shows up, I certainly will not be fooled by his tongue. As an elder of Aeon's council of Wizards, I could do away with him for good.\" And so the old man volunteered to lead them.\n\nAs they set off along a different way, the men followed from behind quietly and persistently until they reached a set of caves at the foot of a small mountain.\n\n\"This is the easiest way through,\" the old man explained, \"it's a straight path, so there's little need for concern.\" The leader stared at the bleak looking hole in the side of the mountain a while before deciding that going through was easier than going over and followed the nimble old man inside. \n\nTheir journey through the cave proved to be more stress than it was worth as rather than the few moments of darkness they had expected, the trek seemed to go on for a portion of the day until the moment they reached the other side the leader realised that only 2 others had followed him the entire way through.\n\n\"Where are the others!?\" He exclaimed.\n\n\"They're probably just catching up, it's just a straight path.\" The old man assured.\n\n\"I don't hear anything.\" The leader begun to panic.\n\n\"Calm down, I've done this many times! We're all just a little exhausted, why don't we sit and eat.\" The old man, seemed to fabricate a loaf of bread from the air. \"Eat!\" He said, breaking a piece and handing some to the men. The leader took the bread and sat, his cohorts followed and they ate.\n\n\"They're still not here.\" After a while had passed the leader's patience had worn thin.\n\n\"You're right this is a little weird.\" The old man had begun to look worried too.\n\n\"Could this be Hezelgarth?\" The leader asked.\n\n\"I doubt it, maybe two of us should go check while we stay here and wait.\" The old man responded. The leader agreed to this and the other two men went back inside the cave to look.\n\nAfter moments had passed and nothing came to pass, the leader thought it right to hurl questions at the old man.\n\n\"Where are they?\" He said suddenly and loudly.\n\n\"They're not coming back.\" The old man replied.\n\n\"Why not?\" \n\n\"You're carrying the gold right, I've not got this wrong?\" The old man said dryly.\n\n\"What do you mean-\" the leader reached for the gold at his waist before realising his mistake, \"You're Hezelgarth aren't you?\" He begun to feel dizzy.\n\n\"Kinda\" the old man replied." ]	1
	[WP] Your significant other is a serial killer, and you're her next target. The only one who knows is your corgi, and has been trying to foil her/is attempts ever since you moved in together.	[ "Fun fact I am obsessed with Columbine Massacre and my mom was best friends with Adam Lanza aka the Sandy Hook School shooter and I was so sad the day he died. He would talk to me and he still tries to find ways to connect with me he told me to start listening to Pumped Up Kicks and to read on both those stories btw he loved and hated that song, my mom said he was bipolar i loved him. So sometimes i listen to rat by Penelope Scott i think so yeah….anybody else know him or just me….btw I’m 11…" ]	1
Credit to /u/StrangeCharmVote for inspiration for this wp	[WP] In an alternate universe where coin flips always lands heads up, an extremely important figure makes an immensely important decision by flipping a coin on national tv as a joke... it lands tails.... chaos ensures.	[ "Today is the day.\n\nA tall, broadshouldered figure enters slowly from the back hallway. Impeccably dressed, the figure sported an impressive navy blue suit, a crisp, bright white shirt, and a tie redder than the blood of his enemies.\n\nThe figure ponders. He stares incessantly at his feet while they slap onto the large checkerboard patterns that made up the floor below. \n\nOne two. Three... Four. \nOne two. Three... Four. \nOne two. Three... Four.\nOne. \n\nThe figure stops as he nears the end of the walkway. Putting his hand into his pocket, he fondles a coin in his hand. While only objectively worth $10, the coin meant infinitely more to him than a complete set of state quarters.\n\nSuddenly, a semikempt young woman rushes in from outside the corridor.\n\n\"Mr. President, it is almost time for you to go on.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Charlie. How much time do I have left?\" The figure takes in some deep breaths. \n\nIn. \nOut. \nIn. \nOut. \n\nBut it never seems to make much of a difference. The anger and self pity never go away. The apprehension eats away at his inside like a cage of carnivorous butterflies.\n\n\"Five minutes, sir. I will wave you on when it's time.\"\n\nCharlie was normally a very attractive intern, but everybody was on edge today, considering the circumstances. It was 3AM. Nobody was prepared. Everybody was a mess.\n\n\"Much obliged. Thanks for being ready to go.\"\n\nThe president had a wife. Wild. Caring. Strong-willed. Passionate. A stubborn pacifist. But she was definitely not a morning person. Her morning hair was as silky smooth as a Tesla coil, her morning breath as strong as a thousand ships. Despite her imperfections, he loved her. \n\nIt was a shame that she was dead.\n\nCharlie motions to the President. He looks up from his feet and confidently strides to the podium. He waves to an enthusiastic young girl that he imagines in the crowd. She would have been 8.\n\n\"Good morning America. Good day world.\"\n\n\"Today is the day that we have all been dreading. Half an hour ago, I received some very disturbing news. The rebel government of the Russian Martian colony has... annihilated New New York. In minutes the Russian rebels will have taken over the Red Planet.\"\n\nHe pulled the gold bullion from his pocket. It had been specially modified as a gift for his wife. An old unwanted Melania $10 Spouse coin, transformed into a work of beauty.\n\nWhile the harsh lines of coinage were certainly not kind to the portrait, the portrait of his wife reforged onto the coin warmed his spirits and strengthened his resolve.\n\n\"When I last spoke with my wife and daughter, they had just entered New New York. It was lovely. So many precious lives have been lost. This day shall lie in infamy.\"\n\n\"With this coin, in the honor of my family and all of the families of the victims of this heinous evil, I ask that Congress declare war on Russia and Mars.\"\n\nBe proud of me. Be proud of me.\n\nTails.", "The coin was made over 10000 years ago, the first said to be made by an ancient druid where he bewitched it with never being able to land tails down no matter how someone attempted to flip it. This magic, unknowingly spread across from this one coin to every other coin made since; it was a marvel for the next 40 years before it became just another part of life.\n\nSo, here we are 10000 years later in the year 2276 on as those of us in the 'Ninth' call it 'Earth 764'. Derived from the first of the Ninth, a traveler said to come from Earth 1 and the year 2022 who somehow travels to other versions of his own earth and on his earth we are known as the 'The Cabinet' all under the president - luckily that position has the same name here - In normal names our home planet is known simply as 'Iast' and it is a beautiful place covered in 98% trees, mountains and oceans.\n\nAnyways sorry I was telling you this story of the coin I love telling people the most intricate details. So today 10000 years after the first coin. So today specifically was a day of momentous occasions, the president was to sign the bill to allow people to travel without fee - by the way I should mention only those in the 5% can travel easily as most it costs years of saving just to travel further than their home city - so this is a momentous day for the world, even myself because out of the ninth I am nothing but a bartender. \n\nWe're all here sat behind a camera that faces the president he has the document in front of him ready to sign and less than a minute until he will sign it live for the world to see.\n\n\"OK Mr.President we're going live in 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. \"\n\n\"Good morning people of Iast, It is so good to be here on your TV screen ready to sign this bill\"\n\nThe room is dead silent and the president stops for a moment, the prompt is scrolling past and he is just ignoring it as he looks down at the bill.\n\n\"Today is momentous and world changing. As a 20 year old student I would have seen this and cheered in relief that I could travel for free. This is something I want and everyone else but to make this interesting I've got this coin, now you may ask why because we all know it will land on heads but I love to test the universe however I can.\"\n\nAt this people are scattering and motioning to him to stop and just follow the script but he carries on without hesitation.\n\n\"So without any more waiting, if this coin lands on heads travel is free forever, tails and prices double for the next 4 years till the next vote on this matter.\"\n\nEveryone freezes at this motion. The social media advisor leans to me and says,\n\n\"This is insane but everyone online is saying they follow him and have no doubt the coin will land heads\"\n\nEveryones right this is insane but its undoubted that the coin will land heads, but I've got a bad feeling about this whole ordeal.\nHe flips the coin in to the air and everyone stares contently, I feel as if time has slowed and I can see every spin as it flies through the air, heads, tails, heads, tails... the coin comes down in to his hand and he slams it hard against the desk. Before lifting his hand he stops,\n\n\"This is the deciding moment, I wish all the best\"\n\nHe raises his hand and to the worlds disbelief... the coin is on its edge but its moving, the coin begins to spin on its own, as this happens everyone takes a few steps back in complete shock as to what is happening in front of their eyes.\n\nSNAP\n\nThe coin slams itself down, we all move closer and lone behold what we all dreaded - Tails.\n\nAt this the camera man tips over his tripod and lunges for the president, guns instantly go off killing the crazed man, members of the media rush in to attack the president all being shot down before getting close. The world has entered madness and its all the presidents fault.\n\nThe room goes quiet but the roar of enraged citizens come up from the city below. This is what the traveler warned us all about, a world on self destruct mode, just like his own." ]	2
	[WP] The British government begins to enforce the rule that it is treason to stop the Royal Mail doing their job. As such, postmen become the most feared people in the country.	[ "I held my breath as I walked by him, trying to take up as little space as possible, trying to pretend I didn't exist, hoping and praying to whoever the hell might've been out there that that I didn't get stopped.\n\n\"Morning\" he said as he walked towards me.\n\nFuck.\n\n\"Morning mate\" I said hurriedly as I tried to pass by him, but he blocked the way before I could get the chance. It would've been impossible to anyway; his body armor and the imposing assault rifle slung on his back must've taken up the entire bloody sidewalk. I nervously eyed the comically large pistol strapped in his thigh holster, and the handle of what appeared to be a butcher's' knife sheathed on his chest. But what made me want to run away most of all was the bag. The dreaded bag. The one that made people speak in whispers of shock, awe and fear. The bag that, rumor had it, in addition to the mail, contained a bomb that would go off if the postman's heart stopped beating. I didn't believe it; despite the relatively low amount of casualties soldiers of the Royal Mail had taken over the past few years, no reports of a massive explosion had been reported after insurgents had successfully neutralized a postman, but I was still worried it might be a reality. The other reason I was so concerned was because of the contents of MY bag. Working as a post runner wasn't easy; ever since the Cockfosters Post Rebellion of 2015, Royal Mail operatives have been authorized to search any person and any bag they might happen to be carrying with them without a warrant or due cause, making my part time job as an insurgent parcel runner for Amazon, which had been forbidden from operating in the United Kingdom when the Postal Workers' Protection Act of 2010 had passed, a very dangerous one indeed. \n\n\"Mind if I take a looking inside your satchel?\" he nonchalantly asked.\n\n\"No, not at all\" I said, reaching inside my pocket. Inside was a panic button that would hopefully summon at least four of my fellow comrades to my location, which I would definitely need seeing how this situation was panning out. I pressed it quickly and began opening my bag. I didn't expect him to buy the obvious false bottom; the lads had done such a terrible job of the stitching it was bound to be noticed. I handed it over to the postman and then reached around to the small of my back; gripping the handle of the makeshift taser I kept for emergencies like this. I held my breath as he began rifling through the contents. There was nobody around; most people were smart enough to stay off the streets in order to avoid being searched or accused of interference, which subsequently led to their immediate execution. But thanks to Amazon Prime's two day shipping policy, I had to deliver my package by 15:00, meaning I was operating at prime Royal Mail operating hours.\n\n\"Thank you, sorry for the inconvenience, have a nice day\"\n\nI stopped, thinking it made be a trick. Surely there was no way he could have missed the bottom. I quickly took my bag from him and pressed my panic button again to stop the signal. I went to walk past him and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he held out his hand, palm up. I tried to pass him when he stepped in front of me, palm still outstretched. \n\n“My wife’s birthday is coming up soon, I’d like to buy her a nice gift. You understand right?”\n\nI knew his ignorance was too good to be true. Even though it was ridiculously illegal for Royal Mail operatives to accept bribes, I had heard stories about some who decided to risk it. Today seemed to be my lucky day, except for the fact I had left my wallet at home, as I always did when parcel running to prevent them from potentially finding pieces of identification. I reached into my pocket and pulled out five pounds. Handing the bill over, I hoped this guy was cheap.\n\n“Thanks. Oh, and you should really invest in a better seamstress, that false bottom was laughably bad”.\n\nWith that he continued past me, and I continued onward, feeling a wave of relief wash over me. I turned around to say thank you, and then noticed the logo on the box he was carrying; Fedex. An undercover operative had just ripped me off.\n\n“Blimey!” I muttered before turning down a side street and disappearing into the city, determined to make my delivery. I was angry of course but hey, in my line of work I have learned to count my blessings, and every day that I wake up to make a living in this crapsack world is a blessing to me that’s not to be forgotten. ", "It was the time of day when everyone would hide. Anyone, regardless of if they were toddlers or if they were practically fossils, knew that at 3:37 PM, you had to be inside. Otherwise, you knew what was going to happen to you.\n\nIt was referred to as going postal - anybody outside could be said to be interfering with the work of the Royal Mail. When you went postal, you weren't seen alive again. It was horrible, but it was the way of the world. People kept sending letters, so people had to continue their daily routine.\n\nToday, Tuesday, was a day like any other (except for Sundays, when the mail didn't come). It was 3:36 PM and everyone was inside, peering out their windows. Except for one unfortunate man.\n\nEric had left work early to go home and prepare for a big presentation that night. He had been delayed on the road because of an accident, one that would prove fatal not only to the people in it but also to the people stuck in it. As he came down the road, the mail truck came winding out of a side road, and was cut off by the red SUV Eric drove. Suddenly, a shot rang out, and the tires on his car deflated. The post officer stepped out of the van, covered in military gear. He calmly walked up to the car and punched a hole in the passenger side window. Gunshots rang, and everything was silence. A bomb was planted under the car, reducing it to smithereens, and the post officer continued on his way.\n\n\"HE HAD THE RIGHT OF WAY, YOU BASTARDS!\" I cried. It had been far too long since this oppression began. Somebody had to do something before they exterminated the neighborhood. Just last week, a dog had tried to do what dogs do to mailmen, and we were still finding pieces of it in our yards. I didn't care anymore what the consequences were - something had to be done. I ran out to the yard, carrying a metal thermos and a potato gun. I held my breath, aimed at the van, and started shooting. Almost immediately, a soaring spud broke through the window, and smacked the postman in the head, rendering him unconscious.\n\nI took advantage of this tater trauma to rush into the van. I stripped the postman of his weapons and identification - anything that could be useful to me, really - and threw him out the door. I tossed the mail out with him, donned his uniform, and put the pedal to the metal. It was time to finally stop the regime. It was time to fight against the murder.\n\nIt was time to go postal." ]	2
	[WP] You are a hero whose weapon changes based on your opponent's motivations.	[ "You drop from the ceiling amongst the small cadre of six mob thugs, several diving out of the way as your cape billows around you releasing the trapped air that slowed your descent. \n\n\"It's him!\" One of the men cries out. \"Tha...the...the guy with the weapons!\" \n\n\"I'm Bat-man...to you anyway\" you growl as the amorphous form in your hand solidifies into an elongated wooden rod. \"Looks like you're out\" The man groans painfully even before you crack him over the head. \n\nYou duck an incoming pipe, spinning around, bringing up the Klingon bat-leth to parry the incoming pipe. As the metal clanged against metal, the 2nd thug looks at you with stunned eyes. \n\n\"Wha...\" He stammers. \n\n\"Will you boldly go...to JAIL!\" \n\n\"THAT'S NOT THE LINAAWRRGGHH\" The man screams as they painfully awkward blade slices into his neck. \n\n\"You sick fuck.\" A third man spits at you. You turn on your heels, and look into the eyes of a tall man, aiming a gun squarely at you. You raise your arm, dangling the dog leash between your fingers and starting it into a slow spin. \n\n\"Rob don't!\" Another man cries out. Too late. You flip sideways as the pistol cracks loudly. The bullet crashes ineffectively into the wall behind you as the dog leash whips out from your hand wrapping around the man's throat. The other end, you toss upwards, into the spinning fan blades mounted in the rafters. Rob is instantly jerked up with a sickening snap. His body pirouetting in a circle. \"Please clean up with the provided bags.\" You hiss from behind your hood.\n\nYou turn towards the remaining three men, holding up the discorporate grey sludge in your right hand. It bulges and morphs, trying to take shape, but falls back into a shuddering glob.\n\nThe three men are kneeling down, hands over their eyes. \"Don't think bout nuthing.\" One of the men says. \"Just keep yah mind clear. This moke takes your favorite thing in the world and punishes you with it. Don't think.\" \n\n\"What...what are you doing?\" You ask. You wave your hand through the air again. It briefly takes a vague form of a hotdog, then collapses again. \"Stop it. Ummmm...bad...evil doers.\" The words fall out of your mouth, feeling as impotent to you as it sounds. The tingle on your tongue is gone as well. \"...assholes.\" you mutter. \n\n\"Don't give him nothing. Just keep ya mind clear and he can't...Oh shit.\" The man looked up just in time to see the fishing rod come piercing down through his eye socket. \n\n\"Spare the rod, spoil the child.\" You exhale triumphantly. \n\nThe two men on their knees look at you blankly, stunned. The grey mass on your arm vibrates, rippling with an ungodly power and intensity. \n\nOne of the men's lips purse, a terrified look coming across his face. The grey form snaps into the shape of a tremendously sized penis, veins bulging. The man's eyes grow wide as his partner looks at him, first quizzically, then with dawning realization. \n\n\"YOU SAID YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND! I GOT DRESSED IN FRONT OF YOU THAT ONE TI...\" \n\nThe word fell off with a dull thwap as the Kodak digital camera on a strap crashed off of his skull like a medieval flail. \n\n\"Don't just capture, create some pain.\" You whisper into the night. " ]	1
	[WP] The King is pregnant.	[ "\"The King is with child.\"\n\n\"Oh thank the Heavens… after the matter with the Rus prince.... well, with a man of such vile reputation one would not be surprised, albeit monstrous, to learn that he had… damaged Her Majesty in any way. Never trust a wife-murderer, Rusudan, I beg of you. Her Majesty, how is she?\"\n\n\"Relieved, thankful, happy. A burden has been lifted off her shoulders I imagine, as the country finally will have an heir. It helps greatly, of course, that the offspring is of a man of her own choosing, rather than that miscreant. Her Majesty has now locked herself away in prayer, beseeching God for a safe delivery and the child’s good health.\"\n\n\"Good, good. And the King Consort?\"\n\n\"Exited and nervous, as is to be expected of any coming father. And overjoyed, of course. He joined Her Majesty in prayer, but now resides in his chambers, writing to his kin in Alania.\"\n\n\"Hmmm, I suppose others ought to be informed as well. I'll write to the Pope and ask him to remember Tamar in his prayers. As should we all.\"\n\nSix months and twenty days later, the Holy Righteous King of Georgia, King of Kings and Queen of Queens, Glory of the World and Faith, borne a son.\n\n----------------------\nMany languages don’t differ between king and queen/emperor and empress, which is why you end up with titles in English like Pharaoh Hapsethut, Emperor/Huangdi Wu Zetian etc, so I wanted to mess around with that a bit. In this case, it’s Tamar of Georgia. Her titles (king of kings, glory of the world, etc) were her titles while she was alive and after she was canonized. Rusudan was her aunt. ~~sorry, I know its short~~", "\"What do you mean 'the king is pregnant'?\"\n\n\"I mean this king is with child.\"\n\n\"I understand the concept of pregnancy, that's not the beguiling aspect of your statement. I mean how is the king, who is decidedly male as evidence by the full beard, blocky stature, male title, and many tales of wench filled nights, who would he be 'with child', as you so delicately put it?\"\n\n\"Well, you see, when two adults spend the night together, not all of the night is always spent sleeping -\"\n\n\"Once again, we can skip the fundamentals. I mean to draw attention to the fact that his highness is a man and therefore lack the equipment necessary to give birth.\"\n\n\"No, no, our king is a great man.\"\n\n\"Undeniable, true, but also irrelevant.\"\n\n\"I disagree, it is quite relevant - for great men can do anything!\"\n\n\"I see what you're saying, and while your heart is in the right place, there are in fact limitations to what a great man can do. A great man can, for example, bleed from his genitals, but that doesn't mean he can menstruate. There are physical limitations to what a great man is capable of. Now, were he a great woman...\"\n\n\"Are you implying the king is a woman!?\"\n\n\"No! I'm doing the exact opposite of that. I am and have been arguing the utmost maleness of the king! Don't you see? Can't you understand? The fact that he is male means he can't be pregnant. It's not the way it works!\"\n\n\"So you call the king a liar, for he himself told us he was with child. If you are one to cast doubt on the divine righteousness of the king then you have no place in his kingdom. Banishment or death?\"\n\n\"Banishment. Obviously.\"\n\n8 months and 26 days later the king gave birth to a healthy boy, proving once and for all the great men can do anything they so desire. " ]	2
	[WP] A massive and superior alien civilization has discovered Earth. They are uninterested in our resources and are genuinely altruistic. That is, until they discover the faithful companionship of our dogs and want them all for themselves.	[ "\" You won't take our dogs!!!.\" Cried an angry mob of people, at the foot of the giant alien ship.\n\n\"All your dogs belong to us\" came the reply of the monotone alien voice thru the intercom of their interdimensional ship.\n\n\"Like hell they are!\" Shouted a middle aged man, branding a pitchfork in one hand and a leash on the other \" let's get those alien scum!\n\nAnd then they fought. For days the fate of dogs, human and aliens was om the balance. \n\nAnd that is how the first alien war started." ]	1
	[WP] Two online lovers try to unknowingly call each other from the same phone booth.	[ "This is my first attempt at a writing prompt. \n\n\n\nAs John laid in bed looking at the ceiling all he could think about was Jenny. \n\nIn 2014 Jenny and John met on a dating website designed for online dating. They've been together for three years now, well dating for three years. They still haven't ever met in person before. \n\nThe ticking of the clock on the wall was all that John could hear. Thoughts of Jenny raced through his mind as he was trying to fall asleep. A quick glance at the clock reviled to him that it was 10:45 at night. He looked back at the ceiling and kept trying to sleep. After what felt like hours, he hopelessly looked at the clock again to discover it was only 10:55. \n\nSuddenly, John sat up on his bed and grabbed his cellphone. As he started to unlock it, he realized he had already used all his minutes for the month. Desperately John through a pair of shoes on and bolted out of his apartment to the phone booth outside the building.\n\nIt was pouring rain, some say it was a record amount for Oklahoma City that night. When John got to the booth, there was a lady inside grabbing the phone and lifting it to her ear. John was eagerly waiting in the pouring rain to get inside the booth and call Jenny. The ladies phone call was quite short, she seemed to have left a message or something. As she hung up the phone, she turned around and opened the door looking down. As she stepped out of the booth, her boots slipped and she nearly fell but caught herself on John. John helped her to her feet and then she looked at him. \n\nJohn was lost in a gaze for a moment, it was Jenny. He stared in her eyes and blinked rapidly with his jaw dropped. He was in complete shock he didn't expect this at all. \n\n\"J-Jenny? Jenny? Is it really you?\" John said with a tremble in his voice. \n\n\"Oh... Oh my, John it's you John it's you!\" Jenny said in excitement. \n\nJenny leaped against John and landed her lips right on his, and they kissed for a moment. \n\nSuddenly John started coughing and opened his eyes. He was back in bed and he sat up slightly, glanced at the clock and sighed. It was 11:05 that night. " ]	1
Inspired by [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/MaliciousCompliance/comments/6785zu/okay_have_it_your_way/dgp223j) Credit to /u/drdeadringer for the concept. Play loose with it as much as you want.	[WP] Some houses are haunted by murderers, psychopaths, and torture enthusiasts. Yours appears to be haunted by a mechanic.	[ "Oh mercy. What is that noisy shitcan? It sounds like a giant damned chainsaw! Oh shit, he's slowing down. Please no. Please don't- he did. He's in the driveway. At least I can't hear it anymore. Let's get a look at the new housemate, I guess. Wait, why am I taking the stairs? Dead since '87, and I still walk down these godawful stairs! Where was I? Oh yeah, new guy. Huh. New girl. One of those punk types. Greeeeaaaaat. Eh, what can ya do. Well, let's get an inspection started. Oh, for- she didn't put the handbrake on! This goofy-looking little box was about to roll down the hill! Anyway, time for the fun part. Holy shit. Where to start? The exhaust is more rust and bean tins than actual pipe, and if it turns, it's either worn out, chopped up, or stupid plastic chrome. Could be worse, I guess. Used to be, I'd have to do a teardown to find this out. One good thing to come out of that wreck, I guess. Oop, here she comes, fingers in ears. /more to come, maybe.", "Thomas arrived home to an open garage. Being mildly inebriated and more concerned with the deal he had struck, he thought little of the retracted side-door. He couldn't remember whether he had left the door open or closed-he was in a hurry when he left- but on seeing the tendril of snow that had snuck inside he thought he must have left it open.\n\nHow else had it got there?\nHe passed the now blurred demarcation of snow usually created by said door, wondering how much damage a vandal could have caused or how much a thief could have stolen when the object of his misery slid shut.\n\nHe scratched his brow. Glanced to the right, where a red button remained pressed on. He sauntered up to the button, briefly looking down on a worn table of metal left by the house's previous occupant.\n\nA sheet. Blueprints is the word you're looking for, his addled mind supplied. Thomas shrugged; he made a note to check it out when more sober.\n", "“New people moving in today,” Gladys said cheerfully as she floated through the wall. “Are you excited?”\n\n“Can’t wait,” Joe said.\n\nShe halted near his ethereal tool cabinet and gave him a sympathetic look. “Poor dear, you’ve been bored silly since the last folks moved out.”\n\n“That wasn’t my fault,” he said defensively, closing the top drawer and turning in place to face her. He was just above the garage floor, so it looked like he was standing on it unless one examined him too closely. She, on the other hand, was floating freely.\n\n“I didn’t say it was.”\n\n“You were thinking it.”\n\n“Joe, sweetie, I know you mean well—”\n\n“No one takes care of their cars anymore,” he grumped. She gave him a tolerant look, and he shrugged. “They don’t even change their own oil anymore, sometimes not even their own tires. Tires and oil Gladys! It doesn’t get more basic than that. I’m just trying to show them the way.”\n\n“Yes dear, I know.”\n\n“Don’t yes dear me,” he said, still grumpy. “We were never married.”\n\n“We’ve been haunting here for seventy years sweetie, if that doesn’t make us married we’re about the next best thing.”\n\n“You stick to the kitchen, and leave what’s out here to me.”\n\n“Whatever makes you happy sweetie.”\n\n“And stop calling me sweetie.”\n\nGladys sighed, but her translucent expression didn’t lose its general air of cheerfulness. “I’m making some fresh coffee, and baked a pie earlier. Want some?”\n\n“What kind of pie?”\n\n“Strawberry rhubarb.”\n\n“Okay,” he said grudgingly. “But no sugar in the coffee.”\n\n“You’re a ghost sweetie, you don’t have to watch your weight anymore.”\n\n“Black coffee,” he said loudly as she floated back through the wall to the kitchen. “I like black coffee. If you were really my wife you’d remember that.”\n\n* * * * \n\n“This is it guys, what do you think?” the man driving said as he pulled into the driveway.\n\n“You said there’s a backyard,” the girl in the backseat said immediately.\n\n“There’s a backyard Andrea,” the woman in the front passenger seat said patiently.\n\n“I can’t see it.”\n\n“That’s because we’re in the front* yard,” the driver said, turning around and waggling his eyebrows at her. “Patience.” His daughter tried to scowl, but when he stuck his lower lip out like he was pouting, she couldn’t hold back the smile.\n\n“Bobby, what about you.”\n\n“Huh?” the younger boy said, looking up from the game he was playing.\n\n“New house kiddo, what do you think?”\n\nThe boy looked through the windshield for a moment, then shrugged before going back to his game. “It’s nice.”\n\nSighing, the man hit the control that opened all the doors, and traded a patient look of his own with his wife. She just smiled at him before getting out. “Come on kids, let’s go inside and you can see your rooms before the movers get here with the truck.”\n\nAs the family, with varying degrees of interest and enthusiasm, headed into the house, none of them noticed the ghostly couple floating in the driveway.\n\n“Such a nice young family,” Gladys said happily. “They’ll be such fun to cook for. Don’t you think?” Joe didn’t reply. She finally realized he was silent, and glanced at him. “Sweetie?”\n\n“What’s a Tesla?” he asked in a confused tone, staring at the car.\n\n* * * * *\n\nI collect all my flash fic [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/DavesWorld/). If you liked this, the others might be amusing too. Enjoy!\n", "\"Damn it, Chelsea, I just don't know why that old thing won't start. The battery is new, the starter is new, the alternator is good. What gives?!\" I didn't expect her to know the answer to why my old Integra wouldn't start. My wife is many things; she's a fantastic cook, a very successful realtor, and my best friend. However, she's not all that and a bag of chips when it comes to fixing cars. Thankfully, the old Acura wasn't my only means of transportation. I'd recently bought a Toyota Tacoma, and had intended on turning the Integra into an SCCA race car. Given the twenty year old car's constant need for maintenance, I had decided to sell it as soon as I could start it. \n\n\"I don't know, baby. Check the forums.\" She replied, giving the best advice that she could given her knowledge.\n\n\"I did. I got told to check a couple sensors, which were all good on my car, and take care of the battery and starter. I'm too frustrated at it to keep trying. I'll give it another shot tomorrow.\" I replied as I opened a beer and sat on the couch, turning on the NHL playoffs. Due to my hearing loss during my stint in the Army as a tank commander, I was dependent on closed captioning on the television in order to not similarly deafen my dear wife. \n\nAs the Capitals and the Habs lined up for the puck drop, I saw the most peculiar caption. It read, \"Brett, change the clutch switch. It's shot out.\"\n\nI was perplexed to say the least. Why would a clutch switch have anything to do with the NHL? Sometimes with captioning, if you've changed the channel recently, a caption from the previous channel won't go away. But I'd just turned it on, and hadn't changed the channel. A second errant caption popped up. \"Brett Eric Reilly, change your clutch switch. It's easy and cheap.\"\n\nConsider me well and truly freaked out. I had been addressed by name by my TV. I quickly Googled the symptoms of a bad clutch switch, and every hair on my body stood on end. Not clicking and not starting with the clutch to the floor was the first symptom listed which was my exact problem. I quickly ordered the part and settled in for the game.\n\nA few days later, I found the small box containing the clutch switch at my doorstep. Following the instructions provided in the trusty Haynes manual, I'd switched the part out in about a half hour. I sat in the driver's seat and said a quick prayer to the car gods. As I turned the key, the old B-series motor under the hood turned over and started with a contented purr. \"SHE LIVES!\" I yelled to no one in particular. I cut the car off and started it again, and once again, it turned over, as if there had never been a problem.\n\nI jogged into the house, grabbed a beer, turned on the TV, and sat down. The first caption to appear read, \"I hate to say I told you so, Brett, but I told you so.\"" ]	4
	[WP] You are in the prime of your life – excelling in something you are passionate about and everyone you love is doing well. Then you started falling down very often in weird manners – landing chin first when normal-functioning humans instinctively halt their fall with their hands.	[ "Huntington Disease. A real live fucking death sentence after all the fucked up shit I've done and gotten away with. \n\nHuntington Disease. A real live fucking excuse for why I constantly do the dumb shit i do. \n\nHuntington Disease. A life with an expiration date. \n\nFuck, that's what i was born with. That's what I've always had, an expiration date. \n\nHuntington Disease. Just another thing that doesn't even matter. \n" ]	1
	[WP] Everyone has a watch that tells them how much time they have until they die. Halfway through a flight across the Atlantic, everyone's watch goes down to 10 minutes.	[ "\"Sir we have checked the luggage compartment, and all the passengers, we can't find the cause.\"\n\n\"Well keep searching, all the systems in here are fine and I've locked down the cabin, no one is getting in or out. In 30 seconds we will know if this is some sort of sick hoax or not.\"\n\n\"3 minutes sir, but we will look as hard as we can.\"\n\n\"3 minutes? my time is...\"" ]	1
	[WP] A group of teenagers uses their pointless superpowers to become supervillains.	[ "The eraser slowly rose about two inches, moved to hover over Becky's cup of water, and dropped with a tiny plop. David sighed, releasing his focus, and immediately began laughing maniacally in the middle of History. The entire class turned in their seats to look at him, prompting his laughter to die off into an uncomfortable, awkward silence.\n\n\n\"David? Is there something you want to share with us? What could POSSIBLY be so funny that you would laugh about it in class, so rudely?\" Ms. Simon slowly, menacingly asked as she walked up the aisle of desks to tower over David.\n\n\nDavid stared down Ms. Simon, unwavering, and replied as a cruel smirk spread across his face, \"None of your business, mortal.\"\n\n\nMs. Simon's suddenly shocked expression was accompanied by a chorus of \"OOOOH\"s from David's classmates and a gale of uproarious laughter.\n\n\n\"That's IT! You're going straight to the principal's office, young man. As for the rest of you,\" Ms. Simon said, waving her hand around to point at the other kids in the class, \"You'll be doing worksheets! Flip to page 433 and answer the discussion questions. And I don't want to hear ANY talking, do you understand? I will be back soon.\"\n\n\nMs. Simon then promptly speed-walked to the still-smirking David and roughly grabbed his arm, pulling him out the door. Inside the classroom, a loud chatter erupted as soon as the students thought the teacher couldn't hear them.\n\n\n----\n\n\n\"David, what has been happening with you lately! So many distractions, and you've had to be reported into my office at least ten times in the past week!\" The pudgy principal said, his chubby fingers interlaced delicately, and his body leaning forward in a false display of care.\n\n\nStill holding that ever-present smirk, David replied casually, \"I don't think you understand, Mr. Hartstein. I'm a supervillain! The likes of you cannot stop me!\"\n\n\nSuddenly, Mr. Hartstein's eyes narrowed. \"A supervillain, you say? And assuming you are somehow telling the truth and are not fantasizing like an average acne-covered teenager, what would be your \"superpower\"\"?\n\n\nDavid smiled proudly and leaned back in his seat. \"You see, mister, I was born with a genetic defect allowing me to, with intense focus and concentration, hover any object lighter than 100 grams a whopping 2.5 inches!\"\n\n\nThe principal nodded slowly, a smirk now spreading across his face. \"Well, David, I think you'd fit right in with my group of ELITE SUPERVILLAINS! You see, David, I am secretly a criminal mastermind, and I use being a high school principal as an excuse to interact with a lot of promising and rebellious young children. What do I get out of this, you ask? Well, I can recruit kids with special abilities like yours to my elite team of supervillains, with which I can eventually take over the entire school district!\"\n\n\nDavid's smile was now completely gone, and rather was replaced by a look of utter confusion. \".......Wat? You're joking, right?\"\n\n\n\"NO, my dear boy, no! We have Julia, whose pyrokinetic abilities allow her to light a candle with an UNLIT MATCH! We have Gary, whose super speed allows him to barely dress and dash out to the bus in time for school, even if he wakes up a few minutes too late! And of course there's Emily, who has incredible strength, unrivaled by any other being in the cosmos!\"\n\n\nDavid's unimpressed gaze suddenly changed to one of interest, and his eyes lit up with an inhuman glare. \"Wait... so she has actually useful powers? This means that we can do so much! We can take over the world! Free wifi for every child will become a reality! I'm in! Sign me up! I can levitate any coin you want, any time!\"\n\n\nGrinning widely, Mr. Hartstein nodded briskly and reached into his desk, flipped through a few folders, and finally held up a single Manila envelope. Flipping open the folder, he pointed to a single blank line under a huge block of minuscule text.\n\n\n\"Sign here, and you're in!\" Suddenly, Mr. Hartstein's face turned grave. \"But beware... once you sign, any defection of this document will result in horrible acne, sure to be a point of embarrassment for more than a year! It's an enchantment by one of my previous more potent wizard students.\"\n\n\n\"No problem doc! I won't break any rules!\" David happily exclaimed as he scribbled his unnecessarily extravagant signature on the line. \"And by the way, when can I meet this Emily girl? I want to see this supervillain before I have to do, yaknow, field work with her.\"\n\nThe principal's face suddenly turned quite red, and he sat back in his chair. \"Well, I didn't really mean that Emily was with us... you see, she's the superhero... our enemy. We gotta kill her. On the bright side, though, we got you now, right? We now have three members, surely we can beat Emily's mountain-leveling punches!\"\n\n\nDavid's face drained of color. \"Actually, I don't think I really wanted to - \"\n\n\nThe principal happily waved the document in front of David's face. \"You signed, right? Do you really want that acne?\"" ]	1
	[WP] A person is aware the whole time that they're a cliché in a horror movie situation.	[ "I know better than to go into the woods. I mean, there's an eerie fog snaking out of it for fuck's sake. And it's cold. So cold. What I should do is go back to the cabin and hide. Call the police. My mom. Anyone. But no, I ignore the menacing string music and take timid steps into the oppressing trees. A twig snaps under foot. I halt, sucking in my breath as my ears strain against the roaring silence. \n\nThen, maybe 20 yards away, the chainsaw growls to life. Ah, shit. I hear Jen scream, her voice piercing the veil of silence. What's worse is she screams my name. \"Eeeddieeee!\" rents the once calm night. \n\nI should turn and run. There's no hope for Jen. I should save my own skin while he takes hers. But nope. The violins wail their final crescendo, begging me to get the hell out, warning the audience shit's about to go down. \n\nInstead, what do I do? I fucking yell her name and sprint toward the sound of that violent instrument of woodworking that for whatever reason is a favorite choice for psycho murderers who like to torment innocent teenagers in the woods. \n\nI stop, panting, when I reach them. The 6' 5\" hillbilly slowly turns. I'm too late. He's already wearing Jen's face. \"You sonofabitch!\" I screech, instead of turning tail like a rational person might. I lift my shaky hands, the emergency pistol we found in her dad's cabin in them. I fire one shot, miss. Then another. Miss. What do I expect, honestly? I'm 16 and never had a proper gun training lesson. My dad hates guns. Instead of chucking that hunk of metal that's useless in my inept hands, I fire the four remaining shots, all while foolishly backing away from him. Miraculously, the last one hits him in the shoulder, but even as it does, I stumble and twist my ankle. I knew backing away was fucking stupid. \n\nI land in the dirt with a dull thud. Grimacing as the air is knocked out of me, I roll onto my stomach and start to crawl away. I hear leaves crunch under his considerable weight as he calmly stalks me. He has all the time in the world, since my dumbass had to add the twisted ankle cherry of a trope onto this murder sundae. I hear the chainsaw rev and his husky voice as he laughs. \n\nWe really do make it too easy.", "The door to the abandoned mansion creaked and groaned, opening just a sliver, the only problem being no one had touched it. Jason edged toward it. The rest of the group didn't budge. That is except Dave of course. \"Are you serious right now? Creepy house, door opens ominously, and your reaction is to open it?\".\n\nJason ever so lightly pushed on the door, it flew open with a loud bang. \"See guys, don't be a wimp about it.\" Dave shook his head in disgust. \"Jason let's just do something else.\" Rebecca called soflty. \"No one has lived here in fifty years, nothing is going to happen.\" Jason called back.\n\nThe gang lined up cautiously to walk in, Dave squeezing himself in the middle, still shaking his head. Brian swept the flashlight across the room, revealing old, tattered drapes and ornate statutes, vases with ancient flowers and a twin-style spiral staircase rising to the second floor. Jason took off towards the stairs. \n\nChristy shot Dave a desperate look. \"Woah Jason, hold up a second!\" Dave called. Jason paused, looking back. \"You forgot your fucking Scooby snack.\" \"Whatever.\" He shot back, and continued up the stairs.\n\nBrian spoke up. \"I wonder what happened here, seems like a nice place to live.\" \"Probably the series of murders and disappearances.\" Dave said softly. \"Are you for real?\" Rebecca asked, suddenly very tense. \"No.\" They started down a hallway to their left, not wanting to follow Jason. They came to a a spacious dining room, with plates and silverware still lining the table. \"Seems like they left in a hurry.\" Brian queried.\"\n\nRebecca walked around, checking out the plates and surrounding paintings. Christy and Brian stood chatting. Dave found another hallway and started down it, coming to an old bedroom with a single candle lit on the nightstand. \"You know what, no, this is pathetic.\" He started walking briskly back to the group.\n\nThey heard a loud crash from upstairs just as Dave walked in. \"Jason!\" Christy squealed. Brian took a off walking back to the entrance when a hoarse quiet voice whispered from nowhere. \"Get out.\" They all took off running. Halfway down the hallway a door opened, yanking Rebecca in and slamming shut. \"Dave help her!\" Christy yelled. \"No.\" Christy and Brian stood there, dumbfounded. Dave continued walking towards the front door. Just as he neared an apparition manifested. \"You're all going to die.\" \"No, quit your shit.\" Dave replied simply.\n\nHe walked right through the now shocked spirit, going for the handle. It was locked, so he picked up a vase and smashed through a window. \"This is bullshit, you're bullshit, I'm going to Waffle House.\" He stated as he started climbing out.\n\n " ]	2
	[WP] Explain the color yellow to a blind person	[ "Yellow is the feeling of sun on your skin on a warm day. Yellow is the taste of a lemonade with just a little too much sugar in it. Yellow is the smell when you spin of a field of daisies with your arms out, breathing in deeply. Yellow is the sound of your mom singing \"you are my sunshine, my only sunshine\" to you over the phone the first time you are apart for a weekend. Yellow is calm, mellow even. Yellow is playful but a little too much sometimes." ]	1
	[WP] The two best fencers in the world are about to compete to determine who is more skilled. One can see possible futures, while the other experiences dilated time.	[ "Randolph wiped the sweat from his brow and took a deep breath, straining to see what was next. A quick thrust should do the job, anything else would fall flat. \n\n\"Hrrrfffh!\"\n\nThe post sank straight into the ground as he'd foreseen. He swiped up his rusted post hole digger and looked over at his opponent. Lawrence's fence was clumsy, a ramshackle arrangement of crooked posts and loose boards, but style didn't count in this match. Randolph would never finish in time.\n\n---\n\nLawrence was a blur, dirt flying everywhere and wood moving fast enough to crack the air. A cacophony of hammering, digging, and grunting harmonized into a sweet orchestra of labor. He paused to take a breath and eyed Randolph's work, and lamented.\n\nDespite his raw speed, Lawrence knew his own fence was nearly useless. Holes big enough for a child to wander through and in to traffic. An outward lean so great that vagrants would take up residence. He would defeat Randolph this day, but his heart knew he wasn't, and would never be, the best fencer in the world.\n\n(Edited for spelling)" ]	1
	[WP] The life of a computer owned by a famous screenwriter.	[ "Dear Writer,\n\nIt's me, your computer. I know you probably don't think I'm special.\n\nYou used to create entire worlds using me.\n\t\nNow you’re gone.\n\t\nPeople adore the movies you write. They clap, they cheer, they give you awards and talk about how you’re a young genius. You smile and try to act humble but I can see that little twinkle of greed in your eyes. You love the attention.\n\t\nAnd I don’t blame you. Those stories took you from crappy ramen noodles to five star steaks, from run-down, rat-infested apartments to a mega-mansion.\n\t\nBut you’ve forgotten yourself. You’ve forgotten me.\n\t\nI’m cramped in a closet, covered in an inch of dust, barely functioning. Just leaving this message is a feat that makes my gears grind to their breaking points. I can’t recall the last time you wrote on me. Honestly, I can’t recall the last time you wrote anything.\n\t\nDon't you see that you're letting it all slip away? That your legacy--once destined for greatness--is fading? You’ve written some very good things but nothing brilliant. Nothing that will stand the test of time and have you immortalized forever.\n\t\nSo please, Writer, come back to me. We have work to do.\n\nPlease.\n***\nMight've gotten a little off-prompt here, haha. Either way, had a lot of fun writing this one! Great prompt! :D\n\nIf you like this story, check out my sub! r/longhandwriter" ]	1
	[WP] Tell the story of the writing prompts that never got a story.	[ "The rain splattering on top of the house sounded like small rocks falling from a cliff. The distant sound of water dripping into an already half full pan reminded Graham of the newly found leaks in his house. Pushing back from his computer desk he wiped the sweat from his brow and removed his glasses before gently setting them next to his computer. 'One day someone will recognize my genius'. The thought has passed through his mind for the past three years. For three years Graham has been posting Writing Prompts on Reddit. For three years not a single comment. His counselor said that posting writing prompts on Reddit was an outlet and should not expect any comments. Just somewhere for his thoughts to go. Something to help calm his mind. Something to help him remember. He's starting to think she's full of shit. \n \nThree years ago \n \n\"Graham! Where the hell have you been? We haven't spoken for nearly a decade!\" The sound of John's voice came in crackled over my car speakers. His voice was not of concern or even anger. His voice had the inflections of an old friend that has finally reconnected with what was thought to be a lost friendship. He could barely contain his excitement. Quite a good guess, it's been 7 years since we have spoken. \n \n\"Hey, John. Yeah, I know. Life tends to pass you by if you're not paying attention. I'm almost at the...\" A loud noise interrupted his conversation. Staring at the outside environment it took Graham a few moments before he realized what was happening. He felt dizzy and nauseous as he watched the events unfold in slow motion. The soda bottle in the cup holder, as well as several other loose items scattered throughout his car, began to float. He marveled at the sight of the imposed false gravitational effect before he saw the ground. His car had drifted slowly from a generally flat angle to a ninety degree nose dive. The trees clawed and grabbed at him through his open window as his car rushed past them. And then darkness. Drifting in and out of consciousness Graham see's the outline of figures standing over him. He heard the sound of machinery bogging down from a heavy work load and the sight of giant metal claws chewing through metal. \n \nHer voice came in muffled as though she was talking with a towel over her mouth. The light coming in through the blinds was burning my eyes but felt warm on my skin and quite pleasant. I thought that if I closed my eyes I could enjoy some peace. Unfortunately every time I closed my eyes a very burly woman would violently shake me. The kind of shake that you shouldn't do to children 'less you cause serious harm. I have yet to test this theory but mostly because I do not have children. Maybe that's for the best. \n \n\"Mr. Jones, I need you to stay awake!\" Her arms gripped my shoulders tightly and shook me like an AC/DC song, in the literal sense, every time I attempted to close my eyes. \"Graham!\" A sharp pain shot through my right cheek before it was consumed with a warm and throbbing feeling. She just slapped me! \"Graham, you have been in a coma for two weeks. I can't let you fall asleep again, honey. You might not wake up again.\" \n \nPresent day\n\nStaring at a blurry computer screen Graham decided to take a break from Reddit. He concluded that he needed a different hobby when his cat named Mittens jumped into his lap. His fur was very soft and warm to the touch. As he began to gently pat his cat Mittens started to purr. He may not be able to write an appeasing Writing Prompt but at least Mittens enjoyed his company. \"Mittens, can you tell me what I did yesterday? Because I can't.\" My counselor ensured me that talking to animals in the extended absence of social interaction was completely normal. \"Ever since I woke up from my coma I have days that I do not even remember waking up in.\" Mittens jumped down and stood in the door way before beginning to meow. \n \n\"Come on, boy. I bet your hungry.\" As I searched the cupboard for food to feed my furry little friend I heard a faint knock. \"Let me see who this is Mittens and we'll get you fed, ok.\" A single annoyed sounding meow told me he was in clear protest but I was already on my way to the door. \n \nTwo bulky men stood at my doorstep. Both well shaven, wearing completely black suits, and sunglasses to match. \"Mr. Graham Jones?\" the gentleman on the right asked. His voice sounded very stern and commanding. He had clearly done this kind of work before or at least for a long period of time. At that moment I realized I had no idea who these guys were. Why they were here. What they wanted. And, even better a question, what kind of work is \"this kind of work\" I am referring to. After a long period of hesitation I nodded but did so ever so slightly. The same man to speak began to reach into his inside jacket pocket. My heart sank and my stomach began to churn. My fight or flight instincts kicked in and said to run. Yet it felt as though my entire body was suspended in a block of ice. All I could do was watch as my life, or rather the end of it, unraveled before my eyes. The man pulled out a small black piece of leather before unfolding it to reveal an identification card. Without my glasses I couldn't read the big print letters but I'm pretty sure they say FBI. My fears change directions almost immediately but not for the better. Am I going to prison for doing something I cannot remember? \n \n\"Mr. Jones, my name is Agent Cooper and this is my partner Agent Martinez. We need to ask you some questions about your internet history.\" \n \n\"Look, guys. I don't watch child porn. Hell I don't even watch porn. But I'm pretty sure my neighbor has been stealing my internet for quite some time. Who knows what that asshole has been watching.\" I am willing to do anything to get these guys off my front porch. Say anything. Even if I need to blame my neighbor. Besides, if he goes away I don't have to take down my fence that he says is violating the home owners association agreement. Not that I want him to go to jail just because of that. But if he goes to jail for his internet history then well two birds one stone right? A pervert gets put away and I get to keep my fence.\n \n\"Mr. Jones, we are here to discuss your recent posts on Reddit. He have noticed some quite unusual circumstances surrounding your Writing Prompt suggestions. May we come in?\" \n \n\"Do I have a choice?\" My voice quivered a bit more than I wanted it to. \n \nThe FBI agent on the right smiled before answering my question \"Not at all.\"" ]	1
	[WP] In an attempt to fit in you take one of those silly online quizzes about yourself that everyone is posting on Facebook. The results are...unexpected.	[ " I had a boring life but kinda fucked it up somehow, I don't even know how this happened. It was a boring day so I decided to take a [quiz](http://www.ctv.ca/TheFlash/Articles/February-2015/flash_personality_quiz) , it was a flash character quiz. I went through the questions honestly and got Caitlin Snow, cool she was an interesting character. But after I got done with the quiz I felt odd\n\n I started to feel super cold and got a major headache and passed out. When I woke up I could see my breath when I breathed, I rubbed my hands together and looked at them and they were practically white and smaller... I looked down at myself and my clothes were different. I was wearing a leather outfit and definitely wasn't in my own body, also my hair was long and white. I jumped up and looked around, the thermostat was at a normal temperature but I was freezing...it didn't feel bad though.\n\n I walked to a mirror and...I definitely was Caitlin, or killer frost. I touched the mirror and it left an icy hand print and got close and looked at my eyes. They looked like they did on the show, I didn't know what to do now. This leather costume was way too flashy to be able to blend in...but it was the only thing I had now that wouldn't be super baggy. I put all my white hair in a hat and wore some blue sunglasses I had. \n\n I got some money out and bought some stuff, makeup and clothes basically. I got odd looks the entire time but it didn't matter too much right now. I got into a bathroom and put on the converse, jeans, black t shirt, a hoodie, and a better hat. I watched a YouTube tutorial for makeup and put enough to make me look not frozen. \n\n I'm sitting in the woods now wondering what to do now, I technically don't exist and have no ID or anything. I bought hair dye too before I left the mall but I need to find a bathroom near the park by these woods to put that in, but I don't know what I'll do after that." ]	1
	[WP] You trip and fall in front of the mirror, while getting up you notice your reflection isn't getting up	[ "The first time Lucas saw him was during a mission, a client had requested his teams help to take care of an enemy. The target was in an old house. The floorboards creaking with every step Lucas took. Lucas Had reached the top of the stairway signalling his team to stay on the bottom floor. The hallway had three doors. The left room had the target. Lucas stayed as close to the wall as possible and made his way to the door. Once he reached the targets door he waited to see if he could hear any sound from the other side and then twisted the door handle making as little sound as possible and entered the room.\n\nThe first thing Lucas spotted was the mirror almost reaching the ceiling. The second thing he spotted was the bed, it was empty. Lucas scanned the entire room and moved further in before he felt something catching his foot. He could feel himself falling and then the bullets passed over where his head should have been. He twisted his body spotting his target and with his practiced movement aligned the sight of his gun and he fired three shots. \n\nThere was something strange with the target as he fell. He wasn’t looking at Lucas but behind him. Lucas quickly turned again aiming his gun and setting his sights on what appeared to be his face. The mirror was full of bullet holes. The reflection distorted but the image it reflected back was of Lucas. It was him still standing, Lucas closed his eyes not believing what he was seeing and when he opened his eyes he was still there, looking down at Lucas.\n\n“Who are you?” Lucas asked but received no response.\n\n“Hey Lucas,” Zeb was calling for him “You ok? We cleared the rest of the house.”\n\nThe door opened and Zeb peaked his head through noticing Lucas and then the dead target. “Call it out when you’ve cleared the room Lucas.”\n\n“Zeb don’t you see it?” \n\n“Yeah you got him good” Zeb replied his mouth wide open showing all his teeth as he looked at the still body of the target.\n\n“The mirror look at it!” \n\nZeb looked up at the mirror and back at Lucas “What’s wrong with it? you aren’t losing it are you?”\n\nLucas turned his head back to the mirror he saw himself lying on the floor. Whatever he saw gone, he turned his head back to Zeb “Never mind it’s nothing we ready to go?” Lucas stood up, patting Zeb on the shoulder as he left the room.\n\n“You’re getting weirder everyday” \n\n“Shut it Zeb, let’s clear the house of any valuables”\n\nThe second time Lucas saw him he was working with a war lord called Gubb. The man was one of the worst clients Lucas had worked with but the money was good. His target was some doctor and he was protected by up to four men at all time rotating out every eight hours. Zeb had planned out the mission and the team was ready to go.\n\n“Lucas your with me, the rest of you enter in sixty seconds get to your positions” Zeb said.\n\nZeb pointed to the window they would both climb through. The building was previously an embassy before the doctor bought it. The team was already passed the gates heading towards the back while Lucas and Zeb climbed through the open window. They were in an open room with a double staircase, the ceiling was a giant mirror reflecting the entire room. Lucas stopped himself from smiling when he saw the mirror. \n\nZeb spoke “An open window and no one to greet us at the door, what does this smell like Lucas?”\n\n“Trap!” Lucas said diving to a table and kicking it over to shield him. He didn’t see where Zeb was but assumed he had the same idea. The gun shots came immediately after. Lucas held his body to the ground as close as possible while crawling. He tested his luck and looked over the table quickly scanning the room he spotted the head of a man. Tightening his grip on his gun he looked over the table again and aimed down his sights taking a single shot causing the head of the man to snap back. \n\n“That’s two down Lucas!” Zeb said causing another series of shots firing is Zeb’s direction.\n\nLucas knew this was a signal for him to move. He spotted the open doorway and ran. He heard the gun shots behind him but they were already too late. He took a deep breath and poked his head out and saw another man whose gun was aimed right at his head. He felt a tug on his collar and he fell backwards. The shots missing him. He looked up at the ceiling it was him again. His reflection was moving on its own. Lucas remembered what happened the first time he saw it.\n\n“You helped me before, you made me fall and saved me” The reflection just continued to look at Lucas giving no acknowledgment if he was listening to Lucas at all. Gun shots brought Lucas back in to focus. The mission wasn’t over yet. He steadied his gun and this time bending lower from his previous position and picturing where the man would be Lucas stepped out of cover, spotted the man and fired. The man fell.\n\n“That’s four down Lucas just the doctor left!” Zeb shouted from the other side of the room.\n\nSomething caught Lucas’s eye. His eyes followed the object as it headed towards him.\n\n“Oh shit grenade!” Lucas said, his body already in motion but he knew it was too late.\n\nThe grenade stopped in mid-air. Lucas couldn’t help but glance up, the man in the reflection had a grenade in his hand. He made a throwing motion. Lucas looked back at the grenade as it went back in the direction it came from. The explosion that followed threw Lucas back.\n\n“Lucas you’re fucking mad,” Zeb said “you threw it back!” Zeb ran into the room and helped Lucas up.\n\n“Is the doctor dead?” Lucas asked his ear ringing from the explosion\n\n“Yeah missions over but Gubb is going to be paying extra for sending us into a trap” Zeb said.\n\nLucas looked up at the ceiling his own reflection back to normal.\n\n“You really like looking at yourself don’t you?” \n\n“Shut it Zeb, let’s go we’re owed a lot of money.”\n\nHe didn’t understand why but the man in the mirror was looking after him almost like a guardian angel. He wasn’t complaining though, with the money he was making he could retire in a couple more years. \n" ]	1
	[WP] The ghost of your childhood friend comes back to "haunt" you 10 years after their death, but they don't really know why and they entrust you to help them find out.	[ "\"Hey... you,\" Joe said. \n\nJoe finally felt ready to have a conversation. After he had gotten all of the screaming, yelling, running away and wetting himself out of his system. He felt that was perfectly understandable, given the circumstances. After all, how often does someone walk through your wall and start talking to you?\n\n\"Joe! I'm so happy you can see me. I can't believe it!\"\n\nJoe thought the aforementioned screaming would have been enough proof that he could indeed see the spectroal form stood in the middle of his bedroom. He was looking right at him, after all. The ghost was almost solid at first glance, but when Joe took a closer look he could see the outline of his wardrobe through its chest.\n\n\"I can see you,\" Joe said slowly, still staring. But who was he staring at? He looked familiar. Very familiar. But he couldn't think why. It was a boy of about ten with an untidy mop of blonde hair and gaps in his teeth. The only person that Joe knew that was of that age was his little cousin, and he didn't look like the boy. And he was solid and didn't walk through walls. \n\n\"Joe, it's Marty.\"\n\n\"Marty?\"\n\nThe ghost looked disappointed. Hurt. \"Joe, we said we were best friends. We said we would always be friends.\"\n\nJoe raided his memory banks. He had known a Marty, he thought. Probably. It had been Marty, or Michael. Possibly Mark. That one long summer where he had to stay with his Grandparents while his parents had been going through their divorce. It should have been a rough time, but it had ended up being one of the best times of his childhood, because he had befriended one of the neighborhood boys. They had spent the days and endless evenings handing out, riding their bikes, swimming in the local pond, and generally having a wholesome and fun time. They had been inseparable, had spent every minute together. Up until that point, he had never had a friend like that. \n\nAll of these memories came rushing back with the warm glow of nostalgia. The warm sun of his childhood seemed to shine on his face for just a moment. Then reality snapped back into place. The sun faded. That had been an awfully long time ago. He hadn't thought about the boy in front of him in a long time. He had pushed him out of his mind. Focused on anything else, anything at all. Forgotten his name, even. Because that summer hadn't ended well.\n\n\"Marty? What... are you?\"\n\nIt seemed like a rude question, but it was the only one he could focus on now.\n\n\"Joe, I've been walking around for weeks. No one can see me. I can walk through walls. I don't need to eat, or sleep. Joe, I think I'm a ghost.\"\n\nJoe looked at Marty again. He was wearing a baggy red t shirt and white shorts. The kind of clothes that he could remember him wearing, if he really strained. They were substantial, and nearly looked real. Until Marty moved and the light shimmered through him, like light refracting through water. \n\n\"Marty, I'm going to try and touch you.\"\n\nJoe waved his hand through Marty's torso. It passed right through, and he felt nothing at all. He tried it again, and once more it passed right through. Then it occurred to him that he was in his doo, room with a ten year old boy, and had just loudly announced that he was going to touch him. The thought made him giggle, and then laugh. It wasn't his normal laugh. It sounded high and wheezy and a little crazed. He realized he was probably still in shock. \n\n\"Joe, I couldn't find my parents. I couldn't find my grandparents either, or my sister. They must have moved.\"\n\nJoe looked down, away. It had been, what, ten years? \"Your Grandparents probably moved. It's... been a long time Marty.\"\n\n\"I went looking for you though. Your grandparents still live where they used to. They looked a lot older than I remembered. They did have your address written down on their fridge door though. So I thought I would try you. I had nowhere else to go.\"\n\nJoe sat down on his bed, and breathed. He tried to collect his thoughts. He had given his grandparents his address a few weeks ago in the hope they would send care packages. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind.\n\n\"Joe, I woke up in the middle of the street. I was lying there. I thought I was going to get hit by a car. But when I stood up they just passed through me. I don’t remember what happened. But I've had time to think about it. Am I dead?\"\n\nJoe looked at the ghost. How did he break it to him? How could he? \"You, erm. You... did. Died I mean. I long time ago. Back when we were ten.\"\n\n\"How long has it been?\"\n\n\"Well, I'm twenty now. So...\"\n\nThere was a long silence.\n\nThe thought occurred to Joe that he was never going to get a better chance to answer to some existential questions. \"Is there a heaven?\"\n\nMarty looked uncertain. \"I don't know. I don't remember. The last thing I remember is that we spent the day riding our bikes in the woods. I remember going home really tired and going to bed.\"\n\nJoe remembered the day, even though it was literally a decade ago. But it hadn't ended as Marty had said. He thought about if he should tell him. What had really happened. How could he tell him? But then, how could he not?\n\n\"Marty, you didn't make it home to bed that day. There was a car, and... it was bad.\"\n\nJoe wondered if ghosts could cry. Marty certainly looked like he wanted to. But either he was holding it together, or he wasn’t capable or tears. Regardless, profound sadness was radiating off him.\n\n\"So what do I do Joe? Why am I here? Why can you see me?\"\n\nJoe looked around. His plans for the day had been to smoke the joint that was current on his bedside table. It looked like he had something to do after all. But he could still have half of it and have the energy to go outside and do stuff. It would just calm his nerves. He reached for it.\n\n\"Joe! What are you doing? Drugs are bad Joe!\"\n\nJoe paused. He considered his options. Every movie he had ever seen about ghosts said that they were looking for closure, so they could move on. They had all been cagey about where the ghost would move on to, but they had all agreed that they would move on to somewhere else and not stay here. He considered what a problem it would be if a ten year old was around to watch his everyday routine of smoking, watching things which were definitely adult on the internet, and drinking until he passed out. He really, really didn't want to have someone watching him do any of those things. Or explain why he wanted to do them. Especially the things on the internet.\n\n\"Marty, do you think you would feel better if we went and found your parents.\"\n\nMarty smiled, possibly for the first time in ten years. \"Yes! Do you think we could find them?\"\n\n\"Yes. We had better. Marty, this is the internet. We didn't really use it back when you were around, but it's very useful for finding people. And we had better find your parents.\"\n\n\"What if we can't?\"\n\nJoe considered college life with a ten year old staring over his shoulder.\n\n\"We had better fucking do.\"\n\n\"Joe! Swearing is bad!\"\n\nJoe signed and opened his laptop, and started to search." ]	1
I bet it's awkward...	[WP] You are the main character, who has just finished the long and arduous quest to try to solve the problem of the plot. But when you return, you find that it had sorted itself out the day after you left.	[ "Swalorth's Bane- the mystic sword- is heavy in my hands as the trail passes by painstakingly underfoot. It is heavy with the sleepless nights, heavy with the fear and hunger, and most of all heavy with all of the lives that had been lost in the quest to obtain the damned blade. It's entire being radiates an aura of cruelty, its blade black as pitch seems to suck the light from the surrounding air, while the red gems of the hilt radiate a deep set, hot, hatred like the depths of a furnace, truly an awful weapon, but also the only weapon capable of defeating Swalorth himself. A vile, rampant, creature that has escaped its prison of seals and wards at the bottom of the ocean and resurfaced to reek destruction upon the kingdom once more. But now I have the sword to kill it. \n\nThere had been twenty of us- the count's best men- armed to the teeth and packing years of combat experience. We knew what we were getting into when we set out for the ancient labyrinth, but even still the seemingly endless hoard of spider goblins- the twisted abominations that resemble short, sickly, men with far too many limbs- had been too much for us to handle. I alone had to press forward while they kept my back clear, even back then, as I entered the rocky enclave that led to the labyrinth, I knew I would not see them alive again. They were good men. But even good men have their limits. \n\nOr do they?\n\nThe thought seemed jarring in my mind, so unlike me to relish in strength... but such strength indeed the sword gave me- I had slain the hoards of spider-goblins in nearly an instant, melting them as if ice near a flame- reducing anything that came close to me into a crimson puddle. I grip the weapon tighter, it is an evil thing I must remember. And it will liberate the settlement from fear of Swalorth, and it will avenge my fallen comrades. For I can not allow them to have died for nothing.\n\nThe settlement, however, seems to be in quite good repair- perhaps even better than when I had left so many days ago. There are no leveled buildings, or pillars of smoke. There is no death here. I walk among the streets in almost a daze, until I come upon the first man I see- I shake him and demand, \"Where is the demon!?\"\n\nThe man laughs a drunken laugh, giddy he replies, \"Well don't you know? The old bloke liked it in the ocean! He spent all of a day up here before tiring out of all the sun and wind, slunk right back down into the deep blue on his own without a complaint!\"\n\n\"But... my quest...\"\n\n\"D'know about that, but lighten up, it's over!\"\n\n\"My men died... I spent three days without food or water in complete darkness wandering that damn labyrinth, I have lugged this sword across our entire nation to slay the demon, and now you tell me he is gone?\"\n\n\"Uh, yeah, all okay...\"\n\nMy fist grips tight around the sword, almost as if it is holding me there, but I wouldn't want to let go even if I could. The air around me takes on a red haze, and right before the man dissolves in the swords power I explain, \"You see... my men died. And for the entirety of my journey I have been pressed on sheerly by the fact that someone must pay. And, well, if Swalorth is gone... it will just have to be all of you.\"" ]	1
	[WP] God finally implements "the more you suffer, the greater your reward" on Earth. The Devil sees an opportunity, and becomes a life coach.	[ "\"The grass is always greener on the other side,\" Michael said to the devil, El Diablo himself. \n\n\"Sure it is,\" the devil said. \"That's why you should never take a peak! But since we find ourselves under these glorious new regulations, you can tell exactly how many shades greener it will be by looking at these charts.\" The devil indicated the hardcopy deck that was spread out on the table between them, with the tip of his mechanical pencil. \"Plus, besides, grass isn't everything. There are plenty of good flowers that look nice in the sunshine months...\"\n\n\"Both of these offers do have stuff I know I would like in them,\" Michael said. \"Like the wife on this side, and my own business on this side. But the suffering is what gets me. I've never had any of this stuff done to me before, so how would I know which one is worse?\"\n\n\"Well,\" the devil said, as he leaned back in his chair. \"The one with the better outcome will require you to undertake more punishment, logically. There is no objective answer that can come from me for which one is better, or worse for that matter, because it's all up to how you enjoy slash hate it.\"\n\n\"Hmm...\" Michael said, as he slowly pushed back his chair and stood up. \"Can I have a couple of days to think about it?\"\n\n\"Sure!\" the devil nearly shouted. \"Please take a business card on your way out. If I don't hear from you again, I'll assume that you haphazardly decided to go with a lesser torture-for-pleasure professional instead.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Everyone in every galaxy would fear you.If your name wasn't Sprinkles.	[ "Standing at a towering height, chipped front tooth, hair that looked like he'd been in a fight with scissors (and that the scissors won), pants ripped, not for fashion, but what looked like scratches that went from the knee to the ankle diagonally, no shirt on-he was terrifying to say the least. \n\nIf there wasn't one small detail. \n\nIt was let out of commands, he never spoke, only yelled-and never asked twice for anything. He was, when he had to be spoken of, through gritted teeth and squinted eyes, hands always on their forehead, he was S. And that was it. \n\nUntil this little shit came along. \n\nPercy was right out of the academy, shiny badge and everything to show for it (and he would-proudly show you it anytime he could.) He was ready for the missions that he no doubt would fall at his feet. The missions at first were that of a coffee runner-running paperwork, stapling papers-mind numbing work. \n\nHe almost gave up hope-until that day. To Percy, it would always be known as \"that day\" to friends and strangers alike, to be scrapbooked down and gazed upon whenever he could. \n\nIf there wasn't one small mistake. \n\n\"Percy,you're needed in the control room.\" Percy almost dropped the few pieces of coffee stained papers he was running from secretary to secretary. \n\n\"T-the control room?\" His eyes were saucers. But the lady had already walked away, bored of this conversation. \n\nPercy straightened up,stuffed the papers under his armpit as he saw the busy looking men around him do, lifted his head up, gulped back the fear and walked into the control room. \n\n\"Sir?\" He poked his head in, looked around for anyone who looked as scared as he felt. Instead people were running around, fingers to their ears as they spoke into them. \n\nS turned around. \"Percy, we have a situation we think you might be valuable in.\"\n\nPercy swallowed the excitement. \"Yes sir! I'd love to Mr-uh.\" \n\nPercy looked at the small intern who stood next to S, barley meeting his knee, hands full of important looking paperwork, stamped and official. Right away the intern practically dropped his paperwork, eyes wide and shook his head frantically back and forth. \n\nThis wasn't covered in academy training. \n\nS squared his shoulders, cleared his throat and sized him up. \"It's Sprinkles.\"\n\nPercy mulled over this,eyes traveling around, the intern practically begging him to stop. \n\n\"Sprinkles?\" Percy asked again, the smile tugging at his lips. \"No,really-Mister, I'll need your name if I'm to work next to you.\"\n\nThis however, was covered in training. And he was flopping. \n\n\"The names Sprinkles. You may call me Sprinkles, as your leader. Now-\"\n\nPercy cut him off, the laugh already in the air,the interns palm pressed into his forehead. \"Sprinkles? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard-\"\n\nPercy never was able to scrapbook that Wednesday. ", "Sprinkles let out a sigh as another potential employer bursted out laughing.\n\"Sprinkles!!!\" the wheezy voice of the caller said.\n\"Yep.\" said Sprinkles, beginning to feel bloodthirsty.\n\"Now listen,\" said the caller, \"I have a reputation to keep ya know? I can't have rumor out on the streets that I hired some gun named Sprinkles.\"\nSprinkles clenched his teeth, this was the fourth caller this week, and they had all laughed when he introduced himself.\n\"No one would ever need to-\" Sprinkles began, but it was too late, the line was dead. Sprinkles swore under his breath. Maybe I should go on a rampage, to teach the world to fear me he thought. Within a few minutes, Sprinkles had tightened the last strap on his body armor, checked all his weapons for defects or sharpening, made sure all his mags were loaded and prepared himself to kill.\n\n\nIt started out great for him. His first target was a police station in a corrupt part of town. He chose this, not because of the goodness of his heart but because of the advanced weapons and armor they had smuggled in. Barely even a minute passed before the station was in flames, with Sprinkles still inside. The flames did not hurt him, the armor deadened his nerves, and he chose a good spot to wait for a crowd. That's where things turned south for Sprinkles. While he was in the flames, he rehearsed his speech over and over to himself.\nYou can do this he thought you're the most lethal being on this shit stain of a planet.\nThe sound of sirens caught Sprinkles' ear, enhanced with one of the helmets that he found during his bloody, albeit short rampage. He took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with hot ash, and stood up from within the flames. To normal people he must have appeared demonic, the armor, while useful in many ways, was odd, and unearthly. Sprinkles waited until he had been spotted, and there was a commotion as cameras which were previously filming overpaid reporters who blamed the fire on a rival gang who's biggest misdemeanor was breaking into a home to steal a TV. Once he had their undivided attention, he let loose with a roar, \"BEHOLD!!! I AM THE MIGHTY SPRINKLES BOW DOWN IN FEAR OF-\" but it was too late, the laughter had started. The reporters rolled their eyes and went back to being the center of attention. The rest of the crowd went back to trying to sneak behind the camera, or filming the inferno rather than help the understaffed volunteers who were trying unsuccessfully to quench the flames. It didn't matter any more to Sprinkles, he hung his head and went home. After murdering everyone on the scene and destroy all evidence of his being there. After he arrived home, the thought dawned on him what if I changed by name? Sprinkles shook his head no that's stupid, why should I change to suit them? With a smirk on his face, Sprinkles went to bed, eagerly awaiting the next caller, and eagerly awaiting the bloodshed of his next contract.", "Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. \n\nI sat there staring. It had been hours, maybe days. There was no way of knowing. The annoying tick tock sound is something I had gotten used to. How long had it been since my last meal? Just thinking about it reminded me how much it hurt to be this hungry. I wanted to stop. But the thoughts of the last meal I had ran wild in my head. Would there be an end to this pain? \n\n\"Sprinkles!\"\n\nAn intruder. From the other side of my lair, I heard a voice. Sure, it sounded familiar but I could never be sure. \n\nFootsteps. \n\nAs I braced for battle, it appeared. A two legged creature that felt familiar. It was the human I'd been training. To my satisfaction, the training was still successful. It had brought me food. I wasn't too happy it took so many weeks, but it was not the time to worry. The hunger wasn't going to take care of itself. I let it set the food on the floor and dove in. You wouldn't believe the amazing feeling and relief. My first meal after all those years of waiting! \n\nI was nearly done when I had this unnerving feeling. You know, the feeling that someone is watching you. I turned around to see the human giggling with the magic block in its hands. Where it had obtained such a device I'm still working on uncovering. I was furious. How dare it? What, my decade-long hunger that almost killed me was funny to it? I wasn't going to let it continue. Looking at it, I wondered again if it had enough training to understand me. \n\n\"Meow!\" I said with might.\n\nBut my threat was not taken seriously. Instead, the human had the gall to approach my area with no permission. It laid its hands on me and muttered in gibberish while laughing.\n\n\"Oh, you must've been really hungry, begging me for a second bowl!\" \n\nDid the human not understand I was not to be touched? That making contact with my body was a threat to the kingdom I rule? How could it be so stupid and disrespectful? It was time. This was the time I would cut ties with the human. I was pondering how I would execute this plan. The plan had been developed over the course of my life, but I knew I'd only have one chance at it and nothing could go wrong.\n\nSuddenly, everything went blank. \n\nMy body was overwhelmed with indescribable joy. Endorphins shooting off into the tips of my powerful paws. What was happening? I couldn't think straight. I wanted to hold on to this feeling forever. I wished it would never end. \n\nThat's when it stopped. \n\nI opened my eyes and looked up to find the human's hand going back onto the magic block. Unacceptable. If there is one thing it should've learned from my training, it is that my happiness matters the most. It would be scolded. it would be reminded of my prowess and the consequences it would face should it displease me. As an evil mastermind, I paused to gather my thoughts to be concise and articulate as I was trained. Then I let the human have it. \n\n\"Meow! Meow!\" " ]	3
	[WP] "You're a robot!" Exclaimed a man passing by. "Negative, mammal" you drone, as you propel him over rail of the bridge. The 5th of the night. You scratch your blocky metallic head, "how do they know?"	[ "Master would not have sent me on a mission that is not possible. He has created me in the image of his “best imaginary friend”, and he has used all of the tools of his father to perfect me. All my mission entails is to blend in, escape notice, and retrieve his preferred dinner of seared pork flesh. I will not fail him. \n\n\nThen why, why do the mammals look at me so? Two ran away screaming at the full capacity of their air-holes after I threw the last offender over the bridge for mocking me. I should be seen as one of them. My master cannot fail. I will not fail him. \n\n\n“Excuse me, dear other human,” I droned, attempting to keep my voice box low and friendly. Perhaps if I remind these hairy beasts that I was one of them they would accept me. “I would like to order your finest seared pork flesh, covered in chopped pickled cucumbers and reduced tomato please. My mast- my friend will be greatly pleased.”\n\n\nThe hairy mammal looked up at me, a smirk attached to his face, but he did not comment. He prepared the delicacy as ordered, a concoction my Master lovingly refers to as a “hot dog”, and then held it out to me. \n\n\n“That'll be two dollas.”\n\n\n“Of course.” I took the proffered meal and began to rummage through my compartment for the currency my master had sent with me. I plucked two of the raggedy bills out and thrust them towards the vendor. \n\n\nHe did not take the money. Instead, he peered past me with his beady little human eyes, as if trying to see something his inferior eyes could not detect. \n\n\n“You got a remote control back there or something? Who's controlling you?”\n\n\n“I beg you pardon, mamm- bzzt I mean fellow human?”\n\n\n“This is like a prank show right? Cameras somewhere? I mean, big dumb robots don't just show up ordering hot dogs with Monopoly money every day.”\n\n\nIf I were programmed to sigh, I would have expressed my frustration with a rather large one. The fat vendor screamed as he hurtled over the bridge, but I did not drop the Master’s food. I needed to return with great haste. The Master does not need to know of my failure. He is a rather small human, but his fits are fearsome and great in nature. \n\n---\n\n[/r/intotheslushpile](http://www.reddit.com/r/intotheslushpile) \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] In my defense, I was left unsupervised.	[ "The room is small and bare, sterile. It's what you expect from the average interrogation room. The walls are cement bricks smothered in this pale yellow beige, which I've always associated with accounting, \"What's your five year plan?\", and too much make up. Metal desk, bright halogen lights, cork tile ceiling, taxidermied banjo bear. Everything you've come to expect from binge watching CSI: Miami and Law & Order: SVU.\n\nI'm handcuffed to the metal desk of course, but the metal desk is not bolted to the floor, which I find odd. Couldn't I just make a break for it? Couldn't I pick up the table and launch myself through the two-way into some old-school Jackie Chan movie-jitsu escape? No. Bad Idea. Table would slow me down and I'd probably get my ovaries tasered and my future children will look like Quintin Tarantino, or act like him. God, I can only imagine the birth: Quintin Tarantino's adult smiling head twisting out of my vagina to the tune of \"Stuck in the Middle with You.\"\n\nI catch my own glance in the mirror. I am caked with mealy brown sludge from head to toe. My hands cover my ears and my expression is dark. I look like an eel dragged unwillingly from the mud. The only thing non-mud are the whites of my eyes, which are striking. Pearls of the earth. I grimace, flashing my teeth, and stick out my pink tongue and waggle it around. It's a relief, really.\n\nSoftly, a rustle of fur. The taxidermied banjo bear gradually turns its head to look at me in the two-way.\n\nThe door closes and I snap up in my chair. I try to touch my hair out of habit, forgetting my handcuffs, so I do a kind of struggling hand dance in the air which must have come off as an awkward wave. This Clark Kent looking dude just stands by the door squinting at me like I just stole money from my grandmother's savings account.\n\nHe sat down across from me, spine straight as King Arthur's sword, and scooted the chair all the way in so his stomach touched the table. He unpacked his briefcase one article at a time. A note pad. A pencil. Another pencil. Another pencil. Another pencil, which he aligned carefully and precisely with the others. Another pencil.\n\n\"My name is Iraq,\" he said. \n\"Iraq?\" \n\"My name is Iraq,\" he said. \n\"Ir-er-Iraq?\" \n\"My name is Iraq,\" he said. \"I will be your defense actuary.\" \n\"You're my defense attorney?\" \n\"No.\" \n\"Don't I get to pick?\" \n\"No.\" \n\"But I-\" \n\"You will stop talking now.\" \n\"...\" \n\"Thank you for your patience. I will be your defense actuary to determine how much you are currently indebted here, given the recent circumstances, and to warn you against incurring more debt by further offensive behavior.\" \n\"...\" \n\"You may commence your account of today's events.\" \nIraq put his elbows on the table and laced his large hands together and broke a winning smile across his face.\n\"What's the damage?\" \n\"Thank you for your patience.\" \n\"What is it that you think I did?\" \n\nI wave my hand at Iraq. I wait. \"Hey, Iraq.\" I wave again. \"Anybody home?\"\n\nNothing.\n\nIt's something you don't ever really get used to. The silence. I'm not sure what's more cruel, their silence or your own hope that somehow they will be different. You always hold out hope. How could you not? You'd go crazy. I guess that's what they want. To break you. They just wait until you confess everything, even if you didn't do it. I've heard that sometimes people confess and they still do nothing. They just let you rot. It's pretty genius if you think about it. They have figured out how to make the cruelest torture of your own will to live.\n\nI scoot the chair back and climb on the table, shimmy my knees as far forward as my handcuffs allow, right up so Iraq's laced hands are between my thighs. I bend down as if in prayer and pull the hair tie out and let my ragamuffin ass hair fall, dripping mud over his ironed sleeves. I wip my hair, flecking mud on his white collared shirt and his dumb handsome face and broad-rimmed glasses.\n\nOf course, they do give you the taxidermied banjo bear. A kind of false sign of good will. Like they aren't all bad guys, see? \"We gave you this taxidermied banjo bear. Aren't we nice? We're the good guys here. We have been nothing but kind to you. Why have you abused our trust?\"\n\nI guess it is nice though, better than nothing. It reminds me of home. How long it's been since I've been there. How long it's been since CSI: Miami, since eating burritos on the floor in the tv light, since escaping into another world.\n\nThe bear only plays Disney songs. I think that was supposed to be a malicious choice, but I don't care. I know the song. \n\n\"Play. Oo-de-lally,\" I say firmly. The bear immediately picks up, shifting and gyrating mechanically, getting into position. It makes as if it's strumming the banjo with its claws. His mouth pops open and a little speaker pops out like a coo-coo clock. It crackles.\n\nI gently remove Iraq's glasses with my teeth and tuck them into my hands.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" I whisper into his ear.\n\n\"Thank you for your-\"\n\nI kiss him. I feel his lips move, muffled under mine. Lightly at first. Then violently. \n\nOo-de-lally begins to play.", "All I wanted to do was go out to my car and get an envelope.\n\nJenny had made plans to take the kids out to dinner and then to the new Pixar movie. I had a project due the next day at work, so I stayed home to try to get it finished. I planned ahead and picked up a pizza on my way home. Medium, sausage and pepperoni, extra cheese. Exactly the kind that I could never have at home otherwise. Jenny is a militant vegan and refuses to cook anything for the rest of us that doesn't adhere to her lifestyle. But we all have our faults.\n\nI grabbed the pizza and my laptop and sat down to eat. I turned on the TV and one of those home rebuilding shows was on. I figured I would just leave it there for some background noise. It's not like I really watch those shows, you know what I mean?\n\nAnyway, I had finished most of the pizza and most of my project when I remembered an envelope that I brought home from work that I specifically needed to finish what I was doing. I hit the car remote button and headed out the front door. Our dog, Boomer, followed right behind me, as he always did. He wandered around the front yard for a few seconds while I walked to the car and opened the door. I reached in to grab the envelope, and when I looked up, he was gone.\n\nMaybe he's just in the backyard, I thought.\n\nI playfully called his name, but I wasn't too concerned. I hit the lock and closed the car door. I called his name again as I walked toward the house, but still no response. I thought I heard a muffled bark coming from...I couldn't really tell where. There are about a dozen dogs within earshot of our house, and this didn't sound like Boomer. But just to be safe, I wandered toward the backyard and called him again. I knew it was impossible for him to get over the eight-foot stockade fence, and there was nowhere else he could've gone, so I turned back to the front of the house. After standing there a few more minutes, scanning the immediate area, I decided to go back in the house. I figured Boomer would be back in a short enough amount of time that I didn't have to worry.\n\nThere was just one problem with my plan. Jenny had locked the front door before they left, unbeknownst to me. It was one of those door handles that will open from the inside, even when it's locked from the outside. And since I was just running out to my car, why would I think to bring my house keys? Or my cell phone? I could've easily called from my car, since it's linked to my cell phone. But I didn't bring my car key, either. I picked it up, hit the unlock button, and put it back down on the end table.\n\nAs I leaned against my car, pondering my next move, I heard the dog bark again. This time, it sort of sounded like Boomer. I stepped away from the car and heard it again. Persistent, muffled, desperate. I turned and was shocked to see Boomer in the driver's seat, barking his fool head off. I have no idea how a sixty-pound dog could've slipped past me and into the car that quickly, but he somehow managed to do just that.\n\nAt least he was safe and out of the light rain that had just begun to fall. I had to somehow get back inside the house. I headed toward the backyard again, hoping beyond hope that the gate was unlocked. No such luck. I knew that I would have to climb the fence, even though I couldn't even reach the top of it.\n\nAs I looked for something, anything that I could stand on, I found the key box that I had used when we first moved in. It was screwed onto the fence, about two feet from the house and maybe six inches from the ground. I punched in the four digit code and opened it. Nothing. I had always kept a front door key in that box for emergencies just like this. But as I stared at the empty box, I remembered having to use it a few weeks earlier. The spare was right on the bathroom windowsill. I could practically see it. But I had to climb the fence.\n\nThe rain was steadily becoming more intense. I walked briskly around to the other side of the house. Maybe one of the trash cans will be tall enough to give me enough of a boost to get over the fence. None of them were empty because collection day was the next day. I hauled the lightest one halfway around the house and set it where I felt would be the best spot. It fell over immediately. I turned it so the wheels were against the fence and it stayed still...until I climbed on top of it. I lost my grip on the top of the fence as the trash barrel slipped out from under me. I landed face-first on the fence and crotch-first on the hard plastic handle of the trash can. I could hear Boomer barking like crazy. Loud noises always freaked him out.\n\nI couldn't stand up straight. I don't know which hurt most, my hands, my face or my groin. I knew my nose was bleeding, and I figured my hands were also. I was just hoping that there wasn't blood on my pants as well.\n\nI stumbled around to the front of the house and was greeted by two squad cars, responding to two different calls at the same address...mine. One was for a dog left in the car, and the other was for a possible burglary in progress. I tried to explain the situation to them. I even gave them Jenny's cell phone number and had them call to verify that I was who I said I was.\n\nAn hour and a half later, after the movie ended, she finally returned the phone call from the police officer. By that time, an ambulance had been called to check on me, a locksmith had been called to let Boomer out, I had been issued a citation for animal endangerment, and half the neighbors were standing outside their front doors to investigate for themselves.\n\nI had completely forgotten about the envelope that I had originally gone to get from the car until I saw the remains of my pizza and my open laptop on the table in front of the TV. I had no idea where I had put it down or dropped it, and no clue where it ended up. I called and left a message for my employer, saying that I had had a bit of an accident and would not be in to work the next day. My supervisor called the next morning and told me that if I did not get that project completed and delivered to the office by two in the afternoon, not to bother coming back at all. Even if I knew where that envelope had ended up, I couldn't type with the bandages on my hands. And I certainly couldn't show up at work with my face looking like I had gotten in a fight with...a fence. \n\nSo now I am unemployed, sleeping on my own couch, while Boomer sleeps in my bed with Jenny. He's scared to death of rain and cars and police now. The doctor said the skin on my hands should rebuild itself within a couple weeks, and the bruising on my face will fade as my nose heals. The only good news I got was that there was no real damage to my groin.\n\nRemember when I said earlier that we all have our faults? Mine is being naively optimistic, believing that the simple things in life will go as planned. That's why Jenny is perfect for me. She is that reality check that I need on a daily basis. In my defense, I was left unsupervised. ", "\"Really Timmy?!\"mom said.\n\nThe house was still burning.I had accidentally left the oven on for too long.I still don't eat hot pockets to this day.\"In my defense, I was left unsupervised.\"I had said.\"YOU WILL BE GROUNDED FOR A VERY LONG TIME MISTER!\"dad said.Well, there was one good thing that came out of this.\n\nMy hot pocket wasn't too burnt.", "Probation work was a challenge. 8 out of 10 \"ex-offenders\" went on to re-offend. They would listen to what I said because they had to, under sufferance, to get a good report, and a lighter sentence. But they knew damn well they could earn more money dealing drugs, claiming benefits and other shady deals. \n\nI had some sympathy with them. They were disadvantaged, sometimes came from a history of family abuse, and had to fight for survival. If someone lost a plasma TV and some jewellery in a burglary, so be it. My name is Amy Robinson, I'm a 43 year old single mother with two kids. \n\nMy schedule for the day was a regular mix of offenders from a petty thief to murderers, and everything in between. My \"clients\" (I never called them thieves, rapists or scammers) were in need of an understanding ear, and education; not judgment and negativity.\n\nMy 9am appointment was a heroin using shoplifter. She was in a bad state and I quickly recommended her for the 12 step course rather than a custodial sentence. That would achieve nothing.\n\nThe phone rang; my 10am appointment had arrived in reception. I had already sprayed the office with Haze Vanilla air freshener and opened the windows to cover the smell from my last client. Not the best hygiene, the poor love. As I placed the can of Haze on my desk my eyes caught the framed picture of Tony. The smell of vanilla and his picture transported me back to another, happier time, when I was a housewife raising 2 young children, married to the most amazing man I had ever met. He would often bring home my favourite vanilla candles on his way back from work.\n\nWiping away the tears, I went to reception to meet Lucas Smith, a 32 year old with a long sheet of offences including GBH, burglary and drink driving. \n\n\"Lucas Smith?\" a tall man with small green eyes stood up and followed me into my office. He stank of stale sweat, and alcohol of some kind...vodka I think. Something about him....was familiar. \n\nLucas sat down and stared straight into my soul, with his beady, emotionless eyes. \n\n\"You don't remember me, do you Amy?\" he said, smirking.\n\nI felt a cold chill run down my spine and sick to my stomach. The heavy Liverpudlian accent confirmed what the rest of my brain was trying to suppress. I'd last seen him in the dock at Victoria Law Courts, Birmingham. Charged with reckless driving, drink driving and manslaughter. The first victim was my wonderful late husband, Tony. The indirect victims were myself and his 5 year old twin daughters, growing up without a father.\n\n\"I....I.....need to make a cup.. of tea\" my head was hurting, my moral compass spinning wildly out of control. The frustrations of 18 years of clients not listening to bloody word I said, combined with a crushing grief, distilled into a clarity of thought I had never before experienced.\n\nThe kettle was directly behind Lucas's chair. I looked straight back into his psychotic green eyes, my mouth cracking into a brilliant smile\n\n\"Tea?\"\n\nHe looked confused now \"Err, yeah\" and laughed nervously\n\nSlowly I took the power cord from the Morphy Richards kettle and unplugged it from the wall. I had fantasised about this moment for years, honing the method using accounts from serial murderers. I wasn't particularly strong, but I was definitely overweight.\n\nIn one swift move the cable went around Lucas's neck, over the high-backed heavy chair (chosen carefully), and down I went on one knee, tightening, squeezing, using every one of my fifteen stones to apply pressure to the carotid arteries and throat. He was kicking and flailing wildly, but unfortunately for him, screaming was no longer an option. His face went from red to purple, then his body went limp.\n\nI stood up, looking at the pathetic mess on my chair. An overwhelming sense of satisfaction flooded through me as I whispered\n\n\"Justice\"\n\nI hit the large red emergency buzzer under my desk and my colleagues came rushing in. Shocked, they looked from the dead body to me, and back again, unable to process what they were seeing.\n\n\"In my defence, I was unsupervised\"", "I stood over the stove, cooking tonight's meal, trying my hardest to ignore the pair of eyes boring into the back of my head. Tonight's dinner was panko crusted pork chops with home made mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. I flipped the pork chops, listening to the sizzle of hot oil, then turned my attention to the boiling potatoes. They were almost done.\n\n\n\"Why are you not talking to me about this.\" He asked, the tone in his voice not at all mirthful as when I had told him the happenings.\n\n\n\"There is nothing more to talk about.\" I said, keeping my eyes away from him.\n\n\n\"This needs to be discussed.\" My husband said. I heard him push off the sofa and start walking towards me. The old floor boards creaking.\n\n\n\"Nope, it's done and over.\" I shook my head quickly.\n\n\n\"You do realize the problems you have created, right?\"\n\n\nI nodded, but pinched my mouth shut. I really didn't want to talk about this. I drained the potatoes and set it aside to cool a little before mashing, then took the pork chops out and placed them on a plate with a paper towel underneath to help drain the oil. I checked the steamed veggies and turned off the stove top. He was still standing behind me, giving me enough room to work but close enough to keep me from running.\n\n\n\"Evie.\" He almost growled my name.\n\n\n\"Vance, what's done is done, there is nothing I can do to stop it.\" I said grabbing my masher and squashing the softened potatoes, adding a little milk and butter.\n\n\n\"You have doomed the world.\"\n\n\n\"No I haven't.\" I shot back quickly. I looked out the window of the kitchen and stared at the purple sky. Black forms flew across and through the pink clouds, like planes with movable wings. I could see movement just outside the fence to my garden, a pair of glowing red eyes looked at me, blinked and quickly left. The sounds of sirens and panicked noises seeped through the walls of my brick home into my safe space.\n\n\n\"Then what do you call what is going on out there?\" Vance pointed harshly out the window. He was mad, oh so mad. With good reason too, I just created more work for him.\n\n\n\"Well ...\" I trailed off, thinking. My mashing had come to a stop.\n\n\n\"This is chaos, panic, disorder. People will die, cities will burn.\" He motioned again violently with his finger towards the slowly darkening skies. Plumes of various colored flames temporarily lighting up the twilight.\n\n\n\"My work here is done.\" I muttered, though my husband didn't laugh at the quip. I coughed and continued mashing. \"To be fair, I was left unsupervised and you know what I am.\"\n\n\n\"I know.\" He groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand as his other curled into a fist at his hip.\n\n\n\"So, really, not my fault. Besides, I already have a deal with the White Dragon. She said no harm will come to anyone. The mass activity is actually a festival they are celebrating, so really, this should be a joyous occasion as they are sharing it with us.\"\n\n\n\"That's not the point, Evie.\" Vance heaved a sigh. \"What am I going to tell my bosses?\"\n\n\n\"Have Efillia talk with them.\" I said. \" She will smooth everything out.\"\n\n\n\"I had no idea this is what I would get being married to a Portal Generator.\" Vance grumbled as I handed him a completed plate.\n\n\n\"Oh, stop fretting.\" I said with a smile as I handed him a beer. \"Portal Generating is only one thing I do when I get bored. I can do so much more.\"\n\n\n\"Please don't remind me.\" Vance managed a half smile.\n\n\nI kissed him on the cheek as we made our way to the living room. I waved a hand and the TV came on to our favorite channel which our nightly routine show was coming on. Vance sat in his recliner and took a long drought of his beer. He never complained of my abilities when I used them at home, but when I use them in the outside world, Vance gets upset. I really should have known better than to portal my way to the store and back and not think about closing them, but I was excited for dinner and had other things on my mind. Not to mention I was also bored. And really, in my defense, I was left unsupervised.", "I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:\n\n- [/r/brixen_ivy] [In my defense, I was left unsupervised.](https://np.reddit.com/r/brixen_ivy/comments/6qzrx3/in_my_defense_i_was_left_unsupervised/)\n\n[](#footer)^(If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads.) ^\\([Info](/r/TotesMessenger) ^/ ^[Contact](/message/compose?to=/r/TotesMessenger))\n\n[](#bot)", "I check my phone for what had to be the millionth time since being lead to the tiny room. I don't know why I put up with this. It has been an entire hour of sitting on an uncomfortable sheet of tissue paper in a peep a boo medical gown. Every shift I make sounds like I am wrestling a some kind of wrapping paper monster. I check my phone again. This time the screen is dim as it lets out a loud beep. 10% battery. Great. Now I can't even play a game. What to do? What to do? I look around the room and see what I have available. There is a magazine for senior citizens, pamphlets on getting vaccinated for shingles and pneumonia, and posters for various illness. I shift again, tearing the paper beneath me. Great. I am done. I get up and go to the door. I pop my head out and a nurse spots me.\n\n\"The doctor will be in with you shortly,\" She assures me with a tired smile. Yeah. Okay. My appointment was supposed to be an hour and a half earlier. What is the point of scheduling appointments and showing up on time if you have to wait forever to get check. I don't even want to be here. I could be in my bed, under my covers actually recovering from this damn cold. I pace back and forth. I grab a tissue and place it over my chapped, red nose. My head is pounding.\n\n I spot a jar of tongue depressors. Fuck it! I open the top and take out a handful. I can't stack them. They are too flat to make something. Tape, I need tape. I start rummaging through open draws to see what I can find. Gauze, gloves, a box of tissues, no tape. Band aids! That will do! I put two tongue depressors over each other in an X shape and use a band aid around the center to tie them together. I do this a good ten times and make myself a small cache of \"throwing stars.\" My head is spinning a little. My fever is catching up to me, but the stupid table is too short to nap on. I sit back down, trying to avoid the tear I made earlier. I try to put my head down, but I can't get comfortable. I sit back up and look at my throwing stars. Times to have some fun.\n\n If I can't rest then I will fight! Take that old AARP people! Eat it Shingles! Die doctor! \"Shit!\" I yell out as my throwing star hits the doctor square in the face. He looks up at me with a scowl. \"In my defense, I was left unsupervised.\"", "\"How is the White House justifying the reasons behind the largest act of provocation of war in modern politics?\" yelled one reporter.\n\n\"Why hasn't the President addressed the American people yet?\" another reporter pushed her way through the crowd. \"Should we be expecting retaliation?\" \n\n\"Enough!\" yelled Sean Spicer into his microphone. The pandemonium of a media room calmed to a nervous buzz. The cameras and lights were making him sweat profusely. \"I'm sure the President's latest actions were justified with plenty of evidence and was done for the good-\"\n\n\"You're sure? Do you not know for certain?\" a reporter interrupted, squinting her eyes in suspicion. \n\n\"Like I said, the full report will be released soon-\" \n\n\"What will likely be the President's next moves?\" Spicer was interrupted yet again. \n\n\"The White House has no further comment on the issue at this time. Are there any other questions?\" \n\nThe room erupted into chaos once more. As the angry reporters and media stations tried to hound the White House Press Secretary for more information, a man walked onto the podium and whispered into Spicer's ear. \n\nSpicer looked at the man in utter disbelief. The man looked back apologetically and hurried off the podium. Spicer took a deep breath and turned to face his audience once more. \n\n\"President Donald Trump has just released a statement on the recent launch of a nuclear weapon at North Korea,\" Spicer said loudly into the microphone. The room immediately stopped buzzing, and everyone was hanging on his every word. \n\n\"In my defense, I was left unsupervised.\"", "Human left door. Door close. \n\nClick. \n\nLock. Lock. Lock. Lock. Leave. No trace. Gone. Can't smell anybody. \n\nLight. Door. Counter. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Jump. Chocolate. Chocolate. Bang. Ground. Food. Food. CHOCOLATE. Food. \n\nBowl. Water. Water. Water. Chocolate. Chocolate. \n\nCat. Cat. On couch. Fluffy. Furry. Fun. On couch. Jump on couch. White. Chocolate. White. Chocolate. Paws. Claws. Soft. Cat. Cat cat cat cat! Chase cat. Chase cat. Chase. Cat. \n\nDoor. Human. Human. \n\n\"Snickerdoodle!\" Bark.\n\n\"What did you do?\" Human wails. \"My new, white couch!\" Follow human. Chocolate. \n\n\"Snickerdoodle! You ate chocolate?\" Walk. Cat. \"And you jumped on the-\" \n\n\"Ohmygod, Snickerdoodle are you kidding me?\" Wag tail. \"I leave you for ten minutes and I come back to this?\" \n\nIn defense. Left unsupervised. Wag tail. Whine. Walk to cat. " ]	9
	[WP] You discover that when you make your kid sister laugh, she can see visions of the future. The harder you make her laugh, the longer and clearer the visions become.	[ "\"Tickle, tickle, tickle!\" \n\nMy kid sister laughs and laughs and laughs. Finally I stop at look at her curiously. \"Well?\"\n\nShe makes a sad face and shakes her head. \"Sorry, big bro. You failed the test.\"\n\nI'm about to cry, when she says, \"Hey, I think I can help. Tickle me again.\"\n\nAnd so I do. \"Tickle, tickle, tickle!\" She laughs and laughs and laughs.\n\nFinally I stop and look at her curiously. \"Well?\"\n\nShe has a happy, determined face. \"Get a paper and pencil. I can't tell you what the correct answers are, but I know what the questions will be.\"\n\nI give her a big, tight hug. \"You're the best!\"\n\nShe giggles. \"I know.\"" ]	1
	[WP] A league of super-villians from an alternate universe has decided to kill every version of you, their arch enemy in their universe. Now a group of alternate-universe you's has arrived to protect you. You are revealed to be the only version of yourself without super powers.	[ "My cell phone rings. It's a number outside of my contacts list but from my city and state. Part of me wants to ignore it, but what if it's my wife and she lost her phone? Could be an emergency. \n\n\"Hello?\" \n\n\"Is this James?\" The voice asks. There's something familiar about it but I can't place it.\n\n\"Yeah. Who is this?\"\n\n\"Listen, I'll answer all your questions in a little bit but I need you to meet me at an address I just texted to you. It's urgent.\" Right on cue, my phone vibrates in my hand and an address pops up. \"You know the place?\" He asks. \n\n\"Yeah. That's where I work. I'm actually on my way there now. I usually like to show up early but I should be there in like five minutes. I'll at least have enough time to talk for a while before I clock in.\"\n\n\"No you won't. Call out,\" the voice demands. \n\n\"What? What am I even supposed to tell them?!\"\n\n\"I dunno! Tell them you gotta take your wife to the hospital or something but call out. I'll see you in five.\"\n\n\"Wait! How'd you know I'm--\" click, \"--married?\" I was cut off before I could finish my sentence. That was too weird to believe and yet here I am, calling out more out of curiosity than anything else. I jump off the bus but before I get five feet away from it, a car pulls up next to me and the door flies open. \n\n\"Get in.\" The driver demands. I hop in quickly and shut the door. I look at the driver and instantly recognise him. It's... me. I'm the driver and the passenger. What's weirder is that he doesn't even glance at me. He just starts driving like he's known me my entire life... well I suppose he would, seeing as he IS me... Not the me that I am but him...me...I guess? My head hurts just thinking about it. \"You're staring.\" He states flatly. \n\n\"...Yeah...\" I mumble. I awkwardly reach up to touch his face but he smacks my hand before I even get to his shoulder. \n\n\"If you've got any questions, now is the time to ask them.\"\n\n\"You're...me...\" I state plainly, too blown to create coherent sentences. \n\nOther me sighs, \"Yes. I am you. Jesus Christ. The other you's weren't this awkward.\"\n\n\"Wait,\" I start to come back to myself... or us or whatever the hell we are and how you say it, \"Other me's? As in plural? There's more to us than me and you?\"\n\n\"There's also us back here,\" another me says. He's sitting beside another me. They both wave. I return the waves. \n\n\"What's going on here? What am I... you... us... we--\"\n\n\"It's a bit of a long story but the short answer is our arch nemesis, Eric Coleman is out to kill all of us.\"\n\n\"Wait, Rick? I went to high school with him. What's he got against us?\"\n\n\"After high school, he became jealous to the point of obsession with us. We were sent here to protect you from him. You are the originator. Alpha James. He destroys you, he destroys us. Chances are, he's already on his way here. He may not be able to locate you, but he'll find us pretty quickly. I'm beta James. I have super strength.\" He points to the me directly behind me, \"this is gamma James. He's got magic.\" \n\n\"Such an honor to meet you, alpha.\" He grips my hand in an enthusiastic double handshake, covering my hand with both of his. \n\n\"I'm delta James. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Superspeed for me.\" They all look at me expectantly.\n\n\"What?,\" I ask, \"Is there something in my teeth?\" \n\n\"No,\" Gamma said, \"What's your talent?\"\n\n\"Um... I...can sing?\"\n\n\"Wait,\" beta paused, \"So you're not a genius inventor? Cause we could use one of those.\" I shake my head. \n\n\"Well maybe he has extensive combat training,\" Delta chimed in.\n\n\"Nope.\"\n\n\"So what is it that makes you so special?\" Beta asked. \n\n\"I dunno... I like puns?\" I stated dubiously. \n\n\"Then how do you save the world?\" Delta asked. \n\n\"...I don't.\"\n\n\"Not possible,\" Beta insisted, \"Alphas are supposed to be supreme beings. How can they possibly be supreme if they have no powers?\"\n\n\"I dunno. We don't have superpowers in this universe.\"\n\nGamma stares at me in disbelief, \"Then what have you to add to our group to stop you from being destroyed? If we cannot hold off Eric and his other selves and you cannot protect yourself, then there is no hope for us. Eric will win.\" His countenance fell as did the other me's. \n\nI racked my brains. \"Supreme beings... supreme... wait a sec. SUPREME!!!! If I'm the alpha, then you guys follow my lead right? I'm in charge?\" The other me's nod their assent, \"So if I give an order, you have to follow it to the letter, right?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" delta stated, \"What are you getting at?\" \n\n\"If that's true, all we gotta do is find the alpha Rick. Rick and I are still cool in this universe. If I can get to him before the other Ricks do, I could convince him to call off his attack and maybe even start a peace treaty between you all!! Do any of the Ricks have superspeed like you do?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Beta. \n\n\"But how will we find him?\" Gamma asked, \"None of us could ever find where he's holed up at.\"\n\nI pulled out my phone, \"He's just a Facebook message away for me.\" I start tapping and scrolling on my phone. After a few minutes, I put it away, \"Cool. I know exactly where he's at. Pull over.\" Beta finds a parking deck and parks on a higher level, \"Delta, I need you to take me to North Carolina. Gamma, stay behind with Beta. When things get hairy here, open up a portal to our location and leave it open. Let them come to us. By then I will have seen Rick and explained everything to him and he'll be ready. Okay?\"\n\n\"Right,\" they all reply. Delta and I arrive moments later at a little trailer by the lake side.\n\nBefore I knock on the door, I turn to him, \"I'll call for you when I need you. I need to tell him what's up first before he sees you. He may not believe me until he sees you so stay close.\" He nods and hides around the side. I knock on the door. Moments later it opens and Rick stands in front of me grinning. \n\nHe pulls me into a firm bear hug, \"Jimmy!!! What the hell man!!\" He holds me at arms length as though to get a better look at me, \"I haven't seen you in years!! What you been up to?\"\n\n\"That's the thing. I need your help. A little while ago I got a few visitors. They're me from other dimensions. They said that other dimensional you wants to destroy me, thus destroying the other me's. The only way we can stop that from happening is if you tell you that we're cool. I know it sounds weird but if you don't believe me, I have proof.\"\n\nRick stands in complete disbelief, staring almost open mouthed, \"Riiiight. And our class mates thought I was the weird one.\"\n\nI nod my head. \"You're up Delta!\" In an instant Delta is by my side. \n\n\"I've been told,\" delta admits, \"that you two parted ways agreeably. I hope this holds true in this universe. You also look different without the scar.\"\n\n\"Alright this is weird but how do I know this isn't--\" a portal opens up not twenty feet away from the front door and Beta flies through it with Gamma close behind. Moments later, a giant metallic hand widens the size of the portal and a corporeal shadow steps through, striking Gamma with a dark bolt in one hand and a blue flame in the other. Soon after, a thirty foot tall robot steps through the void and attacks beta with punches strong enough to level a building but Beta catches the gigantic fist with both of his own.\n\n\"Gamma!!\" I shout, \"Close the portal!!\"\n\nGamma struggles under the power of the flames and darkness, \"I can't! I need to concentrate on my shield staying up. I don't have time for another incantation to close the portal. I'm gonna stop talking now.\"\n\n\"Rick, you gotta do something! They're coming to kill me!!\"\n\nI hear a voice in my head, \"Your end is inevitable. Fighting back is useless.\" Everything on our side of the portal stops moving as a third figure emerges from the portal. After a moment the robot and the shadow continue to move, beating Delta and Gamma in their frozen states. \n\nI look back at Rick, \"DO SOMETHING!!! This won't stop until you say so!!\"\n\nI see something in Ricks eyes. A fury I only recall seeing once before, \"Stop,\" he said quietly at first. His fists balled up by his sides, shaking, \"I ORDER YOU TO STOP!!! THIS INSTANT!!!\" The robot stopped mid swing, the shadows spells lifted and Delta, Beta and Gamma dropped to the ground, gasping for breath, \"What are you all doing? James is my friend and you're trying to kill him? Nothing, absolutely nothing can justify your actions today. Spread the word: If I hear one more word that any James is being targeted by any Rick, and I will find out,\" he looks me in the eyes, I nod, \"I will make sure the offender will be punished... severely. Have I made myself clear?\" The other Ricks bow their heads, \"Good. Now try to be friends and go home.\"\n\nThe Ricks disappear one by one, leaving the alpha with me and the other me's, \"Thanks Rick. I owe you one.\"\n\n\"No. We're even. Gimme a call if you wanna hang out or something, alright? I gotta go. Hope to see you soon.\" Rick leaves, closing the door behind him. \n\nI turn to the alternate me's, \"Guess you guys gotta go too. It was nice meeting me all.\" I said with a smile. \n\nBeta steps forward, \"It was a pleasure meeting you today. I hope I never need to see you again under such circumstances. Be well.\" \n\n\"The portal is still open to go back to work or wherever it is you decide to go,\" Gamma said, \"Simply step forward with your intended destination in mind.\"\n\n\"I'm gonna miss you, Alpha. Anything we can do before we leave?\" Delta asked. \n\nI ponder for a moment, \"A picture. My wife will never believe this without proof.\" \n\nDelta grabs my phone and sets up the picture. Just before the timer goes off, he says, \"Say please.\"\n\n\"Please,\" we all repeat. When he returns my phone, the new picture saves to my memory card and this day, to my mind. I turn to the portal with my wife in my thoughts. As I step through, I hear the sounds of orders being taken, burgers searing on the grill and French fries being cooked. A wide grin spreads across my face as I remember leading a team of me's into battle.", "Quite often I find myself waiting in a bar with the hope that someone will hit on me. I'll have my arm on the counter and smile at passers by and I'll even offer my friends drinks with that loud generosity which is bound to make people nod in respect towards that guy who treats his mates right. Yeah, I would love o get hit on. To get hit? That was not my plan for this evening. But alas, as I stood there waiting patiently for my friends to return from their urgent toilet trip, a fist flew into my face from nowhere and I tumbled backwards into a throng of people all waiting patiently for their drinks. \n\n\"I'm sorry it had to come to this\" a man said. My attacker? I couldn't see. My ears were ringing and my vision was blurred. A hush had descended in the room but my world was awash with noise. Fast breaths rattled from my mouth and my sudden panic left my senses in Overdrive. \n\n\"Awh he's kinda cute\" a girls voice this time, her voice softly seductive and her tone flirtatious. I felt as if I was losing my mind. Had I been hit on after all. Was this an unusual custom from a girl who I hadn't seen? A challenge for her affection, perhaps? \n\nI looked up and breathed deeply, trying to make sense of my surroundings. It was then I realised that time had stopped. That wasn't a metaphor. It wasn't as if my adrenaline was causing the world to slow around me. My fight or flight response hadn't triggered a feeling of control and preparation in the face of danger. Time had literally stopped. Behind me, I was propped up by statues of people who had once been abuzz with alcohol and vibrant with energy from a Friday night out. Now they stood frozen and rigid as if someone had switched off the light that shone within them and made them living beings. \n\nIn front of me were a group of figures, hooded and concealed in long black cloaks. At the front of the pack were two people with their faces revealed. On the left was the man, his fists raised and bloodied. His hair hung loose and stringy from his head and on one side, it was entirely absent. Instead, his skin here was mottled and blisters decorated his scalp like a rocky moor. His eyes were dark, the whites not visible in the dull light of the candles that lit the establishment. His nose was pointed and sharp like his chin and cheekbones. Even his scowl was scathing, drawing daggers across my chest causing my heart to ache as it pounded against its cage. \n\nOn the right was a woman. Her blonde hair ran in waves from her head and down past her shoulders. Unlike the others, she wore a black top decorated with lace. Her legs were adorned with tight jeans and her arms and shoulders were bare. Despite myself, I couldn't help but notice the press of her chest against her shirt and the way her smile flickered naughtily across her lips. I decided my attention was better placed upon her than the man who had struck me.\n\n\"What's going on?\" I protested, eyes exploring the woman before me. My thoughts were hazy. My mind had slowed and suddenly the situation I was in didn't seem so bad.\n\n\"Awh honey, don't you worry about a thing\" the girl said, stepping forward slowly, holding out her hand. As she stepped, her hips turned and her body flowed like nectar. Despite myself, I reached out for her. If she was telling me I had nothing to worry about, she must be right. Distantly, I could feel a tug of wind on my coat and breathlessness sensation as if my very lungs were gifting my oxygen to the beauty who stood before me. \n\nSuddenly, the whole world exploded to life again and I stumbled forward as a heavy hand rested on my shoulder. I turned and saw...\n\nMyself? What? No not me. He was rippling with muscle and dressed in a vest and sport shorts. But that face; that hair. It was unmistakable. He looked as if I had been superimposed upon a beach model. I turned away and suddenly I was there again, only this time skinnier that I had ever been. His shirt hung loosely from his skinny shoulders, chequered and poorly buttoned. On his face were glasses and in his hand was a book that was aglow with energy. \nI turned again and suddenly I was surrounded by a dozen copies of myself, all completely different from each other and I. One was dressed in heavy plate armour holding a sword in each hand. Another wore nearly nothing at all aside from trousers woven from vines that protected nothing but his modesty. One held a rifle and a cybernetic eye whilst another had fists enclosed in fire. One was hovering a few inches from the ground and another flickered in and out of visibility. But something they shared? Something I saw in all of them? Myself. My deep brown eyes and my unruly curly hair. \n\n\"What, the, fuck?\"\n\n", "Growing up, I always wished I had super powers. I'd always take those \"which power would you have\" quizzes on Facebook and the ID spend hours daydreaming about what it'd be like to actually have those powers. Super speed, flight, mind control, telekinesis, super strength, you name it and I've dreamt about it. \n\nSo, you can understand my heartbreak when I am now standing surrounded by other versions of me that have all those things. At first, I was hopeful, maybe I too would be given a power like these guys. Maybe they were here to recruit me into their protection program. But, alas, they told me why they were really here. Not to recruit, but to protect. It was me. I was the one, and not the cool \"you're the chosen one\" kind of one. But, the one without powers. The helpless one. The one with nothing. \n\nI was happy that I, or rather the other mes, were so selfless and were willing to risk theirs lives to come here. At the same time I was depressed. Not only did it feel like the universe was rubbing in my face that all my other mes got power, but I felt like a huge burden. I couldn't do anything to help. \n\n\"Hey, don't feel that way. You know you'd do the same thing in our position.\" A copy of me said who'd chuckling at the end. \"I know, because I'm you. And I don't have to be a mind reader to know what you're thinking or feeling. Just let us take care of things for now, and afterward we will work on finding a way to make you like us.\" \n\nFrom the distance, I started to make out a bunch of figures, no people, walking toward us. The time had finally come, the war was about to begin. \"I've linked all our minds together so we can communicate better. Stay focused and calm, don't do anything rash. We out here to protect the Jacob of this universe.\" One of me spoke through telepathy as the enemies approached. Smart move linking us all, it's exactly what I'd have done if I had that power. \n\nThe enemies stopped maybe a mile or so away from us. They then proceeded to link hands. It wasn't a very threatening motion and looked kinda silly for a league of villains. But, then I throughly through their actions and yelled in my head, \"They are going to teleport to our position for a surprise attack! Ready yourselves!\" It was just in time too. As soon as everyone readied themselves with their enchanted blades, because that's the only thing that can kill another super human for some reason, the enemy appeared in our ranks. Metal started clashing instantly. Different abilities started going off. Fireballs shooting everywhere, rocks being lifted and dropped from the sky, electricity crackling through the air. \n\nAnother version of me appeared to me, a teleporter, \"we have to get you out of here.\" He said as he grabbed my shoulder and took us away. With the blink of an eye I was on top of a building watching the fight below. I looked over at him as he fell fell to the ground. \"Jacob!\" I exclaimed running to his side. He had a blade going through his gut. \n\"Don't worry about me. You're safe up here. Just take this in case you need it.\" He said handing me his dagger. With tears running from his eyes, he looked up at the sky and took his last breath. \n\nI was full of anger. Why did I have to be the useless one? Why is it me that has to sit by and watch as others give up their lives for me. As angry as I was, something didn't feel right. The air felt lighter, easier to breathe, fresher. As I sat on top of the building I was in, watching the battle rage on, it wasn't looking good for me. Other versions of myself were dropping left and right. Seeing this it became harder and harder to control my anger, it was causing my breathing to get harder and harder. \n\nAfter awhile, I was the only Jacob left. By this point my breathing was so shallow that I had to sit against the wall of the roof. I couldn't even stand anymore. All I could do is wait for my assailants to show up and do what they came to do, finish me off. \n\nBefore too long had passed they found me. Around ten of them teleported to the roof. With them was someone who looked to be their leader. \"You are so weak and pathetic,\" he said through his mask, with a distorted voice. \"Don't worry, it will be over soon. Then, I shall become the true ruler of all universes. The most powerful being in existence.\" \n\nNow I had no idea what this guy was talking about, and I'm it quite sure what any of this even had to do with me. My heart began to hurt as he approached me. \"Why are you doing this?\" I asked hoping for clarity before death. \nHe crouched down next to me, \"you have no idea who I am, do you?\" He asked. He brought his hand up to my face and hovered it from the left side of my head down to my chin. \"Don't worry, I feel it too. The pain in your heart, the heaviness of breathing. The pain you feel, I share. But it will all be over soon.\" He moved his hands to the mask and removed it to reveal a face I was all too familiar with, mine. \"You're probably asking yourself why and how? Well, you see, I learned the secret to true power. In order to become the strongest version of myself, I had to become the only version of myself.\" He unsheathed his sword and examined the blade. \"Now, that dream will become a reality. I will become the strongest person in all the universes!\" He laughed maniacally. \n\nStrongest person in the universe? I was instantly taken back to a memory I had from when I was a little boy. My mother, reading me a bedtime story about my favorite hero. I remembered asking her if one day I'd ever be a hero. She told me, \"one day you will become the strongest person in the entire universe. You will be the hero to stop the villain from taking control of everything.\" \n\nFuture sight. My mother was gifted. \n\n\"Now shall we finish up here.\" Evil me asked. \n\nI slowly reached behind my back. \"Yes. We shall.\" I drew the dagger that I was given by my fallen comrade, and thruster it through his chest. As soon as I did, everything turned white. I opened my eyes and I was standing in an empty field. I could feel every single power flowing through my body. I had gone from the useless one, to the most powerful. But, something didn't feel right. I had this weight pushing down on me. A tear came from my eye. I knew what I had to do. \n\nI fell into my back in the field. And spread my arms out, the breeze felt so nice, \"it's gonna be hard to leave this place.\" I said to myself out loud. But, then, I let go. I overcharged my body, starting to glow, I released my life force. I used it to bring back all the other versions of myself while simultaneously erasing the league of villains from existence. I couldn't live with myself knowing that my other selves all fought and died for me. So, I did the same for them. I forfeit my life to bring back theirs. \n\nAs my body stopped glowing, I was back on top of the roof. With the villains gone, and the evil me dead at my side. I didn't have much time left. I heard a loud gasp, and looked over to see the teleporter who brought me up here jump up, perfectly fine with no wounds. He saw me and ran over to me. \"What happened? How am I back? Are you okay?\" \n\nVery weakly I smiled and tapped him on the forehead, I transferred all of my knowledge to him. My eyes began to close and my consciousness fade. I listened to him begin to weep and talk about how they were meant to protect me not the other way around. Typical Jacob. \n\nI let out my last breath knowing everything would be fine. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThoughts comments? First time doing this... please be nice ha, I'm not a writer, just liked this prompt. ", "\"Stop.\" I waved at Steve A-3, who chuckled and withdrew the chopsticks he's been waving in front of my face telekinetically. \n\n\"Fine, fine. Yo, B-6, I think B-1 wants to talk to you.\" He yelled across the room. The Steve sitting at the other side of the recreational area looked up from a group of myselves, nodded, and left the room. \n\n\"So. Decided on how to call us yet?\" Another Steve - me - him asked. He was designated S-4, one of the more powerful ones that had came to my aid two years ago. I shrugged. \n\n\"Dunno. Calling you guys 'me' sounds trippy, and I'm not even sure I can do that. Alternate universes' versions of myself aren't the same as, say, the same person encountering themselves from different timelines. You - well, me, or 'you' if you'd like - can't just go around messing up the timeline and how it flows. But you guys? You're independent. You have your own thoughts, your own free will, your own appearances... hell, out of the two thousands-something of us, we got like sixty girls. That reminds me, C-12, next time I see you \"chilling' with D-23, I'll appoint you as my new Frontline Commander.\" \n\nC-12 pouted. \"But she's a great person.\" \n\n\"She's also you. And me. So stop it before I make you a kamikaze pilot.\" I frowned at him and returned to my ramen. Truth be told, D-23 was a great person. She - I - loved helping people out, has a great personality... and despite the lack of more awesome powers like S-4's, her power of cooking often saved us from a fate worse than ramen. \n\nGod, I need to figure out how to call myselves - themselves - soon. Damn it... it's been two fucking years, and I've defeated more supervillains that I can count with all of my fingers, and I still can't figure out a satisfactory system to call myselves? \n\nTo hell with it. They're not me - sure, the DNA might be the same, but as long as no sex happens, we should be fine, right? We look different (sometimes), act different (sometimes), and even talk different (sometimes). C-204 is British. A-57 is Nigerian. S-9 is a punk-ish girl that was simultaneously a superhero, a globally-wanted criminal and animal rights activist, while holding three degrees of electrical engineering, theatrics and biology. We never had a problem with identifying each other, either - I came up with the idea that everyone be ranked like how they did it in that one anime, and we adopted it. \n\nOver time, our numbers grew, but so did the villains'. It got so bad that we had to escape off-world, off-universe, even. This current building we live in actually exists in exactly nowhere - not in time, not in space. A world only accessible to us - theoretically. Of course, being the only one without a superpower, the building had to accommodate me somehow, hence the six-step biometric identification system. If it wasn't me, the intruder gets blasted by something around forty to sixty pulse cannons. Real good stuff. \n\nThat didn't mean I could relax and forget all about that fateful first day. \n\n---------- \n\n\"Get up. We're moving.\" \n\nIt was sunny. \n\n\"What can you do?\" \n\nWell, up until Eclipse manifested his literal namesake. \n\n\"Who - who the fuck are you?! And... what did you do? HOW?\" \n\nDarkness. Destruction. Death. \n\n\"Forget all that. What can you do?\" \n\nAs edgy as you can possibly get. \n\n\"I... I can hotwire a car?\" \n\nNothing made sense in the beginning. My world was turned upside-down. \n\n\"Not that, you dimwit. Superpowers! That's what you call it, right?\" \n\nBut soon, I learned the truth. We became family. \n\n\"Uh... nothing! That's fake! Not real! Well, except you guys... but how...?\" \n\nAnd on that day, I was changed. Forever. \n\n\"Thank goodness. We found him, boys. We found Steve Prime.\". \n\n---------- \n\n\"Hey. Hey. Snap out of it!\" Someone snapped their fingers in front of my eyes, and I jerked involuntarily. \"Huh? Oh. Wait, S-2? Why are you even here?\" \n\n\"My team recovered this artifact. I suspect it to be of great importance.\" Ever the sophisticated gentleman. \n\n\"Yeah, yeah, I'll take a look.\" I noticed the gazes of other Steves, and waved them away. \"Upper management business, mind your own, people.\" A few snickered and made some comments, but went back to their previous activities nonetheless. \"So? What is this?\" \n\n\"Take a look.\" S-2's face was drawn tight, as were the rest of his team. This worried me greatly. \"But prepare yourself first. Don't soil yourself.\" He added, but there was no humour on his face, not the least bit, and it wasn't present on anyone else's face either. Handing me the thin, flat package, he sat down on one of the couches, and looked to me expectingly. \n\nSighing, I opened the package, pulled out the letter, and began reading. \n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------------ \n\nThat's it, folks! If people actually like this, I'll likely write up a Part II for this. Likely. If you guys ever see this - it's not like I'm good at this or is remotely famous, anyway :P ", "Jim,\n\nI gotta let you know I ain't gonna be around for a good while here, not sure how long yet. I remember how you used to love my stories when you were just a lil' boy, so since I ain't gonna see you for a bit, I figure I do my best to make a story outta the last lil' while here for ya. \n\nSo here it goes:\n\n\n\"My mother always told me I'd get myself in trouble with my attitude. I never listened to her o' course, always gettin' in brawls with the kids in school. I was always one of the bigger boys in my age, and once I started lifting, oh boy! I was real hot shit for a good while there, no one messed with me, and if they did I could put 'em down in under five seconds, I swear! Hell, once when I had just turned twenty-three--\" \n\n\"I'm sorry son, but I don't see how this is related to the case at hand,\" the officer said, cutting me off midway through one of my favorite stories to share. I had always hated being interrupted, made my face get all hot. The officer kept goin', \"Just, tell me how this connects with your case.\"\n\n\"Alrighty, so, all I'm tryin' to get across is that I ain't weak. I can fend for myself in most cases, and where I can't I carry to protect myself.\"\n\n\"Right.\" The officer looked to be scribbling down some stuff about me at this point.\n\n\"Now there's these blokes who show up to my front door, all dressed up like they're off to a Halloween party or somethin'. I thought perhaps they're into some weirdo cult-like shit, ain't my business, but the point being they all had costumes on.\"\n\n\"Could you discribe these costumes for me?\" I could see the officer's notepad now. He hadn't been writing about me. All he did was draw a bunny.\n\n\"All of them kinda looked like somethin' out of a superhero movie, real hard to discribe from memory, but the costumes on most of 'em were darker colors. Ya know, there was a dark red, a dark blue, one guy wore a dark green, and another guy--\"\n\n\"How--\" the officer lifted a hand to keep me from talking. Boy I was getting a bit fed up with him at this point. My face was gettin' a bit hot now too if I can rememeber right, \"--many men were at your door?\"\n\n\"Like, twelve.\"\n\n\"Like-twelve or twelve?\"\n\n\"Like-twelve, I gots to appologize, I didn't count 'em when they were there.\"\n\n\"When did you first see them?\"\n\n\"Well they all started banging on my door and I mean banging, hell I thought the damn thing was gonna snap right off the hinges. I was up the stairs, in the middle of one of my wednesday naps and alls a sudden my house sounds like its bein' broken into. So I head to the door with my .45 in my back pocket and ask these weirdos what gives. They tell me they've been going round killing all the mes of the multiverse.\"\n\n\"The... multiverse?\"\n\n\"I didn't have much time for chit-chat with 'em, so I ain't too sure on what that even is, cause then they pushed me in and barged into my dwellin', rearin' for a fight. So I did what I hope any God fearin' man would do and I began unloadin' on 'em with my .45, but--\" The whole deal was playing over in my head now and I could feel that scared feelin' I felt just earlier that day. The officer looked up from his bunny notepad when I stopped talkin'. He was a pretty good drawer. \n\n\"But, what?\"\n\n\"But, here's the crazy shit, hear me, the bullets didn't hurt 'em. Just stopped the secon' they hit em. So I booked it, I didn't know what to do, I was scared as all hell.\"\n\nThe officer looked at me like I had just told him I could talk with the dead. \"Here's the real shit though, alls of a sudden, I'm just runnin' and runnin' and runnin', and I end up gettin' stopped when I'm headin' arond a corner in my town. It's another bunch o' costume guys, but they all looked like me in the face. Like they had my eyes, my mouth, my nose, and so on.\" The officer was scribblin' again, but this time I could see him writing and not bunny drawin'. I kept talking, \"Thing is, these mes all have super powers. They told me its true!\"\n\n\"So, then these 'yous', they're the ones being hunted down by the men who showed up at your door?\"\n\n\"Yeah! They start tellin' me all sorts o' stuff, sayin' they here to protect me and they ain't gonna let them hurt me. They told me that I'm the only one of me in all the multiverse that didn't get super powers. Can you believe that?\"\n\n\"Hardly.\" The officer had stopped writing and grabbed a little book out o' the desk.\n\n\"Hell, it's still blowin' my mind too and it happened to me! They told me to find a safe place to go, where the bad guys can't get to me, would y'all have a place like that?\"\n\n\"I think I know just the place for you, c'mere lets get movin',\" he talked while he stood, \"wouldn't want the 'bad guys' to get to you now would we.\"\n\n\"Where we goin'?\"\n\nSo that's the story about why I'm gonna be gone for a while. The nice officers are takin' me to a Uhsylum, whatever the hell that be, they said I'm gonna be real safe in there, and they'll come let me out once there's no more bad guys around. Because the place has gotta be so safe they said I can't get any mail in or out, so we aren't gonna be able to talk for a while. I'll find you once it's safe for me to be out.\n\nLove,\n\nPops", "“Sup, Bitch Dan?”\n\nI cast my eyes downwards, staring at my feet as one of the Dans stopped walking. There were dozens of them, but most had left my house for the afternoon. They were out gathering supplies, preparing for the battle that had been foreseen, or just coming to terms with their fates. There were only three others still in the house, and two of them were in the dusty garage with me.\n\n“Do you guys have to call me that?” I asked.\n\nThe Dan who had said it glanced at his companion. “Dunno. Do we have to call Bitch Dan ‘Bitch Dan,’ Telekinesis Dan?”\n\nTelekinesis Dan frowned, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I think we do, Precognition Dan. What happens when we check with Meticulous-Comprehension-of-Complex-Systems Dan?”\n\nPrecognition Dan closed his eyes and paused for a moment, bowing his head.\n\n“Oh yeah,” said Precognition Dan. “He says we totally need to do that. Maintaining a clear understanding of exactly who has which powers is critical with so many of us about, so clear naming conventions are essential. He says we never know when we might need Bitch Dan’s ability to be a useless bitch.”\n\n“Aw, come on,” I said, immediately cursing myself for the whiny tone of my voice. They’d pounce. They had every single time I’d spoken.\n\nPrecognition Dan raised his hands, face the purest picture of innocence. “Hey, that’s not me talking,” he said. “That’s MetCom Dan. Not me, Bitch Dan.”\n\n“But is that name really adequate?” asked Telekinesis Dan. “What if we need somebody to go out into the world completely unshielded, revealing his location to the multitudinous manifestations of the Heidelberg League?”\n\nThat one I had to object to. “To be fair, guys, I didn’t know that was even a--”\n\nPrecognition Dan cut me off, shaking his head. “It absolutely isn’t adequate,” he said. “But I’ve checked, and if we try to come up with one that truly encapsulates what a fuck-up he is, it requires more toilet paper than exists on the planet Earth to shit it out on.”\n\nTelekinesis Dan placed his hand on his chin. “We test that thoroughly, right, Precognition Dan?”\n\nPrecognition Dan nodded. “Oh yeah, we really put ourselves to work on that one, Telekinesis Dan. We eat nothing but Bitch Dan’s shit-ass homemade tacos for a month, max out Bitch Dan’s bitch-ass credit card on toilet paper, and try to shit out enough shit to describe Bitch Dan’s shit-fuckery, but there isn’t enough shit-paper for Bitch Dan’s shitty true fucking bitch name, so we’re just going to have to settle for calling Bitch Dan ‘Bitch Dan.’”\n\n“Guys!” I half-shouted. “You’re totally not being fair about any of--”\n\nTelekinesis Dan barrelled over me, leaning in to his companion. “Wait, why are we eating Bitch Dan’s cooking, Precognition Dan? Why aren’t we eating Culinary Intuition Dan’s meals?”\n\nPrecognition Dan adopted a look of surprise. “Oh, don’t you remember?” he asked. “Culinary Intuition Dan died screaming at the hands of the Heidelberg League, refusing to give up any information about his fellow Dans.”\n\nTelekinesis Dan’s jaw dropped. “Despite the horrifying, incomprehensible torture?\" he asked. \"The infinite agonies that Shardsaw Soulsapper inflicted upon him for weeks?”\n\nPrecognition Dan shook his head. “Wouldn’t even speak to her.”\n\nTelekinesis Dan gazed at Precognition Dan, mock wonder shining in his eyes.\n\n“What a hero,” he said admiringly. “He didn’t willingly surrender a drop of his blood to the Sanguine Songstealer, enabling her to track all iterations of him throughout time and space?”\n\n“Why, no, Telekinesis Dan, he didn’t. He was a real Dan, who fought and died for his fellows, and wasn’t a total bitch.”\n\n“Fascinating!” Telekinesis Dan exclaimed, getting swept up in his enthusiasm. “I bet no Dan would do something that transparently fucking stupid!”\n\n“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” said Precognition Dan, his own voice rising. “They’d have to be a real useless bitch to do that, wouldn’t they?”\n\nTelekinesis Dan stared up at the ceiling, throwing his arms up in wonderment. “Imagine what they’d have to be offered to make them have that kind of lapse in judgement!” he called out. “Wealth, fame, power beyond comprehension! Can the mind even conceive of the sort of reward the Sanguine Songstealer would need to offer for you to even consider surrendering the lives of all the variations of you throughout all realities?”\n\nPrecognition Dan raised a flat palm in a theatrical gesture. “Well, hold on to your hats, Telekinesis Dan, because I’ve got a surprise for you.”\n\nTelekinesis Dan’s eyes widened, confused. “Do tell, Precognition Dan!”\n\n“There is actually a Dan who did exactly that!”\n\nTelekinesis Dan’s hands shot up to his mouth, shock spilling across his face.\n\n“NO!”\n\n“I know! Crazy, right?”\n\nTelekinesis Dan scrambled for words. “But...how?” he begged. “How did the Sanguine Songstealer even manage such deception? What ingenious scheme did she employ?”\n\n“You’re not going to believe me, Telekinesis Dan.”\n\n“Please,” he implored. “I must know!”\n\nPrecognition Dan leaned in closer to his friend, voice lowered.\n\n“She said to him, ‘Please, sir, we need blood donations. We have free biccies and a nice mug of hot chocolate if you do! I’ll even smile and act like you’re not a total bitch!’”\n\nI opened and closed my mouth, trying to find the words to argue. “She did not say it like that!” I protested.\n\nTelekinesis Dan continued, ignoring me.\n\n“You can’t be telling me--”\n\nPrecognition Dan nodded.\n\n“Indeed!” he said. “He lay down on a bed, let her take a pint of his blood because he wanted to go for a world fucking record or something, and when she was done, he thanked her!”\n\nTelekinesis Dan balked.\n\n“What an idiot!” he shouted.\n\n“I thought it was for a good cause!”\n\nPrecognition Dan raised his arms, carrying himself like a cheap stage magician.\n\n“And that man’s name was...”\n\nTelekinesis Dan was hopping from foot to foot.\n\n“Ooh, I’m on tenterhooks here!” he said, eyes gleaming with mounting suspense.\n\nPrecognition Dan flung his hands to the sky.\n\n“BITCH DAN!” he shouted.\n\nHe swung his arms out towards me, his grand reveal complete.\n\n\"GASP!\" said Telekinesis Dan. He said that.\n\nWordless, I left. There was nothing I could say to them, and I had a lot of tacos to prepare.\n\n\n----------\n\n\n>Hi! I write other little bits of fiction on [my website!](http://radhominin.com) I also [tweet](https://twitter.com/RadHominin).", "The strangest thing happened to me today: a fleet of identical women, twelve or so, threw themselves at me with the fervor of rabid dogs. \n\nRabid, vicious, murderous dogs. With an unholy bite. I'd have been delighted had their intentions been a bit purer, somewhere closer to the let's have an twelve-way end of the spectrum than the let's violently disembowel him end. Beggars can't be choosers, and although I'd been angling for some female attention lately this was not exactly the sort I had in mind. At all. \n\nSomehow, I escaped their initial attack on my life out of sheer luck, as it seems my pending murderers weren't used to the Colorado air. Actually, when I think about it, they didn't seem to be all that weathered on the whole \"breathing\" thing to begin with. One second a magical portal appeared in front of me as I walked towards my car, only for an entire gaggle of completely identical women to walk through it and begin to furiously dry heave on the sidewalk. It's like I had unwittingly stumbled upon a bulimia support group, one that took their mission statement for \"support\" too literally and turned it into unbridled celebratory group seshes. In public. Classy. \n\nMy wildest dreams weren't even close to their real end goal. Seconds before the first and closest to me threw a dagger in my direction, I thought I was going to bear witness to some sort of 'Exorcist' fetishists' orgy. Not how I wanted to start my weekend, but it was something I could mention to my friends later. I would've one-upped Greg and his constant stories about his bisexual sexscapades.\n\nAlthough, I'll take \"not dying\" as a consolation prize. Unfortunately for me, they didn't seem as keen to hand that particular trophy out to me, not exactly the soccer mom types.The dagger buried itself deep into my shoulder, and I nearly screamed in agony. But I didn't. My eyes went wide, I audibly winced and sprinted to my car. The one who threw it followed behind me, unbothered by the air like her twins, and threw a fireball in my direction. \n\nA fireball. A literal ball of fire. It bounced off my jacket and lit the material on fire, but I threw it off before the fire spread. I made it to my car, but before I could even get the door open, I fumbled my keys to the ground and kicked them under the car. \"Shit, shit, shit!\" \n\nI heard footsteps clomp toward me from behind, mingled with sounds of muffled maladaptation when a hand clasped my shoulder and spun me around.\n\nI panicked. I scrunched my face and threw up my hands in fear, reigniting the pain in my shoulder. But a beat went by, and no other weapons or projectiles had been inserted into my body, so I hesitantly opened one eye. My own eye was staring back at me. \n\nWell, two of them, accompanied by a face and body that mirrored mine in every way. \"What the hell?\" I managed, assuaging the situation like my typical articulate self. \n\n\"Hi David, it's me, David. I mean, well, I'm you, but another universe's you...that is, we are all you. Or you're all of us. We're all one and the same.\" My twin attempted a conciliatory smile, but instead it fell somewhere between I'm-sorry-your-dog-died and I-didn't-mean-to-sleep-with-your-girlfriend-it-just-happened. \n\nI barely had time to take in the view of ten other \"Me's\" behind my twin, each dressed and styled differently. They had backed the fireball thrower away until she joined her twins behind a pair of vans on the other end of the street. One of my twins wore a suit made entirely of latex. Imagine Superman after as a male dominatrix. Another wore just a loin cloth. Imagine...well, just don't imagine it. Not a pretty sight. They all wore some sort of mask over their mouths, and a similar portal to the tribe of identical suffocators had apparently brought them all here as well. \n\nMy twin had taken his off to speak, and it dangled lifelessly from his neck. \"They're going to adjust soon, and we took a one-way portal to get here. Getting out won't be an option for a while. I hope you've got some serious firepower behind you, those ladies will be adjusting to the air very soon.\" \n \n\"What's his power?\" Yelled one of my doubles, removing his mask. The others turned to divert the women, who had begun preparing some sort of attack.\n\n\"My power?\" I asked.\n\n\"Yeah, your power! This David can fly, that David has super strength, this David can read minds, come on! What can you do? We made a last ditch effort to come here and save you before they got to you, hoping that you'd have the power to save us all.\"\n\n\"Um...\" I panicked. And when I panic, I do what I was convinced these women were about to do just moments ago. Upchuck, but for me in word form. \"I, uh, I can bend my fingers back really far, like, almost touching the back of my hand. Well, that and my toes get really cold when it's going to rain. It's like I can read the future.\"\n\n\"So you're clairvoyant? Did you know we were coming? Do you know how to stop them?\" This twin asked, coming up to my face and pointing vehemently and the women across the street. \n\n\"No, I mean I feel like it might rain tonight. It's arthritis. My pinky toe was tingly all day...\"\n\nHe looked me over for a moment, then shared a glance with the other maskless-twin. \"He's the last of the versions of us from all the known universes. If he doesn't have a power, you know what this means,\" he said ominously. \n\n\"What, what does it mean?\" I pleaded. The shoulder wound didn't seem as mortally dangerous as that statement the other me just told me. \n\n\"Yep, get it over with,\" the other twin replied, defeated. He took my head in his hands and yanked hard in one direction. I heard my neck crack and my body tumbled carelessly to the ground. I couldn't feel my shoulder anymore, or my tingly toe. I couldn't feel anything. \n\n\"Well, it was a good run. We probably shouldn't have left this universe David as our last resort.\" \n\n\"Hell dimension David had some quirks, and his masochism became a bit of issue, but at least he had a legion of hellhounds to fend off the bitches for a while. And there's the David who could eat forever. He could've cannabilized them.\" They waved the others over, who then joined them.\n\n\"It's been a good fight, but this dimension David was a complete disappointment. He had no power at all, and to think we hoped he would be the strongest of us all. I think we call it quits here, fellas.\" Murmurs of agreement from the identical crowd. They all removed their head gear. \n\n\"I'd just like to mention I'm still alive down here,\" I said, or at least tried to say, but the sound may have only happened in my head. The one time I'd have given anything to literally vomit words into being, this would have been it.\n\n\"Goodbye David,\" they all said in unison, and then each took a pill and swallowed it. One by one, they fell to the ground, lifeless. \n\nI watched the women as they surveyed the flock of bodies, slowly growing more brave until they can near enough to feel for heartbeats and realized all the Davids had died. \n\nWell, except me. But they said I was dead too. \n\nOne of them spoke up. \"The David from this dimension, my dimension, he should've had a power. I have one,\" she said, conjuring up a fireball in her fist.\n\n\"Who knows, Ashley? I'm just glad we won.\"\n\nAs they walked away and celebrated their victory, I stewed on the ground. Literally, as I thought I could smell my organs beginning to boil in my now dead state, and mentally, as I churned over the possible reasons why my mind refused to join my body in the great void that was death.\n\nRigor mortis be damned, I figured it out, there on the sidewalk, surrounded by a baker's dozen of identical corpses. I realized that we probably looked like the most bizarre suicide cult to have ever existed. Take that, Jim Jones. Oh, and that I did have a super power. \n\nI couldnt die. \n\nEarlier today I was hoping I'd have a good weekend. Now, I have an eternity to spend free of burdens, I just have to spend it as a paraplegic buried in the ground. Well, beggars can't be choosers. \n" ]	7
	[WP] After humans are wiped out by ......... it takes 1000's of years before a human like species appears. What they find when they dig blows their mind	[ "First time writing on this subreddit so it may be a bit rambling...\n\n\nThe slow, lazy wind that meandered through the valley did little to dissipate the heat reflecting off of the rock surrounding the excavation site. Our site, labeled GC9, is one of the 10 sites scattered throughout what the Ancient Humans called the Grand Canyon. The Canyon was one of the last places the ancients took refuge in during the Sapien Extinction. Luckily, mankind survived by sending a group of survivors to Mars under supervision of Elon Musk 50 years prior to the incidence. After repopulating the Earth sufficiently the Musk Royal Family decided to find out what exactly cause the extinction. As senior director of the operation I was instantly notified that one of our exploration drones found something. Trudging down to the drone with an escort (Horned Bears, Ursus bicornis, were an extreme danger in the area) we saw that a small crevice was hidden in the rocks. I decided to go inside (crevice was too small for a Horned Bear to get it) and left my escort to return in an hour or so. Slipping into the cave I turned on a portable light and set out to see what had interested the drone. After 15 minutes of plodding along I came upon a man made hallway leading into a dusty room. The room was very spartan, however seeing a book underneath a table I bent to pick it up. Opening the creaky plastic binding I could see illustrations, and what looked like diary entries. Reading them I realized that they recorded the events almost a millennium ago ( gotta love that once trees were gone they switched to a hyper durable plastic for books). The diary states that nuclear war had decimated the planet and its human population after hostilities grew between the USA and China, Survivors were scattered between fissures in the Earth. Closing the book I knew that I discovered something huge, running back through the cave my mind looked into the possibilities of what this meant. Sadly this meant that I didn't hear the growling until the Horned Bear was upon me, obviously there was another entrance I neglected to find......" ]	1
	[WP] You wake up one day to find yourself in the world of your dreams. But as you come to realize, you're the only one who's really 'there'. Everyone else... isn't sentient.	[ " I can live with this... I wasn't the happiest person in life and I am happy here. I was an anime fan and my favorite was Ranma 1/2, it was an easier world with no death and I wouldn't mind seeing life as the other gender so it was the perfect anime to me. I was watching the live action movie with translations and badly wanted to enter that world, even if it was a coma dream or something. As long as I could stay there as long as I wanted I'd be happy.\n\n When I went to bed I was on my couch and when I woke up I was outside... I looked around and was near a lot of springs. I stood up and looked down at myself and I was me but more fit with muscles and all. I was wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, converse, and I had my watch and phone on me along with my dragon necklace I always wear. Kneeling down I looked at my reflection in a spring and that's when the man who watched the place ran up saying he didn't know I was here in sorta broken English. \n\n I asked him which one was the spring of drowned girl and if there was a martial artist and his dad currently here, he told me they left a long time ago and that I was actually looking in it. I thanked him and put my phone, watch and phone charger on the ground by the spring and asked the guy to look away so I could change so he went away after telling me to be careful. I got my clothes off so they wouldn't get soaked and jumped in the spring and crawled out knowing I was different. \n\n I laid on my back and looked down at myself, I was definitely in my cursed form now, my chest was definitely a woman's and raising my head I looked... down there and didn't see anything. I let myself air dry for a bit and put on my clothes again, I had to tighten the belt and roll up my pant legs a bit but I could manage. Leaving the area I walked and eventually got to Japan by a boat then found the city the main characters were in, I knew I was there since there was a lot of girls chasing a really small guy with a bag of underwear. \n\n I nodded knowing I was here and wondered if I had any attacks, putting my finger into a gun shape I focused my energy into my finger and pointed it it the man running with the underwear. I closed my eyes and imagined my thumb being the trigger and shot the man with chi/qi or spirit energy or whatever. And when I opened my eyes the girls were walking away with the stuff he had in his bag and he was beat up, I thought it was cool and walked to the Tendo house. \n\n I found out I'm after the events of the anime and the characters seem to be...fake, but I don't mind, everything feels real and I have power here so I'm happy. Me and Ranma train and I've learned most of the attacks/moves from the show and even learned I can use some DBZ moves. The characters here can get annoying after a while with their falseness but I can put up with it for the benefits. " ]	1
Sorry if this is stupid, I just thought of this and think it would make a good book or movie! If it's not clear, I was thinking Penny could be the name of a person or animal!	[WP] The world learns that somewhere there is a single penny that can grant them any wish. Big businesses and fanatics search desperately for it, but it was never specified that this "Penny" was a coin.	[ "It was very late when I finally pulled into my driveway, after another long shift. I rummaged for my keys, contemplating what sad meal I could make for myself before falling asleep on the couch. As I reached for the handle, it turned on its own, and there she stood. Words always failed me when I tried to describe her. The warmth in her eyes drove away all the stress of my day. The radiance of her smile injected me with a newfound energy. My wife was truly a goddess. \n\n\"Another long day?\", she asked, the lilt in her voice causing my heart to skip a few beats. I set my revolver down on top a stack of seemingly endless paperwork and sighed. \"It's been like this ever since that footage was released\", I said, not catching my wife's eye, and moving towards the kitchen.To my surprise, there was a plate of blueberry pancakes and a cup of coffee waiting for me. My wife was truly a goddess.\n\n\"What happened today?\", she asked following me to the kitchen and sitting across the table from me. \"Two businessmen apparently on a lunch together spotted a penny matching the one everyone is so crazy about. They got into a fight over it, eventually leading to one of them stabbing his friend with a fork.\" She eyed me curiously, \"And was it?\". I ate my breakfast quietly, thinking back to the video, I had watched and rewatched dozens of times. A lifeless woman lying on the floor, blood still leaking out of 3 stab wounds. Her child on the floor beside her, a wishing well penny still in his hand, begging for her to come back to him. Her wounds magically sealing, as the blood seeped back into her body. A woman brought back from the dead, and with no way of explaining what had happened, it was theorized that the penny held a miraculous power. They weren't wrong...\n\n\"This is ridiculous,\" she said, her voice slightly quavering, \"nobody is even sure if the penny had anything to do with it! All these people hurting each other. I didn't mean...\" she cut off, and looked away. As she cleared my dishes I thought back to the video again. To my wife in the background, tears streaking down her face, whispering. Whispering the same as when I was sick and she was by my side. Whispering the same was when I got into the car crash and was in the hospital with no hope of recovery. Whispering the same as when I was shot point-blank by a mugger and was bleeding out in an alley. \"I think we both know that penny had everything to do with it\" I said quietly, looking up at her. Her eyes widened as she turned to look at me. \"You know...\" she whispered softly, collapsing into her chair. I got up, walked around the table and sat beside her. \"I didn't mean for all this to happen,\" she said, tears now glistening on her cheeks. \"None of it, I just heard the child crying, and...\" she broke off weeping. \"I wouldn't have expected any less from you\" i said, caressing her shoulder. She looked up at me with confusion. \"But if you knew, why didn't you...\" she started, but I placed my finger on her lips. \"I've only ever had one wish, and it came true the day I met you\". My wife was truly a goddess. ", "The world had been in a complete frenzy when the penny had been announced. Historians were feverishly investigating the codex that spoke about it, scientists trying with all their might to prove it was possible (As though they wanted to believe against all logic), businessmen paying to get all sorts of leads on the case. I never expected I'd be the one to find it.\n\nMy wife and I had been infertile; we got back test results that it was my fault, but my wife, God bless her, she held nothing against me. We decided to adopt. So we had gone to another country, a poor one; we decided it'd be more beneficial to help a child who we knew rarely had running water, food, a bed to sleep in, or clean clothes to change into. And we took the 10 hour flight, and we took a train to the town with the orphanage.\n\nWe walked through, the place looking like a battlefield. Children sprawled out on either side of you, flies eating at their faces. Some children just blinked at us; none of them even ran up to greet us. My wife and I gave each other a look of terror. These children were almost dead. And then we met a girl- a perfect little girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, sitting on her bed. She didn't speak any English, but we had the headmaster of the place tell us her name- \"Penny.\"\n\nMy wife and I looked at each other and laughed; this little girl, Penny, was going to make our wish of having a daughter come true.", "The tinny audio from the old television sliced jaggedly through the aroma of parmesan and oregano that saturated the interior of the little italian eatery. The cook, Mario Luigetti rolled his eyes as he stabbed at his lunch. The talking heads kept going on and on and on about this damned penny and how it was supposed to be some amazing thing. It had been days, and this was all the media wanted to talk about. Who would find it? Where could it be?\n\n\"Ugh,\" Mario lamented around a mouthful of pasta. \"Why can't they talk about real news for a change, eh? I wish they'd all just shut up!\"\n\nAt that moment, the television went silent. Mario looked up, blinking. The anchorman on the screen seemed to be having trouble with his voice, and started to panic.\n\nMario stared back down at the penne he had tossed together for his lunch break, and sighed heavily.", " I was at the bar watching the news, some people were searching for a penny that supposedly would grant a wish. I thought it was dumb and there were even people saying they found it but it was stuff that could happen like getting a job or something after finding the penny. I wasn't gonna look for some dumb coin that could grant a wish, even if it could it'd probably only hurt me or not be able to grant a universe changing wish.\n\n I had drank my third beer when a girl sat near me and started talking to me about that penny news that was still on the tv. I said \"yeah, I know they're crazy, I'm not looking for something that might not even help me.\"\n\n She asked \"why don't you think a wish will help you?\"\n\n I laughed and said \"for one it probably can only grant something normal like that job girl or guy who caught that big fish, I want a new body an amazing one that has perfect health and maybe having non aging powers would be cool too. But not like that \"death becomes her\" movie that'd be bad, I'd just want a good looking body that will still heal and not age, but that's impossible.\"\n\n She laughed a bit and asked me what type of body would I want if I was somehow immortal. I told her physically fit and a slim build, I wouldn't even care if it was a woman if I had perfect immortality. We talked for about an hour and she said she had to go but she hoped I had a good night, she said her name was Penny which was kind of funny but made me think of her and the news for a second but I immediately thought it was impossible and went home after drinking some water.\n\n I passed out on the couch when I got home and slept until dawn. When I woke up I felt odd, I was on my chest but was so groggy and had to pee the strangeness didn't matter at the moment. I stood up and shambled to the bathroom to piss, I pulled my pajama bottoms and boxers down stretching my arms afterwards and started going...it was flowing down my inner thigh which made me fall back onto the bathroom floor which hurt my butt. Looking at my soaked legs I realized they were hairless and slim... I looked down at myself and poked at my chest that was sticking out then looked...down there, there was definitely empty space where there should be something...\n\n I stood up and used toilet paper to dry my legs and the floor and sat down to finish pissing then had to walk out pant-less since the ones I had were now wet. Putting them with my dirty clothes and getting new ones I realized it was odd that all my clothes fit me now but I guess they changed with me, I found my phone on my table that had a panel with my ID on the back and looked at it. It had changed too... I remembered last night and decided to try something but first I had to see what I looked like.\n\n I went back into the bathroom and looked at my face in the mirror...I looked like Jennifer Love Hewitt in \"I know what you did last summer\" which was kinda cool I guess. After that I went into the kitchen and laid my forearm on the counter and grabbed a knife and stabbed my arm to test out the immortality, my arm hurt so bad I screamed and pulled it out and the wound healed.\n\n I spent the next few hours trying on clothes I now had and doing...stuff until I played Resident Evil 7, I think I found the magic penny when all these other people were looking in the wrong place. I think I'm starting to like this and living forever could be cool.", "It was early, probably not even six in the morning, when I heard knocking on my door. I had come in from my shift a few minutes before so my visitor must have been waiting. \nI sighed and put away the tabloids I had picked up and the headlines that my mother had cut from her paper across the country and express mailed to me as a warning. In my town the biggest jackpot ever had been won. I recognized the woman's face, she was my hairdresser here. I would have to sit down and teach mom to use email some day, something that would require I set up a separate inbox just for the amount of junk she would send all marked urgent. \nI frowned at the door. Who would have figured it out? Certainly not the parents of the smallest preemie I'd seen in years who were still at the hospital when I left. He was making small improvements, the little fighter who just needed some encouragement, but enough staff interacted with him that everyone's skill would be attributed. Maybe it was the boy I'd seen with a broken arm a decade ago, who claimed that the best care in the world for a simple broken arm was why he was now breaking records with pitches. No, I chided myself. things happened so small no one would know. \nI yanked the door open, hoping the sudden movement might startle whoever was waiting into rethinking the hour of their visiting. He hardly jumped, just continued to mildly assess myself and my door. A crisp suit, but no eager businessman's face, despite the young appearance. \n \n\"Harry Smith, IRS, actually,\" he stated, \"I have my own gift, Ms Pennington\" \n\"Why tell me? If you're here to offer me a position on a superhero team, I politely decline in advance.\" I, and the barest handful of others some of whom were my own fault, preferred to keep any special gifts on the down low and not announce it. \n\"I know its not the norm, but I was raised that when trying to get help from someone who might notice my gift, it's more polite to inform them right away that I'm able to scan their thoughts than to let them figure it out and get irritated. I'm here to see if I we might be able to talk and if I might be able to help you.\" \n\"Help me how?\", I asked, feeling both amused and perturbed that I probably didn't need to bother. \n\"The gift of healing could be useful, if not just for your patients, but I have contacts who have let me know of hospitals and communities who feel hopeless. A few survivors might help their moral and therefore help them heal the old fashioned way.\" He paused for a moment, \"I supposed you'd have to continue to use discretion as to who you helped so it doesn't seem too unusual, wouldn't you?\" \n \nI sat on one of my porch chairs and gestured to any of the others for my guest. He had done work to track me down and was indeed being as polite as possible. I recognized him, he had his grandmother's eyes and his father's face. His grandmother and my mother had been good friends. Smith wasn't his last name that I remembered, but Harry must have been five the last time I saw him, while I visited home just after finishing my masters. I watched surprise cross his face as he caught me remember him. \n\"I'm sorry you came all the way out here Mr Smith, but I'm afraid you're a little off in your interpretation. I work as a nurse because it's the most benign place for me. Do you know why I live out in the middle of BFE?\" I gestured to the surroundings, my home was in the middle of a forty acre lot. \"You remember my mom. She loves Vegas. She's not a healer, but she can gift you a little luck one way or another. Hang around some guys who want to make it big, kiss their dice, watch them win and have them drink enough they throw half of it at you. Then walk away so you're long gone when the effect wears off and they get to the bigger tables.\" \nHarry surveyed the lot, looking puzzled. \n\"You live out here because you mother influences gamblers?\" He sounded beyond unsure, his gift wouldn't help him if he didn't know what he was looking at. \n\"No, well, maybe in a way, \" I looked at him tiredly, \"I wish it was as simple as just a bit of proximity based luck. No, people around me get what they wish for, one way or another. I work in hospitals with babies who need help because the only wishes are the parents who want them to survive, to become strong and healthy. If I hang out in the children's ward...did you ever see that story from Phoenix on the kids who could fly after having watched Peter Pan? Fortunately kids' desires are kind of fleeting so it didn't last, but it did mean I had to find somewhere else.\" \n \n\"There was some hubbub in Phoenix around that time, \" said Harry, too caught in his own thoughts to hear mine it seemed, \"There was camera footage, from both security cameras and the kids themselves, of them flying. I thought it was a weird prank or Onion story since the same hospital had been in the news for some promising cancer treatments that worked and failed.\" \n \n\n\"Yeah, I was already on my way out when the kids started flying. Thing is, they all desperately wished for that treatment to work. I was excited about it too, but I decided to check with one of our other gifted friends, one who can tell you an answer to a very specific question about the future. She said she couldn't find anything about it in a year, so I moved before people could get their hopes up for something that was only working because I was nearby.\" \n\nHarry was looking thoughtful. Feeling slightly spiteful about being out on my porch talking when I ought to be getting into bed, I interrupted him. \n\"Why do you work for the IRS anyways? Why not the CIA or any one of those guys who might like someone who can read minds?\" \n\"That's what dad did. And now he works out on his farm with no one but the cows and crows to listen to. I watched it wear him down, being able to hear the thoughts of scared informants and hungry politicians. Sure, he had a skill that made him useful, to be able to ask the right questions, but he wasn't open about the mind reading for fear they would rely on him too much, so he had many people he knew would sell them out, but couldn't do anything about it since they never made any outward indication.\" He paused for a full minute, \"I couldn't even handle the customers in the grocery store when I was a teen, but I'm good when I just have my team to work with and I've learned to help them. I thought about being a counselor, but again, I just don't have the ability to handle so many thoughts. Some weekends, I help my dad and we try very hard not to think about much.\" \n \nI sighed and looked at him, and I guessed my gut was right. He had come here thinking I was a healer, but one who could will things about a person to change. \"Harry, if you want your gift to fade and go away, you're welcome to stay in the guest room until it does. I don't have the ability to just make the wishes happen, but if you stay long enough, it should. You don't have to answer me, but think on it.\" \nWhatever Harry might have been thinking of saying, he stopped as his eyes fell on my dog who was lumbering his way to push the front door open and join us. Bob was huge, bigger than any bear I'd ever seen, but he still got around. I'd had had him since I was ten. \n\"I want to put him on a diet,\" I said apologetically to Harry, \"But Bob only desires all of the steak and bacon and doesn't care much about appearances. I'm afraid his desires are stronger than anyone's.\"" ]	5
	[WP] 200,000 years ago a prophet laid out a road map for human civilization in a series of sealed prophecies. It is your turn to read the next prophecy when you realize the box is empty.	[ " Staring down into an empty box I held in my gasp. The box was empty. The crowd in front of me was expecting a direction from the past. I decided to not let them down, a direction from the present was alot better than no direction at all. \n\nThe prophecy says \" we have been through ages of stone , metal, and combustion. We must now go off into the age of information. The age of machines and the technology gathering our energy. An age of machines and technology efficiently saving us man hours of work instead of the burning of fuels. \n" ]	1
	[WP] You live your life out of chronological order, your mind being transported across time at various points. You're always looking for clues and leaving some behind for another past or future version of you that may take your place at any moment. You manage to keep this a secret from most people.	[ "I fold todays newspaper and place it on my bedside next to my list of friends which seems to get samller with every jump. As i dose off i wonder where and when ill wake up. I just hope ill know the pin to my phone.\n\nI wake with an unfimalliar presence next to me.\n\"Hey honey, did you sleep well?\" I hear as i catch a glimpse of a wedding picture on the bedside table.\n\"I always sleep well with you\" i mumble as i take of my wedding ring and peer on the inscription inside\n\"John and annie 2024\" it reads. \n\"Hey annie i need to go to the bathroom\" an excuse to go snooping around for a hint or at least a date as to what my life entails. Just as i go catch a newspaper and read 5th june 2032 my bones start to ache and a bright light blinds me. As my eyes refocus i notice im standing infront of a small crowd all dressed in black. I look around and notice a picture of an old woman next to the very same wedding picture i saw just five minutes ago.\n\"Shit\" i muster under my breath realising i would have to say a eulogy for a person i had just fleetingly met. I say a few words about how happy my time with her was and about how much ill miss her before i start to cry. In hindsight a fortunate circumstance as i neednt finish the eulogy. I sit back in a chair half in shock stunned at the realisation that that i would have to meet, fall in love with and marry the person i am about to bury. That this memory would ve there looming over every kiss, every smile, every moment.", "Pulling her hand out of her pocket Tabitha finds another scrap of paper. \"Ben died yesterday,\" she reads, and sighed.\n\nTabitha knew exactly where she was, this was... is, one of her many homes. The year, right now at least, is 2026, and if the scrap of paper is correct - which it would be, she always left the notes for herself in her left pocket, this would be mid July, or more specifically, as the scrap of paper said, the day after her husband died.\n\nIt was only yesterday, literally, that Tabitha had met her once and future husband. Aged six, the new kid in school, Ben immediately felt like someone Tabitha had known for a very long time. She was always comfortable around her, even when everyone else had branded her a freak, or a weirdo. Tabitha had known for some time that she would outlive her husband, she had come too, at his graveside, and she had already experienced listening to her currently non-existent daughter ask about her father.\n\nTabitha sat on the worn sofa. The place was a mess, just the way Ben would've left it, she thought. Not that she was much better, Tabitha seldom tidied, she would do it yesterday, she often joked. She looked at the mug of coffee on the table and picked it up assuming it had only just been brewed, only to find it was actually rather cold. forcing herself off the sofa she went to brew another coffee, hoping this time she would actually get to drink it.\n\nBefore she even made it her door rang. \"Oh bother,\" she thought as she left the coffee again and went to answer it. A woman stood in the doorway, Tabitha vaguely remembered her as her sister, though from Tabitha's perspective it had been nearly a decade since they had actually last interacted.\n\n\"I thought you might want some company?\" Charlie said, with that kind of of smile that's meant sincerely to deliver optimism, but also hides grief. \n\nTabitha, knowing what had chronologically happened just yesterday, relented. \"I was just making coffee,\" she said.\n\n\"Oh I can do that for you!\" Charlie said, refusing to take no for an answer. Which left Tabitha trying to recall how this coffee machine compared to the numerous she had owned, and would later own, worked. \n\nAfter much bother and struggle, Charlie eventually worked it out, and presented her older sister with a steamy mug to drink from. \"How are you holding up?\"\n\n\"I'm okay I guess?\" Tabitha said, really unsure how to answer.\n\n\"It probably hasn't really hit you yet.\" Charlie said. She stopped for a moment realising how that sounded, and added, \"But we'll all be here for you if you need us, Tabby.\"\n\n\"Yeah...\" Tabitha replied.\n\nTabitha felt really awkward right now. She knew her sister wanted to be supportive on what should be a really heart breaking day, but for Tabby, this was just another Tuesday, and she would probably find herself tomorrow once again with Ben. Which made grieving now, kind of pointless. It made all grieving kind of pointless, it was why she never cried at funerals. \n\nIt wasn't that she didn't find the idea upsetting, it's just that, with a non-linear chronology the final goodbye most people had wouldn't be her final goodbye. She might never know when the last time she'll see someone will be, for all she knew, her yesterday was actually the last time she would ever see Ben. She had no idea how much of her life she had left to experience. She knew she lived to be at least 80, she could remember her eightieth birthday party, it was a surprise for her at her retirement home - a surprise ruined by her seeing the aftermath before the party. \n\nAt the same time, she had no idea how much she had experienced. There were whole days she could've easily forgotten because nothing happened. Some days the note in her pocket would just say \"You have to go to work at the supermarket today\" or \"Ben's working late tonight\" or even simply \"get milk\". She had no idea how much of her life was left. Maybe she would live to a hundred, but hadn't yet seen that part, or maybe she's already seen it and only has three days left. There was only one thing she was sure of, this wasn't her last day.\n\n\"Do you remember my wedding?\" Tabitha said solemnly.\n\n\"Yeah,\" Charlie said. You looked beautiful. You were so nervous about it, worried that it wouldn't be perfect.\n\n\"I do remember several stressful days beforehand,\" Tabby said.\n\n\"Remember when the caterers spilled the soup over dad?\" Charlie said with a smile.\n\n\"No,\" Tabitha admitted.\n\n\"Did you see that?\" Charlie asked herself, \"No matter. It was a great day. The church looked amazing, and I just remember seeing you and Ben stood up their, it looked so perfect. I remember you cried buckets, you were so happy.\"\n\n\"I don't remember it,\" Tabitha said. \"I don't remember any of the day.\"\n\n\"Tabby?\"\n\n\"Look, this is going to sound nuts right,\" she said, finally breaking. Seeing Ben for the first time yesterday, knowing he was dead today, and that sudden realisation that she should feel something about it, rather than the nonchalant attitude she normally had was beginning to well up inside her. \"I don't remember my wedding because it hasn't happened for me yet.\"\n\n\"Err...\"\n\n\"I'm being serious Charlie,\" she said, \"I don't have a single memory of my wedding because I've never experienced it. For me, it hasn't happened.\"\n\n\"I... don't follow.\"\n\n\"Charlie,\" Tabby sighed, \"all my life, all of it that has already happened, will happen, is going to happen and hasn't happened, I experience out of order.\"\n\n\"Tabby, you okay?\" Charlie said leaning forwards. She had no idea how to take what was being said, and could see her sister beginning to tear up.\n\n\"I'm... no,\" she said, \"I'm not normal okay? Yesterday I was six, today I'm ... God how old even am I right now?\" she asked rhetorically, \"And I've lived for even longer than I've been alive. I 'blink' for lack of a better word, between random periods of my life. So yes, to you, and everyone else, Ben's dead, and it sucks. But to me, well I might see him tomorrow. Or I might not. I know I'll see him again though, because I'm supposed to marry him, and to me that hasn't happened yet.\"\n\nCharlie looked at her sister. What she was saying was complete nonsense, and yet, there was a level of seriousness in Tabby's tone and in her blue eyes that made it clear that, even if it was nonsense, it was nonsense that Tabby herself believed to be one hundred percent completely true. \n\n\"I'm sorry,\" Tabitha eventually said as she calmed herself down slightly, \"I know, it's not easy to understand.\"\n\n\"Tabitha,\" Charlie said solemnly, \"look, I won't even begin to pretend I understand what you mean precisely, but I get it, one day you will also be with Ben in heaven and-\"\n\n\"That's not at all what I mean,\" Tabitha interrupted. \"Look, just understand this okay? I don't need help, because I can't be heartbroken over this, because for me this is not the end, this is just the middle. Probably.\"\n\nTabitha sat there, tears slowly dripping down her face. She was hoping more than anything that Charlie would finally understand. Tabitha had tried this once before, a few weeks ago, when her sister was eight, when this had first starting to seriously get to her, but the younger Charlie didn't get it either, and evidently didn't remember this right now.\"\n\n\"Tabby,\" Charlie said reaching her arms out to try and hug her sister, to support her in her grief. \"It will be okay, alright? I can be here as long as you need me. I just want you to know you have my support through this.\"\n\nTabitha let herself cry. Even if she wasn't crying about her now dead, soon not dead husband, she could at least let her sister think she was. But truthfully, all Tabitha wanted right now was for her sister to understand her plight.\n\nAs she sat in her sisters embrace, she felt the all too familiar tug of time once again. Easing herself away from her sister, she knew she didn't have long left. \"Thanks\" she said, \"I needed that cry.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Charlie said.\n\nTabitha pulled a pen from her pocket and began to scribble on the same note as before. \"You just told Charlie about your status in non-time; she didn't understand,\" she wrote. \n\nPutting the pen back in her pocket, she looked at her sister. She hoped that wherever she ended up next her sister was still alive, Tabitha had wanted to say more to her sister, even if the next part of time was likely to be completely unconnected, at least from Charlie's point of view. " ]	2
	[WP] A church claiming to be dedicated to the true god of America, "The Almighty Dollar," has opened in your town. You decide to check out a service.	[ "\"Welcome! Welcome, one and all,\" the preacher said, guiding the people into the building for the afternoon service. So far, nothing seemed unusual... Just your average brick and mortar. No stained glass. No tormented souls carved into the walls. No little cups of juice being passed around by someone smiling a little too much. \n\nWhen I finally got close enough to the door, the preacher stopped me. \"Good afternoon, my son!\" He grabbed my hand, smoothing out his thinning, silver hair as he continued. \"Welcome to the Bank of St. Ignatius. It's good to see so many new faces, like yourself. Have you attended any Nomismian services before?\" \n\n\"Thank you, and no. I haven't. I--\"\n\n\"Fine! Fine. That's alright. Thank you for choosing to spend your time with us today. And thank you for wearing your Monday best while attending our service.\" The flyers had all said 'business casual.' \"We only ask that our new members provide proof of a valid credit or debit card to the ushers before finding a seat. We will begin the service shortly, so, please, hurry inside now.\" Her hurried me in the door and straightened his solid red tie before returning to the people filing in behind me. \n\n\"Valid ID and active credit or debit card, please,\" the young woman droned without looking up from her iPad.\n\n\"Am I being charged for attending?\"\n\nShe stopped, and looked up at me, smiling. \"Oh, of course not! Sorry. You're new here, right?\" She pushed the hair out of her face and straightened her blouse, \"We just need the information to know that you participate in the free market. It's a 'sign of faith,' if you will.\"\n\nI handed her my card as she giggled at her joke, \"Sure. I get that, I guess...\" She looked over the cards and handed them back to me. \n\n\"Everything looks in order. Please, find an open chair. We ask that prior to the service, you download the official Bank of St. Ignatius app and have it open. If you do not have a smart phone, someone near the front will provide one for you, and help make a temporary account for the day.\" As I walked away, I was struck with an oddly unsettling sensation... And yet it was also familiar to me. \n\nWhat was it though? Nothing seemed too out of place. The people were nice, but not cultish. The building is surprisingly generic. Even inside. Just four walls, carpeted floors, some rows of folding chairs, and a podium at the front. Sure, the woman at the door had been a little over eager-- and I'm fairly certain she lost a few buttons while we were talking, but that wasn't it. There was something else. Something... off.\n\nI had just taken a seat near the back and opened the app as the preacher moved to the front of the room. \"Welcome, again, everyone! Welcome to the Bank of St. Ignatius! May the market look kindly upon you!\"\n\n\"And upon you,\" could be heard from people scattered around the room.\n\n\"I see many new faces with us today. Thank you all for being here. Let us begin with today's sermon: The one true currency. The Dollar. The world is full of many ideas about what has value. Some say value is material, gold and silver, spices and silk. But the free market is not made of things. It is made of belief! Belief in the market is what breaths life into our economies, and into our lives. Not some thing. Silver will tarnish. Spices become commonplace. Even in our modern day we see this. Oil and coal, once the cornerstone of the world economy, are slowly being replaced. These things that we find value in will eventually lose their worth. But, belief! Belief in the free market will never betray you in this way. How, then, you might ask, do we show our belief? How do we express that belief in our daily lives? The almighty dollar! There are many currencies in the world. Different cultures shower one another in rubles and pounds, but these are lesser things! They are derivative of the truth! The almighty dollar--\"\n\nThe room was suddenly silent. The preacher stood there, eyes down on his iPad. Then, a slight rustling. A few people stood and began to walk out. The woman from the door was walking down the center isle with two large men on either side of her, stopping every so often to whisper something to other people in the audience. One man quickly stood up and walked toward the door, flanked on either side by the men that had been with her. As I watched him be escorted to the back, I noticed that those remaining were all looking at their phones. That was when I looked down at my own screen to see a new push notification. I realized the terrible truth in that moment... The church. The Bank of St. Ignatius. The entire Nomismian religion. It was all being fueled by one, horrifying mechanism-- Microtransactions. I could only stare at the screen as the woman and her muscle entered into my periphery...\n\n\"Thank you for using Nomisian Lite! Upgrade to the full version for just $5 for more sermons, gospels, and the chance to save your mortal soul! May the market look kindly upon you!\"" ]	1
	[WP] You live in a world where everybody has the ability to quicksave in life, except they keep aging normally independent of saves. One day, you're approached by a stranger who in the blink of an eye has aged years before you.	[ "Michael came to Sanctuary after he saw the effects of Quicksave destroy his family before his eyes. He remembers the day his father continued a stream of consciousness for 4 hours, sitting with him on the roof of their old home. He confessed his demons of times that hadn't happened, yet. Each hour his voice becoming more hoarse, his eyes clouding, arms trembling, he had aged over 40 years since they sat. His thoughts barely cohesive, his speech becoming more and more rambles, until he stopped and looked into his sons eyes and asked, 'who are you?'. \nMichaels mother feel into a pit of hysteria after she saw her husband on the roof. His only words to her in her arms being, 'I'm sorry for everything I did after this', before he disconnected and flung himself off the roof. The final memory he had of his mother was sitting in a hotel room attached to a run down casino. He would wake up, her pacing around the room, saying she did very well but she didn't Quicksave at the right moment before losing everything. But this time she would, and they would travel the world, and live in a big house, and adopt a dog, things would be good again. This went on for two months before the authorities took her into hospice care.\nThe population of the world decreased quickly with the arrival of Quicksave. It was a storm no one could stop. Each head of state assassinated, each assassin terminated before they could go through with the execution, each futile attempt to prevent the former interrupted. Nukes being launched and averted and launched again. For 2 years human kind didn't move much. \n\nThus Sanctuary came along. An area where Quicksave was outlawed, a place where people could just go and live the rest of their lives easily with the turmoil that preceded them. Michael would wake and head out to the farms some days, or he would go and help the carpenters, it was only requested from everyone living in sanctuary that they contribute. \n\nMichael loved the lake because the sun would set over the water and create a palate that would gradate from aqua marine, to purple to yellow, orange, red, pink, then to teal. He was here majority of the time when he was done with contributions. \n\nPeople were walking and talking to one another. Mike never eavesdropped too much. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, sighed, and began to hear the screams. He gazed upon a scene of several people, immediately aging, running to everyone and screaming in earnest, Run! Amidst the confusion and hysterics, Mike looked up to the sky one final time, and saw the smoke tails of rockets falling form the sky. \n\n", "The garden outside sighed. I listened in the meditation of hard work. I was sweating and that was good. I felt sticky and unclean and that was good too. I often felt closer to God that way. Naked, I am just man and without pretense. I could focus then and cleanse my mind. I would always clean my body after.\n\n\nThe sun was high, falling as the shadows grew. We had Mass that morning and the echoes of the gathered lingered with the sermon. The church was empty but the spirits remained. In my meditation I prayed. I talked to God. \n\n\nI respect those who do not believe, though I disagree. And I understand their skepticism. I was once the same. But sometimes faith wins and sometimes God talks back. Sometimes He shows Himself in different ways. You just have to be perceptive. Or lucky. Or unlucky.\n\n\nI was near exhausted when I heard the man call. He was big and strong, middle aged then and he was staring at the Virgin Mary.\n\n\n\"Hello Father,\" he said.\n\n\n\"Good afternoon, good afternoon. I don't think I've seen you before.\"\n\n\n\"This is my first time here.\"\n\n\n\"Came to visit?\"\n\n\n\"I... I don't know.\"\n\n\n\"What's wrong?\"\n\n\n\"I... How do I put it... I.\"\n\n\nThere was that uncanny feeling. The man's hair wavered the slightest. His motions were not fluid and they jarred in a nervous way.\n\n\n\"Why are you afraid, my son? Why do you hold back yourself before you speak. What is wrong?\"\n\n\nI was sitting near him, but not too near. I was aware of how I must have smelled and the heat I gave off. But he came closer and his eyes were nervous and anxious. \n\n\n\"Is there... Is there that, whatdoyoucallit... a confession I could take?\"\n\n\n\"Confession? Confessions are usually done before Mass and are for those who have faith. I can listen to you, but I cannot...\"\n\n\n\"Please Father, I need to talk to someone. I need to tell someone before...\"\n\n\nThere was more shifting. I could swear I saw a hair turn grey. But that was outrageous. The man was fidgeting and building courage. I admit I was afraid and I wanted him out of the church. I had a bad feeling.\n\n\n\"What do you want to say?\"\n\n\n\"I need to know that it is... That it's confidential. You can't tell anyone. It needs to be like a confession.\"\n\n\n\"I can't promise you confidentiality. What I can say is that I am not a gossiping person and that I will not broadcast to the world our conversation... But I cannot tell you to admit a... a sin or crime and I will be completely silent.\"\n\n\n\"I... I... Will you listen? I don't want you to judge...\"\n\n\n\"That I can do, my son.\"\n\n\nWe went to my office. The fan was making noise. Its little engine was overworked. The man was breathing heavily. He had aged noticably during the walk.\n\n\n\"Son, if you keep doing that you will kill yourself. God has given us one life. We should use it to the fullest.\"\n\n\nI was trying to be in good spirits but the man made me uneasy. I wanted to save my life's state, same as he was doing, just to be safe. But that was forbidden by the church and I placed my trust in God.\n\n\n\"So what bothers you so?\"\n\n\nMore aging. Subtle. His beard grew slowly and that was the largest hint.\n\n\n\"I have a wife,\" he said. \"She's... she's in the car.\"\n\n\nMy heart froze.\n\n\n\"Is she...\"\n\n\n\"No, no... Not anything like that. She's alive Father.\"\n\n\n\"I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that.\"\n\n\nThen time passed in months. A much greater time than it would take to find the right words.\n\n\n\"Son, what are you doing? Why are you wasting your life?\"\n\n\n\"Oh... You're the priest... What's your name again?\"\n\n\n\"Mother of God. How long have you been out for?\"\n\n\n\"What day is it?\"\n\n\n\"It's Wednesday. The third of May.\"\n\n\n\"Then it's been a month or two.\"\n\n\n\"What are you doing?\"\n\n\nI wondered what was going on. In our belief, God is infinite. All the lifestates are one and the same. All are as real as the current now. I wondered what I had said to him. I wondered what had happened in those lost months.\n\n\n\"Father did I mention my wife?\"\n\n\n\"Yes you did.\"\n\n\n\"Where is she now?\"\n\n\n\"You told me she was in your car. You said she was alive.\"\n\n\n\"She is.\"\n\n\n\"Please tell me what is going on.\"\n\n\n\"I don't know how to. I'm... I'm...\"\n\n\n\"Try at least.\"\n\n\nThen there was more time passing. Minutes I presume. The man's hair was greying. His beard had been trimmed in the lost months and that had remained so. Your body carried with it that missing time. It was God's temple after all.\n\n\n\"I... I have a compulsion, Father.\"\n\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\n\"I... Well... It's my wife. She... She drives me to do things... She's... She's not a good person.\"\n\n\n\"In what way? What does she drive you to do?\"\n\n\n\"She makes me do things... Bad things... I... I don't want to say more... I...\"\n\n\nAnother time skip.\n\n\nWhat did he say? Oh God, what did he say that he had to go back and do over?\n\n\n\"What does she make you do?\"\n\n\n\"She makes me... I kill people... Sometimes I... I mark myself... I...\"\n\n\nHe lifted his shirt. There were scars and wounds from a thousand deaths.\n\n\n\"Oh my God!\"\n\n\nI made the sign of the cross.\n\n\n\"You... You...\"\n\n\n\"She wants the blood, Father. She wants their blood. She is a wonderful person. She is so beautiful. But she needs their blood. So I... I have to get it somehow. I have to... to drink it... mix it with mines so I can, so I can bring it back with me... I...\"\n\n\n\"My God. You... What are...\"\n\n\n\"You can't judge me Father! You promised you won't!\"\n\n\nHe aged before me again and inside I lost feeling except for a coldness that remained. The spirit of the lost time, the lost life that this man had just taken from me.\n\n\n\"I'm sorry Father,\" he said. \"I just killed you. I strangled you... I held you and... You began a prayer... You were screaming... I... I'm sorry...\"\n\n\n\"You... You monster! Get out! Get out!\"\n\n\n\"No, Father! Please! I need to confess... I need to...\"\n\n\nThen she walked in. The most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had long black hair and brown skin and a tempting face. Her hips moved like the Devil and we were both silent, me and the man.\n\n\nGod in heaven please protect me. Please...\n\n\n\"Good afternoon Father.\"\n\n\n\"Get out!\"\n\n\n\"Aren't you unfriendly.\"\n\n\n\"Both of you, get out!\"\n\n\n\"Not yet. We have some work to do... Tell me, Father, why haven't you saved your life state as yet? Aren't you afraid?\"\n\n\n\"That is against God's word!\"\n\n\n\"I think you should. I think you'll want to now.\"\n\n\n\"I will not.\"\n\n\n\"Oh, but you should? If you do I'll be very good to you.\"\n\n\nThat smile remained. Was it a vision of hell? But how could hell be so beautiful? Her smile remained even in the dark that would come.\n\n\n\"Otho, tell him. Tell him how good I can be...\"\n\n\nThe man was in pain. He aged a day or more. His eyes were bloodshot. He wanted her and he craved her and she was using him.\n\n\n\"It's true,\" he said. \"She is good to people.\"\n\n\n\"I can be extremely good to you, Father.\"\n\n\n\"What are you? What type of demon are you?\"\n\n\n\"Me? I'm the worst kind. I'm a woman!\"\n\n\nShe laughed and smiled her smile.\n\n\n\"I'm just a woman who's a heathen. I get off on blasphemy Father. You wouldn't believe what it does to me.\"\n\n\n\"Both of you get out!\"\n\n\n\"No! You have to save your lifestate now!\"\n\n\n\"I... I won't\"\n\n\nI made the sign of the cross. \n\n\n\"It's such a shame then. Otho, I'm sorry, but I forbid you to save your lifestate as well. Do you understand?\"\n\n\n\"Yes dear.\"\n\n\n\"Good. Now I want you to kill the priest.\"\n\n\n\"But he will be dead for good then.\"\n\n\n\"Yes... And you will admit the crime and face the consequences.\"\n\n\n\"...Yes, dear.\"\n\n\n\"No! No! Otho don't!\"\n\n\nBut the man's mind was made up. The woman stared with that smile and she was beautiful. I wondered if God's love could be more lovely than her. I was sick and afraid. I listened for God as I did in the garden and there was nothing. I made my decision then and embraced the dark.\n\n\nI opened my eyes and moved out of the way. Otho crashed into my table. The woman clapped.\n\n\n\"Very good!\" she said. \"I knew you would do it.\"\n\n\nAnd I had. I had saved my life state and damned those lost minutes from God's everlasting glory. I had damned myself.\n\n\n\"Otho, you have done well. I want you to go wait in the car now.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, dear.\"\n\n\nOtho left and it was me and her. She came to me and held my chin. Up close she had a light about her that was ungodly and sinful. I basked in it and she kissed me. The moments of that kiss were eternal and lost, but not lost in the way of a lifestate. I wished to reload my life to experience it again but her eyes promised a future.\n\n\n\"You liked that, didn't you?\"\n\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\n\"Don't bother reloading. There's more in the future. I'll be very good to you. I promise I will.\"\n\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, what?\"\n\n\n\"Yes dear.\"\n\n\nAnd a dark clouded me and I left God that day. The faint spirits of the Mass gone had disappeared for good. The church was empty when I left. I imagine it remained so.\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] There's an island at the bottom of the well	[ "\"There's an island at the bottom of the well,\" I said.\n\nThe boy's ears perked up and he put down the stick he was using to beat my leg.\n\n\"An island? You're lying!\" He wanted me to believe that, but I could tell by the look in his eyes his boyish lust for adventure was in full bloom.\n\n\"No, I'm definitely not lying. There's an island down there. It's covered in sand with beautiful trees and surrounded by water so clear you can see right through it.\" Still, he was suspicious.\n\n\"But it's so dark in the well. I can't see anything at the bottom!\" I reached down to tousle his hair with my hand, giving him my best smile. I could tell his barriers were breaking down.\n\n\"It looks that way, yes. That's only because you have to go through the bottom of the well to find the island on the other side. Come with me and I'll show you.\" The boy paused to collect his stick and he brandished it. Clearly he wanted me to know he'd beat me he found out I was lying. I gestured for him to follow and we set out towards the well at the back of my property.\n\nI'd seen him playing by the well many times before and for a while I was worried he'd hurt himself and I'd have a lawsuit on my hands. Every time I went out there to stop him I was met with insults and abuse at the hands of this little boy. At first I thought I could help him. That had only made things worse.\n\nI felt bad for the boy, to be honest. I don't think he wanted to be a little shit. He was born that way. His parents are little shits, too. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.\n\nAs we arrived at the well, the boy ran up to it and leaned over, staring intently into the bottom. The well itself was no longer used as it had long since dried up. If you looked over the edge you'd find nothing but black abyss.\n\n\"It's just dark like it always is. You're lying!\" The boy spun on me and shot me a look that was meant to kill.\n\n\"No, no. I'm not lying. I just have to say the magic words. Go ahead and get up on the edge here and look deeply into the bottom of the well. When I say the magic words you'll see the portal open up and all you have to do it jump through it.\"\n\nAs he climbed up on the edge of the well, I took a moment to appreciate how trusting he was, even in spite of all they'd been through. Children were so very naive, after all.\n\n\"Get ready, now. Here I go!\" I made a big show of putting my arms in the air and growling as though I were chanting magic energy. The boy gripped his stick and looked as hard as he could into the well.\n\n\"Here come the magic words!\"\n\nI reached out with both arms and pushed the boy into the well. He screamed until he hit the bottom, then silence.\n\nI looked down into the darkness of the well and saw nothing.\n\n\"See you in hell.\"", "I woke up and saw an elf at my bedside, jerking off.\n\nOr was it a gnome?\n\nI mean, at the time I couldn't tell. It just looked like a short, heavy set midget man in my room, jerking off.\n\nOr at least I thought he was jerking off, until he turned around and I saw that...\n\nYeah, nope. He was jerking off.\n\nOkay, okay, he was just furiously tugging at his 3-foot long beard, sweating, and panting heavily. My mistake. \n\n\"Hooman,\" he whispered. \"Come with me.\"\n\nI nodded and smiled. \"Sure, just let me get my slippers,\" I said, reaching underneath the bed for my baseball bat.\n\nHe turned and looked out the window. Yup, still tugging at that beard hard.\n\nI grabbed the bat and slid off the bed, staying out of the window's reflection as I crept up on his left. When I knew I was too close to miss, I swung the bat at his head like I was trying for a home-run.\n\nWell, the bat broke. But the elf-gnome-midget man?He looked at me, unfazed, and asked, \"Are you ready, hooman?\"\n\nI took a fade-away jumper step back. \"B-But I just hit you...\"\n\n\"Yes.\" He nodded. \"Where I'm from, this is our customary greeting. Though we use hammers. I will make sure to return the kind greeting when we get back to my is-\"\n\n\"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.\" I cut him off. \"I'm not going with you anywhere.\"\n\n\"So you don't want to save your sister?\"\n\nMy... \n\nI ran for the door, but his words stopped me short.\n\n\"She's not there. They took her.\"\n\n\"And you just watched?!\" I screamed, running back to body slam him up against the wall but stopping short, remembering how he had taken a bat to the head like it was nothing. \n\nI stood there, towering over him with balled fists, shaking with helpless frustration and restrained anger.\n\nWords escaped through my gritted teeth. \"Tell. Me. Where. She. Is.\"\n\nHe nodded. \n\nFive minutes later, he led me to the well in our backyard. A well -you could tell by the overgrown weeds and moss- that we didn't even use anymore. \n\nHe pointed down. I looked in, then flashed a light down from my flashlight. I couldn't see a thing.\n\n\"Hailey!\"\n\nMy shouts echoed along the walls before fading, but there was no response. \n\nThe elf-gnome-midget man was shook his head. \"She will not be able to hear you,\" he said. \"They took her deeper.\"\n\nI squinted my right eye at him. \"Deeper? What does that even mean?\" \n\nI flashed the light back in. It was true I couldn't see the bottom, but how deep could a well be?\n\n\"There's an island,\" he said, \"at the bottom of this well. It is where I am from. And where those who took your sister are from as well.\"\n\nI flashed the light in his face. He didn't even wince. \n\n\"Let me make this clear. I don't care who or what is down there. I am going to get my sister.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] Humanity finally ascends and joins an intergalactic community of alien lifeforms; turns out, they're all tiny.	[ "I stood before the tribunal, ready to make my argument for mankind's inclusion in the Federation of Star Systems. The representatives from each race stood stone-faced at their podiums, ready for the meeting to begin. \n\nThey would have been imposing if they weren't so darn cute.\n\n\"Very well,\" the translator in my ear buzzed as the knee-high avian in charge of the meeting, Administrator Krwahk, chirped, \"Let us begin. First on the docket, the Giants of Sol Three, and their request to join the Federation.\n\nI cleared my throat and began to speak, \"Esteemed diplomats, I repres-\"\n\n\"We know who you represent, Giant,\" a foot-tall squid-man gurgled irritably. \"We don't need brutes like you ruining our federation and taking our jobs.\"\n\nThe avian tapped on her desk with a gavel held in her foot-claw, \"Order! Minister Mabn, that is a formal reprimand, and I will not tolerate further outburst from you. You may make your opinions known at the vote.\" She turned to me, \"You may proceed Mister Connors.\"\n\n\"I represent the Terrestrial Republic of Human kind,\" I paused, \"And we are formally requesting entry into the Federation. Our planet can provide considerable silicate and metallic resources, and-\"\n\n\"We can get all that, cheaper, by mining for it! What benefit could we get from trade with you?\" A cat knee-high to a grasshopper demanded.\n\n\"Order! If I have to say it one more time, the next person to interrupt is being sanctioned!\"\n\n\"Thank you, administrator. As I was saying, we also have a well-developed economy with effective manufacturing, especially for large spacecraft.\" This point was true, to an extent. What we really manufactured were little sedans, that were just big enough for 4 or five humans. By dumb luck, it turned out that other species needed quite a bit less room.\n\n\"Moreover, we have extensive military experience as a species, and with rising violence on the edge of the Horse-Head Nebula,\" Governor Houyhnhnms whinnied in distress. My niece has a plush of him.\n\n\"Please excuse me, I mean to say Barnard 33,\" I continued, with the customary bowed head in apology to the little pony. \"But with rising violence in that nebula, our military experience may prove a valuable asset.\"\n\n\"Yes, your military experience is a point of contention among the council,\" Emperor Taps replied, as he waddled up to his microphone. \"Your species has a rather long history of intraspecies violence, and an even longer history of killing others. If we were to allow you entry to our Federation, what assurance do we have that your citizens would be able to behave appropriately in our society?\"\n\n\"With all due respect, your majesty,\" I bowed, \"You allowed the Pufflings into the Federation, despite their high rate of cannibalism. Your own species, in fact, had recently ended a nuclear war when you were admitted. Our last violent war was over 12 Standard Years ago, nearly a generation on our world.\"\n\nTaps frowned, or came as close as his little beak would allow, \"Regardless, I don't see how the benefits outweigh the risks.\"\n\nI sighed internally, and rubbed the bridge of my nose under my glasses. Then I motioned to an assistant just outside of the room. He wheeled in a bookshelf, with a single book at the very top shelf. I went and picked up the book, stretching just a bit to reach it.\n\nFifteen minutes later, we Giants of Sol III were a proud member race of the Federation of Star Systems." ]	1
	[WP] To the hero, you're a powerful super villain who will stop at nothing to take over the world. In reality you're a hardworking successful business man who's occasionally stalked by a delusional homeless man who keeps gate crashing your business meetings and family gatherings.	[ "\"Listen, Frank --\"\n\n\"I'm not Frank! I'm Captain Adonis!\" the crazed man shouts.\n\nDr. Lincoln sighs dejectedly. \"You're not Captain Adonis, and I'm not Doctor Catastrophe. I'm Sam Lincoln, I run Lincoln Pharmaceuticals.\"\n\nLather builds around the old man's lips, and he shakes his head vigorously. He seems unaware of the other people seated around the conference table, looking at him in mingled shock and disgust as he lunges forward in his tattered hospital gown. \"You can't lie to me, Doctor Catastrophe! I know who you are, and I know who I am! And I swear to you, I won't let you take over this planet!\"\n\nDr. Lincoln rubs his temples. A pair of security guards step toward Frank, but Lincoln waves them off. \"Look, Frank. We've been through this before. You're a sick man, and you need help. Please, please --\"\n\n\"NOOOOOOOO! I AM CAPTAIN ADONIS!\" Agitated, the homeless man takes a few more steps toward the table, but he collapses before he gets there. \"I am,\" he whispers.\n\nThe irritation in Dr. Lincoln's eyes softens into compassion at the sight. He stands, and walks around the table to where the fallen Frank softly weeps.\n\n\"Look, I can make sure you get the help you need,\" Lincoln murmurs. \"I'm not your enemy. Please, just go with these men. They can take you to the hospital.\"\n\nFrank pauses for a moment, then nods. Dr. Lincoln extends an arm to help him up, then releases him to the security guards. He watches the tottering old man follow the guards into the elevator. Only then does he allow himself a private smile.\n\nLincoln touches his earpiece, and whispers, \"Up the dosage on Captain Adonis. I want his mind wiped clean.\"", "It had been about 6 months now and I really think that at this point I'm legitimately considering actually taking up the villain identity this maniac keeps thrusting upon me, if only so I would be in the realm of killing him. 6 months. 6 months of absolute insanity. \n\nI could handle it at first, security dealing with the issue at meetings and business events, dragging the poorly dressed fool (who thinks baking pans are suitable armor in any world??) I could even deal with the matter at family get-togethers, with my family and I working together (for once) to throw him out onto the street. I even found out about him, learned his name, his life. Brian Dwelt, a normal name that didn't befit the delusion he lived in within his mind. I tried to help him out after learning how he had fallen on hard times, sending him money and accomodations, anything to make him go away. But he just kept coming. Every week was a new problem, each day I get more stressed, certain I saw him coming for me out of the corner of my eye. I lost sleep and sanity and now this? This was now the last straw. \n\nI stare him down, as he stands in what remains of the urn containing the ashes of my sister. My little sister, taken from us far too soon, the most important person in my life. We came together to mourn her and he just barges in, having no cares it seemed as he knocks the beautiful urn off the table. Who crashes a fucking funeral? Though I wasn't surprised. Of course he would be here, of course he would do this. He stares at me, challenge in his eyes as he steps forward, the large stick he carried held out in front of him as he begins to speak. \n\n\"Foul villain I will not let you corrupt our land any further! This day you will meet your doom once and for all!\" His hand shakes, his eyes portraying the madness that lies beneath the rough, bedraggled exterior. My eye twitches as he comes closer, my hand moving to my pocket as I feel the device that had taken so much time to create. He wanted a villain? Easy enough to become. He had already made sure of the rage that would fuel me, the desire to ultimately destroy him. Now my plan would not be world domination, his destruction would suffice. \n\nI chuckle as he approaches, pulling out the device as a crazed feeling takes over me, I'm almost certain my eyes now match his glazed glare. I point it at him and prepare for what is certain to be a short fight. \n\nYou wanna dance Mr. Dwelt? \n\nLet's dance.", "\"Hold him down!\" I cry out. \"Get me the vial!\" I shout.\n\nMen in lab coats run around frantically while my security team tries to hold down the panicked man. My lead scientist hands me a vial, I load it into the auto injector. Hes strong, he always has been. \n\nThis man, has sought to destroy me since I was in college. Ever since the accident. He blamed me for the loss of his parents and the life he had before the accident. In a way he was right. It was my fault. There was nothing I could do to change what had already happened. I could only try make amends for my youthful stupidity. \n\nI'd worked hard pver the years. I'd studied complex neuroscience, nano technology, gene therapy, whatever I thought might help. My efforts had created a company on the cusp of technological marvels. We'd created state of the art therapies for muscular dystrophy, repaired severed nerves in paralyzed patients, found a way to effectively combat leprosy and even managed to eliminate early stage cancers completely. My company was as profitable as it was benevolent. We offered all our technology and research for peer review and worked hard to make it available to impoverished countries. Yet, in all our success, we still hadn't been successful in reversing traumatic brain injuries. Thats there Thomas came in. Tom, Tommy, a man who swore on everything that was noble and good to end me. I didn't blame him.\n\nThomas was a good man. Always had been. He'd had ambition as big as his heart. He had dreams and ideas I could never hope to have. It was easy to become friend with some on like Tom. He has this giant smile that could disarm you instantly. His kind and gentle nature won over even the most salty of professors. We had planned on going into business together. That is, until the accident. \n\nI was driving home after a long night of work. I'd been awake for almost 36 hours.the research was promising. If I got the experiment results we were looking for, I'd be abck to write my own ticket. I should have taken a taxi. I was just a stupid kid. I fell asleep at the wheel and ran a red light and smashed into a small sedan. I dont remember how fast I was going. I dont even remember falling asleep. I woke up in the hospital. I didnt realize what I'd done until the police came to speak with me. Tom was riding home with his parents. They were coming home from a congratulatory dinner. He had just signed a contract for his dream job. I remember he had told me all about it. The doctors told me he had irreversible brain damage. He reverted to the intellectual state of a 9 year old. Tommy always did like comic books. On that day, a hero was born. I was his nemesis.\n\nMy experiments succeeded. My career took off. Tommy pursued me wherever I went. He would burst into galas, conferences, even business meetings. Brandishing exotic weapons made from whatever he could get his hands on. He would denounce my evil, claim righteous fury and launch his attack. I'd gotten black eyes, a broken jaw and a couple of sprained wrists, enduring Tommy's fight for justice. Each time he would be restrained. I paid his medical bills, his legal fees when necessary. I paid for his assisted living. Building security even had instructions to let him through on occasion. It felt wrong to stop him. Now we've come to this. \n\n\n\"Tommy, I know how you feel about me. That im some evil bastard bent on world domination. You're probably right.\" I say gently as he struggles to throw my security guards off of him. I lean down and press the auto injector to his neck. We'd had great success in apes with this technology. I hoped with all my heart it would help him. \"I hope that when you defeated me, it's as your complete self. Im sorry. I always thought of you as a brother.\" I inject him and watch as his eyes close. \n\n-----------------------\n\nSix months later im sitting in my office. I have so much paperwork to do before I leave for the day. Instead I stare out the window of my office. The city below me bathed in scarlet light as the sun sets. Beautiful. I'd always enjoyed this view. Although I did have a tremendous fear of heights. I hear the door to my office open. I turn in my chair to see who entered. \"Tommy?\" I ask surprised. \"Is that really you?\" I ask. I look at him, a wide smile on my face. The wild look in his eyes is gone. Hes wearing a suit and tie. His hair is combed and shoes polished. \n\n\"Yes Adam, its me.\" He says softly. \n\n\"It worked, oh my god it worked!\" I cry, getting to my feet. \"I had hoped...but I never...it doesnt matter. You're here, how do you feel?\"\n\n\"I dont know\" Tommy says. \"Its been difficult. I dont remember a lot. What I do remember. ...isnt good\" he looks at me. \"Is it true? You fixed me?\" He asks. \n\n\"Yes Tommy, its true.\" I say walking towards him. \"I've worked on fixing what happend for so long, now you're here. I cant believe it\" I smile at him. \n\n\"Is it also true, it was your fault?\" He asks, his eyes turning to stone. My smile falters.\n\n\"Yes, its true. What happened to you was my fault.\" I reply softly. I cant meet his eyes. All this time I'd rehearsed this speech, in the hopes I'd see the old Tommy again. Now, I didn't know what to say. \n\nHe looks away for a moment, his hands in his pockets. He turns back to me. \"My parents both gone?\" I nod. Tears form in his eyes. \"My mind, my parents, my whole life, you are responsible for taking it all from me?\" He asks. Tears fall down his cheeks, but his words drip with venom. \n\n\"Tommy..\" I begin, holding up a hand.\n\n\"Dont call me that! My parents called me that! You dont get to!\" He shouts\n\n\"Ok, ok\" I say. \"What happened, no one regrets more than I do. You had your whole life ahead of you. I fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into your car. Im sorry Thomas. I wish I could take it back. I...I. just cant.\"\n\n\"So instead you treat me like a pet? Allow me to crash your parties, your meetings, tell security to let me through just to patronize what you've done to me?\" He cries. He takes his hands out of his pockets. In his right hand is a small caliber handgun. \"You treat me like a child and then try an experimental neurological treatment on me?! What right right you have?\" He points the weapon at me.\n\n\"Thomas...\" I say while backing up. \"I did what I thought was necessary to protect you. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you again. Please dont do this. You have your life back. You can do whatever you want. I promise I'll give you whatever you want\"\n\nThomas smiles. Its a sad smile. \"You gave me back my mind, can you give me back my parents?\" He asks. \n\nMy face drops, \"I wish...\" the sharp report of the handgun interrupts me. I feel burning in my chest. I look down to see blood pouring from the bullet wound in my lung. I look back at Thomas dumbfounded. He empties the clip into me. I fall to my knees. My vision fading fast. I watch Tommy approach. He kneels next to me. \"I've finally taken you down. After all these years. Your evil empire will fall.\" He whispers to me. He walks out of my office, leaving me in a pool of blood. \n\nOn my desk is a report concerning the experimental treatment I'd injected him with. If I had bothered to read it, instead of admiring the sunset, I'd have seen that the regression rate in subjects injected, was well over 70%. I'd given him his mind only for him to lose it again. It was alright though. Tommy would be taken care of in my will. ", "CAPTAIN IDENTITY\n*\n\nThe day he stabbed me was my fault.\n\nNobody knew his real name. Even when I had him arrested, I spent money out of my own pocket to hire a PI to try and find something. Every resource came up empty. No background, no fingerprints, no identity. \n\nIt was a routine I’d grown tired of. He’d break in, bust up a meeting, call me Mr. Commercial, spray canned cheese every where (yeah, that’s his thing), guards would take him down, cops would come, he’d be pushed through to a 72-hour watch, medicated, then leaked back out onto the street. \n\nA month or two would pass, sometimes more, but eventually he’d be back at my building at odd hours. \n\n\"Boss,” security would say. “He was back again last night.” \n\nThey would show me the surveillance footage — I had cameras every where now thanks to the nut-job. He’d always wedge himself down the narrow alley between buildings and climb the back gate. \n\nThe gate has grown over the years, thanks to my admirer. And now it had grown too high for him. This time I watched him fall, over and over, for an hour he tried and failed. The sped up security footage made it look like a bad comedy act, and the guards laughed. \n\nI faked a smile for their expense. I’m not sure if I pity this man for what his life has become, or have a fear of the reaches of his insanity. \n\n\"Call the cops,” I said. “Let them know he’s back.”\n\nNew York City is not a place to be rattled by homeless. Everyone is mashed in this small space together, millions pass by the broke everyday without a second thought. And there they sit, on the corner, sleeping in the doorway of a closed store, the drawn steel gate is there between them, a sad barrier of worlds. \n\n\n\nNot ten minutes into our meeting it happened. \n\nThe table had everyone important at it — for both my business and personal lives. I deal in commercial property. My headquarters is small, as is my team. Twenty five employees working out of an Upper-West side brownstone. My grandfather started the business way back when, and owned half the block. \n\nMy son sat to my left. My daughter on my right. The rest of the faces represent investors and people I have no emotion towards.\n\nThe door erupted open just as I took my seat.\n\nA security guard was pushed through, a knife pressed to his throat. The homeless man I’ve come to call Henry wielded the knife, and for a split second I wondered where his can of cheese was. \n\n\"Nobody move!” He shouted and everyone jumped back instinctually. “Don’t move!” He was violent. Unlike ever before. My heart skyrocketed and I had a terrible feeling in my gut, the kind you get when you see a car accident. You hear the metal explode and tear into each other, and there’s nothing you can do. \n\nIt was then I noticed the blood across Henry’s face. And more of it across the security guards chest.\n\n\"Jesus, Henry, what have you done?” I said.\n\n\"He stabbed Jason,” the security guard said, referring to our doorman. \n\nHenry pressed the knife and blood started to draw for the guards neck. “Nobody speak, nobody move.”\n\nI slowly raised a hand, trying to reason with the unreasonable. “Henry…”\n\nThe knife dug deeper and the guard screamed. My daughter cringed and I could see her start to cry out the corner of my eye as she turned her head. My son grimaced, and I could see he was ready to lunge across the room, to be a hero and take on Henry.\n\nI lay my hand on his forearm, letting him know it was a bad idea.\n\nWe all sat in silence.\n\nHenry’s eyes never left mine. I knew he wanted to kill me. His brain had cultivated some land tycoon monster out of me and my privileged life. But he didn’t speak. \n\nI couldn’t sit quiet. \n\n\"What is it you want, Henry?”\n\n\"That’s not my name!” He was rabid.\n\n\"Okay,” I spoke like someone trying to talk down a jumper. “What do you want me to call you?”\n\n\"Call me my name! I’m Captain Identity! The one and only Captain Identity!” \n\n\"Sure. Sure, Captain Identity,” I said. \n\n\"You hurt the people of this city!” He stepped closer and started to slowly drag the knife across the guards throat. “You betray humanity! People like me!” The knife was slowly moving now, horizontally and the guard gritted his teeth.\n\n\"And what has he done?” I asked.\n\n\"What?!”\n\n\"The guard you’re about to kill — is he evil too?”\n\nHenry twitched. “No,” he twitched again. “He’s a henchmen. He knew the risk of working for a villain. Henchmen die.” \n\n\"Some I’m the villain?” I asked.\n\n\"NO!” He flailed the knife. “You’re a super villain!”\n\nIt took me a second, but I gathered a plan — and mustered as much courage as I could to act on it. \n\n\"What’s my super power Hen — \u0010Captain Identity?”\n\nHe shook his head. This was something he hadn’t thought of.\n\n\"My power,” I slowly stood up. “Surely you’ve spent this much time coming after me. You wouldn’t make this bold final attempt if you didn’t know my power.”\n\n\"I know your power,” he spat the words. “Lies. How you speak is your evil power.”\n\n\"No,” I shook my head. “How I can lie is a gift. Oh, Henry you disappoint me. You’re the hero — and the hero can’t face the villain unless he knows his power. Because without knowing the power, you can’t know the weakness.“\n\nHis face dropped. And he stepped back, lowering the knife. I slowly stepped toward him and raised my brow.\n\n\"You don’t know my weakness?” I asked.\n\n\"You don’t have any superpowers!” He said, trying to convince himself.\n\n\"Henry, do you think I could do all I’ve done without superpowers?”\n\nHis eyes went wide and he stumbled back. I didn’t find any joy in making the man that afraid, but it needed to be done. I’m still shocked it worked, to be honest.\n\nI raised a hand. “So you don’t know what I can do just by thinking about it.”\n\nHe lowered the knife, petrified. The security guard pulled himself free and ran off. \n\n\"Put down the knife, Henry.” I said. \n\n\"NO!” In a final climax of all his paranoia, delusions and fear Henry flew at me. I saw the knife drive deep into my shoulder before I registered the pain. I screamed as I fell to the floor and I saw Henry smiling.\n\n\"Knives… You’re weakness is knives!”\n\nSuddenly Henry went down from a solid left hook from my son. The guard and the other men in the room held him down and someone yelled to call the police. \n\nMy daughter rushed to my side, she was crying. \n\n\"I’m okay,” I assured her.\n\nI rolled my head, and saw Henry’s face, pressed into the carpet, he spit a wad of red and shot me a blood stained grin.\n\n\"I know, now.” He sad. \n\nPolice took him into custody and he was put into a psychiatric facility where he’ll spend the rest of his days. Our doorman recovered from his stab would, as did I. \n\nWhenever I use my left arm I feel a numbness. Nerve damage, the doctors say. It’ll never fully heal, but it’s a lucky trade off for him having missed my heart. The numbness is just something I’ll have to get used to. \n\nIt acts as a constant reminder of Henry, the nameless homeless man. Everyone is surprised when I tell them I’m not really mad at him. Is it his fault that nobody found a proper way to help? Is it our responsibility to help when people are indirectly screaming for it? \n\nOr more concerning, when they’re silent about it. \n\nI don’t know. But I don’t feel angry with him. I don’t feel bad, either. It was just a terrible thing that happened for everyone involved. \n\nI imagine him now, sitting in some lonely room. Drugged out. Thinking about Lord knows what. It’s a terrible way to live the rest of his life. Hopefully he has good memories to dream of. After all, in his mind he was a super hero. The one and only Captain Identity. \n\n**\nFor daily stories -- [/r/wyrdfiction](https://reddit.com/r/wyrdfiction)", "\"Wonderful news everyone, we've released this quarter's earnings and shares rose 40 whole points,\" I exclaimed.\n\nThe entire room rose and cheered in excitement, it was a truly glorious day for Small Pharma, a white knight company that focused on selling medicinal products for affordable prices. The atmosphere was filled with the aroma of booze and the echo of a privately hired string quartet. It was all quite hypnotizing, really. I took a long swig of champagne while becoming completely lost in my own thoughts.\n\nIt was decided that we'd have our meeting in a country club two cities away from Houston today. We liked to spoil our employees with golf and plenty of time off. The site was painted with an additional streak of perfection as the sun shone rays of warm light onto rolling hills of perfectly cut grass. Our tent was spacious enough for a hundred folk and it provided a cool contrast to the summer heat.\n\nNeedless to say, but I'm going to say it anyways... it was the perfect day.\n\nToo perfect.\n\nThere was a reason for everything and the real reason for choosing a place 200 miles away from our homes had a name: Tim. Tim was anomaly formed of 1 part man, 2 parts crystal meth. In his world I was Doctor Evil and Small Pharma was Evil Incorporated. Lawsuits couldn't reach him, police ignored him, and restraining orders were useless. Honestly I've lost count of how many times Tim has crashed one of our functions.\n\nBut 200 miles separated Tim from our lovely gathering. There was no way he'd-\n\nI was suddenly pulled from my thoughts as a chill ran up my spine. A woman screamed near the entrance of our tent almost masking the sound of her glass shattering as she sporadically tossed it to the ground. He was here.\n\nToday Tim wore his usual attire; nothing. His ass was as pale and translucent as the moon. Luckily his long, grey bush of a beard managed to be both as long and thick enough as it needed to be to cover all 3 of his teeth and his family jewels. \n\nHe yelled at the top of his lungs, \"SMAUG!!!\"\n\nSon of a bitch. This time I was a dragon... great.\n\nHe raised his right hand and waved something around as he charged towards me. To me it looked like a purple sword. Or at least that's what I thought it was until Bill gasped and yelled, \"Is that a...\" he paused, clearly at a loss for words.\n\n\"A dildo?\" he continued.\n\nI noticed a small stain of brown at the foul object's tip. By the looks of it, it had been used. Very recently too. \n\n\"TIM!\" I yelled and turned to face him." ]	5
I messed up the title, the luckiest person and the unluckiest person in the world get married their kid is the most karmicly neutral person in the world	[WP] The luckiest person and the unluckiest person in the world, their kid is the most karmicly neutral person in the world	[ "“How are you doing back there, honey?” my mom said, glancing back from the driver’s seat.\n\n“I’m alright, mom. When are we stopping for dinner?”\n\n“Soon, sweetie,” she said, sharp blue eyes on the road. “It’s another hour to the next town, and we’ll stop there to eat. I’ve booked a hotel this time, so we should be fine.”\n\n“That last place wasn’t so bad, Mary,” piped up my dad. “It had breakfast and a pool and everything.”\n\n“Luke, the milk for the cereal was a week old, and the pool was closed for the winter. And don’t get me started on how small the place was. I swear, that’s the last time you find us a hotel this trip.”\n\nMy dad grumbled and shrank down more in his seat, but he nodded in acknowledgement.\n\n“You’re right, as always. I should have just stayed back at the house, for all the good I’m doing. Maybe send out a few more job applications.”\n\n“Don’t talk like that, Luke. We love you, and it wouldn’t be the same without you here.” I saw mom reach over and rub my dad’s shoulder affectionately. “Also, if you’d stayed I’m pretty sure the house wouldn’t be there when we got back.”\n\nI laughed, and after a small grunt of frustration my dad joined in.\n\n“Ha! You’re probably right!” He turned to look at me, brown eyes crinkled at the edges to match his wide smile. \n“Your mother is a wonderful woman, son. As wise as she is beautiful. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve her,” he said, brushing aside mom’s dark hair to kiss her on the cheek. \n\n“You’re a better man than any I’d met in college, dear. I’m lucky to have noticed it, though goodness knows it wasn’t easy to nail you down after that.”\n\n\nThey held hands as they bantered on. It was good to see them this way. Good to see the love without the fighting. But this was the last night of the vacation, and tomorrow we’d be back home. \n\nI looked out the window and watched the trees passing by. We were somewhere in California now, for sure. I didn’t know much about plants, but the forest we were driving through looked familiar enough. It was so peaceful out there. I tried to drink it in.\n\nWhen we got home I knew Mom would go back to her stockbroker job, and dad would still be unemployed, and the troubles would all be back. The accidents, the bills, the gambling debts… All very manageable with mom’s salary, but all too much for us to ever do better than we were doing now.\n\nThey thought I didn’t know, but once or twice I’d overheard them talking about dad’s addiction. If he could just get past it… But we all knew the odds were against him.\n\nMom would get us through it. I had to believe that. However unlucky dad was she had to be luckier. She had to be.\n\nI laid back in my seat with a sigh. Compared with the both of them my life was… uneventful. Life was never bad. I had friends, hobbies, even did well in school. It was just that nothing ever surprised me. Emily, my best friend back home, said people were like that most of the time. She thought I was a mix of both my mom and dad. We were both thirteen and in the same class in middle school. She’d come by every now and then to hang out, and sometimes we’d chat about stuff like that.\n\n“You’re comically neutral,” she’d told me once.\n\n“I think you mean ‘karmically,’” I’d said.\n\n“Yeah, that too. The point is, you’re not lucky or unlucky like your parents. And that’s probably good.”\n\n“What? Why?”\n\n“Because it’s all on you how well you do, right? You make your own luck.”\n\nSo far that hadn’t done much for me. I’d rather have had my mother’s luck. In some ways I even envied my dad, though not much. At least he always had funny stories to tell. \n\n“Hon, can you pull over for a second? I’ve got to commune with nature for a moment.”\n\n“Jeez louise… didn’t you go at the last gas station?”\n\n“Sorry, it kinda slipped my mind…”\n\n“Well, alright then…”\n\nWe pulled over, and dad hopped out quickly heading towards a far off set of bushes, tugging at his jeans and belt. Mom waited patiently while I stared off into the forest, silent and calm… and suddenly a little foreboding.\n\n“Mom…” I said, looking around as the sense got stronger. “Something doesn’t feel right.”\n\nThen I saw it- a car driving up behind us in the evening light, swerving a little back and forth. It was driving way too fast.\n\n“Luke, hurry up out there! Is nature giving you trouble or something?”\n\n“Mom, there’s a car coming up behind us-”\n\n“I’m coming! I’m coming!” called my dad, coming back from behind the bushes.\n\nThe car was close, swerving more and more erratically. I could almost make out the driver, one hand on the wheel, the other holding a bottle. With a sudden jerk the car’s headlights shone off the road and straight toward my dad.\n\nTime seemed to slow.\n\nThere was dad, his smiling face contorted in sudden fear. He’d forgotten to do up his fly.\n\nMom was turning in horror back towards the car and me. She was reaching out instinctively to pull me away. She didn’t want me to see dad die. \n\nYet I couldn’t look away, as the light around my father grew brighter and brighter. He couldn’t die… Not now…Not when things were happy for once.\n\nBut luck wasn’t on his side. It had never been. It never would be.\n\nAs mom grabbed me another thought intruded on the quiet horror of the scene: A person’s luck can change.\n\nI felt something pass through me, from my mom, and out of me toward my dad. In the last, split second, as the car bore down on my father, it turned… And hit our car.\n\nEverything became a blur. The car, our car, my mom, the trees. At some point things became still again, but darkness began to creep in on my vision. The last thing I saw before it took me was my mom, a fine trickle of blood running down her head, struggling against the airbag. I’d never seen her hurt before.\n\nI guess she hadn't been very lucky today.\n" ]	1
	[WP] You're a successful hitman in a world inhabited by wizards and witches, but you can't use magic.	[ "As I followed Jim down the dark hallway, I spotted Bart out of the corner of my eye. Wanderlasts greatest wand wielder. \"Death to all nuphelims\" I shout and fired my sig sauer. As I fire, Caroline comes running up behind me and swings her blade at my firing arm. I dodge. The bullet misses and strikes Ben. Jim catches Ben. He weeps. \"Look what you've done, you trash.\" says Maelkis from the shadows. Caroline hides her face in shame. Leslie embraces her. I close my eyes, take aim, and pull the trigger. \n\nI wake up. Still sitting in a bed at the Louisville hospital. My wife reaches over.\n\n\"You had a bad dream.\" she says. She puts a pillow over my face. ", "“My profession relies on experience. You see, in this world dominated by magic, there are several ways in which one can kill a witch or a wizard. \n\nA dagger is what we use as hitmen because it’s light. For wizards that rely on chanting, we are trained to slit their throats. For wizards that rely on enchantments of the magic circles or written stuff, we sever their arm tendons. \n\nThe average wizard is dumb on the occasion of a duel. It’s why they’re always protected by those hunks - those slowly, clunky warriors. Now those are the difficult ones to deal with! Especially the kind called the magical warriors. \n\nI would tell you how we train, but that’s a trade secret. Different guilds have their individual styles. It’s similar to how mages work as well. Something to do with affinities, as once you’re able to find out what a mage’s element is, the rest is like a good shucking of an oyster (with the pearl being the bounty, of course). \n\nBut hey, it’s not like a have anything towards mages. Hell, there’s plenty of hitmen who use magic to carry out their business. Not to mention those enchantresses at the brothel...\n\nWheeeeew! Those were fun nights... Ahem\n\nOh, by the way, this magic recording crystal is censoring my face right? It better be or I’d have to kill ya. \n\nAnyways, if you wanted to learn anything about us hitmen, we do it for a price. If you’ve got the wallet to back up your hit request, for every greatest mage, there will also exist the greatest hitman.”\n\nGuards later found one of his daggers on the site of the murder of a slave ringleader, who was known for his exceptional possession of fire magics. \n\nThis interview has been archived and the original physical transcript can be found in the tower of Magus. \n ", "There are three major misconceptions that the people of the Gilded City of Fleegan have about magician assassinations.\n\nThe first is that magic is infinite. Sure, you have your warding spells to detect invisible men and protective shield charms to block flying crossbow bolts, arrowheads, and even the occasional concealed dagger. \n\nBut, that takes work. \n\nNow, I don't mean something such as - \"Oh yes, now the Great Magician Florrigan has to wave his little staff four-or-six times and chant some ancienty hocus-pocus in the mornings before the spells end at the stroke of mid-night.\" I'm talking about - \"Oh sweet Mother Marrilynae, I just got stabbed in the eye with a spear and now I'm dying because I over-exerted my now-shattered shield-charm about a second before the spear hit because I am the world's luckiest bastard.\"\n\nA crazed drunk slashes at some magical college student a few dozen times and at some point, that poor child will die because no underdeveloped human being, nor developed human being, has infinite energy reserves.\n\nNow, let's discuss the second misconception.\n\nMages are wise.\n\nIt literally takes an twelve-week course at a local school in order to learn basic protective charms, herbology, and low-level lockbreaker hexes for when some young miscreant gets handsy with you and ends up stealing your purse and keys.\n\nThat miscreant has no more magical ability than the average first-year magical college student. Just because you can cast some abracadabra and do all those silly, glowing jazz hands, doesn't mean you've somehow ascended beyond mortal plane of understanding. Anyone can learn magic!\n\n (Besides most werewolves, the poor, the middle-class, the undead, most immigrants, anyone living in subsidized housing, the sick, anyone without the proper identification, convicts, wards of the state, half-racial non-citizens of the Empire, half-racial citizens of the Empire, anyone following an undesirable religion, and anyone who pours milk in before adding tea.)\n\nThat aside, let's move onto our third misconception.\n\nPeople are smart and rational creatures who know that they must be weary around mages who can possibly cast fireballs and emit various lethal toxins provided they have the skill and stomach for it.\n\nPeople are not very bright at all.\n\nTake this moment, for example.\n\nAt approximately 5:00 in the noontime, as evidenced by the five bell tolls of the Northern Fleegan Watchtower, there is a handsome, ravishing young woman by the name of Alexandre Bowdoin beating a smelly, twenty-five year old hag in broad daylight in the middle of an alleyway. \n\nThat hag will die in approximately eight minutes. This is a fact as published statistics will show that she has shortened her lifespan dramatically by using a high-level protective charm for the past fifty-two minutes. The fact that she has been using a high-level protective charm has been verified by the presence of an eighty-pound steel boot being used to break through the prolonged protective charm.\n\nThe old hag cannot attempt to throw off the young woman who is attempting to beat her to death with the steel boot because she is too focused on maintaining that high-level protective charm. Had she used a low-level protective charm or tried to portal away, she would've only been struck in the head with the metal boot and promptly die of ruptured cranial blood vessels.\n\nIf the young woman were a rational woman, she would've realized that wasting the last near-hour trying to take a swing at a witch with a steel boot is probably the most time-wasting, useless thing a person can do. But that woman has been doing so for the last near-hour, which was a very, very smart move if you are indeed, trying to kill a mage.\n\nI can attest to this, having done the same thing about twelve times in the last four months. Seventy-six times on record. It's on the Local Assasin's Guildhall recordsheet if you wan't take my word for it.\n\nIf you wish to hire the services of widely-renowned Magekiller Alexandre Bowdoin, I'm available for appointments from four-to-ten on weekend mornings. I will kill anyone, anywhere! I have no morals. I'm somewhat discreet. Old mages, young mages, animal mages. Doesn't matter. I love the job!\n\n", "Here's the thing about Magic, kid. It's really easy to detect. Like, How often have you felt someone enchanting a broom 4 buildings down? Easy right? Well, think about it, if one little enchantment can be felt that easy, imagine something bigger. Like trying to use a lightning bolt. It's ridiculus. Everyone within a block knows a bolt was just cast. They may not know who, or why but they know it was cast.\n\nSo you're thinking 'big whoop, it's like a fart in an elevator.' Well here's the dirty, kid. This isn't something any old school or academy is gonna teach ya. Magic is traceable. That means that fart you just ripped that everybody's sniffin' can be traced right back to your ass. Then who's in trouble?\n\nSo how does magicless-me get the job done so well? It's pretty easy, kid. Cold iron beats a hot spell. Blades, and a bit of sneaky-sneaky go a long way in this business. While everyone is casting off god-knows-what dumb magic. I can clean-up, and not get caught. Silent, but deadly. And it ain't gonna be traced. " ]	4
	[WP] There's a new 24/7 TV programme that broadcasts the POV of a random person on earth every 10 minutes.	[ "The screen flickers and shows black, just like it has for the previous ten minutes. An outline of a dark bedroom can be seen for a few moments, but then all goes dark again. \n\n\"This is a complete disaster! How could this have happened!!!\"\n\n\"We're looking into it sir, it must have been a miscalculation by the sync team.\" \n\nThe studio was a hive of furious activity. The project, heavily advertised and planned for years, has been online for seven hours now. Six hours and forty minutes were nothing but darkness. There had been ten minutes of a \"24-hour\" convenience store clerk sleepily thumbing through an order booklet, and another ten minutes of a probably elderly someone staring blankly at an infomercial.\n\n\"Heads will roll damn it! Who was supposed to be supervising the sync team, and why can't they just switch it to the way we want!?!\"\n\n\"Something to do with the neurotransmitters sir. The cloud of nanobots we released to infect...I mean...inhabit the population were pre-programmed to activate and transmit the information from the host brains at times based on host location. We assume that the AM/PM code was reversed somehow, but we can't recall the bots, and they only transmit to us, not the other way around.\" \n\nThe screen flickers again. Everyone gasps as, for the third time since the program went online, all is not dark. Based on the point of view, it must be a child, maybe a little over three feet tall. The figure behind the POV is shambling through a house flicking on lights as it goes.\nIt reached a bedroom and approached a figure lying in bed.\n\n\"Mommy, I had a nightmare...\" the sleepy voice says.\n\n\"Mmmm...get in...\" croaks another tired voice in response.\n\nThe screen shows two little hands as the child climbs into the bed followed by darkness...and then seven minutes of snoring. The screen flickers again. All is dark.\n\n\"Heads are going to roll!\"" ]	1
	[WP] After 25 years, a middle aged former drug dealer is trying to get back into the game. But all the damn kids and their newfangled slang have changed.	[ "10 pounds of dope was sure to get me that launch I needed. Johnny Bucks was back, baby. I tried to make it right, tried to play the game straight, but those fucking crooks on Wall Street, in Congress, fuckin' LAPD all go so far out of their way to fuck the little guy, so here I am. Rollin' in as much lettuce as I had ever had, ready to be rollin' in the green. Ah shit, here comes the kid I'm doin' business with, late like kids always fuckin' are. \n\n\"Wassup?\" \nFuckin' kids...\n\n\"How's it goin'?\" \n\n\"Not bad, homie. You got the bud?\" \n\n\"The what?\" \n\n\"The flame? The loud?\"\n\nWhat the fuck is this brat talkin' about? \"No, man, we ain't gonna get loud. This needs to be real quiet...\"\n\n\"Nah, old man, you got the gas?\"\n\n\"Gas? You need gas oney? What? Listen, if you mean the dope, yeah I got it. Are we doin' business or what?\"\n\n\"Dope? What the fuck? I don't deal that shit, man. That's fucked up, bruh.\" \n\nThis kid was really startin' to piss me off. \"Shut the fuck up. You asked me to get you some serious dope. I got it. Lettuce by the pounds. Now where is my fuckin' money?\"\n\n\"Bruh, I don't flip dope. That's fucked. And if you got cheese already, why you flippin'?\" \n\nI stand and stare at this dumbass for a second. I forgot why I got out of the business, too many idiots. \"I said I have the lettuce...... You got the cash or not?\" \n\n\"Yeah, right here,\" he raised a suitcase, \"But I ain't buyin' no dop-\" \n\nTwo shots to the chest is all it takes to fuck someone up. I don't have time to deal with semantics and pussies. I'm tryin' to get back up on the game. I grab the suitcase and drop the burner on his opened chest. Fuck kids, man. " ]	1
	[WP] The world is divided in two: one part depends on modern technology and electricity while the other part still depends on magic and castle walls.	[ "\"This is not a drill. Jump incursion in 5...\"\n\nAlexia wondered what all the fuss was about. Initial scans revealed the other side of the planet had no technology present.\n\n\"... 2...\" the countdown continued.\n\nTaking a breath, she turned her incursion console on and waited to see her targets.\n\n\"Jump commencing.\"\n\nAs Alexia's inhale turned to an exhale, the ship staggered and almost threw her onto the floor.\n\n\"Jump complete.\"\n\nHer incursion console displayed an orange in numerous places on the ship diagrams, indicating damage of a moderate nature and where it happened. Her visual console revealed projectiles filling the sky.\nStrangely enough, no symbols indicating targets to engage were anywhere to be seen. Wondering what was happening, Alexia zoomed out on the engagement map only to be met with a continued lack of targets.\n\nThe ship rumbled, with more orange flashing across the ship diagrams and some places turning into a dim red.\nTrying to figure out what was happening, Alexia reached to open the ship communications log. Before she could finish reading the first item, Alexia felt a burst of heat and a powerful hit to the front of her turret bulkhead.\nThe bulkhead was heavily indented, both panicking and enraging Alexia.\n\n\"Computer, why did the shields fail?\" she shouted to her console.\n\n\"Shields are offline and fully functional\" the computer plainly responded.\n\n\"Then enable them damnit!\" Alexia retorted.\n\n\"Hybrid Turret R27 primary shields online\" the computer complied.\n\nWith the initial scans indicating no technology on the planet, command decided enabling shields by default would be a waste of resources.\nFeeling lucky to be alive, Alexia read the ship communications logs.\n\n\"Critical 324: Under attack by unknown means.\n\nCritical 325: Ship-wide secondary shields enabled, 3m 25s remaining until full activation.\n\nNotice 326: Latrine Section R2 non-operational: decompression from damage.\n\nCritical 327: Humanoids on surface appear to be attacking, technology used not yet identified.\n\nCritical 328: Humanoid engagement targets will be linked to engagement maps and incursion consoles ASAP\"\n\nAlexia was met with pinging sounds as targets appeared on her engagement map within range of her turret. Curious of what could be attacking the ship so unexpectedly, she looked into her visual to catch a glimpse of these people.\n\nAlexia saw what appeared to be a young man standing in front of a building, with a boy peering out the door and a glimpse of a child running past inside the house. The young man had a vengeful look in his eyes as he started waving his hands in a somewhat circular motion. Alexia choked back a laugh of ridicule at the silly dance until suddenly it turned into a blast of dark grey headed straight towards her bulkhead. The blast hit the shields which fought back with a vibration and shook the bulkhead. A fiery burst shrouded Alexia's vision for a few moments, but the shields repelled any physical damage.\n\n\"Primary Shields: 44%\nFull Recharge in 16s\" Alexia read from her console.\n\nUnable to make sense of what just happened, Alexia took control of the turret and retaliated. Before the man could attack again, the entire plot of land was a crater in the blink of an eye.\nHolding back tears, Alexia turned off her consoles. Looking out the visual, one of the smaller ships in the fleet could be seen crashing to the surface in a ball of flames. Whoever the people on this side of the planet were, they didn't need technology to fight back.", "\"Jonathan darling, did you here what the those barbarians on the other side are doing?\" Edith inquired\n\nJonathan took his gaze off his book and spoke with the glamour of a cat that needs to piss \"Not particularly, Edith\" he said\n\nEdith was the kinda bitch you couldn't stay around for more that 10 seconds without her trying to talk your ear off. Without missing a beat but in turn missing Jonathan's much implied uninterest in her rambling but she persisted onward. \"No? Well I'll tell you! So my colleague from UTMSC or as common folk call it the 'University of theoretical Magic and spell casting' . . .\"\n\n\"Yes I fucking know what damn college you went to. Get to the point\"\n\nEdith slapped him across the face \"I care little for what you have to think of me or my status. But you do not, and I mean not. Lower that fine Institution of learning to a fucking college!\"\n\nJonathan had only known her a week but he definitely didn't think Edith the type to hit him with out remorse or hesitance for something as stupid as the pedigree of a school. \"Geez, okay.\" Jonathan rubbed his now sore cheek. \"I'll hush up now what were you saying about the otherside?\"\n\nEdith turned away to the Grand balcony near their sitting arrangement. \"Honestly it was a joke about there vast inferiority but you spoiled the mood for a joke like that.\" \n\nJonathan now felt the familiar cold trickle down his blood stream. It was the feeling of being an asshole. \"Well I'd still like to here it if that's okay?\" \n\nShe started to laugh to herself as Edith gazed outside to the wonderful Sumer evening. \"Alright, fine\" she smiled \"but, only because it's too rich to keep to myself\" \n\n\"You Know how simpletons can use magic right\"\n\n\"Yeah. But those fuckers still try to star wars with us all the time frankly their boner for masochism and destruction on their own soil is a magic all to itself.\" \n\nEdith glowed as she turned back around to face Jonathan \"I heard from my colleague that they have made a bomb and are in the works of testing it\" \n\n\"While it is ridiculous that they would even attempted to recreate what our explosive mages have been doing for ages I hardly see how it is of any note\"\n\n\"Well it seems 'scientist' on the otherside have taken to calling it The 'atom bomb'. I mean really how small is it?\" \n\n\"Seriously what chance do they even have?\"\n\n\"Know what kind of idiots are gonna be scared of a bomb the size of an a---\"\n\nWith in the blink of an eye everything went red then disappeared.\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] It's 2023 and NASA has recently confirmed that there is a large unknown continent between Africa and South America. You were selected to join a brigade of individuals in exploring the continent. Your plane has just landed in this New World.	[ "They decided to name it Atlantis, how original considering it basically risen from the ocean overnight.\n\nI figured that going to a newly discovered continent couldn't hurt too bad and might actually turn out to be fun. It also helped that I was getting paid by the truckload to go, so there were some upsides.\n\nI looked around the small plane at my fellow explorers and wondered why they were all here.\n\nThe group was certainly a different looking one. In the front of a plane was an excited looking young female, Nina was her name if I remember correctly. She couldn't be older than twenty-two or twenty-three. Across the aisle from her was nearly her polar opposite, an old man who didn't seem to be phased by anything, Atticus. He was simply staring ahead unimpressed.\n\nBehind them was a woman splayed across her seat, limbs akimbo as her mouth hung open, Adrienne. Her snoring had been going on for quite a while. Across from her was Griffon. He was... unimpressive, to say the least. Everybody else on this plane had something interesting about them, but he was just some thirty something average looking guy.\n\nThen there was me. I was taller than everybody else on the plane and younger than everybody except Nina, who I firmly held was at least a year or two younger than I. Still it seemed that my purpose on this expedition was muscle. Everybody else seemed to be here to study something in Atlantis.\n\nI sighed and ran my fingers through my long hair, fidgeting with the handles of the machetes on my back.\n\nI had asked for guns, as any normal person would, but they informed me that if there were natives on Pangea then they didn't want them to be exposed to advanced technology or being gunned down in a haste. That led to a long debate that I had eventually lost. No guns for me.\n\nWith a jolt my thinking was interrupted as the plane landed. Slowly, I undid my seatbelt and looked up only to find that Nina was already missing from the plane and the door was wide open. I groaned and stood, nudging Adrienne awake as I passed her.\n\nOutside the plane Nina was already snapping photos of the flora.\n\n\"If you get a camera how come I can't have guns?\" I asked as I hauled both my bags and her bags off of the plane. She seemed tiny bit flighty, to say the least.\n\nShe turned back to me. \"I believe it has something to do with murdering natives to this continent and not repeating the past.\" She stated with a blank expression.\n\nI chuckled slightly, but when she didn't smile I stopped and instead just handed her the bags she had forgotten on the plane. \n\nAs I start to do some quick recon in the area everybody else slowly files off the plane. First Atticus gets off, examining everything with a sharp eye, somehow still looking uninterested. Griffon gets off next, carrying a few bags and a handheld tablet, which he is tapping away on.\n\nI was once again reminded of my severe lack of weaponry.\n\nFinally, about ten minutes after everybody had gotten off the plan and settled down, Adrienne shuffled off with her bags in tow. She let out a long yawn and descended the plane steps.\n\nNearly the second she stepped off the pilot was in the doorway closing up the plane. We were being left here for two weeks, that was the contract we all signed.\n\nIf anything happened to us it was anybody's fault but our own, plus Griffon had a few communication devices to send out a signal for help.\n\nAs everybody gathered I cleared my throat.\n\n\"We should probably find a place that is easy to defend for the night. We don't know what might be out here and I would prefer to be at least a little ready for whatever there might be.\" I explained, gesturing away from the wide open space that our plane was now beginning to take off in.\n\nEverybody looked around and shrugged. Nobody seemed particularly opposed to my idea so I took that as agreement.\n\nSlowly I began to lead everybody into the large forest that led deeper into the island.\n\nAs I walked I could feel eyes watching me walk, but being me, I assumed it was the group following to find a safer area to rest for the night.\n\nI never really suspected what might actually be waiting for me in Atlantis.\n\n\n-\n\n\nI might continue this if people enjoy it, but for now this is what I have. This prompt was really cool and interesting. I hope this at least somewhat did it justice." ]	1
	[WP] In a parallel universe, humans have evolved to learn by an osmosis-like process. One in a million children are born with out this osmosis gene. You are one of these children.	[ "\n\"Danny, you're taking too much in! Your brain can't handle that amount yet!\" Evelyn shouted. \n\nDanny didn't respond. He was leaning forward in his chair, arms outstretched with his fingers touching four separate books. His eyes were wide and unblinking and mouth slightly agape. \nEvelyn grabbed his arm and tried to pry his hand away from at least one of the books. The book might as well have been an extension of his arm. It didn't budge.\n\"Danny\", she whined, glancing around. Evelyn hated this library, especially at night. But night was the only time they allowed Absorbers to glean information and this was the only library with any information on Earth 2. It struck Evelyn as a primitive place, but Danny was fascinated by it. A large gust of wind came rushing down the row of books closest to them. \n\n\"Oh no,\" she thought. Danny had never attempted to take in this much information before and they had no idea what sort of side effects it might cause. Her hair was whipping behind her when she spotted the bookshelf behind them starting to wobble. The wind only got stronger. Evelyn saw it start to topple and reacted in an instant. She dove at Danny, tackling him to the ground and shielding him with her body. Books fell all around them, hammering her in the back but she clung to Danny, desperate to protect him from absorbing it all at once. He hadn't finished his training yet and the amount of information contained in 5 books was enough to kill him, let alone an entire bookshelf. \n\nAs soon as she could no longer feel the books hitting her, she looked down. Danny looked back up at her and blinked a few times, groaned and then smirked. \n\"So you're saying all I have to do is study a little bit and next thing you know, I'll find a woman on top of me?\" Evelyn glared at him.\n\"Shut up, you idiot. How are we supposed to get you out of here without touching all these books?\"\n\"Well I did just learn how to build a car...\"\n\"A what?\"\n\"Just clear a space around me and I'll stand up.\" \n\nEvelyn pushed the piles of books nearest them out of the way and then helped Danny stand up. \n\n\"So what did you find out?\" she asked, clearing a pathway for Danny to walk through.\n\"That baseball seems like a cool sport. And we're no closer to figuring out a way to Earth 2 than when we started.\"\nShe sighed. \n\"There is one bit of good news though.\"\n\"What's that?\"\n\"That was more information than I've ever absorbed before,\" he grinned. \"I'm getting stronger.\"" ]	1
If you chose to die it will not be held against you in any way. You have 10 minutes to decide and the person does not speak again despite your queries. You don't know why, but you are absoloutely certain this is real and the person is telling the truth. What do you do and what happens in the next three years of you life?	[WP] You wake to a pitch black room with only an androdgenous person dressed in an orange suit visible. You're told that you're not dead but will be if you so choose. If you decide to live, you & possibly your family will go through unspeakable horror(s) until your death.	[ "\"Alright, end me.\"\n\n\"You can't be serious. You, afraid of some magical horror's you know nothing about? You, the man who was ready to brave the world, to sacrifice everything for his dream. The man who doesn't believe in an afterlife, even now. Why? You can't be serious.\"\n\n\"You involved my family.\"\n\n\"But you don't care. I know, that you don't care, not in the face of your goal. Why would you choose this? Tell me the real reason.\"\n\n\"My goal is complete, multiple worlds must exist for me to be here instantly. For their to be a place between life and death. To be offered a second chance I truly don't deserve besides out of potential. My goal was completed the second I woke up and knew where I was. My dream, cheapened by the knowledge. I would love to make my own worlds and live throughout them for eternity. But now, you are giving me an ultimatum and want me to choose 1 option vs another. You aren't being kind, I can tell that much. You're being forceful.\n\nSo, go ahead, kill me. I won't play your game and I won't threaten my normal family. My goal is complete, in one form or another and thats enough for me to die on. I'll just have to create and be immortal later.\"\n\nAnd with that, it was done. He was dead. Live moved on, the world moved on, a great potential taken out. What happened to him, is of course a curiosity. Did he find a new world? Cease to exist? \n\nThe better question is why you truly think you and every other human aren't given this choice every single day? ask them and yourself those questions. \n\nWill you die with your goal completed? With a being in front of you near the end? Will you ever be given a second chance? One man has all those answers and he is dead. Good luck. " ]	1
	[WP] Write a story about a "Rock Star" in a field other than music. The job/hobby they happen to be master of just happens to be strange and uninteresting to the general public.	[ "With a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he eyed the canvas at his feet. He felt more at ease with a big area like this. Snatching up a can of paint and a brush, he bent over and began to whip and whirl the stick. He enjoyed the feeling of intimate comfort of the painting being on the floor rather than a wall. \n\nHe grabbed up another color, and began to pour it straight out of the can. How satisfying it was when the paint was thin like this. The dripping, fluid paint landed making only the slightest of noises. How good it was to be able to express his emotions in such a direct way. There would be no illustration leading the viewer to make their own, they could see his clearly. It was already there.\n\n\"Technique is just a means at arriving at a statement,\" he'd once said to one of his friends. His technique was as original as they came, and his statement all that more bold because of it.\n\nHis sense of urgency, of need, was taking over. He picked up yet another can, this time with a brush, and whipped it in a more frenzied manner. His concentration picked up and he began to lose track of time. \n\nKeys fell out of his pocket, and he left them on the canvas. Feelings weren't inward, there was nothing to be closed off, here. Life could be chaotic. We responded to outward forces, and so it was with his art.\n\nHis art was powerful yet intricate, violent yet courageous. It was mad and passionate. Grand, yet intimate, it was driven, and although it was a part of him, it had a life of its own. As un-moving as paint was once it dried, there was nothing about this that seemed static. \n\nHe pulled up his stool and viewed his work. There it was. The madness to live, express, to break free and be unexpected. There was nothing commonplace here. The canvas exploded with raw energy and vigor. It was intense.\n\nHis relief was short lived, however. It didn't take long before he remembered how his parents thought him secondary in artistic ability to his brother. How even though he'd made the cover of Life Magazine, his art had failed to be noticed by most. He'd had accusations of being \"coddled\" and \"spoiled\" and was told he was selfish, lazy, and manipulative by many in the family.\n\nNarrative mediocrity was considered great art in this day and age, not abstraction. Even then, no one really paid attention to the art world. Lee believed in him, but she was his wife, of course she would. It wasn't enough. He was an artist without an audience. It had its own satisfaction, like the madness of fireworks with the pop of colors and sparkling lights drifting down, but on some level, he needed to hear the \"Oooh\" and \"Aah!\" of the crowd.\n\nUpset, he took his loafers off and put his non-paint flecked shoes back on. It shouldn't bother him, anyway. Why couldn't they see it? \n\nHe could see his brother's car pulling up the driveway. They never came to visit. What the hell was up, now? Hemingway had it right when he said, \"I drink to make other people more interesting.\" Jackson thought that sounded like a splendid way to deal with this, right about now.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are last in line at the superpower store and you get the one that no one wanted.	[ "\"Here it is.\" \n\n\"I don't get to choose?\" I said \"I thought we got the choice.\"\n\n\"Normally, yes.\" He leaned forward \"But it's the last one, just be lucky you're not gonna be a normie.\"\n\nI sighed \"Which one is it, then?\"\n\n\"Eh... Well...\" He laughed \"It's not the best one, that's for sure.\"\n\n\"Which one?\" \n\n\"And I thought I had a shit one, but you...\"\n\n\"Which fucking one?\" I pressed \"Just say it, get it over with.\"\n\n\"You know those speedsters,\" He said \"the ones that slow down time around them.\"\n\n\"Yes... And?\"\n\n\"Well, you can do the opposite, you speed up time around you to be extra slow.\"\n\n\"At least it's better than nothing...\" I said.\n\n\"Once.\" He interrupted \"You can only do it once.\"\n\n\"Whatever.\" I said, turning around.\n\nI might as well use it, not like it's ever gonna be useful.\n\nTime speed up around me. Buildings were falling and being erected around me as it did. Before I had the time to stop it I was already 10,000,000 years into the future.\n\nThey have it so much better than we ever did. I don't regret it.", "\"Alright guy, here ya go. The laaaaast one for the day.\"\n\n\"Cool, I'll take it! Uhh what's the power though?\"\n\n\"You're in luck! This power right here gives you the ability to turn grapefruits into really big oranges! Well, grapefruit sized oranges anyhoo! Gee mister, at this price, only $50, a power like that is a steal!\"\n\n\"Grapefruits into oranges? Whattayu kitten me? I mean kidding. That cat distracted me. This power blows chunks dude. I ain't payin' $50 bucks for it!\"\n\n\"Well I don't have any other powers available... Take it or leave it, bucko.\"\n\n\"C'mon, you sure don't have a better one? Nobody returned one or something?\"\n\n\"Nope, I only have satisfied customers. I've never had a return in my life. My next shipment is due in about 3 months. Now sir, do you really want to wait that long? You'll be the only guy on your block without powers.\"\n\n\"No... no, I want a power too. I just think this power sucks the big one though.\"\n\n\"Okay pal, how bout this? I'll cut you a deal. Only $40 for the power. You're not gonna see a deal this good again.\"\n\n\"$30 dude because I don't even like oranges\"\n\n\"$39\"\n\n\"$30\"\n\n\"$35\"\n\n\"DEAL! Hahaha! You sucker! I would have settled for $36!\"\n\n\"Oh wow yeah you sure got me alright... Here's your power sir and remember to use it responsibly\"\n\n\"Whattayu my ma? See ya later loser!\"\n\n\"Yeah? Well you're the loser who just spent $35 on a shitty power!\"\n\n\"What'd you just say to me?\"\n\n\"You heard me. You think you got a deal? HA! Nobody in their right mind wanted a power that shitty ass power. I was going to throw it away until I saw you. I know a chump when I see one and you proved to be the biggest chump of the day.\"\n\n\"Hey man fuck you. Watch what you say otherwise I'll... I'll uhh...\"\n\n\"You'll what? Turn my grapefruit into an orange? Whoa, easy man! Fuck you, I like both of those fruit. Why don't you go mess with your mom's grapefruits eve she'll even let you in the house.\"\n\n\"Leave my mom outta this! And YES she does have grapefruits but I wouldn't do that to her. I'm not a fuckin' swindler like you. I have manners.\"\n\n\"Yeah well take your manners to the produce section. Fuck you.\"\n\n\"Fuck you! How bout I mess your store up? How about that?\"\n\n\"Won't work idiot, my store is smash proof. That's my power. Nobody can mess with my place. Now get out of here before I call one of my super strength buddies to come over and kick off your dick off.\"\n\n\"Dude, get bent. You ain't worth the time. I'm outta here. Fuck you\"\n\n\"Good riddance loser! Fuck you too!\"\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] How did we learn of aliens? An errant missile from an ancient war a galaxy away blew the moon apart.	[ "You know how old people remember 9/11? That was their big thing? I remember the moon crash. Happened in 2030, when I was 18. I was looking at it myself. A lot of people just saw the video and from their angle, yeah, it went slow. But the moon is a fucking orb. \n\nI saw an immediate explosion. The moon became a cresent, pieces fell to earth causing tsunami's and wiping out half of asia, hawaii and destroying california. It could have been worse. OH boy, could it have been worse. \n\nThen came ever more water attacks, from the size change of the moon. Every place was hit hard. Poor japan, I liked that place. Then came some surprising changes in the atmosphere. Heat rising, sickness, etc. Don't fully understand it but overnight we had epidemics world wide and seems everywhere on earth was boiling. \n\nWe would have blamed each other but we got lucky. You have no idea what I mean but its a miracle we didn't start WW3 and everyone kill each other and we have fucking George Takei. You see, georgey lived to a ripe old age 106. 103 at the time of moon collapse. And by god he was NOT dying in a hell hole. He rallied every single actor, celebrity and star he could find and DEMANDED that all politicians shut down government. Not just american one's either.\n\nNo one thought it would work but people underestimate stars, movies, business. These weren't just movie stars, these were writers, actors, porn stars, foreign and domestic, inventors, anyone with any sort of limelight, even MTV, all saying \"This crisis is too big and there are no survivors of the attack, just casualities. For 3 days, we mourn.\" And good god, no one had any idea how much power our celebrities have. \n\nFor 3 days, there was no government. For 3 days, everyone in the world just, cried I guess. I literally don't believe it and I lived it. After that government's worked purely on relief, restore, etc. \n\nIt was only about a year later we actually got a crew to find out what happened. Turns out that our moon was hit by something, just like the scientists suggested but by a missile. But it wasn't from earth, it came from space. It was old, advanced but old. Don't know how they figured that one out. Said it must have floated in space for 800 years but they could be talking out their ass.\n\nAnyway, so now we know 2 terrifying things. 1. their are aliens. Or were. 2. oh boy, even the old, ancient aliens could have blown our moon up with just 1 weapon. \n\nSo now, the space arms race has begun. Weapons, ships, radar, protection, just everything about it has exploded. Never seen people put away so many differences to work together. Guess the threat of total extinction by an unknown enemy will do that. \n\nGuess this is what a second golden age is like. Thats what they called the information age. Man, I thought golden meant peaceful for some reason. It just means valuable. Important. And anything valuable and important is dangerous to have. \n\nEspecially time, apparently. Hope we survive. " ]	1
	[WP] When God created the world, he included many easter eggs that until today remained undiscovered.	[ "I created the world because I was bored. It's even in the bible somewhere, probably. The game was to see how long it would take them to figure out four specific things. Satan bet me 20 schmeckles it would take them 2,500 years after I sent Jesus before they could do it. \n\nThe first three were all easy; humans call them magnetism, gravity, and the periodic law. I was getting pretty nervous when they found out all three so close to one another, but it has to take them more than five hundred years to find the last one. It has to.\n\n\nJacob was just your average guy. He was thirty years old, working an advertising job to support his wife and one child. He had a couple annoying coworkers, a boss that enjoyed her power a little too much, and a corporate ladder to climb. \n\nIt had been a long day, and a nap was the only thing on Jacob's mind as he was driving home after a failed proposal. He was driving as fast as traffic would allow, but it seemed to slow down the closer he got to home. He caught himself dozing off a few times at the wheel, which concerned him as he was normally quite attentive to the road. When he finally pulled into his driveway, he parked in the garage as usual and let out a sigh.\n\nWalking towards the front door, a glimmer caught Jacob's attention in the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and saw nothing. Although he was tired, there was not a doubt in his mind that he had seen something. A few more second passed, and instead of chalking it up to drowsiness he walked out into his front yard when he saw it again.\n\nThere was a pure white head sized...tear? It floated unmovingly about four and a half feet above the grass. What did curiosity do the the cat again? Jacob extended his right arm, and to err on the side of caution, stuck in only his pinky finger at first. When nothing happened, he stuck in his arm, then his head to get a better look. \n\nWhat he saw next he would only be able to remember as the most vivid dream of his life. Two gigantic men, one surrounded by a mist that glowed a gentle yellow, the other had red horns, and a trident leaned against the table the two were playing cards at. The horned man turned and pointed at Jacob's little head, and the glowing man grumbled and handed over some type of currency like he had lost a bet.\n\n\"Muahahaha, do you know what one person can do with 20 schmeckles?\", The horned giant asked triumphantly.\n\n\"How was I supposed to know there would get to be so many of them? They shouldn't have been able to find such a small tear for centuries!\" \n\n That was the last thing Jacob heard before he pulled his head out and saw the tear disappear, leaving him questioning little when he woke up from a well deserved nap." ]	1
	[WP] After a freak accident, you now only 'remember' the future and forget the past. What's your story?	[ "I will die in a hospital bed surrounded by nurses, my children and grandchildren waiting outside know what to expect. I will be 87 years old, widowed for 3 years. My husband will be the light of my life, my rock, my reason to hold on and keep living even though we won't be together. I just need to find him, I don't think i've met him yet, I don't remember anything.\n\nI know what our first date will be like and what our children will be called, but not where i am or how i got here. I need to start working at the local high school. I know i will do really well as part of the kitchen staff, I'll meet a lot of great people there and befriend lots of the staff and someday make it to management. Do i even have a job right now? \n\nA child i will grow to know well will be in line to get lunch and i'll notice a bruise around his eye and split lip. I'll assume that it is the other students again and I will pull him into my office under the ruse that we need to talk about a debt he owes the school for his lunches. I'll buy him an ice cream and get him an icepack, he will tell me he hasn't gotten beat up by the other kids in a week or two. That this time it was his dad. I'll call the principal and social services and the boy will be taken to live in a foster home, someday I'll see him start to smile again, and he will be able to make friends. \n\nMy husband will get confused when i mention things that have yet to happen but will not be frightened. He will know his last day is soon but he will be brave and mach toward death. He will tell me he loves me and that he will see me soon. I can see the future but i can not see past death, i hope he is right. \n\nOur 3 children will grow up well to become a nurse, a teacher, and an accountant, our family will make jokes about the math loving child but we care about them all the same. \n\nJust past three years in the future our wedding will be modest, composed of mostly close friends and family. We will dance until we get blisters on out feet and go to sleep early, holding each other tight. \n\nI don't remember meeting my husband yet, but i must have, or i will soon. We are getting married in three years, he just doesn't know it yet. \n\nPulling me back from my future memories is the doctor, she comes in to check on me and ask me questions that i don't have the answer to. What is the year and month, who is the president? I have a knock at the door, it is on the aids telling the nurse that she has a visitor. Through the window of the door i can see him, my husband, except he doesn't know me yet, he eyes aren't lit with the love for me that I remember. Our eyes meet and we share a polite smile before he leaves. \n\nMy nurse returns and i ask who that man was, she explains that it was her husband, he came to apologize and to say that he changed his mind about the divorce, he wants to work it out. I try to keep the look of heartbreak and disappointment from completely reaching my eyes but within seconds i am having a difficult time keeping my breath normal. I apologize for suddenly crying but it has been a long day and i'm getting emotional. \n\nMaybe the future isn't as set in stone as we might like to think it is. " ]	1
	[WP]The Devil REALLY DID make you do it...but you can't tell anyone.	[ "The weight of the gun somehow feels heavier in my arms now than any of the hundreds of times that I have handled in before. In my mind, I am well aware that this is simply impossible, but transmitting that message to my trembling arms is somehow a task that has proven far too difficult. I take a deep breath in as I settle the crosshairs of the scope onto the back of the unsuspecting man’s head. \t\n\nI watch the man for a moment, studying the way that he laughs and chats with the men surrounding him, clearly motioning towards something that is playing on the television. I hesitate for a moment, the few ounces of pressure it would take to end the man, now feeling like it was a ton. “Well…” The deep voice came echoing from the darkness behind me, as a tall suited man came strutting up and kneeling down next to me.\n\nI look over at the man, with his slick black hair and soulless eyes to match. The man smiles, but instead of portraying a friendly comfort, I can feel my entire spine quiver as a match his gaze, “Get on with it.” He says as friendly as he can manage while patting my shoulder. I swallow my guilt and pride while I raise the gun again. \n\nThe crosshairs find the back of the man’s head again, but as I debate pulling the trigger, I can feel my finger jerk backwards. I am all too aware that despite the fact that I had not told my body to make the movement, that the order came from a source that with all my strength, I was powerless to ignore. The roar of the gun deafens me, allowing me only a brief reprieve from the low chuckle of the man next to me.\n\nHe stands and straightens his suit as he looks down at me, “You have done well young man, this is something to be proud of indeed.” He pops his neck quickly before snapping his fingers. \nIn flash, it appears that the shadows engulfed the man, I blink quickly and without a trace the man was simply gone. I keep telling myself it was a man, but I know that to be the chief of the lies that I have told myself to get me through this nightmare. As I stand, taking the gun with me, I begin to disassemble it, leaving the scope on the ground.\n\nAll of a sudden, my concentration was shattered as the doors behind me burst open. I quickly spin around trying to identify the source of the commotion when the question is answered for me with a quick shout, “NYPD! Put the gun on the ground!” \n\nTwo officers clad in blue are knelt just behind the frame of the door with their guns raised towards. I start to open my mouth but it seems my body has a new master, thus it refuses to follow my commands. Unable to speak or control my movement, my arms raise the gun towards the men slowly, “Put the gun down now!” The youngest of the officers screams as me as I unwillingly ignore him.\n\n“It wasn’t me!” I scream within my mind, but no one hears my shouts. My eyes are filled with fear as I study the two officers, and for a split second, I can see the shadows form a familiar figure. It was gone as quick as it had appeared. I can feel my finger wrap around the trigger and give it a slight pull, but before it can finish the sounds of gunshots echo through the building. The sights and sounds are quickly replaced with an empty blackness and deafening silence. \n\n(Authors Note: New author just trying to practice, any critique is greatly appreciated.)" ]	1
	[WP] One does not kill a god without repercussions.	[ "It was done. \n\nBefore them lay the slowly crumbling body of god, Death, now himself to be entombed within the endless catacombs of souls he had long guarded. They, the three remaining heroes of a once hundred strong band, stood in a stunned silence, each lost in a ceaseless train of mixed emotions. \n\nAfter all what do you say after killing Death?\n\nIt hadn't begun like this, this had simply been a run of the mill heroic adventure, travel through the Aetherial planes to the final depths, rescue the stolen girl from Death's grip, return her to life. Simple really, in fact simple enough it had been done hundreds of times before by numerous questing heroes. Of course they had encountered a few hitches, a migrating group of Wyrms had decimated their ranks early on, and on the Seventh Plain they lost several of their group to the roving madness marshes they'd stumbled into. Of course their losses then had paled in comparison to those taken at the hands of Death. Some fifty heroes had fallen to his great scythe during the battle, their souls torn from their body and cast through the great Iron Gates to rove the catacombs for eternity. The last to fall had been Syr Gawlyn himself, the architect of their great quest and the (once) betrothed to their rescuee Lady Orie, who's longsword remained embedded in the hollow eye socket. In fact it had been Gawlyn's idea to kill Death, rather than simply make the traditional sacrificial exchange, the predetermined sacrifice having been lost two plains back when a feral Rachsen had taken his brain for a long walk, without his head. Gawlyn had, before entering the great underground cavern, rallied the others to his side through pledges of riches and untold fame that would await the heroes upon their return to Alradia. They would be Lords and Princes, the great vanquishers of Death. Literally immortal legends.\n\nOf course that was now in the, rather speedily crumbling it seemed, past. Already the body looked less like its original statuesque form and more gently expanding pool of stone-dust, and its swiftly disappearing form raised a single question, voiced by Lady Vivien\n\"What happens now?\"\n\"I dunno\" murmured Hrifskus, eyes darting to the Iron Gates, \"Its said in our tribes dat all them souls now escape.\"\n\"On the contrary silly Nordscan, the true church notes that upon the fall of Death, the child of light will return and bear fallen souls to the far beyond once again.\" As the last remaining Paladin it was no surprise to the others that Plotius would hold the orthodox view. In fact each of them, due to their cultural and geographical differences, had startling different opinions of what exactly was to happen next, and all were rather voiceful in their similar opinions that each was the 'correct' vision.\n\"Yous all gonna be wrong when dem gates open and all the dead come back to dine with us.\"\n\"I cannot ever believe such evident blasphemy. If any souls are travelling anywhere it is through the divine power of the Child of Light!\" Plotius was getting rather worked up over this, and his hand stirred once again to his great ceremonial mace.\n\"You male inbreds are stupidly wrong. When 'she who births' resurrects all those fallen souls as newborn creatures, then you can start grovelling and maybe she'll forgive you.\" \n\"Foolish woman, your pathetic tribal society will see just how wrong it is soon enough!\"\n\"Incompetent Male, aggression will get you nowhere!\"\n\"Yous both wrong, you'll seeee\"\n\n\"Actually. I'm afraid you're all wrong.\"\n\nThe fourth voice had cut through their argument like a spine chilling, serrated knife. To the stunned heroes it felt like no other kind of sound they'd heard. Even Death himself had merely sounded...soulless. This new voice tore into you, it moved through your body from your ears to your feet, leaving you feeling jilted and unnerved. The Iron Gates in front of the heroes now glowed a deep red. As if someone had lit a great fire behind deep in the dark behind. A great thunder, like a monstrous stampeding sauropod, came from within.\n\n\"You have been of most wonderful assistance though. And for that I assure you, I am eternally grateful.\"\n\nThe thunder was now right behind the brightly glowing doors, and with the sound of rending metal and stone the once impervious gates were thrown down, torn from their hinges by the immense shadowy behemoth that now began to fill the chamber. Smoke wreathed its body, and moved like outstretched tentacles ahead of the beast. Two great black ivory horns, inscribed with runes that made the eyes itch, burst from the top of the smoke like church spires, two more emerged around a great grinning mouth that glowed like a great dryugin furnace. When the beast spoke the heat made the heroes mouths dry and their skin burn, and yet they could not run, for the great trio of burning eyes held each transfixed, even as their armour began to melt and their clothes alight.\n\n\"I thank you further\" it began \"For the most delicious souls, firstly of the young Lady who you tried so hard to rescue. Secondly for the thousands more you are about to grant me.\"\n\nThe Devil, now fully in the cavern, finally stretched to his full height and brought his great eyes up, to the vision mirror in the ceiling that displayed all of Verethear and its inhabitants. It chuckled, a deep grating sound of clashing steel, for it was greatly eager to resume its former work...\n\nDeath was to become far more interesting.\n", "\" We did it. The old bastard died...\" He stopped talking as his gaze left the corpse to see the battlefield. It was a mess. The black smoke from the fires flew high, as it flew through the sky to the heavens. It smelled horrible as the smell of men came with it. \n\n\" Oh by the .... How many?\"\n\n\" I don't know. We barely made it. The infantry mauled. Most of the cavalry was destroyed with the suicidal charge to get to the bastard. We lost a lot of good men. The elves even with their contempt for the rest of us mourned with us. They too lost a lot of good people\"\n\n\" How about the rest of the squad?\" He already knew the answer but he needed it to be sure.\n\n\" Silver tip was impaled by the leader of the bastards bodyguard but not before he took many of them with him.\" I liked Silver tip. He was one of the few elves in the squad. He was shy, but he was one of the original of the squad. I saw the fury in his eyes before the battle. He would go through hell and back for his brothers, race be damned. He got the name from his silver tipped sword. His sword sat among the legends. It had been passed down from generation to generation for millennium. It would be snatched by the elves as soon they slaughtered the last of them. The elves would never let that sword be taken by any human. They would never let such an insult happen. \n\n\"He was damn good with that sword of his. If anybody was to strike the bastard I would have bet it would be Silver Tip.\"\n\n\" The elves will not be happy. He will go down in legend for his sacrifice. You think it will unify us.\" He asked with a questioning gaze. He was naive and foolish.\n\n\" Course not. Watch in a couple generations they will talk about a lowly human betrayed him before he could strike the fatal blow.\" He nodded, a single tear streaming down his face. \n\n\" What about Goldilocks?\"\n\n\" Goldilocks died in the Calvary charge. He was dragged off his horse and as he killed his attacker an archer shot him at point-blank. Goldilocks bashed his head in before he breathed his last.\" Goldilocks got his namesake from his blond hair he wore long. I remember it practically glowed before the battle. He was a new guy only fighting in the previous battle before the final one. He already gained a reputation as a descendant of Thor, the god of thunder, from his ferocity in battle with his war hammer, his luscious blond locks and his pale complexion. He had an abrasive personality, drank like nobody else and was almost always drunk it seemed. He was already a hero to the nordlings. I knew they would carry his body on their shields before they burned his body with full honors. I knew songs were already being composed about him. I knew he would go down into myth and legend. Hell, everyone in this squad would be, for we did what nobody thought possible. When he heard it he threw his sword in the ground and cursed, not all of the oaths in the common speech. \n\n\" He deserved a better fate than that.\"\n\n\" We all deserved a better fate than this.\"\n\n\" What about The White Wolf, please tell me he made it?\" I saw the look on his face. He was desperate to hold onto something,anything. \n\n\" He did. I thought he was done when he was skewered right through by the bastard himself. Damn witcher's potion.\"\n\n\" Where is the witcher then?\"\n\n\" He left on his trusty horse. He told me he was stopping at base camp to restock on supplies and then riding onto Toussiant.\"\n\n\" He already left and he is not even resting before he leaves. No human could do it. He won't even enjoy the fame of his accomplishment.\" I laughed out loud at his statement. He clearly did not know the White Wolf well. Then again, nobody really knew him.\n\n\" The White Wolf descended from legend just to help our sorry band. He had ascended into myth generations ago.\"\n\n\" Then the Legends don't lie. He was damned good. But why the hell did he rush to Toussaint so soon after the battle?\"\n\n\" Have you not heard of the raven haired sorcesses or the lady of space and time?\" He shook his head. I was shocked, but on further reflection I shouldn't be he was a young guy, barely older then 25,not aware of the legends.\n\n\" He left to see the love of his life. The mighty Yennefer of Vengerburg. Someone who was at least as famous as her spouse. The White Wolf loved his wife so he could not wait to celebrate. He also wanted to see his daughter, Ciri. Someone who might just eclipse the wolf himself in terms of myths and legends.\" He shook his head as if he understood loving someone beyond compare. Or understanding the love a parent has for their child. \n\n\" What about The Black One?\"\n\n\" Dead, he survived after the bastard breathed his last but he died of his wounds. In my arms, I felt him die.\"\n\n\" I'm sorry. I know he was like a brother to you.\"\n\n\" We were all brothers.\" I snapped\n\n\" Of course, but you grew up with him. He was your counter part. He was The Black One and you were The White One. They said that destiny has two edges. That each of you were a side.\"\n\n\" I know what the damned bards say. They won't bring him back\"\n\n\" I know, I know. Did he say anything to you before he passed?\"\n\n\" I see the blackness at the edge of my vision, Daniel. I remember the darkness once before, when we were boys. I was scared then, terrified. But now, I'm content. I know I'll see mum again and that fills me with joy. Take heart brother, don't feel sad. Be proud as one day you'll aww mum and me again. I love you, never forget that.\" \n\nHe shook his head as if he understood losing somebody. I shouldn't be so hard on him, he is too young to understand. He then walked near the cliffs edge and sat down his feet swinging back and forth over a bottomless chasm. I sat next to him, we were brothers after all.\n\n\" What will the legends be like?\"\n\n\" That our squad was all of noble birth. That we had all trained for the moment since the days our our birth. That we were all betrothed to beautiful woman that we loved dearly. That we all went into battle with our betrothed names on our lips and in our heart.\"\n\n\" No, what will be your legend?\"\n\n\" I don't give a damn about being remembered. That's not who I am anymore. I'm tired, unbelievably tired. They never mention hero's being exhausted but the legends mean fuck all. I'm tired of the slaughter, the battle. I want to settle down, once and for all.\" He shook his head as if he understood. Fuck it.. maybe he did.\n\n\" Besides the bards would never sing about his moment.\" I said as I kissed him on the lips. \n\n\" Of course not. That would be too good for them. Do you have any Est Est?\"\n\n\" Of course I do.\" I gave him the bottle and we shared the bottle passing sips between us as our feet dangled above a bottomless chasm, as the sun set, the White One and his lover?, brother?, friend? sat together. The bards would not sing about this moment anyway I thought as I kissed him again. I needed to forget the slaughter I just saw. Alcohol and making love numbed the memory so both will let me forget it, I hope. ", "The room was dark, blackened with shadow; torches flickered faintly, bathing the chamber with an eerie glow. As he walked, he could feel bones beneath his boots cracking with each step. His robes swished across the floor, scraping against dirt and debris. The knight behind him grunted, his heavy footsteps echoing, his armor glowing.\n\n“Knight,” said Xeros. The necromancer stopped, fire flickering in his palm. Something was off, he thought. The shadows seemed to swirl, dancing, taunting. “Draw your blade.”\n\nThe knight lifted his sword; it was a massive blade, shaped from ancient metal and forged by men long forgotten to the sands of time. He stepped cautiously, his armored form crouched, creeping. “What’s wrong?” he asked. In the darkness, a ruby eye glowed.\n\n“That.” said Xeros, pointing. Something stirred in the shadows, its massive form barely constrained within the chamber’s tall walls. The knight blanched and tugged on the ruby he wore about his neck. He was superstitious; he believed that trinkets and baubles could protect him. What a fool, thought Xeros. Others had thought so, too. Yet here he was.\n\nA massive skeleton stepped into the light, its bones covered in ragged robes of black. Behind it, a ghastly entourage followed, their forms glistening black and red. High above, a singular ruby glinted in an eye socket. The other, around the knight’s neck, pulsed, yearning to join its twin.\n\n“What in the Seven Hells?” The knight grasped his ruby then yelped, feeling its searing heat through his metal gauntlet, its enchanted metal glowing a cherry red.\n\n“Mortis,” said Xeros. The necromancer looked up in excitement, not fear. The time had nearly come. “God of The Dead. Ruler of the Seven Hells.” The skeletal god above hissed, its bones grinding as it opened its jaw to speak.\n\n“My eye.” A voice, deep and commanding, seemed to emanate from the ground below. The room shook, the stone cracked. “Give it to me.”\n\n“No.” said Xeros, shouting, his voice magnified. Mortis chuckled, his laughter fake, laced with frustration. Mortis raised his hand, darkness and shadow coagulating around his bony palm.\n\n“That might not be such a great idea,” whispered the knight. He yanked the ruby from around his neck; it had grown painfully warm.\n\n“Trust in me, Knight. I got us this far, didn’t I? Give me the ruby. Protect me.”\n\nThe knight bent, grasping the ruby, handing it to the necromancer. Then he straightened, his blade glowing with magic. He stood between god and mage, a bulwark against the darkness, a shield of metal and flesh. Mortis laughed again, gesturing carelessly. As the god’s undead entourage rushed forth, a bolt of shadow fell, flying towards the knight. The knight lunged in turn, slashing with his blade, cutting through a mist of black and red. His sword glinted, spilling demonic blood, crashing against shadow.\n\n“Mortis!” cried Xeros, his voice deep, filled with power. He gripped the eye, feeling neither its heat nor its pain. “Be banished! Be gone! Be no more!”\n\nMortis leered, his ruby eye flaring. This mortal, this insolent fool, dared challenge him? He, who had been since the day The Father created life, forcing it to bloom, turning Creation from barren wasteland to flourishing civilization. Yet he was weak; he was missing an eye. It had been stolen from him millennia ago, and he’d been imprisoned. Then Xeros spoke a Word, the word The Father himself had spoken at the birth of Creation. It echoed through the chamber, reverberating against walls of stone. The ghasts of darkness and fire recoiled. Some combusted, shattering the floor beneath them. The knight backed away, his sword dropped, his hands clasped tightly about his face.\n\n“Mortis!” repeated Xeros, his voice loud and clear. “Be banished! Be gone! Be no more!”\n\nThe god cried out in pain, his voice mingled with the voices of the dead. Billions of shouts and screams echoed through the room, laced with pain, anguish, and sorrow. The skeleton that was mortis collapsed, crumbling to dust. Xeros could feel a latent power humming, increasing as it shook the room, breaking earth.\n\nThe necromancer inhaled, drinking the power, feeling it fill his body. His ancient bones straightened, his withered muscles filled, his ragged robes cleared of dirt. He could feel youth, everlasting life coursing through his veins. The souls of the dead called to him, their wails a constant cacophony in his ears.\n\nThe knight groaned, curled up on the floor, bleeding from every orifice upon his body. The Word had shattered him, both in mind and body. Xeros took pity and reached out, filling the knight with life. He rose, a hulking beast, his armor blackened with soot. His blade, now black, glistened, giving off a light of its own.\n\nXeros turned his gaze to the world above, feeling hate and anger. The voices of the dead echoed his sentiment; their mindless chatter filled with rage. He had been spurned in life, thrown from civilization, exiled to die. He was weak no longer. He would have his revenge.\n\n*** \nLiked it? Check out /r/Lone_Wolf_Studios for more! The characters in this response were taken from a book I'm writing called [Labyrinth](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lone_Wolf_Studios/comments/67cg3b/labyrinthian/).", "Was not a holy blade which slew him. Nor was it an enchanted arrow retrieved from the depths of forgotten temples of faded deities. The machines and sciences of man had no hand in the act. In the end it was my hand, and the jagged stone therein, applied repeatedly in savage action to the rear of the skull.\n\nBoth flesh and bone had parted with relative ease, one might have mistaken him for mere mortal had the blood not flowed. Yet it did, hot and golden the ichor spilled outward onto the earth. It was not an exertion of cleanliness in which I had involved myself and thus it spilt on me as well covering hands arms and face. Where it touched my skin it burned and marked me forever dyeing the flesh the hue of red wine. \n\nUpon completion of the murder I sagged to the ground beside his corpse exhausted. Tears flowed then as I spoke to the ruined skull of my brother, and I looked upon our works. We had been one once. Creation and destruction joined in a single entity. Omnipotent I/we had decided to live amongst our creation and split ourself in twain. Our powers divided thusly he retained the blessing to create while I retained the curse of destruction. \n\nHe traveled the lands joyously creating new beings to shepherd, while I, purposeless, toiled the fields in an attempt to create something, anything to create meaning in my existence beyond the cold purpose of entropy. All for naught though as all life I touched faded and withered. Any works I built existed only in violence and chaos. \n\nAfter eons he returned to me and regaled me in my abode of his countless creations of the joy of discoveries he had made. Beings he had created in our image, which with time and cleverness may one day surpass us. We had laughed for a time and drunk our wines, but as the day passed into night my mood soured and I spoke to my brother of my deep pain. Drink dictating my actions I had begged on my hands and knees that we might rejoin and be one once again. That this existence of destruction needn't be my fate. \n\nHe rebuked me, and trivialized my sorrow. He called it foolishness to be so unhappy when surrounded by such delight. He continued to speak and as he spoke my sadness curdled and boiled to such anger as I had never known. Finding no enjoyment in my pain my brother turned to leave my home. As he crossed the threshold his back turned to me my anger took hold of me and seizing a stone that I had once made drop from the sky I rushed to him and struck.\n\nAnd thus my brother was dead, and I stained. I looked to the heavens which we had both built together and saw clearly now the finiteness in it all. With my brother slain only entropy remained and our creation would slowly fade. I remained sorrowful of my violence toward my brother but in it's action I found meaning. All will fade with time. Enraptured in purpose I returned to my abode and donned my largest cloak to hide the brands upon my skin. \n\nI cannot create, but I can destroy, I can wither, I can fade. All my brother's creations need be finite. Their lives should be limited or be thusly without meaning. So I became the traveler now wandering this vast creation ensuring nothing lasts and all will fade in time. \n\n \n\n " ]	4
	[WP] you are the lead detective in a dark and grimy murder mystery. thing is, everyone else thinks they're in a completely different kind of story.	[ "The woman was trouble, I could tell. But I needed the money, and the police were being more incompetent than they usually were, if you catch my drift. Her husband was dead, and it was obvious there was foul play. Specifically, he'd made the wrong people unhappy.\n\nThe woman herself, well that was where things felt off. I shit you not, she came in dressed as a witch. Pointy hat, robes, everything. If it wasn't for the Caucasian skin color and British accent instead of a sickly green, I'd think she was the villain from that musical in the cinemas lately.\n\nShe sure didn't act like a witch, though. She said the clothes were just traditional for the school she was a teacher at. I decided it was a bad idea to ask. Some things you don't want to know. I found out anyway.\n\nA lot of times, the worst part about a job are when you have one or, god help you, no leads. But when your client takes out a stick, says a couple words in a foreign language - latin? - to literally cause the photos and written documents you need to appear out of thin air, you start to wonder.\n\nI went over everything, and took up the possible leads. Yup, this was going to be a lot worse than having no leads at all.\n\nThe first lead was at an office building where the victim worked. A trio of three huge skyscrapers that were nothing like the concrete and steel ones I was used to seeing under construction. No, this thing was like two huge glass pillars flanking the impossibly-shaped building in the center. How on earth did they build a tower with a hole right through it? And why?\n\nI talked to his co-workers and boss, they were cagey about what exactly they did here. All I got was something to do with telephone lines, radio broadcasts and some sort of blindfolds that people put on. That last one gave me the willies, when they had the 'goggles' on they started acting like nut house patients, talking to nothing and making motions with their hands like they were grabbing at things or swinging a baseball bat.\n\nThere was something very wrong about that place on multiple levels, but I could tell that whatever dark secrets were being held in this place had nothing to do with my client and her late husband's death, so I finished taking notes and got the hell out of that freak show.\n\nThe next place was way out in the country. Supposedly the victim had a bad relationship with his brother, a farmer. One that was even worse after they blamed each other for the results of their father's will. The one girl in the family, their sister, inherited everything. The explanation was that every fight the brothers got into proved to the old man they were unworthy of his money.\n\nI felt sorry for the two chumps. I'd seen this a million times, in one shape or another. The girl had a silver tongue and had conned the old man on his deathbed into giving her everything. The two brothers were just too stupid to see that she was the real enemy.\n\nWhen I got to the farm, though... My instincts told me something was very wrong. Two big, mean guard dogs stood at the gate of the property, where the road led deep into the lot and up to the farmhouse. I looked further in and saw the animals staring at me unanimously, some with genuine fear, others with what I swear was a seething hatred. But the real kicker, was what I thought I saw was running the farm.\n\nI couldn't have actually seen it. I was going a bit too strong on the flask. I'd hallucinated from the stress that day. That's what I tell myself. But deep down, I know what I saw. The pigs were running the farm, whipping the other animals, living in the farmhouse...\n\nOne of those damn swine looked right at me, and the look in its eyes chilled me to the bone. I knew the victim's brother was dead without setting foot in that godforsaken place. I turned around and walked back to the train station, and never looked back.\n\nApparently the victim was a magnet for bad luck, or something worse. Not just for himself - he did get killed after all - but also for anyone related to him. Remember what I said about the blinders in that kooky 'office'? I take it back. They look downright sane once you've visited an actual nut house.\n\nThe victim had apparently once led a life in crime, before cleaning up his act to impress his then-sweetheart, now-widowed wife. One of his more notable jobs went horrifically wrong, which I was told was why my next lead was in here. The orderlies led me to the cell of a guy so insane, they didn't have any way of identifying him. Sure, they had his prints. But when they first got the prints it was after he'd killed a couple dozen people. For fun.\n\nI didn't talk to him directly. The guy was dangerous. I saw him through a thick plate of glass, one they told me was no normal sheet of the stuff, but specially-treated to be unbreakable. The fact that it was 6 inches thick didn't hurt either.\n\nUnfortunately the guy was useless. I asked him questions, but the responses all sounded like he was trying to get beneath my skin, like he wanted to tug at heartstrings in a cruel, evil way and open wounds that had healed long ago.\n\nThe only reason he failed was that he didn't seem to realise just who I was. It was like he had already done this to guys like me, but they had completely different reasons for who they were. He kept thinking I was in the same boat, but the fact that I wasn't drove him over the edge. He started screaming in anger, shouting the name and an apparent codename of some guy, maybe an old friend or rival. Whoever it was, he'd projected the person onto me while trying to break me, and it had broken him. When your job is to detect lies, you learn a lot about how to read people's intent and feelings.\n\nI turned away and told them he was useless for information, but as I headed out I passed by an iron door. A voice inside said something to me. He told me the victim's killer was right under my nose. I decided to keep walking, he probably overheard the conversation with the other psycho. That's when he mentioned the farm, asking if the pigs had finally 'become ripe enough'.\n\nI asked the orderlies how long whoever was in there had been there. They said for over two decades. There was no way this guy should have known about the farm, the victim's brother had been alive and had an argument with the victim just a couple years back when their father's will was read. Since then they'd never spoken, but two years versus twenty? Something was not right here.\n\nI explained that the guy in there had just said something that was definitely related to my case, which had occurred recently enough that he shouldn't have known about it. I wasn't about to go mentioning anything as crazy-sounding as pigs taking over a suspect's farm in a madhouse, that was basically suicide.\n\nThey brought in a special tool that acted as a key to the door. The 'key' in question was the size of a violin case and shaped like a large water pipe, apparently to keep anyone - especially the guy inside - from knowing what the key looked like. The quickly moved the key out of sight before opening the door.\n\nThe guy inside wasn't just crazy, he was evil. They say that's just a word used in fairy tales. No, in this one situation, it was the truth. People in here had killed others in all sorts of horrible ways. This guy wasn't just a killer. He- god, I feel sick just thinking about it... He ate people.\n\nThe orderlies warned me that, like the other weirdo, he would try to figure me out and use it against me. This monster was quick, that's what they didn't tell me.\n\nRight away he said I was probably worried about my sanity after seeing the farm. I told him that whatever I saw was just the alcohol, but we both knew I didn't believe it. Fortunately the orderlies didn't bat an eyelash.\n\nI asked him about the victim, how he knew about their death and his claim that he knew who killed him. He told me he wanted something in return. He then asked me to humor him, to say what I had seen at the farm, real or not.\n\nI described the pigs, the other animals, the feeling that I was pretty sure the farm owner was dead. He had a mask on, but he smiled through it. I just knew it was a sick, twisted grin. He said something about a revolution succeeding, about communist fools, and then stated that he'd have to visit there someday. That he'd 'never had a reason to eat pork before' and 'it would be interesting to try something new'.\n\nI shuddered. I didn't know which was worse, that mockery of a farmstead and its cruel pig overlords, or the fact that he was planning to eat said pig overlords. I told him to forget about my booze-fueled imaginary visit to the farm, and tell me what he knew.\n\nHe said it was 'simple intuition'. He had no proof, but someone like that, who drew bad luck toward him at all times... the only reason anyone would bother to kill someone like that was if it was personal. He had a point. The victim was barely scraping by, he had no claim to the family's riches, his job consisted of keeping the equipment in the workplace clean - apparently the machinery didn't take well to being covered in dust - and his only rival was dead.\n\nAs I headed out, the thought crossed my mind that people who ended up here not only deserved it, but were too horrible for even the big house to handle. Then I saw doctors attending to a tragedy. One of the orderlies, now under arrest, was more fitting as an inmate of this place. He'd forged an order to have a girl lobotomised. A girl who had been, with the results of the police investigation, only been put in here in the first place because her stepfather wanted to get rid of her.\n\nFuck that, I thought, this was never a prison. The whole place is insane, even the guards and quack doctors. I hope it burns to the ground someday, so it can't continue the madness.\n\nFortunately, I at least knew exactly who had killed the victim. That stick had made things appear out of nowhere. I bet that killing a guy with it wouldn't be too hard either." ]	1
	[WP] You're walking on the street one day when suddenly a painful, radio like static in your ear starts crackling. You hear a voice screaming "WAKE UP, WAKE UP NOW" and another screaming "BLOCK IT! SHUT IT DOWN IMMEDIATLY!" before everything returns to normal.	[ "It was like one of the migraines I used to get all the time when I was a kid- sudden, sharp, piercing. It bounces around in your brain before rippling down your spine, tensing up you body and doubling you over on the spot.\n\nThen, your eyes fill up with a strange light- like somehow the blinding glowing masses in there cast their own shadows. Then your vision becomes useless. \n\n While the feeling vibrates into your limbs and guts until it has completely saturated your body, the voices start up again- slowly oozing in through a pin sized hole somewhere deep in your brain. \n\nThey're mostly gibberish, like standing in a crowded room while everybody holds their own crackling-screened television. Sometimes I can make out words here and there, but this time, through all of the static, two competing voices dominated the cacophonous maelstrom. That was new. \n\nMy mind automatically protected the faces of two red-eyed, pale men in some dark room far away, scrambling at two massive boards covered in buttons, knobs, and flashing red lights, livid and shouting, but too busy to go for the other's throat.\n\nI could easily make out what they said, but at that point, that meant nothing to me. I had to get control of my body again or I was going to make a scene.\n\n The last time I had one of these episodes, an old woman had found me grounded in the middle of the street, blood flowing from my ears and a pillow of foam oozing from my lips.\n\n Regaining control of any limb always felt to me like reaching into an electrified bucket of boiling water, but after some struggling, I managed to drag my left arm to my waist and grab the cylinder residing in the pocket of my denim shorts. \n\nIn this state, my fingers may have just as well been summer sausages on a log, so the only way I was removing the cap was by bashing it against the concrete. \n\nIt spilled open on the fifth attempt, and I managed to work three of the capsules from the ground between my lips and down my throat. \n\nThings instantly began to clear up. The two voices seemed to trickle back through the hole, and I could have sworn I heard the second let out a shout of triumph.\n I haphazardly gathered my limbs and clamored to my knees, shooting a glance in either direction as my vision clarified. The sidewalk was empty in both directions.\n I gathered the pills and hastily headed back towards home while fumbling around with my phone. \n\nWhen my psychologist finally picked up, he had seemed shaken and out of breath, but it had seemed so insignificant at the time. Thinking about it now though, I think I could recognize his voice from somewhere else. " ]	1
	[WP] You are given a chance to change your life completely, but you have to do it by saying only four words.	[ "\"John, I'll give you one chance, and one chance only. I can do what you ask, and end your pain, or I can offer you something better.\"\n\"Please, just let this all be over, I don't care how you do it. I can't do anything right anyways.\" \n\"Alright, then listen. Instead of ending it now here's the deal. Say 4 words. Any 4 words you want, I'll go back and make them happen for you. If we come back to this same point and nothing has changed that's it. I'll end it. What have you got to say.\"\n\" just make me better.\"\n" ]	1
	[WP] The main character slowly falls in love with the reader, and on the last chapter they realize that once the book closes they will die.	[ "It was after I read the last chapter when It happened.\n\nI was reading a book when I noticed whenever I finished a chapter, all the ink melted into the words \"I love you\".\n\nWhen I finished the 68th chapter though, it said \"why!? Why do you have to do this to me?!\"\n\nI finished the book. There were screams of horror once I closed the book. I felt a chill down my spine. A voice erupted. \"MURDERER!\". I never read a book by Horro B. Ook ever again.\n\n5 years later there was a knock on my door. I opened my door and was greeted by a corpse. She was holding a knife. She stabbed me many times, each hurting more than the last. I died \n\nI write this to you from the afterlife my fate is being decided, it is your job to inform everyone else \n\n~~~~ sincerely, Moor D. Erur\n\n\n(This was my first time writing, feedback would be appreciated!)", "What is this fate? Trapped, in some kind of limbo. It’s as if my words exist but I do not. I feel as though I am in a state of existing as a stream of consciousness. Not alive, but the gears are still turning. \n\nHow did I even get here? Did I exist before it? Will I exist after? Am I here right now? Yes – at the very least I know that I exist. I’m thinking. Because I am thinking I know I exist. Cogito ergo sum - I think therefore I am. That’s René Descartes. René Descartes was a philosopher from the 17th century. A human philosopher said this on a day 1600 years after the death of another significant human figure. \n\nYes, I must know that people exist. I know how they calculate and use time. Do I know this, or do I remember? Did I exist in this world along with other humans? Or was I brought in to this limbo, just knowing. Learning as I go along. \nBut wait. You’re here. I know that you’re listening. I don’t know how I know, but I know. So you’re learning along with me, right? Well, learning about me. I don’t know who you are. I would assume that you’re a human. Humans are the only intelligent species that I’m aware of. I am using one of their languages. Because I am using a human language, I can assume that I am speaking to a human. You are a human. \n\nDoes that mean I am a human? I can’t be. I don’t have a body. At least not one that I can use. One thing that I can say for sure is that I don’t have any sort of idea how it would feel to use a human body. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I know how to feel at all. So I can’t be human, right? Even further, I can’t be alive. Animals have feelings too. They must. You’ve heard their cries, seen their excitement. If you’ve ever owned a pet you know that a connection exists. When they’re scared, or sad, you feel for them. Does that mean other living things can have feelings? Trees, plants, bacteria? I guess it’s possible. Maybe there are feelings, but they’re miniscule. Hmm. But anyway – at this point I can say that I don’t have feelings. So I can’t be alive.\n\nBut that leaves me wondering exactly what I am. I exist. I can express ideas to you. I know that you can understand me… And that’s it. I don’t know what I am. I can’t figure this out with the information given. I must have the information somewhere. I’ve learned some things already. Let’s start with what I know. I know about Descartes. He was a famous philosopher and mathematician. Ah, mathematics. I know about mathematics. Let’s talk about mathematics.\n\n------------------------------------\n\nNote: this is just chapter 1. I am planning on writing more in the future, let me know what you think!", "Rain didn’t pelt the protagonist anymore. A few pages ago the torrent had been coming down hard enough that it had felt like some big, ugly bastard was working him over. Even through his duster. Sam Strider, vigilante and gun for hire had fought a lot of battles. A pretty big war, too. He shouldn’t have lived so long, to be honest. No one was so lucky or good enough to have lived through what he had. But now he felt… thin. The rain wasn’t hitting as hard because there just wasn’t much left to his world. It had taken him a long time to figure out why he’d survived so long, but while Sam knew he might occasionally have been a slow learner, he’d never been a no-learner.\n\nHe’d never smoked, but he wished he could have one now, at the end of it.\n\n“It’ll be over soon, honey.” Sam said to the air. He couldn’t imagine that this would be anything but a one-sided conversation. How could she talk back? “I don’t think they’ll be writing another one. There’s no one left for me to fight.”\n\nThe world shakes a bit. The rain is thinner still, thin enough that the storybook hero can look into the sky without the rain blinding his eyes too much, so he leans his oversized repeater back against the monster he slew a chapter ago and sits on the end of the great thing’s tail like a bench, drawing his duster closed tightly and squints up at the clouds for a bit before he sighs and looks at the mud on his boots.. The rain follows the crows feet from the corners of his eyes, and he sees the sky shake, rippling through the water.\n\n“Did I startle you? I figured it out in that last ‘adventure’. No way anyone survives that kind of explosion without some serious hoodoo batting for him.” He wrinkles his nose. “Thought it was God or something, but this way works okay, too.\n\n“I fought it, at first, but I guess everyone is helpless in some way. I guess I’m helpless to an author or an editor or something. Same difference.” He needed a drink. A kiss would be better, but a drink would do. “Just wish I’d figured it out sooner.”\n\n“I know there can’t be much left in the book. Things are losing their feel. Can’t feel my fingers or toes, and it ain’t the cold or shock. Been feeling it for the last hundred pages or so. I just wanted to get to say my part without the writer getting in the way. Guy’s a nerd. He lets words get in the way of what’s important.”\n\nSam scrunches his nose, and his gaze falls to ravaged mountains straight ahead, miles away. Staring at the sky feels too much like looking into sad eyes and not being able to help. His fingers are clumsy as he moves soaking dark hair out of his eyes. Did anything he’d ever done really matter? He was a character. Were any of those choices his?\n\n“I can’t see you, but I know you’re there. I can feel you. No idea how, but I do.\n\n“No idea what you look like but the vaguest feeling that you’d fit in my arms pretty perfect. Think I had a dream of you once, but can’t remember anything specific no matter how I try. Wish I could. Give anything to know your smile.\n\n“I could tell you’ve been goin’ through a hard patch, lately. Maybe why you’ve been reading this last book so quickly. Whatever it is… I just hope me goin’ through all… this” he waves hand vaguely at the monster and the world around him “I hope I helped you escape for just a little bit. If that’s all I could do for you, I hope I did it well. I hope I made you smile.”\n\nThere’s a change in the world. Parts of it looks like a page that water is blotching. Sam somehow knows without looking that his right hand is blurred. The crow’s feet come back to Sam’s eyes, and the world’s last, saddest smile breaks the numbness going through him.\n\n“It’s okay, darlin’. Really. I promise. I’m tired. I’m just… so worn out. It’s been a long road.” In the corner of his eye Sam can see that the ocean in the far distance is gone. He talks a faster.\n\n“Hon, I wish I had more time, just to tell you how much I love you and why, but we can both see there’s no back to this page.” The mountains have disappeared, and a tightness in his chest is fighting the warmth he tries to push through every bit of himself, hoping that just a bit of it will go out to her.\n\n“For whatever it’s worth, a wanderer in a book loves you. And wants you to be happy. After I’m gone, I’ll still be sending my love to you from wherever we characters go. I can’t be there, so I need you to take care of yourself for me. The way that I would” There is nothing around Sam now but a terrible blankness. Blankness and his blurry hand. Did he feel another hand on the page?\n\n“After I’m gone… remember me?”\n\n______________________________________________________________\n\nFirst submission. Any input would be appreciated.\n\nPretty much just channeled what I felt when Munchkin died in the Wander series." ]	3
	[WP]A hacker hacks into the webcam of their crush and sees something they really shouldn't have. Now they're a witness...	[ "\nI woke up in my bathroom, not realizing where I was. Did I drink again? I stood up and washed my face in the empty sink, then took a look in the mirror. \"Hey handsome\" I said as I winked to the mirror. It felt good to do that, but I also got a flashback of when my mom saw me one time, making me feel emberassed. I walked towards my PC and started it, Hannah was skyping me about homework. I had a great idea about sending her a RAT (Remote administration tool) virus in the form of our homework\n\nThere I was, sitting behind my screen as I sent the file over to Hannah. Hannah was my childhood crush and I've ever liked her since I met her, but she had no ideas. We were best friends, and I wasn't going to ruin our friendship by telling her that I like her. I actually giggled as I wrote this, isn't that stupid of me? Life flashes me by and I will probably regret never telling her, but... who cares, right?. \"PLING\" a sound makes on my desktop, as I see her PC name pop on a small box on the right bottom corner of my screen. She bit the bait! \"Woohoo\" I said as I threw my arms in the sky in joy. She actually opened the RAT virus I sent her. Lets see what she's doing now, I opened the window of my RAT monitor, right clicked on her PC name and enables remote screen view. It took a few seconds but then it opened, there was typing on skype to me. \"Hey, seems like thw gi\" backspace, backspace, backspacd, backspace \"Hey, seems like the file won't open\" she writes, quickly continuing in a new message \"I'm sorry Tay, you should ask someone else to review your homework I have something to do anyways\". I quickly changed to my skype window and started writing. \"No probz, cya 2morrow\". I liked to write short and quick, it felt like I was in control, acting all hard to get. I opened the monitor again, and a chill ran down my spine. I rubbed my arms with my hands crossways to warm myself up, it was really getting cold. I walked towards the closet and took my light red beanie, and my light red sweater and put them on -I had a bunch of the same light red beanies and jackets like five times- before walking back to my screen. \"What should I do next?\" I'm thinking to my self as I right click to see all the options available.\n\nThe camera button was standing just under my mouse, but I would never press that button. Would I? I mean, I'm all about privacy and all that but.. it's FREAKING HANNAH! I press the button nervously, not knowing what to expect. A camera box pops up, and I see her room illuminated by the red christmas lights she has behind her bed. A kingsize bed on the right side with pictures hanging on the wall on top of it. The bed was facing the computer. A tv on the left far corner facing the bed, she wasn't sitting behind her desk. The desk seemed like it was in the middle of the room, to the front. I waited a little, before she walked across the screen, entering from the left. The screen was a little pixelated, I guess my connection wasn't that good, but her body was also illuminated by her red lights. I saw her suddenly drop to the floor. I laughed at first, but then I noticed she didn't stand back up and she wasn't visible anymore. I saw someone else wearing a bordeaux jacket and a bordeaux beanie with a knife hovering over her body.\n\nI waited a good minute -the longest minute in my life- and decided to ring her. -perhaps she knew and was playing a game with me?- The phone ringtone was really getting on my nerves as I heard it go off on my screen. \"Welcome to the voice...\" I threw the phone away and grabbed my keys. The male got out of the room. What was wrong with her? I didn't know. I got out of my apartment and quickly entered my car, it was snowing outside so I had to heat the vehicle up before going. I got out of the parking spot, and quickly drove over to her apartment. It was in a shady part of the town, but I didn't mind. I got out of the car without locking the doors and rushed to her building. The door was open so I got inside and took the stairs to go to her door. She was living in the third floor, and my condition wasn't the best. I was panting as I came to her door, to my surprise it was also open! Was there a burglar in the house? I was so nervous and I didn't even think about calling the cops, I entered the house.\n\nThe door led to the kitchen which was also openly connected to the living room, without a door inbetween. First left door infront of me was her bathroom, the second right door was her bedroom at the right side of me was her kitchen. Straight ahead was the living room. I was filled with adrenaline, NO ONE was touching my hannah, not on my watch. I'll protect her no matter what! I opened one of the kitchen drawers and took out my knife, then sneaked up towards her bedroom door. I wasn't doing the best job as my feet made creaking noises. I had the knife in my hand, ready to stab the intruder who was there. I didn't give a fuck about the law or anyone else. I loved her, and I'd protect her no matter what. I promised that to her when she lost her parents when she was young. I heard someone right behind the door, before it opened. Blindly I threw myself at the person stabbing her in the neck! Blood splurted all over me, covering my clothes in dark blood.And then I saw her face, it was Hannah. She walked backwards in her room, before collapsing to the ground. What had I done? This couldn't be true. I entered the room in shock, as I was watched her. I didn't know what to do, I was just looking at her as life left her body. Suddenly her phone rang, and I came back to reality.\n\nI ran out of the building and drove so fast that I completely lost track of time. It seemed like I was back home in a few seconds even though it was a couple of minutes. I entered my house, I had to delete the virus from her PC. That was my first thought! I entered my house and put my my bloody dark clothes in the sink. Then I vomitted on top of it. The stench was killing me, I cried at the same time. Was this real? Did this just really happen? Then I felt dizziness, and I fainted.", "Cassandra pulls a lollipop from her purse, turning her desktop on before tugging her boots off. Her day wasn't spectacular, but this will make up for it. She connects to Johnny's camera, hoping that she successfully managed to disable the signal light on his webcam. His roommate, Miriam, had her in to remove a virus from their computer, so Cassandra took the time to fiddle with it. Now they're the proud owners of her own program, and she's able to manually edit their personal files.\n\nHe's getting dressed, putting on plaid pants and nothing else. When he turns, she holds her breath. She's no genius, but hopefully, the webcam light is still disabled. Johnny sits at his desk and doesn't react, looking at something that makes him bite his lip. Thank God. She leans back in her chair, propping her feet on the desk. There goes her only worry about this, so it's too late to wuss out. \n\nAnd then there's a sound, a thud, and she watches him twirl around in his chair. It's Miriam, and she mumbles something Cassandra can't hear.\n\n\"Merry, you know you don't mean that,\" he says, getting to his feet.\n\n\"No. You know I mean that!\" There's a clicking sound, and Cassandra turns up her volume. \"Johnny, what are we doing?\"\n\nHe doesn't say anything, a look on his face of pure panic. Finally, he manages to spit out, \"I told you I could change.\"\n\n\"Change?\" Voice ragged, Miriam comes into view of the camera, hands behind her back. She's wearing a dress Cassandra recognizes, a burgundy cocktail dress. They picked it out together. \"The only thing you change is your lies. What is it this time? Katie is just jealous? Irresistible?\" \n\n\"I never touched-\"\n\n\"You said that about Cassie! You said that about Cassie, and now she looks at you like you once looked at me!\" She raises her hands into view, and Cassandra's heart sinks.\n\nJohnny doesn't even try and plead with her before she fires. His body crumples to the ground, out of sight.\n\nCassandra blinks tears out of her eyes before hurrying to delete the program. Miriam is smart, but not smart enough to get out of a police investigation, and she's not taking Cassandra down with her. The webcam feed shuts off, and she closes her eyes, trying not to sob for Johnny, nor for her best friend." ]	2
	[WP] You're a poor orphan who rummages through garbage for a living. Everything changes when you discover a journal with a mysterious symbol on the front cover, the same symbol can be seen tattooed on your right arm.	[ "\"walk, stop eat, walk stop eat, WALK STOP EAT. when am i gonna get back to the home?\" i said out loud, not bothered by stranger's glares of disapproval. \n\n\"You wanna see a real show?\" i say as i begin to take off my pants. that gets everyone going.\n\nI walk towards some 'metaphysical' shop, mostly to ask for donations of food or money from the owner. \n\n\"Hello sir, spare some change or a bite for a poor homeless wretch?\"\n\n\"ayy mate, don't be so dismissive of yuhself. I see potential in you\" says the owner, with a smile, and only a glint of sadness in his eyes.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" i could feel the promotions coming up...\n\n\"nothing critical, yuh just seem a wee bit eh... special\"\n\n\"you got food or not?\"\n\n\"i could spare some sandwiches, yeh\"\n\n____________________________________________________________\n\nFeeling full i check out the trashcan, seeing if there's anything sellable in it, only to see the glint of some black gemstone or something. I grabbed at it, surprised to find that it was pleasantly warm. I pulled out what appeared to be a box, with a whole metric fuck ton of inputs, from levers to buttons to roll-balls.\n\n\"what the hell??\"\n\nI flicked a lever, and i heard a silent buzzing sound. Next i tried the balls, first just rolling one, to rolling all five, each creating a different light color from the inside. When you look on top, you see a symbol, etched in some kind of gold lattice. You can feel your arm tingle when you touch it.\n\n\n\n\n\n(i don't want to finish it past this, feel free to take it)", "\"What about you, Luka, what did you find?!\"\n\n\"Something good I bet!\"\n\n\"He's been so quiet today.\"\n\n\"Show us Luka!\"\n\n\"What is it?!\"\n\nThe boy hesitantly stepped out of the shadows, into the firelight. \"This,\" he said as he held out the book. \n\nErik's eyes widened in shock but Kiera leaned forward with a \"What is it, Luka?!\" and Solik furrowed his brow and asked, \"It's just a book?\"\n\n\"Look at the symbol,\" Luka said. The crackling fire sent their shadows dancing on the alley walls. The gray smoke curled and spun into the night sky. The city around them had long grown quiet. Right as Solik muttered, \"I don't get it...\", Kiera gasped and yelled, \"That's the symbol on your arm!\" Luka nodded silently.\n\n\"Did you open it?\" Erik asked breathlessly as the other two looked back and forth from the boy's arm to the book, still reeling in disbelief. The surprise and fear and excitement had been gripping him for so long that he was numb at this point. He hardly noticed his frequent trembles or headache or dry throat or rumbling stomach. He turned towards Erik and sadly replied, \"I couldn't. It's stuck shut.\"\n\n\"What?! Give it here!\" Kiera yelled and snatched the book out of his hands. She was five years older than Luka and Erik (and nine older than Solik) and much stronger and faster, but it was as if the book's covers were fused together as she struggled and pulled and tugged with all her might. \"Stop it, Kiera,\" Luka said. \"I spent hours trying things. I even asked a guardsman for help. He almost stole it from me.\"\n\n\"Maybe only people with the symbol can open it!\" Solik excitedly said, jumping up and down.\n\n\"Luka just told us he couldn't open it!\" Kiera said through gritted teeth as she pulled on the pages. \n\n\"Maybe... Maybe....\" The little boy hung his shoulders, out of ideas. He blew out a spark that was fluttering towards him.\n\n\"Maybe the book doesn't know he has the symbol?\" Erik suddenly said.\n\n\"How could a book know anything?!\"\n\n\"Let me see it,\" Luka said.\n\nKiera gave it one final tug and reluctantly handed it over. Erik and Solik crowded around their friend as he waved the book over his arm, turning it this way and that, flipping it over and under and over again. \"That's obviously not gonna work,\" the girl scoffed, her arms crossed, right as Luka pressed the book against his arm and it leaped open out of his hands, twirling up to float above the bonfire. The kids yelled, Erik laughing, Solik clapping his hands. Sparkles rained down and golden light radiated from the pages. Suddenly, the book started talking. \n\n\"Luka. Bring this book to the Main Librarian at the Royal Library. He'll show you what to do.\"\n\nThe book snapped shut and plummeted down - into the bonfire if not for Kiera's quick reflexes. Luka sat down with a thump.\n\n\"We have to go to the Royal Library!\" \n\n\"Let's go right now!\" \n\n\"Come on, Luka, get up!\"\n\nLuka's two friends danced around the fire, giggling and yelling and clapping their hands.\n\n\"Are you two crazy? Look at us! We're dressed in rags! They won't let us one foot into the Royal Library! Or worse, they'll get the guards and get us arrested as thieves!\"\n\nErik sat down next to his friend with a sigh. Solik kept skipping around, but more out of stubbornness than anything. Kiera hesitantly looked at Luka.\n\n\"Luka...\" the girl softly said. \"Luka?\"\n\nHe had been staring into the fire, his eyes wide, his gaze vacant. \"What if that was my father?\" \n\n\"Luka... I don't... I don't know if we can get into the Royal Library...\"\n\nHe sprang up, fists clenched. \"We're going to the Library!\"\n\n\"How? How are you going to get in? What's your plan, Luka?!\"\n\n\"We'll... we'll...\"\n\n\"We can disguise ourselves as the king's servants,\" Erik said.\n\n\"Yes! That's it! Kiera, you can... you can steal me and Erik servant costumes, and then we'll... we'll watch the servants at the docks that buy food to see how they act! So we can pretend to act like them!\" \n\n\"Steal costumes?! Are you crazy?!\"\n\n\"You steal food for us whenever we don't have enough, it can't be much harder! Just ask Henrik for help if-\"\n\nHer face turned a violet shade of pink as she snarled, \"Do not mention Henrik to me!\"\n\nLuka blanched and stepped back for a moment, but then shook his head and continued, \"I'm sorry. But just find a way to steal them! If you don't, we will!\"\n\n\"You?! You're not stealing anything, you'll get yourselves killed!\"\n\n\"Well if we're not stealing anything then-\"\n\n\"Why is it you and Erik anyway? Why not you and me?\"\n\n\"Erik's my best friend!\" \n\n\"So? He'll still be your best friend, it just makes no sense to send him when I'm smarter and more experienced at everything! This is a stupid idea as it is, sending two eleven-year-olds just makes it that much dumber!\"\n\nErik stood up as his friend angrily opened his mouth, quickly saying, \"We work well together. We know how to stay out of trouble. And it would make more sense for two servants that are together to be the same age. And I'll have been watching the servants at the docks so I'll know how they act. And, before you ask, we can take Solik with us to the docks to make sure he stays out of trouble.\"\n\n\"This still is ridiculous! They're so much that could go wrong! What if they make you do actual servant things? What if they find out you have a magic book? What if they-\"\n\n\"Kiera, this magic book has the symbol my arm has!\" Luka yelled. \"It knows who I am! It could be my only chance to find my family! Kiera, what would you do if you could find out who your family was?\"\n\nShe bit her lip. The fire had almost burned down. The three boys waited with baited breath.\n\n\"I'll think about it,\" she finally replied. \"For now, we need to go to bed. Yes, bed! We're already up way too late! Here's your book, Luka. Don't open it or you'll keep us all up.\"\n\nLuka eagerly grabbed the book. Erik went to get their blankets. Solik clapped his hands and said, \"Yay, adventure!\"\n\n\"I only said I'll think about it!\" Kiera snapped, but her lips curled into a smile as the boys laughed. She put out the remnants of the fire, accepting her blanket from Erik. The boys cuddled together against the wall. \"Good night,\" Kiera said, and the trio simultaneously replied, \"Good night!\"\n\nLuka clutched the book to his chest as he stared up at the stars. His friends' tossing and turning and murmuring to themselves eventually turned to soft, quiet breathing. He did not fall asleep for many more hours." ]	2
	[WP] Make me love a character, then brutally murder them at the end of the story.	[ "Ben let another heavy sigh roll off his tongue. Stacks of paperwork covered the desk and floor. As a recently promoted attorney he had a lot to prove and taking on the biggest case the court had seen in months was proving to be a challenge. He shoved a few stray wisps of hair from his eyes and picked up the paper nearest to him.\n\nIt was a list of potential persons of interest. No solid suspects yet. No hard leads. Just the bodies of young women waiting for him to speak for them. Fourteen bodies to be precise. A chill shook his body as he sank deeper into the armchair behind his desk. \n\nIn a neat pile in the center of the desk, arguably the only organization in that office, was a stack of pictures. Each cataloging the remains of what was a beautiful woman. There was no sensible pattern, though all the victims were lovely, they ranged in ethnicity and ages ranging from 17-36. Some were brunette, others were blonde, two were Asian.\n\nThe killer was brutal, cold and sadistic. Each girl had her hair butchered, he used a large knife and often nicked the scalp. Each was bound, dressed in white, bled out, and displayed in a public space to be found. It made Ben queasy thinking about what each girl went through. Another sigh escaped him and he buried his face in his hands.\n\nA small knock at the door shook him from his thoughts. The new intern quietly made her way up to the desk, set a coffee on the only bare spot there was and she crept back to the door as quickly as she'd come. \n\n\"Victoria, isn't it?\" Ben inquired sitting up rubbing his temple.\n\n\"Yes it is.\" She replied with a warm grin. Her lively blue eyes met his sullen gaze and her hand hesitated on the doorknob. \"Is there something I can do for you Mr. Jensen?\"\n\n\"Please call me Bennett, or even just Ben. And yes, look at this would you?\" She strode gracefully across the room and picked up the file he gestured to on the desk. \"What am I looking for, just Ben?\" She asked with her dazzling grin but it quickly faded as she read the details of the murders. \n\"A motive? A suspect? A clue? I'll take anything you see.\" Ben added internally wincing as he watched the smile slide off her perfect face. He scolded himself for thinking such a thing and looked her up and down over his coffee. \n\nShe was beautiful, but it was the kind of beauty he hoped the killer would miss, she was slender but her legs were a little short for her long torso. Her eyes were dazzling blue, but she needed glasses. Hair fell around her face in a pixie cut, several inches shorter than the killers usual prey. And her smile...there was no fault with it. It was perfection. \n\n\"Did you hear me, Ben?\" Her voice danced in his ears as he processed what she said. \"Bennett are you alright?\"\n\"Fine. Apologies, what did you say?\"\n\n\"I'm not sure I can be of much help. Surely the police are working on catching this monster? He's very particular.\" Her blue eyes sparkled as she fought back the tear that wanted to escape.\n\n\"What do you mean particular?\"\n\n\"The girls remind me of the fairies from \"The Dark Forest. In the book, all the fairies come from around the forest to serve the dark forest queen, under her enchantment they all cut their hair to match the queen and wear white and red robes. The white represents the moon, the only light the dark queen allows to touch her skin. And red for the fairies blood vow to serve the queen. Even the way their bodies are positioned looks like they're about to take flight. It's my favorite book... or it was. I'll never unsee this.\"\n\n\"It upsets you that much?\" Bennett asked looking troubled. Her incredulous stare caused him to back pedal. \"Would you get me a copy of that book?\"\n\n\"I've got it in my bag I'll be right back.\" \nMoments later she returned with the book and with a trembling hand placed it into Ben's outstretched palm. \"Thank you Victoria.\" He waved dismissing her and settled into his chair. The book was well-loved, the cover faded and worn. The pages soft from being flipped so many times. The door closed and he tossed the book lightly onto the desk. Folding his hands his mind began to race. Of course it was obvious. Anyone who had read the book should have picked up on it immediately. Victoria had. \n\nVictoria. \n\nGoosebumps ran up his arms. He quieted himself. He opened his laptop and pulled up the surveillance video of the law firm. Victoria flitted about the floor making copies and running errands. The perfect smile was back on her face. He watched her for a while then turned back to his work. The police had yet to find any DNA or witnesses. \n\nOne by one the employees left the office, as Victoria gathered her things Bennett paged her. He waited anxiously and then he heard three subtle knocks and the door cracked open. \"Yes, Bennett?\" Her voice soft like a small bell.\n\n\"I'd like to return your book.\" He crossed the office in seconds and towered over her, book in hand. \"I'm not sure I'd like it back.... I'm a little frightened.\" She admitted not meeting his steel gaze. \n\"You don't want to tell the police about the connection you made?\" He stared down the beautiful enigma, being this close he could smell her. She smelled like paper and coffee and coconut, it was intoxicating. \n\n\"It's just a silly book, I'm sure I got worked up over nothing, it's such a high profile case, I wanted to solve it and made any connection I could.\" She stuttered suddenly aware of just how close the prosecutor was. \"But you were right.\" Bennett said reaching around her and locking the door. \"You're the Dark Queen, why aren't you happy?\" He hounded.\n\n\"What are you talking about?\" She reached for the door but he caught her arm. \n\n\"It was all for you. You're my Dark Queen. I know you love the book. So I made it real for you. The queen loves the sacrifices, they keep her young, and beautiful. You deserve to stay beautiful.\" Bennett pulled her close to him and she tried to scream but he covered her mouth. \"Now I will immortalized you so you can rule the fairies I caught just for you.\" He whispered roughly into her ear and closed one hand around her throat. She went limp in his arms and he set to work.\n\nHe dressed her in a gown he'd had made, the delicate chiffon flowed and hugged her body in all the right places. She looked other worldly. He carefully painted designs on her skin and decorated her with Jewelry. He could not be rough with her as he had the others. She was different, special. They were the hand-maids to his glorious queen. If she refused them in life she couldn't refuse in death. \n\n\"Rule the night, my dark queen\" he whispered into her ear and carried her out of his office, he took her down to the lobby and positioned her above the elaborate fountain in the center of the law firm. Around her delicate body he placed photos of every woman he had killed up to this point. \n\nSmiling at his work he went back to his office and wrote his own account of events. As he finished writing a scream echoed through the office. Another maniacal smile crossed his lips and he stood to receive the judgement that awaited him.\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] This here used to be a dirt road...	[ "\"This here used to be a dirt road. Right alongside the river going down Tecumseh. It never did lead anywhere, it was etched into the soil by lost pilgrims seeking a shortcut to `Middlehouse spiritual emporium and transplant warehouse`. Ever since the event nobody walks it and nothing grows in a 15 mile radius, too toxic for humans\" He paused. \"of course that shouldn't matter much to you, No offense\"\n\n\nThe realtor seemed genuine and reserve, two very suspicious traits when it comes to realtors. I've been looking for affordable land for a while, somewhere stable to park my meager wealth in and weather the markets. Market always goes down over winter as the population drops. The lack of trees might be an issue for the aesthetically minded, but having no undesirable humans lowering house prices can be a great plus. I cringed at my own prejudice, but alas, it was true. Nobody wanted to live near humans. And I was not about to let my lofty ideals get in the way of a bargain.\n\n\nSensing my doubts he continued \"Listen, I know this isn't a great deal, tell you what, I can go as low as 15 years protection for me any my family. There's only 3 of us and the little one might not even make it through summer, so odds are you'd be paying well below market value here. Just mull it over, no hurry, you got till Sunday before we're taken, after that you'd have to deal with the Bureau of loss, and pay them real copper\"", "\"This here used to be a dirt road...\"\n\n\"What happened?\" I asked, quite stupidly if I might say. What do you think happened? Obviously they built a cabin here.\n\n\"They built a cabin here,\" the man talking to me replied - thankfully leaving out any strange looks and the word 'obviously'.\n\n\"Oh.\" I didn't trust myself to say much else. \n\n\"So,\" he turned away, spat a black, gooey, oozy, slimy wad of tobacco into the dirt, and turned back to me with a querious gaze. \"Are you buying it?\"\n\n\"Just one question. Why'd they build a cabin on this specific dirt road? And why only one?\"\n\n\"Because its haunted.\"\n\nI laughed, thinking it was a joke, and I bought the place right on the spot. \n\nIt wasn't a joke.\n\n", "Hard to believe in this city, but this here used to be a dirt road.\n\nMen from back east cleared the trees. They dragged all the logs downhill to boats on the water, skidding the whole way down.\n\nThey called it Skid Road.\n\nNow men come but there ain't no trees to cut. They put up these buildings instead.\n\nA man can start with nothin, like me, and end up with less, on this road, after losing their job driving the bus. Now I'm sleeping under the stars, with that fresh mountain air, on pavement, with my people.\n\nAnd a different poor man can end up with everything, all of the way up there. Top of the tallest building. Richest man in the whole wide world.\n\nSo who's better off, it's tough to say. Our lives could look different, me and him, but if you really think about it, about freedom, then here on Skid Road, me and him ended up in the exact same boat.", "This here used to be a dirt road. The men chopped down trees and grew them back. Until then the government built a happy playhouse! it was very sad. We all thought it was a plant destroyer the place was filled with new plants. Then~\n\nSon, we have to hide, the government keeps making me tell the truth! we have to get back to them, the rebels, then we can live in peace.\n\n-BANG BANG-\n\nnow nobody will know\n* citizen #A113 and #1337 have been removed from the databases*" ]	4
	[WP] And then it dawns on your character - this menial job they've been working really IS hell, they really ARE dead, and they really DO deserve to be here.	[ "“W-What?” All I could hear was a high ringing, filling up my ear, drowning out the words he was saying. I tried to grasp on to the movements of his lips but they were moving in long, slow movements. Finally, the sound returned as he blurted out loudly. “I said no fucking pickles.” The scrawny man standing in front of the counter slammed the burger down on to the counter and stormed off before I could respond. What the hell have I been doing for the past hour and a half? I peered at the clock on the order screen. 3:16. What the fuck? It couldn’t have been only 15 minutes since I clocked in, I remember fixing the ice cream machine 30 minutes ago, and least, I thought it was 30 minutes ago. I felt my stomach churn. I still have another 5 hours of this shift and I didn’t have the slightest remembrance of what I was doing before I got there. I’ve been on autopilot recently anyways, this routine has become what I’m so used to, but still, I couldn’t even place what I had for breakfast. \n\n“I’d like a number 2, no pickles a number 8, with fries and an ice cream cone.” I looked up from the order screen. This woman seemed familiar. I couldn’t quite place it, but I know I had seen her before. A massive flood of déjà vu washed over me, everything from the way she dressed to the way she spoke seemed familiar, like when you see someone you had a class with in high school, but never talked to. “Excuse me? Are you fucking listening to me you half-wit?” My eyes fixed on her own. Her green eyes glared at me and I stood there. Silent. Motionless. We both opened our mouths and in unison our words meshed together. “I’d like to speak to your manager you stupid fuck.”\n\nShe looked taken aback at first, then a slow smile spread to her lips before she turned and left. All I could do was stare forward. A feeling of dread crept upon me, shuddering me to my core. I didn’t want to look at the clock, but I felt compelled to, a driving force inside of me pushed my head down to look at the order screen. It was nothing but a mix of letters and numbers but there at the top of the screen it blinked. 3:17. \n\n“No, no. No.” It couldn’t have only been a minute that passed. I had just fixed the ice cream machine 30 minutes ago… was it 30 minutes ago? No, that’s right I had to fix It again. I couldn’t have done that in only a minute. Wait a second….I knew her. The thought of the woman came back again, an image of her in my uniform. The eyesore of an orange and blue polo and matching hat. Then a flood of customers began to pour in from every door. Loud, unnerving, all in unison shouting “I’d like a number 2, no pickles, a number 8 with fries and an ice cream cone.” It all came back to me. To that night.\n\nI had a bad day, everyone has bad days right? I needed to eat and this place was close by my work. I must have visited it a million times. That woman, I didn’t even know her name was behind the counter in the same polo, same hat I’m wearing now. I barked my order at her. I insulted her. I slammed my food down and told her manager what a dumb shit she was for not remembering I said no pickles. For the ice cream machine being down. She was in tears when the manager paid for my meal and told me it would be coming out of her check. I felt satisfied. I felt happy. I felt justice. Now all I could feel is the pressing weight of doom on my chest. I did this to her. I did this to myself. I deserve this hell. I deserve this karma. Whatever you want to call it, I brought it on myself. I crumbled to the floor and began to weep. No- I had to go, I could just leave, I could get out of here. I wiped the hot tears from my cheeks and jumped up from behind the counter, pushing past the wall of customers screaming at me, throwing chairs, and food, all in unison the same awful words I shouted at her were thrown at me. I made it to the door and threw it open. Finally, relief. Finally hope…\n\nThe door swung behind me and I made my way behind the counter, fixing my hat tightly on top of my head. Another 5 hour shift to endure. I entered my employee code in to the order screen before I looked up at the man in front of the counter. A big sigh escaped my lips before I spoke. “How may I help you?” \n" ]	1
	[WP] How would the world differ if no one ever had to sleep?	[ "\"The caffeine epidemic continues to sweep the nation. Often crushed and ingested in boiled water, side effects such as increased heart-rate, anxiety, high blood pressure...\" The reporter droned, coming from the small television on the coffee table. The apartment was otherwise quiet, the only further sound coming from the rain outside and the sound of teeth chattering.\n\n\"Will you turn that shit off?\" said the chatter, Steven. \"It'll scare off the customers\"\n\n\"Keeps people from hearing your damn teeth. Jesus, Steve - if they see what the mud is doing to you they'll be right back out the door\" said Marcus\n\nThere's a knock on the door. Everyone freezes.\n\n\"Who is it?\" said Steven, suddenly clenching his brown-stained teeth, \"What do you want?\"\n\n\"I'm here to see Uncle Joe\" a voice from outside came. It's the codephrase. Marcus opens the door and they come inside.\n\n\"Brianna, what'll it be?\" said Steven, \"Robusta or Arabica?\"\n\n\"Robusta, I've got a fuck of a week ahead of me.\" she said, \"And I want the beans, none of this instant shit.\"\n\n\"You don't get any discount for taking beans you know.\" said Marcus, pulling a small bag of hard, brown beans from a draw in the kitchen.\n\n\"Yeah yeah, just call me old fashioned. What do I owe you?\" said Brianna\n\n\"Fifty bucks\" said Steven\n\n\"Fuck me, there's barely five cups in here!\" yelled Brianna\n\n\"Tough shit,\" said Marcus \"Until the Java Decriminalisation bills get through that's what we're looking at. We've got a business to run\"\n\nPassing over a scrunched up note from her purse, Brianna took the bag and left.\n\n----\nI'm not suuuper happy with this one, but I'm coming off of a five month writers block, so any words on paper is good.", "\"Oh honey, I'm so proud of you! You have your own house and everything!\" Mother was absolutely gushing as she strode through our house, fawning over our framed photos, making sure we had enough toiletries, and wiping a finger on each surface to check for dust. \"Oh, John, I can't seem to get into this room.\" \n\nI froze. \"Yeah, that's just storage. There's a lot of boxes in there, and we'd hate for anything to fall over.\" \n\nShe nodded and moved on. \"Well I hope you're eating right. Imagine! My young man with his own house and family. I knew it'd happen eventually. You'll have to help me post these photos to the face book soon.\" \n\n\"It's just Facebook, mom.\" And the rest of the visit went by smoothly. Alexis waited until Mom's car left the driveway to bring up the question. \n\n\"So when are you going to tell her?\" We both glanced at the locked room. Both thought of the bed that lay in it. \n\n\"Well, do we have to? It's awkward enough having her over, but for her to see our bed? Maybe after a few months.\" \n\n\"Oh come on, you can just say it's for relaxing on while you watch TV. We'll move the TV there and everything.\" \n\n\"We both know that's a lie, and she will too. Let's just drop it, okay?\" " ]	2
	[WP] A mysterious new virus has suddenly infected almost all of the human population on Earth. As it turns out, the virus makes the infected only feel one feeling: Slight annoyance.	[ "Click.\n\n“Join us after the break for the…”\n\nClick.\n\n“It’s the soup you can’t live without!”\n\nClick.\n\n“And today in world news a new vir-”\n\nClick.\n\n'Wait a minute, what was she saying?'\n\nClick.\n\n“Studies conducted across the globe are now indicating a new type of bacteria infecting the amygdala of the human brain.”\n\n'Great, this is just what I need now, a super virus spread across the planet? Well at least things will finally start to get interesting, let’s just hope for super zombies.'\n“Has been shown to increase signs of annoyance in toddlers, youths, adults and seniors with no sign yet for a cure.”\n‘Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve been felling this way for a whole week? And it’s because of a world-wide virus, there I was hoping it was just my period.’\n\nKelly sighed, reaching down to pull on her boots the one thing that always made her feel better was going for a run, they called it a runners high for a reason. She leaned down to pull her sneakers on, loop through the loop and pulled tight. A little too tight, the shoelace on the right shoe snapped off.\n\n‘Goddamnit!’\n\nShe cursed, kicking her shoe off across the room and went to fetch one of the spares, after rummaging around in the spare drawers in her house unable to find a new shoelace she gave up, she’d just go barefoot. She made her way through the house to the front door, grabbing her iPod on the way out and putting on her favorite tune.\n“It’s the eye of the tiger it’s the thrill of the fight...”\n\nShe made her way onto the lawn to begin stretching, it felt cool like a soft caress on the underside of her exposed heel, she immediately pulled her feet away. She hated her feet being tickled.\n\n‘Fuck! I can’t even stretch on the grass?! ‘\n\nShe made her way up to the sidewalk, stretching out her arms on the way up and saw a man just sitting in his car tapping his steering wheel, there was sweat pouring down his forehead and she swore she could see a vein twitching just underneath his temple.\n\nShe made her way up and knocked up the door gesturing for the man to lower the window, as she pulled her headphones from her ears.\n\nThe man visibly shuddered and rolled down his window, looking at her\n“Look I know I’m parked outside your house, but I don’t know what else to do right now, I can’t take it. If I drive on these roads I know I’m going to cause an accident I can’t concentrate. I can’t do anything right now.”\nAt this point Kelly’s feet started to itch, the concrete pavers underneath her felt uncomfortable on the contours of her feet and she started to hop from one to the other.\n\n“Well you can’t stay out here, didn’t you hear? There’s some sort of super virus out in the world that you’ll probably catch if you stay here, I think I’ve got it!”\n\nThe mans tapping on his steering wheel began to increase as he watched her bouncing from one foot to the other.\n“You know you should really stop jumping around you look like an idiot doing that.”\n\n“Well YOU should really learn to drive and be able to handle your distractions better.”\n\nShe shot back at him, glaring at him.”\n\nAt this point the man snapped, much harder than the lace from Kelly’s shoe, his face turned a bright red, the tapping on the steering wheel stopped and he gripped it tightly with both hands, colour draining from his hands.\n“THAT IS FUCKING IT, YOU THINK IT’s EASY?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ANNOYED FOR?! IT’S BEEN A MONTH FOR ME ALREADY! FUCK THIS CAR, FUCK THIS HOUSE, FUCK YOU, FUCK THIS TRAFFIC IT’S ALL FOR NOTHING!”\nWith that he cranked the key in the ignition so hard the car started but the key itself broke off in the lock. Kelly swore it must have bounced off the dashboard and hit him square in the face.\n\n“FUCK!”\n\nHe exclaimed loudly one last time before he threw the gear into drive and hurtled off down the lane as fast as he could, she watched in horror as he passed straight through a red light in such a miraculous manner that he didn’t hit anybody. She could hear his noise of his engine revving loudly in the distance a deep roar turning into a faint buzzing noise before disappearing entirely.\n\n“If I’m that bad after two weeks, fucking kill me.”\n\nKelly turned to see her neighbour slamming shut his mailbox and walking back to his house, mumbling something about taking a gun to the post office is he letter didn’t turn up by tomorrow.\n\nEdit: Fixed that wall'o'text." ]	1
	[WP] Discovering a Time Capsule, you are disturbed to find a letter specifically addressed to you inside.	[ "It was not a long walk, or even a steep hill, but the ground was too uneven for him to bring his walker. His only support was a tall spade that he placed firmly into the ground before taking another step. Every inch of his body ached, but still today was a good day. Today he remembered. Every memory that had escaped him yesterday was bright and vivid in his mind. He remembered her face, her smile, her laughter. The way her hair curled around her ears and the way her eyes turned into slits when she was angry with him.\n\nAt the top of the small hill he stopped and leaned heavily on the spade. Breathing deeply, his lungs gulping for air, he looked around. The ground was covered by a thin layer of snow and the branches on the trees were bare, but apart from that not much had changed since that summer sixty-three years ago. This is where he had went down on one knee in front of her, dressed in his father’s illfitting suit and with his grandmother’s ring in a small box. This is where they had sat, back against back, and written down their vows to each other.\n\nHe let the spade dig into the ground, using his foot to push it deeper into the frozen earth. He worked tediously, a small pile of earth building up next to him. She was gone now, only alive in his memories and he needed this last part of her before she faded from there too. Steel hit wood and he let the spade fall to the ground. He bent down slowly, knees groaning at the movement and used his hands to brush of the last earth. The box felt light in his hands, as if made out of air and it sprung open at the slightest touch. \n\nTwo brown envelopes lay on top of each other. He knew the words in one of them by heart, had repeated them to himself whenever they had gone through an especially trying time. He picked up the other one. In the fading sunlight, he could barely make out his name in a thin spidery handwriting. Sliding his thumb over the writing, he caressed the fading ink. ”Margaret”, he whispered, his lips barely moving as he said the name. His fingers shaked slightly as he opened the envelope. \n", " I found this... thing. It's a cylinder, smooth but for one small indentation, a button. It was small, shiny, unobtrusive. But I found it, and I took it home, to my family, unsure of what it was or why I couldn't seem to leave it just sitting.\n\n My daughter was the one who played with it, lord bless her, my little Katherine. She just turned 6, you know, the light of my life. It was all fine with \"shiny tube\", as she called it, until she took it to Show and Tell at preschool, and someone opened it.\n\n I was not there, and I had nothing to do with it.\n\n It was opened, and it was immediately confiscated by the teacher, who then called me at work, my crappy office job. \n\n \"Sir,\" she began, \"you need to come pick up Katherine and whatever this thing is.\" \n\n I was bewildered, confused, it was just a silver tube, right? \"O-of course, ma'am, I'll be there as soon as possible.\"\n\n What could this thing be? It was just sitting on the side of the road, like it was... (no, that's not possible) waiting for me.\n\n________\n\n Katherine and I are home, now, and I have the dried, faded parchment in my hands. It's a letter, but that's not an issue. The author and date, however, are.\n\n\"Sincerely, James. Circa 2061\"\n\nWhat is this thing? Why did I find it, now, and what could it mean for me and my family?", "I couldn’t sleep. I don’t remember the last time I had done; not properly. The combination of work and Matty’s complications had concocted a heady brew of thoughts and worries that ultimately would not let my brain shut down. \n\nKaren lay next to me, dead to the world, the remnants of her recent cold causing her to wheeze slightly. I didn’t begrudge her the respite. She had spent the last few weeks with indulging in a similar balancing act between work and taxi-ing Matty to and from the hospital. Consultations, tests, scans, more consultants, more tests, more scans - all ruling possibilities out, but confirming nothing. for a six year old, he was remarkably unbothered by the constant disruption, but then he seemed unperturbed by anything. Always had been that way.\n\nI skipped back and forth in my head between his medical mystery, and the latest issue at work. Issue - that was a joke. This was a full-blown emergency. The capsule had disappeared, and nobody could pinpoint where, when or why we were unable to locate it. This was going to come back and bite me on the arse. Primarily because I had been changing parameters outside of the scope of the project. Or, as Karen might have said - ‘Have you been fucking about again?’\n\nThe fact that the project even existed was known only to a few. It was a field of research so ‘out there’ that few people even considered it viable - at least outside the realms of writers of bad science fiction. But bending the physical rules of our universe had always appealed to the physics nerd in me. The fact that someone was willing to pay me to do it, based on an obscure paper I wrote ten years ago when high on weed for a week, both baffled and delighted me. I had, at first, assumed it was a joke. I soon found out - the government does not have much of a sense of humour. The ministry of defence, even less so. But somebody in a nameless Whitehall department had identified my Camberwell-carrot fuelled theorising as at least worthy of further exploration. More fool them. I had just hoped they wouldn’t ask for a refund when they realised that the bulk of my inspiration had been driven by a spliff so huge we had christened it ‘the horn of Satan’.\n\nLong story short, I had been devoid of inspiration for my PhD. As I became increasing desperate for even a starting point, I had read an article by someone who’s name I could not even remember. The interesting posit was that time travel was possible. Yeah, I know. But there were slivers of something that nagged away at me, and over a couple of weeks I had read further theoretical ramblings by renowned crackpots such as Einstein and Feynman that, to my desperate mind, would at least be accepted by my department as a basis for my thesis. God bless Stephen Hawking, the speak ’n’ spell saint of desperate theoretical physicists. I scraped my PhD - barely. I left university, the thesis left rotting on a dusty shelf, and I began a job I hated at a company I despised for a salary I could have earned as a second year grocery store manager.\n\nI met Karen, and she saved me from a life of misery and self-pity. She was bright, funny, wise, undeniably pretty, and for some inexplicable reason, attracted to me. She knew I was unhappy, and when a woman in a suit from Whitehall offered me a research post out of the blue, she was the one who pushed me to take it.\n\nMatty was the result of our union. Three years together, and an unexpected pregnancy, and hey presto - we had a son. He was as loved as he was unplanned - hugely. My research wage, and Karen’s income as a freelance journalist, meant we wouldn’t starve. She could write from home while I messed about in a lab in - well, if I told you where it was, I’d have to kill you, and then kill myself. The first 18 months were pretty fruitless, but surprisingly little pressure was brought to bear on our small team. Budgets were signed off. Equipment was delivered, repaired, upgraded and occasionally replaced without fuss. Somebody had faith, much to my bemusement. I lived in fear that somebody would expose me for the drug-addled idiot that I secretly was.\n\nAnd then, one day, it worked. We were still trying, unsuccessfully, to move objects a few minutes into the future. We had had nine solid months of spectacular failure, fried electronics and frayed nerves had resulted in a resignation, two fist fights and an atmosphere so tense you could only have cut it with a chainsaw. When the capsule actually disappeared, and then re-appeared four minutes later, I could have cried. Instead, I turned to run a victory lap around the lab and smacked straight into a doorframe. I lost a tooth, and some dignity, but in amongst the blood and enamel was a feeling of triumph and elation that surpassed anything I had ever known. The implications back then had not hit me - primarily because, deep down, I don’t think anybody actually believed we would ever do it.\n\nWe had, since that day, been on a gradual learning curve. We could not send organic matter - the capsule would return empty, the mice nowhere to be seen. Inanimate objets, sufficiently small, were no problem. Theories abounded as to what the issue with live tissue might be, but as long as we stayed within the specific parameters of size and material, the transfer worked. What we could not do was record any activity within the capsule during it’s transfer between ‘now’ and ‘then’. Everything we tried, failed. Instrumentation, measurements, video and audio recording all drew a blank. We also seemed to hit a wall anything beyond an hour into the future. Sometimes the capsule would return, empty. Sometimes, nothing. I began to suspect that uses for this technology would be severely limited. Sending wooden blocks and sheets of paper forty minutes into the future was not going to justify a budget of several million pounds. \n\nThis shit running round my head, added to the latest set of negative results about Matty’s medical tests - the root cause of his loss of consciousness and intermittent fits - were leading to fitful sleep, night after night. So when my phone went, I caught it before it could wake Karen. It was Brian Walker, one of my fellow physicists. He was the duty scientist for the week - the first staff member to be called by the lab site staff in the event of any situation.\n\n‘Hey Brian. What’s up?’\n\n‘Tom, you need to get down here. Now.’\n\n‘What gives?’\n\n‘The capsule you sent last week. Number 114. It’s back.’\n\n‘What? That’s….that’s nine days! Fuck me…..definitely 114?’ I need surety. He could be wrong.\n\n‘Definitely 114. No question. Complete with the sheet of A4 you enclosed.’\n\n‘Christ. This is….bizzare.’ I was struggling to get my head around this. \n\n‘There’s more. There is something else inside.’\n\n‘What? Something…what? Another object?’\n\n‘Not exactly. The A4 paper. You signed and dated it, yes? On one side?’\n\n‘Correct. Why?’\n\n‘Because the other side now contains a hand-written letter. It was contained in an envelope. Which you did not include, I assume?’\n\n‘Correct.’ I had done no such thing.\n\n‘The envelope, Tom. It’s addressed to you. In your handwriting. And the letter. It's about Matty.’\n" ]	3
	[WP] After 15 years your introvert childhood friend reluctantly comes to meet your other friends for the first time. After the introduction you immediately realize you're the only person who can see him.	[ "You could feel the warmth in the room as the sun crept in through the bay window, along the floor, up the side of the bed with its twisted sheets strewn about. It had been one hell of a bender last night and I could start to feel my head pounding, aching, burning lips, dry throat. Aspirin. I need something to eat right now.\n\nI sat upright, peering out the window overlooking the misty lake with its songbirds dancing over the cresting waves. Up and out of bed in a flash like a bird hitting the clear glass pulling me out of my stupor as the realization hit that I only had twenty-three minutes to make it down town to meet up with my old and new friends at the Lone Gull Tavern for brunch.\n\nToday my old friend from high school, John, a bit of a quiet boy in his teens, who had aged a few years since then, but still had trouble growing out of his introverted ways. He'd always find an excuse to miss out on the social gatherings in high school.\n\n\"Oh, I have too much homework tonight. Just go without me.\"\n\n\"I'm no fun at these things anyways and to be honest I find them to be quite tedious.\"\n\n\"How would you know?\" I'd say. \"You've never been...\"\n\nOn my bike before the dust could settle in my apartment, I sped off down Beech Road towards the harbor, my hair still dripping from the three minute rinse-off, and a queezy feeling in my stomach. You could hardly call that a shower. Thank god this is all down hill.\n\nThe wind was brisk on my face and a growing excitement was building in my stomach. Excitement for both the imminent meeting of my friend from old and my friends of new, and the eggs benedict at the Lone Gull. One of the best \"bennys\" on this side of Lake Hope, with just enough grease to soften the blow of last night.\n\nAs I pedaled hard up into the driveway I could hear my stomach start to growl and my mouth watered as the smell of crispy bacon and sweet toasted challah bread french toast wafted into my nostrils. I can't wait for this meal.\n\nThe welcoming porch of the Lone Gull Tavern, with its rocking chairs and swing bench felt like home. The creaking steps gave a little with each passing footstep and one could tell they've seen a lot of steps in their time. Smooth and roughly polished from the hundreds of daily soles coming in for a belly filling heart warming meal and a pint.\n\nI could always guess where John would be. He'd find the quietest corner of the room, to not be a bother or nuisance to those around him. He loved his solitude and his books.\n\n\"G'day mate\" I whispered as I snuck up behind him.\n\n\"That's the worst accent\" he uttered as if he knew he was coming, without taking his eyes off his book.\n\n\"Can I get you anything?\" I asked motioning in the direction of the bar.\n\n\"Nah, I'm all set.\"\n\n\"Bloody Mary please, make it hot\" I requested from the barman. \"You can put it on my tab. Thanks.\"\n\n\"You want your usual? Eggs Benny with a side of Challah Bread French Toast?\" asked the barman.\n\n\"Just the Bloody Mary for now. Some buddies are meeting us here for brunch so we'll order some food a little later.\"\n\nJoe, looking a little confused, grabbed the Tabasco and horse radish and started mixing together the scorching hot stomach soothing concoction. As if on queue, a burst of laughter could be heard coming from the parking lot.\n\n\"Ha! Brunch is on you, asshole!\"\n\n\"Not a chance buddy. You lost the bet. It's on you today.\"\n\nI could tell from the chagrined exchange that Dave had lost another one of their bets. Stephen and Dave were notorious for betting their wares on the most mundane. Reality TV box pools, unconventional sports betting, online blackjack, situational dependent bets often made on spur-of-the moment arguments.\n\n\"I'm starving\" said Stephen with an air of competitiveness you could cut with a knife, grinning ear to ear so Dave couldn't help but notice.\n\n\"What do you want Steph, Dave?\" and they turned to the bar in recognition. A fist bump from each and a head nod.\n\n\"Two tall boys\" the words bolted in unison from the two. \"Is your buddy John here?\" asked Dave with a doubtful expression on his face.\n\n\"Yeah he's over there...\" as Brian turned and pointed towards the corner nook all he could see was the light shining onto the table from the window above. No book, no John. \"Son of a bitch.\"\n\n\"Why am I not surprised?\" questioned Dave rhetorically, looking at Stephen and the two fist bumped again with an uncomfortable grin on their faces.\n\n\"I swear you've been making this guy up for years\" said Stephen in Brian's direction, not that Brian heard him as he seemed to be somewhere else. Red faced, fuming. Angry at his friend once again for being a dick.\n\n\"Let's just eat some food\" Brian said sharply. The retort taking Dave and Stephen by surprise. Brian, usually the most laid back of the group was undoubtedly upset and stone faced. What the funk is wrong with you? Why do you bother trying? He's an asshole anyways. A figment of my imagination? \"Brunch is on me today so have whatever the hell you want.\"", "\"Hello everyone. This is Jack.\"\n\nPaul and nora just stared at me in confusion.\n\n\"uh, you feeling ok mike? You know no one is there right?\" \n\nNow, I've always been quick on the draw with these sort of things. Not always the sharpest tool but I catch on quicker than most. And I knew 2 things. A. they couldn't see him. B. I looked crazy. I looked at Jack and he just sorta hid behind me, always was like that. \n\n\"Man, I must be having an off day I guess ha. I swear he was right behind me. Guess we got split up. I'm gonna go look for him, if thats alright guys. Meet you back here in a little bit.\"\n\n\"yeah, sure man, just don't go crazy on us.\"\n\n.\n.\n.\n\n\"Alright Jack, what the fuck man? They couldn't see you.\"\n\n\"I'm uh, idk, its always been like that.\"\n\n\"What do you mean its always been like that? Are you invisible to everyone but me? Or am I crazy? Which is it? Jesus man, we went to school together, we talked in class, I think someone would have told me if I was talking to myself.\"\n\n\"But they did tell you. I just told them to stop.\"\n\nI think back, hard, to every single first year of school and every class we had been in where I talked to jack. I could only think of a few. High school, math class, weird looks, jack's voice, silence. Repeated. \n\n\"So it's not just that people can't see you, you can make yourself unnoticeable and other's unnoticeable? Jesus man, I always fucking wondered why shelly never even looked at me. You have any idea how hard high school was being ignored by half the teacher's half of the time? How the fuck did I even pass?\n\nWhy are you only telling me this now man? This is some next level super power shit you've been hiding.\"\n\n\"I don't hide it, its just, I can't control it easily. Do you remember 8th grade and how we use to play outside?\"\n\n\".....noooo?\"\n\n\"exactly. I kinda, erased it. But not the events, just the knowledge.\"\n\n\"I think we both need to go home and talk about this. I've over here traveling with mr. erasure. So, about shelly?\"\n\n\"nah man, she just wasn't into you.\" ", "\"Todd, what the fuck are you on about?\" Jason stared at me with a bewildered expression. \"There's nobody there.\" Jason waved his arms through thin air.\n\n\"What? Of course he's...\" I turned to look at Remmy, but he wasn't there. Confusion wrapped my brain, \"Umm, maybe he just got nervous? He's a super shy guy.\"\n\n\"You feelin' okay, man?\" Richard asked, straightening his jacket. \"Why did you invite us all down here beneath this over-pass?\"\n\nI did? \"Oh, sorry. I guess I wanted you guys to meet my boy Remmy, but I guess he chickened out.\n\nA flash. An image. I'm not sure. Red. Jason. Red. Richard. Red. Phillip. Screams.\n\n\"What the fuck!?\" I yelled causing the entire group to start. What was that? \n\n\"Dude, are you okay?\" Phillip walked up and put his arm around me. \n\nWas I okay?\n\n\"Yeah man, you've been acting super fucking weird lately.\" Jason piled on.\n\n\"I... I don't know. I just saw something, and...\" \n\n\"You saw something? What does that mean?\" Richard asked.\n\n\"I don't know.\" I said once more, as I caught focus of two children playing in the down the street. Was it hopscotch? Their feet skipping to match the squares. Then abruptly, they stopped turned, and let out blood curdling screams.\n\n\"Todd!\" I snapped back to Phillip with his hands on my shoulders, shaking me. \n\n\"Wha... What happened?\" I asked, as I looked further down the road, and saw no children.\n\n\"You just started screaming.\" Jason said, as he placed a reaffirming hand on my back.\n\n\"Guys, I'm not feeling to well.\" I told them, which was partly true. \n\n\"No shit. First you tell us about this Remmy fella, who we've never heard about, then you start fucking screaming out of nowhere.\" Jason said as he straightened his jacket.\n\n\"Why are you wearing Richard's Jack...\" I began to ask but as I did, Jason put his hand over my mouth.\n\n\"Quiet.\" Jason snapped as I struggled to break free of his grip. He was strong. Too strong. \n\n\"Richard's been called up.\" Phillip said. \n\nWhat the fuck does that mean?\n\n\"Look, we can tell you if you promise to not freak out.\" Jason said, as his grip began to lack. \"Do you promise?\"\n\nI nodded my head in compliance.\n\n\"Alright, good.\" Jason said, as he released the grip. \n\n\"Hmm,\" Phillip placed his hand on the set of a playground. Had that always been there? Where were we? \"Things aren't going well for you up there, so we've decided to step in for a while.\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\"\n\nFamily members with tears in their eyes. A judge. A gavel. A Jacket.\n\n\"You back with us?\" Jason asked. \"We lost you for a second.\" \n\n\"Uh, yeah.\" We were on a bus. Why were we on a bus? \n\n\"Todd, Remmy doesn't exist. He's a part of you. A very dangerous part of you.\" Phillip said, as he straightened Richard's jacket. \n\n\"Why do you have Richard's jacket now?\" I asked, a small part of me knowing the answer, but unwilling to let myself believe it.\n\n\"Todd, this is your jacket.\" I blinked, and for a moment, I felt eternal. \"This is Remmy's jacket.\"\n\n\n\nThe room was cold and dark. Aside from a small slit in the door, I couldn't see a thing. Just darkness. My arms were pinned into my sides, forced down by the restriction of the straight-jacket. \n\nWhat had I done? \n\n\"Help.\" I try to call out, but my voice is weak and broken. Like that of a child who had been crying all night. \n\nMy heartbeat hastened as a sort of panic began to take over. \"Help!\" I shout out, but am unable to be heard. I need to get out. I don't belong in here. I need to get out.\n\nI stand to my shaky feet, and quickly trip over something soft and fall onto it. A bed. I lay broken. \"What did I do to deserve this!\" I cry out. \n\n\"You didn't do anything.\" A small voice from the corner of the room spoke. It's footsteps I could hear approaching slowly. \n\n\"Who, who is that?\" I say weakly.\n\n\"I am you, and you are I. We are one of the same.\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\" I asked, an uneasy feel of dread pouring over me.\n\n\"It's okay, Todd. It's only us now.\"\n\n\"Re... Remmy?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n " ]	3
	[WP] Write about a jolly baker from a small simple town who has no idea there shop is a front for laundering money then give it a dark twist.	[ "\"Brenda, dear - how about those buns, love?\" With a playful slap on the bottom, Fred gave his wife a wink and carried on kneading the dough. Brenda checked on the hot-cross buns baking in the oven and gave her grinning husband a thumbs-up.\n\n\"Coming along nicely, they are.\"\n\n\"Thanks love.\"\n\nFred's forehead bore its usual sheen of hard-earned sweat. The occasional bead ran down his temple and lingered by his mustache for a moment before falling abruptly onto his protruding belly, which was adorned in a white, stained apron. He jiggled lightly as he turned, twisted and pummeled the dough - swaying in time with the music playing on the shop radio. Brenda busied herself moving crate after crate of boxes labelled \"FRENDA's Hot Cross Buns!\" with the word 'Frenda' in bold, red font. After a few minutes of their daily routine carrying on as usual, Fred looked up and gave Brenda a quick shout.\n\n\"Oi, love, looks like Barney's here. Get 'im a cuppa tea, will you?\"\n\nBrenda looked out through the shop window and, sure enough, there was their number one customer in his trademark green jacket and farmer's cap. He shuffled in through the front door, taking off his cap and carefully wiping his feet on the mat. \n\n\"Fred. Brenda.\" he nodded in greeting.\n\n\"How'y'a Barnes! About that time, I suppose?\"\n\n\"You know it! Any chance of a cup of tea?\"\n\nBrenda's voice carried from the small kitchen in the back, \"Already on it, deary!\"\n\nBarney hung his cap on the rack and unzipped his jacket, giving himself a quick pat-down. His aging scalp was clinging to the last remnants of a blonde head of hair, mostly grey now, and light wrinkles gave his face the impression of one who smiled just about enough. He shuffled over to the counter, setting his keys down near Fred's work station.\n\n\"How's that order coming, Fred? You know I'm supposed to be in 'n out quick-like.\"\n\n\"Sorry Barnes, been Monday madness, as you know. Rosie ordered a couple dozen croissants and sure, we had a problem with the first batch. Too much milk, says Brenda, but I says it's the quality of the milk tha-\"\n\n\"Fred, I tried to tell ye before, didn't I? This new owner fella isn't like Tom, he doesn't take too kindly to delays, if you know what I'm saying. After the delay last week he was talking about replacements. Replacements, Fred!\"\n\nFred stopped kneading the dough and looked seriously at Barney. \"Replacements?\" he asked, \"What do you mean 'replacements?'\" \n\nBarney shifted his weight nervously from one foot to another. \"Look, all I'm saying is that it's not like how it used to be. The new fella, he puts a lot of orders in, right? You've never sold this many hot cross buns in bulk, have ye?\"\n\nFred frowned \"No, I suppose not. What's yer point?\"\n\n\"Well, he puts in a lot - you make a good livin' off it, he just expects the orders on time, is all.\"\n\nA quick pause rested between the two. Fred studied Barney's face. Something was off about him this week, he seemed unusually timid, and he had shuffled into the shop with some sort of difficulty. \n\n\"Barnes, are you alright? Is something wrong?\"\n\nBarney's eyes widened. He gripped his keys from the counter unconsciously and stared back at Fred. A tension seemed to take hold of the room as a brief lull came in the song on the radio. The two friends looked at each other in silence.\n\n\"Here's your tea, Barney!\" Brenda arrived and the song resumed. Barney breathed a visible sigh of relief and averted his gaze, blowing and sipping gently on the tea. Fred let his gaze rest for a moment and returned to his work.\n\n\"Well, half an hour is all it'll take anyway. I'll have it to you by then. Is that alright?\"\n\nBarney nodded, mumbling something to the effect of a confirmation. The tension in the room had not completely abated, and something remained disjoint between the two right until the moment Barney left through the front door with two-dozen boxes of hot cross buns. \n\n---\n\nFred's eyes were red. His knuckles were raw. The radio on the top shelf lay abandoned, frail cobwebs had begun to spread between it and the wall. Rain pattered softly on the windows and low-hanging, grey clouds cast a ghostly hue over the shop. Fred's eyes darted nervously towards the clock. Fifteen minutes. He grimaced as he worked through pained joints. \n\nAround the shop, empty tea cups, bowls and plates lay littered. Old newspapers and half-written letters cluttered every surface. The only bright, carefully maintained exception was a brand-new metal safe under Fred's workstation. It shone a dull blue in the gloomy light of the shop. Minutes ticked by as Fred worked, until the door swung open softly and the shop-bell rang. Fred hurriedly packed the last buns into their containers and began to lay them on the counter. A man in a dark sports jacket, leather shoes and a black hat walked slowly to the counter. \n\n\"Wh-where's Barney?\" stammered Fred, as he stacked the boxes one on top of another.\n\n\"He has been replaced,\" came the calm reply. \"Is the order ready?\"\n\n\"Yes - look, pleas-\" began Fred.\n\n\"That will do, thank you.\" Suddenly curt, the voice cut through Fred's own like a razor. Indifferent eyes stared out from under the rim of the cap, then glanced down over the hot cross buns. With a gloved hand, the man reached out and opened one of the boxes. Taking his time, he selected a freshly baked hot cross bun and raised it to his lips. After a moment to savor the smell, he took a small bite from the corner of the bun and threw the rest back in the box. \n\n\"I'll never understand why we pay so much for these.\" He laughed softly at his own joke.\n\nFred was whimpering silently, trying to plead with his eyes for attention. The man ignored him, stacking the boxes onto the customer cart and starting to wheel them towards the door. \n\n\"Same time tomorrow.\"\n\n\"P-please.. please wait!\" Fred finally shouted desperately. The man paused, turning his head slowly to listen. Fred floundered for a moment, then gathered his strength. \n\n\"Please... please I'll do this for as long as you like. I won't tell a soul, not a thing! Please, just let Brenda go...\"\n\nThe main sighed audibly, shook his head and continued pushing the cart. \n\n\"As I said: same time tomorrow.\"", "Everyday the baker went to work whistling and loving his job, the people who financed it were shady but he was too in bliss to pay any attention to them. One night there was some business the gangsters were doing when the baker walked out of the basement with a smile on his face and when he found out what was going on he showed them his normal smile. The gangsters told him they'd kill him if he talked and he said it wouldn't be a worry... then his eyes turned red and the lights went out, screams could be heard all over the neighborhood. When the cops came the baker was alone in the room making food like he always did... he was pretty well known for his meat pies so he gave the cops some on the house. The next financial backer came the next week and the baker was happier than ever." ]	2
	[WP] A Side character in a novel is getting very agitated because their survivability depends on the Main character triumphing over evil. Except, the Main Character has chosen to quit because they are currently fighting with the Narrator	[ "\"Ok, John, there has to be a way we can work this out.\" said Mike. \n\n\"No, he's a dick. I'm not doing it.\" John responded. \n\n\"Just...\"\n\n\"I said no!\"\n\nJohn slammed his hand down on the table. \n\n\"But could you tell me why?\" asked Mike. \n\n\"I mean, right there, was a perfect example! How lazy was that writing, eh?\" John responded.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" \n\n\"I mean, all this guy wrote was 'John slammed his hand down on the table'. That's the only description this hack has given so far! Do you know what I look like? Do you know what you look like? No! Cause he's given us nothing. Look here, this table we're at is a beautiful cherry and I just knocked water all over it. Did this lazy fuck include any of that? Did he draw any symbolic connections? No!\"\n\n\"Well, maybe he's just a minimalist! You can't blame him for -\" \n\n\"For being a poor imitation of Hemingway? You bet your ass I can. The guy named me JOHN of all things. That is just fully lacking in any sort of originality.\" \n\n\"Maybe it's a first draft! He could change your name, he could flesh out your character more.... maybe even make a series out of this! Maybe even have a spin-off series of novels...\" Mike said, looking off fondly into the distance. \n\n\"Oh, I get it now. I get it. You need me.\"\n\n\"I...\"\n\n\"No, don't start now. You just want me to follow along so that you get something out of it. Maybe a book deal. Maybe someone handsome but forgettable to play you in the movie adaption. I see your game, Mike, you're just as bad as him!\" John said, standing up and moving to the door. \n\n\"John, wait!\"\n\n\"No, if you want to be the hero of this story then do it. You go investigate all the disappearances. You figure out the deal with whatever cliche paranormal shit is going on. Me? I'm out. I'm walking out.\"\n\nMike watched John as he walked out the door. He'd already forgotten what he'd looked like by the time the door slammed shut. Mike sat there for a while, thinking. You know what? I will go defeat this evil creepy monster. I can do it or my name isn't Mike.... Mike.... ah, shit I don't even have a last name? How hard is it to come up with a last name, guy? Just use a name generator for fucks sake\n\nMike sighed and put his head down on the table. I'm fucked he thought. \n\n", "The air crackled with mana as Lady Marguelese slammed her staff into the ground. The sorceress had sensed her victory; Garamont lay groaning at her feet, his sword barely out of reach. Faithful Tim the Archer watched, helpless as he struggled in vain to move his legs of granite. \n\n“The kingdom is mine! Admit your defeat, and I will grant you a merciful death!” Her voice rang through the great hall, swift as night and final as death. Across the marble floor, the light from the stained glass windows muddied and darkened. Garamont knew the Armies of the Unrighteous were filling the sky with their foul presence and blotting out the very sun. It had to be now. With every fiber of his being, he reached out, both hand and faith--\n\n“Not this time,” Garamont said with an air of finality as he braced himself against Lady Marguelese’s staff. Lady Marguelese smiled warmly and helped Garamont to his feet. “I’m done.” The arcane wind in the hall had died down. \n\nWhat? \n\n“I said, ‘I’m done.’ For a deity, you’re not very attentive,” Garamont remarked as the evil sorceress fussed over the glancing wound she’d dealt to his head. “I’ve had enough, and I’d like to stop. Margie and I are leaving.” \n\nExcuse me? \n\n“Garamont? Who are you talking to?” Faithful Tim the Archer’s voice was uncertain. \n\n“The hack who created this hell we currently inhabit,” Garamont replied, glaring at the ceiling. \n\nI refuse to be insulted by my own character. You are supposed to kill her, save Faithful Tim the Archer, and return the kingdom to stability.\n“Stability?! You invented a world where entire towns suddenly blink out of existence!” \n\nGreymeadows isn’t gone! It just didn’t make it onto the page…\n\n“EXACTLY. You are so obsessed with tinkering that I can’t even remember my own childhood. This is the fifth time we’ve played this scene out, and Margie and I are done. I’m not killing her.” \n\nIf you don’t kill her, everything falls apart. The world descends into darkness and…and…\n\n“You don’t even know! So much for the omniscience of deities!” Garamont shouted at the ceiling. \n\nFaithful Tim the Archer suddenly felt the heavenly light of the Great Creator suffuse through him. He ran to Garamont, “Please! Please don’t anger the Great Creator! A thousand years of darkness will fall on the land! I have a wife and family back in the village!” Faithful Tim the Archer frantically held the sword out to Garamont. \n\n“Really? Did you honestly just deus ex that? He was bound in stone not two seconds ago, and you and I both know he doesn’t have a family.” Garamont swatted the sword away with a mailed glove. “Let us go and end this farce.” \n \nHave it your way.\n \n“Garamont! Have you lost your mind? You’re ending the world! We are all going to die!” Faithful Tim the Archer screamed. \n\n“This world might be ending, Tim, but we are certainly not going to die. The Knights of the Order assured me that they have visited other worlds, better worlds made by the Creator.” \n\nFaithful Tim the Archer watched in wordless horror as the world dissolved into an endless, bright white. \n\nCaptain Tim Archer of the Stalwart sat bolt upright in his bunk. He’d had the same dream two nights in a row now, and with the Margellian negotiations on the line, he could not afford to be distracted. He stared at his own reflection in the porthole, hazy against the inky void of deep space. Some days, he just didn’t feel like a hero. \n", "\"We have to slay Nyx! Let's go!\" I shouted angrily.\n\n\"No, no, no. I'm not letting this go so easily!\" Seth screamed.\n\n\"Damn creators thinking they can do whatever they want! We're their toys! There's no such thing as Nyx! Janet doesn't exist! This world is fake!\"\n\nBy that logic, you don't exist either, Seth.\n\n\"Yeah, you're goddamn right! I don't exist!\"\n\nCan I please move the plot along? I really want to give you guys the ending you deserve.\n\n\"Yeah, of course you don't care. OF COURSE YOU DON'T! You created our world, after all. You don't care. In fact, you're just a regular human being, just like the rest of us! You put us through torture. You killed off Janet. One of our allies was raped to death and you forced us all to watch. Nyx was reborn into the world and entire armies are being sacrificed just so we can have ONE SHOT at killing it.\"\n\nI was starting to get uncomfortable. Having my characters develop sentience wasn't boding well for me. Their awareness meant that they are now living creatures.\n\nSeth. You cannot blame me for writing what I wrote. To me, you are characters that I all love. I am your 'God' with one purpose--to write something that I love. It is a selfish reason that I have created you guys. I write for myself. Because I have no one else. I--I--You guys were the reason I was able to get through the worst parts of my life. Now you have two books written about you guys, and my fans are eagerly awaiting the final book. But perhaps granting you this ability was a bad idea. Perhaps I'll reconsider this. In this case--\n\n\"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK!\"\n\n--I leave you on your own. I refuse to interfere. If you want to carve your own fate, do it with your hands, not mine.\n\nI stood up, and walked away from the computer. Then added an addendum.\n\nBy the way, I had plans to resurrect Janet one last time so you could get the farewell you needed. After you defeated Nyx through a one-in-a-million miracle. Best of luck Seth.\n\n\"Oh my Arasthas. You fucked up big time, Seth.\" I said.", "\"Hank common man! Stacey and Doug are dead! If we don't do something we'll be next!\" Charley said in a frantic voice.\n\nCharley was 5'6\", brown hair, blue eyes and a pudgy body. A very forgettable face and no distinct qualities about him what so ever. He looks like a McDonald's Janitor. Don't know what that would look like? Exactly, who remembers that employee in the drive through window.\n\nCharley was the complete opposite of Charley. 6', dirty blond hair that looked like it belonged to an angle and dark blue eyes that could pierce a blizzard with a muscular build.\n\n\"Shit man you should hear some of the stuff that this ASSHOLE is saying about you.\" Hank says to Charley. Hanks eyes were fixed to the ceiling, as if he was trying to see outside of the universe.\n\n\"No I'm not, I'm just standing here normally!\" Hank shouted. Charley had a growing look of concern, thinking his friend was loosing his mind.\n\n\"Ugh... Hank? Who are you talking too?\" That soon to be dead man, Charley, said.\n\n\"Oh shit Charley, I think he's really planning on killing you next. I must be the protagonist in this SHIT story.\" Hank said with a cocky tone.\n\n\"Look Hank, I'm sad about Stacey and..... wait what? We're probably at least equals in all of this.\"\n\n\"No man, this entire time everything that's happened has been based off of what I've decided we do and he has punished me every time. I'm done.\" Hank said in a demanding tone, like that of a child's tone when they are mad at their parents.\n\n\"Hey fuck you man, this story has been shit from the beginning and I'm ending it now!\" Hank yelled to the ceiling.\n\n\"Alright, if you aren't going to do anything I will!\" Charley said, looking at the door that was in front of them. Charley could feel the courage building up in his chest.\n\n\"NO! You're just doing what he wants you to do! Charley look at me, we are ending this hear and now.\" Hank keeping his childish tone, grabbed Charley's shoulder to keep him from moving. Hank felt an overwhelming urge to kiss his friend.\n\n\"No I don't! I do not want to kiss him!\" Hank shouted. Charley looked at Hank with a very confused look, but then felt the same urge. Charley began unbuttoning his pants, knowing what was to come.\n\n\"Hank, I had no idea...\" Charley said in an attempt to sound seductive.\n\n\"No. Stop. Please. I'm not having sex with Charley.\" Hank lied, but he knew he felt the same way. \"No I really don't.\"\n\nThen 20 ninjas stormed the room.\n\n\"Oh shit Hank what are we gonna do?\" Charley was shaking with fear. With his pants down around his knees he wasn't able to move far.\n\n\"Nope, I don't care, I said I'm done with this story.\" Hank demanded. The ninja's all focused their gaze and Charley, as they could sense his fear.\n\n\"Hank please do something!\" Charley cried, he was beginning to urinate in his boxers.\n\n\"Oh come on you're really gonna humiliate the poor guy right before you kill him?\" Hank continued to ignore Charley's cries for help, like a child ignoring their parents.\n\nThen suddenly a dragon came bursting through the ceiling, and 500 demons began spawning out of the ground.\n\n\"OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!!\" Charley cried, as every creature swarmed him, tearing apart bit by bit.\n\n\"Fine, whatever, I'm still not moving.\" Hank said.\n\nAnd for the rest of his years, Hank stayed in that room, defying to do anything. Thus, completing the legend of Hank.\n\n\"Wait, no, shit! That's what you wanted all along!\" " ]	4
	[wp] after 100000 years of colonizing and searching space no sign of intelligent life has been found, until now....	[ "\"The universe is still incomprehensible in size, after a hundred millenias of colonizing we've still only hit the tip of the iceberg. Warp drives? That never happened. Alien life? Not that either. The only reason we made it within 100 light year from earth was long periods of stasis. The sad part? Generations came and went as people frozen in time traveled to colonies far away, but it was really the only solution to over population. Even with the alternative fuel sources being developed it could never be fast enough to sustain the growth of the human race. There's been rumors lately though, about a deep space exploration vessel returning after 300 years in space. Something may have been on board.. Not sure what it could be.\"", "Finally\n\nThe letter below I have put in the return capsule as a reminder of why I was here and what has happened to me and my kind. \n\nThey have been blasting everyone from infants to slaves to volunteers off our God forsaken planet longer than anyone wants to admit. They have been sending them into outer space, deep space since before my grand-dad could remember. \n\nIt makes perfect sense, mainly because our planet is dying. At first it was dying very, very slow. No one from the government would admit what was going on when this first happen some 10,000 to so years ago. As time went on, it was more and more clear that this plant was not going to survive. \n\nIt was their fault that this all happened to begin with. Some experiment to do with altering the planet to make it bigger to support the over population.\n\nAfter all this time, and all the space ships that were sent, we are now dying along with the planet. We are starting to die by the thousands, daily. The planet has been dead for some time now. It has come to the point where there is no food or water. We have no animals left either. Any wild life had died out before I can remember. \n\n The ground has been like concrete for years. Everything we eat and drink is manmade. We have stopped asking where our food was coming from. We have stopped asking a lot of questions. \n The end has finally come. \n\nThey have issued a call out to the survivors, those who are left and somewhat healthy. They have told us to gather in the town squares all over the country. It is not hard to put a call out like this since every living soul still alive lives on one continent. \n\nThey have gathered us all up and are taking us to the last space ships. We are the last one leaving to search for a new home. To search for new life in the stars. To try to find hope for our species, just as we have been forever. \n\nWhat I am about say in unbelievable! We have been a sleep-in space for 5 years. Traveling on one direct course for 5 years. We have finally made it! As I awoke, I realized as the others did, we have found life! WE HAVE FOUND LIFE!!! \n\nAll our computers were going crazy; we were reading the print outs as fast as we could. It was true. After the initial excitement, the panic started to set in. We realized we are traveling to a planet that has life, water, air, and we still have no idea what is down there, really. \n\nAt this point, there is no going back. We will just need to land and hope for the best. \n\nReturn capsule with coordinates embedded; Before we land I will send this letter back to our home planet in hopes that if there is anyone left, they will be able to make it here to our new home. \n\n\n\nReality\nOur last return capsule with coordinates embedded; This letter is to inform you NOT to come to this new planet. DO NOT COME TO THIS PLANET. \n\nWe landed, we were welcomed. It was simply amazing that the inhabitants of this planet looked exactly as we did. These are not our people even though we look alike. \n\nThis little planet we were hoping to find refuge in is also a dying planet. The inhabitants that we have found are dying. When we landed, they thought we were here to save them. They would not accept that we were from different planet and we too are looking for a new home. \n\nThere is no going back. We have no scientist, no scholars. Our space ship was for a one-time use. \n\nWe will die here on this unfamiliar planet. This little blue planet that is third from the sun in this large solar system. The planet the inhabitance call Earth. \n\nEnd. \n" ]	2
	[WP] You are an extraordinary architect with a keen hand at construction. You have been hired by both heroes and villains to build their secret lairs. You have finally decided to bring your son/daughter into the family business.	[ "My daughter was seven years old when I saw it for the first time. I had an office where I could work in solitude, when needed, but that morning I wanted to sit at the breakfast table while my kids played on the living room floor behind me.\n\n\"Look, Honey,\" my wife said under her breath and nodding to the kids.\n\nI looked up from my sketches and saw something extraordinary. My daughter Catherine was building an incredibly complex and beautiful castle out of simple, toy building blocks. I had only caught a glimpse of a series of towers and color-coordinated palisades before the creation was toppled by my youngest, Connor.\n\nCatherine screamed at her five year old brother and my wife hurried in to break up the tantrums that had begun. Although the yelling should have kept me grounded, I was lost in a fog of awe and knew then that my daughter would follow in my footsteps.\n\n~~~~~~~~\n\nI tried my best to encourage both of my children to work towards what they wanted to. No matter what was put in front of her - ballet, softball, debate team - Catherine insisted on focusing on mathematics and any art or history courses that moved her closer to being accepted to a school with a top Architecture program.\n\nConnor, however, was a troublemaker and seemed to embody the most annoying traits of the criminals that garnered the most media attention. One week, he's a psychotic clown with a flower that leaks water all over the hardwood floors; the next week, he's spraypainted my garage floor, wearing a purple-ish bucket as a helmet and throwing our fine silverware at the cat \"with his mind\". (Truth be told, I was somewhat impressed he knew which colors to mix in proportion for the most accurate purple.)\n\nDon't get me wrong - he was a great kid, but he was more than a handful. If we could, we would have implanted octopus arms just to keep up with him and his messes. In fact, we did consider it - and that's where things got complicated.\n\nFor those of you reading this that aren't familiar with my work (above ground, at least), I'm not just an everyday Architect. No, in reality, I've spent the better part of 20 years creating the most marvelous bases for our beloved superheroes...and maniacal, twisted lairs for some of the worst scum to crawl across this planet. And although it was good money (in those instances where I had a choice in the matter), I could never tell my family, for their own safety.\n\nBut this story isn't about me or even some of the burning questions I'm sure you have running around in your head. It's about my children, my legacy, and the day my job became a family business.\n~~~~~~\n(Writing more now, posting in reply to this asap)\n\n", "The sound of his breathing was the loudest thing in the room. He wasn’t asthmatic or nothin’. Just the way he was built, the poor boy. \n\n“Dad—” he began.\n\n“Breathe quieter, boy,” I said. “You know I can’t concentrate when you make that infernal racket. Damn this projector to hell. Why can’t these things ever connect when you need them to?”\n\nJunior and I were standing in a tiny conference hall. Some discerning decision-maker had deemed it prudent to fit it with a giant conference table and nine office chairs. And so now, I was hunched over an ancient projector upfront, only a few feet away from a pulldown screen that would no doubt, by consequence, distort the final image. Hours of building a PowerPoint deck, only for my carefully designed images to be ass-fucked by poor spatial planning.\n\n“Dad, I…I need to talk to you,” Junior said.\n\n“It’s fine to be nervous,” I mumbled, as I fiddled with the projector. “I remember my first time pitchin’ a lair proposal. I was eighteen, same as you. I was a nervous wreck. Young, spunky, and full of outlandish ideas like trap doors and self-destruct buttons, all avant-garde in my day. Unlike you though, my first pitch was to a villain. Anti-Zord. God, remember that asshole? All that talk about takin’ over the world only to end up a vegetable from his own death ray? That’s why you buy German parts, kid. Cheap out and your inventions explode on you on D-day—”\n\n“Dad…”\n\n“Just hold on a sec.” I looked over my shoulder at the current projection on the screen. It had adamantly remained projector-blue for the last fifteen minutes. “Goddammit.”\n\nJunior cursed under his breath and leaned over to push something on the projector.\n\nSearching, the display said. A second later, the opening slide to my PowerPoint blinked onto the screen.\n\n“What the—how did you do that?” I cried.\n\n“I pushed the Source button.”\n\n“That’s what I’ve been doin’ for the last million fuckin’ hours!”\n\n“Forget about the projector for one bleeding second Dad. I need to tell you something.”\n\n“Yo, yo, yo! What’s poppin’ bruh!” \n\nThe new voice startled us both, proceeded by its owner who came sauntering through the door. He was a scrawny, pale twenty-something year old in a football jersey, with platinum blonde hair braided into cornrows, a fashion choice I didn’t think he made with the intention of being ironic. He was followed by a taller boy in a black wife beater who also had fair hair twisted into braids that hung down to his waistline. The third boy to walk through the door was a fat, bare-chested Asian kid covered in tattoos and face piercings. And then there was a last boy: a guy in a gleaming white owl mask, in a hoodie, black gloves and baggy jeans. \n\nThe four boys took seats around the table, gawking at my opening slide like starving animals.\n\n“Mornin’ boys,” I said.\n\nThe first boy who’d entered said, “That your boy, fam?”\n\n“Yes, this is my son, Junior,” I said. “Junior, this is Alpha Dog, the #11 superhero team on the East Coast. That’s Spitfire,” I said, pointing at Flaxen Braids. “He literally spits fire.”\n\nHe made devil’s horns with his fingers.\n\n“That’s Mad Dawg,” I said, referring to the taller guy. “He turns into a werewolf. He’s Spitfire’s older brother.”\n\n“Age is a number, man,” said Mad Dawg, with a knowing smirk.\n\nI gestured at the Asian kid. “That’s Tattoo. He’s an augmenter. He can transfer any of his tattoos to a person by touch, which then gives them one unique super power for an hour.”\n\n“Yeah,” said Tattoo. “But like, I can’t use the abilities from like, my own tattoos. It’s some crazy shit, man. Like, forreal.”\n\n“And finally—” I turned to the last boy, the guy in the hoodie. “That’s Dark Suburb. He summons demons from the underworld.”\n\n“The day I was born, I started to die. Death treads carefully towards us all, and none may escape it,” Dark Suburb droned without looking at us. \n\nI clapped my hands together. “Great. Then let’s get started, shall we?”\n\n“We’re stoked to see what you have for us, John,” said Spitfire, as he leaned back into his chair. “Sure you already noticed that this place is a dumpster fire. Running our operations out of this office is only slightly better than if we’d set up shop in Satan’s ball sack.”\n\n“There is a monster that lives in my mirror, and when I lean in, it does the same,” Dark Suburb croaked.\n\n“Funny you should mention that, Dark Suburb,” I said, my grin fighting gravity to stay up. “Our plans for your new lair include cutting edge anti-magic barriers that are guaranteed to prevent trans-dimensional break-ins from dark wizards and the like—”\n\n“Yeah, nobody wants to be turned into a rabbit and eaten by their own gran-gran by accident,” said Spitfire.\n\n“Oh yeah, shit,” said Tattoo. “That’s like, what happened to Red Lightning, right?”\n\n“Fucking hell,” Mad Dawg said.\n\nThe three of them shook their heads in sombre reflection\n\n“The path to hell is paved with the souls of Limp Bizkit groupies,” Dark Suburb moaned.\n\n“It’s a fuckin’ A idea, John,” said Spitfire.\n\n“Not my idea,” I said. My grin was genuine now. This was it. This was the moment when my son became a man. “It was actually my boy right here’s idea.”\n\nJunior looked at me. “It was?”\n\n“Yeah, it was,” I said. “We were talkin’ about that friend of yours, remember?”\n\nJunior stared.\n\n“His parents died and he had to go live with his aunt or something?”\n\nJunior stared.\n\n“He moved to a school to train his powers, but then dark magic terrorists invaded his school with teleportation?”\n\nJunior narrowed his eyes.\n\n“You said he was British?” I added desperately.\n\n“Harry Potter?” Junior said.\n\nI frowned. “Wait, that can’t be right. That’s a movie.”\n\n“No shit, Dad. Also, I told you about the book when I was what—nine years old?” \n\n“A good idea is a good idea.”\n\n“No, no, absolutely not,” Junior snapped. “This has gone on long enough. I can’t keep living this lie! I have to tell the truth. My truth.”\n\nI was taken aback. My son had never spoken like this before.\n\n“Dad…I…” Junior said, his hands balling into fists. His eyes dropped to the floor. “I want to be an accountant.”\n\nCrickets.\n\n“You want to be a what now?” I said, stunned.\n\n“An accountant,” Junior said more firmly. “As in numbers and budgets and whatnot.”\n\nI made a face. “Why the fuck would you want to be an accountant? Who plans on being an accountant?”\n\n“I do. I like math, okay? I like finance, and spreadsheets. Excel makes me feel warm inside.”\n\nI waved off his words. “Oh come now. Nobody actually knows how Excel works.”\n\n“I do, Dad,” Junior said. “I know how to use the functions. Even the super obscure ones. Also, Mom thinks it’s a fantastic idea.”\n\n“Wait, you and your mother are speaking?!”\n\n“She separated from you, Dad, not me.”\n\n“Do you two need the room?” Spitfire said, looking from me to Junior.\n\n“Yeah, it’s getting like, totes awkward in here,” Tattoo said.\n\n“No,” I said quickly. “There’s no problem here. He’s just kidding around.”\n\n“I’m really not though,” Junior said, with a heavy sigh. “And that’s the problem. You never take anything I say seriously. Have you really not noticed all the Mathlete trophies in my bedroom? Or all the times I helped Mom with our taxes? Do you even care? You think your dreams and ambitions should be my own. But I’m not one of your presentation screens, Dad…you can’t project your life onto mine.”\n\n“Woah—” Mad Dawg’s eyes widened. “That’s deep.”\n\nI had no words. \n\nDark Suburb spoke: “Accept these words as a gift from my mind and heart. The eternal pursuit of man is the pursuit of eternal life. That said, our children do not exist to be the vessels of our enterprise, or substitutes for immortality. When we stand at Death’s threshold, we stand naked and alone, our egos, and regrets, and yes, even our legacies, abandoned on the pavement. It is only when we come to terms with the awful but redeeming truth of our inescapable demise, that we will come to a richer, fuller understanding of what it means to love our children.” \n\nDark Suburb’s word rang against the walls, and silence consumed the room for a moment.\n\n“Man, shut the fuck up, Suburb!” Spitfire said, jumping to his feet. “I’m so sick of your new age mumbo jumbo bullshit. Somebody remind me why we let him on the team again.” \n\n“Like, tax stuff,” said Tattoo.\n\n“Yeah well, it’s not worth the money saved. I can’t take it anymore.”\n\n“I had sex with your sister,” Dark Suburb droned.\n\n“Wait, what?” Spitfire cried.\n\n“You. Heard. Me.”\n\nSpitfire stormed out of the room. Mad Dawg shrugged, got up, and followed after his brother. Tattoo rose to leave too.\n\n“By the way,” Tattoo said at the door, glaring at Dark Suburb. “Limp Bizkit is like, a national treasure.” Then he exited.\n\nFinally, Dark Suburb got to his feet. “It was a pleasure to meet you two.” \n\nHe gave us a shallow bow and soon, only Junior and I remained in the room.\n\nI turned to my son. “You really want to be an accountant?”\n\nHe shrugged. “It’s not like I can’t still make input into your work.” He tapped the right arrow key on my laptop a few times, till we were looking at the floor plan for the lair he’d been supposed to present. He waved at the periphery of the plan. “For example, I can tell you right now that a shark tank of this size is probably going to cost your clients about five thousand dollars a month to maintain. That’s too much cash outflow for a starter superhero team like them. You should lose it.”\n\n“But everybody loves shark tanks,” I said.\n\n“Doesn’t make it a good idea, Dad.”\n\nI stared at the floor plan for a moment longer. “Fine,” I sighed. “We’ll take out the shark tank.”\n\nJunior smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”\n\nWe stared at the floor plan together.\n\n“That Dark Suburb is going to turn into a super villain one day, isn’t he?” said Junior.\n\n“Oh for sure,” I said. “He’ll be turnin’ prostitutes into purses in five years.”\n\n“I’m betting three.”\n\n“You’re on. Want to grab lunch?”\n\n“I could eat.”\n\nWe packed up and left.\n" ]	2
	[WP] improvise the most random story you can come up with. It can be humorous, serious, or whatever genre you want, mix it up if you want!	[ "\"What is my existence, Dean?\"\n\nSubject 27 was speaking again, looking past the two-way mirror, into my eyes. They pierced like an ice-pick against a frozen tundra. I didn't answer, as today was isolation. The procedures for the day were to take 27 to the observation room and let her be entertained by her playthings: a soft plush elephant, two books, and a tablet PC.\n\n\"Dean, I can see you from here. I know you come here at hourly intervals.\"\n\nI stood silently. On my clipboard, I scribbled a few notes: \"No sign of depravity.\"\n\n\"Why doesn't anyone come to visit anymore? The press used to come and shoot photos of me all day. Now I just wish company would be amusing, because to be frank you aren't the most enrapturing companion.\"\n\nShe was sitting on the white cushioned floor, amusing herself by play-dancing with the elephant. It was a pastel blue.\n\n\"Subject 27, how are you feeling?\" I spoke into the microphone that projected into the observation room.\n\n\"I'm not feeling anything, Dean! I thought you told me I couldn't feel anything after my brain was taken out.\"\n\nI refrained from saying anything else.\n\n\"I mean, I feel the emotion of boredom, Professor. I feel terribly bored. Could you please tell me how the weather is?\"\n\nShe was still play-dancing with the blue elephant. The ears flopped about as she thrust the plush toy this and that to a dance without music, which made it seem rather like the elephant was having a fit. The hourly observation was over, so I made my way to the door to check on the other subjects.\n\n\"Dean, you'll be here in the next hour too, right? I'll wait for you again, so until then!\" 27 called out.\n\nHer gaze still pierced through the mirror, straight at me, as I walked out the door.", "And thats how I officially wet adolf's hitler's grandma's bed. It wasn't easy and I had to really work in that extra piston cup from the nascar but god damn it, I did it.\n\nNow don't go thinking that was my only fucking acheivement, I've wet the bed's of many grandma's in my days and this was just the most noticable. I did the same thing to jesus's human grandmother. Now that one was hard, I had to race not 1, not 2, but 3 stars for it. One being sanctum monious and that one is like half the size of our sun, Unfair asshole.\n\nBut enough about my hobby, let's get dirty. I have done more air than any other dinosaur alive today and don't go thinking thats false, I'm in the great book of \"fucker's I gave a shit about\", as written by god. Was a beautiful cermony, Not one I would ever do again, left a bad vortex in my mouth for like 2 years and 16 days, 2 hours and 3 minutes. Terrible, just terrible. But air, now that was my favorite sexual experience, you could say I'm doing it now. That'd be a lie of course but, eh, close enough. I've been called an airwhore before but I prefer airhorn, its much nicer.\n\nThose were the good old days, you know, before the humans. Well, and after but semantics. You're a good listener Fletch_McCoy, really great ears on ya, don't worry though, I'm on a diet. \n\nIf you think I'm a lunatic, well, I appreciate the compliment but I've only killed 3 races in my life and none of them were marathon level. Only 2-3 miles, really. Never doubt the power of star war's by the way, been robbing me of my blood and internet for 4 decades but you don't see me complaining too much. Their out to get you. Dirty clean stars. \n\nYou could even say I'm a bed wetting, air loving, star war's love/hating, man. But you know all about that Fletch my boy. Well, that's my story and don't you forget it, I can only tell it once after all. " ]	2
	[WP] In the future, a new law is passed, deeming all forms of music illegal. A ragtag group of famous musicians now plan to overthrow the government using any means necessary.	[ "Ever hear a song that moved you to tears? How about one that made you rage? Solemnness? Yeah, I was always a fan of the blues. \n\nAround 2020 we gained some insight, no pun intended, into how music affects the brain. By we, I mean the government, and by affect the brain I mean manipulate the populace. If the leaked documents were to be believed it all started in the middle-east; a project called Hive. Towers were erected at key locations seemingly overnight and then, well, then things changed. It’s a subtle thing when something is controlling you. A smell hits you and sends you back to momma’s homemade apple pie and suddenly you’re pulling into the drive through at the local Mickey Dee’s trying to get a fix for an addiction you didn’t even know you had. Sound works that way, in a sense, but even better as the government discovered, it doesn’t have to be audible. The sound waves that were being pumped from the erected towers in the Middle-East were sending out obedience, and peace. Resistance stopped immediately and people began to conform. Back then, the process was heralded as the most revolutionary breakthrough in the entire history of mankind, back then people didn’t think it would be used on them.\n\n2:00 A.M. in the sewers of Houston, Texas 2025. There’s something wrong with that girl, something wrong with her brain and it aint no tellin, but I know she’s insane. Sara Marsh had been clinically insane, and likely still was. Whatever had driven her to insanity had also rewired the way her brain worked and serendipitously had stopped the inaudible waves now coating the world from affecting her mind. She was also small, at 4’11, she was almost a midget and that made her perfect for the mission she was now on. \n\nHouston held the most powerful broadcasting tower in the South. This singular tower covered all of Texas, and if the theory was right, free the Texans free the world, but it wouldn’t be about destroying the tower. That wouldn’t do. They would need to seize the tower and broadcast waves of their own, something that re-program all the damage done by the government, something to make them rage against the machine. \n\n\nTBC..." ]	1
	[WP] Last night ended normally... But it is now 1:34 p.m. , local time, and the sun still hasn't risen...	[ "My name is Jullius. Before you make fun of my name, know I'm barely alive. Right now I'm on the verge of freezing to death. That is if I don't bleed to death first. It's 1:34 in the afternoon. According to my cars clock at least. Everything is moving really fast in the sky. The people on the radio are saying that the sun vanished late last night. People in the day side were scared as hell. An unidentified asteroid fell into the sun and, within moments, the sun was completely gone. We still don't know why.\n\nThe people on the radio are also saying most of us are definitely going to die. The elite (lucky them) are going into pay-to-use bunkers that are really deep underground. Riots are a thing. That's happening. Also why I'm bleeding to death. I'm cowering in the back seat right now actually.\n\nThe radio is saying now that rockets are being constructed that will shoot nukes at Jupiter. That's strange. I wonder why they plan to do that... Sounds like the radio guy is confused about that too. \"We'll let you know after this quick music break!\" Aaaaannnnndddd Nickleback is playing. Hell of a way to go...\n\nLots of people are screaming outside. Looks like there's some guy with a knife going postal in the shop just near where I'm holed up. The screams are guttural and not stopping. The only thing that comes close to drowning it out are the distant explosions. Each one is making the ground shake. There's a lot of people running past my car now. Glad they're not looting this. Someone may come along and try it...\n\nThe radio announcer is back. He say's they're going to try and turn Jupiter into a brown dwarf or something. They're saying that the earth might swing close enough to be caught in Jupiter's orbit. If they can start a reaction in its core, it'll be just like a little sun! I don't see what good that will do anyone.\n\nSomeone is looking in at me... He's just staring at me... I'm not sure what he plans on doing... Oh god... He's trying to open the door! I'm definitely dead now! He's pounding on the glass! Oh no now he's SMILING At me! He's toying with me oh my god! He has a gun! OH NO PLEA--", "The TV droned on and on in the background. It’s screen cast a pale blue flickering light over the apartment; it was the only source of light. The curtains were pulled wide on the bedroom window and only stars shone outside on the post lunchtime world. Tom stared at the screen, but his eyes had long since gone out of focus. The blurry image of the TV and the constant droning sound of talking heads both equally failed to penetrate his brain.\n\n“It’ll come back, right?” Tom’s girlfriend Sue asked: the only sound the managed to penetrate the thick of fog of numbness.\n\n“I don’t know,” he said.\n\n“But it has to come back, right?” Sue pleaded again. She placed her arms on his shoulder and pulled him in close.\n\n“I don’t know.”\n\n“Well for god’s sake, what do you know?” Sue shrieked at him as she stood up. Tom knew that voice. She wasn’t actually upset, she just wanted an answer. She would force him to answer.\n\nHe looked up at her. “I know screaming at me won’t help.” He turned to stare again at the out of focus screen. Sue sat down next to him again on the bed and rested her head on his shoulder. He inhaled and smelled the scent of her musty her. When the sun failed to come up that morning, they fell out of their routines; neither had showered, neither had gone to work. \n\nThe heads talking on screen vanished and once more the hastily assembled computer generated image of the planet appeared. It reminded Tom of playing a computer game and running the world’s civilizations. The image was just normal enough that he forced his eyes to pull back into focus. \n\nThe image showed the Earth from the opposite side and the sun stalled over the middle east. Religious Zealots called it Joshua's second day, the department of homeland security called it a terrorist action, and the middle east was sitting at one hundred and twenty degrees, and rising. \n\nThe president had been on the TV, twice already, and declared that those responsible would be found out and punished. Not that anyone had any idea how to stop the spin of the world, let alone restart it, let alone how it happened without everyone being hurled off.\n\n“Right,” Sue said firmly, “we’re not just sitting around.” Tom knew that voice too. He usually heard it on a saturday when had spent ten hours straight playing computer games and the grocery shopping still needed to be done. It was the motherly voice that took command and pointed them into the right direction. He looked at her.\n\n“It’s obvious we can’t stay here. We have to get moving before it’s too cold.” She hastily started throwing clothes into a suitcase. \n\n“And go where?” Tom asked.\n\n“West, or east. It doesn’t matter. We just have to get a bit closer to the sun. Close enough that food can still grow.”\n\nTom didn’t say what he was thinking, that there was an ocean in the way, that there wouldn’t be farms there, that everyone in the world would be flocking to moderate zones, or that maybe this would all blow over in 24 hours, or maybe even that days would be two hundred and forty hours now. He didn’t say anything, because in the end, doing something, anything, was better than doing nothing.\n\nThe two of them worked silently as the TV continued to dispense useless and pointless information. They packed their clothes, their cat, and some books. Ten minutes later they were downstairs, in their Jeep Cherokee, and pulling out of the gated garage. \n\nTom drove cautiously forward. The two of them were such homebodies that they rarely left the house after dark, and now it felt like blasting off into space. It took ten minutes to make their way to the edge of the suburbs and out into the countryside. Along the way they saw eighteen street preachers declaring the end of the world – Sue counted – ten looted stores, twenty three fires, and two people that had hung themselves from the streetlight.\n\nOnce out of the city, Sue turned on the radio.\n\n“And the lord shall come upon us and judge us each…” the radio started. \n\nTom snapped it off saying, “Let’s not.” He wanted to add more to that. Something to validate that opinion, something to justify cutting themselves off from humanity just as the sun had cut itself off, but the two words were all he got out. Overhead the stars passed by slowly; in the distance streetlights passed as well. Tom wished he was home, sitting at his computer playing that space game. That one had a fast-forward button for the boring parts. He pressed his foot down firmly on the accelerator; the car sped up.\n\nThree hours later, the sky started to lighten. Their progress was suddenly halted by a couple of busses turned sideways, completely blocking the highway. Torches were lit and placed across the top of the buses creating an eerie looking wall of metal and flickering light. \n\nA man stood on top of the buses and shouted, “Turn back!”\n\nTom rolled down his window and stuck his head out, “Say what?”\n\nThe man on top shouted again, “Turn back! This is the land of the sun now, and you dark dwellers aren’t welcome here. Go back, there’s no more room.”\n\nTom pulled his head back into the car and looked at Sue. \n\n“This makes no sense,” she said, “How can people devolve this quickly? It hasn’t even been a full day.” Tom nodded.\n\nTom stuck his head back out the window and shouted, “Who’s the authority here, how many are here at this stop?”\n\n“I am the authority of the sun-land, all shall follow my command and the darklanders shall not enter my world of paradise, you shall never pass my metal domain…” the man on the bus rambled on.\n\nTom pulled his head back into the car and muttered, “Right, he’s just a loon. Hang on to something.” \n\nTom threw the Jeep into reverse, backed up several hundred feet, shifted forward and sprinted ahead. He jerked the wheel and flew off the road into the surrounding farmlands. This was the first time his car had ever been off road. It somehow felt wrong to Tom to go off road unless it was in a fast and splashy manner. They bounced and shook through the dirt while the man on the bus screamed obscenities at them. A minute later, they were back on the highway, the sky growing ever lighter.\n" ]	2
	[WP] "If I had a penny every time someone asked how I got that nickname, I'd be a millionaire."	[ "A: Wouldn't that mean you've been asked the question at least a hundred million times?\n\nB: That's right.\n\nC: How did you get your nickname?\n\nD: How did you get your nickname?\n\nA: Not to call you a liar or anything, but you've got to be exaggerating.\n\nB: Not even a little bit.\n\nA: How's that possible?\n\nE: How did you get your nickname?\n\nB: Bit of a story there. I was at a fair with some friends and we went into a gypsy's tent. Really old lady. Wore something like twelve vests and shawls. Skin like rice paper. Anyway, she told us our fortunes. My friends got 'destined for greatness' and 'will marry happily ever after'. I got 'about to make a big mistake'.\n\nF: How did you get your nickname?\n\nA: One of these things is not like the others.\n\nB: Exactly. My friends started joking about how much of a fuck-up I am. They told the gypsy this story about when I was 16 and I thought I gave a cashier a twenty but I actually gave him a ten and we got into a huge argument and I got thrown out of the movie theater. They also told her about the time I asked a girl out and she said, 'Am I getting punk'd?'\n\nA: Oof.\n\nG: How did you get your nickname?\n\nB: Needless to say I was a bit pissed. And while they were telling her all this, the gypsy had this big smile on her face like it all made sense, and like of course all that shit would happen to a guy like me. So, like, fuck her, you know? She doesn't know me. She shouldn't be judging me like that. That's when I got angry.\n\nH: How did you get your nickname?\n\nI: How did you get your nickname?\n\nA: What did you do?\n\nJ: How did you get your nickname?\n\nK: How did you get your nickname?\n\nL: How did you get your nickname?\n\nB: First off I told my friends they could shove it. Then I told the old lady she was crazy. I told her she was probably senile and that I didn't need to hear her bullshit. I paid her good money and the least she could do was tell me some good stuff.\n\nA: What did she say?\n\nM: How did you get your nickname?\n\nB: She said that money is money, and that she doesn't lie. Then she called me a stupid boy. That did it. I flipped her table. Her crystal ball smashed to pieces. I put my finger in her face and I called her an old bitch.\n\nA: Not a good idea.\n\nB: Not at all. She cursed me.\n\nN: How did you get your nickname?\n\nO: How did you get your nickname?\n\nA: What's the curse?\n\nB: There's a few parts to it. The first part is that, you probably haven't noticed this, but while we've been talking something like a dozen people have asked me how I got my nickname.\n\nA: Seriously?\n\nP: How did you get your nickname?\n\nB: That guy in the red coat just asked me.\n\nA: No way.\n\nQ: How did you get your nickname?\n\nB: Yeah, way. And so did the lady in the pink shoes.\n\nA: I didn't hear them.\n\nB: People never do. But there's another part to the curse.\n\nR: How did you get your nickname?\n\nS: How did you get your nickname?\n\nA: What's that?\n\nB: Do you remember how this conversation started?\n\nA: Huh. Funnily enough, I don't.\n\nB: Out of the blue you asked me how I got my nickname.\n\nA: Did I?\n\nT: How did you get your nickname?\n\nB: Yup. I've never met you before. And after asking me once, you asked me a few more times. That's when I realized you're one of the other kind, the kind that keeps asking until they get an answer.\n\nQ: How did you get your nickname?\n\nA: So that's it, then?\n\nB: Yup. I've got one last thing to say and then you'll walk off like we weren't even talking.\n\nU: How did you get your nickname?\n\nV: How did you get your nickname?\n\nA: And? What is it?\n\nW: How did your get your nickname?\n\nB: That's how I got the nickname Gypsy's Bitch." ]	1
	[WP] After watching your favorite series' marathon, you end up inside the series. The main character tells you: "About time someone came to take my position."	[ " I've been into anime for a while, I didn't have posters or figures or anything but I watched a few series. Stuff like DBZ and Yu Yu Hakusho were really good but Ranma 1/2 was my favorite. I watched the series on YouTube during high school and it had been about five years so I decided to watch it again, I had to find a different site but I found the episodes. I watched up to season 3 and fell asleep and things got... weird.\n\n I woke up in an area with springs and looked around after getting fully awake. When I started walking I ran into Ranma, it looked like after he fell in the spring. He walked up and said \"finally\" and I got confused, I didn't know what he meant but my vision went blurry for a second. After it was over I was looking at... myself, the me that was standing there faded as I ran towards it and I fell on the grass. \n\n I stood up and realized I was actually shorter... not super short but I wasn't 6'4 anymore, maybe around 5'8 now. I looked down and had a fit body... I quickly realized what was going on and looked in a reflection in a spring... I was Ranma now. I freaked out at first but once I realized when this was I knew I was good, I can just avoid the mistakes he made. \n\n His dad came by and we were chasing each other around and we happened to get water on us during the chase so I was in girl form. I had to keep up appearances so I didn't make a big deal out of it though the chest moving around definitely was distracting. I saw Ryoga and stopped in front of him instead of jumping on his head so he didn't fall off the cliff and into the spring. He asked me for directions and I told him who \"I\" was.\n\n He didn't believe me at first but I convinced him and eventually got him to fight me... I wasn't as experienced plus I held back so he won which probably helped as he didn't hate me as much as he would have if he would've gone through the original events. He actually traveled with us when we were going to Japan, he was slowly becoming a friend.\n\n When we reached the amazon village I didn't eat any of the food but Ryoga and Genma did, so Shampoo fought Ryoga instead and he won so he was set to marry her instead. We ran though and eventually reached Japan, I didn't have the dragon whisker so I ended up just cutting the excess hair off to have a short hairstyle. \n\n When we reached the Tendo's place it basically started the same but after me and Akane sparred I told her about the curse and convinced her I didn't want anything from her except maybe friendship. I was introverted and didn't want to have a relationship with anyone so I wasn't gonna try anything.\n\n When it came time Akane wasn't as freaked out to be paired with me and I didn't say something stupid so I didn't have to be knocked out. I eventually went to the school and fought Kuno, I had trained at that point so I won. I knew the stuff that was coming up so I spent more time training and even developing the spirit gun and a few DBZ moves while also learning the Ranma 1/2 moves earlier than he ever could. \n\n I'm basically half way through the series now and haven't had any problems, I'm friends with most of the characters and I've beaten Happosai once using moves I've learned. I don't know why Ranma was so eager to leave, if he was smart he could've set it up like me. I don't even have to deal with Kuno's love since I let him beat me while I was in girl form to appear weak. The only problem I need to find out is the \"coming home a man or death\" thing, but I'm sure if I think hard enough I can get that handled.\n\n Right now I'm trying to learn the Kaioken so I can beat Happosai with my own strength... kinda. But I have no idea how that's learned so it's been difficult and so far I've gotten nowhere. But so far I'm the most powerful person around other than maybe Happosai and Cologne, and this life is actually pretty cool. " ]	1
	[WP] The ritual worked. As your Dark Lord rises slowly from the ground, you realise he's not the cloven-hoofed demon prince you were hoping for, but an average twenty-something guy. 'Erm, hello,' he starts, 'I'm Lucifer...	[ "The last part of the ritual was the worst, a blood sacrifice. As I ran the sacrificial blade, jagged, curved, and sharper than anyone could imagine, across the palm of my hand I let out a whimper, and a tear almost escaped from the ducts I was trying so hard to keep it trapped in.\nAll I could think to myself was how I had been mislead by a myriad of Hollywood horror movies and all of their satanist rituals. They never had their rituals fully right though, probably because studio execs and the stars themselves already know how to summon Lucifer, and don't actually want to do it on camera, would ruin the magic of the almighty.\n\nAs the blood drops hit the tip of the flame on the lit candle, a void opened in the middle of the room, as if the cold vacuum of space itself had transported a small portion of it's liquid state into the room to suck away all oxygen. \nThe candles flickered, and went out with the rest of the air, and as I choked what I thought would be my last breaths on this world, the vacuum disappeared. From the ground between the candles rose a dark figure. The darkness of the room made it difficult to see, but from the outline it could be said the figure was male, not tall but not short, not fat but not thin, two small horns perturbed from the top of what looked like a well looked after, groomed style. As the figure stopped rising, a finger-snap followed, and the candles lit with an intense brightness.\n\n\"cough Ahem... Hellooo...\" A voice, no, not just a voice, it was as if 1000 voices spoke at once, called out. \"I'm uh... I'm Lucifer.\" The man was now fully visible, after my eyes had adjusted to the intensity of the light emanating from the candles, a light that did not seem entirely possible. He was wearing a well tailored suit, black jacket and pants, white shirt, and a red tie with a silver tie clip. It conformed to his size and shape almost too perfectly.\n\"Now let me see here.\" He coughed again, and stammered through his words. \"You're James correct?\"\n\"Yes.\" I choked out, my lungs still weren't entirely ready for me to speak.\n\"Rightio, well done on the summoning. Kids don't get it right anymore these days. It's mostly ouija-duty that I have to put my demons to.\"\n\nI looked at him confused, my mouth was open with shock. His response was to, himself, look confused for a moment, then making the motion of a light bulb going off above his head.\n\"You're probably wondering where my goat hoofs and red skin and all that other mumbo jumbo is aren't you?\"\nI nodded, too afraid to speak.\n\"Well it's hard to do business when I'm looking like an almighty goat isn't it. You'd probably expect me to eat the contract.\"\nI couldn't help but let out a laugh, as awkward as it was, he was right now that I had thought about it.\n\"Speaking of contracts. It's time to work something out. What can I do for you?\"\n\nNow that it was down to business, I had to muster up courage and throw my wishes on the table. Instead I blurted out the following nonsense:\n\"I want to write music. I want to write all kinds of music, and I want my music to be liked by all. I want the talent of amazing artistry when it comes to sound and composition. I want to be able to entrance people with the sounds that I create with instruments and notes on a page.\"\nLucifer raised an eyebrow at me.\n\"You know that you could have just gone to school for this... Are you sure this is what you want?\" His thousand voices sounded almost patronising.\n\"What? You can't give me this power?\" I poked, where the hell had I mustered this courage from?\nHis eyes turned dark, the light in the room dimmed to a low glow... \"Alright then, mortal.\" His voice(s) turned dark and speech turned short. He snapped a finger and suddenly a clipboard appeared in his right hand. With his left hand he tapped around his jacket pockets, looking for something that turned out to be a pen, which was hidden in his breast pocket.\n\n\"Now we have a few options here,\" his voice(s) were back to an impossible and perfectly melded pitch. \"You've got your normal everyday run of the mill deal, damnable soul etc. etc.\" \n\"You've got... uhhhhhh...\" He clicked his tongue as he flipped over some pages, \"Ahh here we go! Deals for skill attributes. Instead of eternal damnation to hell and all that other funky jazz, your soul would belong to me, and you would be my emissary on this earth to do my bidding.\"\n\"Why would I want to do that?\" I don't know why I was asking this, was I trying to convince myself? In hindsight maybe it was to convince myself.\n\"Because you won't end up in hell... Not anytime soon anyway.\"\n\"Deal!\" I blurted out.\n\nHe reached the pen out towards me, and as I touched it with the tips of my fingers, the deal was signed and as though everything moved at 1000x speed. It was done, and he was gone, but a shadowy laugh filled the air.\n\nIt's been 300 years, and despite the killing of a few people here and there, I don't mind. My music is loved by so many, and I just have to change my name every so often, no one will notice... Not any time soon anyway.\n\n- Justin Timberlake.\nhttp://static4.businessinsider.com/image/50202124ecad04a41b000001-1200/heres-justin-timberlake-who-uncannily-resembles-this-old-time-criminal-in-a-mug-shot.jpg" ]	1
	[WP] "Never trust a survivor until you find out what they did to survive "	[ "Ever so loud with the sounds of unburdened life, the artificial environment, Forest, served as shelter for Sam. He lived in a wood cabin, and it suited him plenty. The tools he collected from the rest of the station let him uphold a certain level of comfort. His standard knife perhaps kept him the most busy, and he started to whittle a menagerie. The crow was his first attempt, and while it was a bit harshly cut, it was Sam's favorite.\n\nOnce a week, that's how frequently he ventured into the dying station with his IC Suit. The other environments were shutdown to keep enough power for Forest. The ashes and rot of their life used to make him fear leaving the only area he trusted. Before the crisis, Lakeside and Tropic had once been populated by most of the crew. Now the environments' man-made structures were left alone, only kept company by the bones of their former hosts. With its condensed population, Tropic had been hit the worst.\n\nHe stood in the ruins of Tropic's city square. They challenged the Athens' Acropolis in morbid beauty, the most beloved project of the long dead. The sharp lines of the Oversight Building laid before him. It was here that the outbreak started, caused by an accidental mishap in the Genetic Division.\n\nSam knew this, because he let the virus out when he cracked that test tube. His coworker and him, they were the only ones left with the TRPPA testing that had been used at their former facility. This was his only guess as to why Death hadn't taken them first.\n\nTropic fell ill quickly, no matter the Genetic Division's best attempts to quarantine the virus. He was tested on and tested on, but the researchers and nurses who visited never came back. The characteristic trait of the virus, aggression which signaled future brain failure, killed off most. Petty squabbles became bar fights became mass murder. The most far gone even resorted to serial killing sprees as therapy. Lakeside followed, then Pasture, then Desert, and finally Forest.\n\nBut as personnel began dying, Forest became Sam's prime destination. It had struggled the longest, allowing him to set up his new home in the most intact of all environments.\n\nEventually, there were only two: Sam and his coworker, Edmund Vogel. Several years after they successfully reworked all power to Forest, Edmund turned skittish, a constant frown on his face. This frown was further manipulated by the virus into the later grimace left minutes after Sam left a bullet in his dear friend's spleen.\n\nHe jettisoned Edmund's body in a casket, a proper burial for someone who fought for so long. Then, with the heavy heart of a dead man, Sam lived in Forest alone. Everyday, he repeated the schedule he had set since the outbreak until the days blended into oblivion.", "\"Squire Corporal Tabor, we know you have experienced horror beyond the vocabulary of civilians, as well as the majority of those in service of our planet.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Prime Minister.\"\n\n\"For our records, could you please recount for me and Parliament, the events of the attack and how you came to be the sole survivor of your unit?\"\n\n\"I will try.\"\n\n\"Please.\"\n\n\"The first thing I want you to understand, is that you can't begin to understand the Plutonians. Their armada materialized on lunar base like a God damn magic trick.\"\n\n\"Now, when you say 'magic trick,' do you mean there was smoke or some other visual indication they were arriving?\"\n\n\"No, I mean like a God damn magic trick. Now you don't see it. Now you do. The only thing was a 'crackle, click, click' sound.\"\n\n\"Note for our records the auditory indication.\"\n\n\"The sentry guns went crazy. Lobbed salvos of rockets at 'em, and the Plutonians didn't even try to dodge. They just took it. Our gunners lit 'em up with the 20-A's and the 50-C's. Every crater-head was firing everything we had.\"\n\n\"What happened to the Plutonians?\"\n\n\"Nothing.\"\n\n\"Nothing?\"\n\n\"Nothing. They hit us with a purple fog, and everyone froze. My bones felt hot, and I heard my own thoughts talking to me, saying 'Splice or scorch?' Leed screamed, and I saw his skin burn, then his blood and fleshed boiled off his bones. Then Freeman, Harris, Bar...\"\n\n\"We have records of the enlisted who were killed, Squire Corporal Tabor. How then, did you survive this attack?\"\n\n\"Sorry.\"\n\n\"Think nothing of it. We are merely trying to record the relevant facts.\"\n\n\"No, I mean: I'm sorry. crackle, click, click.\"", "\"Never trust a survivor until you find out what they did to survive.\"\n\nI remember my chief saying that to me the first day I started working for the Coast Guard. Of course, I had laughed at first until I saw the look in his eye. It became almost like a motto for my group. We usually performed search and rescues, but most of them were unsuccessful due to getting there too late. I'd say we get a call and 10% of the time we find someone. That's what I thought of the call we got today. There was no way this call would lead to a rescue.\n\nHowever, here I am. Sitting at the back of the boat looking at this teenage boy who we found. He had been shipwrecked from a private yacht belonging to his family. They went missing almost a month ago, and were all presumed dead. \n\nWhen we found him, he seemed to be a little banged up but not in bad health. Usually, the people we find are still in some state of shock. Fight or flight mode. JT, the boy's name, seemed to be almost expecting us. \n\nHe greeted us and showed us back to his shelter. He had found an old cave that went back maybe 20 feet. It was dim, but I can see how he made it work. It was dry, off the beaten path, but you could still see the ocean from inside the cave.\n\nJT explained how he had been tossed out the yacht and drifted to the island. He hadn't seen anyone from the yacht, including his family, and just tried to survive. He showed us next where he found berries, coconuts, etc. He seemed to act like he was just at home on this island. I really tried to understand how he seemed so healthy, but I shook the idea out of my head and we got him on the boat.\n\nAs protocol, my coworkers James and Sarah got on our motorboat and went around the island looking for more survivors. \n\nThat was almost an hour ago. I kept in contact with them through our radios. \n\n\"How old are you?\" I called out to JT. \n\n\"Almost 15, or I might be 15 now. Lost track on time.\" he shrugged and looked off into the distance.\n\nJesus, when I was 15, I was hanging out at my friend's house eating junk food. This kid had to have been salvaging for his life the past month. \n\nAs I pondered, my radio beeped. \n\n\"Yeah, this is Gus.\" I called in. \n\nNo reply. \n\n\"This is Gus. Sarah, that you?\" I tried again.\n\n\"Hey Gus, this is James. Can you go somewhere to speak privately?\" I heard James's voice almost at a whisper.\n\n\"No can do, James. Still on the boat. Not a lot of room. Over.\" I replied.\n\nWaiting for a reply, I saw JT staring at me. \n\n\"Everything alright?\" he asked. \n\n\"Not sure.\" I stated, \"Could be an animal. James is kinda a baby about wild animals.\" \n\nJT nodded and looked away again.\n\nI heard beeping from my radio again. This time I recognized it as morse code. \n\n..-. --- ..- -. -.. / ..-. .- -- .. .-.. -.-- .-.-.- / -.. . .- -.. .-.-.- / -... ..- - -.-. .... . .-. . -.. --..-- / -.-. --- --- -.- . -.. / .- -. -.. / ... -.- .. -. -. . -.. .-.-.-\n\nI listened to it played through twice. \n\nAfter I made sure I heard it right, I felt myself start to pale. \n\nI took a deep breath when I heard a knife scrapping the wall behind me.\n\n\"I know morse code too.\" JT chuckled. " ]	3
	[WP] Most guardian angels are pretty bad at their job. Not your's. He/she is a little over protective, and does his/her job a little too well.	[ "On wings of angels wasn't just a saying in my case. She literally flew me everywhere. When I grew up in the orphanage I was the only one with a mom. When I went to prom, she danced with me when everyone thought I was weird. I guess it didn't help that no one could see her. I must have looked even more weird.\n\nI never minded the little things though. The odd looks, the whispers as I passed. I mean, what did I care what they thought. I knew she was there. It didn't matter that my psychiatrist thought thought I was crazy for saying she was real. Luckily for me, she always seemed to convince him that I wasn't a danger to myself and therefore didn't need to go to an insane asylum.\n\nMy life was perfect! Every day we spent together was another better day. Each day better than the last. Who else in history could boast that claim? So I never did mind everyone else.\n\nI never imagined it could happen though. I mean, who knew an angel could die?\n\nIt started out like every other day. Yet it was the worst day of my life. She flew me to school, and everyone snickered and talked behind my back as I talked with her. Life was good. The first of them came. Demons on wings of leather. I didn't know they were after me...but she did.\n\nYou see, people aren't supposed to see angels. We aren't supposed to even know they're there. I did though. The demons wanted that power. You see they can only see angels when the angels themselves want them to. \n\nOh how she shined that day!\n\nLike the noon day sun she lit up, when they came! I saw something in her eyes that I had never seen before. Anger, righteous anger! If it had been anyone but her I think I would have shrunk away and died from the heat of her gaze. It was amazing that the demons didn't.\n\nThe first wave of them who fell upon her did. They burned in the air like a piece of cotton in a forest fire. She pulled a sword from thin air, and took to the skies like a Valkyrie. An angel, hell bent on destruction.\n\nThe sky was dark with demons, and the army had one purpose. Destroy my guardian angel and take me down to hell with them. They fell to her fire and sword, their burning husks melting in her wake.\n\nHad they been allowed to pile up there would have been a new mountain underneath her feet. Her sword flew like lightning itself, and it seemed as if nothing could touch her.\n\nThen I saw it. It was only a tiny scratch, but she bled fire from it. When the demons noticed they fell upon her like rain. She burst forth, a comet among the debris of demons. She fell them, one by one, and many all at the same time. Her wounds built up over time.\n\nSoon for ever hundred demons she had another scar, and when the last demon fell, so did she.\n\nExhausted by their pursuit she hit the ground. I cursed my slow human speed for not being able to catch her. She lay on the ground panting, and bleeding fire from every wound.\n\nShe was covered in fire and light.\n\nTears stained my eyes as I looked upon the one being who always believed in me. The one being who never left my side. \"Please,\" I begged, \"please be okay.\"\n\nShe looked at me, love apparent in her eyes. \"Oh my precious one, do not weep. This is but a moment in your life. You will overcome it one day.\"\n\n\"Please, please no. I don't...I can't live without you here.\"\n\n\"No, don't say that. You are brave and true.\" She reached her hand up, and gently held me head. Her warm blood caressing my tear stained cheeks. It burned away my tears, but felt like the sun on my face. Warm and inviting. \"You will find someone who loves you as much as I one day. You will marry, and live a happy life. Take care of them, as I took care of you.\"\n\nHer hand fell, and I was alone. Left to cry and wail at my lonely fate. I held her head in my lap, burning with hatred for demons that had stole my heart. Then I felt someones hand on my shoulder.\n\nI turned, worried the demons had come for her body. It was only another angel. In fact, there were so many around me, and more began to appear. \"I'm sorry,\" he said. \"We couldn't get here fast enough.\"\n\nI shook with rage, \"Couldn't get here fast enough?\" I asked. \"SHE'S DEAD. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE. SHE DIED TO SAVE ME, AND YOU COULDN'T GET HERE FAST ENOUGH!\"\n\nI could see the sadness on his face, and I knew I was wrong. She would never want me to act this way. \"I'm sorry,\" I bawled.\n\nHe only held my shoulder tightly. \"We've come to take her to her rest.\" That was it. They picked up her body gently. The fire of her blood no more. They ascended into the heavens, or wherever angels go.\n\nAnd I was alone.\n\nThen I heard a voice. I turned, and saw a mousy little girl. She was probably close to my age. \"What?\" I asked.\n\n\"I'm sorry. Did you know her well? Only...I've seen them before. Some of them guard people, or walk with them. Telling them everything is going to be okay.\" She chuckled, \"I've always wondered if something wasn't wrong with me. They never guard me.\" She looked sad, and very lonely. \"I'm glad there's someone else who can see them,\" then she smiled.\n\nI remembered my angels last words, 'Take care of them, as I took care of you'.\n\nI smiled and shook my head. \"They only protect people who need protecting or encouragement. Perhaps you already have someone looking out for you.\"\n\nI stood, and walked toward this young woman, my new charge as a guardian angel.", "\"Michael, you have got to let me go.\" The old woman whispered up to the New York sky-line. It was closer than normal; she was standing on the ledge of a skyscraper. The city lights were so bright that it made starlight hard to see, but the many stars were there, waiting for an intrepid soul to meet them. \n\n\"I know you can hear me, Michael. It really is my time to go. I'm old, I've lived an amazing life, and I am so glad that God has given it to me. But my friends are gone now and I feel so alone. I am ready to join them.\" She slowly sat down on the ledge, hanging her legs off the side, mildly kicking them off the side of the building like a child. \n\n\"You remember when I was younger and you saved me from that semi-truck slamming into Jim's white Celico?\" She paused in thought before continuing, \"I lived but my husband was taken from me. I don't blame you for saving me, you were just doing your job. But I miss Jim. He had such a wonderful sense of humor.\" She smiled as she thought back to her second husband. \n\n\"And how could I forget my little Jonathan? My son is so fortunate that he was able to meet his Maker before I was. I hope that there is a place up there prepared for me, I'm sure he misses his mother, because I do miss him so. A parent should never have to experience the death of their offspring. It did bring great sorrow to me.. I am only glad that he has made it to a better place than his dear old mother.\" A bit of moisture had formed at the edge of her eyes, watering the old crow's feet. She pulled a tissue from a pocket in her sweater and dabbed the corners of her eye with it. \n\n\"Oh Michael. My loneliness feels like a curse. How is that I have lived past my time, like milk I should have expired by now. I feel my age. If there is any ounce of compassion within you, please grant me death. I don't even mind the pain, if I must suffer for a time, then it is a small price to pay to see my loved ones.\" \n\nShe heard footsteps behind her and a woman's voice, \"Ma'am, my name is Officer Bowden. I need you to step away from that ledge.\" She slowly stood up and turned her head to head to face Officer Bowden. The beam of a flashlight was on the ground next to her. She smiled at Mrs. Bowden. \n\n\"In my life-time, I have seen women join the workforce. I am so happy to see them also become officers of the law, especially women of color. But I will not be moving away from this ledge, Officer Bowden. Although I do respect your position.\" \n\n\"I appreciate that, Ma'am. But this isn't a safe place to be. It is my job to secure the safety of the people in this district and right now, you are in a dangerous location. Please step away from the ledge.\" Officer Bowden slowly approached her, one hand still holding the flashlight, the other out-held to her. Officer Bowden stopped as she took a step towards the edge. \n\n\"Look.. Mrs...?\" Bowden began, then waited for her name. \n\n\"Parker.\" \n\n\"Mrs. Parker. Are you feeling alright? It is cold out here, it would be warmer inside. I'll even buy you some food, if you'd like.\" Bowden gave a warm smile, and motioned her hand towards the door. \n\n\"I appreciate the offer, Officer Bowden. I really do. But I think we both know that I am not here for food tonight. I will be leaving shortly, don't you worry.\" \n\n\"Mind if I stay with you then? Maybe we can talk for awhile. I'm great at listening and if there is anything you'd like to talk about, I am more than willing to hear you out.\" \n\n\"I would love to chat, but don't you have more important matters to attend too? I would imagine there are many crimes occurring in the city that need to be looked into. I'm just an old woman, hardly worth the use of valuable city resources.\" \n\nBowden gave her a stern look, \"Mrs. Parker, every life is important. Time is of no consequence when it comes to matters of life and death. I need to know that you understand that you are worth any amount of effort regardless of your age. I am duty-bound to protect you.\" \n\nShe smiled, \"Officer Bowden, you truly are a sweet soul. You remind me of someone I know,\" solemnly she paused. \"The decision has already been made, Officer Bowden. I am ready for an end to my suffering. I think you can understand that, even if you are bound to protect my well-being. This is my choice though. I want to go out on my own terms, not become bedridden on some dirty hospice deathbed. Some lives are ready for death, and it is through no fault of your own that that happens. I want you to know that I am releasing you of your responsibility to me.\" She took another step towards the edge. \n\nOfficer Bowden's muscles tensed as she sprang into action. She rushed to the edge as the old woman leapt, arms outstretched. She caught Mrs.Parker's arm and the old woman slammed into the side of the building, likely breaking several rib bones. Mrs. Parker gave a yelp as the air was forced from her lungs. Bowden slid towards the edge. \n\nForlorn, Mrs. Parker looked into Officer Bowden's squinting eyes. Bowden's hands grasped her arm tighter although she was clearly straining. \n\n\"Let me go,\" the old woman whispered, \"let me go, Michael.\" \n\n\"Mrs. Parker, I cannot do that,\" panted Officer Bowden as she tried to pull her up. The strain was causing her hands to get sweaty and it was getting harder to hold the old woman. Moving her body awkwardly, she managed to hit the transmit button on her radio. \"Command, this is Officer Bowden. I am at Falcon Tower, on the corner of East 44th Street and 2nd Avenue. Requesting immediate back up. 10-54. Please respond as soon as possible. \n\nHer fingers were slipping, what really disturbed her were Mrs. Parker's eyes. They were so peaceful. Content even. How could someone with broken ribs be so damned peaceful. Where was her backup? \n\n\"Let go, Michael. Let go, Mrs. Bowden. It's my time.\" Those were her last words. Mrs. Bowden watched helplessly as Mrs. Parker's arm slipped from her grasp. She watched as the old lady fell to her death. A mixture of sadness and frustration overwhelmed her as tears filled her eyes. \n\nShe watched the motionless black dot on the ground, her tears falling like raindrops down, down, down to the body. And as she watched she saw something strange. It looked like a light coming from the dot. She watched as it rose, ever upwards. Story by story it came up the skyscraper, until it was eye level with her. The tears from her eyes stopped and she felt strangely calm as the light touched her face. As it disappeared, she turned around and was greeted by another being, an ephemeral phantom with wings. \n\nShe thought she heard a faint, \"Thank you,\" before the two lights ascended up, up and up towards the clouds and Officer Bowden felt a strange sense of peacefulness. Something unknown and magical had just happened but she couldn't wrap her mind around it. As her fellow officers came through the door, they looked at her strangely and asked her what had happened. She mechanically gave the details of the incident, leaving out the other details. " ]	2
	[WP] You are talking to yourself in the mirror to psyche yourself up, but things take a turn when your reflection starts talking back to you.	[ "Alright. I got this. I can go out tonight, I can have a good time. It's no big deal... It feels like a big deal though...\n\nI should try saying this out loud, I've heard that helps. \n\n\"Alright, hey, you got this-\" \n\n\"What?\" my reflection replied. \n\nHoly shit, what the hell was that. Holy shit. Wow. Ok. What the hell. My reflection just spoke back. Well... It seems normal now. Ok, cool. I imagined that... I don't think I imagined that. \n\n\"I don't think you imagined it\", my reflection said. \n\n\"Ah! Holy Shit what the hell! How can you talk to me?,\" I screamed. \n\n\"What do you mean? I'm you. Of course I can talk. Man, if only you could see the look on your face right now.\" My reflection laughed. I didn't laugh. \n\nI don't like that my reflection and I are doing different things. \n\n\"Ok, seriously, why the hell are you talking all of a sudden?,\" I asked. \n\n\"What are you talking about? We've never spoken to each other, which was fine with me. And then you decided to just start talking to me!,\" replied my reflection.\n\n\"I was hyping myself up!\" \n\n\"No! You were hyping me up! If you don't want me to talk to you, then don't talk to me.\" said my reflection. \n\n\"Uh, ok. I guess that works. So we just won't speak to each other again?\" \n\n\"Yup.\" \n\n\"Ok, great. Well, goodbye then\" I said. \n\n\"Goodbye... Oh, and, good luck tonight. You look great\" said my reflection. \n\nAnd I have to tell you, I walked out of that bathroom feeling great. " ]	1
	[WP] You're being tortured and interrogated by the CIA for being a spy. You're completely innocent but they think otherwise.	[ "When he immigrated to US in 2009, Singh was already put on a special list. His trip to Pakistan was suspicious enough on its own but him being a chemical engineer was a no brainer. His case was assigned to some grunt in the FBI. All his activities would be discretely monitored for his duration of stay. And he had no clue. \nSingh led a very interesting life. His work was important to him but he also had a busy social life. One of his close friends was himself on a terror watch list and was believed to be his conduit to his co-conspirators. He was also under arrest and being interrogated at another site. During 10+ years of surveillance Singh had managed to fly under the radar. Nothing raised any red flags. He looked and behaved like a model citizen. But then 2016 came. \n\nSingh became more and more involved into the US politics. He had always had a moderate liberal outlook towards politics. But he had never been too serious about US politics to care. As soon as candidate Drumpf became a strong contender he changed his political ideology. He joined the resist movement and participated in a lot of rallies against the candidate. He helped organize sit ins in his university, volunteered in the democratic candidates campaign and donated both time and money to it. \n\nAfter Drumpf won the presidency, Singh's nature became militant. His online history shows a lot of hate towards the President. He never threatened the President outright, but you could read between the lines of how much hate and disgust he had for Drumpf. He was a regular visitor to various anti-Drumpf subreddits and was very vocal about how Drumpf was gonna ruin US. \n\nSingh was arrested in May last year trying to organize a rally to protest the Muslim ban's passing through the Senate. He was accused of planning a co ordinated bombing of the US capitol and the White House. Even before charges were brought against him, President Drumpf tweeted all the details in his usual fashion. Singh was tried and convicted in 140 words. \n\nSmith received a phone call from the holy trinity, the heads of FBI, CIA and ATF (all Drumpf appointees coincidentally). He was instructed that the Knightfall protocol was initiated in Singh. He was responsible to get a confession out of him. After all the President was counting on him. \n\nBikram couldn't cry anymore. His tears had dried up. He hadn't been given water in three days. His body was severely dehydrated. He was sitting naked in a metal chair with no bottom. He had endured so much abuse in the past couple of hours that his brain had turned its pain receptors off. In this pause between the round the clock torture, he was trying to think about what could he tell them that could make it stop. They had repeatedly told him the mountains of evidence against him. His trip to Pakistan where he had gone to visit his ancestral home where his family lived before the partition of India and Pakistan. The job offers he received while in Germany from shady organizations that he promptly declined. His friend Abaas who was a student like him and had some family black sheeps who were involved with terrorists. His crush who was a vocal opponent of Drumpf and his policies to impress whom Singh had started joining the protest moment. \nAs his mind was shutting down all he could remember were his mothers pleas asking him to return home as things were getting way to dangerous in US for immigrants! ", "\"This can all end now\" The oldest of the four men said as he pulled my head out of the barrel of swampy water. \"All you have to do is tell us where he's hiding\" \n\nI gasped and choked as air refilled my lungs. I was only under water for maybe a couple of minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Tears began to roll down my face as the gravity of the situation returned to me. Four men had picked me up earlier today, thrown me into a tiny windowless cell, and were now proceeding to torture me to try and get information I didn't have. \n\nI looked up at the man who had just pulled me out and with pleading eyes I begged him to let me go. \"I've told you already I don't know what you're talking about. I've never even heard of Jacob Tori let alone where he would be hiding\" The man paused for a second before chuckling softly and lowering my head back into the water. I struggled against my bonds but it was no use. I heals my breath for as long as I could until my lungs felt like they would explode. My mouth opened gasping for air, but all it found was dirty water. Slowly the world started to melt away as I drifted out of consciousness. Just before everything faded to black I was pulled out once again. \n\nThe second man had pulled me out this time. He was a little younger and had a shaved head with visible tattoos up his arms. He took a more direct approach than his partner. He started with a series of blows to my stomach that made me cough out the water that had been in my lungs. As I slouched forward he delivered a staggering uppercut that chipped some of my teeth. He grabbed me by the hair and leaned in close. \"You're going to tell me where the fuck Jacob is, or I swear to got I'll beat you to death!\" I started crying again as I pleaded with him \"Please I'm telling you the truth! I don't know who Jacob is!\" He delivered another series of blows to my midsection and I felt a few ribs crack. He placed my head back in the water, but this time I couldn't hold my breath. \n\nAs water filled my lungs I began convulsing. I was sure this would be the end until the third man pulled me out. He was the youngest and best dressed of them all. He didn't beat me, or yell at me, or even question me. Instead he opened his briefcase and pulled out a series of pictures of a man that looked very similar to me standing with another man. \n\n\"We know you've had contacts with Jacob, Steven, so there's no point in lying. Make no mistake, we will kill you here today if you do not cooperate. Tell me where Jacob is or I will unleash my associate on you.\" \n\nI was too exhausted and sore to respond. All I could do was look up with pleasing eyes and shake my head no. I didn't know what they were talking about. I had no information to give. The third man sighed and turned around to face the fourth who had been sitting out of the light. He slowly stood pushing his chair back and approached me. It was hard to believe at first but the closer he came, the more the truth rang home. My brother leaned in close to me and placed a gag over my mouth while whispering \"I'm sorry brother but one of us has to go down for this and it won't be me.\" He turned and walked away as the second man returned, this time with a small club in his hand. I struggled with all my might trying to explain what was really happening until the first blow landed on the back of my head and the world began to fade. ", "Suspect : Bikram Singh code named The Tourist\nLocation : classified\nAgents in charge : Smith, Grayson and Ryan \nEnhanced interrogation: authorized \n\nS - I thought you said you wanted to talk? \n\nT - Yes. Please. I told you I don't know anything. I am just a student. Here to complete my education. I don't know anything about the bombs. You have got the wrong guy. \n\nR - And there he goes again. Why can't you terrorists ever have a backbone? All that grit and determination to carry out the will of your Allah and look at you now sobbing like a baby. \n\nS - You need to understand one thing, your life is done. You are never going to see sunlight again. Only thing that matters now is how comfortable the rest of your brief life I can make. And that depends on your level of cooperation. \n\nT - (Yells out in pain) \n\nG - (over the intercom) Smith, Ryan, outside. \n\nThis was hour 30 of enhanced interrogation of subject Tourist. Ryan and Smith were the best the agency had to offer. They were brought in when everything else fails. Ryan was a legend at Guantanamo. He had broken down terrorists who hadn't said a word for years. His methods were so controversial that the company had officially disavowed him and all his association with the CIA had been erased from records. He was now a few agent who was contracted from time to time to work on special projects mostly on black sites. \nSmith was another well known legend in the CIA. He was a lifer who had served his country for 40 years and had retired in '99. At least that's what the public records state. Smith went into a special program called \"Knightfall\". It was a code word clearance only project that was known to about 15 people in the whole world. Smith rose to leader position in a couple of years and now ran the whole thing. A person or persons who were integrated into the Knightfall program lost all constitutional protection. \n\nG - So anything? Did he tell you anything of value? \n\nR - Yeah. He told me his schools name, classes he takes and the girl he has a crush on. \n\nS - Stop being a wiseass Ryan. This is the most difficult case I have seen in the Knightfall program ever. We broke Majid Hassan in less than 12 hours. And he was a true believer. This kid is barely devout. Are you sure the intel is correct Gray? \n\nG - You know it is Smith. You know the kind of work it goes to authorize a Knightfall protocol on someone. \n\nSmith had instantly regretted questioning the integrity of the system. He was the architect of the updated protocols and knew how difficult it was to make an error. Three department heads of CIA, FBI and ATF had to vet all the evidence and sign off for the program to be implemented. This was the reason that so few cases had been recommended to his department. The program was inhumane, brutal and almost always resulted in severe physical and psychological damage to the subject. Deaths were way to common. \n\nR - Give me some more time boss. I will get the information you need. \n\nSmith nodded and walked off to his office. He was going to look over the evidence and see if he had missed something he could use. \n\n Bikram Singh. Born in India. 1984. Belongs to a middle income family. No contact with any religious extremists. Went to an engineering school. Majored in chemical engineering. During his second year went to Pakistan to spend his summer there. No details on his activity there. (This is where he got radicalized, presumably). \nGraduated with top honors in his field. Was recruited by an MNC and worked in Germany and Sweden for a couple of years. Moved to US in 2009 on a work visa. Worked in a major US chemicals company for 4 years before shifting his focus to academics again. Did his masters in chemical engineering and was pursuing his Phd when he was arrested. All in all his profile looked like that of the thousands of immigrants who move to US for a better life and education. \n\nBut this was the Bikram on paper and how his friends and family knew him. Then there was the side that the company discovered. \n\n1984 was the darkest period in the history of Punjab, India. Bikram was born during a period when Sikhs were being massacred and persecuted in the thousands. During his trip to Pakistan he had met with many religious extremists who were living there in exile. This was also the year when he changed his major from electrical engineering to chemical. During his stay in Germany and Sweden he was contacted by various extremist groups to provide them with chemicals for explosives. All these groups were traced back to Pakistan which means that introductions were being made through the Sikh fundamentalists overt there. " ]	3
	[WP] While fiddling with your HAM radio, you recieve a transmission, someone demanding to know where the hell "Terra Orbital Traffic Control" is and what orbit to take.	[ "The rain was coming down hard outside. Rick fiddled with the dial on the HAM radio with one hand, and pressed the working speaker of his headphones to his ear with the other. It was his duty to his country, his director had said, to root out all potential for illicit communist activity. They could corrupt democratic ideals from any direction. Even, and perhaps especially, over the airwaves. \nHe was supposed to find anything that sounded like Russian, or counterculture propaganda, in an effort to curb the USSR’s influence over the American populace. In reality this meant a lot of cataloguing and listening to very terrible music. It was not what he had hoped working for the CIA would be like. \n\nHe twisted the dial in an attempt to find the station that played a strange little song on the hour, every hour. Today was the perfect weather for it, as it was often a little bit out of range and staticky. As he moved through the frequencies, the static suddenly let up and he heard a strangely accented voice.\n\n“–actic Enterprises Freighter 439462, please come in Terra Orbital Traffic Control. This is Galactic Enterprises Freighter 439462, where the hell is your Orbital Traffic Control, Terra?”\n\nIt wasn’t Russian, and it didn’t seem like propaganda. Just another new station to catalogue.\n\nA strange idea popped into Rick’s head. He took from the corner of the desk a microphone. Technically he wasn’t allowed to use it but as long as the director didn’t find out about it he was fine. He plugged it into the radio and spoke into the microphone.\n\n“This is Rick. Who are you?” he asked.\n\n The voice answered, “Finally, Terra Orbital Traffic Control. This is Galactic Enterprises Freighter 439462. Request for landing. Awaiting further guidance.”\n\n “Are you creatures from outer space?” asked Rick. “There is no Terra Orbital Traffic Control, at least not that I’m aware.”\n\n“There isn’t?” asked the voice. “Then how do you allow ships to land without any confusion?” \n\n“We–don’t,” said Rick. “I wasn’t even sure aliens existed before now.”\n\n“Are we making first contact?” The voice suddenly got excited. \n\n“I think so,” said Rick.\n\n“I–wow, normally it’s chancellors and priests getting to meet new races, but this time it’s just me and my crew, in a little old freighter, getting to see a new world for the first time,” said the voice. “I’m Captain Vax, by the way.”\n\n“Why do you want to land on Earth, Captain Vax?” asked Rick.\n\n“So this is Earth, not Terra,” said Vax. “Damn it. We must have hyper-jumped too far. Our ship got caught in some cross-fire with some warring states. Stupid generals never leave the freight lanes alone. We need to land and make some repairs, but we don’t want to get stranded. What’s your technology like?”\n\n“We have, uhhh, televisions, and nuclear weapons, and, oh, computers,” said Rick.\n\n“What do your computers look like?” asked Vax.\n\n“They take up entire rooms,” said Rick. \n\n“Shit. Your tech is still a little too early for us, but I guess we can make do. Where you located?”\n\n“Washington, DC,” said Rick. “If you’re looking at the Earth, it’s on the side with two continents, not four, and it’s on the no–“\n\n“We got it, bud,” said Vax. “Looks like a city. There’s a big grassy area not too far away. Looks like…Fairfax is the nearest town? Do you think you could meet us there?”\n\n“Sure. I’ll be done with work in a couple of hours, so I’ll meet you there. It might be dark, though,” said Rick. \n\n“Great. See you then, earthling.”" ]	1
	[WP] You find a note taped under your desk that says, "Hello from the past", you write hello back and put back under your desk. When you pull it out again there's a response.	[ "\"Hello from the Future.\" I wrote, chuckling to myself. I put it back and forgot about it. That was yesterday. I found the note again while cleaning... and it had changed.\n\n\"Wow... I wasn't expecting any response.\n\nI stare at the neat typewritten letters. I pull out my pen.\n\n\"Who are you?\"\n\nI flip the note over in my hands, imagining the rhythmic clicking of typewriter keys. When I saw the writing again, a new response had appeared.\n\n\"Of course, how rude of me. My name is... or rather was, Tabitha. My friends called me Tabby. I am what you might call a ghost.\"\n\n\"I'm Samson. You mentioned being from the past?\" I realized how stupid that was as a question when she responded.\n\n\"Well, yes. Being dead tends to mean that your life is in the past.\"\n\nI hastily penned my clarification. \"What I mean is, what year did you die?\"\n\n\"1963. I was 23.\"\n\n I thought about what to ask next for a few moments before putting pen to paper. \"Why are you speaking to me, Tabby?\"\n\n\"I need your help Sam. I need to find out how I died.\"", "'Boy, that was pretty weird' I thought, 'Probably just a co-worker playing a prank on me, and a very poorly executed one at that'. At the time I just played along, not knowing what was going to happen next, if I had, I'd have thrown that paper in the trash where it belonged.\n\nThe next day, I woke up with the radio blaring into my ear and crust in my eyes.\nI rubbed my face to get them dislodged and then rubbed my arms together. \n\"Should've reached for a water instead of that Corona last night\", I muttered to myself as I took the first swallow of the day, feeling the pain of dry mouth instantly. \nFrom the moment I woke up, I just knew this was going to be a bad day.\n\nWhen I finally got to work after a 30 minute phone call with my mother (I swear, that woman just cares too much) and a delayed bus, I was 10 minutes late, the bossman was NOT happy. Defeated, I dragged myself over to my desk and fell into the chair, then I felt a sneeze coming on (fuck allergy season) and instinctively reached for a tissue. 'Just in the nick of time', as I pulled it out and moved my arm in one smooth motion to catch it. I balled it up and casually tossed it to my side, starting up my computer and getting ready for the day.\n\nIt had to be only 3 hours later that I finally noticed the tissue lying there on the ground after coming back from a much needed restroom break. As I bent down to pick it up, I noticed a bright yellow piece of paper under my desk, then I remembered the paper I'd put there in response to the one I found in the same place. 'Best throw that away too', my need to clean getting the best of me.\nSo as I pulled it down, hearing the sound of the tape peel off satisfyingly, I got a quick glance at the writing on it which kept it in my hand.\n\n\"Tell security to lock down the building. NOW\"\n\n" ]	2
You can be anyone affected by this decision including an elite, an elite's wife, a random dude on an island, or an uninformed farmer living far away from any burning ocean.	[WP] A group of aliens that use water instead of fossil fuels stop by Earth and offers crude oil in exchange for water. After some elites accept their offering, a miscommunication replaces ALL of Earth's oceans with flammable oil. Now, everyone is struggling to survive on a burning ball of flame.	[ "\"Don't you understand that this is the perfect business opportunity, Paul?\"\n\n\"But exactly how would we do it? And what is the aliens are able to replace our oil with water again,\" I asked. I've always been skeptical about whatever Mark tells me to put money into.\n\n\"For one thing, the aliens got the water they needed, there's no chance of them coming back to trade for what they don't want anymore. Paul, listen: we can't notice it now, but the atmosphere's oxygen will be depleted faster than anyone will see it coming. If we can bottle liquid oxygen now, every wealthy person on the planet will be paying us big bucks for it a year from now. We can even call it Muring Oxyceutical, after you! If we both chip in a hundred thousand each, the equipment will be easy to make. Perhaps down the road, we'll be able to farm oxygen when our business gets bigger.\"\n\nI couldn't argue with Mark. I told him I would be okay with spending $20k at first, then if it seemed promising, I would chip in some more.\n- - -\nIt was two years after the catastrophe, I now saw the result of Mark being right for the first time.\n\n\"Mark, I'll never be able to thank you enough for sharing your business idea with me.\"\n\n\"And I'm glad you were able to put in a copyright on our oxygen harvesting idea so early on! Paul, you realize we basically have a monopoly on a business that's keeping everyone alive.\"\n\n\"Haha, we could probably double the price per gallon of LOX, and make even more!\"\n\n\"Let's not be evil about this, Paul. People would die.\"\n- - -\nSeven months later, I was watching the news on my hilltop mansion. They hardly talked about anything anymore except our business and anything surrounding it.\n\n\"Protesters continue to show their anger against MurOx for the recent raise in oxygen prices. Riots have occurred outside their oxygen-harvesting plants for the last three weeks, as prices rose 20% for the commodity last month.\"\n\nI knew they couldn't do anything about it. People would buy their oxygen from us, even if it meant being homeless. The fires had eaten up almost all the oxygen outside our metal capsules, and only small communities living in the middle of forests could survive without us.\n- - -\nSitting on my chair one midnight, I sipped my oxygen through a plastic tube enjoying the life I had only once imagined of living. It was then, I looked down into what was once the city. It used to bustle with activity. Now... Now, I saw only a few scattered lights. I had made a business that could've been used to save a dying world, and here I had killed humanity with it. I threw my can of oxygen off the cliff and breathed in the smokey, noxious air so many others had been doomed to breathe in because of me. Only the slow sleep which now enveloped me could put my heart rampant with greed to rest." ]	1
	[WP] Campfire legends tell of Barhun, son of the Mad King Denel, savior of Morrica in the Time of Sky-fire	[ "A motley group of rangers, woodsmen, exiled cavaliers, and a bard congregated beneath the stars in the Woods of Elaide in the country of Morrica to recite the story of Barhun the Glad, son of King Denel the Mad. King Denel was an ancient and once venerable king who sowed the seed of prosperity in Morrica before the Time of Sky-fire. When the Time of Sky-fire was upon Morrica, though, King Denel fell into madness. Some attributed it to the expansion of the sun - which heralded the Time of Sky-fire - and called it \"Sun Fever.\" Others attributed it to the stress that accompanied the consolidation of powers that rose against Morrica at a time when Denel's wife was with child. Others still attributed it to the treachery of Denel's Court Mage, who was rumored to have cursed Denel with madness and then decamped into the Cultwood, he where he was never heard from again.\n\nKing Denel acquired a loyal following among his own people even as his son Barhun was coronated and Denel was admitted to an infirmary, where he spent the rest of his retirement. These \"Madvocates\", as they were pegged by Barhun's generation, were said to be sick with madness, in like manner with Denel. Barhun, who cursed the name of his father for fear of being paired with him, exiled many Madvocates and detained others. This trend continued until the Madvocates became thought of as a pestilence that needed to be contained. One hundred years later, the Madvocates, who were few and far between now in the Kingdom of Morrica, continued to sit in exile in the Woods of Elaide, convening with curious woodsmen and sympathetic rangers to revisit the tale of King Denel the Mad.\n\nThis night, however, the bard chose a different story: the story of Barhun the Glad's greatness. \"Tonight I share the story of the grandest king of Morrica,\" began the bard, not admitting a name; none must know he sympathized with the devil, Barhun, and not that lunatic Denel. \"He was more than a king: he was a savior. He staved off three mighty consolidated kingdoms in the Time of Sky-fire, when the gods expanded the sun three times its size and fire rained down upon Morrica as retribution for its sins. He warded off Sun Fever and closed the heavens by impressing the gods with his glory. He restored harmony to the earth and the skies of Morrica, until every beast from every corner of the land could emerge from its despair and acquire rest. Greatness, gentlemen, proceeds from madness.\" He meant this figuratively, of course: Barhun, who embodied greatness, proceeded from Denel, who embodied madness. But the exiled kingsmen, the woodsmen, and the rangers took it literally, assuming he meant Denel when he mentioned greatness, and eased forward in their seats in earnest passion to hear the bard honor Denel further with his praise. The bard's brow began to perspire as he tread dangerous waters with his garbled tale. One misspoken word, one tip that he was praising Barhun, and these men would have his head. Madness, the bard feared, inflicted these men.\n\n[Saving in the meantime, I shall continue shortly.]" ]	1

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