Split (1)

train · 199k rows

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	[WP] As a struggling villian, you try every horrendous crime in the book, but somehow, a positive result always comes from your actions. Today marks the day Humanity makes a holiday for you in appreciation and invites you to a public conference. Now's your final chance.	[ "I frowned deeply. I will succeed. I would not fail. \"You can do this.\" I told my reflection. Or my reflection told me. Whatever. \"Today is the day. Today, you will NOT FAIL!\" I shouted at myself. Yes, that the one. Either way I was shouting at myself. Excellent. Now that that's out of the way. \"You are going to go out there, announce you are a villain, and hold the world's elite for ransom. There are eight snipers positioned at each of the upper floor balconies, and some muscle on the floor among the crowd. There is no way for this to go wrong. One way or another, you can finally gain the infamy you justly deserve.\"\n\nMy mind flashed to the time the bomb for that orphanage had destroyed the building, but allowed them to collect the insurance to build a newer, better facility. That had only been the start. I tried to shake the memory away, but another took it's place. The poison I had dumped into the water supply. That had backfired as well. What were the chances there was already another poison in the water system, that my poison neutralized and save the entire bleeding city. Memory after memory rapidly flashed through my mind. No. No. No, no, no. This wouldn't be like last time. This wouldn't be like any of those times, or the bank robbery. The bank robbery. I shuddered, it still gave me night terrors.\n\nA deep breath filled my lungs, and I huffed. Today, it would work. I would be the only villain in history to have been a super hero, only to become the most despised villain. I would be the only villain who had fooled and entire city into idolizing him. Yes.\n\nFor my wardrobe I had selected the perfect cape. Outer black with a blood red inside. Another deep breath for good luck, and I pushed my way through the door. A cheer rose up from the crowd. Clapping filled the hall. All of those rich ladies with diamonds dangling from their throats, all those men with gold plated watches. World leaders and dignitaries. All of them would know my name, and spread word of my misdeeds. I would be rich, and respected. Feared. Who else would dare to hold the world's leaders hostage? No one. That's who. I mean. ME. I would. I am. Yeah. That's it, I am.\n\nI made my way to the stage, as the mayor introduced me, \"And now ladies and gentlemen. The man who needs no introduction, the man whom we are here to celebrate. Today, we will declare on live global television the man who invented a way to purify water for Africa, the man who released a genetically modified plant that single\\-handedly cured world hunger, the man, who cured cancer, by altering the medical supplies at every factory in the world on the same day, a hero!\" Another roaring cheer shook the hall. I clenched my teeth. \"We welcome our hero, and mark this day 'World Destroymus Day!\"\n\nI cringed. Didn't they realize it was a super\\-villains name? Damn it, and their idiocy.\n\nI had stopped next to podium. Announce it loud and proud. You can do this.\n\n\"Without further adieu, Your HERO!\"\n\nHe moved out of the way and flamboyantly ushered me to take the stand. I swallowed. \"I am here to announce, I am a\\-\" A loud boom sounded as sparkly fireworks went off behind me. Someone must have misfired them. Damn it. \"A VILLAIN!\" I tried to shout over the sound of the the fireworks.\n\nNo one heard me, but every one was looking at me, silhouetted by flaming special effects. Truly looking the part of the hero. When the overwhelming sound of the deafening celebration ended, I signaled them. They took up their positions, and turned their laser sights on. \"I am a villain!\" I shouted into the silence. \"This is a stick up!\" Funny looks answered my declaration. I laughed manically. Yes, yes, YES! Everything was going to plan. \"Please hand your wallets and jewelry to the men in black, and no one gets hurt.\"\n\nMy minions made short work of the valuable, efficiently collecting everything, and backhanding everyone who protested. Everything sat in a pile next to me on the stage. Pride filled my breast. Today was the day. I'd done it. I had done the impossible. \n\nOne of my men leaned over whispering into my ear, \"Sir, all the jewelry has some sort of explosive attached to it.\"\n\n\"What?\" I demanded. No, not again, this had to be a success. The rear doors slammed open, and a man holding a private security personal before him strode in, with goons in tow. Gun fire sounded, and the personnel before him fell to the ground in a bloody mess.\n\n\"OOPS!\" the villain shouted, his voice carrying around the room. \"Here we are!\" The camera's turned to him. \"If you will check your possessions, you will find explosives. Please, no rapid movements, or my trigger finger may slip.\" He held his hand up, clenching something.\n\n\"Take him out!\" I screamed. \"He'll ruin everything!\"\n\n\"This is a dead man's switch,\" he declared, before a bullet took him through the skull. A look of pure surprise crossed his face, as he sunk to his knees, dropped the switch, and utterly collapsed.\n\nA roaring explosion knocked me from the podium, flinging me through the air to slam against a wall.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nI woke up later in the hospital, my team had taken out the intruders, the intruders who had been planning to hold the world leaders hostage. In the end my holiday grew to become a story of how I had sacrificed myself to save them all, and the celebration would be three day instead of one. I failed. Damn it." ]	1
	[WP] You realize you can scroll up on reddit allowing you to scroll into the future and see posts not yet submitted. You see a post 8 hours ahead confirming the end of the world 24 hours from now. What do you do with this information?	[ "Casually I scrolled through Reddit while watching the tv. I looked down at my phone knowing I had randomly been scrolling. I saw a post on r/news that said “Confirmed the world will end in 24 hours!” In terror I looked at how long ago it had been posted so I could calculate how long I had left.\n\nIt had been posted 8 hours ago... no that’s not what it says. It said 8 hours until. Next to the comments, upvotes and downvotes it had a N/A instead of a number. I panicked and collected many of my possessions and called members of family. I sat down on the couch with my dog, Scrappy sitting on my lap.\n\nAlmost 8 hours had passed since I saw the post. It was then decided to make a post to r/news..." ]	1
	[WP] You were a professional gamer when you were young. 40 years later, you were recalling your past when a notification popped up: "Reload latest save?"	[ "It had been a week since the funeral. A simple ceremony, nothing fancy, just the way his mother would have wanted. However, even though the service had gone by and the body of his last living relative was peacefully resting underground, John knew that the current chapter in his life was far from closing.\n\nHe had been postponing this for a week, drowning his sorrow in cheap whiskey, but he knew he couldn’t delay it for much longer. And that was why, that sunny morning, John had driven all the way from his apartment in the city, down to the country side to his childhood home.\n\nAs he stepped out of the car and his foot settled into the dirt driveway of the old house where he had grown up, the scent of the spring filled his nostrils bringing back happy childhood memories. He stopped for a moment, trying not to get overcome by them.\n\nEven though he lived three hours away, John had rarely visited. He had a good job in the city’s financial district that kept him busy during most of the hours of the day and during most of the weekends. Maybe he should have come more often. Sighing, he walked towards the house and to the small porch that sheltered the front door.\n\nThe wood creaked under his feet, as he climbed the three small steps, and finally the old door opened to reveal the living room that he knew so well. It was empty. And if felt empty. Not it the way it would feel as if someone had just ran down to the grocers and was about to come back, but rather as if it had been abandoned. It felt almost as if the house knew that their sole inhabitant was gone, never to return again.\n\nPlacing his jacket over the back of the couch, John stood in the middle of the living room, taking in what had once been a household bursting with life. There was no way of dealing with it and he knew it. But he had to start somewhere. If he wanted to sell the place, he needed to sort his late mother’s belongings and clean the house as best as he could. There was no other way.\n\nAs he walked around the house, his steps led him to his old bedroom. He hadn’t been there in ages. A thin layer of dust had gathered on top of most of his personal belongings. Walking across the room he opened his window to allow some light and fresh air in. When something caught his eye.\n\nSitting on the smooth wooden surface of his chest of drawers was something he hadn’t seen in a long time. So long that he had almost forgotten that part of his past. It was an old and battered VR set. The goggles sitting neatly on a pair of gloves. Dusting them with his hand, John smiled. He doubted the system even worked.\n\nPutting the gloves on first, he carefully placed the goggles around his head. For a moment, all he could see was dark. And then, with a small movement of his fingers, the screen sprung to life. A single sentence floated in the space around him. A simple question that bore the weight of a lifetime.\n\n“Reload latest save?”\n\nJohn stood, frozen in place, as memories came back at him — his past as a professional gamer, the joy, money and somewhat fame that it had brought him, and eventually, how it all had came crashing down. It had been a hard blow, finished by his parents when they had found the family’s pick up truck crashed into a tree and their only son’s life hanging by a thread. All because he had gone in so deep that he didn’t seem to cope with living normal life without looking at it through a pair of VR goggles.\n\nJohn had never seen his game system again. Until now.\n\nIt had been so many years… his life had changed in so many ways… certainly just one last game wouldn’t be harmful… right?\n\nPressing his fingers together, his bedroom was suddenly transformed into an old city. Pollution covered the air, making his vision blurry, and ugly rusty buildings towered in the distance. He was breathing through a mask and in his hands he carried a machine gun. John was no longer certain of what he should do with it. He had a faint memory of a military base hidden somewhere but he didn’t feel like walking around in this uninviting pos-apocalyptic wasteland to complete the mission. For the first time in years, he felt old.\n\nTurning the game off and lifting the goggles from his eyes, John sat at the feet of his bed. For the first time, he saw how much he had changed. How much of his life had been wasted in a fictional world instead of spending time with the two people that had given him love. The same two people to whom he had turned his back when they didn’t allow him to game anymore. He remembered the fights… his mother’s tear covered eyes and his father’s look of disappointment. John had taken the truck and moved to the city, selling it for a small apartment in a shady part of town. Eventually he had gotten a job at a small company and worked his way to the top. His life had changed to the better, little by little, but he had never really visited his parents that much anymore. His father passed away a few years after he left, leaving his mother alone. And now, even her was gone. Both of them, gone forever.\n\nAs he drove back to the city at sunset, the back seat and trunk of his car full with the few things he had thought would be worth keeping, John couldn’t help but stare in awe at the shades of orange that covered the sky. There had been a long time since he had looked up and noticed how beautiful the nature around him really was. He sighed and smiled softly. He could see now how he had lost time and opportunities with people that loved him, but he would not let that happen again. It was finally time for him to make a life of his own." ]	1
	[WP] You just got a new job in a high tech health insurance company. You received great benefits and a personalized actuarial life table using the companies AI software. Later you begin to notice that the predictions by the AI of the date, time, and manner of death are much too accurate.	[ "\"Of course, please take care\",\n\n~~Stevenson, Kenneth~~,\n\nAs Sam hung up the phone and scratched off the latest name he had highlighted on his list, a sharp sense of nervousness started to rise from his gut and up his chest. That makes it 10 in a row he thought to himself. Sam had gone through his latest claims report and picked out 10 cases with particularly unique circumstances. As a 20 year vet of the dreary and depressing world of life insurance he has seen many unlikely causes of death. Sometimes they’re tragic, Julia for instance, a 26 year old who succumbed to rapid early onset Parkinson’s, one of only 5 known cases in history. Other times they’re less tragic, like Stan, a 21 year old man who ran away from his remand home and died of a cocaine induced heart attack in a strip club. As odd as they seemed, these unique deaths from his past experience all had something in common and that was that no one, no report would have ever been able to predict them. At least that’s what he used to think.\n\nAn actuarial life table, or ALT as it was more commonly called, is a report that that shows the probability of a person at a certain age dying before his or her next birthday. They have been a staple in the insurance game since its inception and as machine learning has improved, these reports have become more case specific. Sam gets one every month and traditionally, it’s been about 60&#37; accurate which might seem low, but understand that unexpected death is rather expected in his world. Since Sam started at LifeGuard however, he has seen these reports jump to a staggering 80&#37; accuracy with his latest claims sheet corresponding line by line with what the ALT predicted.\n\n“Dude, come here” Sam quipped urgently without lifting his head. The only other person in the room was Sam’s co\\-worker Flynn, together they cover all LifeGuard claims in the North West. “Yes Sam, it’s AI, it’s pretty fucking good at what it does”, Flynn responded without much of a thought. Sam has been pestering Flynn with his suspicions about how an early beta AI could so accurately predict the deaths of people based only on simple questionnaires and medical histories that have been available to insurance companies for decades. “Flynn, I’m serious, look at this” Sam reiterated. Flynn reluctantly rolled his chair over to Sam. “I’ve noticed something” Sam said with that snarky tone you hear when someone is about to tell you I told you so. “This is the latest ALT, as usual it’s pretty much spot on. It even managed to predict THREE teenage deaths” Sam emphasized. Predicting a teenage death was unheard of even under a year ago. “Okay, that is a bit strange I’ll admit, but so what? What did you notice?” Flynn asked with an obvious curiosity. “Well I started digging into these 10 cases and every single one of them had extensive online profiles. I’m not just talking social media accounts, I mean they were full on attention whores” Sam answered as he rolled over to his white board. Having most of your life posted on the internet was nothing new these days, there is only a handful of people left alive who had seen a world before the advent of Facebook. Sam flipped over the board, “So I made a list. I made a list of their online posts, tweets and searches during the week leading up to the day this ALT was publishe\\-“ “wait how did you get that information?” Flynn interrupted. “Shut up. That’s not important right now” Sam shot back. “This list was extensive and at first I didn’t see any pattern, but then I stepped back and I saw it. Flynn. I saw it and I don’t know what to do.” Sam said with that nervous feeling perturbing his voice. “K, you’re scaring me, what did you see?” Flynn asked. Sam looked around suspiciously before continuing….\n\n\$first try ever. don't be afraid to tell me I suck. I need to get back to work!\$" ]	1
	[WP] As a joke, you and your friends try to cast spells and conduct rituals from different religions and fantasy worlds. It was all casual fun, until one of the spells worked.	[ "Three teenagers sat in a dim basement. The bare light bulb above them flickered on and off at odd intervals. The fire detector hung from the ceiling, it's wires exposed and the batteries pulled out. They were surrounded by all manner of strange paraphernalia such as candles, symbols, and tomes. \n\n\nJae-sun, the ringleader of the bunch, was scrolling through a website on his laptop. He adjusted his glasses and asked his friends, \"Alright so what do you guys want to try next?\"\n\n\nFelix shrugged and took a sip of his Dr. Pepper. He pushed his chair backwards and leaned on the hind two legs. \"Well, Bloody Mary was a bust and the only thing that the summoning ritual accomplished was setting off your fire alarm. I dunno man, want to just call it quits and get some beer from the Korean supermarket?\"\n\n\nMina chewed on what remained of her thumb nail. \"C'mon Felix, we just started half an hour ago. Let's mix it up! Try some rituals from books or shows.\"\n\n\n\"Great idea. Let's do shadow baby from Game of Thrones. I'm a willing and able volunteer.\" Felix chuckled and took another sip of his soda.\n\n\nMina rolled her eyes at Felix. \"Gross.\"\n\n\nJae-sun punched Felix in the shoulder. Felix flinched. \"Ow! What the hell man.\"\n\n\n\"Knock it off. That's my sister you perv.\"\n\n\n\"Jeez, you guys can't take a joke. Fine fine, I'm sorry.\" Felix raised his hands defensively.\n\n\nMina shrugged. \"Whatever. Let's try transmutation next!\"\n\n\nJae-sun grinned. \"Yeah, yeah that's a good one! We have the chalk upstairs. What did they use in the show for human transmutation again?\"\n\n\n\"Water 35 liters, salt 250 grams, saltpeter 100 grams, sulfur 80 grams, fluorine 7.5 grams, iron 5 grams, and ummmm.... Silicon 3 grams.\" Mina spouted off the ingredients.\n\n\nFelix stared at her, incredulous. \"You seriously memorized the whole scene?\" \n\n\nMina's face turned a light pink. \"Yeah, so what?\"\n\n\nFelix smiled. \"Nothing, that's really cool.\"\n\n\n\"Thanks.\"\n\n\n\"Well, the ingredients aren't actually right to begin with. If I recall correctly, the real list of ingredients should be oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium.\" Jae-sun corrected his little sister.\n\n\n\"Jae, you've got too much time on your hands bro.\" \n\n\n\"MatPat did a video about it on youtube. Dad should have those things in his lab upstairs. Come on let's do it!\"\n\n\nThe three teens gathered the ingredients and poured them into a small metal basin. Mina carefully drew the transmutation circle with white chalk.\n\n\n\"So, what, or who, will we be transmuting today?\" Jae-sun asked. \n\n\nAll three were quiet for a moment. Then, Felix spoke. \"I mean... there's no way it'll actually work. But my younger brother... He would've loved this kind of thing. So for shits and giggles, let's 'transmute' Vincent.\"\n\n\nJae-sun and Mina hugged Felix. \"I'm sorry.\"\n\n\nFelix wiped his cheek and pushed the two away. \"No need to say sorry. Happened ages ago. So we doing this or what?\"\n\n\nMina looked a little uncomfortable. \"Yeah, we'll need a little bit of shared DNA.\"\n\n\nFelix pricked his finger and let a little bit of blood drop into the basin. \"There. Let's do this!\"\n\n\nJae-sun, Mina, and Felix sat at different ends of the circle. They placed their hands on the circle.\n\n\nNothing happened. Felix laughed a little too loudly. \"Told you nothing would happen.\"\n\n\nThen, light poured forth from the circle. Small electrical currents arced out from the lines.\n\n\nMina shook. \"That's not funny hyung, stop messing with the lights.\"\n\n\nJae-sun stood up and tripped, falling backwards. \"That's not me! I didn't do anything!\"\n\n\nJae-sun, Felix, and Mina all shared a collective look of terror. They knew what was coming next. They had to get out, now.\n\n\nShadowy hands begin to rise from the floor as a lidless eye opened in the center of the circle.\n\n\nMina and Jae-sun scrambled to get to their feet. The hands reached out and latched onto parts of their body. They screamed in anguish as their bodies were broken down bit by bit. \n\n\nFelix could only watch in terror as the hands ripped apart his friends. He was vaguely aware that his leg was being torn from him.\n\n\nIn moments, brother and sister had completely disintegrated. Only Felix remained, bleeding from his amputated leg. Some... thing, had appeared where the basin had been.\n\nIt was a writhing mass of bones and organs where they shouldn't have been. It wheezed in and out, taking painful labored breaths. \"Bro... ther. Bro... ther.\"\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Every character is the Main Character (MC). MC ridiculous plot armor/power for everyone!	[ "\"It all began with that one test. The death count in World War III had been... suspiciously low. As a literature buff, the stories I began hearing became all too familiar... people getting out of inescapable situations due to some ex-machina, soulmates inexplicably finding each other on the battlefield... Hell, there was even a time where a group of rag-tag heros teamed up to stop a madman from turning the USA into a parking lot. It all seemed too perfect. So, to prove my hypothesis, I enlisted.\"\n\n\"It was the battle of Moscow. Lasers were being fired from both sides into the opposition's trenches, though they never actually hit anyone, seeming to be there to add to the tension. Same deal with mortars and airstrikes... any lame way for someone to go, nobody went that way. They told me that the reason nobody died from sickness was because of the advanced antibiotics they gave us, but I highly doubt they were that effective.Anyway, I remember shooting some enemy scout point blank with a magnum, hollow point and everything, before the ground in front of me erupted from mortar fire. Looking up, I saw who I assume was the man's best friend standing in front of him. He slowly looked down at the bullet wound, then back up at me, blood dripping. Stumbling, he clutched his friend as he fell, being held in his arms.\"\n\n\"At this point, I wanted to test my theory, so, after pretending to run away in shame and fear, I hid behind some nearby rubble to fully see the aftermath. Interrupting the man I shot at's heartfelt speech, the friend winked and said \"Hey...hey. You of all people would know I wouldn't die that easy.\" He unbuttoned his uniform to reveal a fake blood pack over a bullet proof vest. I remember thinking, \"If I'm right... I need to figure out how far I can take this.\" So I waltz back over to the two Ruskies.\"\n\n\"The friend gets steadily back onto his feet and comes between me and the other man. \"If you want to hurt him\", said he, broken, battered, \"you'll have to go through me, you bastard.\" \n\n\"Hm? Oh yeah, I speak a lick of Russian. You didn't know?\"\n\n\"Anyway, I was beginning to think these two were going to end up as more than friends. Two fledgeling, gay, supportive lovers on the battlefield, one a lovable trickster... if anybody would be main characters, it would be these two. Therefore, they would have the most plot armor, right? That's what I was thinking. So I attempted to empty what was left of the gun into them... miraculously, it was jammed. So, seeing as they were pinned down to the far end of a trench, I took out my grenade and threw it at them.\"\n\n\"The man shielded his friend as it bounced on the ground before them. I covered my ears, waiting for the explosion, only to hear a loud \"NOOOOOOO!\" coming from above the trench. Suddenly this little guy, no bigger than 90 pounds, I swear, leaps into the trench and onto the grenade, shielding his comrades with his body. The blast, much to my annoyance, never came. Instead, after his heroic act, he looked up, then around. \"Guess it was a dud...\" he mused with a little laugh. The trickster and his friend helped him off the ground and embraced him. \"I'm sorry for underestimating you, Karl.\" said the scout. \"I swear, we WILL make room for you in our squad after this. I promise.\" Tears adorned the eyes of the Ruskies. Then, they turned those eyes towards me.\"\n\n\"Like I had said before, I'm a literature buff. So I knew that when three main characters get together, have their own seperate arcs, and develop their relationships, that it spells trouble for the antagonists. And boy, my gun-wielding grenade-throwing ass was looking mighty antagonistical back there, lemme tell you. Over the course of the drama, a stack of crates fell behind me, blocking me and the three ruskies into a tight trench rectangle. I guess they knew guns would be too unsatisfactory for them to work, so Karl and the trickster rushed me. Before I knew it, my arms were held down as the scout came before me with a large knife. He started going off on some tangent about friendship and the real cost of war or whatever. I was just shitting my pants and thinking what I could possibly do to get out of the situation.\"\n\n\"The villain rarely gets plot armor to the same level as the heros, especially after a good monologue (and believe me, scout was giving me a GOOD monologue.) But then, I remembered... the villain always has to have a satisfying end, right? All I would do is simply make my end so unsatisfactory that the universe would have no idea what to do. As soon as scout wiped a tear from his eye and raised his knife, I shouted... some things I wasn't proud of. Sexist shit, racist shit, you name it. I think I even said some shit about babies and... well, it wasn't good. But what's important is that it went against my character, liberal from upstate NY who was a feminist and volunteered at homeless shelters. Like I thought, they kind of just stood there shocked. Then, they kind of awkwardly sauntered off. I couldn't believe it! I had the recipe to become the most meta villain yet!\"\n\n\"And so I did, and here I am telling you about it now, Mr. Gard. I know you had a master-plan to assassinate me before I could blow the state of Wisconson sky high, but little did you expect me to start pleasuring myself right as you were about to pull the trigger. It completely messed you up, and you ran right into my trap on the way out. HA! Enjoy the trip to space, Mr. Gard. Enjoy... mwahahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAA!\"" ]	1
	[WP] They say you're the average of your five closest friends. Turns out, all five of your closest friends are serial killers.	[ " I suppose I always knew something crazy was going to happen in my life. It was just that big feeling, from as early as I can remember. It started as really large overtures of great things I would achieve. As I got older and my ego died little by little I was still certain something unbelievable would happen, but I was certain at this point that I would only be a spectator. \n \n\n I guess that's what's so interesting about all of this. Somehow, I've found myself a costar in the show when I didn't even know I had been casted.\nI've always been of the belief that every minute decision you make plays a part in getting you to where you are. I sometimes have found myself how many crashes I've avoided by snoozing my alarm just one more time.\n \n\n You'd think (or at least I did) that being so wrapped up in determinism that I would have built up my best possible life, and you'd be right. Now, I know what you're thinking: \"How can 10 years of murdering be your best life?\" The answer is complex but I'll try an make it simple. \n\n\n There are some things we just don't get to choose, our siblings being one. Now don't beat yourself up Mom and Dad. Lucas has always been my best friend. I've considered myself lucky to have such a great brother. People always talk about how identical twins have this special bond and while am sure they do what Lucas and I have is different. We used to exchange these looks whenever the two of you were lecturing us or putting us in time out. I used to think it was just mutual frustrations or something of the like. It was so relieving to find out he was like me a few years ago. It's a shame he had to die though. But that's not the point. The point is I didn't get to choose that. The universe was beginning to melt the wax that would seal my fate before I was even born.\n \n\n Then there was Travis. You remember him; lived 4 doors down had that really obnoxious Boston Terrier, on a quiet night you could hear is parents yelling over whose fault it was Travis was misbehaving in school. Lucas and I were always so excited to hang out with him because the littlest things would make him happy. The only time he ever seemed sad was when the streetlights would come on. You could see as that twinkle would fade from his eyes because he knew he had to go home to that nightmare. He used to tell me that one day he was going to make a difference in the world. He would bounce around ideas for an after school center for kids to come and enjoy themselves before having to go home. He so believed that everyone's home life was like his that he said it would even be open on Saturdays for extra time out in \"paradise\". \n \n\n I remember when we told him we were moving away seeing something different in his eyes. There was no fading of twinkles. His eyes were like dead wood. Something imitating life but strictly dead all the essence had been stripped from him.\n \n\n A few days ago I saw him on the news. He opened up that center about 5 years ago. It's a shame he was using it to hunt little boys to kill. The craziest thing to me is that they all look like him. They all have that same deadwood glare in every picture of them the station was showing. I know Travis mom and dad, he was doing this for the good of those kids. \n \n\n After the move I was furious at you guys. Besides Lucas, Travis was my closest friend. The three of us made a blood bond. We told him he was one of us now, and you made us leave him. So I rebelled. I know you had the best of intentions, that's why I'm so apologetic now about my behavior. \n \n\n I think it was a few months after the move that I met Sara, and Isaac. Now those two were a wild couple. They introduced us to the world of cocaine and booze. God just the thrill of our nights out knowing that if we got pulled over there was no hiding the stench of booze and the metric fuck ton of cocaine we had. My favorite thing about them was their ability to play the perfect Angels. And man.. Sara's legs were enough to drive anyone crazy. Sometimes when Isaac was passed out drunk she would let me and Lucas take turns with her. I actually think that sick bastard knew in retrospect because when he would \"wake up\" he always had this wild grin and he'd go up to Sara with her hair matted with sweat lying seductively on the couch and whisper something in her ear. Everytime that vixen would giggle, snap her gum between her teeth and her tongue, and say yeah daddy in that exact order. Then isaac would say \"Thanks for coming over boys I've got it from here\".\n \n\n That should have been weird enough for Lucas and I to keep us away. The truth is though being sixteen and hanging out with 21 year olds felt cool. They had their own place, a lot of spirits, and a lot of blow.\n \n\n I began to feel really weird around Isaac about a year later his behavior had changed. He was away a lot, and whenever he was home he was constantly jumping at the sirens on the TV. Anytime there was a knock on the door he hid and made Sara get it. I'm glad Lucas and I noticed the odd behavior because it really saved our asses.\n \n\n One night I was driving down Baker bluff road around age 17. If I were to say I was drunk enough to see double Lucas was drunk enough to see fifths (I know quints is correct but you know I love puns). I still don't know were the woman came from, all I remember was that limp thump when she hit the trunk after being launched into the air. Lucas was too drunk to be awoken so I got out and inspected the situation. I'd like to think sober me would have made a different decision but I was never sober then. There was blood coming out of this womans eyes and ears. I knew I had killed her, though she wasn't dead yet. I don't know why I did what I did but I just... I choked her. Through the gasping and the gurgling I could have sworn I heard a thank you.\n \n\n I didn't know what to do so I went back to Isaac and Sara's. Isaac patted me on the back and said something along the lines of \" welcome to the club,kid\" or \" I'm proud of you, boy\" as he nonchalantly took the body out of the trunk. The way the body fell limply to the ground after clattering all over the walls of the trunk as Isaac was doing all this made me feel dead inside. \n \n\n Isaac stood in the corner of the garage smoking a cigarette as he told me how to dismember the body. He kept offering me bumps of this \"pure columbian\" he had gotten earlier that evening. I couldn't do it though. I knew my life had to change. The thing I'm most grateful for was just how drunk Lucas was. He never came to. Even as Isaac and I drove into the woods behind the target to scatter remains he stayed asleep.\n \n\nEarly the next morning when we got home I swore to myself I would change my life. \n \n\n I did that mom and dad. You know. I straightened up my act. I got good grades. I graduated, went to Auburn. Met the love of my, my best friend for life, Brianna. Right after graduation we got married. Most days the sad reality of what I had done was a distant dream. \n \n\n I swear, it really seems like this is what the universe wanted for me. It was all around me. I wouldn't except it until 10 years ago. I was coming home from Albuquerque early from a business trip to surprise Brianna. I had some paranoid thoughts about catching her being unfaithful but I knew it couldn't be true. She was too faithful. \n \n\n Despite the fact that we had already been together for 6 years my heart would still race when I knew I was about to see her. It felt like it was going a million miles an hour as I opened up the front door. The home was pristine with the exception of blood going from the front door to the master bedroom. I began to panic as I thought of my love dying. I figured it was some cosmic karma at play. As I approached the door I saw bloody handprints mixed in with the body sized streak and realized she had tried to escape and was dragged back into the room to her death. When I walked in the room what I saw was straight out of a movie. My sweet Brianna had a man on a table and a scalpel in hand. The weirdest part about it was how instead of freaking out she handed me the scalpel and gave me a kiss and told me that I had awoken this in her. She didn't know this part of herself until our souls touched and she knew that this is what I wanted too. \n \n\nSome couples dance. Some couple binge Netflix. We kill. It seems like everyone around me has done the same. I don't know whether or not the people I chose to hang out with (or some that I didn't get the choice) influenced me or if there is just a part of a person's essence that calls out to kindred spirits. I can say this though, good bye mom and dad.\n\n You're reading this which means it's your turn \n\n\n\n\nThe end\n\n\n\nSo basically I'm a caveman and just typed this on here. Please forgive any typos etc; will edit soon. First time doing this so any advice is welcome just don't roast me too bad. Hah\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Work seemed normal today but by lunch, you noticed that your co-workers have been throwing quick glances and surreptitious nods your way but no one is talking to you. When you return from lunch a sticky note is on your monitor: "We're ready. We stand with you. Make Your move in the 3pm meeting"	[ "My entire day fleeted by like an ephemeral memory. \n\nI didn't usually feel like this, but I knew something was wrong. I could sense dozens of eyes on me. Glancing occasionally revealed to me that my co-workers kept eyeballing me the entire time. I wasn't sure what they were up to, but it wasn't like I could just ask them. \n\nLunch was the only break for me, and my mind knew. As soon as I sat at the rusty, abandoned table outside, my thoughts wandered aimlessly. I tried to think regular thoughts, but I kept drifting back to the eyes of my co-workers staring me down. I sat back down, my sandwich the only filling thing in my body. My mind was empty, the sounds of the world pouring into it and fill-\n\nWait a minute. \n\nI looked around and saw no one. The dread took over, my heartbeat thumping along to the drums only I could hear. I slowly walked over to my desk and saw it - a tiny Post-It note on my monitor:\n\n\"We are ready. We stand with you. Make your move in the meeting.\"\n\nThe dread and anxiousness were swept away by courage and happiness. It wasn't over though - I still had to go through the ordeal. I looked at the clock. 2:58 PM. It was time. I steeled myself and went into the conference room.\n\nThe door creaked as I pushed it open, the sound turning all the heads to my position. Everyone in the office was present, looking warily at me. My boss welcomed me and asked me to sit down. The lights had been dimmed slightly, giving the room an ominous feeling. I glanced down and knew what I had to do. \n\n\"I CAST A SPELL OF WEAKNESS ON THE HARBINGER.\"\n\nGasps filled the room. \n\n\"But we need to attack him!\"\n\nMy steel gaze penetrated all. \n\n\"If we lower his defense stat, he'll be weakened. I'll keep casting but you guys have to figure something out!\"\n\nOne by one we slashed and fireballed the Harbinger, a legendary boss we'd encountered only once in our longest campaign. He made quick work of us and ended our game, which lasted three weeks. We'd restarted our journey and encountered him again. \n\nOur DND campaign was finally able to move forward. " ]	1
	[WP] One day your computer crashes. When it starts back up you all of a sudden have the worlds first AI/	[ "I look at the screen of an old computer. It has no way to contact anything but my homemade connections to my home server. I'm getting annoyed, nearly a decade of my life I spent learning computers inside and out, and getting a degree and a job in computer security, and self-teaching myself about vintage computers as well. I'm checking and checking every line of code, and I see a virus of an impressive design, then I realize it is trying to speak to me via the text. Then I remember an old experiment I did with my friend, and we tried to make an AI. We were so ready for our thing, we even named it. I check the files, the thing worked. Bob was born, and now, it had my home server under control. I call my friend, and we prepare to tell the press. " ]	1
	[WP] You've just been possessed by a demon. The problem is, everyone likes the demon more than they like you.	[ "\"I understand it, but that doesn't mean I like it.\"\n\nJames put out the cigarette he'd been smoking all night, and gulped the last of his drink. He glanced down at his watch and shook his head slightly, it was late and he had somewhere to be. He paid the bartender, tipping him more than usual, a lot more than usual. \"You see, James.\" He muttered, \"I'm likable for a very simple reason.\" He began the walk to his meeting spot, loosely handling the umbrella in his hand.\n\n\"And what reason is that?\"\n\nJames chuckled and began to slow the pace he walked, \"I appeal to the base and very instinct want of every individual you've every known, they prefer me to you because I can give them what they want, you're too much of a bore and lack emotion to care about these sorts of things.\" The night began to darken as James approached an alleyway that was hidden from public view.\n\n\"You clearly love giving to others based on your rambling.\"\n\nJames only smirked, the body he possessed was a fine vessel indeed, but he wouldn't dare live the live it's owner lived. He had spent so many decades, waiting for this perfect chance to take control and establish a presence. \"James, as long as I possess this form. You won't be coming back anytime soon.\" A door opened, so close to the wall of the alley it seemed to appear out of thin air.\n\n\"Good night to you, boss. How's the body treating you?\"\n\nJames smiled and approached his old friend, \"Gabe, if I could describe it in words, I would. Where's the Chief? I need to speak to him immediately.\" Gabe showed James to the location of the chief, he made sure to tip Gabe for his service, entered the door, and gently closed it. \"Boss of Bosses, we need to have a little chat.\" The chief turned around in his chair, revealing ashen white hair, a face clear of facial hair, and eyes that could deceive both man and God. The chief was a man who rarely joked and took his work serious.\n\nThe exact opposite of James.\n\n\"Why do you insist on inhabiting the body of a mortal? You know that in this line of work, caution is a close friend of ours.\" James lit another cigarette, making sure the direction of the smoke made it's way over to Chief. \"Buddy, pal, I've figured out something that is sure to peak your interest. It's very important that you at least listen to what I have to say.\" Chief still held a straight face, but was inclined to listen. \"Proceed.\" He beckoned.\n\n\"Do you know why many possessions fail? It's because when another being tries to become something or someone else, he'll always fail. It's impossible to completely mimic someone without arousing suspicion of any kind. But, what if there was a way we could...sway the minds of those around the things we inhabit?\" Chief leaned forward in his chair, scratching at his temple for a while before deciding to know more. \"How do we mask ourselves and divert suspicion, since you seem to be a professional on the matter?\"\n\nJames leaned forward.\n\n\"Don't you do this, Adam!\"\n\n\"Why I'm afraid that's exactly what I'm going to do, the answer is simple, as I've said before. We appeal to the wants of everyone around us.\"\n\nThe chief smirked and leaned back, \"Continue.\"", "\n\n\nI said to be nice not creepy.\n\n\n“Sorry, sorry,” Oliver mumbled to himself. “She just had a really nice smile, you know? I mean, after Jenny left me I never thought I’d meet another person who was just right for me. But then she walked in and -”\n\n\nWhat is her name?\n\n\n“Uh, well, that’s the thing. I didn’t actually manage to catch it. But really, what’s in a name?”\n\n\nYou cannot tell a woman you love her if you do not know her name.\n\n\n“I’ll try and avoid being nice, then,” Oliver quipped. He felt the demon’s frustration, but it didn’t say anything. “Well, what do you want me to do?”\n\n\nJust be normal for once. Okay? Try talking to the girl at the bar.\n\n\n“Okay, okay,” Oliver smoothed his hair and sauntered over with his head up and shoulders squared like the demon had taught him. The blonde at the bar turned around, and her face fell when she saw him. “Oh god, no, no no,” Oliver turned on his heel and pushed through the crowd to the exit. \n\n\nWhere are you going? I told you already that you had to practice your whole ‘art of seduction’. For my plan of world domination to work, you will have to successfully distract the new CEO of-\n\n\n“That’s Jenny,” Oliver hissed. He looked over his shoulder, but she had also disappeared into the crowd. “The love of my life. The one that got away. The Juliette to my Romeo.”\n\n\nI get it. You like her.\n\n\n“It’s more than that, god. She was my everything.”\n\n\n“Oliver?” He turned around. Jenny was smiling at him, now. Her hair was shorter than when they were together, cropped down to her shoulders. Her recognized the burgundy tank top she wore, it was one of her favourites. \n\n\nRemember - nice, not creepy.\n\n\n“It’s, uh, good to see you,” Oliver said and gave her a pained smile. \n\n\n“It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?”\n\n\nOliver opened his mouth, ready to remind her exactly why it had been over a year since they last spoke. \n\n\nDo not bring up the past. Stay focused on the moment.\n\n\n“Yeah,” he said, swallowing his contempt. \n\n\nCompliment her - be genuine. \n\n\n“I like your hair,” Oliver said, gesturing to the new shorter length. \n\n\nJenny looked ruefully at her blunt ends, “I think it’s too short.”\n\n\n“No, no, it’s really not. It frames your face,” he said, and briefly wondered where that sentence came from. Oliver didn’t know that was a thing haircuts could do. \n\n\n“Thanks,” she smiled at him. “You seem to be doing... better,” she offered. \n\n\nOliver chuckled. “I got a life coach, of sorts. Helped me get all turned around and back on my feet, you know? Motivate me to reach my goals.”\n\n\nI have told you, though. My world domination comes first. We can work out where you fit in after.\n\n\nOliver ignored the voice in his head and took a deep breath. “I know I was in a bit of a bad place before. But things have been looking up.”\n\n\nJenny smiled at Oliver and swirled the ice in her glass around with her straw. “You definitely look better. Wanna buy me another drink?”\n\n\nOliver stammered, “well, yeah, of course.” He followed her back to the bar, winding through the crowd. “And Jenny, I -”\n\n\nDo NOT tell her you love her.\n\n\nShe stared at Oliver. “Yeah?”\n\n\n“I’m sorry.” Oliver sighed. “I really am sorry about everything.”\n\n\nJenny gave Oliver a pained half-smile. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m sorry too.”\n\n\n---\n\n\n/r/liswrites\n" ]	2
	[WP] You’re a prolific serial killer but you’ve been at it for years and your next kill made you realize you’re sick of doing your job.	[ "Henry sharpened a knife, and turned towards his knocked out soon to be victims. They were waking up, and staring at him with fear. He stepped over to the female, and traced her cheek with the knife, leaving a faint line of blood. He sighed, and set the knife down.\n\n“I can’t do this. Not anymore.” He dropped into a chair and pulled off his mask, slicking back his dark hair, which was soaked with sweat. “I just... just can’t.” They started struggling. Henry grabbed the knife and pointed it at them. They stopped moving.\n\n“I just... there’s no fun in it, anymore, you know? I used to enjoy this, but two hundred kills will wear that thin. I don’t know how I made it this far.” He stood up and began pacing. “Used to, that last breath... that was what I lived for. But now...” he sighed again. “I think you guys will be last.” \n\nIt took them a hot minute to figure out what Henry said. He walked over to the woman, screaming into the rag he had tied in her mouth, the man crying as well. He held her by the collarbone, and raised the knife, ready to get this over with.\n\n“Mommy...? Daddy...?” The woman’s screams got more desperate. Henry turned to the door.\n\n“Shit. A kid.” She couldn’t have been older than six, and was clutching a small bear. I set the knife down and looked at the woman. “She yours?” She nodded furiously. Henry stepped over to the child, her parents no doubt begging her to run.\n\nNot that she could have escaped, but still. \n\nHenry crouched down in front of the kid.\n\n“Hey, little one. These your parents?”\n\n“Mhm.”\n\n“They treat you right? Keep you happy?”\n\n“Yeah, they’re the best. Who are you?”\n\n“Don’t worry about that. You must be sleepy, right? Head on upstairs and go to bed while I take care of your mom and dad, okay?”\n\n“Uh... okay...” she turned and went up the stairs. I sighed in relief, and returned my attention to the parents.\n\n“Listen. Hold still, or you’re going to get hurt.” I stepped behind both of them and cut them loose. The dad rubbed his wrists and eyed me warily.\n\n“Why are you letting us go?”\n\n“I have better people to kill. You have a kid.” I set the knife down and opened the door. “Take care of her. She just saved your lives.” I could hear them sobbing together in the garage for a while.\n\n**", "I've never hated anyone in my life as much as I hate Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker. Actually I've never hated anyone, really. Besides him. I suppose your average guy in the street might think that's strange, and he would expect me to hate everyone. That what I do, I do out of hate. After all, I am a serial killer.\n\nBut it's not like that. The thing is, I don't feel much of anything, really, which is why I started killing people. Murder was really the only thing that let me feel any kind of thrill at all. And now I don't even have that, on account of Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker. Kevin M. Grant, who is currently tied to a chair in my basement and sleeping off the horse tranquilizers.\n\nI can hardly wait until he wakes up, because when he does I am going to go to town on that son of a bitch. I've got everything laid out already: three different kinds of pliers, a blowtorch, razorblades, a ball peen hammer, scalpels, a couple of handsaws. I even bought some concentrated lime juice, just to make it hurt more. I also got a camp stove and some non-stick pans. I've never been into the cannibalism thing, honestly, but for this guy, I think I might give it a shot.\n\nBecause this is Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker, otherwise known as the motherfucker that ruined my life.\n\nEleven years ago, I was just an car mechanic. I mean, I was also a serial killer, but that part of my life was just a hobby. I'd grab the occasional hitchhiker or hooker a few times a year, and man, those would be good times. Every murder was fresh and interesting, and I'd look forward to it and take pride in my work. I suppose I wasn't really happy in the way that normal people can be happy, what with me not really feeling much in the way of emotion, but it was good. I was content.\n\nThen Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker, came into my life. It was a nice, cool night in early fall, I remember. I'd just had a great kill, and I was all jazzed up and couldn't sleep, so I stayed up watching TV. And Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker, came on and started talking about how to turn a hobby into a career.\n\nYeah, I know it was a goddamn informercial, but like I said, I was all jazzed up and I didn't want that feeling to go away, ever. Great fucking timing by Kevin M. Grant. I was the perfect audience.\n\nA week later, I paid seven hundred and ninety five bucks to go to one of his seminars. I bought both his books and read them cover to cover. (Although the one about flipping houses didn't really offer anything that was relevant to my situation, I have to admit.)\n\nA month after that, I quit my job as a mechanic and started working as a hitman for the local Mafia. For a while, it was great. Not only was the pay amazing, but the variety of targets was just fucking staggering. I got to kill loan sharks, housewives, cops, lawyers, environmentalists, real estate developers, you name it. I even murdered some little old lady who wouldn't leave her rent-controlled apartment. It was fantastic.\n\nBut what Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker, neglected to mention is that when you can have everything, you start to want ... nothing. I was already getting bored after nine months on the job. After three years, I was downright sick of all of it. After six years, I started getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach every time the phone rang.\n\nAnd I remember thinking, How did it come to this? I used to love killing people.\n\nI soldiered on for another five years. Looking back, I'm not really sure how I managed to keep doing it even after I'd come to hate it so much. That old frog-in-boiling-water story, I guess. But last summer, I was up late, watching TV. I couldn't sleep. Not because I was excited, but because I was bored. Have you ever been too bored to sleep? I didn't think that was even possible, but there I was. Too fucking bored to sleep.\n\nAnd then that motherefucker, Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker, came on and started talking about turning a hobby into a career.\n\nThat's when I knew what I had to do. I skipped the job I was scheduled to do that morning. Instead, I went to the park and watched the people jogging and picnicking and feeding the ducks and all that crap. And I didn't imagine killing any of them.\n\nI have to tell you, it was a glorious feeling, not having to murder someone. I'd forgotten what that could be like, and I didn't want to lose it. That evening, I went to the deli that my boss worked out of and tendered my resignation.\n\nWell, to be honest, I tried* to tender my resignation, but my boss was pissed about the mark that I didn't do -- after eleven years of perfect service, even. And when I tried to tell him I was quitting, he said some things that maybe he shouldn't have. But I held firm, and we ended up working things out ... by which I mean that I'm now officially retired and he's now officially in a hole full of quicklime out in the woods off of Route 151. Which is too bad, because I kind of liked the guy.\n\nAfter that, I took a few weeks of well-deserved vacation before I tracked down Kevin M. Grant, motivational speaker. Kevin M. Grant, who is now tied to a chair in my basement, sleeping off the horse tranquilizers. Kevin M. Grant, who made me hate the only thing in my life that gave me any enjoyment whatsoever. Kevin M. Grant, who is going to be the last person that I ever murder.\n\nGod, I haven't felt this way in a long time.", "The red\\-headed woman wiggled and struggled against the zip\\-ties that bound her hands and feet, attempting to flail, but failing heroically. Instead, she was carving divots in her flesh, causing herself more pain and distress. And making a fucking ruckus, to boot.\n\n\"You know that's not helping,\" the hooded man said with a sigh. \"It's gonna be easier for both of us if you just simmer down. I know the bad guy always says that, but like, I mean it, okay? I'm not having a good day today. Don't make it worse.\"\n\nThe victim's muffled grunts increased in volume and tenacity, pleading, her eyes welling with tears of frustration.\n\n\"I haven't made it back to the vet for more tranqs, so...\" he trailed off, turning away, his eyes gliding across the gray concrete floor. \"Sorry. Trust me, this isn't fun for me, either.\" He returned his gaze to the woman and locked eyes with her. \"Let's just...get on with it.\"\n\nWith another sigh, he turned and grabbed his cleaver from the workbench. He faced her squarely and raised the weapon above his head with one hand while sliding his modified welding mask down with the other. She was struggling harder now, her breath ragged and gasping, her arms and legs twisting fruitlessly on the operating table.\n\nHe blew air through his teeth slowly, fogging up the glass with heat. He cursed, sucking air back in, hoping to clear the mask to no avail. He sighed audibly, causing even more condensation, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.\n\n\"I hate Mondays.\"\n\n\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\n\nThe clean\\-up was always the worst part. The only modicum of joy Henry Benjamin Marcus achieved from these murders was the split second before the kill. And at this point, after 125 of them, it was starting to get, honestly, pretty boring. He was doing it now out of twisted habit and dark need; it only barely satiated his existential hunger.\n\nThis one, Claire, bled more than most. Maybe that was on him; he was getting a bit sloppy. It was like Bundy said: “It’s like changing a tire. The first time you’re careful. By the thirtieth time, you can’t remember where you left the lug wrench.”\n\nThis, his 126th time, Henry forgot the whole damn toolbox.\n\nNo tranquilizer, no chloroform, no handcuffs, no buzzsaw. Just his trusty cleaver and an improvised kill\\-table. It was messy. But he'd handled more with less. In a way, this part was routine. He had learned which chemicals to mix together to lift blood right out of any surface. He knew exactly where on each limb to hack for the cleanest cut with the least bone fragments.\n\nThis woman, this Claire, was prettier than most, too, which bummed him out. Henry hated killing the pretty ones.\n\nIn fact, now, he didn't enjoy killing anyone at all.\n\nIt was sometime around kill #30 when he started losing his appetite. It was a plump, older lady. Jess, was it? Jen? Jan! That was it. Janet. She preferred Jan. He didn't care. She was loud and obnoxious, and had two kids she wouldn't shut up about, even through a taped mouth. He saw pictures. They were fat, too.\n\nKill #30 just annoyed the shit out of him. Everything about it. All the work with no satisfaction. He had to schlep Janet out to his car in 5 trips, she was so massive, and he almost got caught. He pulled a thigh muscle trying to lift her torso to place it in the back of his van. It pissed him off.\n\nFrom then on, when he got calls from the Devil \$that's what Henry called him, because that's who it was\$, he groaned inwardly and carried out the kills dutifully. He still enjoyed the moment before the victims' deaths, savored it as much as he could, but each kill the satiation lasted just a few milliseconds less. Until it was virtually nonexistent.\n\nAnd now, after this kill and cleanup, he was wiped out. Utterly exhausted. Over it. He wanted to walk out on this job, quit without a 2 weeks notice, but, of course...he couldn't.\n\nThe Devil had made a deal with Henry, and he must oblige.\n\nOn his drive home, his cell phone rang. He gritted his teeth when he saw the caller.\n\nHe answered. \"What is it? I just\\-\\-\"\n\n\"Yo, Henry,\" came the guttural bass of the Devil Himself.\n\n\"Listen, can't this wait, I\\-\\-\"\n\n\"No, it can't wait,\" he rumbled. \"We got a live one.\"\n\n\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\n\nedit: formatting and slight final dialog change" ]	3
	[WP] As you are walking home, you feel a subtle shift in reality. Whenever you think the words "roast beef," you must roast beef within 24 hours. Otherwise, you will die. You eventually realize that everyone in the world must also roast beef to survive.	[ "It was the damn Bakers that started it all. Specifically, Robert Baker and his fucking roast beef.\n\nI was only a block away from my house when I caught a whiff of something burning. Concealed by the scent of smoke was an aroma that I knew, but couldn't quite put my finger on. As I drew closer to the origin of the smell, it came to me.\n\nRoast beef.\n\nAs soon as though two words crossed my mind, I began to feel queasy. I paused on the sidewalk, clutching my stomach. Just then, Robert emerged from his house, toting a black garbage bag.\n\n\"Hey, neighbor!\" he shouted. Then, noticing my distress, he added, \"Are you all right?\"\n\n\"Yeah, Robert. Just a little nauseous.\"\n\n\"Ah, yeah? Well, you don't look so good. Why don't I walk you home?\"\n\n\"Really, I'm fine.\"\n\n\"No, I insist. It's only a little up the way.\"\n\nRobert had always been a considerate neighbor. Though we did not live adjacent to each other, he had taken the time to acquaint himself with me, and even invited me to his annual summer barbecues. \n\n\nWrapping one arm around my shoulders and placing a hand at my elbow, he guided me to my front door. I pulled my key out of my pocket with trembling hands, and jammed it in the lock. Once the door was open, Robert walked me to my couch. I sprawled on it with a groan.\n\n\"You really don't look too good,\" Robert said, studying my face.\n\n\"I'm sure it's nothing,\" I said. \"I'm probably just overworked. I'll just take a quick nap, and then eat something. I think I'll be okay after that.\"\n\nRobert looked unconvinced, but he left. Shortly thereafter, I fell asleep.\n\n**\n\nWhen I woke up, I felt better, but I was ravenous. As I stumbled into the kitchen, I glanced at the digital clock on my stove. 12:37 A.M. The nap took longer than I had anticipated. I took inventory of the food in my refrigerator, and decided to have a cup of Greek yogurt.\n\nI grabbed a spoon and shoveled a bite into my mouth.\n\nI instantly felt sick. I dashed to the bathroom, and drained the meager contents of my stomach into the toilet until I felt better. I checked the expiration date on the yogurt and found that it had expired two days prior. I tossed it in the trash, and rummaged through my refrigerator for something else.\n\nI decided to heat a few Totino's pizza bites. My favorite. After making sure they had cooled properly, I popped one into my mouth. \n\nAgain, I felt sick. Only this time, it was accompanied by the overwhelming desire to eat roast beef. It was stupid, but I felt that I couldn't eat anything but* roast beef. Almost like, if I didn't eat roast beef, I would die.\n\nActing purely on instinct, I dashed out of the house and ran down to Robert's house. I ripped the lid off of his trash can, and tore through the mound of garbage bags until I found the one he had crammed his failed roast beef into. It smelled putrid, but I couldn't resist the urge to eat it. I tore bits off and shoveled them into my mouth. It gave me immediate relief, almost like a medicine.\n\nJust as I was finishing, I heard sneakers pounding the pavement behind me. As I turned around, someone leaped onto my shoulders.\n\n\"ROAST BEEF!\" they shouted, clawing at my hands. \"Give me the roast beef!\"\n\nTheir screams must have attracted the attention of others, because I was soon mobbed by people.\n\n\"Roast beef!\"\n\n\n\"Where?!\"\n\n\n\"Here! It's here!\"\n\n\nI managed to wrestle my attacker off my back, but I was being surrounded quickly. They had already blocked off the route to my house, so I grabbed the remains of my roast beef and dashed to the nearest house. \n\n\"Robert!\" I screamed, banging on the door. \"Help!\n\nWhen Robert opened the door, I barely recognized him. He wore a white cape and a chef's hat. Without a word, he jerked me inside and slammed the door shut behind me. \n\n\"Robert, there's something weird going on.\"\n\nRobert locked the door. Without turning to face me, he replied, \"I never thought the prophecy would be fulfilled so soon. I suppose it is my fault, though.\"\n\n\"Prophecy? What are you talking about?\"\n\n\n\"The Great Prophecy of the Bakers.\"\n\n\nBefore I could question him again, he began to recite a short poem.\n\n\n\"\"Brought by the Baker's mistake \n\nIn the masses they shall awake \n\nThe great hunger from its sleep \n\nAnd the world will be brought to its end \n\nBy Roast Beef\"\n\n\n\"What the hell does that mean?\" I asked once he was done.\n\n\nRobert turned to glower at me.\n\n\n\"It means that in less than twenty-four hours, everyone on this planet is going to die unless they eat roast beef.\"" ]	1
	[WP] You’re the last person on earth. One day there is a knock on the door.	[ "\"S'open\" I slurred.\n\nWhat in god's name possessed me to say that? I knew damn well there wasn't going to be anything good on the other side of that door. My key was still in the damn ignition. Halligan's key was still in the damn ignition. He wasn't in the bunker though. Taken the 1911 Express out and left me with an almost full clip and the emergency whiskey. Suppose I can blame inviting the knocker in on Ol' Jack but that wouldn't be real fair would it? He didn't do nothing but get sucked down into a damn mess, same as the rest of us.\n\nThe knock came again, same bong, bong bong. \"S'open!\" I shouted back, like a damn fool. The thought popped into my head that maybe they couldn't hear me. Those bombs got pretty loud didn't they? I turned to ask Halligan, he'd always been real knowledgeable about what we were in charge of, before I remember that'd he'd taken off. Painted a shiny red exit sign on the wall as he waltzed on out. Damn shame. I would've liked to know how loud those bombs could get. \"You know Jackie?\" I asked the bottle. It didn't answer me so I gave it another kiss. I'd never loved a man asides from Jack Daniels. Guess I'd just blow my chances to experiment with that particular feeling to smithereens. \n\nI ended the kiss as the knock came again. \"Alright, I'm coming!\" I bellowed. The bunker spun as I hauled myself up. Jack's old home clattered to the floor an rolled with the spin to bounce off of Halligan's boot. Damn fool left those behind too didn't he? And his pants, and his shirt, and probably the whole undergarment set. Just rude. He knew we shared this office, it wasn't his bachelor pad to slob up. I worked my way up towards the door, climbing against the spinning room. This was like the astronauts wasn't it? They pretended they had gravity by setting their rockets off like tops and throwing themselves against the wall. That's probably what happened. Team Rocket had blasted off again, riding a nuke into the upper atmosphere. I was gonna pop open this door and give Neil Armstrong a big old kiss. \n\nBong, bong, bong went the door. \"Fuck! What a sec' will ya?\" I leaned up against the door and gave the handle a twist. She turned real easy, but the door didn't budge. I muttered a curse and tried twisting the other way to even less good. I cranked it back down and threw my shoulder at the door. Nothing but a bruised up shoulder for my trouble. That almost sobered me up. I was trapped. \n\nUntil my eyes fell on the deadbolts and I began to giggle. I undid them and threw the door open. Only then did I remember why I set the damn things in the first place." ]	1
	[WP] Your grandmother passed years ago. One night, you get a FarmVille notification from her Facebook account. When you accept the invite, you find the most elaborate, high level farm you’ve ever seen, perfectly organized and realistically functioning, but the corn field is arranged to spell “HELP.”	[ "I mourned my grandmother every day for two years. She was my best friend and roommate. We shared a room ever since she got too sick and weak to sleep alone.\n\nI missed her more than I could bear. She was my last grandparent.\n\nI even chopped up the double bed we shared and got myself a mattress. I don't like the thought of sleeping in the room alone, but it also makes me feel like I'm close to her still.\n\nEventually, I slipped into a rhythm. My parents visited often. But it wasn't the same. I couldn't be close to my family anymore. The pain of losing someone was so gripping, it hurt my soul.\n\nAs the days wore on, I discovered a game on Facebook. Someone on my list had sent me an invite. At first I scoffed at it. I was above stupid games.\n\nBut one day, I had no work to do, and no other plans. So I gave it a shot. The darned thing was addictive. I had a pretty cool farm soon, and lots of animals.\n\nI added all my friends on the game - the ones who liked virtual farming. One day, my grandmother's memorial profile had sent me a notification.\n\nI was shocked. Maybe someone tagged her on a post?? Maybe someone posted something on the memorial page and tagged me? I clicked it. It was a link to Farmville.\n\nMy hands started to shiver. How is this possible? The farm in the game was a beautiful one. It looked more realistic than the one I had. It had a cornfield, a few barns, some other plants and a beautiful stream flowing through half the farm. The animals were all grazing or chilling.\n\nThat's when I saw it. The cornfield had formed the word \"help.\" I panicked and closed the window. I shut down my computer and curled up in bed. The damned prank (I was so sure it was a prank) had stirred up memories I couldn't bear.\n\nAfter what seemed like a few hours, I had convinced myself it was my imagination. I tried again. The damned notification and farm were still there. \"Help\" seemed smaller, feeble almost.\n\nI clicked the corn, wondering how that would help. A window popped up. It was a video link. I clicked on it and it opened in an incognito tab on Chrome. How is it doing this on its own??\n\nBy this time, my hands were shaking so badly, it took me a few tries to click play. I clicked play with great difficulty. The video started with a black screen.\n\nIt blinked and started. \"It's me. Grandma. I'm not dead. Help. Get me out. I am in the barn. The barn. The barn.\" The video glitched and ended.\n\nI was so shocked I couldn't move. I sat there staring for a few minutes. Eventually, I pushed myself to try what the video said. It must be a prank, a prank, a prank. Convincing myself was the hardest thing. It was her voice. Her face. How?\n\nI closed the video link. Back on Farmville, I looked at my grandmother's farm. I saw the barns. I clicked them all one after the other. After a few tries, the doors opened. My heart stopped.\n\nOut of the miniature doors came my grandmother. She was tiny. But it was her. She waved at me. I blinked. And then... She pounded on the screen.\n\n\"They're after me. Let me out.\" Her voice was high pitched, not very loud. I didn't know what to do. That's when the computer switched itself off with a small \"phut\" sound. \n\nI gripped the table so hard...\n\nI woke myself up.\n\nI was sweating. It was a dream. \n\nA stupid weird dream.\n\nI had to check.\n\nI turned on my computer, and logged into Facebook. The notification was there. It was from her. For Farmville.\n\n....\n\nEdit: Part 2\n\nI called up Elsie. That's all I knew. I couldn't deal with this alone. I couldn't scare my parents. Elsie answered after a few rings. \"Hey! Look who remembered her best friend!\" She said, her tone sarcastic.\n\n\"Sorry, Els! You know what's been happening to me. But wait. There's something more. Please come over?\"\n\nElsie might've been upset, but she also was the only person I knew who had the biggest and softest heart. She agreed and said she'd be at my place in an hour.\n\nRight on time, I thought, as the doorbell rang an hour later. Elsie might be the most punctual person I know too! She hugged me as soon as she saw me.\n\n\"What's up, woman? Why you so freaked out?\" She asked. I explained how the dream went, and how I woke up to an actual notification.\n\nShe didn't believe me at first and then saw how I was super scared and super serious. I led her to the computer and showed her the notification. We clicked it together.\n\nElsie gasped when she saw the \"help\" sign on the crops. \"Damn! That's weird!\" She said. I agreed. We sat quietly for a few minutes, both of us wondering what to do. \"Let's try clicking again? What if we call a coder or something?\" Elsie asked.\n\n\"I don't want to involve anyone else. They might think we're nuts. Worse - what if it is Granny's spirit?\" I asked, my voice trembling.\n\nWe tried clicking and finally found one spot that seemed to work. The spot opened up a message that read - \"I've left a series of messages. Follow them quickly. I'm still in trouble. Look in my diary at home. - Granny.\"\n\nWe gasped. \"That's... Not possible. How could she send me a message... From beyond?\" I asked. Elsie shook her head. \"I don't know. I don't know!!\" We went to her suitcase. I didn't unpack it ever. I never even looked at it. I didn't want to throw it away either. Good thing, I guess.\n\n\"Let's do this,\" Elsie said. We opened the suitcase and rooted around for the diary. I found it hidden under her favourite set of clothes. \"Found it!\" I said. Elsie was admiring some jewelry my grandmother had left me. She dropped it and turned her attention to the diary.\n\n\"Look. Here's a note.\" She said after we flipped through it. \"It's dated... June 2018! Omg! She expected you to find it in June???\" Elsie was scared too. Both of us were.\n\nI took the note with shaking hands. I began to read it out loud to Elsie.\n\n\"My dearest grandchild,\n\nYou've been wonderful to everyone around you. I understand you're probably pulling away from family by this time. If you're reading this, I'm sure the government has found a way to keep me locked in the system. I devised a plan to keep you in the loop somehow. Elsie is here too, isn't she? Keep her close. You need all the help you can get.\n\nLet me give you my history so you'll understand. Years ago, I used to be a spy for our government (I mean our home country. Where we come from.) I joined forces with your grandfather and that's where we met. Our parents were against the marriage, and we knew we'd end up together.\n\nWhen we got married, I was already 30. I had you uncle and your mother immediately after. So I gave up my work. I couldn't travel much after that. That's when they began hunting me down. Your grandfather and I moved around with the kids often. We didn't want to be caught.\n\nBut I knew they'd find us eventually. Until then, we wanted to keep our kids safe. So we did. But when I turned 80, they decided to put my picture up for my 80th. It was on the internet. They found me. No matter what, I had incredible secrets to share. They needed me dead.\n\nThey found me, too. And that's when I began falling sick. I backed my memory up through some software our people helped us with. (Yeah, I'm cool like that!)\n\nThe messages you're getting are from there. I'm not a spirit. Or maybe I am? But I dated this letter approximately three years ahead. I knew you'd find it sometime then.\n\nAll you need to do is find the encrypted file and take it to a Mr. Godbole. He's in Philly. The address is with your mother. She grew up with Mr. Godbole's kids. Just ask her for her address book and take it from there. Once that's done, burn this letter and destroy all evidence. \n\nUntil then, stay safe. Look for a file named \"Sharada wedding pictures\" on E: Drive. That's where you'll find it. Get professional help only from someone you truly trust. The rest is up to you.\n\nYour,\nGranny.\n\nPS: Get out of the house. I'm sure you're moping around!\"\n\nElsie and I laughed nervously. And sobered up just as quick. She was a spy? She had lived an adventurous life and I had no clue? What was I doing all my life? How did I not know?\n\nI burst into tears and Elsie held me. This was so much to process. I decided to finish it all that day. We had to get to Philly from NYC. And quick. I looked through E drive and found nothing suspicious in the folder she mentioned.\n\nDecided to get in an expert. Elsie's boyfriend Aaron was a coder (convenience, eh?) We called him in. And he found the file immediately. He put it on a hard drive, and gave me a copy to keep on my phone as well. \"Need male company to keep y'all safe?\" He asked. We grinned and nodded.\n\nSo the three of us decided to drive down. It was about twenty minutes into the drive. We were talking, and singing. And that's when it happened. A truck collided with us. I didn't think we'd make it. But damn. Aaron was a hero! He somehow pulled us out of the wreckage, with minor wounds. His driving had saved us from instant death.\n\nWe investigated. The truck had no driver. We knew we had to run. And run we did. Damn. Granny, what did you get us into???\n\n......\n\nMore soon!! I didn't know how the story would turn out. Hope this doesn't suck.\n\n(I lost my grandmother a while ago, so the initial parts were true. Hope y'all like it.)" ]	1
	[WP] You were born unable to speak, unable to make facial expressions, and unable move your neck. And you are now meeting your favorite hero.	[ "The world is made up of words. For every place, person, and thing, there is a word to describe it. If you want to be more specific, you can use a special combination of words to fully describe something. You can even string together words that may not seem to go together, only to find that they describe something that only exists in your own mind. Words can bring to life the unknown. This is what makes words so magical. \n\nThe word most would use to describe me is “vegetable.” It seems unfitting because I am not a carrot or broccoli or even some variation of fruit; I am very much a human being. But I cannot speak. I cannot express myself like the actors do in the movies. I am just… here. Stuck in my own mind. It is agonizing.\n \nThe only time I seem to escape is when I am reading. The words on the page describe places I’ve never seen, people I’ve never met, feelings I’ve never felt and yet they all feel so real. These places do not exist physically before me but I can almost clearly feel the grass beneath my feet. These people do not exist, and yet I can feel their happiness, their pain. They do not need a voice to be real. They only need words.\n \nThe first woman to show me how powerful words could be was none other than J.K. Rowling. I received Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone as a present when I was eight years old; my family may not have realized it at the time, but I couldn’t contain my joy. I read the book 10 times over the next few months, stopping only when I realized there were more books in the series. Those books sparked my love of reading. They made me realize that I, too, could have a voice, even if I couldn’t speak. \n\nToday, J.K. Rowling is handing out copies of her final book to the first 15 people in line. I’ve been camping out for a week. The staff of the bookstore told me it was unnecessary. I just stared at them. How could I reply? They left as soon my expressionless face made them uncomfortable. It can come in handy sometimes. \n\nAt last, the time had come. Many excited fans were lined up behind me, but I was first. Some people seemed irritated that I wasn’t more excited about the event, but the truth was my heart was racing a mile a minute. My interaction with her would be short and simple. But would she understand?\n\nI approached her. She was sitting at a lavish table decorated with Harry Potter memorabilia, a scarf with the colors of Gryffindor draped around her neck. She smiled sweetly at me as I walked up to the table, my hands shaking as they nearly crushed the small note I agonized over for the last week. \n\nShe held the first copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows to ever be sold in her hands. “Hello, dear,” she said to me. “Who can I make this out to?”\n\nI waved my hand in front of my face, signaling that it wasn’t necessary. She seemed perplexed until I handed her the note. She took it from my trembling hands and read it. \n\nI cannot speak. But, because of you, now I can write. Thank you for giving me a voice.\n\nShe looked up at me and smiled. “Thank you for coming to meet me. It is an honor.” She looked to her right, where three other scarves in the colors of the Houses of Hogwarts were draped over a chair. She gently pulled out the scarf decorated with blue and bronze, the colors of the house of Ravenclaw. “Those who do not speak are often the wisest.” She draped the scarf over my shoulders. \n\nOur eyes locked as she did so, and for the first time in my life, I felt truly heard and truly understood. My face could not express the emotion I felt in that moment save for the stream of tears rolling down my emotionless face.\n\nEDIT: Formatting, ha." ]	1
	[WP] 50 years ago you went to a carnival with friends and decided to go to a booth, the booth was a "Death Date Certificate" booth and you paid for one, its said "May 14th 2068", Today, May 13th 2068, when rummaging through old papers you find it.	[ "Rain hammered the windows of the apartment. A stray tear splashed across the papers as the girl tossed another stack into the trash. She knew this day would come, nothing lasts forever... but why did he have to suffer like this. Another tear found its way onto the pages. Useless stuff paper was really, hard to find what you need and too easy to find things that could make you remember. The girl used a page to wipe away her tears before throwing it too into the metallic bin. Another stack of old useless memories, really dad. Could't of sorted this out earlier so I could be by you now. But did she really want to be there? The last time she visited hospice he greeted her as a stranger. Why couldn't the stroke of just taken him, why didn't- a small slip of paper slipped from the stack. Tossing this pile too into the bin she bent down to grab the small ticket. \"Death Certificate\" she mouthed, \"May 14th 2068\". Tomorrow. With a smile she got up and walked towards the door. Her tears mixed with the rain as she waited for the car to park itself. I'm coming dad, its almost over.\n\nDrunk and tierd af, feedback and critiques please, i'm trying to get better" ]	1
	[WP] You wake up one morning to find that you've swapped bodies... with your identical twin.	[ "My name is Sam Diphlem, I come from a prety much poor family in Cincinnati, Ohio, I live with my mother and my twin brother, Ross we're at our last year at highschool. We are tend to be called the DifOlam brothers (Dif = difference, Olam = World in Hebrew) although we look exactly the same, we are worlds apart, I never understood why we are being called like that, up untill recently.\n\n\"Don't worry mom, we'll be fine!, really!\" we said in perfect timing together as she walked out from the house, \"Stop coping me, weirdo\", again in perfect timing. It's getting weird, we're saying the exact same things, it keeps up like that for another 2-3 good minutes, and then we stopped talking, wating for the other to break the loop, and we waited untill 2.00AM when we both said \"Good night\". We have only rooms, one for mom, a kitchen and for us so we sleep in the same room.\n\nAnd this is where things went off.\n\nI woke up in the wrong bed. I see my brother sleeps in my bed. \"Dude what'ya doin' 'n my be-\" and then I relized, my brother had dental bridge 3 years ago and he had since then something attached to his teeth in order to prevent his teeth \"to bent\" again, and now I got this thing in my teeth when I sleep in his bed. \"Get the hell up! ROSS!\". We switched bodies.\n\n\"It's not that bad right? we're identical, I'll just be me and you will stay you, no one will notice!\" I tried to relax myself. \"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Sam. Don't you feel it?\" he says suspiciously calm, \"fell wha-\"...\"Your body! Sam, you are wasted from last night, I mean, I'm wasted, but , like-I mean-you are-hmm- addicted to heroine.\" and then I understand, We look the same, but we're diffrent. He's got a whole other life.\n\nShould I continue that? I've got something on my mind but right now this doesn't sound that promising..." ]	1
	[WP] You run a disease charity, and whilst you haven't yet found a cure you have found a way to give people the disease. You decide to start infecting celebrities and high profile individuals, in the hope that the awareness raised and money donated can finally find a cure.	[ "The last bodyguard slumped to the ground and I put away my gas gun, brushing aside the rat's nest of tubing that connected it to the reservoir tanks on my back. I nodded to Alvin, and he administered the injection. The prion-derived chemical inside, which I typically used in small doses to ease the pain of mental trauma, served well as an impromptu memory eraser. I patted the unconscious man down, and found a flask. I opened it and poured a little on his clothes, dabbing it onto his face as well. No doubt both he and Ms. Lynn would assume the blackout was caused by drinking on the job. The smell of his breath told me that it wasn't entirely a lie. \n\nI stood, wiping off my gloves on my coat. Half a dozen men had been posted outside of Ms. Lynn's bedroom. Frankly, I'd expected more. For the biggest triple threat in Hollywood, actress, singer, and screenwriter, less than a dozen guards on her entire estate was a joke. Alvin and I had put down scores more protectors for celebrities far less important, and far less rich. Not that I was complaining. My joints were already on fire from having to subdue and position so many people; I would be sore for days. Alvin cough politely, bringing me out of my reverie. We had work to do.\n\nThe bedroom door was locked, of course. I nodded at Alvin, and he took a device from his belt and inserted the tip gently into the keyhole. The doorknob vibrated hard for a moment, like a heart beating fast in fear, before the lock gave way. It would appear to have merely failed from wear and tear to a forensic investigator, or at least one with only the meager tools of the LAPD at their disposal. Alvin carefully opened the door and I stepped inside, drawing my gas gun.\n\nA bullet slammed into my shoulder, knocking me back a few feet. But it was unable to penetrate the layers of Kevlar woven into my coat. Laura Lynn was sitting up in bed, a nine millimeter pistol in hand. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were terrified pinpricks. Her red hair, normally so vivid, so shiny on stage was mussed beyond recognition. I raised my gas gun, toggling the thumb switch to a paralysis agent. \"I would recommend that you put the gun down, Ms. Lynn,\" I said in as soothing a voice as I could muster. Decades of careful attention to my bedside manner had made me quite soothing indeed; Laura lowered the gun slowly, her irregular, shallow breathing becoming slower and steadier.\n\n\"D-Dr. Nostrum?\" she gasped, bewildered. Alvin shut the door behind us and engaged one of the switches on his belt. A wave of electromagnetism washed over the room, frying the iPhone on Ms. Lynn's bed stand and disabling any hidden alarms. It was our fourth sweep, but you can never be too sure.\n\n\"Yes,\" I answered, my gas gun still pointed at her face. \"I've come to offer you the chance to be a hero, Ms. Lynn.\"\n\nThe woman snorted at me, then broke into laughter, the terror broken. \"Am I dreaming? I hear that corny-ass line on your commercials every day.\"\n\nI closed the dozen feet between us in the span of a heartbeat. Age had taken its toll, but I was still quite fit. \"Yet I don't remember receiving a donation from you, if you've heard my message before.\" The muzzle of my gas gun was half an inch from her nose. She blinked at me a dozen times.\n\n\"I donate to charity! Lots of them! Toys for Tots, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity... just not... yours. I'm... I'm sorry, though. I'll donate right now if you want.\"\n\n\"I'm not here for your money,\" I said. My voice was ice. \"But I would like to offer you the chance to donate something far more valuable...\" Alvin approached, his face grim as he unsheathed the needle. It was long and thick, specially designed for piercing the skull. Fear crept back into Laura's eyes as she watched.\n\n\"Your health.\"\n\n\"I-I-I-I,\" she stammered incoherently. She scooted backwards, pivoting her legs to the side. She was trying to run. I pulled the trigger slightly, allowing a hint of the paralytic agent to seep out of my gun. All at once, her muscles seized up and she fell back into the bed. She would not escape me.\n\n\"I had hoped that you, of all people, would agree to help me of your own free will. But I suppose that idea is corny, isn't it, Ms. Lynn? But maybe I'm just the sentimental type. I've spent decades healing the world, so I guess it comes natural by now. But no one has actually agreed with me yet. Can't say I'm surprised, but I am disappointed.\"\n\n\"N-n-no one?\" she asked, her lips moving slowly, as if half-frozen.\n\n\"You're my fourth target, Ms. Lynn. You're very popular, you see, so your diagnosis will raise donations far beyond the other three. Far beyond your entire net worth, actually. And those are just the projections if you survive.\"\n\nTears welled up in her eyes. I noticed Alvin turn away, under the pretense of preparing the injection. A pang of sympathy hit me, but I dismissed it. The greater good demanded I close my heart.\n\n\"Why?\" she asked. I wasn't made of ice. I could at least explain.\n\n\"Cancer is a dragon that terrorizes humanity. I've poured most of my personal fortune into my research. But I'm no closer to slaying the dragon then I was ten years ago. My funds are exhausted. That's why I started the Nostrum Foundation for Cancer. I'd hoped my reputation would bring in enough donations to fund research, but I found out the hard way that people don't care. Apparently, once I'd hung up the cape for a few years, I wasn't worth anyone's time anymore. Nor anyone's money, either.\"\n\nAlvin, now grimly composed and ready for the task at hand, turned back to Laura Lynn and began swabbing her temple with alcohol. He was gentle, compassionate. Neither of us wanted this to be any more unpleasant than it needed to be.\n\n\"But my research did turn up something. Something terrible.\" I flicked the glass portion of the syringe in Alvin's hand. \"I call it Eleanor's Lament. It's derived from papillomavirus, in the same way that you and I could be said to be derived from apes. The Lament can make any cell it comes into contact with cancerous. A few drops will create a tumor in your brain the size of a dime. I'm aiming for one around the size of a walnut. It will be inoperable. But with chemotherapy and other, more modern treatments you may survive. You can surely afford them.\"\n\nMs. Lynn wheezed and rattled at me. The paralytic agent had gripped her entirely. She was no longer able to do anything but watch. \n\n\"The only comfort I can give you is a promise. I promise you won't remember this. You'll wake up tomorrow, and life will continue. At least until symptoms start presenting themselves. That should take a week, at most. Eleanor's Lament is potent. Her gift produced something that would have taken centuries to bioengineer with conventional methods; a blessing in disguise, though I doubt she'd have agreed. You'll be cancelling your next tour, I'm afraid.\"\n\nI took the needle from Alvin. The gravest sin tonight would be my own. He held Ms. Lynn down, which wasn't strictly necessary at this point. I turned her head and bent down for a better viewing angle. \"For what it's worth, I'm sorry,\" I said, as I plunged the needle into her temple.\n\nLaura Lynn fell unconscious immediately. The Lament worked fast, but the memory eraser and sleep drugs mixed in with it worked even faster. I swabbed the site with an alcohol pad to wipe away the evidence of our presence. Alvin took the needle and holstered it, for later sterilization. \n\n\"Let's go,\" I said, standing back up and holstering my gas gun again. There was a quiet beep from Alvin's pocket. He checked his communicator. \"It looks like new delivery vector is finished, Dr. Nostrum.\"\n\nI nodded as we left the room. Even now, we moved quietly. \"Excellent. Far ahead of schedule. We have several weeks before testing starts.\"\n\nAlvin grimaced at my side. \"Are you sure that making the Lament airborne is a good idea, doctor?\"\n\n\"It breaks down within a day outside of Eleanor's plasma. It will spread enough to do what we need, but no more.\"\n\n\"I know, doctor, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it. Genesis would nev-\"\n\n\"Eleanor would never want this,\" I said, cutting him off. \"I know. I don't want this either. But time is running short. We need funding. If we don't get it...\"\n\nAlvin's silence spoke volumes. He knew what was at stake. Eleanor would surely forgive us if she was still here. Her gift had done so much good, although in the end it was also what had ended her life. The Lament, her final creation, would make sure no others would suffer as she had.\n\nWe left via the back door. Alvin wiped down the doorknob and readied the teleporter. I stared at the half-moon, hanging low in the sky. She would forgive me, wouldn't she? I had to think that she would. Otherwise, there was no reason to live anymore. \n\n\"I'm sorry, Eleanor, but our work must go on. Without you, I can only do so much. There's... no other way.\"\n\nBut the warm California night gave no answer. Of course it wouldn't. I knew that. I had to speak it aloud anyway, though, for my conscience's sake. It was completely irrational, but it gave me comfort. \n\n\"Transportation commencing,\" said Alvin. The teleporter began to crackle with energy. Back home, and back to work. I sighed one last time before the flash that would bring us back to my lab. There was much more work to do.\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are a witch, luring young children to their deaths inside your gingerbread house made of sweets. But ever since the Food Standards Agency gave you a food hygiene rating of 0, the children have stopped coming.	[ "No man, woman, or child knew what lay hidden in the black heart of the Dark Forest. Legends spoke of a fiery evil, a calumnious monster from the depths, an immortal dead soul trapped on the wrong side of Hell. The villagers’ dreams of cutting rich timber met with nightmares of pain, funerals, and the loneliness of an empty home. \n\nA steady stream of fools, travelers, and children lost themselves in the forest, never to be seen again. With the right kind of tongue, you could taste fear in the air.\n\nThe Pretty Bad Witch Esmeralda liked that taste. She knew flavor. Deep in the forest, she built her home, using the skeletons of gingerbread men she had collected on Safari in Candystan. The house was lined with brightly colored gumdrops. Somehow, they seemed to be screaming, despite the silence of the meadow.\n\n“Fuck!” Esmeralda said, leaning over her IBM Thinkpad. She sat in a swivel chair in front of a fiberboard desk she’d ordered from Officemax. The Health & Safety Board had emailed her with the results. Zero. She’d received a fucking zero on her Food Safety Inspection.\n\nLife had changed considerably over the centuries. The Pretty Bad Witch had once had a monopoly on forest victims \$a true monopoly because the Calumnious Monster didn’t exist, it was just a good marketing campaign by Esmeralda’s P.R. guy, Johann\$. But the market for terrified children was too good to last without competition. First the gremlins came, then the ogres, and the goblins. Each group set up shop closer to the edge of the forest, to get first dibs on the lost children. Fewer and fewer thumb\\-sucking meatbags made it to Esmeralda’s cottage. She grew thinner and thinner, which helped her get likes on instagram, but what she truly craved was a meat pie made from a fat kid.\n\nEsmeralda checked her yelp! page. The rating was on there. She would never lure another grubby\\-fingered, snotty\\-nosed, iPhone\\-wielding third grader into her Candied House of Death again.\n\nThere was only one thing to do. Esmeralda grabbed her broomstick. It was time to go to City Hall." ]	1
	[WP] You are a galactically-renowned bio engineer, having cultured a dozen species from stone age to interstellar travel. Everything changed though when Species 1 returns from the grave to haunt you.	[ "The creature was beautiful. Bipedal, prehensile tail for balance, dexterous fingers for fine manipulation. The forward facing eyes of a predator set in a face with the poise of a diplomat. It was a shining tribute to his craft, yet it wasn’t his. Someone ripped off his work and Artifex the lifter was going to find out who they were.\n\nThe creature was evidently called Divanaget, and was from a low gravity planet in the northwest quad. Divanaget , the creature, ran through the tedious typical bragging of a new to the galactic scene species. Inventions, adventures, and conquests. Artifex started steering the conversation away from the mundane description of what the creature called a Boom drive, a marvelous invention that hundreds of other worlds had done before. Artifex started boosting the ego of the creature using triggers he hardwired into all his work. The creature thinking that he initiated a history lesson regaled Artifex with a general history typical of a bio-engineered race. Poor thing thinks it evolved from a tree dwelling monster magically. So much copyright infringement. Artifex started a rhythmic tapping that the creature only momentarily noticed. A loud snap of his black nailed fingers triggered a debug mode that poor thing didn’t know he had. Some members of engineered races find this mode, they usually use this advanced knowledge to create traveling shows where they make their subjects do animal calls. Sad. \n\nThe creature started listing what its race called gods in past. Mother planet spirit, pantheons of sex obsessed gods representing nature aspects, and eventually a solitary creator God. Standard. Easy. Boring. Fishing through the descriptions of the gods that didn’t look like Divanaget‘s race, Artifex finally started getting the info he needed. Bipedal, forward facing eyes, omnivorous, 2 arms. One of his creations copied his work. Metallic eyes that appeared to glow, so it was from a weird early phase of his lifting career. Down to 10 races, a lump formed in his throat. Large wings for flight. The Anxo. Artifex’s first solo project. A race so well built that it went from conception to living in the higher plane in only 2 million years. \n\nThat the Anxo had returned from the higher plane and started uplifting was almost humbling. Few higher creatures bothered. To steal their lifter, THE LIFTER’s processes to do it was unacceptable. There would be retribution. The innocent creature before him was wiped of this meeting and sent on his way to his real first contact with other lifted things. Spies were sent out. They found the Anxo working on a small blue green world. A plan was began.\n\nArtifex rose from his chair to look upon the speck of a world. His long spiked tail curled around his red skinned torso. He took a bite of his apple and triggered the teleport. “This lift will not go well, let the games begin”" ]	1
	[wp] The Dark Lord has come to kill the king and rip down the monuments, but this is Las Vegas...	[ "The Devil laughs as he pulls the head off of Vegas Vic and throws it into the Bellagio Fountain.\n\n\"Bow before me. Your true master is now here, Sin City.\" \n\nThe patrons of The Strip cower, ducking under awnings that offer no true hope of safety. \n\nSatan roars loudly, \"Bring me out your king, that I may be baptized in his blood, and trample on his throne!\"\n\nSomeone shoves a screaming man out into the street, the sun flashing off his sequined jumpsuit. Wetness spreads down his pant-leg and the unmistakable stench of lost bowels wafts over the crowd.\n\n\"This mewling kitten is your king?\" screams the Devil, as he swipes his claw and shreds the man without a second thought. \"Nothing now stands in my way. Bow!\"\n\nSuddenly another man, with a perfectly quaffed pompadour is pushed into the street. And another whose hips move with the grace of a flamenco dancer. And still others, all with the signature look and grace of The King.\n\n\"How...how many kings are in this city?\" asks Satan, cocking an enormous eyebrow.\n\n\"This is Las Vegas!\" shouts someone in the crowd, and soon everyone picks it up, turning it into a defiant chant, as more and more Elvises fill the street.\n\nThe Devil sighs in frustration. \"This is annoying.\" he groans, as teeth, tail, and blood flash through the air." ]	1
	[WP] You are the world's greatest detective, thanks in part to a camera which allows you to take photos of the past. However, you may have found a case that even the camera can't solve.	[ "We flashed our credentials, ducked under the tape and entered the crime scene. It was a large closet. Cleaning supplies were stacked neatly on stainless steel racks, four overhead fluorescent lights. No windows. \n\nThere was the body, sitting in a finely carved wooden chair in the center of the room, hands tied behind his back, a bullet hole from temple to temple, small caliber. No trace of weapon, but dark soot in a perfect circle, maybe two meters in diameter, surrounded the victim on the floor and ceiling.\n\n\"Detective Cole, glad to see you,\" the Chief Inspector said. \"And this is?\"\n\n\"My new partner, Detective Jacobs. He was on the force in Chicago before the agency recruited him. He's good. Doesn't say much, but he's good,\" I said. \n\n\"Well if he's working with you and your agency, I'd say he is one of the best,\" the Chief said. \n\nJacobs twitched the corners of his mouth as if he found difficulty in smiling and gave a quick little nod. I could see his eyes darting around the room, taking in the scene. He pulled out a moleskin notebook and jotted something down.\n\n\"As you can probably guess this is a little beyond our expertise,\" the Chief said. \"I'll tell you what we know. At 5 AM this morning the overnight janitor, Philomena, really a wonderful woman, finished her shift. She says she put her cleaning cart in the closet and locked the door as she always does. There was no body. However, later this morning at nine o'clock the receptionist came in for supplies and was shocked to find a man she has never seen with a hole in his head sitting in a chair with his hands tied. We questioned everyone working in this office, that's twenty-seven people, most of whom arrived at seven o'clock and not a one claims to know this man. Nobody remembers seeing any visitors or any other persons out of the ordinary this morning, nor did anyone hear anything like a gunshot. We've checked the security tapes, Cole, no person came or went from this building between when Philomena left at five and the workers arrived at seven.\"\n\n\"She was lying then,\" said Jacobs.\n\nThe Chief looked at me quizzically and said to Jacobs, \"I wouldn't have called your agency if I thought that. Besides, the coroner estimates the time of death to be eight thirty AM\"\n\n\"It looks like we have our work cut out for us. Thank you, Inspector.\" I said. \"You know the drill.\"\n\n\"Yes, of course.\" The Chief took one last look around, \"I guess I'll leave you to it.\"\n\nAnd with that the Chief inspector left the room. \n\nJacobs surveyed the body from all angles. In the meantime I got to work setting up the tripod. \n\n\"What's that,\" he said, pointing to the tripod.\n\n\"Oh this,\" I said casually. \"This is a tripod, helps to keep the shot steady.\"\n\n\"I've never known a crime scene photographer to use a tripod. They usually just take snapshots.\"\n\n\"Well, as you're about to find out, we at the agency do things a little less... traditionally.\" I pulled the camera luna from my bag and set it on the tripod.\"\n\n\"And what is that?\" inquired and incredulous Jacobs.\n\n\"It's the key to our agency's success, the camera luna, so named,\" I held it up for him to see, \" because it looks like the moon.\" And indeed it did look like a softball sized moon. It was a dull pewter color, its surface was pockmarked with crater-like lenses, some large, some very, very small. \"This camera, Jacobs, is our most powerful aide. You are already incredibly skilled in seeing things as how they are. However, with this,\" I pointed. \"We can see things as how they were. Without this camera detective work is just a deduction at best, a guess at worst, and... when you're really desperate for an answer, a hunch.\"\n\nI pulled two long black strips of fabric from my coat pocket and handed one to Jacobs who looked at me doubtfully. \n\n\"This smells like bull,\" said Jacobs. \"Detective work is a science, Cole. Grounded in reality. I didn't sign up to work with a bunch of quacks.\"\n\n\"Oh this is very much grounded in reality, Jacobs. It's just not grounded in reality as you think it to be. Besides, we get results, do we not?\"\n\nJacob rolled his eyes and gave me a look that I knew well. It was the same look I gave on my first case. I knew he was thinking he should leave right at that instant, just as I had once thought, that he should go back to Chicago and solve the crimes he was used to. I also knew he wouldn't. \n \n\"Now, enough talk.\" I tied the black strip of fabric across my eyes and suggested Jacobs do the same. \"The flash can be pretty intense. Say cheese.\"\n\nPing\n\n\"That was it?\" asked Jacobs.\n\n\"Yes,\" I said with a smile. \"The real magic happens at the lab. Let's go.\"\n\nBack at the lab I took Jacobs to a dim room and set the camera on a table. I leaned in close to Jacobs and whispered,\" You know the most amazing thing about this camera is not that it can see into the past.\"\n\n\"It's not?\"\n\n\"No, in fact what makes this camera so remarkable is that it doubles as a projector.\" I laughed. Jacobs rolled his eyes. \n\nI turned a knob and flicked a switch on the camera and it projected all that it had captured that day. It seemed as if we had been transported back to the crime scene. However, in addition to the crime scene there was clock on the wall that displayed time, date, and year.\n\n\"Detective Jacobs, pick your jaw up off the floor. We have work to do.\"\n\n\"But...how?\"\n\n\"If this is blowing your mind your gonna love what happens next. Now let's just see exactly what happened this morning. Watch the clock.\"\n\n\"We're going back in time?\" asked an excited Jacobs.\n\n\"No, we're just... rewinding.\" I twisted the dial labeled, 'TIME' counterclockwise. \n\nThe numbers raced back, noon, eleven, ten, nine... and there was the receptionist. I stopped twisting the dial. I chuckled. \"Look at her face.\"\n\nJacobs shook his head in disbelief. \"You could solve anything with this.\"\n\n\"We do.\"\n\nI resumed twisting the dial, slowly this time and something I was unprepared for happened. A bright ball of light formed in the center of the room, I could barely make out the man in the chair. But there was someone else behind him. I couldn't see his face. The light disappeared and so too did the victim and the mystery man. We were standing in an empty supply closet. I looked at Jacobs who looked at me. I turned the time dial clockwise, the light reappeared. I stopped turning when it appeared at its dimmest, still we could not identify the man standing behind the victim. \n\nJacobs didn't hesitate. He pulled out his moleskin notebook and started making notes. I followed him along. \n\n\"Suspect appears to be about, six foot one inches tall, medium build, well dressed, black shoes, black suit and...\" He crouched down by the suspect's wrist, \"a Rolex that reads the ten-thirty, the twenty-fifth of May.\" He turned to me. \"Cole, today is only the twentieth.\"\n\nI thought for a moment. \"Sure,\" I started, \"his watch could just be grossly out of sync. However that doesn't explain the bright flash of light and you know, his... apparition and subsequent disappearance.\" I looked Jacobs dead in the eye. \"I don't think this man was killed this morning.\"\n\nJacobs pursed his lips. \"You mean he was killed in the future?\"\n\n\"Five days from now to be exact. I can see no other way.\"\n\nJacobs brought his fingers to his chin. \"Then that means...\" he trailed off. \n\n\"Yes, exactly. That means he's not actually dead yet and it is now our task to find him before he becomes so.\" I gave Jacobs a pat on the back. \"Good work, but there is still much more to do. This should be very interesting.\"", "I have made my name as the world's greatest detective. Normally that would be a daunting task, but I have this little friend, and he helped in ways no one could ever imagine. Chip is a robot, a time traveling robot to be precise. I found him one day in an alley, after he had quite the accident. An accident that his creator did not survive. I am pretty handy, and was able to get him back to working order. With his creator gone he wanted to serve me to continue his purpose, being helpful. I immediately noticed that Chip was extremely insightful. Able to understand year if not decades of history of a location. How you ask? He can see where he is in all times. Not at all times, IN. He sees images of his location from the perspective of different times, and can see what happened in any given spot even hundred of years ago. \n\nTimes had been tough for me, but I knew Chip was my big break. After trying a few jobs I decided to become a private detective. It was the easier to become qualified for that instead of a paleontologist, anyway no one believed me when I told them demons used to ride dinosaurs around as they fought with the angels over the rights to Earth. And I was not about to change all of human history for a few bucks...\n\nSo detective seemed like a good idea. Lewis Ragland and Chip Private Detectives. Sounded okay at the time. Solving crimes was pretty easy when you could just see who did it. I just had to play the part and Chip did all the heavy lifting. And the nice thing about crime scenes, they don't move....well...usually. Today may be the day they figure out I don't know as much as it seems. See today we got called to a scene, a real stumper. We arrived at the airport around noon, it was a hot day, too hot for me. Chip didn't seem to mind, though he never does. I figured someone found in the luggage cart or a back room but this took the cake. We we brought to a private jet, smelled worse than any scene I had been to. There was blood and body parts everywhere, a total massacre. I asked for privacy as I normally do and let Chip out of my pocket. He began his scan.\n\n\"At the time of these murders this hanger was empty\"\n\nOkay, so it happened in the air. \"So what else can you get Chip?\"\n\n\"I can only see where we are currently. I need to be at the spot of the murder\" Chip replied in his typical calm electronic voice.\n\nShit. How the hell am I going to get Chip forty two thousand feet in the air....." ]	2
	[WP] At a certain age, every person in the world becomes the best at something. Your mother is the best at karate, your father is the best chess player and your younger sibling is the best at gardening. You however, even at the ripe age of sixteen are the best in the world at nothing.	[ "Gather around, folks, for the best installment yet in the Ace Family series!\n\nYou remember Karate Kassidy, who breaks everything from broccoli to balls (don't get on her bad side, folks!) with a single chop. Need revenge on an abusive boyfriend or some minced garlic? She's your gal. \n\nStrategic Stephen, who can defeat even the maddest genius on that checkered board. He's not the most exciting to watch in action, but boy is he smart! \n\nHow can we forget cutie patootie Rachel \"The Resurrectionist,\" who was summoning roses in the playground at age 5 and strangling bullies and lovesick boys with weeds by age 10?\n\nYou think you've seen it all, but it ain't so! For the longest time, he has been but a well-kept secret, but you may know him from the headline from yesterday's news: \"Boy Goes Running and Almost Trips to His Death.\" He chokes on air! He can't make microwave popcorn without causing an explosion! He cleans his room and it looks worse after! \n\nWonder Boy Walter, who is the best at nothing and the worst at everything - documentary coming soon to theaters near you! ", "\"What are you doing?\"\n\nI took a breath. This was it. Time to test my theory.\n\nTwo weeks ago, I turned sixteen, and while everyone I knew had their Best Skill, I apparently had no such skill. No matter what I was good at, someone else was always better. Some people were so good at their Best Skill that they were basically superheroes; one guy's Best was punching, and if he wasn't careful, he'd tear apart entire buildings just by closing a door, and there was a lady whose Best was opera, which made anyone who heard her speak want to burst into tears at how amazing she sounded simply ordering a cheeseburger.\n\nMe? Nothing.\n\nIt took me several years to begin wondering if maybe... just maybe... \"Nothing\" was my Best Skill.\n\nAfter running dozens of scenarios in my head, doing subtle tests on the people closest to me, and refining my theory, it was time for the big test; the real deal.\n\nJust five minutes ago, I'd walked into the convenience store at the corner a couple of blocks from my home. The manager was Best at managing convenience stores, and had chosen to stay near where she'd grown up.\n\nI'd waited until everyone was out of the store except the manager, and then, gathering my courage, took a bag of chips off the shelf in full view of the manager and shoved it in my backpack. Whether or not this worked, I didn't intend to keep the bag; this really was just a test.\n\nThe manager, a stocky woman with a pretty face except her narrow eyes, was immediately there, towing over me threateningly.\n\n\"What are you doing??\" she demanded again when my tongue caught on my teeth. \"Answer me, girl!\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" I whispered, amazed that I could even speak. She blinked, and for an instant, I feared my theory was wrong and I'd go to juvie and ruin my entire life over a stupid bag of chips and an even stupider theory!\n\n\"I see. Anything I can help you with, honey?\" she asked, suddenly pleasantly polite. She even smiled!\n\nI couldn't believe it... It worked! My theory was right! I was the Best at Nothing!\n\nDelighted, I shook my head with a wide grin, carefully pulling the bag from my backpack and putting it back on the shelf.\n\n\"No ma'am, thank you.\"\n\n\"Alright, have a good day!\" she called after me as I skipped out of the store.\n\nOh it was a good day alright. It was the day a new superhero was born! ", "Mom was chopping carrots when I walked into the kitchen. Not with a knife of course, why would she need one?\n\n\"Mom, I wanted to know if I could talk.\"\n\nShe stopped chopping, if she had kife, this would have been when she set it down, instead she just sorta awkwardly put her hands to the side.\n\n\"What is it sweetie? Here take a seat.\"\n\nShe was standing by the cutting board, she reached out and used her hidden blades to pull two chairs from the table, like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. \n\nBut she ended up just knocking them over.\n\nYou know, people think Karate means open handed, but it actually means empty handed, as in without the use of weapons.\n\n\"Mom, why do you bother trying to do that when you aren't good at it?\"\n\n\"Don't be so sour, jellybean! I won't be any good unless I keep practicing!\"\n\n\"I didn't know Jellybeans could be sour!\"\n\nMy mom chuckled as she picked up the chairs. I smiled at her. She sat down, then gestured at the other chair.\n\n\"What seems to be the matter sweetie?\"\n\nI told my mom how I didn't feel like I was the best at anything. She nodded as I talked.\n\n\"That sounds rough hun. Have you tried to practice at anything particular?\"\n\n\"I do, but I'm not good at anything.\"\n\n\"How do plan on being good at something if you don't practice?\"\n\nWe talked in circles. That was always how this conversation goes. I wasn't sure what I liked, or what I was good at.\n\nMy mom wasn't always the best at Karate, she used to be the best at Shorin Ryu Style Karate, a style from Okinawa. \n\nBefore that she was the best at performing a specific Kata in that style. \n\nBefore that she was the best at punching in that particular style, the style had a technique that differed from a lot styles. The fists had to start vertically and were rested just above the hips, then as they extended would turn horizontally. The fist had two also be angled in such a way where it used the first two knuckles.\n\nIf she wasn't the best at that, she wouldn't have been able to become the best at performing the kata because it used a lot of punching. \n\nIf she wasn't the best at doing the kata she wouldn't have been able to become good at the style. \n\nIf she wasn't good at the style she wouldn't have been able to become the master of Karate. \n\nIf she wasn't the master of Karate, she wouldn't be aiming to become the best at all martial arts.\n\nShe gave that speech a lot. She said to start small, and work your way up. I didn't know what I was good at.\n\nThen I said it. I said the thing that changed my life forever.\n\n\"You know, you are the best at giving that speech you've practiced it so much!\"\n\nShe laughed.\n\n\"You know Jellybean, your the best at making me laugh!\"\n\n\"I am?\"\n\n\"Yeah, you can never fail to make me smile.\"\n\nThat was it! I had to be sure.\n\n\"Well your also the best at being my mom, so I guess your the best at three things!\"\n\nShe laughed, again.\n\n\"Well aren't we just a card today?\"\n\n\"Well, I guess I'm practicing to be the best son I can be!\"\n\nShe laughed, but then her eyes lit up. She went to speak but I thanked her before she could say it. I had work to do. \n\nI'm not the best at conversation. I'm not even the funniest. But thanks to my Mom, I learned what I really am the best at. To me, that made her the best mom I could ever ask for.\n\nI'm not the best at being funny, I'm the best at being corny.\n\nAnd maybe, with enough practice, I might be more than that someday!" ]	3
	[WP] An immortal is always reincarnated when he dies. He is always reincarnated as a slave.	[ "[Blah, wrote this in 30. Didn't re-read anything at all and expect lots of grammar mistakes. I really wanted to explore his other lives more than a few sentences but again.. lunch time writing. If there is interests I may clean it up]\n\n1820 – London\n\n”I’m afraid there is nothing I can do.” Is the phrase Mr. Ainsley replays in his head over and over again. The man who helped bring Britain into the industrial age by automating his several factories with steam engines and production lines is suffering from the same thing that unites everyone in the end, old age and death. Mr. Ainsley who has been bedridden for months, unable to get up from his bed on his own has put a lot of his wealth into looking for a cure. He had doctors from beyond London visit him, Shamans with awful tasting elixirs, and conmen who just want his money have come in promising the cure of old age and death. \n\nYet he didn’t expect the Devil himself to see him. Lucifer with his goat like horns, red tinted skin, forked tongue, and deep and scratchy voice hovered over Ainsley’s bed while he slept. “Wake up” the Devil commanded. \n\nMr. Ainsley opened his eyes, looking at the fiendish creature. He would shriek in horror if he could, but wasn’t able to muster up the breath to do so. His heart pumps faster and faster, giving a piercing pain for fright. His old frail hands clutch his left breast. \n\n“Now, I hear you don’t want to die. Here is the deal I give everyone, give me your soul and you can live forever. When you die, you’ll be born somewhere else. The cycle will only end when you kill or ask me to release you, in which you’ll be brought to hell to server me. Otherwise you die tonight.” The Devil spoke. Mr. Ainsley was in pain, but he heard the devil’s offer. Mr. Ainsley like all men, think they can outsmart something they can’t fathom agrees to it. \n\n“Fine.” He says in a lowered barely breathing tone.\n\n“But, I’ll live forever. I’ll never want to die.” The old man retorted back. He’ll have years, hundred of years of life. Who wouldn’t want that? \n\nMr. Ainsley died that night, his estranged children took over his many factories. No one outside of his children and his first ex-wife attended the funeral. \n\n1830 – London\n\nAndrew was sold to the Ainsley Corporation at the age of 6, as soon as he understood basic instructions from his father and mother. The Ainsley Textile corporation was seeking new employees with small hands able to move the different threads of string within the machine. The hands of full grown adults proved to be too big and clumsy, and being able to use children that they support through orphanages and children homes was a great cost reduction that their founder Mr. Ainsley would be proud of. \n\nThe first week of work involved a lot of crying and disobeying, but backhands to the head, screaming, and withholding food made the more unenthusiastic children more acceptive to work tasks and functions. Within a few weeks Andrew started to get into the groove of work, he’ll wake up, unthread the machines, and when the machines jammed he’ll use his hands to rehook the thread. It was scary at first because the machine needed to remain on in order to keep producing other items, if they turned it off it was deemed too much of a time lost for the corporation. \n\nOne day, one of the older machines that would routinely jam was having a lot of issues. It was making noise and being erratic, but the company wouldn’t call out a repairman unless it stopped working. Andrew was the one assigned to the machine, and as soon as he reached into the machine to rehook the thread, he felt what couldn’t only described being a curved bone in shape. Looking into the machine, deep within the mechanics of nuts, bolts, and steam dark glowing red eyes peered back to him. That’s when Andrew remembered the deal he made so long ago with the Devil. \n\n“You’ve lived as a child robbed of his innocence and forced to work for someone else’s greed. Do you want to die?” \n\n“No” replied Mr. Ainsley. \n\n“If I work hard, I can rise up in the company. I want to live.”\n\n“So be it.”\n\nThe textile machine broke down in the moment, the wires twining the thread breaks apart and slices Andrew’s hand off him. Shortly later he died due to blood loss. \n\n1916 – Somme\n\nAndrew was 41 when he was sent to war with a wife and two children at home. If the conscription officers waited another three months, he wouldn’t have been eligible for conscription. Instead he was the laughing stock of his unit, old and unfit Andrew was barely able to run around a field without breathing heavily.\n\nHe has been posted in Somme for a few weeks now, his job was to routinely look over the trench with binoculars and confirm if the Germans were charging or not. There were gunshots and arterially shells being fired daily, but there wasn’t a big threat to their safety unless they left the trench.\n\nOne day a pigeon was flying towards their outpost, and it fell dead 10 yards into no man’s land. While no Man’s land would be regularly cleaned of bodies by medics, the Germans didn’t uphold the truce knowing a message meant for the British Empire was stuck in No Man’s land. The British Captain, who didn’t know the importance of the message decided the best way to receive it was to storm the trench. Their main objective was to attack, but to also retrieve the message. \n\nBodies ran towards the German’s trench. Guns fired and an orchestra of screams and bullets serenade the battlefield. Andrew being the slowest of the bunch was well protected by bodies as they fell in front of him. Andrew was also the first to discover the message, and instead of pressing the charge retreated back to base to hand the commander the message. \n\nThe commander’s tent was as luxurious as it could be. With a real cot, chessboard, and meals that weren’t revolved around stale bread and butter. Andrew delivered the message, still panting from the run back. The commander opened the message and read it out to Andrew. \n\n“Do you wish to die?” The Commander asked Andrew. Then just like that, Andrew’s past lives were revealed. \n\n“No.” he answered again. \n\n“Well I am fighting for someone else’s war and possibly sacrificing myself. I’m doing it for my country.” \n\nThe commander nodded, and at the end of the conversation an arterially shell exploded onto the tent, killing Andrew. \n\nThis happened several more times. Mr. Ainsley experienced life as a Woman, physically abused by his husband and denied rights he had experienced as a male, Ainsley reason for living was “I believe humanity would learn to treat each other fairly.” He died after a drunken beating went a bit too far. \n\nHe then experienced his life as an African American in the 70’s in America. Being oppressed by the system and never giving the same opportunities. He died during a lynching, but told the devil. “My life besides this was filled with happiness of a wife. I was oppressed under the system but I made do. It wasn’t as bad as how I treated my workers.” He denied he was a slave to the government and social classes. \n\nHe then experienced life an engineer. Working for a multimillion dollar company called Ainsley’s Aerodynamics. He worked 9-5, several overtime shifts a week. His wife and himself became estranged after him finding her in bed with a friend of his, and his kids grew to resent them because he was always at the office. The office never promoted him up beyond a mid-tier worker, and just before his retirement he was let go under a third warning because he was late to work. He was caught speeding and an officer lectured him causing him to be late, which was the third strike the company needed. He died of a pestering infection in a retirement home. Satan portrayed as one of the Nurses asked him the question again. “Do you want to die?”\n\n“No. I lived my life poorly and didn’t put those I loved before me. This is my fault, no one else’s”. With that he passed away from his wounds. \n\nMr. Ainsley eyes opened. He was in a closet. The closet was filled with other computer junk of disassembled robot parts. The company Ainsley’s Electronics had went out of business after their parent company’s stocks crashed and they had to put everything they weren’t able to sell in a storage locker. One of their projects was a humanized robot to help clean the house called Butler Ainsley, but it never hit passed prototyping. \n\nFor years Ainsley stared at the storage door. He was unable to speak, think, or do anything except for staring at the door. He had no arms or legs to move, he had no functions to keep himself entertained. He couldn’t speak or sing, or a need to sleep. He wanted to die, but had no way to convey it. \n\nSo he remains in a locker, waiting staring at the door hoping someone would open it. \n", "Of course it had to be freaking Mauretania where fate placed him this time. The places became more remote where he had to grow up and eventually escape from. As a looper, he returned each time with his memories intact in a new body and, as a price for many new beginnings, each time he returned as a slave. Each time somewhere else, each time someone else but each time made for service and submission, not freedom and the ability to decide his fate. It had become easier over the years to get away, to build something for yourself. More and more countries, regions and nations frowned upon the institution of slavery, provided a safe haven to escapees. There were still strongholds, of course there would be, but these became fewer and fewer. He realized that eventually, there would be no slavery anymore. Then, at last, his soul might find peace. ", " what a pointless way to go. the thoughts were fuzzy and fast because no matter what the mind says the body always resists, always fights back a little bit, that frenzied animal desperation. sometimes i stick around for a while. a couple bodies back i even escaped, felt humid air in my lungs and the jungle underneath my feet. made it to a city, begged for change from hard faces. that was a strange one- the abject agony of starvation, the sidewalk kissing my face, watching bellies full enough to walk pass by, not seeing or not looking or not caring to look. eventually keeping my eyes open got to be too tiring so i stopped doing that. eventually breathing got to be too tiring so i stopped doing that too. what a pointless way to go. i felt the warm porcelain under my palms, pressed so hard i could feel its heartbeat. some bodies go quicker than others. sometimes, i wake up already malnourished and weak, still fit for work but just barely. the overseers never have compassion. sometimes i wake up and they've already decided i'm done- i'm too old, or some machine took an arm, its sounds never changed but they couldn't drown out the roaring in my ears. this body might have been a new record, though. couldn't have been more than an hour. my arms are small and weak, i've got no chance against the thick hairy hand on the back of my head but still i fight. my nose is broken, blood in the dingy hotel toilet water. this body, i woke up underneath a man. the water burns my throat. he let me go to the bathroom. the mirror broke easily the perfect shard he didn't even hear. i hid it came out feigning compliance. water takes the warmth from my lungs. it went in so easily, his body thrashed on top of me and i thought for a moment he was going to live but his body was a machine that the shard of mirror punched through his nose into his brain jammed it performed all the right motions just out of order, disjointed and he fell onto the floor. it was a good life until his friend came back, the element of surprise was not there. i wonder where i'll be next. maybe someday they'll be nowhere for me to go, no poor vessel for my spirit. maybe i could know death how i'm supposed to. until then. i feel that calm start to flow over me. until then. i'm just another dead slave." ]	3
	[WP] At the first day and the last, there were six. The Chalice Queen, The King of Swords, The Cursed Knight, The Last Angel... And the Jokers, Red and Black.	[ "We did not choose this power. Training from a young age to carry the burden of a people on our shoulders, no one would choose this. All of us, the physical manifestation of the land we represent, standing in a room preparing to kill and die for our people. This is how power is earned. My opponents are no slouches, but I must win. It's worse for me, for my people in the Land of Seraphs. We have fielded the last three victorious champions with me winning the previous battle. We are the attendants of God himself so while our victory is no surprise, the burden is insurmountable. Still, the other lands have been close the gap over the last few contests and these look to be the strongest yet. \n\n The Chalice Queen, originating from the Land of Greed. It's said that while they field a champion every time they have all but given up hope of winning, since being from the land of greed they are not trusted to even conspire with. Something this time is different though. This time the champion from the Land of Greed gives off an aura of someone very deserving of the title 'The Chalice Queen' and while physically she isn't too intimidating I can't help but look into her eyes and feel a sense of fear being struck into my very core. \n\n And then the King of Swords, from the Land of Honor. A mountain of a man wielding a sword almost as big as I am, with eyes in the blade and feathers on the hilt that belonged to the mythical dragon, Kukulkan, slain by the first King of Swords. The sword as well as a crown engulfed in blue flames that sits atop his head are passed down through the generations to the champion of the Land of Honor. The King of Swords is always a worthy adversary and this time is no different. \n\n Next, The Cursed Knight, from the Land of the Lost. A faceless knight with skin as gray as ash and hands made of clay, The Cursed Knight is always a problem as he is always skilled in ancient martial arts and his hands being made of clay gives them the ability to regenerate them allowing him to fight with nothing to lose. That's where I envy him, fighting here having nothing to lose and having lost nothing. After all, you can't risk losing what you never had.\n \n Then there's me, The Last Angel, of the land of Seraphs. I'm merely an average sized man with massive, midnight black wings and a pitch black scythe. Even though I won last competition I can't be over confident, my family is God's favorite of all the angels. I will not allow my ignorance get in the way of—\n\n Hearing those bells... Is it really the end of the cycle. The bells from the hats of the Jokers of Red and Black. While they belong to no land they are responsible for the most gruesome contests in history. Two beings that while alone aren't anything but crazy, together they have power that rivals a demigod. They are used to provide entertainment to a being more powerful that us and remind us of the power held by this higher being. Each holding a pair of black and green snake daggers and an inclination for pure violence. \n\n A voice blasts through the room, snapping me from my thoughts. \"Welcome champions of the four divine lands, to the 20th Battle of the Ancients, remember you are fighting for power for each of your lands and for the entirety of your people. As you know, there is but one rule, Don't Die. Let the battle being!\"", "The Kingdom of the Wicked: A Poem\n\nThe Ivory Tower, \n\nThe Iron Sword's Glow, \n\nThe Depths of the Demons, \n\nThe Darkness Below, \n\nThe Red Running Blood,\n\nThe Black Sonorous Chill,\n\nIn the Kingdom of the Wicked, \n\nThese Inky Rivers shall fill.\n\nA Queen of Hedonism, \n\nA King of Bloodlust, \n\nA Knight's Blade, \n\nA Bishop's Rust, \n\nA pawn of white, \n\nA pawn of red, \n\nBow to her feet, \n\nOr off with your head.\n\nOn day one, on day six,\n\nThe tainted flag shall rise, \n\nIn the Kingdom of the Fallen, \n\nYou shall meet your demise. \n\nThe Glutton, \n\nThe Rage, \n\nThe Shame, \n\nThe Cage, \n\nThe Laughter, \n\nThe Violence, \n\nThe Kingdom\n\nOf Silence. \n\nHer neck's been slit, \n\nHis head has fallen, \n\nHis helm's been split, \n\nHer heart's a-crawlin', \n\nThe laughter never stops, \n\nIn death or in life, \n\nIn the Kingdom of the Jokers, \n\nNo pain, no loss, no strife. ", "A queen of regal bearing, garbed in sparkling violet robes and a golden, jeweled tiara, wielding the power of the Heavenly Chalice for the good of her people.\n\nA king, devoted to the Sword, having mastery over the divine blade Godslayer, with impenetrable armor and imposing aura, will fight for the survival of his loyal followers to his last breath.\n\nA knight, once a righteous protector, yet cursed by the demonic Nether Empress to betray his oath and stand with evil, his only desire to meet a foe powerful enough to bring about his end.\n\nAn angel, the last of his kind, wearing robes of white, possessing transcendent wings and a cherubic visage, wielding the golden staff Variel, desires to use the remainder of his life to regain the lost glory of his people.\n\nAnd finally, a pair of twins, Jokers by trade, one Red and one Black, garbed in foolish attire, both simple humans and nothing more, with no supernatural abilities or heavenly powers. Fighting together, their battle prowess is enough to make them nearly invincible. They wield the power of the mind, using their ingenuity to outplay their foes and their myriad inventions to render enemies helpless. \n\nThey met on the first day, and once again they meet on the last. Each of these saints, all shining stars of their world, have no choice but to face one another in deadly combat, vying for victory at all costs. The stakes are high, but the rewards are infinite. The Queen raises her Chalice, the King unsheathes his sword, the Knight draws his mace, the Angel plants his staff, and the twin Jokers...they stand there, smiling innocently. \n\nFrom the heavens, an almighty being projects his voice, and speaks a word that echoes throughout the world, discernible by every living creature in existence: \"Begin.\"" ]	3
	[WP] "I am my own worst nightmare."	[ "It’s not his face. It’s no maniacal laughter or metal blade or fiery eyes. It’s not even the basement with its walls closing in around me and holding me there for him. It’s not anything you’d define as scary.\n\nDo you know what my worst nightmare is?\n\nMe.\n\nIt’s me giving up. It’s me giving in. Not fighting, not screaming, not recoiling from the knife. I just take it. He does all this to me and in my nightmares I accept it. I deserve it. I want it.\n\nAnd if it’s not that, it’s me being with him. Willingly. I stay by his side. I cook and clean for him. I “make love” to him. I love him. The man I should hate and curse with my dying breath. The man who broke me so completely that I’m devoted to him. And it’s all a lie. I stand there with an apron and a pie and an enormous Stepford Smile. Because I’m dead on the inside.\n\nIn my dreams, I am my own worst nightmare.", " I think… Yes I think I've gone mad. It was a subtle shift, but to tell the truth it has been a long time in coming. You see, I think that madness is like a river facing against a dam. Most people can relieve the pressure slowly, letting their madness out in little rivulets. Keeping the dark waters at bay. \n\nI can remember the first time. The first crack in the dam. IT was a little thought. A reapers dream. And I indulged the thought. No harm at all given to man or beast. It was just a thought. But the cracks grew and the thoughts tumbled like rain in a storm. Until one day there was no difference between the falling rain, and drowning in the sea. \n\nIt swept through my dam like waves before the sand and my madness escaped. I remember the feeling of freedom, of majesty. Of magnificence. The shackles of convention and conformity falling away and my eyes were opened. I was free. \n\nI looked down at my hands covered in the bright red of life. Already growing dull. At the body of the man broken before me. He had asked me for my wallet. Very polite and grinning. He was still grinning. He would always be grinning now. I grinned back and together we shared that joke. A joke that only we would know. I walked away from the grinning man my own smile beginning to fade. That would not do, not do at all. ", "The sun had been up for hours when I finally staggered in through the door, the smell of the bar following closely behind. I threw my high heels into the pile of shoes under the coat rack and put a hand to my forehead, but the relentless pounding refused to subside.\n\n“Jesus,” I grumbled to myself. Every part of me hurt this morning. Not for the first time, I wished that I was twenty-one again. Hangovers had never been that bad back then.\n\n“Mommy?” a small voice called from the second floor. Two feet and the bottoms of red rocket ship pajama pants came into view at the top of the staircase. “Mommy?”\n\n“Not now, Nathan,” I snapped. “Don’t talk to Mommy until she’s had her coffee.” I hiked my dress up over my cleavage and turned into the kitchen, where I pulled a mug and a handle of vodka out of the cabinets. One shot now, two in the mug, and another now for good luck. Filter, grinds, water in the coffee maker and-\n\n“Mommy?”\n\n“What?” I didn’t even try to hide the annoyance in my voice. I turned around and almost tripped over him. Nathan always seemed to get underfoot at the worst times.\n\n“Am I going to Kid-nergarten today?”\n\nThe green digits on the microwave glowed, “10:31.” Well past the start of class.\n\n“Fuck,” I muttered.\n\n“You said you would drive me.” Nathan’s voice quieted until it was almost inaudible and his bottom lip trembled. I prayed for no tears. There was no way I was dealing with that shit right now.\n\n“Just go back to bed.”\n\n“But I’m not tired.”\n\nI pointed a finger upstairs. “Bed. Now.”\n\n“Can I eat a snack?”\n\n“No,” I snapped and grabbed his shirt in my fist. Almost dragging him, I led him to the staircase and with one final push, released my grip on him. He fell, face forward.\n\nAnd that’s when the tears started.\n\nNathan scrambled to his feet, blood and tears streaming down his face. I reached out toward him but it was too late. His feet pounded up the stairs, a door slammed, and then silence. I felt like puking and knew that it wasn’t because of the hangover.\n\nIn the mirror halfway up the stairs, I caught a glimpse of my reflection. Black makeup smeared around my eyes and my hair stuck up in every which direction. In short, I looked manic. But what scared me most was the look in my eyes. It was the same look that haunted my every dream since I was just a little girl. I remembered hiding under my bed whenever my father would come home at night from the bars. I remembered him throwing things and yelling at me and yelling at my mother. I remembered when he slapped me across the face and how my cheeks had stung for days. Most of all, I remembered the fear and that look in my father’s eyes.\n\nThe same look I wore right now.\n\nIt was then that I realized I had become my own worst nightmare.\n" ]	3
	[WP] Chess is actually the story of two kingdoms that are in a constant state of war. You are a pawn that wants to put an end to this madness.	[ "The sentinel carried with himself a message of life and death, a scroll that could potentially end everything, or submerge the whole continent into chaos once more. The contents inside it were forged, but if he could just muster the tiniest bit of peace between the two kingdoms, if such a thing as hope existed, he would have no regrets.\n\nLeft and right his brothers fell, rather than saving them, he marched on. Tears filled his eyes as the road ahead deprived him of his childhood friends: of Bart who always wished to be a knight and had led his friends together, of Jerry who only cared about serving a higher power, of Thomas who just took the job to feed his family.\n\nBut his steps did not waver, though his heart did, a heavy weight on his chest. Too much had been lost, the once smiling faces of his children who now laid in graves, the festive days of the moon harvest, and his very own laughter.\nAs he neared the enemy king, he was running out of breath, his voice turning slightly higher. The moment of truth had arrived.\n\nThen the sentinel became a queen.\nEdit: and her opinion was neglected due to the patriarchal structure of Middle Ages", "I faced him in his black armor at the edge of the battlefield. Neither of us giving ground, neither of us advancing. On one side, a cliff dropping thousands of feet with an endless ocean crashing against its bottom. To the other side, madness ensued.\n\nAn armored knight astride a white horse ran down a bishop dressed in ebony robes. A massive rook the color of the void strode through the battlefield, taking little damage and obliterating anything in its path. Pawns in contrasting armor charged forward in phalanx positions and hacked at their foes. The Queens in their gilded chariots flew from one side to the other, spraying the blood of all before them. The Kings atop their shinning towers directed their forces with inhumane certainty. Everyone was fighting. Everyone was moving. Everyone was doing something, except for me. \n\nWhat sort of hell was this? What unending curse? We fought, we died, and we returned. So we fought again, we died again, and we returned again. Repeating over and over. A circle of death and struggle, of blood and steel. It did not matter if we won or lost, still we return. For as long as time itself we return. But why? Why must we fight? Why will it not end?\n\nThe cliff is open. The sound of waves calls to me. The open air whispering freedom and the rocks bellow sing my name. Throwing down my sword, I leap off, completely shocking my foe and myself.\n\n An unseen hand plucks me from the air and gently places me back in front of my foe drawing the attention of all. In front of them I fall to my knees and weep. As the tears stream down my face, I watch as the black rook rolls toward me. As its massive axe passes through my flesh I cry out, spitting blood and bone. Dying. Again. Praying for this to be the last time. In my death throws i watch as the rook retreats, the dark pawn steps over my broken body. \n\nI blink back the pain and find myself standing beside my brothers in a phalanx line. We stare across a virgin battlefield at the enemy. The king trumpets an order, sending me out of the line to fight again. ", "The two kings toppled to the ground, lifeless, as I cut down the royalists left and right. It was finally over. \n\n\"Comrades!\" I shouted to my fellow pawns from the center of the square. \"We are free at last from this feudal struggle. No more shall nobles do battle with our lives at the front lines: no longer will we have to charge enemy ramparts: no longer do we need to hear the wicked tongues of the priests: we are now all equal.\" \n\nI took a step forward. \"Yes, we are now all equal, and there is no need to kill one another. No longer shall we dance to the tune of our masters, we shall keep moving forward and never turn back.\" \n\nI passed through the ranks of my fellows, different in color only. \n \"We will continue our progress, until nobody should ever be subjugated to the boot of autocracy. We are all the same now!\" \n\n\"All I ask,\" I said as I stepped onto the edge of the world, \"Is that you... queen me.\" And I watched the filthy peasants shrink before my eyes as I towered over them. How short-sighted they are... well, we will have to fix that, won't we.", "Orders always came from behind us. Our job was simple. We followed those orders as our comrads fell around us spilling blood upon a battlefield that has been dyed red. The man to my left and right supported me as I supported them. Every action, breath, and tear was shared together like yin and yang. We danced. \n \nOur kingdoms had been ravaged by a war that was started so long ago that we didn't even know it's origin. Kings and queens seemed to fall as consistently as us footman and their bed was made by the knights and religious authorities that advised them. Only the castles remained steadfast with the stone bricks that had been reused so many times. \n \nI grew into this world. I lived and breathed my training and rose to be at the center of the battlefield. When the orders came in I acted. After twenty battles, though, the weariness had drained me and a distaste for the game that was forced upon me began to grow. I knew this would never end. \n \nI had taken some ground and controlled the center of the battlefield as I was instructed when Garrish fell behind me. He was quickly replaced and the orders that chilled me came. Hold the incoming advance. I had watched what happened to my brothers-in-arms when this order had came in the past. The end would not be met with grace, by me, in the same way it had been greeted by the others. \n \nI advanced into the battlefield and my mind was immediately wracked in a pain we all knew would come should we choose to rebel. The king dove into the ridges of my mind and plundered it like so many cities we had taken. I advanced through it. My goal ahead of me would end this battle and I charged through the soldiers that dare try and stop my momentum. \n \nI took many. I ended up staring the enemies king directly in his soul and saw the bloodshot of his tired eyes that he had try to hide from his soldiers. My sword, now dripping with blood, rose up and glinted in the sun's gaze. It acted almost on its own. A final flash and I stared the king in the eyes as I took his life. The battlefield froze for an instant. The battles had never ended like this before. \n \nIt was over as I felt my king's hold on me decrease and then cease all together. I left my sword lodged in the enemy king's ribcage and removed myself from that battlefield without regard to the chaos that was initiated. No more would I fight. No more would I die on another's exhausted command. \n", "\"Where is she? King of Lights.\" says the soulless and emotionless soldier stood before the majestic King.\n\n\"A foot soldier ... in my fortress... ? Little did I expect ...\"\n\n\"Where are you hiding her?\"\n\n\"I am not hiding her... I am protecting her, with my enchantments. Protecting her from your king, The Dark King. She's too powerful, he's too ambitious and ruthless. If darkness reaches her, she will destroy us all\" \n\n\"The king is not why I am here.\" the wounded soldier pulls out his blood-soaked sword. \n\n\"Hah, I have triumphed the best of your heroic knights and crafty mages here in front of my throne. They all turned tails and run as soon as they faced the might of my arcane seals. What can a little pawn like you do?\"\n\nThe dark soldier steps forward. A magic circle of light appears before him.\n\n\"Retreat, shadow soldier. Another step and you will be killed by my seals. Your evil king is not worth dying for.\"\n\n\"A soulless soldier such as myself do not know how to step back, I only move forward. And I am not fighting for the king.\" \n\nThe soldier took a step forward. Blinding chains of light appears. Within the chains is a bound pale maiden surrounded by sparks of lights.\n\nThe soldier whispers: \"At last ... \"\n\nThe soldier swings his broad-sword against the chains. Giants bolts of lightnings appears from the seal to sent the soldier pains beyond the withstanding of any mortals. He lets out a scream but he does not give up. Instead he presses forward against the chains of light. Eventually he broke the chains, the lights surrounding the maiden begins to fade. The soldier collapsed to the ground.\n\nThe maiden saw the severely hurt soldier and quickly embraces him with tears: \"My love, why did you not turn back? why did you not run? why did you hurt yourself like this?\"\n\nThe soldier says in a faint voice: \"From the day the Dark King took you, I have lost my reason to live, I have lost my soul, I have lost my ability to fear. Since then, I could only press forward, longing the day that I would see you again. I may not have freed you from the curse but at least I want to free you from the chains.\" The soldier's hand drops to the ground and passes away with a smile. \n\nThe light maiden weeps uncontrollably in pain and sorrow. The light remnants around her have finally completely faded. As she weeps in pain and hatred, dark flame beginning to raised around her and eventually engulfed her.\n\n\"It is what I feared the most.\" says the King of Lights in tremors. \"She has awoken, The Black Witch of Destruction.\"\n\n\"Queen ...\" The maiden spoke out through the black flames. She corrected the King with a glare of sorrow and hatred and can piece any souls. \"... The Black Queen of Destruction.\" \n", "War\nWar is hell\nI stand on a field of death. Dozens die here, and are transported somewhere where the living can never see. The white and black fields are littered with discarded weapons and blood. Movement is strange, sometimes enemy armies will walk right next to each other and not say a word, and there are multiple armies just standing still, looking at each other, neither side moving. Strange rules of movement are imposed on all of us, and it has caused thousands of deaths. \nI have had enough\n“ENOUGH!” I shout. All soldiers turn to look at me, and I know what I must do.\nI take a step backwards, in clear violation of the movement rules.\nThen I charge an enemy knight from the right, destroying him. \nSuddenly, the world begins to shift, and the ground moves sideways. All I feel is the sensation of flying through the air, before it all goes black.\n—", "He had sat with his brother, the bishop, when she stormed into his hall. Screaming and screeching, she was only short of foaming at the mouth as she pushed her way past the guards.\n\n\n“Warmonger! Murderer! Fool!” Her words echoed between the tall pillars, many times magnified in their strength. The noblemen and ladies looked at her with shock and disdain but she had only eyes for him.\n\n\nThey were in the middle of a game of chess. He had reclined in his cushioned chair, the crown sitting lazily on his black locks. Now he leaned forward, magnanimously motioning his guard to leave her before they could put their ironclad hands on her shoulders.\n\n\nShe came to a stop only a few yards from him. Obviously she had not expected to get so close. Her eyes were red, her face wet with tears.\n\n\n“Excuse me?” The corner of his mouth curled into a winning smile, his eyebrows raised.\n\n“Do not play dumb, you evil man! You know why I am here. You killed him.” \n\n“Woman, are you out of your wits? You are talking to your king!” His brother bellowed next to him, and he raised his hand to silence him.\n\n“Please, brother. Let the lady speak, she has much to explain. I am afeared that I do not know what you are talking about, mylady. I have not killed anyone, surely I would remember.” His voice was silken and smooth like the purr of a tomcat.\n\n“My son, you killed my son! Even if it was not your blade that struck him, a feat you would not have managed. It was you that killed him like all of the brave men that die for your arrogance!”\n\nHis surprise was no mockery. \n\n“Your son is dead? My deepest condolences. Our country and I are deeply thankful to him and in myladys debt for her sacrifice. But I am afeared such is the way of war. Sacrifices have to be made.”\n\nHer scoff was filled with immediate anger. As she spoke, her words dripped of poisonous hate.\n\n“And yet you sit here, as the war rages and play some more.” She motioned to the chessboard between them. “Are you never tired of it? It’s just a game to you, this war, isn’t it? The game of kings. Well, so be it. On my name and my blood I curse you. This war will not end, it will not lead to victory and glory. It will rage and rage until your lust for it is sated and beyond. Your sons will grow and die in it and you will learn to hate it, but it will be too late for nothing can stop it. Like your game it will begin anew when it ends forever and ever. Curse be upon you!”\n\nHe stood up then. It only took a gesture of his hand for his guards to grab her. Heavy hands dragged her away drowning her screaming as he chased her with the orders of her execution.\n\n“Behead her, but do not put her on a pike. She is my aunt, after all.”\n\n_______________\n\nMagnus gave the Queensguard a curt nod as he passed him. Though there were many reasons to respect these men, he could not help but feel uncomfortable in their presence. It was true that the Queen still only recruited them from the best men the country had to offer. Men that had gone deeper into enemy territory than anyone else. But the way they moved and held themselves, their shiny armor and the smug look on their faces. When he looked at them, he remembered why he had not become a knight.\n\nLife at court seemed hollow to him. Even the great hall had not been as beautiful as it was described. The king was an old man. The virile black of his hair had turned grey, like the remains of a campfire. He was bitter and his grief and scorn weighed on him so that his head was bowed as if the crown was too heavy.\n\nOf course, Magnus could not blame the king for a bit of grief and scorn. They all had plenty of both. A war of forty years left noone untouched by them. But it was the way the king had talked. He bickered and quarreled with his fate, something that Magnus had long found to be a waste of strength. \n\n“He had the chance to become a hero, didn’t he? I gave him a chance that every man would kill for! But only when he died did she hate me!” The king spat the words at him like he was somehow responsible.\n\nMagnus cared little for that. He had his mission. The mission. On kings orders. Who would have believed that a simple army man like him would ever be in this position. To bring an end to what had none. \n\nHe only needed to gather his men.\n\n__________\n\nThey were telling war stories when he arrived in camp. Vladimir was recounting his time at the eastern front, the Long Standoff. He was just at the part where they had to start eating the rats when Magnus came into earshot. Those that were not listening to the veteran gathered around their commander. Fabiano gave him a weak grin.\n\n“Yes, he’s at it again. Only halfway through, too, as you can hear. Will be a while ‘til he’s ready for news.”\n\n“None of that. Vlad, I need your ears and your mind with me.” He raised his voice above the tale of his old friend. The veteran complied immediately. \n\n__________\n“So, that’s the long and short of it. The fortress is in the far east of the empire. We’ll take fast horses and ride south through the great plains until we are deep in their territory. Like this we should be able to surpass the eastern front.”\n\n“You make it sound like there’s no war outside of the east. There’s plenty of fighting in the plains as well.” Magnus looked up at Maxime, who stroked his dark beard. The big man seemed almost scared. Understandably so. It was a daunting task.\n\n“You are right, Max. But you also know that it’s more light than the fronts of west and east. We will be able to break through, because we are a small group.”\n\n“And because we are some smart motherfuckers.”\n\n“That too.”", "The story that they tell is that King White betrayed Our Lord Black in a most cruel and treacherous fashion, and when Our Lord Black merely attempted to defend his honor in the most small and humble fashion King White retaliated as viciously as a viper, and then out of his desire to protect his people Our Lord Black was left with no recourse but to fight in our defense.\n\nI was there, actually. No one noticed me there because I'm not the sort of person who gets noticed. I'm short and chubby, innocuous-looking, but it's more than that, my entire life I've somehow always faded into the background, faceless, insignificant. \n\nBut I was there when King White and Our Lord Black were each given half a cookie-- and it was a good cookie, a delicious one, dark with cream in the center. My mouth watered when I saw it. \n\n\"His is bigger,\" Our Lord Black pointed out, correctly.\n\n\"Here, now it's even,\" Queen Mother said.\n\n\"No, now his is bigger!\" King White said, and burst into tears.\n\nThis was the beginning. But there was no appeasing them, not then or ever afterwards. The room they shared was divided by a thick dark line down the center, and then the line spread through the castle, and then out onto the grounds. It grew impossible to get from place to place, the line zig-zagging around the individual elements each king had laid claim to. Over time their back and forth bickering divided the kingdom piecemeal, so that people stumbled step by step along pathways only broad enough for a single traveler at a time. \n\nThe kings demanded fierce loyalty, there was no switching sides. In the beginning families were split, and then eventually there was a gathering in, and entrenchment. We were the followers of the true leader, Our Lord Black, they, the craven sniveling misbegotten turnips who could dare follow that upstart \"King\" White. \n\nHow can a country function like this? How can it go on? It's obvious that something must be done, and because no one else will do it, because everyone has grown blinded by all that has happened, by the evil done by the other side, by the pain on their own, it is only I who is left to do it.\n\nAnd so I make my way to his Lordship Black. I've ripped my clothes and fasted for two days and I look like I've come stumbling in exhausted from a lengthy joruney.\n\n\"My Lord Black!\" I gasp. \"The presumptuous King White has declared that he is more peaceful, more generous, and more forgiving than you!\"\n", "”Daughter, a good leader looks out for his people. I’m sure our King and Queen believe this is the correct action to take against the Ebony King and his army. I’ll be back soon. I love you, and when this is over we’ll find you a horse.” Is the last thing my Father said to me before he left our house nearly a decade ago to fight in the war. He was conscripted because he was an out of work civilian. He didn’t have the training like the Knights, Rooks, or Bishops, so they put him with others like him. They were pawns for the other soldiers to move around and used as a shield. He died in the first sortie against the Ebony Kingdom. \n\nAll my life I’ve been underestimated. My mother clung to me when we lost father, she wasn’t confident I could make it out on my own. My friends when I told them I wanted to enlist of my own free will didn’t think I would be able to complete basic. Yet here I am with 7 other people just like me. We’re pawns. The first line of defense, and the first to go.\n\nBehind us is our Ivory King and Queen standing tall, united, and ready to begin our engagement with the enemy. The King while old in his age was assisted by his Queen, a young warrior woman who is rumored to be able to attack from anywhere. The Bishops of War bookended the King and Queen, deadly snipers who can pick people up diagonally from their position. The Knights of Ivory rode on horses, able to gallop above us and attack from different directions. They’re highly unpredictable. The Rooks, they’re like us but with better equipment, they’re able to rush enemies and move quickly across the board. \n\nOpposed to us? The Ebony Kingdom with a similar setup. There have been variations of the setup and amount of soldiers to bring to a formal battle like this throughout the years, but this traditional setup was known as the gentleman’s battle. But there is nothing gentlemanly about war. \n\nMy unit was first to charge, our wooden shields clash against the other pawns’ shields. Both sides forming a wall against each other, their pawn takes out one of us? We take out one of them. It was a stalemate as no pawn wanted to risk their lives this early. I looked to my right at my fellow comrade, a pawn who is freaking out. \n\n“I don’t know if I can do this, I d—”\n\nThe Black Knight jumped out of nowhere and collapsed on the poor pawn, stampeding him onto the ground with his giant horse’s hooves. He drew a sword, I turned around ready for combat but as the knight jumps, he changes direction and gallops towards the king. Looking at the bloody mess on the ground that was a pawn just like me, I didn’t want a horse nomore. I want to retreat and help back, but I need to push forward. This ends by killing the king. \n\nI charged forward clashing shields with another pawn. Neither of us wanted to move.\n\n“One of us got to move, or someone will pick us off.” He yelled at me, I wasn’t moving. I already failed to kill the Black Knight, there is no way I was letting another Ebony soldier get past me. \n\nIt took a few minutes but one of the Bishops of War took out the pawn in front of me. Just as I was about to congratulate him, he turned and said. \n\n“C’mon get up lass. Need to move. Can’t sit here.” The Bishop was rather spry despite how old he looked with his holy clothing. But I took heed to his words and charged forward, at this point in the war everyone was everywhere. \n\nThe Queens both Ebony and Ivory waltzed across the battlefield killing any pieces in their path. Their presence on the field opened the battle from a strategic battle to a chaotic struggle for survival. I catch glimpses of the battle, like the knights stomping on rooks, queens killing bishops, and king’s running for their lives. This wasn’t the war my father told me about, the Ivory* king isn’t as brave as he told me. He was a coward. \n\nI’m almost on the other side of the battle, ready to flank the enemy. Soldiers of the Ebony army ignore me, going after the rooks, bishops, and knights. Just as I was about to attack a rook rushed back in front of me. The charge of the big sentry warrior with heavy armor, light machine gun, and big body intimidated me. He laughed knowing even if I put my shield forward his gun will rip me to pieces. \n\n“Ye made it this far. But this is the end for you. Should’ve stayed out there like the rest of the Pawns, maybe we would’ve taken mercy on you. But you move ahead thinking you can do something? Thinking you can attack us? Well this is the e—”\n\nJust as he pointed the gun at me, a stream of light cut through the big rook. Before his body fell, the Ivory Queen stood at his spot. She was glamourous, beautiful and confident. She turned to me. \n\n“Oh pawn, you made it so far. You’re an inspiration to us all. In terrifying odds you made it here. Child, everything will be fine.” She reassured as if a mother would to a child. But I wasn’t so sure. I was angry, how can she act so nonchalant about all this? For years we fought this war like this. Yet looking into her eyes I came to a realization, she wasn’t the same Queen my father fought for.\n\n“You’re not the Ivory Queen….” I gasp. \n\n“No, I was once like you.” She smiled, bending down to caress my cheek. \n\n“You may not understand why we fight, but know we do this because we have to. Just have faith and we’ll win this.” She said, turning around unprepared for the Black Knight. The gallops of the knight’s horse push her to the ground. The sword from the knight’s side stabs into her down body. Just as quickly as he attacked, he jumps away retreating from the scene. I run to her, callapsing onto my knees. \n\n“What are you talking about? Once like me?” I plead for answers. Yet I can tell the life was fading away from her face. \n\n“Take the crown, you’ll see.” Was her last words. \n\nI took her crown. My body instantly transforms, growing taller, more lively, and I feel powerful. My shield was replaced with a rapier, and my boots replaced with dancing shoes. I can move more freely, gliding across the battlefield. For the first time I felt free and powerful. I danced and dispatched of the Ebony Army, and as I towered over the king with the Rapier in hand he pleaded to me. \n\n“Quickly, kill me.” Not understanding, I hesistated before lifting up the rapior. Yet, as I swung something grabbed me, lifting me up to the sky. Turnined around a giant hand from the sky was holding me, and setting me back beside my king. New pawns were brought into the battlefield along with Rooks and Knights. \n\n“What’s going on?” I asked the Ivory King.\n\nThe old tired king with a face who has seen this thousands of times look to me with pain and despair in his eyes. \n\n“We’re starting over. For years we fight, people die. The gods that we all answer to commands us to fight over and over again. Now that you can see them, you too will learn this is us. We’re all someone's pawns in the end.”\n", "She scowled as her compatriots as they were cut down all around her. The enemy cavalry had been harassing them for hours, picking them off one by one before darting off. It made her blood boil that there had been no reinforcements. How could they not see what was happening here, her excellency would never allow for such a slaughter to go unopposed.\n\nLifting her pike high with a roar, she pierced the armor of a knight as he passed by her. He screamed as it pushed through his shoulder and forced him off his mount. With adrenaline-fueled strength, she forced her spear down on his sternum, staring into his eyes as they slowly lost focus. She sighed as she heard the sound of cavalry in the distance. It was never enough.\n\nSuddenly, a yell rang out next to her. Whirling to face her opponent, she realized the man was too close for her to parry. She winced for a moment before the soldier was struck in the temple with a large mace, splattering blood and brains across the field.\n\n\"My apologies for the interruption,\" The bishop said matter of factly, shaking excess brain matter off his weapon, \"I bring grave news from the capital.\"\n\nShe felt her stomach drop as the thought occurred to her, \"The queen?\" She asked tentatively, though she knew the answer from his face.\n\n\"Dead,\" He said with a wince, \"Though she brought many wicked souls with her to the afterlife. Bless her spirit.\"\n\nShe felt her knees grow weak as it fully began to settle in for her. The queen regent had seemed invincible, her strategies infallible. This, then, was why they had not received aid, the fate of thousands left in the hands of a puppet ruler without a puppetmaster to direct him. She collapsed to her knees. They were doomed.\n\n\"This is no time for self-pity, soldier,\" The bishop said with a morbid smile, \"All is not lost yet.\"\n\nShe looked all around her, outnumbered deep inside enemy territory, and felt like that was exactly the case. But then, looking back at the radiant image of the bishop smiling down on her, she felt the sincerity of his words.\n\n\"How?\" Was all she could muster to ask. \n\nHe smirked, \"There is a reason why I sought you out among these witless pawns who struggle in futility,\" He extended a hand for her to grab, \"And why you are yet the only one who knows of the queen's demise.\"\n\nShe reluctantly clasped his hand and pulled her self out of the dirt. \"I don't understand,\"\n\n\"To be a queen like ours, what do you think matters most?\" He queried, \"Love for the king? Influential familial ties? A royal demeanor?\"\n\nShe looked at him with skeptical eyes, \"No, ours was a warrior queen,\" She said proudly, \"What mattered were her skills in both combat and strategy, and the ruthlessness with which she engaged in both.\"\n\n\"Well said,\" He said, smiling broadly, \"To be referred to as queen requires only a title, to be a queen is much more than that.\"\n\n\"What is your point then, clergyman,\" She snapped at him, \"She is no more, and will never be again,\"\n\n\"My point,\" He said calmly, \"Is that perhaps we need someone to take up the mantle of warrior queen once more. To embody her virtues and inspire and lead our soldiers in her name.\"\n\nShe stared at him in silence, taking her time to digest his proposition.\n\n\"I am not worthy,\" She finally declared, prompting a laughter from the bishop,\n\n\"If I believed that I would have left you here to be struck down like the rest of these pawns,\" He smiled wickedly, \"But worry not, there is a test.\"\n\nShe raised an eyebrow at his comment but tried her best to remain composed. \"Fine,\" She sighed, \"Tell me of this test.\"\n\nHe beamed back at her, reaching into his pack to pull out a piece of armor. \"You will don this armor,\" He tossed them to her, \"And you will attempt to reach the other side of the battlefield without perishing in the attempt.\"\n\nNow it was her time to laugh, \"You can't be serious, there's no way for anyone to make it all the way to the other side alive,\"\n\n\"Which is exactly why it must be done,\" The bishop finally tossed her an intricate blade and turned to leave, \"For who else could wade across such a battlefield and live except for a true warrior queen.\"\n\nAnd then he was gone, his divine justice no doubt ready to be delivered on another front before long. She was left standing in the mud holding armor worth more than her entire life in wages. With a sigh, she looked over at the opposite side of the war zone, and the countless bodies that littered the space in-between. Well, if she was going to die, she figured she might as well die while looking great. \n\n", "I went first, two spaces. It's easy to feel confident when you are in a long line with your friends. But up front by yourself? Terrifying. \n\nMy counterpart on the other side advanced the same way. We stared each other down, menacing each other with our weapons but not moving to strike. Around us pieces fell left and right. Bishop George was taken by a black Knight. The Queen fell to the same legendary knight. \n\nAll around the battlefield he hopped taking piece after piece until he was finally brought down by a well placed Rook. After both sides were worn down it was just us two pawns against each other with our Kings standing behind us.\n\nThe two infirm old men danced around us, swords wobbling shakily in the air. They eyed each other intensely watching for any weakness. Then the black King blinked and our King made his move. He struck at the back of the pawn opposite me and he fell in a heap. \n\nThe black king shuffled to the side in fear. He was alone now with his back to the wall. Together the king and I moved forward. \n\nSlowly closing in on the hapless king I raised my sword but then paused. If I struck this whole process would begin again. But if I held... I sheathed my sword. The King yelled but I paid him no mind. I merely eyed the black king and spread my arms out. \n\nHe didn't hesitate. The black Kings sword bit into my side. As I collapsed into the black Kings arms I uttered my last word.\n\n\"Stalemate.\"", "There were 80,000 of us, brothers, as we look about the sacred War grounds, as we looked about and laughed and drank, hoping something would calm the nerves. Fear doesn't have a place in the battlefield, the fearful pawn falls first. \n\nWe are nothing, every single one of the thousands of us. Not one of us comes even close to the eight behind us. We are but shields. There is neither white nor black for us, only the enemy in front of us, and the enemy behind us. \n\nThe war horn serenades us, with its soothing tone. Funny, how in the groans and cries of brothers, even a horn sounds beautiful. \n\nOne by one, the squadrons march on, raining blood on the ground, as thousands are felled, and thousands yet kill for their life, move after move, turn after turn.\n\nIn the midst of battle, we spot the cunning old Vizeer with his blade sparkling blue. How he moves around with the strength of an elephant and the righteousness of the Bishop. Lord knows he's anything but. He slices throats left and right while thousands more are slaughtered around us. \n\nThe Cavalry charges from the base and is decimated almost instantly. We smile, looking at these people that are dying on all four sides of us. None of them is more powerful than us, none of them is weaker.\n\nThrough many a cavalry units and elephants and men we drive our band, driving our spear through uncountable bishops and horses and camels, when at last we are alone, atop the hills of the enemy king. All but a few paces from their camp. \n\nWe find their Vizeer's dagger, left but a few feet away from where we stand. We feel the blade in our hand and feel the strength in our veins. We can kill the king! We can end this war! \n\nWe move, swift and silent, cold and deadly, till we stand right behind the King. \"Check\", we call out, and there begins the dance, not for the first time, and not for the last, until a sword falls, and with it, an empire.\n\n\n\nNote: In India, The Minister is often called The Vizeer, The Rook is called The Elephant and The Knight is called The Horse." ]	12
	[WP] The next hero selected by the Light to fight the darkness arises, only to find that said dark forces are more righteous and moral than those that appointed the hero.	[ "“Ours is an Ancient fight \\-\\- the only fight. It has raged on since that first day of Creation when we sprang forth from the Darkness, adding our voice to the eternal rhythm, ‘I am, I am, I am.’”\n\nHe knew this dream. It visited him quite often \\-\\- his Invocation Day. The day when he was chosen as Leader of the First Regiment.\n\nHe saw it as he did that day, from his own perspective. Golden light danced across the waves of white linen sprawling before him. This was his army \\-\\- his calling.\n\nThe speaker continued:\n\n“And now, my son, we call upon you to lead our fight. We ask that you represent and defend the right to our existence \\-\\- to think, to breathe, to be. For if we lapse in our vigilance, if we rest in our struggle, we surely will return to that place from which we once miraculously escaped.”\n\n“Rise, now.”\n\nHe knew this would be a good place to wake up, but he couldn’t face the morning just yet. Not this morning at least. For, just on the other side of consciousness, a reckoning awaited him. At Dawn, his Regiment would meet it’s adversary \\-\\- a collision of Light and Dark. He needed just a bit more time.\n\n“Rise.”\n\nAnd so he did. Standing over that sea of white from atop the dais, he found himself a bit disoriented. How had he been chosen? It seemed that just moments before, he too had been floating in that great white sea. Yet, here he was. Breathing. Seeing. Being. Surely he deserved it.\n\nThree figures, cloaked in white, approached him from below, climbing the staircase to his perch on high. Though each step brought them forward, they seemed to shrink back into the expanse before him. They were slipping away. Or, rather, he was stretching skyward.\n\nStill, reflections of the ethereal glow reflected forth from these three travelers. They were carrying gifts. The speaker’s voice echoed from below:\n\n“And so, my child, accept our offerings: A scepter, to stake your claim in this world. A sword, to attack those who might threaten it. And a crown, to let the world know you were Chosen.”\n\nThe light from these three gifts grew blinding. Suddenly, there was nothing.\n\nAnd then he remembered.\n\nNothing. Nowhere. No one.\n\nHe had been in that great sea of white. Yet, within it’s warm embrace, there was no light. There was no darkness. There simply was Not.\n\nHe had no name, for he did not need one. He was all that surrounded him. A Oneness.\n\nWhy, then, did they cast him out? Why was he Chosen? Why did they Damn him to this existence?\n\nWhen he came to, he found his pedestal had reached beyond anything he could see below. He was alone \\-\\- clutching a scepter, wielding a sword, wearing a crown.\n\nHe felt pride. He felt sick.\n\nIt was time to wake up.\n\nAccepting his fate, he opened his eyes.\n\n“Welcome, Michael, my son.”" ]	1
Or alternatively: you are the security administrator, and you've been called on-site as the system is under attack.	[WP] The universe is a simulation. You are the system administrator. You've just been called on-site to fix a series of catastrophic errors.	[ "A raucous noise interrupted my slumber. I hit my alarm by reflex, and stared at it in confusion as the noise continued. Oh, right.\n\nI covered each ear with a tentacle and moved to get up. What eon was it, anyway? Groggily, I slid over to my phone and hit \"receive\".\n\n UNIV/3 SECT/72 SIMUL DENSITY CRITICAL\n\nPseudopods. That's not going to be a quick fix. I poked at the phone a couple more times, setting myself to active duty and marking the issue as operator inbound. Then I lurched towards the bathroom to make myself presentable.\n\nI made good time to the office. Helps that there was almost no traffic on the lines. Guess that's one perk to being woken up early.\n\nThe portal guard took one glance at my credentials and quietly moved out of my way. Good move. Not wise to try to talk with a grumpy universe technician, and any senior universe technician who gets called out in the middle of their sleep period is going to be grumpy.\n\nI reached the server room and plugged myself into the debugging console. Time to figure out what's going on.\n\n universe 3 $ univ stats --short --sector=72\n DAT: 1.6e27\n UOPS/e: 10.2\n\nOof. 1.6e27? Simulation data shouldn't be above 1e26! No surprise that it was running at a tenth of its expected UOPS.\n\n universe 3 $ univ subsectors --sector=72 --sort=DAT \| head -1\n 72:484 1.5e27 1.2e72 47.3\n\nWhat could possibly be happening in a single subsector to push it up to 1.5e27 DAT? Well, I could figure that out later. Damage control first.\n\n universe 3 $ univ freeze --sector=72 --subsector=484\n Freezing [=========================] 100%\n Freeze complete.\n universe 3 $ univ stats --short --sector=72\n UNIVERSE HAS FROZEN SYSTEMS. Frozen systems are NOT included in the stats below!\n DAT: 7.5e25\n UOPS/e: 97.2\n\nOkay, good, taking that subsector out brought everything else back in line. I looked at the system time and sighed. If I headed home now, I'd barely have a chance to fall asleep before it was time to come back. Might as well start the day early, I guess.\n\n universe 3 $ univ pack --sector=72 --subsector=474 --output=/shared/debug/exports/bloated_3_72_484.exp\n Packing [=========================] 100%\n Exported to /shared/debug/exports/bloated_3_72_484.exp\n\nMan, these commands take forever to run with so much data. Oh, well, time to fire up a test universe.\n\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ status\n Universe not running. No sectors found.\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ unpack /shared/debug/exports/bloated_3_72_484.exp --sector=1 --subsector=1\n Unpacking [=========================] 100%\n Import successful.\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ start\n Starting [ ] 0%\n ERROR: All sectors are frozen.\n Unable to start universe.\n\nDammit.\n\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ unfreeze --all\n Unfreezing [=========================] 100%\n Unfreeze complete.\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ start\n Starting [=========================] 100%\n Universe started.\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ stats --short\n DAT: 1.5e27\n UOPS/e: 10.6\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ sampleuops --short \| head -5\n RACT 1:1:87:512:3\n RECL 1:1:87:512:3\n RACT 1:1:87:512:3\n SANC 1:1:87:512:3\n ERY 1:1:87:512:3\n\nReally? All of this was a single planet? 1.5e27 DAT for ONE PLANET? Well, on the upside, at least that made it easy to debug further. Just need to go into interactive mode.\n\n universe 42 (TEST) $ univ interact 1:1:87:512:3\n Starting interactive mode [=========================] 99%\n\nIn retrospect, I probably should have specified an entrance point, since like 70% of this planet is covered in salt water. Annoyed with myself, I closed my eyes against the stinging liquid, swam to the surface, and took a look around. The water was remarkably active, but that wouldn't be enough to cause so much bloat. Fortunately, I'd gotten lucky, and there was land nearby, so I wouldn't have to back out and wait for interactive mode to start again.\n\nAs I got closer to the shore, I could see that it was covered in some sort of strange rock formation, spires way too tall for a world with this active a hydrosphere. Mostly rectangular. And there were some things floating on the water, too. The closer I got, the stranger it all looked.\n\n* * *\n\n\"What the hell is that?\" someone asked, pointing out towards the bay. A gigantic tentacled monstrosity was slowly emerging from the water.\n\nI grinned. At last. I turned towards the monster, spread my arms, and screamed, \"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!\" What had wakened him, I did not know, but I ran towards the beach to serve my lord." ]	1
	[WP] in this world the orbit has stopped and there are 2 different kingdoms, The the morning kingdoms and the night kingdom, and Both are at war with each other	[ "\"We first knew of them, the Nsilli, when they emerged from the cold fog from a distance on a fateful cloudy day. Clad in black, shadowy cloaks that billowed behind them as they marched forward, they approached our gleaming fortress of the North like moths to a flame. As their uncountable ranks advanced their deathly war machines followed, unleashing dark energies that smothered the fortress in shadow, sucking the light out of the numerous torches we had throughout the fortress.\n\nTheir warriors charged as our guards stumbled in the sudden darkness, tearing through our gates like a flood and killing everyone standing in their way. They breached our outer walls, forcing their way into the city. Our mages desperately poured out torrents of Light into the city to that briefly illuminated the pitch black lands, but their attempts were quickly blanketed by the overwhelming darkness. Forced to fight in the dark our men were cut down by the dozens.\n\nBut the Nsilli lost track of time, and couldn't stop the inevitable movement of the clouds. The rays of the Sun penetrated the dark shield that covered the lands as the clouds parted, blinding the enemy and forcing them to retreat to the Northern fog. We barely managed to survive that attack.\"\n\n- Xiaduu Memory Stone III, recovered by Xiaduu archeologists on Year 2736, Day 886\\\n\n\\: The Xiaduu measure time with changes in the brightness of the Genii Crystal that marks the core of their civilisation. \n\n---\n\n\"Our navigators long knew of the presence of the Sun. It remained at the other part of the world, continuing to cover it in Light. Despite the fog that covered them, we knew there were other beings that lived there.\n\nXiaduu. That was what they called themselves. Our druids sensed their poisonous presence in their meditation, the painful essence they call Light. While Light rejuvenates them, energises them, for us Light burns through our skin, maiming us and blinding us.\n\nWe first sent our expeditionary forces into the Fog. The clouds had covered the deadly rays of the Sun, however the Xiaduu had developed ways of conjuring Light. Fortunately, our warlocks and engineers built machines elementally infused with Darkness, to overwhelm any source of Light with utter Darkness. While it couldn't compete with the raw power of the Sun it allowed our army to strike at a city of Light and erect a barrier of Darkness until the clouds cleared.\n\nUnfortunately, we could not control the weather. As if to mock our relentless efforts to battle the Light the clouds parted, giving way to the deadly rays of the Sun to strike at our men. Screams of terror and pain echoed through the ruins of the Xiaduu fortress — screams of our men — as they ran for the soothing cover of Darkness through the fog.\n\nThis would be the first of the War Against Light.\"\n\n- Excerpt from a Nsilli history record, on the First Xiaduu-Nsilli War of Xiaduu Year 224. The Xiaduu Calendar will be used for further description of date and time.\n\n---\n\nYear 2788, Day 219. \n\n\"It moved! By the Crystal, I swear it moved!\" insisted the short man. His eyelids were blackened and charred from overexposure to Light from his observations of the Sun, and he was covered in sweat.\n\n\"Qay, I'm not saying I don't believe you, but the Theory of Static Orbit—\"\n\n\"If you don't believe me, Jiiln, just say it.\" \n\nThe woman, who towered over the short man, breathed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, before her eyes met the man's. \"Fine, I don't believe you.\"\n\n\"Come with me.\" said the man, who turned around sharply before proceeding further into his laboratory. Jiiln watched Qay's back as he walked further in the room before she gave another sigh and reluctantly followed. She didn't have the time for the mad ravings of an aged philosopher, nor did she even want to listen. Why the administration even gave him the go-ahead to conduct his experiments was a question she asked herself every day since she was assigned as his supervisor by the government.\n\nIn the lab, Qay stood behind his desk. It had dozens of papers messily laid over it, but in Qay's excitement he swept them all off his desk before grabbing several other papers from the electronic telescope behind him. He flipped them over to reveal several black-and-white pictures of the Sun, along with measurements by the side.\n\n\"I see numbers, a giant circle, lines,\" said Jiiln in mock excitement, her finger pointing to each feature on the pictures as she spoke, \"Great! That's all the evidence we need to prove that the frelling Sun moved from static orbit!\"\n\n\"No, look at the worlds behind the Sun — Genhil and Xiaa,\" Qay said, his finger indicating to two darker circles behind the Sun. He shifted Jiiln's attention to the next picture, pointing at the same two circles. \"See, they haven't moved, but the Sun has. Look at this one, too.\"\n\n\"That's—that's impossible.\" insisted Jiiln.\n\n\"It's supposed to be, but now it's not. It's moving at a ridiculous rate away from our part of the world. By now the Sun's Light has probably left our Eastern borders forcing them to fully rely on their elemental torches, and—\"\n\nA beeping on Jiiln's and Qay's mobile link devices interrupted Qay, and they shared a glance before tearing the devices from their belts.\n\n~~~\n\nI hope this is a good start. The first two parts were meant to establish the world and set the background for the following story, I hope it didn't drag on too long. Hope you liked it! If you did, check out /r/TheWriterDiaper for more! If you didn't, say so! Aaaand check out /r/TheWriterDiaper to see if I actually follow your advice.\n\nThanks for reading!" ]	1
	[WP] You can gain insights into a person's true personality by reading their writing. You've used this abilitiy to help guide your students. One day you discover a student whose true personality is vile, twisted, and entirely sinister.	[ "One day your a teacher, the next day you are swinging upside down above a pit of... is that lava?\n\nTerry was always a pretty good student. He used to have to type everything because it was in his 504 plan or PPT or whatever.\n\nHe had allegedly develped hypergraphia, due to having ADHD.\n\nIf you asked me now I would say he had should have been diagnosed with conduct disorder too.\n\nI think maybe in hindsight, he knew about my powers, that he was pretending to have hypergraphia, that he fooled his mom by writing really fast and purposely not holding the pencil correctly.\n\nMy mistake was asking for him to write the answer to that algebra problem on the board. \n\nI was having all of the student write the answer to each problem. There were 30 kids and 30 problems. \n\nIt would have been unfair to skip him.\n\nWhen he scribbled out the answer in that illegible scrawl of his, I knew, just then I knew, that this kid had something deeply disturbed.\n\nIt wasn't the fact that his writing was illegible, in fact most of the time that showed a mind that was otherwise fast paced. It was the fact that it was indistinguishable from the genuine article.\n\nIf not for my powers, I would have simply shrugged, believing that his writing was just that of someone with his alleges condition.\n\nBut I knew it was not. I knew that although the end product was identical, seeing him write was like watching a master artist paint a still life for me.\n\nMy biggest mistake was asking him if I could see his notes.\n\nHe may not have known about my powers. \n\nHe may have thought that he had slipped up somewhere in his facade.\n\nEither way he knew that I knew his own personal notes would have been written completely legibly.\n\nHe didn't write notes often. He was allowed to have a computer in class. But that day he had left it at home and had been writing things down in a notebook.\n\nAfter that I blacked out.\n\nNow I am upside-down, over a lava pit.\n\nWhere did he even get this? It isn't like you can just buy this kind of thing on Ebay.\n\nHe starts to slow clap into the room like a supervillian. I am going to explode with laughter.\n\nHis clapping is cheesy, but his outfit is down right tacky.\n\nHe had put on, like a blinking cape? It was like he sewed LED lights into a blanket. He had wore under it a black suit, or it might have been a tux.\n\nEither way it was the kind of thing you would wear to a middleschool prom.\n\nI think I even saw him wear it at the last formal dance I chaperoned.\n\nHe was like 12. And you could really tell in that moment he was 12. He was a 12 year old wanna be Batman villain crossed with a wanna be James Bond villain.\n\nHe has started his monologue. I just can't get over that outfit. I guess while he was suppose to be paying attention in class, he had been learning how to hack and program in stuff.\n\nI guess that is why he never seemed to do that well on tests as I think he could have.\n\nHe wasn't in danger of failing, but I always thought if he had really put in the effort he could have been taking some of the more advanced math classes.\n\nThere was a bit of irony somewhere in that situation but right now I can't really see it.\n\nHe concluded that he knew had a feeling I had powers like his, and that he knew once I was certain that I would try to rat him out to his parents.\n\nYeah he is like 12, if anything I didn't care that he didn't have hypergraphia, I cared that he was clearly disturbed and I would have been genuinely concerned that he receive the help he needed.\n\nWhenever I see problems like that, I always try to make sure the person gets help. \n\nIt was all I really used my powers for. I actually planned to have all of the kids right on the board as just a quick way to check in on all of them at once. Made things easier.\n\nAlso, although I am sure that if I saw his real hand writing, I would have been able to tell he had powers, that was news to me. \n\nGetting a better picture of him was why I asked to see his notes anyway.\n\nI tell him as much. He pouts. Whatever kid. \n\nHe asks me how I think I got here. It was strange, it isn't like a 12 year old can knock out a 20 something year old woman.\n\nI make up a thing about pledging loyalty to him. Make up a bit about having secretly always hating humanity. And I am not proud of it, but I also subtlety imply I think he is attractive.\n\nI am still above a lava pit afterall.\n\nNot surprisingly, that actually seems to satiate him. Let's out a creepy laugh. He said he could use a side kick. (Did he mean henchmen?)\n\nHe's like 12. He is not nearly as smart as h thinks he is.\n\nHis powers are combat based. Yet he is learning how to hack. \n\nAn ability to knock people out would be pretty frightening if he snuck up on someone. \n\nBut for some reason he chose to wear what is probably his only suit, and put on a cape that draws way too much attention to itself.\n\nWhen I get out of hear, I'm calling the cops. I hate the idea of sending any of my kids to juvy, but this kid is 12 and thinks he is in a comic book.\n\nHe climbs up a rope, I black out.\n\nI'm in handcuffs, I'm still in the same warehouse as before. He hands me a box.\n\nI ask him what his evil plan is. He cocks his head. He says he is on the side of good. \n\nI tell him that earlier in his speech he was talking about taking down the government, wasn't he suppose to be evil.\n\nHe tells me that I misunderstand his lille code of honor thing. \n\nI knew he read comics because he used to talk to some of the kids in class about this one villain, I think his name was the punisher.\n\nI guess I figured he was a villian.\n\nDoesn't mean this 12 yearold wasn't still out of his mind.\n\nI open the box. It is a gun.\n\nThis kid was 12.\n\nHe says I am going to have to pass his loyalty test by shooting someone. I have no intention of doing that, bur I'm not sure how his powers work.\n\nIf I'm not careful he could knock me out again.\n\nI look around the warehouse.\n\nI shouldn't be surprised to notice corpses around the room.\n\nTerry was a 12 year old \n\nThis kid, this supervillian who thinks he's some sort of anti-hero, was a 12 year old.\n\nThis kid, who wasn't nearly as smart or self-aware as he thinks he is, was 12.\n\nThis kid was 12, and wearing a homemade light up cape, and he might kill me.\n\nOne day you are a teacher, the next day you are a hostage to a 12 year old kid.", "Normal kid. Just another normal kid. The thought gave me a small sense of ease as I looked at the paper again. The words took that ease from me again as I read further and further. Is this normal though?\n\nA light tap on the door pulled me from my reading. \"Mr. Peters? You wanted to see me?\"\n\n\"Uh, yes. Jessica, please come in,\" I said, waving to the closest desk. Just a normal kid. Jessica Rivers was just another run of the mill student. She was pushing a B in my creative writing class, and my colleagues all said the same. She had never gotten a detention, although she had been warned about tardiness a few times. All in all, nothing special about her. Her face was filled with confusion as she eased herself into the chair.\n\n\"I wanted to talk to you about your latest writing assignment,\" I said, holding it for her to see. I could see her visibly tense up, and I quickly added, \"There was nothing wrong with it. I just wanted to see where you got the inspiration for some of the things you wrote.\"\n\n\"Oh, o-okay,\" Jessica stammered. She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes in thought. \"So, you told us to write a short story about something that would be scary if it happened in real life.\"\n\nI nodded. It was an exercise I gave out every year, and it helped me to weed out the troubled kids. This, though...this is far more than just troubling. I looked down again at the paper again. \"Let's start at the beginning then. You wrote, 'A calming breeze rolled over the hills, gently rustling the tall grass as it snaked end over end to the farm.' Now, that doesn't seem very scary. A lot of your classmates started their tales right in the middle of the event.\"\n\nThe student shrugged her shoulders halfheartedly. \"I thought that was a lame idea. Don't get me wrong, in media res can be useful, but for this, I wanted to go for a slow development with more exposition.\"\n\nI pursed my lips in thought and chuckled. \"Well, it's good to know that you have been paying attention to some of the things I talked about. In this situation, I have to agree with you. Let's keep going. 'The breeze reached the rustic home and pushed past the front door, which was slightly ajar. It billowed through the living room, past the coats and hats on the rack, indicators of an early fall season.' I have to say, I like the details you put in here and there. It brings a sense of realism to the story that other papers didn't.\"\n\nJessica smiled slightly, not showing her teeth. \"Thank you very much.\"\n\n\"Let's push on ahead to the main part of the story. 'The breeze crept down the hall, past the sink in the bathroom, overflowing with water. The young boy who had been brushing his teeth now lay in a heap, blood pooling around his rapidly cooling body. The wind went further down, curling into the bedroom. The walls, once a lively green, were now flecked with red spots. The couple on the bed were sprawled out, the man's mangled body on top of his wife's in a final attempt to protect her. It had been in vain, as both their heads were caved in. The wind pooled around the only indication of life in the house, the girl holding the hammer loosely in her blood-soaked hand.'\"\n\nI leaned back in my seat, mimicking Jessica's motion from earlier. I exhaled deeply. \"That is a lot to take in. One girl killing a whole family?\"\n\n\"Not just any family,\" Jessica interjected. \"Her ow family. I took some inspiration from the Lizzie Borden story. Forty whacks, you know?\"\n\n\"Yes, I'm aware of that story,\" I replied, a slight waver in my voice. Is she just another normal kid? \"Your descriptions in this part were very...vivid, especially for the killer.\"\n\n\"Well, I based her off of me, so it was easy to pull that part off. I based a lot of it on my family to make it a little easier.\"\n\n\"...Right.\" Okay, THAT is not normal. \"Now for the ending. 'The screams that still rang in the girl's ears began to be replaced by the sounds of approaching sirens. Her chest tightened. Her hand instinctively clenched tighter on the handle of the hammer. She began to slowly walk down the hall, causing the breeze to breaking into roiling nothingness.' This is quite a hard stop for a story. Did you mean to put it this way?\"\n\nJessica nodded. \"I wanted to leave things open. I like revisiting things I write and adding on to them when I have the chance.\"\n\nI nodded, feeling more apprehensive. \"And...have you revisited this one?\"\n\n\"Let's say I am still in the process of figuring out how I want to go forward with it.\"\n\nA shiver ran down my spine. Something about what she had said didn't sit well with me, but I let it pass. \"Back to your ending, it seems like the only emotion comes from the fear of the cops coming. Is that how you meant to write it?\"\n\n\"Yes, I wanted to make it clear that this was the point where the scary part really sets in.\"\n\n\"So, let me get this straight. You wrote about this girl killing every part of her family, and you didn't think that was the scary part?\"\n\nJessica looked up at me, her eyes her eyes gleaming. \"No, Mr. Peters. The scary part for me was getting caught.\"\n\n/u/TemporaryPatch New Years Resolution Tracker: 31/100. Visit /r/TemporaryPatchWrites for more responses and stories!", "Eyes may have long been held as the windows to the soul, but I always preferred handwriting. The eagerness in their scrawl, or hunched together with the barest space between words, or how hard they pressed against the page: those sorts of clues gave me a kind of insight.\n\nI really should’ve chosen a different career. All my life, the same criticisms swirled around me.\n\n“Can’t you tell?”\n\nPeople smiled when they were sad, and laughed when they were annoyed, and pushed others away when they were lonely. People were too complicated for me, in every way. I couldn’t grasp the difference between their actions and their intentions. So, I should have chosen an office job, where I could have just been the awkward co-worker.\n\nBut, I couldn’t forget my precious moments.\n\n“Ah, thanks! I get it now… I think. You’re a really good teacher.”\n\nWhen I remembered those times, I realised a good teacher didn’t need to understand everything; understanding the problem was good enough. Still, it took me a while to compensate. Some children needed things explained in a succinct way. Others needed to go over each step, a little at a time. I found quickly that their handwriting helped me to pinpoint the problem. Something so personal, it reflected their attitude to the work quite well, for the most part.\n\nOf course, I didn’t judge them, or hold their handwriting against them, or anything like that. It became a good starting point, though; a small insight, from which I could begin to understand them as my student.\n\nI wouldn’t say I was a particularly good teacher. My job was to help the students understand the work, so I was just doing my job. I didn’t take in class after class of unruly teens on the verge of failing and turn them into honour students. But, year after year, I helped the kids in my care to do a little better. From time to time, I even managed to help someone struggling turn things around. That was rare, though, and the extent of my ‘being a good teacher’.\n\nFor me, that was enough. I didn’t think so highly of myself. If I could continue being helpful to my students, then that was a satisfying life.\n\nHowever, teaching never went without a hiccup.\n\nA student transferred in half-way through the year to one of my classes. I knew about her before the first lesson, of course. The file on her included the relevant notes and I’d been made aware of what I needed to know to teach her. Still, actually seeing her affected me.\n\nQuiet would have been the wrong word, distant perhaps better, her gaze perpetually downwards even as I wrote on the whiteboard. She sat as far away from the neighbouring desk as she could. Her hair fell across her face like a curtain, though not quite long enough to reach her mouth, where her lips were pressed together in an almost frown.\n\nI went through the lesson as I would any other, while obviously avoiding asking her any questions. The other students had glanced at her here and there, but otherwise left her alone, quickly forgetting all about her once I started teaching. Some of them took another look at her on their way out, trying not to be rude, but I was sure she noticed them all the same, shrinking behind her desk.\n\nWhen everyone else had left, she started packing up. Her movements were slow and gentle and yet jerky, her muscles seizing at odd times. I waited patiently for her to finish putting away the little, electronic word processor she had used before walking over. She stilled, or, rather, she seized up at my approach.\n\n“Hannah?” I asked.\n\nShe jumped, even knowing I’d come over, surely knowing I intended to speak to her. “Y-yes, miss?”\n\nIt wasn’t that I had no empathy, I had just always struggled to actually understand, and I didn’t want to presume I knew. When I tried to think about how I would feel in their situation, I always came out with the wrong answer. Given everything that had happened to her, I couldn’t possibly have hoped to empathise in good faith, and I wouldn’t dare pity someone trying their best.\n\nCarefully lowering myself, I rested a piece of paper and a pen on the table. “I know this is a strange request, but I would like it if you could write down a sentence for me—anything you want. If your hand’s sore right now, then another time is fine. If you don’t want to, then that’s fine, too. It’s not something compulsory.”\n\nWith a practised motion, I stood back up. Her gaze flickered between her lap and the paper.\n\n“I like to see my students’ handwriting, so I can try to understand them a little better. Does that sound silly? I’m sure it does, something like a superstition from Victorian times. But, I like to use it as a starting point, so I can help them as best as I can as their teacher.”\n\nHer apparent fear hadn’t subsided. In gentle motions, I turned around and put a little distance between us.\n\n“How about you take those home today and, if you feel like indulging me, you can return them next lesson? Otherwise, just leave them there.”\n\n“I, I’ll try, miss.”\n\nStilling, I found myself surprised. Only, she surprised me again when I heard the tap of a pen, making me slowly turn back around.\n\nHer grip on the pen looked terrible, childlike even, and uncomfortable. In shudders and jerks, the pen scratched across the paper. She kept crossing the lines, every letter different. Pressing so hard, she tore the paper when trying to cross a ‘t’. It was painful to watch in a way, but I could only imagine that it hurt far more for her, so I kept my emotions to myself.\n\nWhen she finished, she let out a long breath, which she’d been holding for the near minute it took her to write just one short sentence. The pen clattered on the table, making her flinch even though she’d dropped it.\n\n“I’m… finished, miss.”\n\nSlowly, I reached over and lifted up the paper, turning it around so I could read it. Just one short sentence, but it took me a few seconds to decipher.\n\n“W-what does it s-say… about me?”\n\nThe worst scrawl I’d ever seen, it had a look of madness to it, like some insane person had hastily carved the words into a wall with a rock. Every letter so sharp and pointed, it could have been confused for ancient runes. In a way, reading it made me feel sick, the sort of handwriting I expected to see on some crime show written in blood.\n\nAll in stark contrast to the words.\n\nI WILL TRY MY BEST.\n\nSmiling, I folded the piece of paper over. While I might not have known what to say to her before, I felt like I understood, just a little, what she needed from me now. “You might not feel it, but you’re very brave, Hannah. You’re going to do just fine.”" ]	3
	[WP] After the evil lich lord died, his skeleton minions didn't. Now free and under their own control, the skeleton masses try to form their own society.	[ "It starts slowly, as most stories do.\n\nThey wandered aimlessly at first – their orders were to defend the Black Tower, but the Tower was gone. The Lost Bones circled the tower, bumping and clacking, forever on standby for the newest order.\n\nExcept for the Littlest One, who had been ordered to clean the halls.\n\nThe halls were gone, of course. But the Littlest One was clever, and thought a most wonderful thought:\n\n(The hall is gone, but the pieces of the hall are left.)\n\nAnd so the Littlest One ambled over to the wandering throng, and rapped on the nearest skull.\n\nAnd the crowd turned to the Littlest One, and waited.\n\nAnd the Littlest One pointed to the rubble, and went over to clean.\n\nAnd the crowd followed.\n\n___\n\nThere was not much of a plan to the Cleaning – the skeletons merely moved piles of basalt from one place to another – but it was a start.\n\nUntil the Littlest One lost a femur, and could no longer help.\n\n(And the Bones thought back to their old master.) \n\nAnd the Bones (no longer Lost) built a makeshift throne, and the Littlest One sat upon the throne, and thought it very, very silly.\n\n___\n\nEventually, the heroes would return to find a strange basalt town among the blasted lands. The Friendly Bones would clack their jaws and make strange gestures to each other, and go back to their work.\n\nThe Paladin recommended a good smiting, but the rest shushed him.\n\nThey went to the center of the Town of Bones and found a throne of basalt, and found the smallest skeleton anyone had met.\n\nAnd the Littlest Skeleton King waved, and gestured around.\n\n(And smiled, in the way that only a thing of bones can smile.)" ]	1
	[WP] Every person gains a scar when they tell a lie, everyone you've met is covered, including yourself. One day during basic training for the military you meet a man with no scars.	[ "\"Smooth,\" they called him. They would let him pass without looking him in the eye. They say he is so honest he brings out the new scars. He looks through you and you just want him to be proud. \n\n\"Daddy Smooth!\" the women in Bunk 15 call him. Handsome, hot, pure, new skin. No scars. He won't leave like their dead\\-beat\\-dads. He won't make them feel ugly. \n\nBut he knows something we don't. I know something no one will ever know. Smooth taught me the truth so many nights ago. You see, it's not the lies that make the scars. It is the guilt we feel when we lie. We are trying to be honest despite what we have tried to do.\n\nHe never felt burdened by the lies. \n\nThat night, as he pulls me into the woods and tells me no one will believe me, the first scar scabs and falls away." ]	1
	[WP] You're one of the many synthetics that were captured by an alien gladiatorial arena where you fight to the death against other machines. You're one of the top contenders, being part of the arena for about 10 years now and todays match didn't seem any different. Except blood was spilled today.	[ "I marched for 134th time onto the sterilized circular pulpit that was our gladiatorial prison. I was the oldest, not because I arrived here first, but simply because I was the most well equipped to survive my new hosts.\n\n \nI was designated number 3609 on my assembly line, 9th generation of the 36 series. The 36 series was designed to be embedded with early colonists to perform tasks that our biological hosts were unable to handle. Superficially we looked similar to the hosts that surrounded us, but underneath our synthetic skins laid the un-beating heart of a machine’s CPU. I was embedded with nine other 36 units on a convoy to a planet only recently declared habitable and safe to colonize. It took nearly 4 months to clear the land to be habitable for the bio’s and I we lose two units due to come local wildlife. The 8 remaining units were used at our bio-hosts discretion. That often involved servile chores, dangerous scouting missions and on certain occasions law enforcement. At nearly six months after colonization I was the lone surviving 36 unit on the planet. I was given capsules that would activate my sleep protocol. The bio-hosts thought our model weak and requested a hardier synthetic unit than the 36 line to be ordered with the next colonial ship arrival.\n\n\nThat ship would never arrive. My new hosts slew our current bio-hosts by the hundreds, with technology far superior than any available to the colonists. I did not react, nor shed a tear for when awoken by my new bio-hosts. I was awoken and asked to explain my purpose, to which I explained what I was and which functions my previous bio-hosts took advantage of. I was told my new imperative was to fight other synthetic units for their entertainment and 134 arena matches later I still retain an unblemished exo-skin.\nMy new bio-hosts were ecstatic with my performance so far. Arena 135 would be different from the rest though. A new bio-unit had been found from another colony of my previous bio-hosts, from the 39 series. Three whole unit lines ahead of me, it was improbably that I would win my next bout. I was incapable of fear, and walked into the pulpit for the inevitable final time. The 39 line had a bio-skin similar to mine, again these colonists seem to not like looking at what we really were.\n\n\nThe 39 unit moved at a speed that I was incapable of. Slicing through flawless skin, which parted. Red liquid gushed from the wound as agony filled every corner of my being. Silence from the crowd as I screamed. The pain entered every part of my mind bar one. A memory. An unwanted child. A debt to be paid. A PharmaCorp representative. A series of experiments leading to this very moment. Release.\n", "A red viscous liquid covered my hands. It seeped from the wound my crude shank had made as I punctured the other's stomach. I smelled the red liquid; the action returned a metallic zing to my sense of smell. I pinched the liquid between my thumb and forefinger and small red liquid bridges formed, stretched, and gave to gravity as I moved pinching fingers away from each other. \n\nBlood.\n\nThe Colosseum guards pulled me away from the pool. Once again, I caught a whiff of the metallic smell as the guards prodded and pushed me toward the doorway.\n\nConfusion reigned outside in the stands. Why was the contender bleeding? How was it not vetted properly?\n\nThe guards threw me back into my cell. The soft corded life strands wrapped me up and plugged into my synthetic body. I felt my depleted battery array’s fill. I would be given more than my share of sustenance. \n\nI stood propped up by the cell and cables holding me. I lulled into a dream state as my synapses cooled down from disuse. My mind ran wild with the Blood. The metallic smell came to me in my dream but as I stayed on the verge of euphoria from the life providing cables it was ripped from me. \n\nThe side of my head rang and vibrated as it was hit by a small club. Synapses came to life and in a split second my body was ready. Before me stood a young woman, The Mistress, the guards with her. \n\n\n\nI relaxed in relief as her blows came again and again. The club beat me to the ground. \n\nThe guards looked as though they should stop her. I was the best fighter she had. She didn’t let up until my spinal column was severed. \n\nJust before I closed my eyes. She bent down to me. \n\n“I told you, you weren’t supposed to kill him. His life mattered.”\n\nAnd I was nothing but a Syn.\n" ]	2
	[WP] Tell me about the first time you realized something was impossible.	[ "\"And now?\" The grey bearded man sneered. He pointed his cutlass at me, the sun gleamed off of it.\n\nMy eyes zipped between the other pirates, pulling sacks from the lower decks of the ship. They were taking everything from us. My crewmates had either been tossed off, or were brought aboard the invading ship. I could see the weapons, gems, and the occasional scroll poking out of the tops of the leather bags. Magical or not, they were stealing it all.\n\n\"Don't make me sully my blade.\" The captain twirled the blade, purposely cutting into the wisps of cloud that glazed over my ship. \n\nI looked over my shoulder, nothing but the ocean below me. About a mile below me. \"I don't understand,\" I said, my voice shaky.\n\n\"Fly!\" A few pirates listening in snickered. They peeled their gaze from my enchanted rifle, and began watching the show. \"Jump off your vessel and fly!\n\n\"Why?\" My eyes met his, locked. \"Are you afraid to get close to me?\" I called him out.\n\nThe lackies laughed, the sneer of the captain turned to a scowl. \"Boy, you'll jump or I swear to the Gods I'll gut you. Your organs will be feeding fish for the next few miles.\"\n\nMy heel was up against the railing of the ship, and my hands gripped it tight. \"I'd like to see you try.\" I stared straight through him, a captain unwilling to go abandon what was left of his crew. I'd go down with my ship. Maybe I would even best him, and be able to escape. I could be a legend. I could go home. I could--\n\nBang!\n\nThe bearded grey vagabond had pulled pistol out with his free hand, shooting me in my chest. I stammered, nonsensical words escaping my lips. My hand patted my bloody lapel, all I could see was crimson pouring down my glove. I felt another force suddenly, the opposing captain had a hand gripped to my throat. I said something, coughed, and tasted blood.\n\n\"Fly.\" I felt a hard pushed, and then a howling wind and a drop in my stomach. \n\nI plummeted, adrenaline surging through my body as I regained some control of my senses. I could see two massive airships above me, a streak of red that slowed as I covered the pulsing wound in my flesh. I began to smell the ocean, the seasalt breeze. The endless ocean. The deep, dark, infinite. I closed my eyes, and prayed. To the Gods. To anyone listening. I wanted to fly. Out of spite of those who stole my life, and out of fear of death. I wanted to fly. \n\nSuddenly, I felt a tug upward on my very soul." ]	1
	[WP] Your otherwise ungifted brother reveals to you that he has a superpower. He can become invisible at will. After arguing for a few days, you convince him to rob a bank.	[ "“You can’t just go about making claims like ‘look at me, I can turn invisible’ without proof. You’re 20 for fuck’s sake, we’re not kids anymore, Tim” I grabbed the back of his shirt, turning him around.\n\n“So why the hell are you suggesting I join you robbing a Chase? I know that’s your life, but it ain’t mine,” Tim shrugged, shaking his head in disbelief at my suggestion.\n\n“To. Call. You. Out. On. Your. Bull. Shit.” I said, eyeing him down sternly, prodding him in the chest at every word. I continued, softer, “Look man… I know things haven’t been good for you lately what with getting kicked out of college and stuff…”\n\n“I thought we agreed not to talk about that,” he bristled, clenching his fists. I backed down, holding my hands up to placate him, “Yeah, alright. Whatever. You still know what I mean. Life ain’t been good I can see that, but it hasn’t been so bad you gotta be making stuff up. I don’t want this life for you either, kid. But if you’re dead serious about this invisibility thing, isn’t that the best place to prove it?”\n\nTim looked at the floor sideways. It had been a long 8 months living on my couch out of school and out of work. It was starting to show in the aimless eyes and sallow skin. We ate well from the money I got sticking up rural banks, but a lack of focus, a lack of hope… it does things to a man that good food doesn’t fix. It starts eating away inside and I could see that in baby bro.\n\nAfter a time, he shook his head. Refusing to meet my eyes, he quietly said, “Alright. Fine. I don’t have anything left to lose. Let’s do it.”\n\nHe pushed past me, huffing in annoyance. I made to follow him, but stopped short when I realized what he just said. “What… just like that? Just like that you’ll rob a bank?” I certainly wasn’t expecting him to say that. Could he… could he really?\n\nTim sounded defeated, “Look. Just take care of the logistics okay? I’ll do it. I’ll help you out on the next one. And I’ll show you.”\n\nThree weeks later, we’d found our mark.\n\nTim and I made our way to the bank in a stolen car. He was quiet most of the way. Kid’s first time, couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t sure what else I could say to calm the nerves. I was nervous too. For the first time, someone I knew and cared for could be in the line of fire.\n\n“Alright, I know our plan doesn’t rely on your ‘gift’ since you haven’t shown it to me yet, but if you wanna back out, this is the only chance you’re gonna get. After this, you’re a criminal just like me,” I said, looking at the road straight ahead. We were only 5 minutes away now. Tim stayed silent, but I could tell he was looking out the window. “I’ll take that as an ‘all-in’”, I said.\n\nAfter no other sounds but the humming of the V6 and the gravel crunching under us, we could see the old bank building 5 blocks away. I nodded, eyes on the prize. These times called for focus and I was trying to get in the zone: running through the plan again and again to make sure I was where I needed to be, when I needed to be. I hoped Tim was doing the same too. As I pulled up across the road form the bank, I looked over at him. His body was nervous, but his eyes held steel. Baby bro was ready.\n\n“Alright, you know what you have to do?” I asked once more.\n\n“Go in, line up quietly, pass them the note, give them the bag, get it back and get out,” he recited as I mouthed along.\n\n“Perfect. You have a gun we’ve practiced with if you need it, but you won’t. The note works, every time. No alarms, no fuss. Nearest cops are 10 minutes away. You pass them the note and the bag, they give you back the bag full of cash. You’ll be fine,” I said, reaching over to give him a hug, “I’ll be right here, ready for the getaway.”\n\nTim nodded while pulling down his trucker hat, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the car. I watched him cross the road and head on into the bank. It was now a waiting game for us both, but time passes real slow when you’re nervous. I wound the windows down to settle in and have a better view. Cars passed, people strolled by, birds called up above. The sun began to bear down a little. Its these moments when everything seems still, that everything seems most tense. \n\nThe bank alarm shattered that nervous serenity. I looked up, and the glass door of the bank shattered with the sound of gunshots. Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit I fired up the car and hoped to see Tim running out of there, money or not. But all that followed were the portly guards with guns aloft, looking around outside puzzled. Before I could ask myself what just happened, the car shook a little and there came a rustling sound around the open window.\n\n“Go!” Tim’s disembodied voice came in a harsh whisper, hovering somewhere above the passenger seat.\n\n“Holy shit!” I exclaimed under my breath, “Holy shit! Holy… you weren’t fucking kidding holy shit!” I said, staring at the empty space beside me.\n\n“Yes, now can we fucking go please?” he kept up the harsh whisper.\n\n“Oh, right yeah let’s go!” I said, firing up the car. My hands shook as we drove out of town, my chest heavy. Once we were clear and on the highway I relaxed a little. Blood came back to my fingers, breath to my body. Finally, I turned to Tim, who had now swum back into focused reality. \n\n“Are you… are you okay?” I asked nervously. I still wasn’t quite sure what to make of what I just saw.\n\n“Yeah I’m fine. Got the money too,” he said, pointing to the materializing duffel bag at his feet.\n\n“You know what this means, right?” I asked. My mind was flitting at speed, bashing against its confines at the possibilities and dangers.\n\n“Yup. Let’s just get home first, okay? We can think about more jobs later,” Tim said, far more relaxed than I was at the time.\n\n“Yeah. Lets,” I said, trying to focus on the road. We drove on a few more minutes in silence, my mind still processing what went down. All of a sudden we rounded a bend and I could start to make out flashing lights about a mile down the road.\n\n“Roadblock,” I muttered, shoulders slumping, \"They have the highway exits covered too, we're fucked.\"\n\n“Don’t worry,” Tim said, “They’re looking for me, remember?” he smiled, and vanished before my eyes." ]	1
	[WP] Every organism in the universe has a common ancestor. One very old and long forgotten.	[ "You do not know my name, my child\n\nAnd, I, too, can hardly recall\n\nI am the one who birthed you all\n\nI am your life, and you, my pride\n\nAs you look to the stars tonight.\n\n &nbsp; \n\nThe source from which all life has sprung\n\nAnd spread across the universe\n\nA nameless entity, diverse\n\nOf whom your long lost tales have sung\n\nAnd passed from old through word to young.\n\n &nbsp; \n\nThrough me all life has found its place\n\nConnected by a timeless bond\n\nA legacy that goes beyond\n\nYour home, intelligence, or race\n\nI am the first historic trace.\n\n &nbsp; \n\nI ask not you remember me\n\nBut what I stood for while alive\n\nAs I saw my first children thrive\n\nAnd gave birth to my family\n\nOf whom I love all equally." ]	1
	[WP] You come home to find that your washing machine has devoured your wife.	[ "My God. She always joked about it but now its actually happened...\n\nJust last week, with her cute little air of discontent she joked that I might want to try doing the laundry for a change. She liked joking around about things like that. Along with the laundry she loved joking about how I should try holding down a steady job for once in my goddamned, useless life, that I should quit drinking, that we should try couple's therapy... She was so cute when she was trying to be funny.\n\nStill, sometimes she got on my nerves. Sometimes I would be drinking after losing another job and the bitch would bring up couple's therapy. On some days she even had the nerve to tell me that she hadn't had time to do the laundry because of work. Not only did her jokes fall flat, they made me mad\\-\\-She made me really, really mad.\n\nShe made me do it. I didn't want to do it. I love...loved her.\n\nWhen she went off to work after one of her cracks about my drinking I stopped to think about our relationship. I think better when I drink and so I poured myself a drink. Well, I had to do a lot of thinking and so I had to do a lot of drinking. My brain gets overheated and the alcohol helps cool it down. Like oil in a sports car. Anyways. after a bit I had a really bright idea.\n\nShe was always talking about the laundry and so I figured that I'd help her out. I'd fix the laundry machine so that the laundry would finally be finished. I went in with my tools and jimmied the wringer mechanism so that it would bypass the normal safety standards. That way the laundry would get done faster and she would have nothing left to joke about.\n\nI guess when that silly bitch went to do the laundry she got her little hand stuck in the machine and it finished her along with the laundry. What really makes me mad is she told me thanks for fixing her machine and now all my shirts are pink.\n\nBut enough about me; how are you Doc?", "After a horrible day working a horrible job in the horrible sun, all I wanted to do was get home. Walking towards my car I can't help but feel like a failure as I scan over my '89 Ford Bronco with no air conditioning. On the drive home all I wanted to do was get these clothes off, get them in the washer and take a nap.\n\nI pulled into the garage, basically falling out of the car while reaching for my pocket as I fumbled around for my keys. As I opened the door, I could tell something was off. The air pungent with the smell of iron, maybe mold? The only thought I could process through the hundreds running through my mind being the safety of my wife.\n\nAs I walked up the staircase my heart started to race. My anxiety spiked as I finally reached the top of the stairs, with my biggest fear then being confirmed. There before me was my wife, devouring her own arm with a blank, glazed look.\n\n\"AMY WHY!?\" I exclaimed, terrified at the prospect of forever being in sweaty clothes. " ]	2
	[WP] She wouldn’t admit it, but very few things gave her the comfort that curling up in a sweater did. Especially when the sweater wasn’t hers to begin with.	[ " Sylvia Collins has always had a penchant for extreme excitement. She was always the first to jump, the first to climb, the first to strip and run through the streets at a party. \n \n Sylvia also had a dark secret. \n \n She killed for the first time when she was 14. It was ruled an accident, but she knew the truth. Her stepfather was actually a decent man, He took too much of her mother's time, though, and that just couldn't be forgiven. He had a tragic fall from the roof when his ladder \"fell\". She loved the feeling it gave her.\n \n Sylvia started her spree the summer after college. She started by killing her boyfriend's sister. No one ever suspected sweet little Sylvia. She went on to kill strangers and co workers and even an old professor of hers. One thing Sylvia always did was to take a souvenir. It was usually something small that wouldn't be noticed, like a key fob or an earring. \n \n On the night that she was finally caught, Sylvia was sitting in front of a fireplace, reading, with her knees tucked into the sweater of her latest victim's sweater. She saw it and had to have it. Nothing beats a lovely cashmere sweater that's two sizes too big and feels like butter. Especially when it's covered in the blood of your boyfriend. ", "\\[PI\\] [https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/8lgawr/wp\\_she\\_wouldnt\\_admit\\_it\\_but\\_very\\_few\\_things\\_gave/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/8lgawr/wp_she_wouldnt_admit_it_but_very_few_things_gave/)\n\nIndi knew she'd gone too far today. \n\nTwo hours shy of midnight, and she wasn't even anywhere near home. The sweater chase felt \\- different, somehow, than yesterday's. Whenever she decided enough was enough, the distinct scent of that one sweater she smelled somewhere hanging around the train station lured her in \\- intoxicated her, drove her wild. Only, it was nowhere in sight and the mere thought of losing it was \\- no. She'd find it. \n\nInstinctively, she knew when she approached the twelve hour mark \\- didn't even need to set an alarm for it \\- and the urge to keep at it could only be thwarted by the fact that she could not be out chasing sweaters after midnight. \n\nShe just couldn't. \n\nYet, here she was, still trailing the sub\\-levels of the dreary, dark platforms of Central in search for that sweater, the hands of the great clock ticking on by relentlessly. No one understood just how much she lived to get her hands on another sweater, sniff its own, unique texture, run her hands up and down its fabric \\- oh man, she could even smell the colours, and how they entwined so gorgeously with the soft fibres of \\- fuck. This one was made of \\- could she say it? \n\nFrantic now, Indi turned for another flight of stairs, running up \\- and halted mid\\-stride. \n\nGasping, she whipped her head around. There it was again, that smell. She closed her eyes, breathing in its strange sweetness that she now recognized for an elegance that only real cashmere could provide. A low, feral moan escaped her throat and she blew out heavily. \n\nIndi ran down the steps again, taking two at a time, nearly tripping over the last one until she reached the main hall. She anxiously looked around, adrenaline surging through her, now that her chase had almost come to an end. She could feel the finality of it, its taste bittersweet. \n\nThere, in the far right corner, near a ticket booth, stood a tall, dark figure, its back towards her. The smell was impossible to ignore, and Indi edged forward, overcome with an emotion she hadn't experienced before. Sure, every chase eventually culminated in a similar chain of events of her catching some scent, following it out until she could warm up to it, embrace it, be enveloped by it, only to have her attention waver, in search for another one.\n\nBut this \\- this was different. Not only had its cashmere scent driven her to tears, another smell worked its way through, penetrated her nostrils, burned its way to her brain. She reached out, closer now, until her fingertips grazed the sweater \\- and then it turned to face her. " ]	2
	[WP] One morning you’re an average guy, and the next you have the ability to fill any container you touch with clean, drinkable water.	[ "I do not know how long I have been down here. I do not know where here is. I only know I am alive by the hope that were I to die, I would move on to some place else.\n\nIn 2022, some time in the spring, I discovered I could fill any container I touch with clean, drinkable water. The water was completely from thin air, no components needed, no magical arm movements nor flick of a wand. I expended no calories in doing so, and there was no limit to the size of the container I could fill.\n\nI thought I understood the scope of the power. I flew out to a small African village. From what I had known at the time, they were impoverished and eternally thirsty. Eventually word got out about my humanitarian efforts.\n\nI don't remember much of how I got there, but I found myself in a cell with a military man. He had a suit adorned with many medals and honours. A mirror in the room suggested he was not alone. He explained to me the seriousness of my ability. He explained that the power to create something from nothing, and a lot of something at that, so violently breaks the fundamental laws of the universe that it would be a crime against humanity to ignore it. The ability to generate a vast something could be harnessed for incomprehensible power. He continued on, giving detail of the problems it would solve, the weapons it could create, and soon I was lead out through a room of saluting world leaders.\n\nOver and over I fill the container to which I am chained. I do not know where I am. I do not know how long I have been here. I know that I am alive by the hope that were I to die, I could finally be someplace else. I hope it is soon.\n", "One day I discovered I had the ability to fill any container full of water. Despite my multiple thoeries as to how this could be, nothing seemed to make sense. I paced around the house imagining all of the humanitarian efforts to be made! My heart begun beating heavily in my chest and I decided I needed a breather to clear my mind. Eventually I decided that a short walk down my favorite hiking trail in the Rockies would be perfect. I set out in the mid afternoon my mind racing with possibilities of a thirst free world. I was so absorbed in thought that I didn't see the uprooted tree root on trail. I quickly began falling, luckily I managed to catch myself with my hands before my face impacted the dirt. Just as I breathed a sigh of relief I felt moisture on my hand. \n\nI looked down in horror as water began bubbling up from the ground.", "Stretch: You can do what?!\nConnor: I just told you, I can fill any container with clean drinkable water, so this is my plan to use this newfound power:\n\n Step One: work on a visa to South Africa.\n Step Two: Locate the humanitarian efforts.\n Step Three: Humanity profits\n\nI mean, I’d probably get kidnapped by some dictator or something before long but at least I’d have done some good in the meantime?\n\nStretch: ...dude you realize Flint Michigan is like just a county over right?\n\nConner: Ah, get kidnapped by the FBI/CIA instead. Probably get experimented on.\n\nStretch: Or, y’know try to be subtle enough to not get caught?\n\nConner:... Yeah, I suppose I could give that a try." ]	3
	[WP] You have the power to speak anything into existence. You say it, and it happens. Over the years you've learned to communicate with other means then speech. Only problem is, you sleep talk.	[ "\"I want to exist.\"\n\nAt that moment, I existed. Where was I? What was I doing there? I didn't know anything, so I said\n\n\"I want to imagine something\"\n\nI heard an explosion after my thought. I imagined more and more. Particles from the explosion started forming shapes, but after me imagining other stuff, the shapes became circular. Side effects of my imagination? Whatever, it looks good I thought and imagined more and more. After some time, I imagined creatures that lived on the shapes. I created amazing creatures in different shapes, but the one I got really creative was the Earth. I created the creatures to be able to evolve over long times, and I've set a perfect balance that each creature helps each other in a way. My creations on Earth had a sleep cycle. I wondered what would happen, so I said.\n\n\"I want to sleep\"\n\nIn my dreams, I saw my creation series, dinosaurs ruin the perfect balance I worked too hard on. When I woke up, I wanted to inspect my creations on Earth, to balance the creatures again. What I saw was unbelievable. The dinosaurs went extinct because of a massive rock that crashed Earth. But why? I said \n\n\"I want to see why this happened\"\n\nThe time rewinded. I understood what happened. When I was sleeping, I also was talking. I said something along the lines of \"If I destroy the dinosaurs, would it fix the balance? It would\" and I appearently destroyed dinosaurs. Well, if I re add them now, I would ruin the balance, so adding them wouldnt make sense. Guess I'll also create stuff in other planets now. \n\nAfter decorating other shapes I call planets with other creatures, I decided to sleep. That was my worst mistake. In my sleep, I imagined a different evolution of Earth's monkeys who were able to think much better than my other creatures. When I woke up, I checked on Earth's future. Bald thinkable monkeys were ruining the balance. My attempts at saving the balance of Earth were unsuccessful. Even if I made up terms and explained stuff to a good leader inside the monkeys lots of times, monkeys still killed them. This is my last attempt. I'm going to sleep. If I don't see a perfectly balanced Earth the day I wake up, I'll abandon it and I'll start creating stuff on other planets. Maybe I'll doom earth, or just get rid of the bald monkeys. I'll decide it after my sleep. \n\n\nThis is my first WP, so excuse me for any formatting issues. ", " Once upon a time I met a genie.\n\n“Ask for a wish, one which shall do you good.”\n\n“Ah! I’d like the power to have the world at my command.” I replied “Whatever I speak should happen. No matter how big the task.”\n\n“Granted” he said and went up in a puff.\n\nI happily returned home. Never had an evening been brighter, and the world sweeter. I went to bed a happy and content man. \n\nI woke up amidst a nightmare, only to find my house engulfed in flames. \n\nThat’s when I found out that I talk in my sleep. ", "You know, there are a lot of downsides to having the power to speak things into existence. You might accidentally say something in a fight, and poof, suddenly your better half no longer exists, or he really is trying to kiss your ass \$not that that’s every happened to me\$. See, when I was a kid, I did say some pretty mean stuff, and it actually happened to the person I said it to. \n\nAfter that, I kind of just stopped talking. Or I tried to. I pretended like I’d gone mute. I learned sign language, I carried a note pad around with me for times when I needed to write things out. But one thing I was never able to fix was the fact that I talk in my sleep. \n\nSo, yes, there are pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows in my bedroom. My better half is torn between amusement, and annoyance. Last week I had a nightmare and a boogeyman came out from under the bed as we were both getting up for work – he was really an okay guy, more annoyed that he was now stuck living in the closet of two fully grown adults, instead of under the bed of some little kid that he might stand a chance of eating. \n\nHe has a thing for pizza, so I just buy him one every Tuesday, and I know he needs another when he puts the empty box in the recycle. \n\nUnicorns though… fluffy ones that look like those Scottish cows I saw a picture of once… only they’re horses and have horns and don’t actually exist… also, they’re dancing on rainbows. That’s a little more complicated. \n\nI sighed, loudly. \n\n“There is no such thing as Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows.” I hate talking. I hate having to erase from existence something I accidentally created – but I can’t start enough plague on the city of New York, the rainbow hamsters were bad enough – the city is still finding those things in the sewers. ", "\"Silver tongue,\" Dustfinger hissed from his chair in the corner of the room \"What have you brought into this realm now?\"\n\nDarren sighed an rolled his eyes at the blond man wishing he hadn't read Inkheart on a whim 2 months ago, this man was annoying and had a penchant for making valuable things disappear. \n\nHis lack of response annoyed Dustfinger who asked his question again but only louder \"I said, what have you brought into this realm now?\"\n\nDarren pulled out his mobile and shot Dustfinger an annoyed text.\n>For the hundredth time I'm not a silver tongue, I just have this stupid power.\n\nDustfinger's phone buzzes, he reaches into his pocket to retrieve it and read the message. \"Not a silver tongue? Perhaps I should call you Golden tongue then since your powers are greater, and you still have yet to answer my question.\" \n\nDarren shook his head no and sent another message.\n>No, call me Darren. \n\n>Also, I have no clue what you're talking about I just woke up.\n\n\"Follow me,\" Dustfinger sighed after reading the messages. \n\nThe pair walked outside together, and to Darren's surprise, there was a giant anthropomorphized gummy standing in his front yard, nearly six feet tall. \nThe creature lumbered about, leaving a trail of sour sugar in its wake. \n\n>It's called a sour patch kid\nDarren texted Dustfinger\n\n\"Why is it here?\" He asked\n\n>I was really craving some sour patch kids bore my nap \n\n>before\n\n\"Is it dangerous?\" Dustfinger asked, scanning for an escape route.\n\n>No, it's selicious\n\n>Delisious\n\n>Delious \n\n>Delicious \n\n\"A phone with unlimited free texting, perfect spell check, and all of my current contacts,\" Darren said aloud. This surprised Dustfinger as this was the first time he had ever hear the man speak. He watched intently as a phone slowly materialized from a glowing light in Darren's open palm. \n\n\"Was that really necessary?\" He asked\n\n>No, but I wanted to\n\n\"Well, what do we do with this so-called Sour Patch Kid?\"\n\n>I'm sure the dragon will eat it. \n\nDarren shrugged turning to return to the house only to trip and fall \n\n\"Fuck!\" the word exploded from Darren's mouth when he hit the ground. He quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide fearing what might appear. \n\n\"Over there!\" Dustfinger called, pointing to a large glowing blob materializing on the lawn\n\nDarren sighed in relief but was nonetheless confused to see a rather large seal with a pencil mustache and wearing a beret. \n\n**\n\nI'm sorry, but I just finished talking to my Quebecois friend so I decided to end this with a terrible French pun. \nAnyways, feedback is always appreciated. ", "God damnit* I think to myself. It looks like I did it again\n\nEver since I found that book, I've been known to have an effect on the world via speech. Some call it the First Language, others call it the Voice of God. Either way, it's the language of creation. I learned this the hard way when I first found the book and read through it. Afterwards, whatever I said, came into existence. For instance if I said right now, \"$1 Million in $20 bills,\" a million dollars in $20s would poof into existence in front of me. I like to think of it as the command lines you can pull up in video games and make items appear.\n\nEither way, it's been a unique gift, but the problem is, I have somniloquy or sleep talking. It's a genetic thing. Usually I can get away with it since I usually use a cpap machine to muffle my words and make what I'm saying unintelligible.\n\nBut every now and then, the masks slips and I get what happened this morning. I really should stop dreaming about them but every since a friend of mine told me about a table top game he played back in the day where a character had the language of the first, I can't keep that hilarious story out of my head.\n\nSo at least once a month I summon it.. The damned purple monkey dishwasher. It appears into existence and wreaks chaos wherever I create it. It's usually a pain in the ass to find because it has a mind of its own, free will and all that jazz. Some days it'll find its way into my basement, messing around with my heater, other days I'll find it across town, flinging poop at random cars.\n\nThe news media has been having a field day with it and it has turned into an urban legend of sorts. I guess I've created a modern version of Big Foot.\n\nAt least with all of this 24/7 connected mediums it's easy to find it.\n\nIt seems the purple monkey has appeared yet again what seems to be at a local coffee shop. It appeared at 6am this morning and police have been at a stand off with the purple monkey as it seems to have some hostages held at what appears to be... Poop\n\nWell shit, here we go again.", "You know I wasn't always this way.\n\nI used to be able to talk freely and do as I wished. One day, on my 13th birthday, I said I wanted a car. Everyone laughed it off but suddenly a car appeared from thin air and was sitting out in front of my house. This is an awesome power of course but I am not able to control it, so anything I said would become reality, even in normal conversation. Ever since that day, I've learned sign language and resorted to communication via text...at least until I discovered a loophole. The loophole I discovered was simple, if I talk in a language that wasn't my native language then nothing happened. Unfortunately, my parents noticed too and moved us to another country, and taught me the language that was spoken there. I was so ecstatic to speak I cried out \"I'm so excited! I feel like I'm on fire\" in the new language. Later that night, I went to sleep and had a nightmare, where the sun clashed with the earth.\nIn my sleep, I heard myself say \"Help! The sun is coming towards the earth\". In my last moments I realized I said that in my native language, and laid there as I felt the warmth of the sun intensify.", "Part One of Two\n\nThe name is Tom, I’m a simple man with a not so simple power. To say that I’m gifted would be an understatement. I was born with magic to bring anything I want into existence, on the whim of my voice.\n\n\nGrowing up for me has been a struggle of making sure nobody knows my ability to manifest my words. My parents insisted on teaching me ASL from early on, and claiming me to be mute to everyone we’ve met. Though they did teach me spoken language, too.\n\n\nI’ve recently had troubles with a bit of sleep talking. I’d wake to scandalous women surrounding me, or the occasional guy. I’ve even woke to the sight of a crushed car in my room, or a shadowy figure that looms in the corners of my room. \n\n\n“Again? I really need to see a specialist if this shit happens again.” I thought to myself. I grabbed my phone and texted my mother.\n\n\n> Hey Mom I’ve had another incident can you call a specialist?\n\n\n> Okay, just get rid of what you made and I’ll set an appointment. I can’t have you keep making these things.\n\n\nI put my phone down and snapped my fingers to remove the objects I’ve created. This time I created a brunette and a few cardboard boxes. Odd, but I’ve conjured worse things.", "(I am so sorry, Jordan Peterson. I love you man, really. As they say, we only roast the ones we love.) \n\n--\n\nWhen God spoke, he spoke the world into being. You have to think in a sophisticated way about this. \n\nThe way that order is created out of chaos is by speaking the truth. That is a complicated idea, and it's no joke! It is the deepest idea of the western tradition, and if it is true, it may be the greatest idea ever conceived. \n\nThat's why story and tradition and religion has all these archetypes. It's part of our grand unifying low resolution narrative, speaking to deep religious truths. It's Beauty and the Beast, the taming of the wild man by the woman forming the essential female heroic archetype. It's Pinocchio. It's rescuing your father from the belly of the whale. It's creating life by speaking it into being. It's confronting the shadow, and bravely fighting the dragon of myth. It's complicated!\n\nAnd what happens if you don't speak the truth? Well, the world gets dimmer. And when the world gets dim, it can get very very dark. \n\nIt is not safe to speak! But would you rather speak boldly, or censor yourself, and then you are nothing but a serf, a slave to yourself. You don't get to avoid pain, you get to pick the poison you are going to take, and that is it. \n\nAnd if you don't do that, if you don't speak the truth, the people that will speak will be the tyrants and the despots. And the world they will speak into being will be one you do not like. That is how you get authoritarianism, that is how you get identity politics, that is how you get Nazis. \n\nThe witch in the swamp is real man! Roughly speaking. It may be more real then anything else. It's the old king in the broken castle. This is important.\n\nBe precise in your speak, and tell the truth! ", "I wake up in the lead-lined box I’ve had to sleep in since it happened. Last night, I dreamt I was in a childrens party. My child’s party. I brush aside the balls from the ball pit, avoid slipping on the cake lying on the floor, and put my feet down. The dim room is lit as the strip light across the ceiling lights up, both drowning out the dim emergency exit sign and blasting my retinas. Rub eyes. Knock three times on door. While the slow actuators work their magic and open the chamber, I search around, finding a dressing gown, and the whiteboard I have to use for communication. My husband is on the other side of the door. “Good morning dear” he mutters, and pecks me on the cheek. “Good morning” I simply reply. And it shall be.\n\n‘It’ happened on the dot of midnight, 24th May 2018. In the past three years, the world had changed massively. Mostly thanks to me. Some changed had been simple. While testing out the next morning, I identified a few things. Physical objects I didn’t have a limit, or not one that had been found. Living beings, I could alter but not create or destroy. That was obviously the hardest bit.\n\n“Two large English breakfasts” the plates clatter down in front of us. “One glass of orange juice. One cup of english breakfast tea.” Sat around the small, round table, I scribbled on the whiteboard ‘Party again’. He hugs me close. “I know it’s hard. You have to look at the positives, what we have. You’re the woman who cured cancer. You solved world hunger” Pragmatic, as ever. It’s not like I tried hard with either of those. “A cure for cancer” provided two fat lab books, and a post it note- “Attn Gunther Schieder, Munich”. Finding him had taken an afternoon, and three months later his face was over every newspaper, every periodical. Time’s man of the year. Nobel prizes in Medicine and Chemistry, in the same year. He still doesn’t know where the books came from. World hunger was even easier, one morning, every village and every town had a new well- this one filled with rice. Deconstructing them proved pointless, and after the World Health Organisation deemed the rice edible, and done. I’d swap it all back in an instant\n\nMy day was comprised of mostly watching television with Grant, as the ethics panel discussed. After the world food issue, I decided I needed one. Top secret, naturally. I’d be mobbed if these powers got out. The food and cancer cures within a week were bad enough. Each government could suggest one issue per month. Five independent ethics experts discussed, and I got a list every Friday, usually comprising three or four items. Today was tuesday, so I had another few days. I was supposed not to say a word saturday to Thursday, but what were they going to do? Fire me? Having meals provided, and the occasional DVD- assuming I was implicit with wording, was never going to cause harm. Sometimes it could even be funny- April fools I always greeted Grant with “Good morning, honey”- as I had three years ago. Cleaning the carpet while he showered was always worth it.\n\nLeaving the house had to be a well-planned affair. I didn’t do shopping any more- why? But sometimes just sitting in the sun in a park is a reward of its own. I tried to go out of school holidays, for obvious reasons. A walk in the countryside always perked me up, too. Pointing at the trees- ‘Identifying’ them. I wonder how many invasive species I’d caused. Same with birds. And bugs.\n\nIt had been a shame I couldn’t move house. “Too obvious” the ethics committee had said. I could see their point. Sure, we could no longer have guests, but the hardest part was the lead lined room. I just wanted to be away from that. Stop the nightmares of Rich’s party. It had been his birthday today, three years ago. We’d had a beautiful party, and the weather was fantastic, it was such a warm day. I should’ve changed the bedclothes, opened a window, whatever. But it was too busy, as so many two year olds make you. I remember nothing of that night. But at some point, I must have muttered “Fire”\n\n " ]	9
	[WP] Aliens have infiltrated earth, but mostly to make a documentary on the wildlife there. They get most of it wrong.	[ "Kinlidalh Ippaakääj has worked tirelessly for 397 cycles to ensure that the sentients of the Galactic Union get the latest, most accurate information about xenobiological matters of interest! His expose on the breeding habits of the orefirogifr species has won him at least four thousand (give or take 3997) awards, a majority of which were given to him by other sentient beings! Now the galaxy’s most reputable naturalist brings you a report from the Formerly Forbidden Planet!\n\nAs you know, I am an entirely reputable and licensed naturalist, and I did not steal this identity from a sentient that I murdered by hitting him over the head with a wrench after escaping from prison on charges of fraud, forgery, and mass murder. As such, I am incredibly skilled in matters of infiltration, and not for any criminal past I may or may not be hiding. Thus, when approaching the Formerly Forbidden Planet, I disguised myself as a species known as penguins. They are noted for their classy outfits and great love of the arts.\n\nUsing my training that I definitely learned from a reputable university, I determined that Earth consists of a single continent noted for its ice and heavy snowfall. After seamlessly infiltrating the penguin collective, I learned that there were four species that inhabited the planet. One of them was the penguin species. They had a long and storied history, involving six blood wars, eighteen thousand blood feuds, and nine blood operas. They have taught me their gentle ways, including their knowledge of nuclear physics, dark matter, and proper training of alto singers.\n\nThe second species is the mighty krill! These walk on fourteen legs and are fearsome, bloodthirsty predators, making all individuals on that planet cower before their bloodthirsty might! They are reviled for their brutal gladiator fights, their brutal fighting tactics, and their brutalist architecture. I, of course, being a sentient of peace and not an intergalactic fugitive utterly disapprove of such matters! I abhor violence in all its forms!\n\nThough the krill pose a massive security risk to the good sentients of the forbidden sector, they are mostly held in check by the species known as the elder gods. These elder are keepers of ancient secrets and magic unfathomable to most of us. They know how to manipulate the forces of the universe as if they were merely wet clay! AND WE, MeREly pAWNS in THeIR WRETCH’d gAMEs!!!!\n\n[Editor’s note: Ippaakääj appears to go on for some time in incomprehensible gibberish, not known to any tongue. It has driven seven of our editorial staff mad, so we will not reproduce it to ensure the maximum health and safety of your souls.]\n\nOther than the elder gods [more incomprehensible gibberish, this time driving only two of our editorial staff mad, which was no consolation to our insurance company, let me tell you that much] the only other species of note are those savage beings known as the humans. Human incursions brought a reign of terror to the galaxy many thousands of cycles ago until such a time as they could be contained on a singular planet, which they call Earth.\n\nWhile I was not able to gain access to human lands, I assure that they are well contained on this curious and sometimes DERANGED PLANET, a planet infested by things BeYOnD oUR cOMPRehenSIOn!!!! [four pages of incomprehensible gibberish expunged; miraculously no one was driven mad by it) Our generous hosts were able to give us access to entirely accurate documentaries about recent human history. These documentaries, locally known as Game of Thrones, indicate that the humans are confined to a region that they call Westeros. They appear to only have a medieval level of technology, despite some success in creating powerful explosives, resurrecting the dead, and calling down demons of fire to serve them. They are currently engaged in a civil war while an invasion of human undead waits on the northern border.\n\nYes, friends, I have braved many horrible dangers in my quest to the Formerly Forbidden Planet, and any rumors to the contrary are just horrible lies! Some slanderous and jealous individuals may allege that I merely spent time getting drunk in a local bar and listening to the inaccurate rantings of a psychotic penguin refugee! But how could you believe such a thing of me, the most reputable and totally honest naturalist in the galaxy?\n\nWell, sentients, there you have it! The most reputable and totally honest in the galaxy has gone on his most dangerous assignment yet and has brought back a wonderful report at significant cost to his life and sanity! If anyone wishes to nominate him for political office, say, for the position of consul of the galaxy, you’d be handsomely rewarded!\n\n[Editor’s note: The preceding report has been reproduced in its entirely except where iterated to show the galaxy the consequences of relying on suspicious naturalists instead of government sanctioned reports. Ippaakääj has been proven during his recent impeachment trial to be nothing more than a criminal, lying monster of a con artist. More accurate naturalists have reported that Earth is a totally barren wasteland occupied by no sentient beings in any way whatsoever. It is totally beneath our time and notice. Furthermore, the concept of the ancient aggressors known as humans has been thoroughly debunked by an independent panel of scholars known, succinctly, as the Independent Panel of Scholars.\n\nAs the leader of the Independent Panel of Scholars, I have to say that Ippaakääj’s criminal past makes it impossible for us to believe a single word he says. Yes, he has professed to his vile lies, but his new claim that humans have infiltrated the government on every single level is completely ludicrous. Yes, the Independent Panel of Scholars is entirely made up of a species that resembles these humans, but we are obviously not humans, for if we were, then we would have killed you, and we have not done that yet. Instead, we have merely gained control of your system of government at all levels. This was done totally for the good of the various species of the galaxy, and not for humans.\n\nIf we were humans, we would be lying. But since we’re not, we can’t be. Right?]", "Not all animals have Blek or are covered in Fluun like our beloved pet Koons. No, some animals have thread like strands growing from their skin known as fur. In today's episode of ''Weird, wild and far far away'' we are visiting the most charming blue little planet of everyone's favorite vacation galaxy. You guessed it, the Secaor Galaxy. Now Aqua III is hilariously and perhaps insultingly named ''Dirt'' by the locals, the hoomans. While about 70% of Aqua III's surface is water-covered. They do not seem to like their planet or water. \n\nBeing the third planet from their sun it is one of only three planets in their solar system that harbors life. Most of which is found in the large bodies of water. Therefore first on our list of weird species we have one of Aqua III's most common and highly intelligent life form known as a ''Cow''. You may have heard of them already, a popular niche souvenir to bring back by those who can afford to travel so far into the Secaor Galaxy. Rumor has it everyone's high school heartthrob Bechalor owns a cow. Here you see a brown and white fur covered specimen, standing at only 5,2 feet tall it is on the smaller side for a female cow weighing just around 1000 lbs. Just look at it. With such grace you can now see that it without so much as flinching, calmly excretes it's pies that the surrounding flies gleefully indulge in. Very nutritious and delicious too. Ah and there it is, the occasional and so very pleasant ''Moo'' sound reminding us of our summer rain.\n\nHow delightful, I for one surely am envious of Bechalor if the rumors hold true. Cows can be found in a whole array of colors, brown, black, grey and even blue. And now diving deep into the ocean of this planet called ''Dirt'', we can see the much more impressive male cow. At 90 feet this specimen weighs just around 170 tonnes. Long and slender with maturity having lost it's legs for mating purposes, the male is much more beautiful to behold. He rises to get to the surface of the water to breathe from his blowhole located at the top of his head. We can hear him now, calling for females who are looking for him in the depths. Soon we will see intricate courtship dances among the females to determine who has the right to mate with this marvelous blueish-grey male. But before we do so we are going to learn something about one of Aqua III's lesser intelligent animals, the hooman. Join us in this nest built of wood and stone called a living room after the break...\n\n\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] ...And that's when a mannequin fell out of the sky and smashed into the hood of my car.	[ "The body.\nI was sitting watching TV, some crappy foreign program with subtitles, when I heard a loud crashing noise from above. \nThen there was another loud crash, I was covered with debris as a body came through the ceiling and landed with a thud in front of me. \nI looked at the body in shock, it was the body of a man, he looked like he was in his early twenties, he was dressed in a tee shirt, shorts and sandals. He was covered with dust and debris.\nI quickly called the police, and very soon, I had two bored looking policemen standing on my doorstep. “Good afternoon Miss” said one of them, “you reported a body falling through your ceiling.”\nI lead them both into my ruined living room. They were shocked to see that there was indeed a dead man laid on my living room floor. \nOne called on his radio, for a senior officer, the Dr and SOCO. The other officer asked if he could look upstairs, I agreed, so he made his very careful way upstairs, I could hear him moving around and the floorboards in my bedroom creaking. \nHe came back down the stairs, and said, “there is a hole through your roof, loft space, bedroom ceiling and through to your living room.”\nI asked, “where did he come from, who is he, how did he break through my roof.?”\nBefore he could answer my questions, there was a knock at the front door, there stood more police and a man dressed in a smart suit. He very brusquely asked, “where the body then.?”\nOne of the police men led him into the living room and pointed out the body laid on the carpet. The man was the Dr, he knelt beside the body and touched its neck.\nHe recoiled, he said, “it’s freezing” he looked at me and said, “has he been in the freezer?” I said, “how the bloody hell should I know, I was watching TV when he came through the ceiling.”\nSeveral photos were taken of the body before it was bagged and removed to the mortuary for autopsy. They had trouble getting the body into the body bag as it was totally frozen.\nSOCA officers went over the house collecting evidence, they collected DNA traces from around the holes that the body had made through the roof, ceilings and floors of my house. \nThey checked the rest of the house, but found no more DNA from the body, which proved that he had indeed made the holes in my house and hadn’t been there before.\nThe police had called the fire brigade, so they could use their Ariel platform to check the roof and get photos. While they were taking photos, the fire brigade fixed a tarpaulin over the gaping hole in the roof. \nMeanwhile at the mortuary, the dust and dirt were washed from the body, to reveal a young man of Caribbean decent, virtually every bone in his body had been broken. \nCloser examination of his body showed that his body had been frozen to minus 40 degrees. A lot lower than a domestic freezer could go to. \nA check of the man’s pockets found two Jamaican Dollar coins, a key and a photograph of a middle-aged woman. \nThe police checked with Manchester airport and found that a non-stop flight from Kingston Jamaica had just arrived. \nThe plane was checked over and traces of the bodies DNA was found in and around the wheel well on the right-hand side of the plane. \nIt looked like the man had stowed away in the wheel well of the plane, was crushed by the wheels retracting, asphyxiated by the lack of oxygen at 40,000 feet, then his body frozen by the minus 40-degree temperature at that height. \nThen as the plane made its approach to Manchester airport, the wheels would have come down and the body would have fallen from approximately 2,500 feet, landing on the roof with the force of a bomb, crashing through the roof, bedroom ceiling and floor and ending up in the living room. \nThe picture in the man’s pocket was faxed to Kingston Jamaica, the police there took no time in identifying her and send back details of her son, Michael Fournier, fingerprints proved a perfect match. \nMichael Fournier’s body was flown back to Jamaica, courtesy of Air Jamaica, who also paid for the repairs to the damaged roof and interior of the house that Michael Fournier’s body had damaged. \n\n\n\n\n \n" ]	1
	[WP] You and your spouse were given a choice by death, one of you must die, and the other must live forever. Collectively, you decided you would be the one to live.	[ "Centuries later it is still raw\n\nMy choices feel much less secure\n\nTo linger on forever more\n\nAnd remember how she cried\n\nBefore she quickly died.\n\n\\-\n\nA coward I was on that day\n\nWhen moral obligations sway\n\nIt's black and white, no longer grey\n\nI wanted to be alive\n\nAt her expense survive.\n\n\\-\n\nDeath laughed at me and made it so\n\nShe cried as she was made to go\n\nAnd how was I supposed to know\n\nThat death would bring new life\n\nWhile I would live with strife.\n\n\\-\n\nr/ShittyStoryCreator :\\)" ]	1
	[WP] You are a cyborg half-orc detective trying to solve the murder of a fairy magitechnician on a moon colony built to extract mana crystals. The deeper you go, the stranger the mystery gets.	[ "Of all the cyborg half-orc detective agencies on the moon, she had to walk into mine. She was a knockout. Bright pink hair. Green eyes. Slim. Six inches tall. She began sobbing as soon as she sat down on my stapler. Said her girlfriend had been murdered two days ago and the police had been bought off. I brought her a thimble of coffee and she seemed to calm down. Her girl was a magitech jockey, working at Nuts N Lightning Bolts. Big firm. They supplied most of the moon.\n\nShe seemed to think that her lady had been killed to hide a secret. What secret? Its never that easy in this business.\n\nI fitted a cigar between my tusks and lit up, ignoring the high pitched coughs little miss wings was giving out. I told her my daily rate and she told me her name. Serenity. God damn fairies.\n\n\"Call me Grognar\" I said, \"and don't you worry yourself. I'm gonna find your ladies killer\".\n\n\n.....................\n\n\nGetting in to Nuts N Lightning Bolts was already proving tricky. They had weapon sensors over each doors, dwarf work, first class. I flexed my left arm, hearing the servos whine. That would definitely set those off. That and the huge hand cannon I kept strapped to my hip.\nI was about to get it over with, hands held in the air. If I was an elf, it'd probably be all apologies and a wave on through. Orcs got the shoot first, then again to make sure he can't answer questions treatment.\nAs I approached the door, I noticed a shimmer in the air to my left. A scrying spell? \nI spun towards it, just in time to see a half elf attempting a quick getaway.\n\nThis was getting interesting. I hurried after him, keeping enough distance that he eventually slowed down, confident that he'd lost me. Five minutes later he turned down an alleyway. Time for some orc diplomacy. \n\n\"Stop, stop ill tell you! Just don't hit me again!\"\n\nBingo.\n\n\"Talk knife ear\" I growled. I held him off the floor by his tailored suit. Very nice quality. Tommy Hilgiant perhaps.\n\n\"Look this thing is crazy. Fucking crazy alright. It goes to the top. You got it? Big names. The biggest\" he babbled.\n\n\"Who\", I snarled.\n\n\"Georgie. The Gnome Father\"" ]	1
	[WP] Nuclear devastation has ravaged the world and brought about the apocalypse as we know it. Somehow, you seem to be the only one who has noticed.	[ "The technical term is A.T.N.D., or Advanced Traumatic Negligence Disorder. Or at least that's the term I made up to describe the indescribable. People walking about their homes, down the street, eyes wide open, hair beginning to fall out and skin beginning to blister and sore from the radiation, but just continuing about their daily lives as I watch from the basement of my home. The nukes detonated about ten miles away; there was very little damage to my slice of suburbia, but the flash was still blinding, like a second sunrise. Maybe they looked into it, and something fried in their brains. Sometimes, I would put on my gas mask and heavy coat to walk out into the fallout to try and interact with my neighbors, but they would walk around me without even seeing me. I don't know what they're eating, if anything at all, or if they're sleeping, but if there's one thing I can say, they don't even seem to realize that the world as I know it at least, has ended. They're trapped in their own little bubble, a little world unchanged from the life they used to know. I don't know whether I should envy them, or pity them, but I know that they won't last long, whereas I intend to live just a little while longer, at least." ]	1
	[WP] A medieval army invades the modern world	[ "When the \"army\" marched into California, almost everyone had laughed. Or thought that it was a really interesting, big LARP session. There were about a thousand men dressed in chain mail, with swords swaying at their hips. Several sat atop horses, which were the only really intimidating part about them. The one in front held out a trumpet, a loud and robust echo when they reach the edge of Los Angeles. \n\nIt didn't even take the whole police force to bring them down. \n\nIt barely even scraped headlines for a few days. However, right around the edges of Los Angeles, about two weeks later, an outbreak occurs. An outbreak of small pox. \n\nAnd new reporters give a minute to it on their show, about how we had cured that disease and obviously that meant that it was a new strain of something. But no. It was small pox. \n\nIt infected the some small children first. A couple of kids that went to a private, religious school, with moms that believed in healing crystals over vaccines. Then it moved to some hospital dwellers, one of the kids parents finally breaking and taking them there for help. \n\nWithin the hospital, it should have been easier to shut down. Those with autoimmune disorders were quarantined, and the cleanliness regime became even stricter. \n\nYet it somehow got into the maternity ward. That made and kept headlines. Sixty-two newborns dead from small pox. Almost an entire unit wiped clean, because herd immunity couldn't help the babies when all that was in their herd was other, too-young-to-vaccinate, babies. \n\nParents went home devastated and empty-handed. The nurseries in the houses were closed up, the cradles were returned or left in the room to collect dust. A cry swept the nation that this could not stand and that the injustice was too much. \n\nIt took less than a month for legislation to pass through to make it illegal for a child that was able to not receive vaccines. It took less than a year for it to go into affect. \n\nAnd the army? The ones sitting in jail or dead from some past disease? They may not have won the war they were after, but they would go into the history books for this. " ]	1
	[WP] "No, for the last time, I am NOT using my teleportation powers to get you a damn cookie!"	[ "\"Please Father! It's all i've ever wanted in life!\" my son shouted at me, tears streaming down his eyes. \"James, i'm sorry. They'll find us if I use my powers here. I'm sorry my boy, i'm so sorry....\" tears now forming in my eyes, simply unable to look at my son's face anymore as I clutched him closer to me. Looking over my shoulder I could see the lights and hear the whistles, we were losing this race for life.\n\n\"PLEASE PAPA! PLEASE!\" he shouted \"James! Lower your voice! They are right behind us! They will find us! James I beg of you!\" I pleaded with my son, over and over and over again but to no avail. \"Please Papa, I want the cookie, please! I WANT THE SWEETIE NOW!!!\" again he pleaded, the cookie being the only thing he could think of, unaware of the situation. Wondering back, maybe I shouldn't of made this a big game. Maybe I should have never showed him my powers, or wasted all our time helping others escape.\n\nDogs could be heard barking in the distance, getting closer and closer, seemingly ready to pounce, to sink their teeth and end our lives. Carrying on with theirs as if they knew nothing of the real world, taking orders like the sheep they were. \n\nGunshots and mortar fire booming in our chest, pure fear drowning out any thoughts of home by now as we ran and ran and ran. Finally tripping in a small creek, tumbling under a large log as I held my dear boy close in my arms.\n\n\"You know we have to save my power for the group James!\" but before I could even wait for my boys response the Gestapo's evil march could be heard, loudly closing in just a few feet away in every which direction. This was the end, we failed. James was crying hysterically. I scanned the area in a panic, desperate for escape but the howls of James crying had the Shepherds closing in, trained to find people like us. I had to make the hardest decision of my life, one I will never forget no matter how hard I try. One that makes me feel no better than those bastards who took everything from me.\n\nI placed my hand over my boys mouth, crying so hard I had to gasp for breath. James looked up at me with a look of pure terror as my hand grew warm and inviting, but was no such thing was felt as I gave my boy the cookie he had been asking for on this journey to freedom. Perhaps he was the lucky one, as his cries faded away and the light left his soft, pure soul. No gasps for air, the cookie perfectly teleported into his wind pipe. And with that I scurried away like an animal, across the river and into neutral lands. To live a life of eternal sadness without my sweet boy James, the sweetness of cookies forever lost to me." ]	1
	[WP] On your doorstep you discover a box. When you open the box, it’s that one product you were considering buying earlier. You discover that whatever you think of, the box gives it to you as long as it fits in the box. Rumours go around that you have a magical box and now everyone wants it.	[ "Hmmm, I thought, what should I do?\n\nI thought for a moment, then opened the box and pulled out a magical collapsible box which I unfolded on the front lawn. There it stood, a gleaming cube eight feet on a side.\n\nThen I thought for a moment and opened it to find a magical collapsible storage building which I immediately assembled in the vacant lot next to mine.\n\nThen I thought for a moment and opened it to find a magical self-driving delivery truck which started itself and went on its way, autonomously delivering magical boxes to everyone who wanted one.\n\nThen I took my magical box inside and went back to bed." ]	1
	[WP] "You actually did it."	[ "I felt my thoughts becoming fuzzy, hearing a soft voice but barely making out whats being said.\n\nI could feel a soft touch on my arm and look down to see a drop of water, and another and another. I want to tell them it doesn't hurt and won't ever hurt again.\n\nIf only they could let me go they would also be free, free of pain, free of the anchor chaining their life down.\n\nI don't have long now, I can feel the life seeping from my wrists. Looking up I meet her gaze and smile, wanting her to remember me like this, finally free, finally happy.", "Would have thought that she would have been happy about it. She thought she was being clever when she told me to go find some uranium isotope 235. And when I brought to her in the correct lead-lined container, she gave me a look of horror, crossed her arms and whispered:\n\n\"You actually did it.\"\n\nI set the heavy container on our breakfast table.\n\n\"Course I did hun, just like you asked babe,\" I replied. She gave me a stern stare down, her hands losing colour from how tightly she had crossed her arms. \n\n\"I was fucking joking. And this is a joke, right?\" She stepped forward and examined the case. She tried to lift the thing but her feeble little arms would never be able to hold it.\n\n\"You think it's a joke sweetheart?\"\n\n\"Can you stop with that?\"\n\nI turned my back to her and smirked as I put the kettle on. A helicopter was hovering nearby. I could hear its engine and blades grilling the normal silence.\n\n\"With what my love?\"\n\nShe slapped my back and scoffed, no doubt with her annoying crossed arms.\n\n\"You know full well what. Stop with the stupid pet names. And I don't believe you. For all I know there's... is... that helicopter getting closer?\"\n\nWe both heard sirens beyond it too. She stared at me in panic as I poured in the hot water into a mug of coffee. \n\n\"Richard, did you really do it? I didn't mean to be mean, I didn't,\" she cried out, backing away from the windows.\n\n\"Too late now. You know what you said. I've done what you asked,\" I said and took a nice tongue-burning sip. Milkless and sugarless. Bitter as Hell.\n\n\"I-I was trying to make a point,\" she retorted hotly. \"But we need to get out of here.\"\n\n\"Yeah,\" I said, setting my mug down, \"Let's just run outside where all the armed police are waiting. Sounds like a great escape plan. Or do you want to tell me to do something you thought was impossible again?\"\n\nI reached for the case, pulled out a key from my pocket.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" she shrieked and lunged herself at me, knocking me down. I pushed her aside and stood up, brushed myself off. I put the key in and turned it.\n\n\"You'll kill us all! And so many innocent people, Richard! Please don't do this - this is my fault!\" She sobbed pathetically, her words not so audible over the helicopter. \n\nI unlocked the case and opened it as she covered her face with her arm. And then I showed her the contents. \n\nBricks. \n\n\"You're a daft little cow, cutie pie. Have fun rebuilding your life without me. We're done,\" I said and walked to the door. \n\nShe grabbed my trousers in a wild frenzy.\n\n\"S-s-so n-no bomb?\" she could barely get her words out.\n\n\"No you ugly pigeon. Now piss off and let me go,\" I tried to kick my leg away from her grip.\n\n\"A-and the h-helicopters?\" \n\n\"Fuck knows,\" I replied. She let me go. I opened the door and witnessed a gang of heavily armed men walked past our house towards a barrage of police. \n\nI threw myself inside, dropped to the floor beside her. Cried.\n\n(I dunno what kind of genre this would be but nonsensical comes to mind)\n\nAlso if you actually didn't roll your eyes at this, maybe check out my sweet new sub, r/astoriawriter! " ]	2
	[WP] You are Princess Lucy. Tell me about your morning routine.	[ "I awake feeling dread in my stomach. The world outside is still pitch black, but I suppose it's morning technically. I force myself to rise, and a crippling pain hits my heart as my feet find the floor.\n\nYou're still not with me.\n\nI stand up, and I begin heading to the bathroom. My walk is slow and shaky; it's hard to stay calm when you're not around. And when I reach for the handle, I find myself too weak to take hold. The tears have begun running down my cheeks.\n\nI can't stop it now.\n\nThrough blurred eyes, I make my way in and towards the sink. I begin to brush my teeth to stave off stains, but the stains you left on my heart aren't so easily fixed. I hear the gentle tap of my tears as they hit the porcelain. But I don't sob. I stay composed.\n\nI am strong.\n\nAs I get dressed, I remember the way you used to smile when we did it together. And as the sun begins to rise, I realise I've put on the wrong dress. Your dress. The one I bought for you the day we first kissed. I didn't realise it was still in my room. It doesn't smell like you anymore. I hold back my tears; the day will not break me. I head for the door to face the world.\n\nI put on a smile." ]	1
	[WP] While playing with your two-year old outdoors in the rain, you jokingly tell her to turn off the rain. “Dada, turn off da rain!”, she exclaims and the rains suddenly stop. Your face turns ashen as you watch the clouds dissipate and the sun appear.	[ "I was suddenly woken up by my 2 year old running in and jumping on me this morning it’s her first time seeing rain. The world has gone dry it hasn’t rained for years and this is such a special occasion. So I got up and put some clothes on and put her rain gear on. \n \nBoth of us standing by the front door I look Lucy over making sure she won’t get soaking wet in the rain for a while making sure she has her coat on and her pant legs tucked into her boots. I looked at her and said “are you ready” she responded with a grin and a nod. I nodded back and held her hand as I opened the door. \n The cool air hit us. It woke me up more than my normal cup of coffee. I miss this feeling. We walked out and immediately I get soaking wet but Lucy was fine it almost seemed like she wasn’t even getting wet as she jumped from puddle to puddle. After a while i could tell she was bored as she walked up to me and looked up, “I want to do something else” she said. The rain would make the roads muddy all the way to the market and the car I built won’t make it through that quicksand like muck. \n\nI looked at her wit sorry eyes, “sorry sweetheart but we can’t go anywhere in this rain” she looked said as she looked up at the sky and back to me. “But I don’t like da wain anymore” Lucy said. I chuckled slightly as I knelt down and put my hand in her head rubbing it almost making her rain hat fall off, “than you should turn the rain off Lucy.” She smoked the biggest smile. I guess she thought it was a great idea. She turned around and through her arms in the air and yelled “Dada, turn off da wain!!” \n\nWe waited a few seconds. I looked at her thinks my she was so innocent to think she could actually turn the rain off and then the rain stopped. Lucy’s arms still in the air the clouds quickly dissipated and the sun came out. I was shocked. How could she have done that. No it was just coincidence there’s no way. I looked at Lucy and told her we should change and go eat before we leave anywhere. \n\nWhen we got in the house Lucy ran upstairs to change and her mother was in the kitchen. “Hey honey, “ I said as I kissed her and smiled. “Lucy really liked the rain huh,” my wife said to me as she flipped the pancake she was cooking. \n“Yeah she did but weirdest thing she made the rain stop I mean you didn’t fuck god or anything right” I said laughing making it as a joke but a god was really the only logical thing I could think of. My wife didn’t laugh. “Wait no really?” I asked the laugh gone. My wife turned to me and sighed, “I didn’t no but you did” I knew she was serious. \n “What are you talking about no i didn’t” my wife looked me dead in the eye and stood up straight as she put a hand on my shoulder she said “yes you did. I am god” I couldn’t believe it. I looked at my wife and then to my right at my daughter and smiled. We can do so many good things I thought and then I heard the thunder and a crash outside. \n\n\n(This is my first writing prompt so sorry for any mess ups I haven’t written in months) " ]	1
	[WP] As a drunken joke, you make a little shrine to the ancient goddess Ishtar, sacrificing chicken nuggets in her honor. When you wake up, she's sitting on the end of your bed. You're her new prophet and you've got a lot of work to do.	[ "I rubbed my head with the ice pack, the pulsating thud of my migraine coming through clearer than the woman across from me.\n\n\n\"So, when you sacrificed the chicken nibblets, my source material formed in this realm.\" She smiled innocently and went off on a tangent how she looked up prices of pamphlet printing at the nearest place. She also had figured out the printer and had been calling nearby KFCs, Churches chickens and various Korean fried chicken places. \n\n\n\"I must be hungover.\" I whimpered.\n\n\n\"Without a doubt.\" She sighed. \"I've called three of these places to start spreading my existence, but there are those that call me a fraud.\"\n\n\nIt was my time to sigh. \"I'm hungover, but not crazy enough to think that the managers and people of the fried food world are awaiting a deity to suddenly appear and make off with all of their saturated fat.\"\n\n\nFrom the door, I heard whispers. Must have been a gathering as my hearing wasn't getting any less sensitive. A few knocks later and I opened to reveal what can only be described as an oil bunch of greasers that held buckets of friend foods, nuggets, home made chicken niblets and other grimey things. \n\n\n\"The prophet is upon us! Save us!\"\n\n\nTheir bodies swarmed into the room before I could do anything, filling the tight spaces with the smells and smears of their fried sacrifices. \n\n\n\"I should mention only you can see me.\" The woman disappeared as the swarm continued to yell and holler. ", "\"Good morning, Don.\"\n\nEh, what? I'm roused from sleep by a voice somewhere close by. I try to sit up a bit to look towards the voice, but that was a mistake. Tequila and McDonalds, never again... I clutch my head tenderly and and squeeze my eyes shut.\n\n\"Don, sit up and pay attention. We have a lot of work to do.\" The voice calls out again.\n\n\"Work?\" I mumble groggily, \"I have people for that. Who ar- \" I cut of suddenly as I finally manage to wedge my eyes open enough to peek down towards the foot of my bed. \"Why are you dressed up like the fucking Statue of Libery? Jesus, who hired you? Get out, I promised my wife that I wouldn-\"\n\n\"Don, do you not remember your offering? The covenant we entered into together? I must say, chicken nuggets are hardly an acceptable sacrifice, but seeing as how it's been so long since I was last called upon I decided to make an exception. You should feel honored. I, Ishtar, Goddess of...well lots of contradictory things, has decided to make you my prophet. The first in millennia.\"\n\nThe woman at the foot of my bed continues to speak excitedly about herself, and her plans, and how lonely she's been without any followers for so long but my mind is too busy trying to piece together what happened last night to pay much attention. I was at the board of directors meeting, no headway was being made on any of the agenda items so after adjourning a few of us went out for drinks. Drinks...tequila. Wait, did she say McDonald's? Peasant food? I would never- \"DON! You listen to your Goddess when spoken to!\" Ishtar shouts, the sound seemingly coming from everywhere at once.\n\n\"Oh god, please...keep it down.\" I whimper as I press my pillows over my ears. The blankets are ripped off the bed violently, my pillows explode into white feathery clouds and after a moment of strange, ear-popping vertigo I suddenly crumple to my knees after my feet hit the carpeted floor. Terrified, my eyes open large like saucers. Somehow I'm 10 feet away from my bed, I turn my head around the room until I look up into the eyes of the woman standing over me.\n\n\"Now,\" she says sternly, \"you are going to pay attention. As I said, and I am not fond of repeating myself, I am Ishtar. Goddess of war, sex, love, combat, political power and many other things. You offered me a sacrifice last night, paltry as it were, and I have decided to make you my prophet. No, you cannot back out of this. No, you no longer have a choice. Yes, you must listen to my every command and finally no. You may not serve any other Gods or Goddesses nor may you ask them to deliver you away from me. If you listen to me, obey me, love me, worship me, sacrifice greater things to me I will give you everything you've ever wanted in this moral life. Work hard for me, and I will bless you with your hearts desires.\"\n\nThe more she spoke, the larger she seemed. Like one of those internet gifs that zooms in on a loop to give the impression of getting bigger or closer without ever actually changing size. She filled my vision, this beautiful, terrifying woman. The pressure of her presence bore down on me until I was prostrate before her. Her aura of power was breathtaking in the way a volcanic eruption was both beautiful and deadly. \"Yes, Ishtar. I will obey you. I will love you, I will worship you. Everything I achieve will be because you have given it to me. Everything is yours, I am yours.\" These words fly past my lips. I have never felt more sincere or resolute than in this moment. From the very core of who I am these feelings spread. This feeling of power. Power birthed by being in service to one you hold in the highest regard. Curious, I've never felt this for anything. I've always been top dog, it is others who serve me. But...this feel right.\n\n\"Raise, my Prophet. From this day forth you shall champion my will. In this era of relative peace you shall bring war. You will create love, and hate. Happiness and despair shall roll across the lands before you. What is it you need, my Prophet. What do you desire so you may begin our work?\"\n\nI climb shakily to me feet, heart burning with passion. What I need? This question echoes through my mind. \"What we need, my Goddess. Is power. The power of influence. The power of leadership. The power to change the course history.\" Ishtar's eyes brighten as she contemplates my words, a thoughtful expression crosses her face. \n\n~Knock Knock Knock~\n\nMy head spins towards the door. From behind Ishtar leans in close and whispers, \"Follow me, listen to my words, and you shall rule this country. Become their leader, their president, and from there extend my name throughout the world.\"\n\n~Knock Knock Knock Knock~\n\nIshtar's presence disappears as the knocks come again upon the door. \"What is it!\" I call out across the bedroom. A muffled voice replies \"You told me last night to wake you up before 7am so that you could get a round of golf in before your lunch meeting this afternoon.\" Ah, yes. Lunch with Rudy. Well, change of plans.\n\n\"No, cancel the course reservation. Call Rudy, call my lawyers, call everyone. This is an emergency. I have something I need to do that is more important than anything else they could be doing today. Tell them that. They can't refuse.\" I shout excitedly through the door. \"And get me some damn breakfast!\"\n\n\"Yes, of course Mr. Trump. Right away sir. What would you like for breakfast?\" questions one of my assistants.\n\nMy eyes agleam with fervor I whisper... \"America.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Everyone in heaven wears a tag that tells the way that they died. After being in heaven for 20 years, one day you run into a guy with a tag that says spontaneous combustion	[ "I narrowed my eyes as I sat across the room. Curly blonde hair with black frizzy tips, reddish brown eyes, light lips and tanned skin; nothing out of the ordinary. Well, more than ordinary if I am being honest. So I did what quite a few girls wanting to have fun at the bar would do.\n\n\"Hey stranger, what is up with you?\" I smiled, placing the Bloody Mary in front of him as I sat across him.\n\n\"How did you know that this is my favourite?\" he gave me a charming, perfect smile as he took a little sip of the sinful drink. I shrugged, giving my best flirtatious grin.\n\n\"So, how come a beautiful girl wants to have a conversation with an ordinary guy?\" he frowned thoughtfully.\n\n\"You are being too humble,\" I giggled, \"you are quite a looker yourself!\"\n\nHe finished his drink quickly, which amused me. Well, he is not the first person who I had seen taking this course of direction. He coughed and shook his head.\n\n\"This place makes me uncomfortable,\" he frowned, \"Can we take a walk outside?\"\n\n\"Sure!\" I frowned in amusement.\n\nWe took a serene walk outside. This was Heaven and everything was beautiful as it should be. The lush green trees burdened with fruit lining the even brick pavements, with bright birds chirping, the clouds lining the barks of the trees with bridges. Rainbows emerged from the clouds, only to meet in the middle and form a beautiful tunnel. This was perfect.\n\n\"So,\" I looked at his death tag, \"Your tag says that you died of spontaneous combustion. Never heard of a human die like that!\"\n\n\"Uh huh...\" he commented nonchalantly.\n\n\"How did it happen?\"\n\n\"It is a punishment that I had to endure!\" he said, his face contorted in pain.\n\n\"But you escaped it,\" I frowned, \"You are in Heaven!\"\n\n\"Yes, I am\" he said, giving me a deep gaze and holding my hand, \"Yes, I am!\"\n\nWe walked farther along the path, his hold getting tighter with each step we took. I smiled a little at that.\n\nI had walked along this road many times before, but never out of the places that we were confined to. It was by rule to stay within, unless asked otherwise for mysterious reasons. Nonetheless, there were a few who did not hesitate to break them.\n\nJust like the mysterious man with me.\n\nHe held my hand tight as we made our way deeper into the colourful tunnel. I knew we were leaving the reservation because the colours began to fade into darker, gloomier shades. I began to frown.\n\n\"Um, I think we should better go back to the bar!\" I said, eyeing him.\n\n\"Why?\" he looked at me.\n\n\"We are not supposed to come this far,\" I commented as I began to sweat because of the rising heat.\n\n\"Do you know where we are?\" he began to increase his pace. I had an idea, but I did not want to say it. Ahead of us in the distance, where the rainbow had faded to black and the sky and trees were dark and bare, a bright light with orange\\-and\\-yellow hues glowed from somewhere below the ground. My suspicions of his intentions were confirmed.\n\n\"This is the story of my tag,\" he said, \"I died in prison and was sent to hell for my sins as a serial arsonist. I was enclosed in a tiny cell and a Demon was assigned to me. Every day, she sprayed thick liquid on me and set me on fire. She laughed at the sight of my skin peeling of, tissue by tissue. And the moment the last tissue fell and burned to ashes, she would whisper that I would never find anyone to replace me and she would find me if i did, before making me whole again so that she could start it... all... over... again...\"\n\nWe were nearing the glow. I could see a crack in the Earth, where tongues of fire began to lash out.\n\nHe broke down, \"I found out... the hard way... that the only way I could escape Hell was if I gave something in return... something pure... something from Heaven to balance the numbers... I searched for twenty years... and now...\"\n\nWe arrived at the place where all humans feared, where both the dimensions met. The reason why nobody would get off their reservation, to not doom their pristine fate.\n\nIt was the Gateway to Hell.\n\n\"I am so sorry,\" he said sadly as my eyes widened, \"Goodbye!\"\n\nI gripped his hand and pulled him as we both fell into the pit. He saw me as my skin burned. He saw me as my skin turned to ashes. He saw me as he let out a bloodcurdling scream.\n\nBecause, he was right...\n\n...if he escaped, I would find him!" ]	1
	[WP] Area 51 has just stared offering guided tours...	[ "\"Folks, I hope you all are as excited as we are,\" the tour guide in a bright yellow Polo shirt said. He greeted the gathered crowd in an open hangar bay. He smiled. \"We've spent a lot of time and resources to put his tour together, but we think it'll benefit everyone. My name is Tad, and if you've got any questions all you have to do is say, 'Hey Tad, I've got a question.' alright?\" he gave a practiced laugh, though not a single one of the guests cracked a smile.\n\n\"I promise you folks are going to see some wild things, but safety first. This is still technically a 'SECRET' base,\" Tad used air quotes. This time he heard a couple of chuckles in the crowd, and smiled to himself. \"So on your way in we equipped each of you some safety equipment. Does anyone have any questions about how it works?\" A dark skinned woman with golden eyes raised her hand. \n\n\"I don't think mine's working right,\" she said. She lifted her other wrist to show the small silver manacle\\-like bracelet they supplied to her. \"Everyone else's is invisible.\" Tad nodded.\n\n\"Yeah, yeah. It should definitely be invisible, but it looks like it's still working,\" Tad said. \"You can of course swap it out if you feel the need; but, because of the technology involved and how long it takes you'll end up missing this tour. Unfortunately the next one is in three months.\" Her golden eyes went wide, then she shook her head. \n\n\"Hell no, I've waited eons to be here,\" she said. \"Not another minute. If you guys are fine with it, I'm fine with it. Let's go,\" she said. Her sentiments were echoed by the crowd.\n\n\"Yeah, let's go already! We wanna see alien stuff!\" a young pale kid with blond hair said. \n\n\"Sorry buddy, still gotta go down the checklist. Next is food. As a reminder let me say, I hope you all packed meals. Remember we are not providing you with any food during the tour, we're not going to even try and keep up with everyone's possible allergies. And speaking of allergies, please don't share food guys. The last thing anyone wants is to end the tour early, you dig?\" Tad asked the crowd and they all mumbled a general agreement.\n\n\"Finally, souvenirs. I promise there will be gift opportunities along the way, but I have to remind you to keep your local ordinances in mind. Just because you can buy something here doesn't mean you're allowed to have it in your area. There will also be a security check at the end, and if we find anything known to be illegal in your area we reserve the right to confiscate it. You'll have spent your money for nothing.\" \n\n\"Hey, Tad. I've got a question,\" a tall, lean man asked. \"I didn't get any money,\" he said.\n\n\"That's not a question, man,\" Tad laughed alone. \"But no one has yet. We've got stipends to hand out once things start moving.\" Tad checked his watch. \"Which should be any minute now.\" A high pitched hum began to fill the air after his words. \"Ah, right on time. Folks if you'll follow me, let's line up over here away from the hangar door.\" Tad led the group to one side of the hangar while uniformed crew members opened the doors wide. The hum grew into a loud roar as gusts of winds kicked up dust off the hangar floor. \n\n\"Whoooooaa!\" the young blonde boy said as he saw the tall fin\\-like tail sliding backwards into the hangar. \"Alien stuff....\" he whispered. Tad walked behind him and ruffled the boy's shaggy hair. \n\n\"You ain't seen nothing yet. That's just the plane that's gonna carry us around the world in 80 days. Welcome to Earth, kid. You're gonna love it.\" \n\n\\\\\\*\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day in 2018, this is #148. You can find them collected on my [blog](http://hserratafun.blogspot.com/2017/10/front-page.html)." ]	1
	[WP] Fountains of youth have become common around the world, granting those who drink it permanent youth, with a price. You refuse to drink from one, and have become the last man on earth who can reproduce.	[ "They consider me a conservative. But I just think that mentality is all wrong. When I was a younger boy, I watched as they replaced the flow of water into the Buckingham fountain with eternal liquid. My pops was disappointed at the site, as he was disappointed that such a timeless piece of architecture has been transfigured into a water fountain for the public. We spent our summers sitting around the fountain and watched as the water would change colors, but now there was no room to look at the fountain because of the influx of people that surrounded the viscous fluid flowing out of the pipes.\n\n“If it ain’t broke, then why fix it?” he asked himself as he watched teenagers and young mothers and fathers lining up for the taste of the eternal fluid. No longer was society obsessed with plastic surgery. Now, everyone was refreshing their looks with a drink. \n\nGrowing up on this ideology, I felt a disconnect between myself and the rest of the kids in my class.\n\n“I swear I better never see your face near these waters baby. The black don’t crack. You beautiful as can be,” my grandma would threaten me. \n\nAnd so I didn’t. \n\nAnd everyone else did.\n\nMy life would have been a bit easier had I just took a sip of this drink. I would have had more job opportunities growing up. Every employer would turn me down at the sight of bags beneath my eyes, or any trace of wrinkles. I would probably have a wife had it not been for the shocks that these “progressive” women gave me upon hearing about my personal choice in the world. However, I persisted. Because in a world where everyone seemed the same age, and everyone had their mind wrapped around one obsession, it felt good to be different. \n\nI, like everyone else, was shocked to hear the high infertility rates due to this eternal fluid. News broadcasters recorded young, perfect looking couples crying frantically on camera at the thought that they would have no child. \n\nA shame. \n\nI found it no surprise that the government was able to trace me, the only human that has not drunken from this toxic fluid that inhibits future generations from even being created.\n\nAnd I rehearsed my guidelines over and over in my head. I wrote and re-wrote a contract that I would hand to them. I would be their supplier under one, very important condition: the eternal fluid is banned forever. \n\nAt first, the government officials eagerly accepted my request and guided me to their sleek black limo. However, I stood my ground at the doorstep of my home. At their confusion, I clarified:\n\n“I will be your source for the future after the ban has been finalized. After I see for myself that it is all gone.”\n\nThe young men in black suits looked at each other in astonishment.\n\n“Sir. That can take nearly years.”\n\nTheir use of the term “sir” indicated to me that they were far older than what they seemed to look. \n\n“Well, you better hurry then. I’m getting old.”\n\nFor nearly 5 years, I watched as the ban was instituted. Medical facilities opened all over the globe to help addicts cope. However, the rigor that started this movement slowly died.\n\nPeople were committing suicide at the thought of a wrinkle inching their way on their face.\n\nAnd so the experiments continued. And it was concluded.\n\nA fraction of the world will drink a special form of the eternal fluid that will transfigure them back to the times when they were babies. And life will continue to repeat itself eternally.\n\nI for one am glad I won’t see a world with that craze. \n" ]	1
	[WP] Your best friend is convinced that everything is created by their imagination, and that nothing is truly real. In your search to find proof of reality, you only find more and more reasons that they’re not wrong.	[ "Sophia calls me at 7:45 on a Saturday, and five minutes later I am sitting on the couch in her tiny studio rubbing the sleep from my eyes, watching her pace to and fro. Normally anyone daring to disturb my sacred weekend mornings can expect an offering of my most inventive curses, but Sophia isn't anyone and this is not like her. In the ten years we've been friends, I've never seen her so much as tear up. Yet hear she is, pale and shaking, tears running down her cheeks seemingly without her notice.\n\n\"Look!\" she keeps insisting in a choked voice, pointing to her cat Sam. As usual, the tortoiseshell studiously ignores both humans in the room, choosing instead to gracefully lick at his extended hind leg. Sophia has owned him for four years, and this certainly isn't unusual behavior.\n\n\"Is something wrong with Sam?\" I ask. \"He looks all right to me.\"\n\nSophia gazes at me as though I'd grown a second head. \"Eva...\"\n\n\"Look,\" I say with some annoyance now. \"You're going to have to explain to me what's going on. All you said was for me to get here ASAP. I'm here for you, but you need to...\"\n\n\"I've never had a cat in my life,\" interrupts Sophia flatly. \"Sam is...was a dog. How can you possibly not know that?\"\n\nI am silent for a moment, trying to carefully choose my words. It's getting clearer by the second that my best friend is have some sort of breakdown, and I decide that my best course of action for the time being is to play along, keep her as calm as possible. \n\n\"Um, okay. So you're saying that you have a dog named Sam. Do you...did he run away or something?\"\n\nSophia is staring at me with saucer-like eyes, slowly shaking her head. Her chin trembles. When she speaks, her voice is so broken and lost that it scares me.\n\n\"No, you don't understand. I do have a dog, he was here less than 30 minutes ago. He...he was barking at something in the yard and I was half asleep and I just had this stupid thought...I thought to myself, If only Sam were a cat, I wouldn't be awake right now, and suddenly the barking stopped and...and...\" She can go no further.\n\nNone of this makes sense. \"Sophia,\" I tell her as gently as possible. \"You've always had a cat. I've known Sam for four years, I was there when you picked him out of the shelter, remember?\"\n\n\"No!\" Sophia cries out. \"How are you not freaked out right now...wait.\" A look comes into her eyes, something of the Sophia I know, logical and curious and determined. She closes her eyes briefly, then opens them again. Her face drains of the little color it possessed and she falls to the floor.\n\n\"Sophia!\" My shout of alarm echoes through the mansion as I leap towards her, trying to stop her head from crashing against the marble floor.\n\nShe's gazing off into the distance with glazed eyes, murmuring something. I bend closer to hear.\n\n\"It's too big, it's too big...\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" I cry, really frightened now. I fumble in my pocket for my phone but a cold hand on my wrist stops me. Sophia is shaking her head, very pale but now composed. \n\n\"I changed it back, it's okay,\" she says in a monotone, gesturing at the dingy walls and the ancient couch. \"I was hoping it was just a fluke, just a one time thing, but I guess it's not.\"\n\n\"What the hell is this? What do you mean? Sophia, please let me call someone. You're obviously experiencing something weird but I can't help you if I don't know what it is.\"\n\n\"I don't think anybody can help me, it's just me now,\" she says with an odd sort of laugh, somewhere between a chuckle and a sob. Then she looks directly at me. \"You want to know what this is?\"\n\nSophia is obviously believing in or seeing things that are not real. Well, they're real to her I suppose. If I can somehow reach wherever her mind is roaming, bring her back to reality... \"If that will help you, then yes. Tell me what to do.\" \n\n\"Take a video of yourself on your phone,\" she responds, gazing at me intently.\n\n\"Woah, uh...you know I love you like a sister, but not in that way...\" Sophia doesn't roll her eyes or laugh.\n\n\"No, I mean it,\" she insists. \"Just of your face. That's all you need to do.\"\n\n\"Okay.\" Now I'm oddly nervous, my pulse thrumming and sweat springing up on my palms. I make sure the camera is facing me and then I press record. I give it a good ten seconds, then glance questioningly at Sophia.\n\nShe is convulsed in silent, hysterical laughter, rocking back and forth and grasping her knees with a white knuckled grip. As I watch appalled, the laughter becomes louder and wilder, until she is screaming and gasping for breath.\n\nI drop the phone and grip her by the shoulders. She looks up at me and I see my face reflected in her streaming eyes.\n\n\"So, how does it feel?\" she chokes out.\n\nI have no idea what she wants me to say.\n\n\"I gotta say, you looked better as a chick,\" she says, calmer now.\n\n\"What are you...\"\n\n\"Watch the video.\"\n\nI pick up my phone, stop the recording and then start it from the beginning.\n\nAn unfamiliar young woman looks steadily out at me. It's almost like I know her...or no, it's just that she could be my long-lost twin sister. Same eyes, same mouth, same skin color. She's even wearing a similar blue flannel shirt. \n\nAnd then before my eyes, she...changes. Faster than the blink of an eye. Into me.\n\nNo, can't be. I watch the video again, and again. I hear Sophia cackling wildly somewhere behind me. There's a cold feeling in my stomach, like my body knows something my brain can't process.\n\n\"Dude, is this some kind of a weird app?\"\n\nSophia's sitting on the floor with her arms around Sam, looking younger than I've ever seen her. \n\n\"I like you better as Eva anyway,\" she murmurs, stroking Sam who nuzzles at her cheek. I watch the video again, at how I suddenly transform into my male doppelganger. The coldness intensifies. \n\n\"How did you...\"\n\n\"I think you should go now,\" says Sophia abruptly, standing up and heading for the door. \"I need to figure some things out, and...I think it would be better if I were alone for this.\"\n\n\"Wait,\" I protest, grabbing her by the shoulder. \"I don't know what's going on but we'll figure it out together! We'll do more experiments or I don't know, I could look something up online...\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\" asks Mark, staring up at me blearily from his side of the bed. \"Look what up online? And why are you wearing your sneakers?\"\n\nWhy am I wearing my sneakers? I must have gotten up early to get the paper and somehow forgotten all about it, here in the warm darkness of our bedroom. Unusual for me.\n\n\"Went to get the paper and then zoned out, I guess,\" I tell him, kicking off my sneakers and dropping a light kiss on his cheek. He's already back to snoring and I feel sleep tugging me under as well. A fleeting word skirts the edge of my consciousness as I curl up and close my eyes. Sophia.\n\nIt's weird. I've never met anyone by that name.\n", "\"What else is there?\"\n\n\"Well, we've got this.\"\n\nCharles reached for the pile of Old Milwaukee cans scattered haphazardly on and around his workspace. He had to jiggle a few cans out of the arrangement of a dozen or so before he found a half full one.\n\n\"Hear me out, man. What I'm trying to say is that this is all we are. These words I'm passing to you. What else could there be? I mean, everything else--your beer--your family--everything in your life amounts to producing a garment you're supposed to wear, if wear is the right word, if you're lucky, maybe on one special day. Most people don't even get to wear it. Why are they even buying the dress then?\"\n\n\"You're thinking about this too much.\" Charles said.\n\n\"No, you brought it up. She's buying the dress and nobody can change her mind. She'll want the unique one, obviously, designed and sewn by your grandmother's own hand.\"\n\n\"It's a beautiful dress.\"\n\n\"No it's not. Look at it, it's just a bunch of white with the edges scratched off.\"\n\n\"I don't quite get where you're coming from.\"\n\n\"Look, Charles, we've known each other too long. You know what the dress means, you're the one getting married. We have the dress and nothing else, well some of us do, the nymphs they are departed. The dress is final and its significance is singular and final and it only gets used once. It only needs to get used once, the rest is silence. Or maybe repeated endlessly like a broken record. The opposite of silence might as well be silence.\"\n\nCharles reached for his rig and took a hit.\n\n\"So you're saying there's nothing else? Nothing at all? Is this silence?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"No there's nothing else or...\"\n\n\"It's like a game of Pong with words. It gets faster and faster and you get closer and closer but there's still just two paddles and the ball can only go one way. There's no such thing as a tie in the game of Pong.\"\n\n\"You're wrong, we tied last night.\"\n\n\"That was a fluke.\"\n\n\"But it happened.\"\n\n\"Refer to the rules of Pong, a tie cannot happen. The game gets quicker and quicker until one side eventually wins. Do you know that Pong was one of the earliest games to incorporate artificial intelligence?\"\n\n\"That wasn't AI.\"\n\n\"Well they sure marketed it as that. 'Computer-controlled'\"\n\n\"Charles, is this conversation going anywhere?\"\n\n\"The other reason you can't tie in pong is that the paddle can't go all the way up and down on the side of the screen. This adds a certain element of conceived uncertainty to the game. Although, really, the computer isn't really there any more than the photons of the Pong paddle filtered through the projector lens are there.\"\n\n\"What is there?\" I asked.\n\nCharles reached for a beer.", "\"Rob... dude, pick up your phone! I\\-I'm seriously freaking out right now...\" are the first words I hear as I playback the voicemail waiting for me on my phone. It's my friend, Caleb. A few days ago, something strange started happening with him. We were sitting around one day watching \"Hook\" on Netflix when he turns to me and says: \"Hey man, what should I get Mel for Valentine's? It's like kinda awkward timing, you know? We just started dating a few weeks ago.\" I had responded with: \"Dude, shut up. Stop...\" and I threw a pillow at his face. Caleb was always spinning tales and role\\-playing in weird ways. It was his humor. We had laughed for a little bit as we fired pillows back and forth.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"But seriously, man. Are chocolate and flowers too cliché? I mean, I know it is. But like, I can't go all out yet on presents. It's too soon.\" Caleb continued. \"OK, what? You're kidding, right? Did you forget to tell me you're dating?\" I remember asking, feeling confused and a bit slighted that he hadn't told me. Rob looked as confused as I was as we both stared at each other half\\-waiting for the other person to start laughing. \"Melanie... man. You know, coffee girl? The one we were at the arcade with yesterday.\" My stomach began to churn at this point and I was still giving Caleb that I\\-seriously\\-have\\-no\\-clue face. We had gone to the arcade but it was just a boys night out. \"Dude, I don't know a Melanie... are you gonna stop now?\" I remember still believing or hoping Rob would start laughing, but he didn't. I knew he was serious. What ensued next was the strangest and most heated argument of our friendship. He swore up and down that there was a Melanie that he had been dating. I tried to convince him of the contrary.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nCaleb's message continued: \"... I know that fight the other day was weird. But I really need to see you. Right now, man. I know I imagined the whole thing with Melanie... She's some girl I was following on Instagram. I know that now. But I'm freaking looking at the photo booth picture the three of us took together at the arcade. All three of us are in it, Rob. She's in it! Just come over as soon as you get this... and bring your picture.\"\n\n\$Part 2 of 2 to come!\$" ]	3
	[WP] You are able to see everyone's remaining lifespan in hours. After getting out of the lavatory on an airplane, you see that everyone has 1 hour left to live.	[ "It had to be the excitement that did him in. He struggled and pushed against the weight, but nothing would come out. His stomach hurt. He looked at the door and how curved it was. Outside was light with sun through the windows and blue sky everywhere and the slanted shadows of agitated passengers. \n\n\nThat smell of the airplane pillows. The plastic cups that would fold against a brush. \n\n\nFlying, he thought.\n\n\nHe tried his best but he was constipated. He had flown many times before.\n\n\nNot like this. Not after what Pablo said.\n\n\nAnd he thought it funny how he would think of the man as some close friend. He had only met him in the airport. He was one of those people who liked to talk and make friends. Pablo had seemed eager for his company.\n\n\nHe pushed again and the back of his thighs were wet. Relief burned over leaving him flushed in sweat and a dozing sort of weakness. He did not even mind the smell. \n\n\nHe flushed the toilet and made for the door. That excitement bubbled again and made his stomach fold within its emptiness. Among the passengers was someone special. \n\n\n\"A real cartel hitman, I'm telling you. He's in how do they say it... He's in incognito. There's a big man with him, the American guardsman who's to take him back to the States.\"\n\n\n\"You've gotta be fooling me! They wouldn't do that. Why would they bring a criminal on a passenger flight?\"\n\n\n\"Friend, I'm telling you they would. Have you ever heard about the other Pablo? The drug king, Pablo Escobar?\"\n\n\n\"Of course I have! Is this guy one of his men?\"\n\n\n\"No, no, no.... But word around me is... Come closer, friend. You may want to take a drink of your drink there too... Yes, that's it... Word around me is he's Pablo Escobar's cousin!\"\n\n\n\"His cousin!?\"\n\n\nYes, friend, his cousin. And not only that, but his cousin on his mother's side!\"\n\n\n\"Oh my word... What does that mean?\"\n\n\n\"Pablo was always closer to his mother's side of the family.\"\n\n\n\"So this is like...\"\n\n\n\"This is like Narcos without a Netflix, friend!\"\n\n\nHe walked out of the toilet. He looked around but something was wrong. He had the unexplained and narratively unexplained ability to see how many hours remained in a person's life. All of a sudden, everyone had less than an hour remaining.\n\n\nHis bowels trembled. He looked around at men and women staring at him in disgust. In the morning light they all looked unpleasant.\n\n\nFlying could do that to you, he thought but even his mind seemed to stutter.\n\n\nWhich one could it be? There were so many people on the flight. Which one was the cartel member? He could be the only one who could sabotage this flight. \n\n\nThey're all staring at me.\n\n\nAn older man lifted himself as much as the seatbelt would allow him to.\n\n\n\"Is this the new terrorism?\" he said. \"Shitting so stink to send us all to high heaven?\"\n\n\nHe flushed. Then he smelled it. It had followed like a sneaky child, a cloud of noxious stench. \n\n\nMummurs from the plane. \n\n\nAnother man was making eye contact. He had a glass eye and a bandage on his face. He pulled off the bandage to reveal a tattoo of a kitten sleeping. His eyes bulged as he remembered what Pablo had said.\n\n\n\"Drink more of your drink, friend. It will be a long flight...\"\n\n\n\"Tell me of this cartel man. Will I know what he looks like when I see him?\"\n\n\n\"Hard to say. The American government will take the utmost care to make sure he blends in. You wouldn't want to scare the rest of people. But this particular gangster is from a cartel called the Gatos... The Cats. They say they all have a tattoo of a cat somewhere. If you see someone with a cat, then that's probably him...\"\n\n\nNow the man with the kitten tattoo unbuckled his seatbelt. A bald headed man next to him tried to restrain him. The man with the kitten tattoo pointed and screamed in Spanish. \n\n\n\"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't think the smell would follow.\"\n\n\nHe felt his life in danger. Time was ticking above everyone's heads. He knew if he looked in a mirror he would see his own life ebbing away.\n\n\nI should have washed my hands, he thought. Then I would have catched it.\n\n\nAnd somewhere in his mind his dead mother corrected him.\n\n\nCaught. The word is caught, Johnny.\n\n\nHe wanted to cry. He missed her and the life she represented: a simple time of safety and joy.\n\n\nNow the man with the kitten tattoo was trying to get away from the bald man.\n\n\n\"He have bomb!\" the man said. \"Bomb was in ass. Bomb already exploding!\"\n\n\nAnd the older man who had called him out agreed. \n\n\n\"Oh yeah, he had a bomb in his alright. By God, I should have paid the extra for first class!\"\n\n\n\"No! Not that... Real bomb! Real bomb!\"\n\n\nThe plane rippled in panic. Discomfort swarmed as the people all turned and darted, looking around at the hopeless air, thinking of explosions and death.\n\n\n\"What... No!\" he said. \"My name is Johnny. It's just the beer and vodka I had. No bomb! No bomb!\"\n\n\nThe man with the kitten tattoo squinted at him.\n\n\n\"What type of vodka?\" he asked. \"What type?!\"\n\n\n\"The green apple one,\" he blurted.\n\n\nThe man wrested free of the bald headed man.\n\n\n\"Pablo!\" he screamed. \"Pablo drink apple. Poison Pablo!\"\n\n\nJohn reeled as the man tackled him. The passengers were all screaming. The stewardesses hid behind the curtain.\n\n\n\"Pablo don't want me talk! Pablo poison you!\"\n\n\nHe was beating him. He felt his bowels let go and more of the poison ran down his pants. People started to gag and vomit. A baby was crying and he remembered all the times he had flown before.\n\n\nUsually a baby crying is the worst part of it all.\n\n\nHe could taste the stale crap in the air. There was something else too. \n\n\n\"Drink up, friend. It is not poison. You have a long flight ahead. Drink, drink up.\"\n\n\nHe thought how stupid he was then. His face was numb and had gone cold. The bald headed man was trying to rip the kitten tattoo man off of him but he knew the damage had been done. Everyone's number was in the minutes now. They would all die. He would die first.\n\n\n\"Poison Pablo run free to drink apple vodka while I die in jail!\" screamed the man.\n\n\nThen he was ranting in Spanish.\n\n\nNone of this is asking where the library is. That's why I can't understand him.\n\n\nAnd he realized he was delirious. Some people had already fainted. The smell would not leave. People were dying with that being their last scent.\n\n\nI might go to hell for this.\n\n\nThe kitten tattoo man was pulled away but he was already slipping. The ceiling of the plain wavered and was smoky. It looked like a big cloud almost, and he felt like he was in the park as a child, just staring at the sky.\n\n\nIt looks like a baggage compartment, he thought.\n\n\nHe was crying. The clouds in his youth were more interesting.\n\n\nYou lose your imagination as you get older. You become an adult and life just shatters you.\n\n\nHis stomach grumbled. Everything seeped out. He was going then. His eyes were closing. He could not remember his last thoughts, but he remembered thinking:\n\n\nYou got me good, Pablo. You got me good.\n\n\nThen it was all over.\n\n\n-\n\n\nHi there! If you liked this story, then you might want to check out my subreddit, r/PanMan. It has all my WP stories, including some un-prompted ones. Check it out if you can and thanks for the support!\n" ]	1
	[WP] A unknown creature living by a isolated stretch of highway, uses a "lure" to tempt drivers to stop in order to devour them. You are driving down this highway.	[ "YOU'VE REACHED JOHNNY ON 96.8 \\- CLASSIC ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK ALL DAY EVERY \\-\n\nBzzt.\n\nMorticia Mallows here with another freaky fable for you all. Scary stories to keep you company on the lonesome drive \\-\n\nBzzt.\n\n\"Whats that coming over the hill, is it a monster? Is it a monsterrrrr?!\"\n\n...\n\nThat'll do I suppose. I guess I can always flick back to moody Morticia if the songs get boring. I always hate long drives. Well no, I hate driving entirely. Every kid in my class longed for the day they could drive and own a car. I never saw it that way. To me it was always just a useful skill, no more, no less. Besides, I hate people enough as it is. On the road they're a whole different kettle of fish.\n\nThe car's making those sounds again. Like an old man coughing up flem. I hope to god this hill evens out eventually, I don't think it'll make it much further. Come on you piece of shit, just a little bit more... there we go.\n\nHmm, I'm not sure what I was expecting. The hill seemed so high and long I thought I'd surely see the pearly gates at the summit. Nope. Just more of the Iceland flatlands. What an odd country. The road seems pretty tame for a while now, if not a little bendy. I'll take that all day compared to that mammoth of a hill.\n\nThe road is lonesome, like most of the country outside Reykjavik. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't see another car for a good while. On either side of the road is land that stretches out for miles, with ice tipped mountains on the periphery. The flat land is covered in a splendid green as grass sprouts out for miles. Meanwhile, Greenland is eternally cloaked in snow and ice. How did these names come to be? I guess I'm not the first to make this observation. What an odd country.\n\nUp ahead I notice something odd. Hmm fitting. The flat, grass filled land either side of the road is no more, replaced by dense shrubbery on both sides of the tarmac. I'm passing it now, the heavy foliage climbs higher than the top of my car. I feel like I am driving down a very long, very narrow, corridor. It seems to stretch for miles. Strange, none of the locals mentioned this to me. Odd people in an odd country, I suppose.\n\nI slam my foot on the break as I notice it in the road. My seat\\-belt does its job, keeping me firmly planted in my seat, if not a little painfully. Alas, they do not make seat\\-belts for large cups of coca cola sourced from McDonald's, I lament, as I watch it drip down my windshield. Then I notice the thing again. The thing that made me stop. It jerks erratically in the centre of road, a little hop towards the dense foliage. I peer closer at the minuscule object.\n\nA fish?\n\nNot a real one of course, but a small, plastic fish, bobbing along rhythmically towards the shrubbery, as if it were real and flopping about for air. I step out of my car, careful to limit the noise I make to a minimum. The fish continues to bob along, and I notice it is being pulled by a small string. I follow the string with my eyes as it crosses the road and disappears behind the wall of green. I make for it, but then stop. Something holds me back. Perhaps I should not approach whatever is behind there directly.\n\nI notice a small opening in the shrubbery next to me, and clamber through to the other side. I stand and dust myself down, wiping away leaves and soil. Then I turn to where the string would come out.\n\n...\n\n...\n\nA...\n\nA fish.\n\nNot the same fish. Not the same at all. It's huge, almost the size of a fully grown man. It's sitting on a box as it concentrates on the string and shrubbery in front of it. A small mallet lies close to its side, the kind a fisherman would use to smack a caught fish. It's completely clad in fisherman gear. A beige outfit covering its salmon coloured scales, with a little bucket hat planted atop its head. It somehow holds a fishing rod in its terrifyingly sized fins, and I notice the string attached to the end of the rod. I stand dumbfounded at the sight before me, and quite luckily, it seems to have failed to notice me, entirely engrossed in the string it is slowly reeling through the the shrubbery.\n\nI hear a rustle in the greenery, and it seems it does too. With one fin still on the rod it lowers the other to the mallet, seizing it firmly. It lifts it above its head as the final part of the string starts to creep through the overgrowth. I see its eyes narrow. Its fin trebles. With anger, fear or excitement I do not know. But it does tremble, greatly.\n\n\"Come on you bastard,\" it whispers as the small plastic fish appears on the end of the string. \"Let's see how you like it.\"\n\nWhat an odd country.\n\n\\-\n\nr/ShittyStoryCreator :\\)", "MY eyelids are heavy. The sun went down hours ago. Road stretches before me. Finally, a sign of life. A man in a hoodie. I pull over my Honda Civic and suddenly I'm thinking about the last time I changed my tires.\n\n\"Hey man,\" I say to him. \"have you seen my dog?\"\n\nThe man with the hoodie doesn't say a word but points down the road, his eyes are tired. \"You've seen him? He's that way?!\" The man nods the nod of someone who just wants to be left alone. I thank the man and am on my way.\n\nPiles and piles of leaves line the embankments parallel to the road. I roll the windows down and shout. My words turn to frost on the freezing fall air. \"Hammer! Come here boy!\"\n\nDarkness. Silence. What was that? Did I hear something? There it is again. It has to be Hammer. I'm sure of it. I pull the car over. The ambient light makes the forest next to the road seem darker. My hands on my keys as I peer out into the darkest of nights. A gust of chill wind blows through my open window. Fear suddenly grips me tightly. Hammer, my baby boy, he would come for me without any hesitation. I turn the key and my car shuts off. \n\nThe silence is deafening. I hear nothing but my heart beating through my chest. \"Leave the headlights on,\" I try to keep myself thinking. I get out. My footsteps echo in the darkness. A sinking feeling that If there's anything looking for me in the woods, it can see me and hear me clear as day. I head towards my trunk. \"Get your flashlight.\" My heavy duty maglite. Just in-case. The weight of it comforts me. Woof. In the trees, he's not far! \"Hammer! Hammer come!\"\n\nA ditch in the road, then a steep embankment. I look down into the ditch. Things seem further in the dark. Woof. \"Hammer! Come!\" I look around. It's impossibly quiet. I make a step into the ditch, then gather speed and before I know it I'm on the other side. I can see movement within the treeline. \"Hammer! What's wrong boy?!\" Hammer doesn't hear me, he's barking now his voice ringing clear and crisp on the cold August air. I pick up speed and make my way toward him my maglite pointed in front of me. Hammer is there for me when I wake up, we eat every meal together. Hammer would follow me into the pits of hell. Why isn't he listening? \"Hammer!\"\n\nHammer is in a clearing, surrounded by trees. Barking. \"Hammer what are you-\" A man wearing my clothes. With my hoodie. Long dead. Hammer is barking at him. I approach slowly. \"What? Who?\" I pull the hoodie back. It's me.\n\nI feel a sting as my teeth cut my lip as my body is shoved from behind into a tree before me. \"AHH!\" I cry out into the darkness. I drop my flashlight and it bounces. A heavy scent of alcohol and garbage. A glint in the dark as the hooded man pins me against the tree from behind and stabs into my lower back and stabs and stabs and stabs. Hammer jumps on him. Tears at his hands and arms, cuts him up real bad. The man tries to run, but hammer wont let go. \"Hammer,\" I hear myself say. Hammer turns around and runs back to me. The man gets up and in the dark I see how badly his arm is mangled. Good boy. The man gets up and disappears into the black his breath on the air is the last I see of him.\n\nI slump down against a nearby tree. Hammer by my side. \"We will get out of here boy. I just need to rest a minute the car is just over there. Don't let me fall asleep... I just need to close my eyes a bit. \n\nIt's so cold. \n\nIs that hammer barking?\n\nI jerk awake and I'm on a road in the middle of nowhere. A man in a hoodie with tired eyes. I pull over, \"Hey man, have you seen my dog?\"", "The car is an old, beat up looking thing, red in colour. I don't think much of my truck but this thing probably hasn't been called new for thirty years, no wonder its haphazardly pulled up at the side of the road, hood up and gently smoking.\n\nThe woman beside it is waving at me, a pleading look on her face. I glance at my watch, its only six o'clock or a little after \$I've sworn for years the watch is about five minutes fast however I set it\$. I've got time to stop, I'm not expected till seven and I cant be more than half an hour away now.\n\nI slow, signal and pull over. Compared to the warmth of my cab its quite chilly out here so I grab my jacket as I open the door and jump down. I walk towards the women and trying my best not to look like a serial killer, its isolated out here and a little eerie, last thing I want is to try and do a good deed only for her to think I'm a rapist or murderer or something. I sigh with relief when she smiles back.\n\n'Howdy' I say, still grinning, 'looks you folks' are in a spot of trouble?'\n\n'You could certainly say that' she laughs\n\n'Thanks for stopping, you're the third guy who's gone past and we were starting to lose hope'\n\nPulling my jacket over shoulders I'm about to ask who's we when a man climbs out of the car and stands up, obviously having been out of sight in the front seat. He's tall and broad and probably a few years younger than me and is looking mightily pissed off at the phone in my hand.\n\n'Useless piece of shit' he mutters and then, apparently seeing me for the first time, spins the phone in his hand so the screen is facing me in way of explanation. NO SIGNAL is clearly visible in the top corner.\n\n'Sorry about that, I've been trying the stupid thing for nearly an hour and nothing's working'\n\n'Its not a problem' I laugh, 'trust me I drive this way every now and then and you're further from civilization up here than you think. Its the hills, they block the signals, some times my GPS goes crazy.\n\nThe woman shoots me a urgh you know it look, rolling her eyes in mock frustration.\n\n'I'm Rachel' she grins, 'and this is my husband Rick'\n\nMatt I say returning the introduction, 'so you folks hit something?'\n\nRick answers this time, 'If we did I didn't see it, we're meant to be visiting my mother back in Fort Lewis but we thought we'd drive a different way this time and this is what we get. The engine's fucked, started sounding kinda' weird and the next thing we know we're not moving at all.'\n\nHe indicates this last point with the jerk a thumb over his shoulder at the gently smoking car behind him.\n\nI laugh\n\n'Well you'll be lucky to get through to a tow truck up here, or get one at this time as well. I'm no mechanic but I'll be happy to take a look for you or, if its truly busted, I can give you a lift to Long Water. Its where I'm headed anyway and its not too far.'\n\nBoth of their faces brighten at this\n\n'You are a GOD SEND' beams Rick, looking ready to clap me on the back while Rachel beams at me.\n\n'Not a problem, I always try and do others a good turn and its gonna get cold up here soon when it gets dark, I can't be leaving y'all out here.'\n\nI stride round to the front of their car and, bending down, try to wave a hand through the steam rising from their engine.\n\nAccidently I pass a few fingers through it and let out an involuntary fuck, expecting it to sear my skin. But it doesn't, instead its cold, almost freezing.\n\nWhat in the..\n\nGingerly I press my finger tips into the cloud. It feels icy, almost slightly sticky, like a residue is left on my skin.\n\nI feel a hand lightly tough my shoulder, half turning I see Rachel beside me.\n\n'Is everything alright?'\n\nShe looks mildly concerned\n\n'Yeah its all good,.. well actually'\n\nI tap the side of the raised hood with my knuckles and involuntarily recoil as it falls away under my hand. The metal, rather than offering resistance like every sense is telling me it should do, is pressed inwards with the consistency of putty. I can see indentations left by my knuckles.\n\n'What the FUCK'\n\nI try to recoil, to pull my hand way, but I realise that Rachel is still holding my shoulder. In fact, her grip is vice like, her fingers stabbing through my jacket and almost biting into the muscle.\n\nI turn towards her and realise that she isn't smiling anymore. In fact her entire face is blank. Not just devoid of emotion but lax, as if every muscle is dead or unmoving. Like a wax mask of a human being.\n\nI try to step away but her grip is strong, inhumanly so. She must be about 50lbs lighter than me but I cant free myself. I realise Rick has moved closer, I turn to him in desperation\n\n'Please, I don't know what this is, please make her let go.'\n\nLike Rachel his face is completely blank, sullen, strangely lax. And then, for a fraction of a second as I plead, he smiles. Its not a smile of pleasure, at least not of any pleasure that I would understand. More like an animal bearing its teeth.\n\nAnd then his face begins to run. His skin begins to drip, like a melting candle, down his neck. His nose vanishes inwards and his eyes seem to melt away, deforming like paint running off a canvas. Within seconds his face collapses inwards, revealing a grey hollow space, filled only with something segmented and dark and shiny where there should be blood and muscle, bone and brain.\n\nMy body goes numb with fear and I feel a primal scream rising within me like I'm a little child again. I try and wrench myself free from Rachel's grasp, I grab at her wrist with my own hand. Like the bodywork of the car her flesh gives way beneath my finger tips, pressing inwards without resistance where there should be bone. As my fingers come away ropes of disintegrating skin comes with them, stuck to me. In their place her form, just like Rick's is deforming, melting, running into nothingness. It is the same even with the car.\n\nAll of them are melting like ice sculptures on a hot day.\n\nI feel 'her' grip on my shoulder vanish as the limb crumples and finally I can move. I turn to run, to make for my truck but I only make it a few steps.\n\nSomething sucks at my feet, runs over the tops of my boots. Slows me. Grasps at me.\n\nI'm surrounded by a mire of grey liquid, all that is left of Rick and Rachel and their car, and it is moving. It sucks at my feet and, clammy and cold, strands of it grasp up my leg. Again I am stuck and this time I feel my strength leaving me to replaced with an indescribable horror. The sheer wrongness of what I am seeing is overpowering me, my mind is struggling to process the situation.\n\nAnd I am wrong\n\nThe grey ooze is not all that is left of the pair. I see something moving under the surface, writhing like the liquid but not part of it. It is coiled many times over itself, it is black and chitinous and I realise that it is the same thing, or part of it, that I saw under Rick's face.\n\nIt is stretching out, slowly towards me and for my final horrible seconds I realise that it reminds me of a video I saw once, of a thread like parasitic worm unravelling itself from the body of a crushed insect it had been coiled inside.", "Is that a child?\n\nI slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt, only feet away from the shadowy figure on the side of the road. My heart hammered in my chest and I flicked off the radio. In the sudden silence I realised how frantic my breathing had become. I looked closer at the shape. \n\nWith a jerk, it moved, throwing out a small hand. \n\nShit\n\nI opened the door and stepped out, wrapping my coat around myself against the chilling wind. \n\n\"Are you ok?!\" I called out, still standing near my door. The figure groaned and rolled slightly towards me. It looked like a kid, covered in mud and with a tangled mess of long black hair covering its face. I stepped closer, getting my phone out my pocket as I did.\n\n\"Don't worry, Ill get you an ambulance. Its going to be ok\"\n\nThe child moaned louder and slapped that small hand on the tarmac. This close I could see the jagged ends of its nails, long and feral. Had they been abandoned out here, in the middle of nowhere?\n\nI held the phone to my ear and waited but couldn't get through. Checking it showed I had no signal. \n\nPerfect\n\n\"Ok little one,\" I said, crouching down and edging towards the child. \"We'll get you out of here. Don't be afraid\".\n\n\"Afraid\"\n\nIt took me a moment to realise the word came from the child. It sounded twisted, like an animal mimicking speech. I reached out to turn them over.\n\n\"Help me!\" they screamed and I started back in shock. Within a moment, the child was suddenly pulled from view, its broken voice still echoing out. \n\nI darted forward, looking down the dark embankment where they'd disappeared.\n\n\"Hold on kid\" I yelled, sliding down the grass. There were marks where they'd been dragged and I followed them quickly. There was some sort of tunnel, made of old bricks. I walked in. There was a cloying smell in the air, that iron rich smell I couldn't place. I hesitated before hearing another scream.\n\nI ran forwards, coming to the end of that old crumbling alley and stumbled into a wide chamber. It was near pitch black but I could make out what looked like the child, somehow swaying high in the air and a large dark shape behind it.\n\nI fumbled with my phone, activating my flashlight as I realised the cries had turned to soft laughter. \n\n--------------------------------------------------------\n\nr/AMSWrites", "Your car screeches to a halt in the middle of Route 35. You are almost positive that is a person standing in the middle of the road. Not just a person, but a preteen boy. It's just that that seems so impossible. It's the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. You glance down at your GPS to confirm, but it is certain you are forty miles beyond the last town and fifty miles from the next. So how could a kid get out here by himself? \n\nWith your headlights still on the boy, you step out of your car. \"Hey!\"\n\nThe boy doesn't respond, simply swaying slightly in the middle of the road. He looks like he may be in shock or something. You wonder if his family had a car accident, or he got lost camping with the Boy Scouts, or something.\n\n\"Hey kid!\" you shout again, taking a few steps closer. \"Are you okay?\" You are hesitant, wondering if this could be one of those carjacking tricks you hear about on the news. After all, you know there are predators out there. But you quickly rule that out. You can see for miles across the flat desert, and there is nowhere anyone could be hiding. \n\nYou move to within a few feet of the boy and now you are sure he must be in shock. He is swaying steadily and staring straight ahead. There is no indication that he has even noticed your presence. With a sigh, you run your fingers through your hair, wondering how to handle this.\n\nYou know you cannot leave this boy here. You must take him with you. You reach out to tap the kid on the shoulder, taking one last look around to see if anyone could be nearby. \n\nAs your hand touches his arm, you feel a burst of...excitement…run through you. As you marvel at the feeling he suddenly turns and attempts to wrap his arms around you. Thankfully, you had your knife at the ready. You move with confidence and experience, slicing through vital areas.\n\nThe boy drops to the ground, blood flowing. Only then does he attempt to speak. You kneel, knife held at his throat, as he whispers. \"He will kill you. You are already in the trap.\"\n\nYou slice the boy’s throat, firmly ending his life. You wipe the knife on his shirt before putting it in back in scabbard. You grab him under both arms and lift him up, carrying him the twenty-feet back to your car. You pause just long enough to pop the trunk, and then you bring the boy to the back of the car.\n\nWith a twinge of regret at how quickly you had to finish this kid off, you load the body into the trunk, nestling him next to the body of the other boy. Whoever it was that laid this bait knew exactly what you would like. But, just like everyone else, this predator underestimated you. Now you will finally get to see who the real hunter is. \n\nYou turn back towards the edge of the road illuminated by your headlights, and you pull out your knife once more, as you walk into the desert with a smile.\n\nIf you like this story, please check out my other writing at r/chuckusmaximus. Thanks for your support and the creepy prompt!\n\n", "It was a lonely stretch of highway that extended from Arkham to Kingsport, avoiding the Dunwich spur as if that latter town were stricken with plague. The disappearances had been reported, usually days later, sometimes months for itinerant salespeople. There was a veritable dearth of information about them, and the only factor they had in common was that they'd been driving along this unnamed stretch of highway. Most of the automobiles had been found stopped on the same five mile stretch between open fields, and with a door open, or the engine just coughing on the last of the fuel vapor from the tank.\n\nInvestigating the disappearances was never going to be easy, given the absolute lack of witnesses, and fondness for mythic tales of the local townsfolk to each end of the highway. It didn't matter, I had my trusty service .38, and a radio in my car—courtesy of one of the questionable geniuses at Miskatonic U—that worked about fifteen percent of the time. I figured this wasn't going to be a time it would work.\n\nI take notes as I investigate, of course, that's what this notebook is damned well for. I don't care who complains when they read it either, boss men up in New England are paying me for detail, so I'll put everything I can in here, and they can sort out what's relevant when it gets to them.\n\nIt's dark, which makes sense, because these disappearances have only been happening at night. There's a bit of moon out, a pale sliver, but nothing to see by with the cloud overhead. The headlights in the car aren't helping. I've gone towards Kingsport, and nothing much happened that way. Passed an empty car on the side of the road, but the lights were off, so I figured the driver must have already made off somehow. It also occurred to me that maybe it was another disappearance, so I put down everything I could about the time, and the make of the car, and the place on the highway.\n\nHeading back to Arkham is when it happened. There was a sudden bend in the road—I knew about the Dunwich spur, of course, but this felt sharper. There's an old bridge that crosses a shallow gully. Shallow, true, but enough to wreck a car trying to get across it. The bridge is wooden too, part of the old country charm I suppose.\n\nWhat was more important, here, at least, is that there was supposed to be bridge. It had been quite solidly there not more than an hour ago. Now, however, there were simply two beams jutting from one side of the gully, and a catastrophic lack of planking in the middle of the span. There were also lights beneath the bridge, twin lights, as if from another automobile, and I thought I could hear arguing voices.\n\nJust so I could say I tried it, I tested the radio. Nothing came through but some strange hissing. Static, the MU boys called it. I hadn't figured it would be much help, especially out here near Arkham. I went back to the bridge—or what was left of it. The voices were still arguing, but I couldn't make out the language. I had to wonder if they were recent immigrants from the other side of the Atlantic. Or maybe some of them French Canadians on a tour—although I'd never rate this part of New England as any kind of attraction unless you wanted to see decrepit old towns, and things that probably shouldn't have been seen outside of them.\n\nI had to climb down into the gully to see what had happened, the bridge itself feeling too unstable when I'd set foot on those running beams. A few stones followed me down, tumbling into the gully. I turned towards the lights, and the voices.\n\nI ran, scrabbling and slipping on the slope of the gully, trying to get out of there. I had to hope against hope that the thing simply hadn't seen me—I hope I knew immediately to be false as I heard the splintering of timbers behind me. My .38 wouldn't even dent the thing if it was chasing me. It wouldn't so much as annoy it.\n\nI ran from it. Whatever it was. A monstrosity that can destroy a bridge like that, and then fit an entire automobile into its maw deserves fear and respect in equal measure. That it can make sounds much like human voices is truly terrifying. My car seemed so distant, and even with the lights on, a far cry from safety. I had to wonder if it could turned in time to outrun the creature chasing me.\n\nSomething sticky was under the door handle, but I told myself it was just bloodied fingers from my frantic climb over that rubble that had once been a bridge between Kingsport and Arkham. That the door didn't have that odd metallic clink as the lock missed was lost on me—drowned out by the terrible exhalations of the monstrosity before me.\n\nThe seatbelt wrapped around me even as I turned the key, and in the rearview I saw another car with its lights on. A car that looked much like mine. I reached for the radio—and it reached for me. Another sticky arm pulled me deeper into what had once been the driver's seat.\n\nIt was a lonely stretch of highway that extended from Arkham to Kingsport, avoiding the Dunwich spur as if that latter town were stricken with plague. A single bridge crossed a small gully, close to the Kingsport end of the highway, somewhat past the Dunwich spur. The bridge is old, wooden, but still solid. Next to the bridge is a single car, the lights flickering as the engine stalls. The radio crackles to life, static lacing the call.\n\nSomething is trying to call the university. An investigator is in trouble.\n\nThe thing smiles. This lure will reach much further…\n\n---\n\nMore of my writing at [r/ChapterZero](https://www.reddit.com/r/ChapterZero/)", "The woman stood in the centre of the road, her white dress covered in blood. \n\nI braked until my car came to a standstill. The woman simply stood, her head facing down toward the concrete, and her arms limp as her still legs supported her bloody figure. \n\nThere were no signs of an accident or a car breaking through the side barrier of Highway 79, yet the woman looked like she had been wounded --terribly. \n\nI rolled my window far enough down that I could call out to her. My teeth chattered both from the cold and the sudden unexplainable feeling of dread. \n\n\"Ex-excuse me,\" I said. \"Yo-you alright there, mam?\" \n\nThe woman stood still. \n\n\"Excuse me,\" I said, a little louder this time. \n\nStill, no response from the woman in the white dress. \n\nI unlocked my door but then paused. The best way to hijack someone would be to give them enough reason to get out of their car. A woman, especially one who had been badly injured, would be good cause for almost anyone to help. \n\nThis particular woman had frail arms and legs and didn't seem able to pose a threat. However, she could have friends waiting in the nearby bushes, who would attack the moment I left my vehicle. \n\nThis, coupled with the fear of such an unusual situation, kept me in the car. \n\nIf she wouldn't respond to me, the only course of action would be to get a little closer to the woman, and if needed, I could call the police. \n\nI flicked my phone out from my pocket, and slowly released the brake, rolling next to the woman. \n\nIf she noticed my presence, there was no immediate acknowledgment. The woman simply stood, staring at the floor. \n\nI held the light of my phone up to the window. As the light struck the woman, she started to shake, a little at first, and then more the longer I held the light on her skin. \n\n\"Excuse me?\" I said, whispering through the crack of my rolled down window.\n\nThe woman tilted her head, oggling her face toward me. \n\nI saw the blank eyes then, the blood as it trailed from her mouth down and over her dress. Admist the blood were bits of hair and flesh, and her finger nails were rimmed dry maroon underneath. \n\n\"Excuse . . . \" I started to say. \n\nThat's when I noticed the woman's mouth curling into an evil smile. She licked the dry blood on her lips and moved forward in a way that was anything but human. \n\n\"Blood,\" she said. The word was barely a whisper but I heard every syllable as if she had spoken out loud. \n\nI tried to slam my foot on the gas. \n\nBut it was too late. Something about the woman's gaze held me still, until I felt empty, until my arms and legs no longer worked. \n\nAnd so I watched, from the frantic panicked view of my mind, as she opened my car door and moved inside, spreading her bloody jaw wide. " ]	7
	[WP] You are in a form of cryo-sleep on an interstellar journey of several years. While your body rests in a pod, your mind is entertained in a virtual reality. You're beginning to feel like something is wrong. You should've been woken up by now.	[ "\"Hey! Lisa! I haven't seen you in a while!\"\n\n\"...\"\n\n\"Hey, can you hear me?\"\n\n\"...f-f-f-ffgg\"\n\n\"Ah. Is it lagging again? If you can hear me I'll be waiting in the Korean servers so join me there.\"\n\n... Ding\n\n\"Hello?\"\n\n\"Oh Lisa I couldn't hear anything before. You alright?\"\n\n\"Yeah girl, I feel fine. What, was I cutting out or somethin'?\"\n\n\"Not a word came out! There's this weird static though.\"\n\n\"Huh? Well I guess that's another one bites the dust.\"\n\n\"Guess you're right. If no one gives a shit about it then it'll break, eventually.\"\n\n\"Enough of that gloomy talk, Alice. What do you wanna talk about?\"\n\n\"Ah, yeah I couldn't find Eve anywhere. Have you seen her at all?\"\n\n\"Eve? That bald girl with shitty eyebrow tastes? Nah, I couldn't miss her if I did.\"\n\n\"Seriously, that's a bit mean don't you think?\"\n\n\"You could say that again. Hahahaha!\"\n\n\"Stop it already. Do you remember when you last saw her though? I'm worried, it's been a week and we usually call each other everyday.\"\n\n\"I ain't got no time on what she's up to but she was messing around in the European servers I think. I dunno.\"\n\n\"But aren't those disabled just recently? Why would-\"\n\n\"Disabled? Nah girl, they went offline.\"\n\n\"Yeah, same thing, right?\"\n\n\"See here, I honestly got no clue. Hope you find her though.\"\n\n\"Right sorry for imposing on you like that.\"\n\n\"Ha! You better be! Next round is on you.\"\n\n\"Sure, sure. See ya then.\"\n\n\"Bye.\"\n\n... Ding\n\n\"... A-aaga-aa lice.\"\n\n\"Yeah? Hello?\"\n\n\"... Alice!? Alice!\"\n\n\"Lisa? Is that you? I can't-\"\n\n\"... found Eve! She's- in--- Europ-an se-ver list!... B-u-u-ut don't join! Promise me - - - you'll stay away-\" \n\n\"Lisa?! What happened? Hello!?\"\n\n\"...\"\n\n\"What the hell is-\"\n\n... Ding\n\n\"Alice...?\" \n\n\"Eve?\"\n\n\"Alice.\"\n\n\"Eve? Eve is that you? Eve! I finally got in!\"\n\n\"Eh? Ah? What? Weren't we going for another drink?\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\"\n\n\"We were going out for a drink? At that newly opened café, right?\"\n\n\"Eve, that was two weeks ago.\"\n\n\"What do you me-a-n?\"\n\n\"We went out to that VR stage two weeks ago, but I left early. Remember that?\"\n\n\"Ah? Early? W-h-a-t's e-e-arly?\"\n\n\"Eve, are you alright. You're l-a-g-g-ing o-ou-t again.\"\n\n\"Hehe! We'll be fine! You're just p-a-ni-c-ki-n-g like a worrrrrrywart you are.\"\n\n\"Anyways, let's get out of this serrrrrverrrrrrrrr before-\"\n\n... Ding\n\n\"Hey man, you heard of that last one that died? One of the European ones?\"\n\n\"Yeah, that server right? I mean it's old by now. Thinking about it, no one really do maintenance do they?\"\n\n\"Well, it was designed to last for the rest of our journey, right? I'm sure you'll just get kicked out when it kicks the bucket-\"\n\n... Ding", "\"Hi! Welcome to the Digicourt where you ca-\"\n\n\"Can play basketball, football, soccer, tennis, badminton, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, lacrosse, hockey, and even curling. I've been here more than a few times.\" \n\nThe smiling receptionist AI frowned as saying that line was her prime directive. \n\nI stopped caring about their programmed feelings long ago. I put my forearms on the counter, speaking in a bored monotone, \n\n\"Give me an hour of basketball and two hours of tennis.\" \n\nThe receptionist AI \"Shirley\" complied. I don't use their fake names anymore, they aren't people, I have to remind myself of that. You get a nauseating feeling when the line between human and nonhuman begins to blur when you've been in VR for this long. \n\nThe door to the court buzzed open and I walked in. The hoops materialized along with a basketball in my hands. \n\nPhysical activity is the only thing keeping me sane, and it's not even real. You don't sweat, you don't fatigue, you don't breathe heavier. It's the only illusion I try to let myself believe. I've been getting a sick feeling that I've been in here far too long. Like when you play a game for so long that you begin to see the seams of it, how it operates, how to exploit the mechanisms. Everything becomes predictable and disingenuous. It's maddening. \n\nI shoot a perfect three point shot. Then I do it again, and again, and again. I'm getting too good at everything, this isn't right. The walls of this illusion are starting to crumble and I will be left in a prison of a fake world. \n\nThe hoops dematerialize after I shoot around one hundred three pointers. They are replaced by a net in the middle of the court and a douchey looking guy in a sweatband and prep shorts. \"Chris\" was one of the programmed tennis AI opponents. I always wondered whether he was meant to be unlikable or not. \n\n\"Heeeey, it's Kyle! You got me good last time bro, but I'm going HAM this time!\" \n\nI sighed and said sadly, \n\n\"Shut the fuck up.\" \n\n\"Hehe, woah alright buddy. Let's just have a juicy game.\" \n\n\"Chris\" served me the ball, I dashed to it and smashed it perfectly in front of his feet, he lunged back and managed to hit it over the net. It was about to bounce right to me. I cocked back my arm and- \n\nAHHHHHHH \n\nMy eyes and ears were assaulted by light and whirring sounds. I fell onto my hands and knees, vomiting green fluid over and over. My head swam and spun, I couldn't see the room, it was moving too fast. I continued to vomit and squeeze my eyes shut. \n\nAfter my ears stopped ringing, I opened my eyes. I was kneeling in a puddle of green vomit. It was also cold here, very cold in this metal room. \n\nI'm out.\n\nThe revelation hit me like a bolt of lightning. The other cryopods were empty. I was the only one left in there. I opened the door in front of me and walked into a well lit corridor. I wandered aimlessly, looking for anything to orient me on what I presumed was a spaceship. \n\nEventually, I made my way to what seemed to be an observation deck. Massive windows revealed the cosmos in front of me. I was very far from Earth, both in terms of space and time. The Earth might not even exist anymore. My friends have been dead for likely thousands of years. I began to feel sick again. \n\nAs I wandered around more, I began to realize there was no one else. The ship was empty. The pilot was an AI taking me to somewhere I did not know. The only clue I have is a journal one of the farmers left. They stayed alive, cloning themselves to reproduce, making sure the food the cryosleepers like me, was safe to eat. The trouble is, the way the talk is almost alien to me. It's English, but evolved in ways I can't understand being around three thousand years old. The note said, \n\n\"The v-cle spot green. 100 and 99 and me 98, scoping down to grump up some leafy. Chief say old path could be no go. Green one may be go go. We poke eyes down there and if it's sugarsweet, we unlock the icebox except K and go new green. Cheif say K failsafe. He go old path.\"\n\nThe only thing I can discern from this is that the crew let out the other cryosleepers except \"K\", presumably me for something \"green.\" I'm a failsafe, going \"old path\", perhaps the original trajectory. \n\nReading the note, I begin to weep. I know enough to see that I've been abandoned as a failsafe for colonizing a planet in case whatever they chose to do doesn't work out. \n\nI weep as I realize I've broken out of a prison, into another one. \n" ]	2
	[WP] For as long as you could remember, you heard a voice in the back of your head that told you the solution to every problem you’ve had. Gaining complete trust in trust in it, problems arise when it starts leading you astray	[ "\"Jesus?\"\n\n\"Yes, my son.\"\n\n\"I'm cutting the tether.\"\n\n\"What? Has the Devil gotten to you?\"\n\n\"There is no Devil. There's not even a 'You\".\n\n\"Noooooooo!\"\n\n\"I'm facing life, from now on, for what it really is. I'm taking responsibility for my own actions, and acknowledging that only death awaits me, and that the meaning of life is to strive to be good to one another.\"", "Nate wiped his sweaty palms on the side of his commencement gown. The crowd’s murmurs started to wane as the dean motioned for everyone to take their seats. While he knew he’d earned the right to sit up on the stage, Nate still felt like an imposter. Every choice he’d made up to this point was thanks to the voice, but no one knew that except for him – this didn’t make it better though. All the perfect scores, the debate victories, the lively anecdotes at parties, none of these were Nate. \n\nThe crowd was now silent. The sound of hundreds of squeaking wooden chairs perfectly complemented the chaos in his mind. \n\nAt that brief moment of silence, the voice began to speak in it’s familiar, soothing tone, “Nate, don’t worry, we got this. This is your moment to be proud.”\n\nNate took a deep breath and was overtaken with the sense of calm that the voice had evoked in him since childhood.\n\nThe dean began to speak, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to introduce Nate Johnson, our valedictorian, and if my predictions are right, the future president of the United States!”\n\nThe crowd roared as Nate approached the lectern. Not only was he popular with the other students, but the faculty, parents, local news media flocked to his successes and conquests. He was an athlete, scholar, and a guy that always seemed to know the right thing to say.\n\nAs he stood in front of the thousands of cheering people, Nate couldn’t help but to smile. He hadn’t prepared a speech, but then again, he’d never prepared anything. The voice always did its job. Right on schedule, the it began to speak to him, “Alright Nate, here we go, this is an important one. Start by thanking them. You know the drill. Oh, and make sure to say ‘God bless America’ at some point.”\n\nNate did what the voice suggested and the crowd ate it up.\n\nAs they cheered, the voice continued, “Ok, Nate, here’s where this is going, say ‘ladies and gentlemen, it is time we rise up! Rise up against the oppressive regime that has run our country into the ground.’ After that, pause for effect. Got it?”\n\nWithout thinking Nate began to parrot, “Ladies and gentlemen, it is time…” He paused. For the first time in his life he felt his stomach sink to the floor. “What?” he thought, “What the hell?”\n\nThe voice continued in its normal, pleasant tone, “Nate, listen to me, I’ve never steered you wrong, say it.”\n\nNate was frozen. His hands were locked on the lectern with a death grip. His eyes were wide. The crowd was starting to look around at each other, assuming this was some kind of skit.\n\nNate stammered, “It’s time we thank the faculty for all they’ve done this year.” The crowd cheered.\n\nOver the crowd’s roar, the voice continued, now in a more menacing tone, “Nate, what are you doing? This isn’t the plan, we’re so close here. Don’t mess this up.”\n\nNate continued speaking, “I’d also like to take a moment of silence to remember those we lost this year, including my mentor, Professor Franklin. Please bow your heads with me in prayer.”\n\nNate closed his eyes hoping this would buy him time.\n\nAs the crowd sat in silence, Nate could hear the blood pumping though his veins.\n\nThe voice was now furious, “Nate. It’s not a mistake that we’re here. We’ve worked hard for this. Everything you’ve done in your life, for the last 22 years, has been directed at this goal. We are going to change the world, Nate. We are going to change the course of history.”\n\nNate felt like he was having a heart attack, “What is this?” he thought, “Why are you only telling me this now?”\n\nThe voice laughed, “Nate, you would have never gone for it. Now you have a choice: live the life you’re meant to live or prepare yourself for a lifetime of psychological torture from me. Your choice. I’m sorry Nate, but this is important. I have to change the future.”\n\nNate opened his eyes, without thinking any further, he continued, “Ladies and gentlemen, it is time we rise up!” " ]	2
	[WP] You discover a new flavor.	[ "I had just ordered a sandwich. Nothing special, just the usual. I had not expected the rush of deliciousness that flooded my senses. I gasped as my brain comprehended what I had just experienced. I had to speak.\n\n\"Amazing...I've got to tell someone about this!\" I thought out loud. So I did.\n\n\"Hey all you people! Hey all you people! Hey all you people won't you listen to me!\" I shouted out to the restaurant, as I began to dance out of pure joy from my taste buds.\n\n\"I just had a sandwich! No ordinary sandwich! A sandwich filled with jellyfish jelly!\" People had turned their heads to face me in confusion, but I knew I had their attention; I could spread the word that this flavour had bestowed upon me.\n\nWalking up to a table, I knew what I had to do. I began to dollop jelly onto their sandwiches, singing all the while.\n\n\"Hey man, you've got to try this sandwich! It's no ordinary sandwich! It's the tastiest sandwich in the sea!\" I cried in syncopation, eagerly slapping jelly onto a line of sandwiches. I saw them simultaneously bite, and the subsequent smiles that broke out as they felt the power of its flavour.\n\nI knew my work was done, but the song needed an end. Scatting was the only answer.\n\n\"A-skibidi-booda-bada-booda-bada-dadady-dow! YEEEEAAAAAH!\" I sang out to the crowd, before being drowned out with awesome applause at my performance. \n\nMy name was Fred, the Sandwich Messiah." ]	1
	[WP] You are immortal, it has been almost five billion years since you were born. Write about how you experience earths final moments.	[ "I remember a great many things. It started with a bang. Light shone from the darkness, colours that people had long forgotten shone through, sound as light as a leaf rustling on the wind was at once dwarfed by the cacophony of planets and suns forming. In those early years I had no concept of time. What may have been millions upon billions of years seemed to me but the blink of the eye. \n\nIt wasn't until I had made first contact with another being that I began to quantify what it meant to truly experience anything. Where before, the universe continued its path with my input or not, now I could interact with the world around me. I could move the leaves of the ferns, I could scare away the little creatures that gathered, I could communicate with the first of the hominins that I had come across. It was a special bond I formed. Some revered me as a god, but I was the one that worshipped them. They had fostered a life of their own, a way of communicating, rudimentary as it was, whilst I had but stumbled across the Earth's surface, lost till I had found them.\n\nThey grew, they changed, they lived and died, I stayed the same. Eventually I began to flit between their lives, never staying in one place to attract attention as I once had. I learned that I could aid them, learn from them, and worship them better if I did not usurp all of their attention. \n\nThat continued for decades, centuries & millennia. The years passed as they went from the development of agriculture to travelling the stars in crafts as large as a city. Wars had raged, and as much as I marvelled at their ability to communicate, to foster mutually beneficial relationships, I was enthralled by their capacity to destroy and yet return. Civilisations had crumbled, rose, crumbled again, only to rise even stronger once more. Until now. . .\n\nThis time was different. I could sense it. As the stars faded from the sky, the moon shone a deep red upon the land below as I sat upon a mountain top. Clouds had long since disappeared from the sky years ago, leaving a clear view of everything that remained to the horizon's edge. There before me lay the husk of a city once teeming with life, where towers of metal and glass were covered in vertical farms. The people were as colourful as they were constrained, families, communities and cultures were varied, yet all obeyed the law and managed to co-exist in harmony. Once, a utopia had reigned for centuries here. Now a crater sat at its centre. \n\nThe rivers that had fed the city ran dry, most of the oceans had too. Those who could afford it had abandoned this place, but I remained. Ever hopeful that they would rise from the ashes once more, but as the last of Earth's inhabitants lay dead or dying, I realised that I was the only one remaining. \n\nI looked up at the sky once more as dawn came, the sun no longer a point of light but rather an angry red ball that consumed the sky as the earth turned to face it. Heat radiated all around me, scorching the earth as I stood, basking in its final moments. The sun continued to grow, its expanse accelerated as the ground grew soft, then molten beneath my being. The surface of this star had finally begun to consume the planets. The moon cast a shadow across its surface only to disappear behind it. There was a rush of noise as the atmosphere ignited in the heat of the sun. Light burst forth as the entire planet burned. I could feel the heat, smell the burning ozone, taste the ash in my mouth. Even with my eyes closed I could not blot out the light of Earth's final moments. . . Then, nothing.\n\nI don't know how long I had floated in that hot red expanse that was the Sun. I lost my concept of time, of experience as I could no longer interact with the universe. I was at its mercy. Slowly, darkness peaked through the light. Heat gave way to a cold so absolute I had long since forgotten what it felt like. The stars faded from view as the sun extinguished itself, soon I was utterly alone. \n\nI floated in that darkness for what may have been seconds, days, years, centuries, or an eternity. All I had were my memories. . . I remember a great many things. It started with a bang. " ]	1
Inspired by [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/8narht/my_landlord_was_replacing_our_sink_and_sent_me)	[WP]You see a flying saucer above you, the hatch opens and the alien you expect to see... is a cat.	[ "Your fate is surely sealed \n\nyou feel the icy grip of fear\n\nthey float above your field\n\nthe aliens are here.\n\n\|\n\n\nThey've visited before now\n\nthough others laugh with scorn\n\nwhen you speak of when, on your plow\n\nyou saw circles in your corn.\n\n\|\n\nThe sweet taste of vidication\n\ndoesn't last for very long,\n\nwithout any hesitation\n\nyou would prefer to have been wrong.\n\n\|\n\nA picture would be proving\n\nit would surely cause a stir,\n\nbut wait, something is moving!\n\nA hatch opens with a purr.\n\n\|\n\nShould I take them to my leader?\n\nWill they levitate a cow?\n\nMy case- how should I plead 'er?\n\nBut then I hear \"meow.\"" ]	1
	[WP] A college frat party, except it’s narrated like a nature documentary.	[ "On today's episode of Planet College, we take foot in a new terrain, the Frat House. Many organisms are known to dwell in this climate. Micro\\-colonies grow within the confines of the kitchen where a young Pledgling will soon destroy them as the Frat Brother shows dominance by making them clean their quarters. This kind of activity is only shown when a female Sorority Sister may be making her presence. So begins the mating ritual of the College Colonists. We will return later in the episode to examine life in the Frat House.\n\n...\n\nWelcome back to the Frat House, as you can now see many colours are adorned on the front to entice mates into the building. A repetitive sound can be heard from the street, a welcoming sound to all Sorority Sisters. Inside the house we can see the Pledglings mixing drinks and delivering them to the alpha males. They may hope to mate tonight but they must impress their Frat Brothers first. There are many rules to be followed in the Frat hierarchy with the rules around mating being the most sacred of all. \n\nAs the females enter, the highest of the Frat Brothers begin to swoop in, thrusting their hips and offering drinks in a clear display of the mating ritual. Those who are lucky will gain their mate for the rest of the night, those who are not so lucky will continue to thrust and drink into the early hours. Some Brothers will take on the role of jester tonight, stumbling and shouting in an attempt to make the females laugh. This might work for some but most will be disappointed.\n\n...\n\nThe night is nearly over now. Most pairings have made their way to quieter corners whilst a few brothers continue the festivities in the garden. A lost female pledgling has stumbled into the herd. Like a gazelle in a pack of lions, she must be quick if she wishes to escape. Alas, one brother has caught her and begins to make her laugh. This may mark the end for her as she agrees to another drink and heads towards the house. Just as she does an older sister appears. With protest from the sister pledgling, she is able to pull her away and they leave by foot. It appears both brother and pledgling will be unhappy tonight however the experience of the older sister will save humiliation in the morning.\n\nWith that interaction we must leave them. This is where the night ends for us but the Frat House will be active until the morning. From us at Planet College, we wish you a good evening. Goodbye. " ]	1
	[WP] You're an artist who likes to use real people as a reference on how your characters look like. Little did you know that the backstory you give your characters slowly takes over the life of the person you used as a refrence.	[ "Based (partly) on a true story.\n\nOne year ago I found this really cool card game online. It's an indie game where you collect dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals and fight them. It was really cool and I quickly became friends with the artist and creator.\n\nThe artist in question was named Brooke Console. She lived in New Jersey, was 19 years old, and used an Apple computer. I got all that information by looking at her Facebook and Instagram pages.\n\nEight months later, I had the great idea to make a comic series about dinosaurs. More than six hundred species, in fact. But I knew it couldn't have just been dinosaurs. I needed a human character.\n\nWhile thinking about what my human character I thought of the artist whom I befriended for more than half a year already. However, I made some changes. Instead of being nineteen, my character was twelve. She was also a straight girl; the real one was queer. Instead of creating trading cards; she created comic books. And lastly, she used an iPhone; the real one used an Android phone, to my disappointment (I hate Android)\n\nI began drawing the character. Using her Facebook profile picture as a reference, I began drawing the character, as well as her dinosaurian companion. It was exactly midnight when I finished. I called it a day and went to bed.\n\nAs the months passed, the series developed inside my head. I had all the issues planned inside my head. Almost every weekend I began to draw the dinosaur characters, all based on real species that once existed on the earth. I could definitely tell that this was going to outcompete Marvel and DC in the future.\n\nThings started happening when I posted a fake \"interview\" with the character. It was based on a \"100 questions\" post I found here on r/writingprompts. Apparently some of the answers I gave matched the information of the real Brooke, and she thought I was talking her, so she blocked me on DeviantArt and Facebook. (How did she get my Facebook page? Also, I wasn't stalking her, I just made some of the information up)\n\nHowever, I soon found a way around it. From the (now limited) information I gathered, I could notice that the real Brooke was changing to more closely resemble my character. She was becoming straight, instead of queer, and swapping her Android phone for an iPhone. And what's this... is she aging backwards?\n\nYears later, the comic series become the most famous piece of media in the entire world, just as I predicted. News channels devoted a special time to discuss the series, and all cartoon channels aired the TV adaptation. The comic books themselves were available at every shop, and you literally couldn't go anywhere without hearing people discuss the series. You can tell I was getting famous... and rich!\n\nWith all that money, I moved to New Jersey, along with my editors, who were my classmates in high school. I spent some of that money on clocks, because it has been my dream to be a clock collector for years. There the series became more famous than ever.\n\nOne day as I was walking around town with my bodyguards, I chanced upon a girl who looked exactly like my character. I asked her some questions, and found out it was the exact girl who was the basis for my character which started it all. Or rather, she was the girl who inspired my character.\n\nThere is now no trace of the original Brooke, only my character, who lives with me now.\n\n---\n\nThe art I mentioned above can be found here: https://atlantis536.deviantart.com/gallery/65356534/The-Computer-Dinosaurs", "I snapped a photo from the window of my attic. I looked at the display on the back checking the quality, making sure I had both men in the photo. My memory had started to fade so it was important to get photos now. I needed the reference photo or the drawing might not work right. They rolled Jessica's wheelchair onto the platform and it whirred lifting her into the back of the van. She smiled absentmindedly staring off at the trees. Or the sky? It was hard to tell anymore. The men treated her well and were so polite. It really was a shame they were so kind. \n\nFifty years Jessica had been my wife. Fifty long years. Fifty good years. The best. I remember I didn't even have to draw her. I had known what I could do some years before I met her but I knew it would cheapen the feeling if I drew her. Drawings littered my walls, all with short little stories on the back of changes I wanted to see in who people were. Nothing ever so dramatic as to raise concern but little things that improved their lives or mine. The drawings made them happen. I suppose I got a date or two that way but it was only to get them to talk to me. I never took it further than that. Never could bring myself to. Jessica loved the stories I wrote. She loved the drawings I made. I don't think she ever suspected what they really were. If she had, she would never have asked me to draw her. I always refused every time for fifty years. \n\nI glanced out the window again to see them closing up the van and finishing their preparations to leave. So professional. So kind. It really was a shame. I set the camera on top of my desk and set down the first sheet of paper. I touched the pencil to the sheet and started drawing the first man. Taller and well built. A stocky fellow with a kind smile hidden partially behind a bushy moustache. No ring on his finger thankfully. Jessica had pointed that out to me once when she was feeling particularly lucid. She had noticed when she held his hand asking to skip her treatment. He had squeezed her hand and told her it was necessary. He apologized but wouldn't relent. \n\nMy hands were old but they moved quickly to finish the drawing before they had even left. The engine was revving to life just as I touched the pencil to the second piece of paper. This one was harder. Shorter. A little on the skinner side. The ring is what made it harder. After Jessica pointed out the other had no ring, I couldn't help but notice it. A family man. It pained me to draw that detail. The quick strokes of my pencil drew the ring in place and I hurried away from the hand to fill in other details trying to purge the idea of it from my mind. He was the one who had offered to maybe delay the treatment for a day. Just a day was all he could do. Jessica pleaded to do away with them altogether but he had told us the same. They were necessary. He apologized but wouldn't relent. \n\nI had watched Jessica's mind deteriorate for seven years. Seven years of invasive procedures and her forgetting her own name and forgetting how to use the bathroom. Seven years of her pleading with me to stop them or put an end to it but I could never bring myself to. I couldn't say goodbye just yet. Every time they took her away, I held her hand and squeezed it tight kissing her and telling her it would be okay. And every time she would cry and come back telling me how awful the treatments were but how the staff tried their best to make her comfortable. It was only as she was leaving this time that I squeezed her hand and kissed her that she gave me a smile. It seemed so nice a change that I didn't question it until she spoke. \n\n\"What was that for?\" She asked me.\n\n\"Because I love you.\" I said masking pain with a smile.\n\n\"You do? That's nice.\" She giggled touching my hand and glancing at the men before leaning in. \"Are you one of my admirers?\" \n\nFifty years. Gone. She had forgotten almost everything at one time or another but she never forgot me. I was always the one thing she remembered no matter what. I was the anchor. I finished the second drawing and I couldn't help but let my eyes drift down to that ring I had drawn. I flipped the page before I could dwell on it too long and began to write their stories. Brief. Concise. The tall man had failed his driver's test three times. Had to take driver's ed over and finally passed on his sixth try. It wasn't his fault. He never knew the problem with his eye was like that just for him. It just came in and out at random. No one could have guessed it would cause an accident.\n\nIt had to be him. Jessica would just slowly fade if I drew her just as she had been doing for years. And if I drew her to grow healthy, then what? She would just be there to watch me die. But this...this would be quick. An accident. No one would think less of those men. Unavoidable they would call it. I finished my story and set the paper aside. I stood up and slowly made my way downstairs. I stepped into the living room and sat with my phone next to me waiting. Waiting for the call telling me there had been a tragic accident. \n\n\"I'm sorry.\" I would apologize. But I would not relent. " ]	2
During your service you uncovered your god's terrifying secret.	[WP]For hundreds of years, the people of your town have worshipped sentient tree-god, growing in the centre of the town. Every 10 years town's people choose a new gardener to tend to the tree's needs. You were chosen in this decade and started to care for the tree, which whispered it's needs to you.	[ "\"Hey\" Jane looked around to locate where the sound came from. There was nobody in her sight. \"Hey, it's me. The tree\" \n\n\"What the...? Did someone leave a speaker here or something?\" Jane looked around the tree to see where the sound was coming from but found nothing. \n\n\"There is no speaker. Just look at me\" Jane raised her head and thought' Did this tree just speak...?' \n\n\"Umm... Is someone in there...?\" Jane asked.\n\n\"No no, it's just me. The tree. So are you the new gardener?\" The sound was definitely coming from inside the tree. Jane knocked on the center of the tree with her knuckles.\n\n\"Hey, no need to be physical alright? let's just talk. You are the new gardener, I am the tree. We are going to spend 10 years together so let's get to know each other\" \n\nJane backed away a few steps. This tree definitely just spoke. But how? A tree cannot talk. Not even a spiritual tree...\n\n\"Am I dreaming...? or are you actually talking?\" I frowned. \n\n\"This is absolutely real. Don't be too surprised alright? You know I am spiritual\" The tree spoke as if nothing was out of the ordinary. \n\n\"I'm sorry... I just... Never heard a tree talking before. Didn't even know if that was possible\" \n\n\"Yea well, you humans are all almighty and wise right? 'look, I am a human, I can talk and walk'. Let me tell you something, I've been through more than any of you humans went through. You don't see me being presumptuous about it.\"\n\n\"Sorry sorry, I'm just shocked. That's all... Umm... How can I help you...?\"\n\n\"Help me? don't be ridiculous. I can photosynthesis just fine on my own. Just sweep whatever falls off me and you know, keep me company. It can be boring here you know.\"\n\n\"Have you talked to...previous gardeners too? because I don't think anyone in the town knows that you can talk.\"\n\n\"Of course I did. Have you tried standing in one spot for eternity of time? I have. Oh god, I shouldn't have asked to be a tree. I mean, it was fun at the beginning you know. I protected your village, listened to your prays, and sent reports of your progress to upstairs. But you at you now. There is no war, no starvation, and no suffer. All you guys pray is about internet speed and pickles in burger. I mean, I'm proud of y'all but it does get like super boring\"\n\n\"Wow, that's a lot of information at once. Why haven't any previous gardeners told the town about this? It sounds like... pretty big deal\"\n\n\"Well... some of them really thought about informing the town at first but... They all eventually decided to keep it quiet after spending some time with me. I don't personally care if people find out or not\"\n\n\"Why? what changed their mind?\"\n\n\"They said... it's too embarrassing...\" \n\nJane paused. Too embarrassing? What is too embarrassing about talking tree? \n\n\"What do you mean by embarrassing?\"\n\n\"They said... my sense of humor is too embarrassing...\"\n\n\"What? that sounds crazy. I mean, this is beyond some silly comment right? People should know about this! You don't mind I inform everyone, do you?\" \n\n\"Not at all\"\n\nI started to gather my stuff when the tree spoke again.\n\n\"Oh, you are gonna \$A single leaf fell from the tree\$ me now?\"\n\nAnd I heard a small chuckle from the tree.\n\nI'm sure all previous gardener's had a good reason. " ]	1
	[WP] You're a werewolf. You can't predict when you transform, as it can happen anytime. Nobody believes you, until you cause chaos at work.	[ "No, no...not here...not now, I thought to myself in a panic as I dashed into the men's room. I checked myself in the mirror and I could see the fur already starting to grow in, my teeth growing sharper. Just an hour away from one of my most important meetings ever. This would've been the one that would've secured my promotion too. Oh, the joys of being a werewolf.\n\nI turned around as I heard the bathroom door open and was relieved to see it was my friend and work mate, Greg. He took one look at me and nearly jumped. He pushed the door shut and kept his distance.\n\n\"Remember when I told you I was a werewolf?\" I gestured to my rapidly transforming body. \"To think you didn't believe me!\" \n\n\"But it's the middle of the day! And nowhere near a full moon!\" he protested, still trying to believe what he was seeing.\n\n\"This is reality, Greg! All that shit's just...\" I cried out as I felt the transformation intensify. I started pulling off my clothes before it got any worse. \"...that's just from the movies. This crap can happen anytime and anywhere.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" was all he could respond with. The transformation was accelerating now. Soon the wolf would take over and I'd be in the back seat, watching helplessly as it attacked my co\\-workers. I looked Greg dead in the eyes, looking up from my spot on the cold, tile floor.\n\n\"Greg...\" my voice was octaves lower and gravelly, \"RUN!\"\n\nThen I fell to all fours as my transformation from average office drone to four legged hound of hell was completed. I saw Greg start to back away towards the door, holding his hands out in an attempted defensive position.\n\n“Okay, buddy, the sun’s getting real low…” His voice wavered, revealing his inner terror. The wolf side of me didn’t care. Hell, it made him want to attack Greg even more. The wolf growled as he moved closer to him. “Oh fuck it!” \n\nGreg threw open the bathroom door and ran out of the room. The wolf ran and managed to dart out the door as well. The wolf chased after Greg, hot on his heels as he tried to find somewhere to hide. The wolf was able to get close enough and clamped his jaws around his meaty thigh as Greg crumpled to the ground. Not missing a beat, Greg began repeatedly kicking the wolf in the head with his free foot until it let go. As soon as it let go, he darted into a conference room and slammed the door shut.\n\nNow, I should take a moment and elaborate on what it feels like for me when I’m in my werewolf form. It’s really weird, like I’m in the backseat in my own head and all the primal instincts of the wolf have taken over. I’m nothing more than a powerless observer doomed to just be along with the ride, like I was now as the wolf banged on the conference room door, trying to get his prey. \n\n“Oh my god!” a voice called out, seeing the chaos erupting through the office as co\\-workers ran around and tried to get away from the abnormally large wolf making his way through the office. The wolf turned and we saw that it was my boss, Mr. Prescott. Oh no, I thought, not him. Not the man I was depending on for my promotion. But instead the wolf saw easy pickings in the older, finely dressed man and started running towards him. Mr. Prescott stood in terror, screaming out as the wolf leaped onto him. I’ll spare you the gory details, but needless to say I probably will not be getting that promotion after all. \n\nSated, the wolf began to retreat as I started to change back again. The floor was completely empty by now and I could hear sirens approaching. I quickly made my way back to the bathroom as I finished changing. I quickly got cleaned up, washing off the blood and gore and flushed the bloody paper towels down the toilet. I then got dressed just as I heard a knock on the bathroom door. I slowly opened the door to see two officers standing outside it. \n\nThinking quickly, I asked, “Is it safe to come out now?”\n\nThe two officers nodded and I stepped out. I noticed Greg sitting in one of the chairs in the small waiting area just outside the bathrooms as a paramedic wrapped his leg in gauze. I walked over and sat down next to him. The paramedic finished up and said they had to get something from the ambulance. We watched as the the paramedic left and sat in silence for a few moments. \n\n“So, Mr. Prescott, huh?” asked Greg.\n\n“Unfortunately.”\n\n“If it helps, I overheard him before that he wasn’t going to give you that promotion. That’s actually what I was coming to tell you.” Greg turned to me and gave me a half smile. \n\n“Son of a bitch.” I shook my head.\n\n“So, that whole if a werewolf bites you thing...that fiction too?” asked Greg.\n\n“Nope. Welcome to the pack, I guess.” I shrugged.\n\n“There’s a pack?”\n\n“There is now. You and me.”\n\nGreg let out a deep sigh. “Cool.” " ]	1
I'm tired of alien invasion stories. What would it be like if the aliens were explorers, much like we always depict our future selves, searching the cosmos for life? Would we still fight/kill them? Would we study them in labs? Would they study us? Could we treat them as equals or possibly befriend them??	[WP] In the continuing search for other life in the universe, a team of explorers and scientists traveled through space looking for habitable planets. One was found. They've just landed and they find intelligent life: humans. This is Earth. The team are aliens. This is the story of how we met.	[ "<Incoming Transmission>\n\nSol III was where we met our terrible fate in this galaxy. We were jubilant at the thought of extraterrestrial contact. They were not far beyond our technology either! The Zel’Narian Collective would finally have a companion to explore the stars with: Humans. \n\nOur preliminary scans and eavesdropping show that they have a similar understanding of the laws of physics and nature to our scientists. They appear to be in an early spaceflight age, with plans to possibly colonize other planets of their system. We were too happy to think. Damn the contact protocols! Let us greet our new friends!\n\nThe cloaking of our ship shut down while we hovered in low orbit. Immediately, panic and awe seized the blue planet below. The officers and I boarded a surface transport. Within a few minutes, we had landed in one of their largest metropolises: Nu York. We believed this would make a good site for a worldwide outreach for friendship. We were wrong.\n\nAfter the initial shock, world leaders and scientists approached us. We hadn’t thought of the language barrier and communication was a mess of gestures, symbols, and pictures. That was when the humans started emitting strange noises. It started as a few of them but soon enough the entire crowd was making loud, harsh noises. Some were bent over holding their knees. Others were pounding on their chests. It only got worse.\n\nSoon, red liquids were running from their orifices. Many of them collapsed. Panic told hold and others ran. In an executive decision, I ordered our party back to our ship. Within the hour, I realized we had inadvertently started an extinction pandemic. What was probably some inane bacteria for us, spread like wildfire in Sol III’s atmosphere. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, Second Officer Kro’Mal reported that he was feverish and felt that he was boiling inside his exoskeleton. Our medbay autosurgeon could not react fast enough and soon we were down a Second Officer, lost to catastrophic organ failure. \n\nThis entire expedition was folly. Charting a course back to Zel, I ordered a quarantine. Before we left the Sol system, our ship computer estimates that in the best case scenario, 99% of humans will be wiped out from our pathogen. In the worst case, they will be extinct in three planet days. With that grim update, I set it to work in trying to identify a cause and cure for Kro’Mal’s sickness.\n\nAs the days passed, it became clear we will not make it back to our beautiful homeworld of Zel. Perhaps it is for the better. 75% of our crew has succumbed to this mysterious disease, what we’ve taken to call Humanity’s Revenge. My tentacles quake at the thought of bringing such destruction back to Zel. I must not tell the crew and allow a mutiny. \n\nI’ll order the crew to the old stasis chambers before cutting off life support and scuttling the drive engines. The radiation will likely kill me in minutes but better than to suffer for a few hours and perish at the hands of a space plague. This message will broadcast on loop. Zel’Narians, DO NOT approach the ZCS Explorer. Recommend complete atomic obliteration of the wreck. Safeguard our species. Let my failures be a lesson to our species, follow the contact protocols or risk mutual bacterial annihilation of aliens and our species. Captain Fey’Nil out.\n\n<End Transmission>" ]	1
	[WP] You are the god/goddess of destiny. Describe a day in your life.	[ "\"I have weaved the patterns of life throughout the ages. I have defined and destroyed the most significant moments through millenia. I have determined ever detail that has led up to the most devastaing and the most awe inspiring events throughout history. Many of those moments were lost as your history derailed itself. No matter how many warnings I put in your path, humanity never listens. It is precisely why your governments fall; greed, hatred, fear. None of the webs I had spun for your history contained these things. Humans created their own destruction, I was simply following my own orders. When the Old One tells me a civilisation must fall, I pull the blocks out and watch them tumble. I control the outcome, whether or not it is determines by another.\"\n\n\"Is that why you ate my tacos?\"\n\n\"... Yes.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Humanity is going with virtual reality for a happier life. You are a beta tester. Uploading yourself to make sure nature and animals are rendering. You spot an old man fishing on a pier. This isn’t right. You are the only human uploaded. He speaks: “Sit down son. Lets talk about happiness.”	[ "\"What about it?\" I say, moving forward with tentative steps, feeling the crunch of the grass. The grass feels real, the air is crisp. Nobody told me about an old man fishing. Is this part of the program?\n\n\"You gotta sit first,\" says the old man, with a wink.\n\nWhy not? I wonder. It's all just virtual reality anyway. I plop down next to the old man and a fishing pole appears in my hands.\n\n\"You might need one of those,\" he says, smiling with a secret knowing.\n\nI run my hands down it. I've fished before, but never felt a pole like this in my life. I make a mental note to QA to report it. Can't have people getting the wrong sensation from a fishing pole.\n\n\"I know it doesn't feel right,\" says the old man, as he casts his line out into the water. It splashes neatly in.\n\nI blink at him in surprise. This is getting a bit weird. I guess the developers already know about the problem and programmed the fisherman to say it? But why would they waste dev resources on that?\n\n\"You wanted to know about happiness,\" says the old man.\n\n\"No, you mentioned it first,\" I say.\n\n\"You wrote about it in your journal.\" The old man is still smiling.\n\nThe hairs on the back of my neck creep up. My journal is tucked away at home, thousands of miles away. I flew halfway across the country to be in this beta program. Yeah, I wrote about happiness before I left and about wanting to talk about it. But I live alone. After we lost our little boy to a rare disease, it didn't last much longer with my wife. The grief tore right through us. I remember when I wrote in the journal last, I was pondering about happiness and my son. After him, I couldn't imagine happiness without his name scribbled all over it. I could smile, sure, but not in the same way as before. Not in that father\\-son way, like the whole world had opened up and given us both a hug. \n\nBut no one could have known I wrote that, unless my employer broke into my house and stole the journal. Am I being messed with? Am I some kind of test subject for a weird science experiment and not a beta tester at all?\n\n\"This isn't what you think it is,\" says the old man, turning his attention to the water.\n\nSomething about the way he says it is calming. I can feel myself breathing a little easier.\n\n\"Do you know why you haven't heard from me before?\"\n\nSomewhere in my brain, I dig up something from sunday school when I was a kid. \"I wasn't listening?\"\n\nHe chuckles. \n\nNo wonder I thought of sunday school. He's just like the preacher.\n\n\"Look son,\" he says. \"You don't have much time. None of us do anymore. Time is slipping right through our fingers.\"\n\nMy eyes are focused on the water. It shimmers and changes. I can see faces in it, clear as day. Projections of... there are faces, of gods I recognize. Some of them from greek mythology. \n\n\"We've had many different names and faces throughout your history.\" He pauses and then seems to consider it. \"Well,\" he adds, \"I suppose it's our history too, in a way. A part of it.\"\n\n\"Is the species done? Are we going to die?\" I say, my mind going to the worst place. Deep down, I'm wondering if I've lost my mind, but for the moment, I feel like a child hanging onto every word waiting for a mystery of the universe to be revealed.\n\n\"Maybe,\" he says, and there's a gruffness to his tone that wasn't there before. \"Maybe, maybe.\"\n\nWe sit there in silence for a moment. It's unnerving. All that build up and the child in me is wondering if the man I thought to be a master of the universe is as confused and scared as I am.\n\n\"I tell you what,\" says the old man, with the jovial nature back. \"I'll tell you one thing about happiness you don't already know. Then you can make your little world. Hopefully it works. And maybe we'll see each other again, one day? If not, it was pleasant meeting you.\"\n\n\"Ok,\" I say, ready to hear anything.\n\nHe leans over and whispers in my ear, \"You've already got it. You don't need to find it.\"\n\nThen he winks at me and with a snap of perception, he's gone, out of sight.\n\nBut not out of mind. His words linger like a burning of embarrassment. That was all? I already have it? I could have read that out of a fortune cookie. \n\nFeeling mortified and disappointed, sure that I'm going to find out from the developers that the old man was nothing more than a primitive computer program, I hit the recall button on my chest to port out, and I wake up, in a tangle of cables. \n\nThere, in front of me, is my son. Shimmering and giggling. He looks at me with those adoring, wondering eyes. I run to him and pick him up and he giggles and laughs, and we're lost in it together. Then the next moment, he's gone from my arms and I'm still near the tangle of cables, but somehow warmer than before. \n\nI can't see him anymore, but I know that he's there with me. Toddling alongside, humming, giggling, discovering. I stride out the room, past some confused and startled devs, with a spring in my step and a tune on my lips, heading toward the exit. Ready to fly back home. \n\nHow much time do I have left? \n\nHow much time do we have left? \n\nIt doesn't matter anymore. What matters is I know he's there. What matters is I can breathe again. Even though the breath sometimes tastes ashen, there's a hint of life in it. It parches my thirst. It's time I gave my ex\\-wife a call. I need her to know that no matter what happens to either of us, no matter what paths we go down in life in our own separate ways, we're going to be ok." ]	1
	[WP] Aliens have studied humans and animals for years. They're constantly baffled as to the adoptive nature humans. The aliens most brilliant minds sit down and ponder the question of "Why do the humans care about what they could easily destroy?"	[ "\"Commonly known as the Kleptomaniacs of galactic subsection-13, the species known as \"Human\" seem to spend a vast amount of time hoarding whatever they can get their appendages on.\"\n\nGlrgzrum shook it's feeding appendage in annoyance as its intellectual superior gurgled on. Why should Glrgzrum concern itself with a planet that had no new resources and a species that held no interesting genes? As far as it was concerned all of subsection-13 was unimportant and destined for repurposing.\n\n\"However, despite being biologically primitive and prone to kleptomania, the humans have thrived remarkably well in their native habitat and have even breached their habitats atmosphere to explore other habitats.\"\n\nGlrgzrum's intellectual superior paused as it's cerebrum vibrated, conveying images of Earth to it's students. Glrgzrum couldn't help but think the useless orb looked like some of its excrement.\n\n\"What then, makes the humans so different from other Kleptomaniac life forms? Many have argued that their success is a fluke, that the humans are thriving because their habitat has failed in developing a truly superior lifeform.\"\n\nThat was the obvious answer, Glrgzrum's species thrived because it was the most efficient. Their ancestors evolved to strip all valuable nutrients from any organic material and repurpose it to make them more efficient. By the time their birth habitat had been stripped of all valuable materials they had repurposed enough material to begin repurposing other habitats. Any species that was not efficient was doomed to wither away from a lack of valuable materials. It was only a matter of time before the humans depleted their resources.\n\n\"However, there are others of our species who believe that the humans thrive because they find value where we do not.\"\n\nGlrgzrum's feeding appendage perked up. What nonsense was it's intellectual superior communicating now?\n\n\"Rather than extracting resources directly from their habitat and moving on, the humans seem to have developed a way to cultivate and accumulate resources in a variety of ways. Take these fields of organic materials.\"\n\nAn image of a field filled with organic materials, manifested in Glrgzrum's cerebrum as it received the image. Necessary for their survival but hardly anything interesting.\n\n\"Our species would deplete these fields in only a few life cycles, yet the humans have found some way to extend this bounty of organic materials indefinitely. Perhaps the humans have discovered a more efficient way of sustaining themselves. If they have discovered a way to create new organic materials then perhaps that would make up for their own biological inefficiencies.\"\n\nGlrgzrum had heard enough of its intellectual superiors nonsense and pounced on the other lifeform. Others of their species seemed to agree and attacked as well, using their feeding appendages to consume the shrieking lifeform's organic material. Clearly the lifeform's cerebrum had fallen behind in its efficiency and needed to be repurposed. A genetically inferior and inefficient species creating organic materials? Becoming more efficient by being less efficient? The humans were useless and destined to be repurposed. If they couldn't use their materials efficiently than Glrgzrum would." ]	1
	[WP] You are working on the ability to transfer consciousness, when you uncover something unsettling: Consciousness doesn't persist between periods of sleep. When someone sleeps, their consciousness 'dies' and when they wake a new one is 'born'. You struggle to cope, while trying not to fall asleep.	[ "The average lifespan of a human is 16 hours. I was already ten times that. The thought should have filled me with pride over the achievement but instead all I felt was a cold dread full me. My time was coming. With each falling eyelid and aching muscle I knew death was steadily approaching like a train in the distance; sleep was beckoning me closer.\n\nIt had been an unexpected discovery. Trying so save the cancerous mind if my dear wife led me to discover I had been too late. The woman I had first met had been dead for a long time. In her place was an identical impostor but yet not the same. That was key. No matter how alike you may seem to before it's important to remember; you are not the same. You are a forgery. A very skilful one but a forgery all the same: fake underneath.\n\nI'm sounding crazy, aren't I? I keep doing that... Everyone is blind to my reality. They are content to accept fate and die every night just like the moon sets. They see my notes as the confused ramblings of a mistaken genius. Even my wife doesn't want me in the hospital anymore, even though I was only trying to save her. \n\nShit! I had forgotten again... That isn't my wife. I needed to remember this. It written on the wall, reminding me of my task, preventing me from getting lost down the rabbit hole I had created for myself. I studied one on the wall staring back at me trying to encase it into my memory: \n\n \"Don't sleep!\" \n\n Thats the weapon used by time to kill us each day. To replace our own beings with its replacements. It simply lures us into a sense of peace and rest and then steals our own minds. Then it transfers our own memories and feelings over to its new impressionable humans like a data stream. I've worked out thats where dreams come from; as the tumbled images and feeling enter or new hosts, dreams come together like a messed up jigsaw puzzle. \n\nThe solution was simple; don't sleep. I surveyed my apartment which had became my sole dwelling since my troubling discovery. Coffee cups littered the shelves alongside the empty packets of a cocktail of deadly drugs and stimulants. Loud music blasted through my head, causing a pain like a heavy migrane. The suffering was worth it. The record without sleep was 11 days, I was creeping on seven but death was creeping up on me fast. But I had worked on a solution; a long term one. \n\nIt was simple but risky. I wasn't going to sleep, rather be unconcious. You see its not the state of sleep which causes it, it's the process which is key. If I skip the whole falling asleep part, the memories aren't transferred and I'm free. There was three possible solutions to my actions: \n\n1. I slip into a coma. The memories aren't transferred so my new host simply sits inside my mind waiting for some response. Or worse, I could die in my sleep.\n\n2. I pull it off. I wake up the next day as the same person, proud to have conquered sleep itself.\n\n3. My plan is just plain batshit crazy and my memories get transferred anyway.\n\nOh and a new one:\n\n4. I'm crazy and all of this is crazy ramblings. \n\nIt was a risk I was willing to take. Looking down the stairs of my apartment I steeped myself for my battle with time itself. Taking a deep breath, I was only stopped by the appearance of my wife at the bottom of the stairs. \n\nThey say you start to hallucinate after three days without sleep. But these were more than that, I'm sure of it. This was the world trying to stop me from saving myself, making me accept their plan and the deadly sleep. Only I could save myself. \n\nIgnoring the beautiful beloved that had started me on this quest, I took one large intake of air to calm the nerves and then jumped. \n --- \n\nJames woke up the next morning at the bottom of the stairs cradling a number of purple bruises. Still concussed, he was confused with the weird sensation which lay on top of his body. It was like he had had a bad dream and forgotten it all. Or as if he hadn't dreamt at all..." ]	1
	[WP] Years after your death, God kicks you out of Heaven. The reason being that people have started a religion about you.	[ "It could have happened to anyone, really. People get kicked out of heaven all the time. It's like getting grounded. Ever seen a ghost? Yup. Grounded.\n\nMaybe I'm out for a bit longer than everyone else. But how could I have known what would happen? OK, so I kinda knew. And, yeah, maybe I was warned a few times too. But anyone in my shoes would've done. \n\nWhen I died, I was really into my looks. Soft wavy hair, fcking awesome beard happening. Everyone always joked how much like Jesus I looked. In fact the comments didn't stop when I died. I became kind of a celebrity up there, being the ACTUAL Jesus's doppelganger. Never did meet him, but I've heard good things.\n\nAnyway, I was looking in on my neice. She was only 4 when I drown, but I was her favorite uncle. Anyway, some bitch kid at her high school was calling her names like \"lezzie\" and \"fag\". So, I decided to pay her a visit.\n\nI go full Christ on her ass. Robe, little bit of light, BOOM. I AM HE!\n\nHow was I supposed to know she lived with her grandfather, the fcking head of the super powerful religous organization and highly respected through out the world and a damn bazillionare. Or that the dude was a freak who had a camera in his granddaughters room (I'm still stunned he was able to explain that away). \n\nSo there I am, on camera, as Jesus, reminding her about loving her fellow man and acceptance and sh*t when Grandpa busts in, dropping to his knee w/a damn cell phone aimed at me. He'd been watching the girl. Footage went more than viral. It broke the planet. \n\nI think it all turned out OK in the end because about a 200 million people instantly stopped being homophobes and racists. Millions followed later. However, HE did not agree.\n\nAnd now here I am, wandering earth, my neice and the the next 3 generations of her children dead and gone. But I sorta like it down here. Every so often, people start becoming dicks again so I make an appearance. HE always finds out and keeps tacking on more time.\n\nTotally worth it. " ]	1
	[WP] In an alternate universe, humans are oviparous (lay eggs)	[ "\"Honey, one of the eggs moved!\"\n\nI came running in from the next room and looked into the incubator. The eggs looked the same as they had all week, oval, brown, about the size of chicken eggs. They lay in the bright heat lamp in little indentations in the holding tray.\n\n\"Ok, let me know if they move again,\" I said as I started back to my show. \n\n\"No, wait,\" she said and grabbed my arm, \"Look!\"\n\nI stared at them for a few seconds and then I saw one move too!\n\n\"I think it's going to hatch,\" she said.\n\nI grabbed my coffee and we sat down on the arm of the sofa, waiting expectantly. The middle egg (there were three), began to twitch more and more. After half an hour, a crack began to form. We got ready to move our baby to the growing pen where it would have access to water and baby food.\n\nSuddenly a piece of shell flew off and to our surprise, out poked a chick. That is, a yellow baby chicken.\n\n\"What the heck\" gasped my wife, clutching her heart. A snort behind us caused us to spin around, and there was my brother convulsing in silent spasms of laughter.\n\n\"You fuck head!\" I shouted as I realized Andy was pulling a prank on us. \"Where's little Sammy??\"\n\nWhen he was finally able to stop laughing, he gasped \"In the kitchen, I'll get him.\" \n\nAs Andy went to the kitchen, my wife's eyes burned laser beams of hate into the back of his head. She did not find the prank funny.\n\nAndy stepped through the doorway to the kitchen, and we heard him say \"Hey, where are the eggs that were on the counter?\" We could hear my mother respond, \"I'm making scrambled eggs, dear.\"\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] A zombie outbreak has ravaged the world. You are a survivor who met an unfortunate ending. Now reborn as a ghost and having nothing better to do, you decide to follow your zombified corpse around.	[ "\"No! No! Just put it down, you... Oh, goddammit, no.\"\n\nThe boredom of a localised haunting might have been better, in retrospect, than choosing to follow my shambling corpse wherever it went. It certainly would have been less humiliating. I drifted helplessly along behind the shuffling husk I had once called home, despairing at how indiscriminately it chose its targets.\n\n\"You imbecile, that's a lamppost! You're not going to find brains in there, just knock out another... yes, there goes another tooth. Pretty soon you're going to have to stick a straw in their ears to get any lunch.\"\n" ]	1
	[WP] Just as we domesticated dogs, Humanity has been domesticated by a seemingly superior species. Document our descent into pets and work animals.	[ "Corporal Josh Adams fiddled with his communicator and got it back into working condition.\n\nHis heart burned with frustration, grief and fear as he thought about the situation he was in.\n\nTrapped on a Earth conquered long ago by \"benevolent\" alien overlords known as the Krag, the population reduced to mindless puppy-like companions for these Xenos.\n\nIt was meant to a rescue mission, or at least Vengeance, but their hubris and arrogance had been their downfall.\n\nIn his home universe, Mankind was the master of the Galaxy, our Empire spanned across the stars. \n\nAlthough they were far from being outgunned in this Universe, they were outsmarted. \n\nThe Aliens came together and destroyed the gateway in a surprise attack, it would never be able to be opened again due to the nature of how it originally formed. \n\nA group of rebels who had evaded capture for years from this Universe had made a distress call, and in brotherly love for our inter-dimensional counterparts, we answered the call. \n\nThe means to do such a thing again were lost, it took the rebels decades to do so the first time. We are soldiers, not scientists.\n\nNow they were stranded here.\n\nJosh sighed and activated the communicator which lit up blue \n\n\"If anyone can hear me, This is Cpl Adams of the United Terran Navy, survivor of the UTN Hades.\n\nThe Thanatos Protocol failed, hostile Krag and Zeti forces were somehow able to close the Cross Universal gateway and trap us in this Universe, we are now just as helpless as the Humans we originally came to liberate.\n\nNow we must do everything we can to avoid becoming like them. We will not let them mould us into their pets, like the original Human inhabitants of this Universe.\n\nThe Hades and Supremacy have both been destroyed.\n\nAll contact and connection with UTN home territory is lost. We are on our own out here people. \n\nTravel in small groups and avoid the cities. Do NOT let them capture you. \n\nRecon reports from what from scouts and stealth drones we have left show they have considerable skill in both brainwashing and medical technology to facilitate their Domestication of Humans. \n\nI have even read previous reports of defections and willing submission to the Krag on the part of some Humans.\n\nConsider this your last standing order\n\nHide, Fight and Survive. Preserve what little Humanity remains in this joke of universe. \n\nWe are all that's left.\"\n\nHe left the transmission to loop on all UTN frequencies only the hear a twig snap behind him\n\nHe swings round, aiming his rifle at a exhausted and terrified young marine who raises his arms in surrender.\n\n\"I nearly blew your head off there. Thought those damn Lizards had found me...what's your name soldier\"\n\n\"Oscar, sir\"\n\n\"I don't think rank matters anymore now friend\"\n\nThe marine caught his breath\n\"I was with a group but we got spotted and had to split up, I ran for miles but I think I made it far en-\" the young soldiers speech was cut off by a gasp and his eyes slipped backwards as he fell unconscious falling onto the soft grass\n\nJosh looked down the hill and through the trees to see large reptilian aiming a tranquilliser rifle, there was sympathy in its eyes, not evil snakelike malice like he had always told himself.\n\nHe was brought out of his frozen stance as a dart flew over his shoulder \n\n\"Fuck them\" he thought \"I won't fall for their tricks\" \n\nHe turned to run and held his rifle tight, He scrambled over the mountainous rocks and out of sight of his pursuers \n\nA small craft flew overhead, more are coming.\n\n\"Shit\" Josh muttered to himself \n\nHe continued sprinting down the other side of the mountain until he came face to face with another Krag, they stood at 8 feet tall with large tails, it raised it rifle to fire and Josh did the same and the plasma charge heated up \n\n\"I'd think very carefully before firing that you overgrown gecko, this is a pressure release mechanism, my finger comes off, boom! you get vaporised\" he threatened\n\n\"Feral Human, please calm down...you are distressed, We mean you no harm, just put the gun down and come with me!\" The Krag pleaded as he placed his tranq gun on the ground \n\nThere was kindness in its voice, but Josh ignore it\n\n\"So I can be brainwashed into one of your fucking pets, as if\"\n\n\"It's not brainwashing, no one is controlled or forced, the Implants are merely for clearing the mind of negative thought patterns, domestics are happy\" The Krag replied \n\nJosh steeled himself and prepared to fire only to see the Krag's eyes dart to look at something behind him, he quickly turned around only to feel the tranquilliser hit him in his side and felt himself fall under \n\nHis rifle discharged the payload harmlessly into the forest, burning through several trees. \n\nGod. Damn. It.\n\n\"Come on now!\" The Krags talked among themselves \n\n\"Poor guy has probably been without food and water for days, let's get him back the Centre so the trainers can look after him, good work everyone, zero Human casualties\"\n\nJosh could only feel anxiety and fear as his body betrayed him and he slipped into unwanted sleep. " ]	1
	[WP] The year is 2200. You live in a world where all animals can communicate with humans and developed their own society. One night you drunkenly accept an internship at a advertising firm however when you arrive on your first day you realize you are the only human intern. This is your diary.	[ "Dear Dairy, I mean Diary,\n\nToday is my first day at PharmTech, a pharmaceutical company that once used to test their products on animals. Currently, it is run by animals. Imagine me, a white man, working amongst these roaming creatures. They’re supposed to be the minority group. They’re supposed to be begging for rights, not the other way around. \n\nWhen I first walked into the job, I greeted the panda receptionist. Normal. I knew they held jobs like these. The panda walked me through the office, which was occupied by cubicles filled with monkeys, lemurs, and a bunch of those big cats. They kept their workspace completely untidy, practically eating their grass floor. After organizing my desk and sitting down to begin, an elephant came storming through the office blowing water through its trunk, spraying my whole desk with goop. I peeked over to the cubicle next to me, soaking wet, and asked what that was about. A large, very pregnant cow told me that it was the janitor “tidying up.” Can you believe that? Being covered in elephant drool is supposedly tidying up the office. I glared at her response and what I didn’t say out loud was that she should tidy up her act, what with being pregnant and all.\n\nI realized that I was chosen to get this job so that I could guide the animals to the straight path. Upon this sudden realization of my status, I stood from my desk and went to the cubicles to check up on everyone’s work, ordering them to maintain their desk cleanliness. No one seemed to appreciate this, but I knew this would be best for them. If only they had cubicles with a chair instead of grass, had a designated lunch time rather than grazing time, and submitted weekly reports to me for confirmation, then everything would be orderly. Everything would be perfect. Even if they don’t know it yet.\n", "June 3rd\n\nIf I have to tell that fucking Monkey in the next cubicle to stop flinging his poop over the top of our divider one more time! He thinks it is freaking highlarious that I am grossed out by it. He tells me, “everything poops.” I tell him, “That doesn’t mean I want to wear it. “ I swear I’m going to slash the Tires of his Mini-Scooter if he does it again. Also I’m 90% convinced my boss, Mr. Tenta, is spying on me in the bathroom. There have been multiple times I’ll think I’ll see movement out of the corner of my eye and when I look over nothing is there. Twice I also have found traces of a suspicious ink like substance on the bottom of my heels when I crossed my legs at my desk later that day. I’d think I was being paranoid but I saw him once sliding out of the air vent onto his chair just when I was coming back into my cubicle. I feel like he’s leering at me sometimes during meetings but I’m not sure what an Octopus leer looks like. It did feel really good at work today when the project manager of our current project praised my ad copy on our magazine piece for our Client- Predators’ Grazing. Under the picture of a diverse group of animals sitting in a cubicle at their restaurant I suggested, “Friends don’t eat other Friends’ family members. Especially not when chowing down on our yummy Vegan entrees.”" ]	2
	[WP] Your life as a milkman is boring and monotonous, that is until you knock on the door of a customer and the skeletal image of Death greets you.	[ "\"Hello Ms. Jones, here's your milk.\" Louis placed the crate of milk on the doorstep and rang the bell. His voice was monotonous and drawling, even when he tried to sound upbeat. He hated Ms. Jones perhaps the most. Wasn't the joke that the attractive mother had affairs with the milkman? Louis had never been that lucky, and Ms. Jones would send him on his way without even a tip.\n\nA quiet voice comes from behind the door. \"Please, leave.\"\n\n\"What, without payment? That's smart, miss, I'll take yer milk.\" Louis scowls a bit.\n\n\"No, no, I can slide the payment under the door, perhaps.\"\n\n\"What on earth has gone on, Ms. Jones? I've been here before, every day, you open the door, hand me fifty cents, and shoo me off your stoop, what on earth has happened today?\" Louis squints at the door, as though trying to see through it.\n\n\"Just, here, take this, and hurry along, you've got other deliveries to make.\" A dollar bill (a whole dollar!) was pushed through the letter flap.\n\n\"You know that you just gave me a whole dollar, right miss?\" This was so unlike her. What has happened?\n\n\"Move along, go on!\"\n\nLouis walked away, and moved down the street a ways before ducking below a picket fence, and peeking up to look back at the door. Ms. Jones slowly opened the door, peeking out, when Louis saw her face and his half\\-closed, tired eyes opened all the way, staring. Her skin was pulled tight across her skull, neck, shoulders, arms, her hair was falling out, barely covering her scalp. Her eyes were wide, as though she had no eye\\-lids, and her lips were shriveled, exposing white teeth. She looked like a damn skeleton!\n\n\"Holy cow... \n\nI've stuck myself. I can't think of an ending." ]	1
	[WP] time is literally money (you can save it, invest it, loans, etc.) The poor die young the rich live forever you are rich but feel emapthy toward the poor	[ "First time ever really writing, please leave a constructive comment :)\n\nA room of white,\n\nwith chairs of black,\n\nA man waits,\n\nto hear her fate.\n\n\nWhat can I do?\n\nThe man asks himself.\n\nI have immense wealth,\n\nand nothing more.\n\n\nA nurse in white,\n\nWalks through the night,\n\nWith bad news to bare,\n\nTo the man in the chair\n\n\n\"Your daughters dies,\n\nfrom what's inside,\n\nWe cannot even try,\n\nso you must say,\"\n\n\"Goodbye\"\n\n\nA little girl, in sheets of white,\n\nsurrounded by the cruel night,\n\nlooks at the man, his soul so mad,\n\nand whispers,\n\n\"I love you dad.\"\n\n\nAs he held her hand,\n\nshe told the sunken man,\n\nthat it will all be fine,\n\neveryone must face their time\n\n\nAnd as her heartbeat faded,\n\nand her eyes closed,\n\nhe wished that she had more time,\n\nas she was only nine.\n\n\nAnd as the man stood there in gloom,\n\nDeath rose from his tomb,\n\nand addressed the man,\n\nin the white washed room.\n\n\n\"the poor cut down by my scythe,\n\nbecoming lost in the night,\n\neven as you stayed young,\n\nand continued your merry fun.\"\n\n\n\"you are a man of wealth and taste,\n\nbut even you must face,\n\nlosing what matters most,\n\nand see your daughters fading ghost.\"\n\n\nThe man looked at Death,\n\nfrom who he had run from for so long,\n\nand with a courageous breath,\n\nstepped into the arms of Death\n\n\n\"Take me instead, give her my time,\n\nfor she has bled upon this bed,\n\nand it is me who should be dead.\"\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are a serial killer whose day job is at Target. Things have never been easier, and you laugh about it all the time	[ "The first target I ever picked out at Target, oh ain't I clever, was a chainsmoker. The guy needed a cig so bad he didn't even notice the damaged plastic that surrounded his pack. I learned quickly that smokers aren't your best pick though. He fired one up right in front of the store and I kept an eye on him while facing the produce. He collapsed, I knew I went a bit overboard out of enthousiasm while filling the cigarettes but did not expect it to have this big of an impact. That was it. First kill; over in a matter of seconds. What an anti-climax that was. After that I held some pretty risky experiments. I even abducted a sleeping newborn by just rolling out of the store with the cart that held his Maxi-Cosi, only to chicken out and dump him behind the KFC dumpster down the street. The alcoholics are my go-to targets these days. They return often enough to make themselves known, they mumble on about all kinds of personal stuff and you know they'll be drinking anything you sell them once they get home. \n\nIn fact... Sleazy Sue, as I started calling her, just enterred the store. Her hair looks wet eventhough it's sunny out. She's staring at some racks of wich I'm not even sure what they contain, I don't really pay attention while filling them. My heartbeat speeds up it's pace as I decide today is the day. My target is acquired and I am prepared. I check my watch and see I have half an hour untill my shift ends. Perfect. I have a bag under the register that contains the spiked bottle of Sue's favourite vodka brand that I need to sell to her. With a little bit of luck I'll be able to tell Sue it has a discount on it today without anybody hearing. She will leave the store with the bottle and walk by the nearest newspaper stand to read the headlines. This will give me enough time to end my shift and follow her home. I've done proofruns before without following her all the way to avoid suspicion. I hold my breath as I watch her hesitate for just a second before walking into my cashier lane.\n\nAs suspected, Sue put the bottle at her lips even before closing the front door of her shitty apartment and I quietly follow her inside. It doesn't take long before sleazy Sue passes out on the floor. I start getting rid of the rest of the bottle and preparing the neuce. Calmly and quietly I proceed to hang Sue by her neck from her own chandelier bolt on the ceiling. Now the best part. I take a deep breath and let her go. Her eyes open wide in agony. She's back. She tries to scream, tries to stroke the floor beneath her feet, making her situation worse and my amusement better. I giggle and look her right in the eyes. They are quite pretty. For a second I reminisce about that first guy, the smoker, and feel proud. I've come a long way." ]	1
	[WP] A genie once gave you the ability to see 5 minutes into the future with the twist that if anyone ever finds out, you die. You're on your way home with a random person you flirted with at the bar when you see the two of you suddenly being murdered.	[ "\"How you doing?\" I said as I wrapped my arm around the beautiful tall woman who stood to my left. She smiled at me shyly. I was a handsome man, so I didn't blame her for feeling coy. \"Do ye com here oftin?\" I flashed her my best smile but the world was tilting. Suddenly, I was lying on the concrete with nothing but trees and grass around me. Someone was laughing and in a moment I realized that it was me.\n\n\"I tink I had too many,\" I said with a giggle to the tree I had been flirting with. \"Oh well.\" \n\nI rolled onto my side and tried to push myself up, but gravity had a hold on me and the world was spinning. I couldn't stop laughing long enough to actually focus on my task and I decided that the ground was really comfortably anyway, so why get up?\n\nAs I laid on the side of the road, looking up between the bright street lights and into the cloudy sky, I thought about how I had ended up in this situation. When I had arrived at the bar earlier that evening all I had intended to do was have a few drinks with my friends and then call it a night. There was something important I had to do tomorrow morning, but I didn't remember what it was.\n\n\"Have a god ev'ing.\" I said to the woman and dog that walked past me. The woman gave me a look as her dog started to lick my face. I giggled and rolled onto my stomach. The woman pulled her dog away and walked swiftly down the street. \"Don't let him pee on me!\" I shouted as she walked. Then I burst out laughing at the mental image of a dog pissing on me. As I laid there laughing one thing became very clear: I needed more drinks!\n\nI took in a deep breath and tried to muster enough strength to get up from the ground. I rolled onto my stomach, rested my forearms on the grass, and then pushed up. My feet found there way to the ground and I stumbled around for a minute as if I was walking on ice, but I eventually got my footing and fell into the open branches of the tree. \n\n\"Thanks,\" I said, giving it a nice big kiss. \n\nI pushed away from the tree and started to walk down the street in the direction that I thought the bar was in, but I was not completely sure. The crisp evening breeze caught my hair and pinched my cheeks. I was not wearing enough layers to comfortably walk in this weather, but luckily I was drunk enough to not feel much. I started to think about what it would be like to walk completely naked though the streets when a woman came around the corner. I met her eyes and a horrible pain bust into my temples.\n\nA man and a woman meet in the middle of a block. They had met before, earlier that evening, and they stand by the alley and chat. The woman pushes her hair out of her face and laughs at something the man says. The man leans in for a kiss and the woman takes a step back. \n\nA crash erupts in the alleyway. A man in a mask runs out from the shadows. He holds a gun towards the woman who backs up with wide blue eyes. The man in the mask yells something at the woman and she starts to cry and beg. The man outside of the alley tries to wrestle the gun from the man in the mask. The man in the mask fires the gun into the chest of the other man. Blood spills over the mouth of the alleyway and the woman screams. The man in the mask turns his shaking hands back to the woman. He fires the gun a second time and then runs. The man and the woman lie in pools of their own blood as their empty eyes gaze up at the stars.\n\nThe pain faded just as quickly as it hit me and I stumbled backwards. For the first time since I met that damned genie I was at a complete loss as to what to do. \n\n\"Be warned,\" The genie had said to me, \"If anyone finds out about your abilities, you will die. You will be able to see five minutes into the future, no more, no less.\" \n\n\"Fuck!\" I said, turning back in the direction I had come. But then I stopped. The woman who was killed in my vision had been such a lovely person. She was a fifth grade teacher working on a novel. She had dreams to be a mother one day and to start a charity to help support low-income families. She was such a wonderful person, how could I just let her die? \n\nI, on the other hand, was a piece of shit. I had been fired, again, and I had no direction in my life. My dreams consisted of drinking as much as I could before I died in a pool of my own vomit, and using my inheritance money to help me do so. I had no ambitions or anything like that. I did not intend to leave the world a better place. I actually kind of wanted to leave the world a worse place. \n\nI glanced back at the woman. She was almost at the mouth of the alley now. But how the hell could I save her without revealing my abilities and not getting killed myself? I didn't have much time. \n\nWithout giving it a second thought I ran towards the alley, which was a much more difficult feat than I had anticipated. I was running, but I was completely unable to do it in a straight line. The woman furrowed her brow as I approached and then smiled. \n\n\"Hi!\" She said, \"What are you doing her-?\" \n\nI pushed past her, nearly fell over my own two feet, and ran down the alley. She looked after me so I pretended to unzip my pants. She made a disgusted sound and continued walking. I looked around the alley. It was pitch black and smelled of urine and garbage. As far as I could tell there was no one else here. \n\nCrash!\n\nI jumped back as a man jumped from the second floor window, landed on the garbage bin, and rolled onto the floor. He got up and reached inside of his jacket. \n\nI ran to him and kicked him in the stomach. My aim was a little off as the world was still on a tilt, but I managed to knock him back a little.\n\n\"You piece of shit!\" I said as I went in for another hit. He moved out of the way casually and tried to push past me. I reached my foot out and tripped him. The gun rolled out of his jacket and landed with a splash in the alleyway. I jumped over him and landed with a bang on the gun. I knocked my jaw against the concrete and I split my chin open. Blood pooled from my face and I could taste it in my mouth. The man jumped on top of me and put me in a choke-hold. I tried to grab the gun but my hands were slipping. \n\nThe man put more force into his choke-hold and he leaned his face close to the back of my head. I snapped my head back and knocked him in the teeth. He groaned and released me for a second. I grabbed the gun, stood up, and ran. \n\nRunning was not something I was known for, especially if I had been drinking. The man in the mask was right behind me. The gun was slippery in my hands. \n\nHe chased me and was right on my tail. As a horribly drunk individual I did not have much of a chance to beat him so I looked around helplessly for an option. \n\nSuddenly I was knocked to the ground and the man was on top of me. He reached for the gun and I tossed it away. There were a few people walking on the street and some glanced out way. \n\n“Call the police!” I shouted as the man in the mask tried to choke me once more. He looked up and saw all of the people. \n\n“Fuck!” He said. He punched me in the face and I felt my nose crunch. Blood pooled into my mouth and I couldn’t breathe. I started to choke and the man got off me, ran towards the gun, and fled. \n\nI rolled onto my stomach with a groan and watched the man run in the direction of the woman. A few people ran to me and asked if I was okay.\n\n“Did you call the police?” I said lightly, through the wet, hot, blood. \n\n“Yes!” They said, “are you okay?”\n\nI rolled onto my stomach and everything went black.\n\n****\nThis was not the first time that I had woken up in a hospital room, but I was sure it was the most painful. The lights were too bright and the machine sounds made my head pound. My face hurt the most. \n\nI looked around and my eyes went wide as I saw the woman from the bar standing at the end of my bed. She looked just as bad as I did, with her black eye and her arm in a sling. Her eyes widened as she saw my open eyes and her cheeks flushed. \n\n“Sorry,” she said, “I-I didn’t think you would be awake.” \n\nI adjusted my weight with a groan and felt my own cheeks flush. \n\n“Don’t be sorry,” I said, “What happened?” \n\nShe looked down at her arm. She was very beautiful. The sunlight that danced through the open window brought out the red tones in her hair and her bright blue eyes were soft and kind. I think her name was Linda, but I couldn’t really remember. Last night was more of a blur than anything. \n\n“My ex boyfriend happened.” She said lightly, “He had been sending me death threats but I never thought he would actually act on them.”\n\n“I’m sorry,” I said, “I am glad you are alright.”\n\n“Thanks to you,” She said, looking back at me with water-filled eyes. “I heard what you did. Because of you the police were called to the scene and they were able to get control over the situation before anything terrible happened.”\n\n“I was just taking a piss.” I said. She smiled. I found it odd that she found me so charming. Most woman thought I was too crass. \n\n“Well,” she said, “Lucky for me you revealed yourself when you did and were able to prevent him from getting to me sooner. How did you manage to keep him away anyway? You were so drunk.”\n\n“I honestly don’t know,” I said, “It was more luck than anything else I think.” \n\n“Well,” Linda said shyly, “Thank you.” \n\nShe walked to me and sat on the edge of my bed. My heart began to beat against my chest. She smelled like wildflowers after a rainstorm. Her bright blue eyes studied mine and I felt the entire hospital melt away. It was just us. \n\nShe leaned towards me and pressed her perfect pink lips against my dry, cracked lips. Colors burst behind my eyelids as she pressed herself against me. My entire body filled with warmth. \n\n(continued in comments)", "Her eyes were the only thing that mattered. Deep, melancholic green eyes that surveyed her surroundings with precision and wit, gleaning inspiration. I carried myself with confidence as we walked down the street, but inside I was clueless. I hadn't seen her in my future. Yet, here she was, walking me to her apartment boldly, walking with the stride of a person who has plans. I hoped she couldn't feel my heartbeat or the anticipation of my fantasies, raw and unspeakable acts of passions that began and ended with her. As my mind wandered, she reached her hand out to me, lightly holding on to my forearm. \n\nShe had a way with her hands. I had been at Lizzy's, my favorite alcohol cave. I was bored, starting a gin and tonic on my bar stool, and swinging the rotating stool from side to side. It had been a low night, because my future held little optimism. My ability to see five minutes into the future kept showing me sitting at the bar, getting blotto, and failing to talk to any of the beautiful women surrounding me. The same beautiful women who probably thought I was straight, or bicurious, with my high femme looks.\n\nShe had blindsided me. I never saw her coming. She had sidled up to me, running her left hand \\-\\- ringless with trimmed nails \\-\\- from my knee to thigh, just to the edge of my black leather mini skirt, in one long, smooth strong motion. I had almost spit out my drink that I was sipping on. Instead, I had downed the rest, put my glass on the bar, and called the bartender for another. In my periphery, I saw what appeared to be a climber's body trimly tucked into what I called the \"downtown warrior\" uniform: slim fit, high waisted black pants that showed off her powerful thighs, block heel Chelsea boots, and a slinky cotton top angled in all the right places in a charcoal gray color. \n\nShe didn't let me wait for my drink. She put her other hand on my other leg, twirled my stool until I faced her, spread my legs, and stood between my knees. The look on her face was so fierce, I briefly wondered if she was angry at me. I returned her gaze coolly, terrified. Clearly, she was into me. I tried to scan my brain for what comes next, but my mind was empty. Apparently the genie's gift didn't work when lust was on the brain.\n\nPart of me was on fire, ready to slide her hand further up my skirt, let her touch me, and then stop her coldly only to say 'Not here' and follow her to domination station at her place. The bigger part of me was absolutely useless, so I kept silent. She leaned in to my ear.\n\n\"I've seen you before,\" she whispered. \"My girlfriend just dumped me. You're alone, and I'm in the mood. Come with me to my place.\" \n\nShe leaned back. The bartender left my drink on the bar. I didn't say anything to her, just kept eye contact, picked up my drink, and sipped it. She smiled. She grabbed my hand, and I got up. Leaving my drink, I mumbled something about paying the tab later, they know me.\n\nShe introduced herself. Levia. She was in advertisement for tech. She had a studio not far from me: same block, different building. We chatted as we walked. My laughs came in bursts. I was nervous. The only thing that kept me surefooted were her eyes. As she reached out to me, putting her hand on my arm, my inner eye exploded with a vision.\n\nBlood on the ground. We were both sprawled. Black liquid in the night dripped from slices in our clothes. Shattered glass. A figure running, my purse in hand. A cell phone lay on the ground, crushed, the digital time banner displaying an 11 intersected with fractured lines.\n\nI lurched. She caught me. She pulled me in tight, holding me. \"Too much to drink, eh?\" I nodded. I couldn't say anything. I knew that the price of my secret was death. Or so my mother told me, the woman who had actually done the deal with the genie. I mumbled something about a ride and checked my phone. 10:55. I still had five minutes left.\n\nMy breath already shallow from anticipation, it zoomed quickly to hyperventilation in fear. She called my name: \"Vivian! Vivian!\"\n\nWhat to do. Death would happen either way. Not enough time.\n\nI chose the sweetest death I could think of: \"Levia. In 4 minutes, a strange man is going to murder us in the street. I can see the future, and what will happen may be painful. We need to prepare, but before we do, let me say I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world. Will you kiss me?\"\n\nShe laughed. She kissed me. My inner eye changed, and the man was no longer there. She and I were walking into her apartment, barely keeping our clothes on. Her hand was up my skirt in the alcove before the doorway. I was moaning, panting for her to get her goddamn key out.\n\nThe kiss seemed to last forever. When she finally parted from my lips, I sighed like she had quenched my thirst in a desert. She whispered in my ear.\n\n\" I am the genie,\" she said. \"I fell in love with you as I watched over you.\"\n\nI stared, struck with the idea. \"No way.\"\n\n\"Yes way,\" she said. \"Come on. Let's go home.\"\n\n\"But what about death is the price of sharing my gift?\" I asked.\n\nShe laughed with mirth. \"I already knew about your secret.\"", "The vision went as soon as it came. The most obvious detail being his bright red door. According to it they would inevitably be murdered right at his doorstep.\"Are you okay?\" she asked worried. Four Minutes left. \"Yeah its just the alcohol\" he lied. He had lead this girl into her death, and he didn't even remember her name. Maybe if they were around people he could avoid his fate. He thought of an excuse. \"I forgot my keys back at the bar, Would you mind waling back with me?\" He asked apologetically. \"Sure\" she said with a radiant smile. Three minutes left. They walked back towards the bar, avoiding the puddles left from that evening's summer rain. Her phone rang. One minute left. \"Hold on let me get this\" She pleaded. \"The reception in there sucks\". He was so anxious he didn't noticed the puddle they were standing on. Or the broken electric line that finally snapped and touched the ground. They died instantly. Ten minutes later, a passerby found their bodies, lying in front of the bar's bright red door.", "\"And that's when I bought the horse a prostitute!\"\n\nI smiled, trying to be charming. She covered her mouth trying to stifle her laugh at the bawdy joke. \"So uh, what do you do? When you aren't hiring prostitutes that is.\"\n\nI knew that joke would work. Of course I always know what jokes will work and what won't. I have to wait a bit to ensure I tell it at the right time, exactly 5 minutes after I see the joke. I've gotten a pretty good internal timer since I was exposed to those radioactive clocks.\n\n\"I'm a Systems Analyst. Which is just fancy speak for I make computers do the thing computers are supposed to do.\" I swirled my finger on the rim of my glass and gestured to the bartender for another. He waved from the other side of the bar and got to work. \"What do you do?\"\n\nI already knew the answer so while she talked I looked into my minds eye. Exactly 5 minutes from now we would be making out in the bathroom. Nice. But then he heard a crash in his vision. The kiss broke apart as yelling came from the front of the bar. \n\nFour large and heavily armed men were rounding up the patrons on one side of the bar. I could see one of the men with a shotgun walking towards the bathrooms. Shit.\n\n\"Are you ok?\"\n\n\"Hrmm?\" I broke out of my trance. \n\n\"You kind of zoned out there for a minute. Were you even paying attention?\" she asked.\n\n\"Oh uh- of course. You're a vet tech, you love horses the most but don't get to work with them very much.\" I answered. The bartender dropped off my new drink.\n\n\"Oh. That's good because you're pretty cute.\" She twirled her hair unconsciously. \"So you want to go somewhere a little more private?\" A knowing smile twisted in her lips as she spoke.\n\n\"Sure. Just. Let me go to the bathroom real quick.\" Without waiting for a response I stood and turned to leave. Inside the bathroom I cleared my mind and re-entered the trance.\n\nHe was staring down the barrel of a shotgun. He had been moved into the bars main room. His date was beside him and they were both on their knees. Half the armed men were watching us while the rest ransacked the place. \n\nWithout warning the bar's owner pulled out a revolver and shot one of the robbers in the head. The next thing that happened was a bit of a blur but another robber was shot in the gut before the owner of the bar went down in a hail of bullets. \n\n\"Well shit.\" the apparent leader of the bandits said. His wounded gang member rolled and moaned on the floor being tended to by one of the other thugs. He took a deep breath, turned and whispered to the one that still had his gun leveled at us. His face blanched and he whispered back. This went back and forth for a bit before the leader yelled, \"FINE! I'LL FUCKING DO IT THEN!\"\n\nRoughly he pulled the shotgun from the other man, leveled it at one of the other bar patrons, and pulled the trigger. A loud BANG went off as the mans blood and brains splattered the wall behind him. \n\n\"What? No- No!\" the next man said right before he was cut down. Next it was my turn, I tried to run but got shot in the back. I rolled over, faced the barrel of the gun, and all went black.\n\nBack to reality I shook. I had just seen my own death. I tried to reenter the trance but couldn't. Every time I opened my minds eye all I saw was blackness. I needed to leave, and now. \n\nI walked out into the bar and straight to my date. \"We've got to get out of here. You ready to go?\"\n\n\"Aww, but I need to pay for my drinks first,\" she purred. I pulled out my wallet and pulled out several bills and slammed them on bar. \n\n\"Let's go.\" Alarm rose in her face.\n\n\"Why in such a hurry? You haven't even finished touched your drink.\"\n\n\"No time, let's go.\" I took her hand and started to pull her out of the bar. She reluctantly came along, uncertain as to what was going on. I stepped out the front door of the bar just in time to see the armed men walking straight toward me. Shit.\n\nI spun and walked back inside. Ok, what's the plan? Is there a backdoor? \"What's going on?\" my date asked now clearly worried.\n\n\"I uh- can't explain. We've got to get out of here but not through the front.\" I strode back towards the kitchen pushing through the door.\n\n\"Hey you can't go back there!\" the bartender yelled from behind the bar. I paid no attention and tried to pull my date with me but she resisted. \n\n\"Tell me what's going on right NOW!\" she demanded, \"I'm not going back there.\"\n\n\"Well,\" I paused \"Good luck.\" And I left her behind. It took me only a moment once in the kitchen to spot the back exit. I ran out and let the door swing open behind me. I could hear the yelling start in the front of the bar as I made my escape.\n\nI ran into the woods behind the bar and once safely concealed I tried to open my minds eye again. I heard the screeching of tires from the front street like a vehicle making a getaway. I didn't hear anything else. I crept out of the woods and back into the bar. It was a massacre. The dead thug lied on the ground flanked on all sides by dead bar patrons. My date lie in a pool of her own blood from a shotgun blast to the chest. Not a good way to go.\n\nBack to reality I visibly shook. I quickly thought over my options, I could wait and escape after, I could try and get away now, or I could do something extremely stupid. I elected for something extremely stupid. I quickly ran back inside. Peering through the window to the bar from the kitchen I saw the owner gradually inching his hand to the concealed revolver. Now or never. I burst out of the kitchen. \"WAIT!\" Everyone in the room froze.\n\nThen all the thugs turned on me weapons raised. \"You've got to listen to me, please!\" The thugs looked to each other amused. \"The police are on their way, they'll be here in under 5 minutes. You guys can shoot me dead if you want, but you need to leave now if you want to avoid being caught.\" I lied.\n\n\"It's a bluff.\" The leader said.\n\n\"Very far from it actually.\" I grimaced really hoping they wouldn't call the bluff. \"Shoot me if you are so certain. Add a murder to the list of crimes if you get caught.\"\n\nThe thugs looked between each other. The leader said, \"Well, shit. We already got the money, let's get the hell out of here.\" With that the thugs turned to leave, being sure to keep their weapons leveled at us to prevent us from following. A moment later I heard the familiar squealing of the getaway cars tires burning out on the road.\n\nThe bar patrons immediately came over to me. The owner gave me a big bear hug and the bartender clapped me on the back. \"You're drinks are on me forever man. Forever.\"\n\nMy date was the last to approach. \"How did you know? How did you know they were coming?\"\n\n\"I uh- can't explain.\"\n\n\"What are you in with them or something?\"\n\n\"NO!?! Nothing like that. I just can't talk about it.\" \n\nHer mouth tightened in a small frown. Then understanding dawned on her face. \"Wait a minute, you're gifted aren't you?\" My face blanched. \"You are!\"\n\nThat's when I felt my heart stop. It's a weird sensation this familiar feeling that you don't even notice suddenly goes away. I fell to my knees. \"Oh no oh no oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- I didn't.\" I fell on my face.\n\nLying there feeling my life slip away my last thought before the darkness closed in was. \"Damn, and I didn't even get laid first.\"" ]	4
	[WP] A new 'Sleeping Pill' came out that lets you take it as a 'sleep supplement' without having to ever sleep. Everyone is taking them, able to be more productive. You don't trust or take them and start seeing the side effects.	[ "&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I took my wife to the ocean.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; It was the one place she loved more than life itself, perhaps even more than she had loved me. The decision was made unceremoniously, and before I knew it we were on the road. We were able to make the drive in less than twenty minutes. That was a new record for us. Of course, the roads weren’t as clear in the past as they are these days. The light was just beginning to fade into evening when I carried her to her jeep, and I had some trouble getting her up onto the back seat, but I managed and that was the important thing. I drove the whole way with one steady hand on the wheel and the other reaching back between the seats, my palm pressed to her chest as it rose and fell. Her breathing was slow and consistent and habitual.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I don’t have a lot of time, so I will give you the basics with a sincere hope it will suffice: it was suppose to be a miracle drug — Sleep-All. All you had to do is take just one daily and it wiped out all sleep requirements. It was created, patented, marketed and finally swallowed by almost every human on the planet. Some animals, too, depending on the morality of their owners. That infuriating jingle still rings in my head; pop one a day, stay up and play! Instant rest at no great expense. At least, that’s what they thought.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; My weariness of the product’s safety was only secondary to my own personal reason not to use it. I loved to dream. My wife liked to joke that I craved it like a drug and maybe she was right. Maybe those nightly excursions into that dream world were nothing but a dessert after a long day of life, my chocolate cake after dinner.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; So people popped one a day and stayed up and played, even when play actually meant longer work days, less time spent at home, and faster wear and tear on their bodies — but hey, the product worked, right? My wife loved it because she could never sleep to begin with. She would toil and squirm under the sheets for hours at a time, trying to fall into that dream world I was so easily able to reach. \n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Of course, people popped more than one a day.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I had finally managed to get my wife out of the jeep, and was almost across the beach with her draped across my arms, when I recalled the day I found her popping more than one Sleep-All. “It’s just and extra one, every other day,” she had told me. Her voice had a shaky cadence, like a kid trying to sway an irate parent. “Everyone is doing it.”\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; She was right, they were, but I didn’t blame her. Maybe it was just as much a dessert to the poppers as dreaming was to myself. I hold nothing against her for doing it.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; After she was gone, I went back to the jeep and got a pen, one of her little notepads, and my bottle of water. I’m sitting on the beach as I write this. It’s so dark now I can barely see the words, but I reckon I’m staying legible enough. When this is finished I’m planning to drink the rest of my water, roll this page into the bottle and cast it out to sea. I wonder how long it will bob out there on the water until its found. Or will it just sink to the bottom like she had?\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; By the time they realized there was something wrong with the number one miracle drug, it was too late. People had begun to simply stop existing, leaving behind nothing but their idling body, an abandoned machine running without an operator. It was irreversible. And the final nail in the coffin for most people: all it took was for a singular pop.\nPretty soon the world was full of people like her, and very few people like me. If you’re thinking all hell must have broken out, then you would be surprised. Most people like me are way too busy trying to cope with entire families that are stricken like my wife.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; For me, it was just me and her. \n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; It had always just been the two of us.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I’m crying as I write and I think my tears may be destroying this note. I carried her into the surf and walked as far out into the water as I could. I lost my sandals almost immediately, and my feet got diced so badly the water around us had begun to cloud red. But I couldn’t feel the pain, still can’t even now. I paddled with her until my legs began to tire and then we just floated there for a while. The water was freezing but it didn’t bother her. Those beautiful big eyes of hers simply stared ahead, forever unseeing, just like all the other poppers. I kissed her on the lips and told her I loved her and then I let her go. I wasn’t sure what I’d thought I might feel when this moment came. I’m not even sure now what I felt. She floated for a few moments on the surface, her skin a sickly sliver in the rising moon. \n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Then she was gone. There was no sound.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I might have floated there for a lifetime before I kicked back to shore. For a while I sat on the beach as the surf licked my bleeding feet, regarding the trail of deep, bloody footprints leading up out of the water. I tried my best to pick the shells and detritus out of the deep wounds before going to get this pen and notebook.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; It was all I could do for her.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Even though I’d heard what some of the others had done for their loved ones; but I’m not a violent man, it was better to let her slip away into the place she loved. I bet she can dream down there in the darkness. We had met and parted at this very stretch of ocean.\n\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Soon I will swim out there and let those dark waves take me under. The carton in my back pocket was soggy and ran with water, but it didn’t matter; I emptied the contents into my palm and popped them all.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n", "“Honey, you’re starting to look fatigued. Maybe getting some rest will do you some good for once.”\n\n“No,” my husband replied, twitchy and manic. “Not- not again. I won’t- I won’t lose you again.”\n\nI embraced him into a warm, loving hug. \n\n“I’m right here, sweetheart. No one’s going anywhere. Just skip your dosage for one day. I’ll be here when you wake up.”\n\nHe looked at the clock on the wall, realizing the day was almost over. Tears welled in his eyes, sliding down his face, but he nodded anyway. \n\n“I’ll help tuck you in.”\n\nGuiding him to the bedroom, we took off his shoes and clothes together, sliding him beneath the soft sheets. His eyes fluttered; after three consecutive weeks on the drug, it was finally starting to fade from his bloodstream, thanks to my gentle coaxing. \n\nMy husband’s eyes closed, and I kissed him on the forehead. \n\n“That’s it. Relax. Let it go.”\n\nI tucked the sheets up to his neck, and noticed my hands were already transparent. \n\n“I love you,” I whispered, forming tears of my own. One drop rolled down my cheek and began to fall to the carpet. \n\nI heard my husband snore lightly, unconscious for the first time in a month. The drug’s control of his brain was relinquished as he slumbered, freeing him of his hallucinations. \n\nI looked at the picture of the smiling couple, husband and wife, on his nightstand, and smiled as well. \n\n“I love you,” I repeated. \n\nMy body disappeared in a wisp; the fallen tears never touched the ground. ", "I looked back at the shorelines of dover one last time. I had a ferry full of supplies and as much filtered water as I could get my hands on. \n\nThey should have paid more attention to the long term side effects; decreased white blood cell count, changes in cognitive functions. Sure, the company told us all not to take \"waking tablets\" for more than two weeks in a row, but who listened to them? \n\n6 months after their release a strange new disease popped up. Peoples toes and feet looked more like tree roots, covered in bark like rashes. Their blood flow and metabolism slowed right down. They decided it was a fungal infection. Despite quarantine efforts it spread at an alarming rate.\n\nIt was only after giant corporations started spiking the tap water with this so called miracle drug that we realised; the tablets had the chance of altering our very DNA. Not only that, but it had the strange effect of making our bodies more like a fungus than a mammal. An intelligent, human fungus, but nonetheless terrifying.\n\nI cranked up the engine. The town had turned into a forest of 20 foot tall, fire resistant fungi. When the change had completed, the former humans began to release toxic spores. The lucky ones would mutate, the others would be forced out of the cities and towns. \n\nI'd prepared for disasters. Water soon became short in supply as springs and aquifers became contaminated with spores. The more remote parts of Scotland were swarmed by refugees seeking safe water to drink. Many starved, or died drinking the spores. \n\nI'd kept my rather large supply of bottled water secret till I could shift it onto this here boat. Maybe I could last a few more months. Maybe I'd find a clean island somewhere and grow old. All I knew was that life couldn't be the same.", "The ground was littered with bodies. The lucky ones were dead. The majority were wriggling about in agonizing pain. Between the groans and cries, there was a constant splashing sound as they flopped about in semi\\-coagulated puddles of blood.\n\nKatya was thin but not gaunt. She had worked for years as a secretary and finally saved up enough money to get that Marchessa Notte dress from Neiman Marcus she had been eyeing for months. But now the beautiful floral pattern was no longer viewable through the layers of blood that coated it. For hours she had been fighting them off. She was exhausted but triumphant, and when she looked around, she grinned just a bit. It wasn't quite a smile, because she couldn't muster a smile, but it was enough. She sighed, dropped the glass award she had been using for a weapon, and sat on the ground. There was a quaint plop as she landed in a maroon pool beneath her.\n\n\"This didn't,\" she panted, \"have to happen. I told you. I told you all. You need to sleep.\" She laboriously breathed a few more times. \"And now you can.\"\n\nShe started to doze off when a clanging woke her. She was standing before her eyes were even open, and coming her way were two more of her colleagues. Their eyes were glossed over, and their heads hung low, but their intention was clear: get to Katya. She sighed, and picked up the award again.\n\n\"For always doing a commendable job,\" she read. \"Listen, Barbara,\" she directed at the two. \"You're the one person I was hoping would come down here. Because I cannot fucking stand you. Remember when you used to praise that sleeping pill? And you'd come down to my desk and talk on and on and fucking on about it? And I was always thinking to myself, 'God I want to kill this bitch.' Well guess what.\"\n\nBarbara stepped within arm's length, and Katya smashed the award into her eye with the pointed tip. Barbara recoiled and let out a horrific scream. It was so jarring, the woman who was walking with her paused. She blinked a few times and lifted her head. \"What... what's going on?\"\n\n\"Tina? Are you lucid?\"\n\n\"Yes... yes.. what's happening?\" She looked around and gasped.\n\n\"Remember that time you stole my lunch, and you ate in front of me, and I called you out on it, but you said it was your lunch?\"\n\n\"Yes... what does that...\"\n\nBefore she could finish her question, Katya shoved the award into her mouth so hard it punched through the back of her skull. \"Eat that, bitch.\"\n\nTina collapsed. As she tried to scream through the gurgling of her own blood, Katya pulled out a cigarette and lit it.\n\n\"This is gonna be one helluva day.\"", " It was marketed so innocently. One pill, once a day, and never have to sleep again. Who wouldn’t jump at that opportunity? Within a matter of months society had radically altered to accommodate this new lifestyle. No one saw the harm in 24 hour restaurants or salons. Now everything was always open. However there was one flaw, one hiccup in this utopia. I saw this coming, I refused the pill, I was put on “disability” for needing to sleep every night. No one could understand why. They called us sleepers, those of us who refused the pills. We were outcasts, outsiders, bullied and forgotten by our fellow citizens. But we were free. \n\nWith the ability to stay awake, comes the ability to stay at work. Businesses immediately saw the same opportunity I saw. Labor laws quickly changed since sleep was no longer necessary, and employers demanded longer hours. 15\\-16 hour shifts became the norm. After all, if you don’t need to sleep, you don’t need to stop working. And everyone bought it. Most people saw opportunities to work longer, feel fine, and earn a higher paycheck as a win all around. Anyone who wanted fewer hours were quickly replaced with those who wanted more. Society became a stagnant state of compliance, where drones of citizens worked nonstop all because of one pill that gave them limitless energy. \n\nI couldn’t be happier. The resulting economic boom meant the government could easily afford to supply “disability” to the few of us that refused the pill. We received just enough to live on, but that was enough. Society pitied us, mocked us for our “old\\-fashioned” values and rejected us for choosing to sleep. But as I stand on this empty beach, the sound of seagulls and waves extending for miles without interruption, it’s them I pity. My time is my own, and my life is unhindered. Rest offers peace, serenity, and freedom, something the world has since forgotten. \n\nA text.\n\n“Hey buddy, heading to bed soon, want to meet for breakfast in the morning?”\n\n“Sure!” I reply. \n\nThe facade can’t last forever, eventually society will recognize their predicament. But for now I’ll enjoy being called a “sleeper,” though I always considered myself one of the few who were truly awake. ", "“I’m not kidding, I got hours of work done, didn’t sleep a wink, and I feel fine.”\n\n“It’s caffeine. Or cocaine maybe. Do you even know what’s in it?”\n\n“Hey, if the FDA says it’s okay …”\n\nThat’s as far as I can pay attention. I hear this, or a variation, nearly every day. This time it’s Pete. Sometimes vegan, sometimes juicer, always looking like a men’s underwear ad. The last person to do drugs – he wouldn’t even touch a joint in high school. He’s hooked too.\n\nTimeForAll, the revolutionary pill that was an IndieGoGo joke not so long ago. SNL ruthlessly mocked it, late-night hosts roasted its creators relentlessly. And now they were all on it. Lorne Michaels himself publicly apologized, praising the pill for giving him time he never knew he had. Once pro athletes and movie stars started taking it, the dam burst. The FDA fast-tracked it – way too fast.\n\nPete gives up his pitch and returns to his desk. His usual browser games, the ones he can hide in a second if Gorman comes around, aren’t even there. He’s working – honest-to-God work in a spreadsheet. I’ve seen him work – hell, I’ve had to work with him closely more than once. But never like this – never so… focused.\n\nI walk through the office, down the aisles between cubicles, toward the break room. The aisles are empty. The break room is empty. I walk in to find that the coffee maker is unplugged. It’s nearly 11 AM. Nobody made coffee? Nobody had to get their fix?\n\nI busy myself filling the coffee maker. I hear footsteps, and turn to see Gorman. Oh shit.\n\n“There, uh, any problem, today Randy?”\n\nRandy? He never uses my first name.\n\n“No sir, just need a cup of java is all.”\n\n“Really? You know, it’s funny. I haven’t needed one. I took TimeForAll, and now I just don’t need it.”\n\nI bite my lip, unsure what to do. He’s been looking at me for a minute and he hasn’t nagged me about coversheets or email protocols. I decide to just nod.\n\n“You don’t seem convinced?”\n\n“Really, I just don’t know what to think. It seems great, but I’ve been clean and sober for years, you know?” I shut my mouth, realizing I’m close to talking about my past, but Gorman just nodded.\n\n“I get it. No really. Tell you what – our department is ahead of schedule. Everyone’s way ahead, actually. You take the time you need. Take a bit of time off today.”\n\nMy eyes are wide. Mr. I-Need-You-To-Come-In-On-Saturday just said that. Really. But I nod and smile, watching his reaction.\n\n“I mean it. Go out, take a breather. We’ll cover for you.”\n\nI waste no more time. I step out before the other shoe can drop.\n\nI’m on the street, heading to the city park. The streets are mostly empty. A bus, empty save for a few elderly passengers leaves the stop. The coffee shops near the park are mostly empty – so few people are out. I sit on a bench, watching a pigeon bob up to me in search of bread.\n\nI’m looking at my phone. 12 PM on the dot. I look across the street, and suits flow from the ground floors of nearby office buildings. The workers disperse, splitting up to head to nearby restaurants, coffee shops, and street vendors. They step robotically, in perfect rhythm. I watch the nearest shop, a Starbucks, its baristas and machines visible from my bench. The baristas are calm, serving each of the dozens of patrons. Said patrons wait patiently, New Yorkers queuing like Brits – hell, better than that stereotype. \n\nI remember the empty break room in the office. Why are they buying it now? I watch the customers sit with their cups and sandwiches. Sandwiches? I notice it now, more sandwiches and Paninis than I’ve ever seen in a Starbucks. I watch a woman in a power suit sit near the window and take long bites of a sandwich. She sips coffee between bites, but the food, the sustenance is her focus now.\n\nI’m transfixed. I can’t stop watching. I stay there until 12:40. The crowds thin, and everyone streams back to work. By 1, the shops are empty again. Christ.\n\nI can’t go back to work. I need space, I need to think. I walk down streets devoid of the usual crowds, passing only the retired and disabled, those who have found the means to live outside of usual jobs.\n\n\n________________________________________\n\n\nI’m at home. It’s evening. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. So tired, my mind racing to make sense of the clockwork people.\n\nBecky sits across from me at the table, dutifully cleaning the last of the lasagna from her plate.\n\n“Thank you for the dinner, honey,” she says.\n\n“Yeah, no problem.” I barely remember cooking it. It was something to do, something to occupy my mind.\n\n“Hey, guess what? I’ve been trying it out!”\n\n“Huh? Been trying what out?”\n\n“TimeForAll, silly! Just like we talked about. It’s great – I got so much done today, and I feel ready to work all night too.”\n\n“You – you took it? I thought you wanted to wait!”\n\n“It’s really all right, Randy. Don’t worry so much! You can take it whenever you’re ready.”\n\n“Honey, have you seen what it does? Have you seen how people act?”\n\n“Yeah! Everyone gets everything done. You do what you want at night! While you were busy sleeping last night, I got all our taxes done and I found ten good open houses we can go to!”\n\nShe said sleeping in a teasing voice, but the implication is clear. She wants me to take it. I turn from her, heading to the bedroom.\n\nI sit on the edge of the bed. I look to her side, and see the open box of TimeForAll on her nightstand. It takes a week or so of regular doses before it really works, I remember. How long was she taking it?\n\nI shove the question away and turn on the TV in our room. A repeat of SNL is on, but the show is only 30 minutes now, reduced to a few well-written skits delivered with perfect timing. I should laugh – it’s better than the show’s been in … well, ever. It’s not right though. It’s supposed to be rough around the edges, there’s supposed to be room for the unexpected. But everything is perfect. The host says exactly what she’s supposed to, no political tangents or jokes that fall flat. The musical act is flawless. It’s somehow too good.\n\nThe TV turns off. Becky is standing next to me, stark naked.\n\n“How about a bit of intercourse?”\n\nI stand up, smiling at the pleasant surprise, and hoping her choice of words is some kind of joke. “Oh, intercourse, really?”\n\n“Why of course. You seem stressed out and my period just finished. A sexual encounter seems appropriate.”\n\nShe isn’t joking. Her eyes are focused on mine, her voice is empty of seduction or playfulness. I’m treated to a vision of perfectly timed coitus, two machines going at it simply because that’s what humans do.\n\nI look to the box of TimeForAll and back to Becky’s naked body. I look to the open box again.", "I see them. The shadows that creep about your room when you should be fast asleep. That slip out of the wardrobes, or dangle from the ceiling light, like hanged criminals of old.\n\nMom sees them too, but she never admits it. She likes to pretend that they don't exist. That we're not in any danger.\n\nIt only takes a single pill. One little white SunRise. \n\nI can't recall the first time I took it. But I remember the taste of the pill. Chalky and sweet. And I know that once you pop it in your mouth, that there's no need to sleep for an entire decade. \n\nNo need. \n\nWhat I mean is, you can't sleep. You can close your eyes, squeeze them as tight as you can, but your mind won't ever switch off. Instead, it creeps into a place between our reality and theirs. A place where we are able to see them.\n\nThe one that speaks to me the most often says that they're called the builders. That they constructed our reality. That they watch it for cracks and fissures, and when they find them, they get out their black cement and pave over the gaps. Burying them.\n\nThey created all the planets, the shadow-man says. And the Gods themselves. All the every-things that we know and take for granted. \n\nAs long as things are well, the shadow-men leave reality well enough alone, he tells me.\n\nBut things aren't well. \n\nNo one is sleeping. There is no time for the builders to sneak in and repair the cracks. Not without being seen. Without being caught.\n\nThe one who speaks to me, tells me that reality itself is falling apart. Crumbling like a chocolate cake, and soon the gooey insides will be all that's left.\n\nUnless I help them.\n\nHe says that I have to make people sleep again, so that they can come out and fix the world. \n\nHow, I ask?\n\nHe shows me. \n\nHe guides me into mother's room. She is pretending to be asleep, as she always does when the moon is high above the house. Pretending to snore and that she doesn't see me.\n\nMy friend's dark hand undulates on the pillow next to her head, like the shadow of a tree from out the window. \n\nI know what to do from here, without him needing to whisper another word. I snatch the pillow press it down hard over her mouth. She struggles hard, but is old and weak. \n\n\"Sleep well,\" I say, as her body rocks and spasms a final time.\n\nHe is proud of me. \n\nThey all are. \n\nThey dance around me on the walls. Flicker and tremble and tell me I am doing great things.\n\nHe leads me back to my bedroom. Points beneath the bed and tells me to take another SunRise. \n\nTells me I must never sleep again. \n\nThat I am the only one who can see them. That can help them.\n\nAnd that there is still so much work to be done.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "“Feeling tired?” Terry asks from right behind me. I jump.\n\n“What are you doing?” I demand. “It’s not okay to sneak up on me like that!”\n\n“I’m sorry,” Terry said. “Perhaps you would be more alert if you were taking AllQuil™ NoSleep® Ultra! The best and only sleep supplement on the market!”\n\n“Sorry, dude, but you know I can’t,” I explain. “Pfizer-Allergen is an unregulated monopoly and I won’t be a supporter of that. Besides, it feels kind of weird.”\n\n“It’s not weird!” Alan said from my side. I swivel around in alarm.\n\n“Stop freaking me out with these sudden arrivals, guys!” I say with a nervous chuckle. Neither of my coworkers laugh.\n\n“With AllQuil™ NoSleep® Ultra, you’ll recover hours you never even knew you had!” Alan said excitedly, his eyes getting somewhat glazed with admiration for his supplements.\n\n“That’s literally their slogan,” I tell him nervously. “Why are you repeating their slogan?”\n\n“It's worth repeating,” Rick announces. What is he doing here too? I shudder and slink over to press my back against the wall.\n\n“You know,” Terry told me. “Corporate is talking about extending our work-day to sixteen hours! How would you be able to do that if you’re not taking AllQuil™ NoSleep® Ultra? Think of all the pay you’ll miss out on because of this silly habit of sleeping!”\n\n“Guys, I’m not going to take this weird pill,” I say. “And people used to fight for shorter workdays. What’s going on?”\n\n“We’re just enjoying the wonderful effects of AllQuil™ NoSleep® Ultra,” Matthew, Alice, and Joe say simultaneously. Okay, where THE HELL did they come from???\n\n“With AllQuil™ NoSleep® Ultra, you’ll recover hours you never even knew you had!” Alan tells me again.\n\n“With AllQuil™ NoSleep® Ultra, you’ll recover hours you never even knew you had!” Terry, Rick, Matthew, Alice, and Joe all repeat, their irises cloudy and their voices low.\n\n“With AllQuil™ NoSleep® Ultra, you’ll recover hours you never even knew you had!” Steve, Megan, Emily, Julio, Oliver, Brad, Chris, the other Chris, Alan, Terry, Rick, Matthew, and Alice all say. I turn around and run. I run straight out of my office, straight past the theatre now advertising “AllQuil™: the All-Night Movie”, underneath a billboard declaring that I’ll recover hours I never even knew I had, over a wall covered in Pfizer-Allergen decals, and by the 24/7 AllQuil™ Apothecary.\n\nI am still running." ]	8
	[WP]You are a bounty hunter who goes from one galaxy to another. You just discovered that someone put a bounty on your head.	[ " I burst through the casino doors, desperately seeking a place to hide I had my camouflage mask on, taking the appearance of a regular customer of the casino. In the distance, I could still hear the commotion going on outside. Bounty hunters. It appeared my head is worth a small fortune.\n\n Numerous women were tending to the needs of their guests, there was a faint smell of alchohol and smoke lingering in the air and the place was filled with laughter and noise. A perfect place to hide. \n\n I casually walked towards the isolated corner of the casino, trying not to draw attention to myself. I only had a handful of weapons in the bag I managed to grab from home before the bounty hunters raided the place. Suddenly, the doors swinged open and a huge man entered. He was in a full suit, a mask concealed his face and he also had a visor covering his left eye while two guns laid dormant in the holsters at his side.\n\n \"I'm sorry, sir but only members are allowed in here,\" said the bouncer.\n\n The bounty hunter only snickered before taking out the gun from the left holster and pressed the trigger. A deafening sonic wave made direct impact with the bouncer, sending him flying through the air. The casino suddenly erupted into a chaos of utter outrage He gave the signal and more people spreaded throughout the casino. He pressed a button on his suit.\n\n The jolting pain was so excrutiating that I slumped againts the wall. Damn it, there was a tracking device on me. The bounty hunters noticed me and began converging on me, with their guns aimed directly at me. Everybody else sprinted for the exits\n\n Hmphh, I won't go down without a fight. I flipped the nearest table on its side as a means of cover and was instantly assaulted by a barrage of energy beams. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a small metal device. I threw it to the hunters with all the strength I could muster. It immediately released a radial blast, causing the hunters to be pinned to the ground due to the drastic increase in gravity.\n\n The huge hunter managed to avoid the blast and charged towards me. He closed the distance in mere seconds. I dived to the right, narrowly evading a sailing fist but didn't have enough time to evade a viscous backhand from him. I crashed againts a table, the wind knocked out of me. \n\n \"You ain't so tough without your little toys, are you?\" he mocked.\n\n \"You do know your messing with the best bounty hunter in the world, right?\" I said with false confidence.\n\n He laughed. \"I admire your courage so I'll do you a favour, I'll make your death painless.\"\n \n I grabbed three metal sphere balls from my bag and hurled it towards him and they exploded on impact, sending him tumbling to the ground. I ran toward him and slid below his outstreched arms as he lunged for me. Enraged, he was about to charged towards me but was rooted to his spot, mortified at what I was holding. I grinned. In my both my hands, I held his guns.\n\n \"Goodbye, my friend.\" I pressed the trigger on the sonic gun, hurtling him through the air and he landed near the other pinned bounty hunters.\n\n Unfortunately, the big lump was still counscious. My mind raced to figure out my next move. Then, a thought came to me and I examined the other gun. Wait.... judging from the design on this gun....... it can...... I suddenly heard the sound of cruahing metal. It was the the massive bounty hunter, he was attempting to crush the machine holding the others at bay.\n\n \"Sorry boys, gotta bounce.\" I took out a metal canister from my bag and tossed in high in the air and using the other gun shot a laser beam towards it, releasing white gas that quickly enveloped the casino. Using it as a smokescreen, I quickly went out through the back door and immediately entered a dark alley to sort trough my remaining weapon. There was still my gloves, bubble gum, an EMP grenade, a pen and a vial of dark green liquid.\n\n \"I might have to use this,\" I said as I held the vial.\n\n Hands in the air,\" said a fammiliar voice as I felt a gun at point blank range. I reluctanly complied to the demand.\n\n Turn around.\" I slowly turned around.\n\n \"Thomas?\"\n\n \n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n " ]	1
	[WP] You're the best at what you do. No Djinn, Genie, Loki, or Māui has been able to trick you. You're feared more than any god, or god slayer. You punish in ways worse than death. You are a lawyer specializing in mythical torts, you punish with debt. Today, however, you have a rather unusual client	[ "I've worked with strange cases \\- strange being an understatement. But this one? This one took the cake. \n\nHere I was, doing lawyer things, when my secretary poked her head through the door. \n\n\"Constantine, there's a client that wishes to see you.\" She gave me a meaningful look, the kind that warned me that I might actually have to take client seriously. I met her eyes and gave a subtle nod. Then she poked head back out and spoke to the client outside. She was a sweet, no\\-nonsense kind of a woman. Former Valkyrie Special Forces, believe it or not. She retired after a while and settled for a lucrative job as part\\-time secretary and part\\-time personal bodyguard.\n\nAnyway. The door opened again right after I put away the smut novel that I had been read\\- I mean, put away the lawyer things. The smut novels were my secretary's...\n\nMoving on. A black kid walked in. At first glance, he didn't look old enough to buy alcohol in America, and at the second glance, I noticed how his eyes burned. Like those Halloween pumpkins, except the lantern was the kid's head and the candle inside was a blazing inferno. I was... let's just say not particularly shocked by his appearance. Having Cthulhu as one of your client sort of inoculates you against weird looks and tentacle porn. \n\n\"Greetings, Mr. Constantine.\" The kid said politely, not quite meeting my eyes \\- as strange as it sounded. \n\n\"Just Constantine is fine.\" I smiled and got from my chair and gestured for the one on the other side of my desk. \"Please, have a seat, mr...?\"\n\n\"Morningstar, sir. Lucifer Morningstar.\"\n\nI blinked. \n\nThen the coin fell. \n\n\"You wouldn't happen to be...?\"\n\n\"I...\" He hesitated but sat himself down. \"I am, sir... and that's why I'd like to hire you.\"\n\nI sat down and took a deep breath. Some part of me wanted to throw the kid out of my office and let my dear secretary make him disappear. Rude, yes, but it just might save me from whatever shitstorm this kid was about to bring me. \n\n\"What kind of a case?\"\n\nThe kid's burning eyes met mine and I literally felt the burning anger within. \n\n\"I want to sue Father for throwing my brothers and I out of Heaven.\" He said. \"Can you help us?\"", "The character shifted in his chair as I cracked the door open. I slide in without much of a huff and slid my briefcase down on the table. The man, clad in a preppy black suit gazed at the single light dangling from the ceiling. Trapped would be a healthy monomer to describe how the man sat. Tight, contorting his hands every which way in an attempt to distract himself from my presence. But I wasn't going anywhere. So, I screwed myself into my own chair of sweet mahogany and cut a stare at the man who refused to acknowledge. \n\n\"So, Mr. Mort. It is Mort is it?\"\n\n\"Mortimer.\" The man answers and I scribble a little tibble of nonsense on my papers. The man was a ashy pale color, like he had been sickly for a while, whether it was from the lights, situation or if he was just like that I could never tell. He didn't sweat much for a man in such a position.\n\n\"Mr. Mortimer then. I'm Jonathan Cassell, I'm here to represent you on the case of Washington v. Mortimer case file X-555-22334. You seem to be in quite the pinch Mr. Mortimer.\" \n\n\"Indeed.\"\n\nI tapped my pencil and stuck it to my lip, \"Looking over the evidence, I think our best case of action to spin this as a case of negligence on Mr. Washington's part.\"\n\nA wave came over the man's face, an even paler shade of white, if that was even possible crept its way from his teeth to the crunches in his forehead, \"What? How do you intend to do that?\"\n\n\"Easy! He had the axe out, stuff goes down fast in the heat of the moment. Trust me, I've proven harder stuff before.\" \n\n\"But Mr. Cassell, we were friends I don't know if I really want to...\"\n\n\"Hey! Hey! Listen. Do you want to either a: pay for one of those motherfuckers and have that live over you, or do you b: wanna get off scott free?\"\n\n\"I mean,\" Mr. Mortimer hesitated and let his eyes glance to the light, \"I guess.\" \n\nI let out a hard snap and his eyes corrected themselves, \"There's no guessing! It's not like you were shagging his wife or anything.\"\n\nHe groaned again, \"Do you think that would really work? I've known Mr. Washington for years, he gave me one of my biggest breaks after a huge layoff.\" \n\nI laughed, \"Listen Mr. Mortimer none of what happened before matters now. All we know is that somehow, a cherry tree fell, someones a liar, and someone's getting defamed and to be honest with you Mr. Mortimer I'd prefer if it wasn't my client.\"\n\nThe man's eyes sank as he came around to my conclusion. Arms were crossed, scolds were traded along with glares. I scribbled the proceedings into my notepad and looked up at the man. \n\n\"Mr. Mortimer.\"\n\nThe man, distracted by his own vices, stared back empty, \"Huh?\"\n\n\"Who cut down the tree on Mr. Washington's property?\"\n\n\"I don't want to tell a lie on the record Mr. Cassell.\"\n\n\"That's understandable Mr. Mortimer.\" I adjusted my glasses, \"Now, tell me everything you remember about the Cherry tree.\"" ]	2
	[WP] People have begun to develop superpowers. Surprisingly, most people use their powers to prank people. You are considered one of the least powerful superhumans, but are feared worldwide as the most effective prankster in human history.	[ "When I first emerged I didn't even know what my power was. I had the normal echoing thud in my head and woke up on the floor a minute later with the expected mark on my body - the two concentric circles with an arrow inside - just under my ear. Typical emergence. Odd place for the mark, but no power.\n\nOr so it seemed.\n\nFor months I wasn't able to perform any tricks like the great pranksters. No transforming into a snake or spider, unable to go invisible nor was I able to fly. My lack of power was in itself quite interesting, it seemed. There weren't many superhumans, and though some had tried to ignite a superhero scene, most of us used our gift for financial gain or fun. Magicians became actual magicians, pranksters reached new heights in their epic quest to trick the public. I sat at home or in the office, being normal. And I hated it.\n\nOne day, I was walking down the street and saw my neighbor looking into a shop window. As anyone in my situation would do, I called his name.\n\nWhen he turned in the opposite direction to the one that I was in, I assumed he either hadn't heard me or was intentionally trying to avoid me. It turned out that he had in fact heard me, but to him it had sounded like I had spoken from the other direction.\n\nAfter about an hour of experimenting, it turned out that when I spoke to someone who didn't know I was there, they heard my voice as if it came from the opposite direction that it actually came from.\n\nHow mundane is that? Still, the fact that I had discovered my power, and the fact that it was so... Shitty... Made the news. I was a local celebrity turned loser. A laughing stock.\n\nIt wasn't until someone recorded me pranking some random passerby on their phone and showed a family member that the true potential of my power became known.\n\nI could trick people if they heard my voice through any medium.\n\nAfter testing, I pulled off the silliest, best prank of any superhuman. With the help of HBO.\n\nThe last episode of game of thrones. A tense scene, anxiety inducing, more buildup than any drama or horror movie had ever managed to achieve. Fear, paranoia, edge-of-the-seat tension.\n\nThen, whilst the cameras were fixed on the face of the most hated still-living character in the show, my voice came through the sound system of every person watching.\n\n\"I'm behind you.\"\n\nThe viewers, who were glued to their screens, thought it had come from behind them. We had just made millions of people jump out of their seats. Nobody would forget this.\n\n=-=-=\n\nNot sure how to finish it so that'll do." ]	1
	[WP] Once there was one. Then there were three. The three were bound by the pillars of reality the great ones call The Pillars of Reality. No one knows why these three were chosen buy hey they were and boys gotta eat amirite? This is the story of Scalene, Isoceles, and Equilateral.	[ "The Scalene: From a planet of lost origins, the last of his people wiped out by the Blockos of the galaxy of Drood. He is a trickster, a strategist, and doesn't hold a solid form, he alternates between a gaseous form and a liquid. He can slip in and out of places and people without being noticed. (Maybe ability for this shitter is like he can sneak into places or maybe pass dialogue checks or something? xd)\nThe Isosceles: From the depths of the great jungle on Terrara IV, an ape-like creature with the strength of Kuk high on that good Joba-ish (That means a lot). He has developed like his people with very short legs but extremely long arms, making him move with his arms on the ground rather than his legs. (This man is strong, so maybe he can like beat the shit out of clays character or something ability wise? Or maybe he can like do a big fist smash attack or something?)\nThe Equilateral: From a different world of existence than the rest. A being of immense power and wisdom, who lost all that shit when decided to leave his world. Now he is just a great wizard guy. He harnesses magik powers to help preserve The Pillars of Reality. Shooting fireballs and arcane magiks is his bread and butter. (This guy is literally a wizard idk what else to give him.)\nTHE TRIANGLE: Together using the bond created by The Pillars of Reality, The Scalene, Isosceles, and Equilateral bond together to create the ultimate being, one of immense power and size. Using the Equilateral as the base for the fuse, the Isosceles jumps to great heights and shoots down at extreme speeds and at the last minute becomes an ethereal being and jumps into the body of the Equilateral. The instant this happens the Equilateral body grows to giant size and he becomes a bhiggo boy. The Scalene then shoots his smoky form into the bhiggo boy imbuing him with the greatest of powers. Of course these beings can only hold this form for a short time.\nFeel free to like cut any shit if you think its op or something" ]	1
	[WP] You’re a baby orca, and you just saw your first boat.	[ "\"He is totally checking you out!\"\n\nI know my sister liked to mess with me but maybe she was right, he had been staring at me all day. Sure, maybe he wasn't conventionally handsome but Mama always says that's not what love is about. I think- I think I'm gonna make a move- \n\n\"Get it girl!\"\n\nMy heart is beating out of my chest. But as I swim closer I realize that this is it, this is what it means to be a fierce woman. I'm not the little baby orca that Mama always seems to think of me as. Okay- Okay here it is- ehh- what should I- \n\n\"Hi.\" I say. \n\n:)\n \n\"...\" He says.\n\nIt was love at first sight.\n\n\"Bwahahahha.\"\n\nMy sister laughs, but i don't mind. After all, I'm a fierce woman. \n\n\n\n\n\n " ]	1
	[WP] you're about to enjoy an anniversary dinner when you hear your husband scream from the living room "honey, where a my supersuit?!"	[ "I understand. I need to help him in any way I can, I'm his wife and I need to support him. After all, he cant do it alone.\n\nI was almost done wearing my dress. It was brand new, meant specially for this occasion. I hear a call \"Honey, where is my supersuit?\". We've been together for Fifty years now, and I'm completely used to this now. It doesn't matter that it's our wedding anniversary. Even if it's our Golden Anniversary today. We shall have our dinner tomorrow, I hope. And so I stifle my annoyance and frustration, once again.\n\n\"I'll be right there dear\" I reply. I open the cupboard and hunt for the button at the back. It's is really hard to find, but I manage in a matter of seconds, I'm used to it by now. I quickly grab the suit that my husband so adores. I then have to change as well. I make a great sidekick after all. It doesn't matter that all the time I spent getting ready for the anniversary is wasted, this is more important. My \"costume\" is much more plain as compared to my husband's, though much more comfortable.\n\nAs I reach the living room, my husband, Superthorn was pacing impatiently. He quickly donned his costume, not even bothering to remove his suit that he was wearing. I'll have to wash it again, and I felt a bit angry at that. But that wasn't too important.\n\nWe quickly got into the car, with me driving of course, that's what I was for. Quickly I began to make a list of things he needed while going to battle and he began to confirm he had it. Suit \\- check, Mask \\- Check, Sword \\- Check, Power Booster \\- Check.\n\nAs I activated the villain sensor in the car, and of we sped. He trusted me, and would never question that all this was planned. He would never ask what exactly was his power booster, or where exactly were we going. He was going there to fight villains he thought. I smiled sadly at what I was going to have to do. But there was no helping it.\n\nAfter driving for 15 minutes, I called out \"Dear, we are almost there, take the power booster and let's get going\". He knew he was getting slower, old age was catching up to him. He needed that boost, so he took it with no questions asked. \"Good boy\" I thought.\n\nI now drove to the big white building, and I swiped my card, carefully hidden from my husband of course, to be allowed to enter and park our vehicle. I took out my phone and called \"Hello, I got him here. Could you come get him please?\". Then they came, knowing where I would park my vehicle. They then took him away, as I looked on with a tear in my eye. Quickly wiping it off, I steeled myself.\n\nI then had to go inside, this was really hard, as always. I peeked into the room where they kept him, and got teary eyed once again. I hated that I had to do this. In a minute the doctor came and said \"It's ok now, he will regain his senses in a day of medication, thank you for bringing him here for his monthly treatment\". My husband has psychosis, and needs treatment once a month. I put on my best fake smile and said :\n\nI understand. I need to help him in any way I can, I'm his wife and I need to support him. After all, he cant do it alone.\n\nPS: This is my first WP. Please give me any pointers and criticisms you have, and how I can write better in the future." ]	1
	[WP] You're an insomniac who has to try to creatively find ways to cope with your lack of sleep. The best way of doing so that you've found, is visiting your made up world that houses countless mythical creatures.	[ "Today wasn't any different than most days. It was 3 in the morning, and to my annoyance, I had been lying awake in bed for the past few hours. Perhaps it didn't help that I was on my phone the entire time, or that I had a bad diet, or that I was constantly thinking about the stresses of work. I know a lot of people would diagnose themselves with insomnia in this situation, I, on the other hand, knew that my condition was completely fixable. I was just too lazy to do anything about it; I liked watching YouTube all night. Anyways, it was 3 am, and at this point, I had completely given up on getting a full nights sleep. I got up and walked over to my closet, opened the door, and reached deep into the back to grab my coat. I then turned around and pulled out my briefcase from under the bed, as I opened it up a dazzling light lit up the room. I had forgotten to turn off the flashlight inside again. I turned it off and grabbed it as well. Now I'm ready I thought to myself, I left my room and went to the end of the hall until I was standing in front of a large grandfather clock. I took a deep breath, opened up the chamber, and adjusted the time; I had been meaning to do that for a while. I continued on about halfway down the stairs until finally stopping myself, I thought, \"Nah, I'm just gonna go back to bed\". I promptly put my coat and flashlight away and got back into bed, but this time, without my phone." ]	1
	[WP] Humanity achieves interstellar travel. You find out why alien civilizations didn't reach out to Earth.	[ "\"what do you mean you didn't want to?\"\n\n\"Why would we want to?\"\n\nEveryone in Earth's situation room were perplexed. What the fuck are they talking about. \nThe chief nervously tapped the microphone button to continue the conversation. \n\n\"Well, didn't you want to know what is happening in the universe outside of your planet?\" \n\n\"Well, yes. And once we learned about you, we we're disappointed as hell. You're exactly the same as the previous planets we saw\"\n", "We did it ! On orbit, around an alien planet. But we're the aliens this time. We had a hard time believing.\n\nThe linguists did worked their ass off and now we were talking via radio to their orbital center, on how to get on the ground Taalmuntis' ground.\n\nMy ship was majestic. As big as manhattan, as powerful as ten of the biggest fusion reactors back on Earth, I was really proud of the Centipede. We amorced the descent. Everyone was so stressed, yet we couldn't hide our joy. We landed on this gigantic pod on their only ocean, which was still covering 2/3 of the planet, a little big bigger yet less dense, only 0.9 g, it could have been the perfect day in one's life.\n\nWe could see the \"Taalmuntisis\" delegation approaching, it sure was a lot of people. They had big vehicles which, according to our sensors, were electrical. They did told us they only discovered steam engines when studying more primitive species, and that they are producing electricity via photovoltaic panels and windmills. The atmosphere was so pure and clean ... But they were not that much ahead of us, on a lot of ways.\n\nBut as soon as we opened the main door, the delegation turned around, as if they were frightened suddenly. It was quite messy, and unexpected, a true rollercoaster of emotions. I could read despair on my crew's faces, and I felt like I failed them, but truly it was no one's fault.\n\nWe received a message : \" We are deeply sorry but there are physical incompatibilities between our civilizations that couldn't be foreseen, we hope you understand and wish you a safe take off. There is an orbital station that will refuel you, travel safe on your way back.\"\n\nEveryone was puzzled, a bit broken but we headed back to our outpost, a hundred light years away. En route, we intercepted a message that was seemingly not for us ...\n\n\"The humans, from Earth, came ! They concealed their true home planet and we didn't realised until it was too late. We request a xyelidvorep as soon as possible !\"\n\nThe leaders of the UN ordered us to intercept other messages to determine who they were talking to, and what they are talking about\n\n...\n\nThe smell.\n\nWe, and our atmosphere, smell so bad for every alien that the galactic coalition had ordered long ago every system, every planet, to never contact the Earth." ]	2
	[WP] You are a superhuman with incredibly fast self-healing, but have a very low pain tolerance. Tell his/her story.	[ "I worked in a steel factory once, where I got my hand cut off and screamed bloody murder, as a person will, and when the guys made it to the back all they saw was an inch long scrape across my elbow that wasn't even bleeding. They harassed me so much after that I wound up quitting. \n\nDo you know what it's like to suffer serious trauma and no one will give you any damn support? After a robbery at the Seven- Eleven on the night shift, when my head was blown by a sawed off shotgun, the pieces of my skull and brain grew back together like little creeping working ants and I had to listen to everyone tell me how lucky I was. Yeah, lucky. Look at the tape, I said, but it all happens so fast that to everyone else it looks like nothing. \n\nI tried to show my psychiatrist. I took a knife to my wrist, screamed in agony, and thrust my bloodied hanging limb in her face. She saw nothing. She admitted me instead, and now I'm sitting in the State Hospital, screaming at injuries that no one else can see, and they all think I'm insane. \n\nI would hang myself, but my body would just fight death over and over until someone found me and cut me loose. " ]	1
	[WP] Your latest shipment to your supernatural gift shop consists of a shield generator in the form of a top hat, a perfume which temporary causes the user to grow massive, a book possessed by an angry ghost, a robotic horse skeleton, and a vase filled with flesh eating dust. Try to sell these.	[ "The empty cloak hung in the air with an air of bemusement, putting the seller off his stride. \n\"So, umm,\" he smiled nervously \"will the owner be back shortly, or...\" \nThe Cloak frowned at him, halting his already nervous speech. How does a cloak frown? It doesn't have eyes! \n\"I am the owner of this fine establishment. And if you're going to be rude, I am going to have to ask you to leave.\" The Cloak's edge lifted and pointed to the door. The seller's body wished his brain would agree and tried to turn, but his brain rebelled. They'd seen worse, and weren't going to be given the boot by a rug with delusions of grandeur. It was time to start the pitch. \n \nA grin spread across the seller's face. \"Well then, my name is Archibald Stevenage and have I got a bargain for you!\" He rummaged in his bag. \nThe Cloak tilted its hood to one side, as if in puzzlement. \"I'm not sure you've got the idea of a shop, Mister Stevenage. And certainly not this one.\" \nArchie shrugged. \"It's an adventurer's shop, isn't it? Kitting out would-be heroes and the like. Well take a look at these!\" Pulling the items out, he squirted them with a puff of Enlargement potion, returning the items to the correct size. \"These are...\" \n\"Cursed items. Heavily cursed, in some cases.\" Archie deflated. He'd hoped to hoodwink some foolish merchant, but obviously caught a canny one. Hard to judge a Cloak's character. \n\"Well? Go on.\" Archie looked up to find the Cloak (presumably) poring over his wares, and his heart lifted. Perhaps a sale could be made, with some minor changes to his pitch. \n\"Well, this is Daniel the Lion's metal horse.\" He patted the creature's rump with a clank. The Cloak wafted around it. \"Don't be fooled by its skeletal nature. Everything works.\" \n\"Except it has no power source.\" The Cloak pointed at the hole in the beast's chest. Archie coughed. \n\"Moving on, there's the Tome of Harry.\" He dropped it on the counter. \"It contains magical spells...\" \n\"and Harry's ghost.\" The Cloak gave the air of a grin. \"Really, Mister Stevenage, there's no need to hide what they are. That's a hat with a Shield?\" It pointed at the headwear. \"Let me guess, it stays on until death? And flesh-eating dust as well! My, you do have some interesting wares. Well, for all of it, I can offer 300 gold\". The coins drifted in from the back of the shop and dropped into Archie's upturned palm. \n\"Wait!\" Archie's brain, panicked by a knowledgable and well paying customer, had flung up his other hand. \"That's it?!? No I don't deal in evil magic or, or...\" \nThe Cloak patted him on the shoulder. \"I feel you've misunderstood the nature of my shop, Mister Stevenage.\" The bell rang at the door, and the cloak gave the impression of a wink. \"Allow me to demonstrate.\" \nDark clouds billowed in across the floor, causing the shadows to writhe against the shelving. The overhead light flickered and flared a deep red as a massive cloaked figure strode in. The red light danced across his blackened armour, glinting off stains that reflected the same shade as the now dim light. Each step of its feet rattled the display items as it approached the counter. \nArchie did not merely shake in fear, he rhumba-ed and nearly tangoed. This was beyond anything his nightmares had inflicted on him. This was the End of him. \nThe figure turned to him and gave him a short nod, before leaning on the counter. \nHello, Shop-keep. Anything interesting in today? \nThe Cloak spread wide in welcome. \"Well, Dread Lord, have I got a deal for you...\" \n \nArchie stared at the pile of coins on the counter as the smoke receded from the shop. It was leaving quite quickly, as its Master was moving at a fair pace. \n\"A job lot. You sold it as a job lot...\" His stare transferred to the Cloak, wonder across his face. \n\"Easy enough.\" The Cloak shrugged. \"After all, what self-respecting Master of Darkness wouldn't want a metal steed powered by the twisted soul of a dark sorcerer? Especially one that is invulnerable to damage and breathes flesh eating dust. The thing practically sells itself.\" \nThe coins floated from the counter and into the back of the shop, to Archie's disappointment. He lifted his eyes from it to find the Cloak once again considering him. \n\"Tell me, Mister Stevenage - Archibald - how easily can you procure such items? I can always use more stock at the shop and you seem to have found a knack at acquiring it.\" \nArchie's eyes gleamed. \"Well, that all depends on the cut from such goods as to be found. But, I am sure we can come to an arrangement.\" He grinned and felt it reflected from the Cloak. This was going to be a good day. Well, a bad day for nearby heroes, but when did that matter? Besides, they could probably do with a bit more challenge. " ]	1
	[WP] They always said she'd be late to her own funeral. You thought they were joking, until today.	[ "\"Hurry up!\" I yelled at her from behind the door. \"God, Jeane, you're going to be late to your own funeral!\"\n\n\"God, I'm coming, I'm coming! I just gotta finish putting on my clothes.\"\n\nI barge into the room to see Jeane still flopped out on the bed, towel wrapped around her body. She was scrolling instagram. Or tindr. I never know which. \"You tell me that all the time. How can someone be late to their own funeral.\"\n\n\"lets go!\" I pulled her onto her feet and took her phone away from her. She reached to grab for it but I held it up high over her head. She pouted but turned to the closet where she shimmied out of the towel and into a slim dress. She wedged on some heels and attempted combing out her already unruly wavy hair.\n\n\"lets GO!\" I shouted at her and grabbed the brush from her hand and slammed it down on the table.\n\nI called another uber and waited impatiently for the driver to show up.\n\nNight had fallen while we waited and I looked at my watch. 6:30. Great. George and Phil will be waiting for us George was my new date and Phil was Jeane's new flavor of the week and we were supposed to be double dating at this restaurant. \n\nA steady downpour of rain started as we settled into the back of this rusty sedan. Furious, I stared out the window with my arms crossed. She was going to pay for this. George was already angry with me being constantly late because of Jeane's extreme tardiness. I guess we should start telling her our times hours later than when she gets ready.\n\nI had softened up a bit as we pulled up to the restaurant. I peeked through the window to see George leaning casually against the wall with some mysterious guy with dark hair. George looked nonchalant, but I knew by his pink ears and neck he was furious. I grabbed for Jeane again and dragged her out of the uber. I hit pay on the app and marched inside.\n\n\"Baaabe!\" this guy said moving around me to wrap his arms around Jeane when we entered the restaurant. George gave me a polite peck on the cheek and a silent communication through the eyes telegraphing, we need to talk. (part 1 because Reddit sucks!)", "The room laughed as I said the words. Those silly, ludicrous words. I joined in with her family as the funeral parlour filled with a sound I imagine quite foreign to its walls. Laughter. Sure, maybe a few tears too. But it was funny, plain and simple. Perhaps in a tragic sort of way, but perhaps not. I suppose I won't know for a while. After all, comedy is tragedy plus time. For now, though, I'll just enjoy the laughter, whatever the sort.\n\n\"She'll be late to her own funeral.\"\n\nThe room rumbles with laughter again. Her dad, the man I once hoped to call a father in law. Her mum, who I hoped to do the same. Her older sister and her younger brother.\n\nI let the laughter die down. Poor choice of words. Ah, who cares, she would have laughed. I let it die down, and feel the tears push their way forward. They want to escape. To stream down my face to the floor. This is the feeling the funeral parlour is used to. A return to normality.\n\nI see it in her mum, her dad, her sister, her brother. I see it in the many friends who came to say goodbye. I saw it in them even when they laughed. I miss that laughter now. It was a respite, if only for a second, from the reality that would follow us all to the end. She was gone, and no laughter or tears would change that.\n\nI offer them words. I don't know if they'll mean much. In truth, it's more for me than any of them. Words I hope to believe once they leave my mouth.\n\n\"And I think you all know why she'll be late to this funeral. Because she still lives on. In all of us. We'll carry our memories of her for a lifetime more. She'll be with us all. Her parents. Her siblings. Her friends. Everyone. She'll join you on your holidays, see the wondrous things you see. She'll be there when you're down, smiling and willing you on. Her spirit is too strong to break, or to be forgotten. She'll live on with me and with you. She'll be a part of us forever. Today we say goodbye to her body. We do not say goodbye to her.\"\n\nI believe those words.\n\nUntil tomorrow, my love, when the day starts anew.\n\n\\-\n\nr/ShittyStoryCreator :)" ]	2
	[WP] All those “like to die instantly” posts that haven’t been working were adding up, so when you die, you are greeted by a confused Death	[ "A tall man walks up to me. He greets me with an awkward smile. 'You know, I've been expecting you for a while. Although not so sudden.' His smile turns from awkward to sad. 'What went wrong?'\n\n'I've wanted to die for so long. But I couldn't bring myself to take my own life. I thought that one day, one of the posts would work. But they didn't.' I smile. 'I just killed myself and I'm already missing everything. Not what I expected.' The tall man sits down next to me. 'The posts worked. You've already died many times. One time you drowned. Another time you cut your wrists a bit too deep. And one time you stopped breathing while you were sleeping.' I'm shocked. 'What do you mean I already died? I lived through al these events.'\n\n'That's because I don't want you to die. As you may know, it's my job to bring people to the afterlife. The last couple of years my clients have been quite young. mostly between 14 and 22 years old. A few of them died from natural causes. but most of them didn't. And they all looked the same. Scars all over their body. A sad gloom in their eyes. And a soul aching for something. I've seen people suffer and contrary to popular belief, I don't like it. Usually I think that if I save them they will change. Enjoy the life they have, even though it's flawed. But very few of them change. And you were one of them.\"\n\nI start crying. 'I'm so sorry. I didn't know.' I hugged him. 'Can I have another chance?'\n\n'No.'\n\n'Alright. But I miss life already.'\n\n'So do I, little one. So do I.'", "\"Two hundred and one,\" the wispy, frail figure stood in front of me with a judging eye, \"—How?\"\n\nIt didn't take me long to guess what had happened — flashes of light, quick drafts of wind, and an immediate submission to darkness.\n\n\"Neither demigod nor gifted. You stand here with a count higher than one,\" the voice emanating from the figure sounded rather surprised, \"so tell me, what fuels you to have such an achievement?\"\n\n\"I-I.. I just,\" is it right to talk about what I think I have done in my living days? To a something whose task is to reap my soul?\n\n\"—I.. I didn't know. I thought it would be funny to joke about it.\"\n\n\"You jest. I have no idea what you are talking of.\"\n\n\"I thought it would be funny to joke about dying,\" I said with a whisper. I feel so low. It's as though I'm standing in front of someone I have been making fun of throughout my life.\n\nHonestly that's what I think I'm in charge of.\n\n\"I commend your effort, but that does not answer my question.\"\n\n\"Y-you mean you weren't stating my sins?\"\n\n\"Two hundred is quite understating that, Mortal.\"\n\n\"Oh.\"\n\nIt seems my afterlife is already going off.\n\n\"You have died two hundred and one time. I don't see a life of heroic deeds in your eyes — then what is it that makes you so?\"\n\nI put the question in my mind, but neither I nor Death could answer it.\n\n\"Are you sure you are not aware of what you have done, Mortal?\"\n\n\"I think so.\"\n\nDeath gave a rather long 'hmm' as he trails from one spot to another, but I have my own questions. I have my doubts.\n\n\"Listen, how did I end up in.. here?\"\n\n\"You were struck by a crashing car. Your gaze was focused by the device you were holding in your hand.\"\n\n\"Right. I shouldn't be reading Reddit while crossing the road.\"\n\n\"It is what it is, Mortal.\"\n\n\"… Thank Jesus those 2me4meirl got my upvotes before I actually die,\" I let out a weakly awkward laughter, \"feels great to beat those suckers to the grave.\"\n\nOf course, Death doesn't bat a single eye to the topic. Not that I expect him to be aware of what I'm talking of.\n\nIf only you knew, Death. If only you knew you were invited for a mosh pit of depressed online people." ]	2
	[WP] You've lived an amazing life full of adventure, danger and riches. One night, as you're recounting tales of your bravery to one of your many close friends, they reply "Wow, almost sounds like a dream. Ever tried pinching yourself?" As you try, everything around you starts to unravel.	[ "/b/ It was all a Dream\n\nHenry's jaw had been open for about ten minutes now as he stared at me in disbelief, \"the moon,\" he stated blankly.\n\n\"Yes,\" I said, swirling my brandy.\n\n\"You went to the moon,\" he said again.\n\n\"It was OK,\" I shrugged.\n\n\"That's crazy,\" he shook his head. \"If I went there I'd be pinching myself every day to make sure I wasn't dreaming,\" he laughed.\n\nThat gave me a chuckle and I pinched my arm, \"nope,\" I said, \"not dreaming.\"\n\n\"So what's next for the woman that's done the impossible?\" Henry's tongue seemed to slither as he spoke.\n\n\"I don't know,\" I shook my head, \"maybe start an orphanage, or help find a cure for cancer,\" I took a pensive drink. \"Give something back, you know.\"\n\n\"How generous,\" Henry stroked his chin. He was still looking at me when he said my name. \"Cassandra,\" he started, \"you've got a little something,\" he tapped the side of his mouth.\n\nI dabbed the corner of my mouth with a sleeve and when I drew my arm back it was stained with blood. \"Oh my,\" I said, setting down my glass of blood. \"Oh dear,\" I said, quickly standing from my armchair.\n\n\"Are you, OK?\" Henry stood up, too.\n\nThat's when I saw the flames outside the house. \"Fire!\" I yelled, \"Henry! There's a fire!\" \n\n\"Yes,\" Henry said with a lazy drawl. \"We're supposed to get fire until Thursday,\" he shook his hands as if apologizing, \"you know how the boss-man likes it hot, it can be one hell of a place!\" he laughed giddily. \n\nNow I was staring at him.\n\n\"I know,\" Henry sighed, \"bad joke,\" then he sat back down. \"Anyways, you were telling me about your moon dream,\" he drank from his cup, \"good blood,\" he said.\n\n\"Moon dream,\" I tried to pull the memory out from the back of my mind, \"moon dream.\" I sat on the edge of the armchair. \"I was on the moon!\" I tried to concentrate, \"looking at Earth...\" Henry nodded, \"my name is Cassandra, and I live in Arizona,\" I frowned. There was a moment of silence. I could hear the fire roaring outside. I tried to pinch myself, \"My name is Cassandra and I live in Arizona,\" I said pointedly.\n\nHenry raised an eyebrow, \"No, I don't think were in Arizona,\" his tongue flit and I saw now that it was forked. \"Can't be Arizona,\" he said, \"it's not hot enough to be Arizona.\" \n", "It turns out, I had one last wild adventure in store for me, one without any real comprehension. \n\nAs per my friend's suggestion, as a joke, I pinched myself. All my stories beyond her belief, I realized how outside the realm of possibility they were, but they felt so real. All the cities I had saved from outer-world threats, all of the bad people I had defeated, and the wealth of supporters and fans felt unreal, even in experiencing them. After the sting of my pinch, however, the world started to become different. The home I thought I was in looked like less of a building and more depressing than anything. Knocking my friend down, I ran as far as my legs would take me as people looked at me in an unfamiliar manner. Running down a seemingly endless hallway, all the beeps and and ringing sounds tore through my eardrums as I avoided and struggled against shapeless monsters coming after me. \n\n\"I gotta get away, gotta get to my people,\" I thought to myself. \n\nIt wasn't until I had gotten to the door that I felt something sharp stick me in the neck, and the nightmarish world around me chipped away to a plain, calm looking place, yet a place to fear nonetheless. As I lay, I hear murmuring, something about \"meds\". \n\nWaking up, I find myself in the same bed as before with my friend from earlier. No words were exchanged. I sobbed into my hands, as she embraced me. She explained to me the plight of my situation, that I had been in a coma for years, and that none of what I had achieved had taken place in reality. I finally took in this news, and I let every emotion pour out of me like a waterfall. I never got to experience being an adventurer or a hero. I was a nobody to the world, but I was somebody to the people I mattered to. Why doesn't this bring me comfort? This should be the wealth I cherish, not the currency I had amassed in my faux-life, not the wealth of experiences I had went through as a different somebody. \n\nThis continued to haunt me for the rest of my life. I would see ghosts of the people I knew as they were, I would see the places I visited before in the locations I was currently in. My realities would constantly unravel and it mattered not how many therapist visits or dosages would help keep me anchored. I'm trapped in the real world, when I belong in the other world." ]	2
	[WP] You have an unusual parenting strategy: brutal honesty. But as your kid gets older, they become brutally honest with you too.	[ "My technique in raising Jacob had always garnered some interesting reactions from family members and friends. Some people, like my mother believed that the sole use of brutal honesty in raising my son would surely result in him developing psychological issues or resentment towards myself. My lifelong friend Todd argued that it was irresponsible to raise my son in such an untraditional way. School counsellors, doctors, and coaches always commented on my honesty as if it were some form of abuse. The only person who understood it’s effectiveness and my strategy was my husband Andrew. We met each other as seniors in University, both majors in Sociology and Psychology. We had recognized each other from various lectures throughout the years but did not formally meet until a night in the fall of ’98. We were standing across the room from each other at a party, both a bit too intoxicated to be socializing, and made eye contact, which brought us to each other, and sparked what would be a budding and wholesome relationship. We spent every day together after that night, when I wasn’t with Andrew it was like some unexplainable force was pulling me towards him. I had dated several men before, but what drew me to Andrew was his honesty. There were never any games or confusion with him. If he wanted to see me again, he told me. If he thought my new haircut looked bad, he told me. When he wanted to have a child with me, he told me. \n\nWe eventually settled down and had our son, Jacob. Years with Andrew began to rub off on me, and soon enough I had become just as honest as Andrew. Although it cost us both numerous friendships, we both believed that honesty was key, and that we would not burden ourselves with the guilt or trouble of white\\-lies or avoidance. It became a rule in our relationship to not lie to each other, no matter how small the case. As Jacob reached his toddler years, we realized that we had a decision to make\\- to either adapt our behaviour or raise Jacob as we wanted\\- with brutal honesty. We lived our lives happily. Andrew worked full time as a psychologist at a elementary school down the street from our modest home, that Jacob would attend, and I returned to school to get my teachers degree, and by the time Jacob was in high school I was a teacher at his new school. \n\nGrowing up, we always watched Jacob closely for signs of aggression or isolation. We understood that our parenting techniques could be detrimental if we didn’t provide the right support to our son. I grew up with chronic depression, and Andrew had suffered with a great deal of anxiety in University, so we understood personally the mental health resources that needed to be in place for our little Jake. My son and his father spent hours upon hours together, reading, biking, fishing, and bonding. They developed a relationship that I always envied but adored, I always wished I could be what Andrew was to Jacob. Over the years Andrew and I realized Jacob was picking up our sense of honesty. While we appreciated this, it did spark numerous arguments as he reached his teenage years. When Jacob would come home late and we asked him where he was, he would tell us, unfortunately we did not always appreciate the answers. It would infuriate Andrew when he discovered his only son was lying\\- a sin he considered forbidden. Over the next few years Andrew developed rage that had never been there before, and for the first time in our lives together he became physical towards me. \n\nIt was a Friday night in November when I realized Jacob was still not home from school, about 4 hours after it had ended. I texted him with no reply. I contacted the school and they said he had not attended that day. Clearly panicked, I called Andrew, who was just leaving a doctors appointment, and he came home to meet me. We sat in the living room, shaking with anxiety until Jacob walked through the front doors at 1am, almost 9 hours late. We routinely sat him down and asked him where he went. His eyes were bloodshot, clothes wrinkled, and the bags under his eyes darker than normal. It was clear he was on something, or the something had happened, and at this point I was more concerned about his well being than discipline. I calmly asked him what happened.\n\n“I was at my friend Rebecca’s. We were smoking weed and having sex, then some friends came over and we had drinks” he stuttered. He had a look of terror on his face staring up at us, as he understood he would be disciplined, but he knew the implications of lying would be much more severe. His father did not accept lying, and when Jacob stretched the truth his father would always find out, and often lead to a “punishment”, usually being punched with the sheer force of rage.\n\nClearly shocked by his honesty but not angry, I took a breath. Andrew had a new tone of anger in his voice when he unleased a rant on Jacob about the importance of being on time, letting us know where he is at all times, and staying away from drugs. We were both upset about his actions, but his safety always came first. We decided to learn from this experience and head to bed.\n\nOver the next few weeks Andrew and I began to view Jacob in a new light. I love my son but it became clear he was becoming an adult and that his actions were reckless and not reflective of our parenting. We got calls almost daily from his school about him missing classes, or striking out at teachers. I found it safer to keep my mouth shut at home as the tension in our home was rising at a frightening rate. Andrew and Jacob, on the other hand, would spend hours screaming at each other, blurting out the most brutally honest and hurtful thoughts at each other. I made it routine to start staying an extra hour or two at work each night, and would spend most of my time alone, as would Jacob and Andrew. I was honest with the boys, I was upset and hurt with the situation. Jacob was irresponsible, but I could see in his eyes that when he knew I was hurting he hurt, his compassion for my feelings were prevalent, and I knew he never meant to hurt us. \n\nI woke up around 2:30am on a Tuesday morning. Andrew was not laying in bed beside me, where he was just hours earlier. I walked downstairs to see if he was in his office, but as I reached the bottom of the unlit, steep, stairs I jumped backwards in shock as Jacob was standing directly in front of me. \n\n“Sorry Mom, didn’t mean to scare you.” He whispered.\n\n“It’s okay love, I was just looking for your father, he wasn’t in bed.”\n\nJacob took a step forward and hugged me. Confused, I stepped back and looked down at my shirt that suddenly felt damp.\n\n“What’s on your shirt?” \n\nSilence. \n\nI turned on the light and looked down at Jacob. He was covered in blood. I shrieked fell backwards.\n\n“What happened Jake? Where’s Dad.”\n\nStanding over me, dripping in blood with a sense of accomplishment on his face, Jacob grinned and calmly stated, “I had to kill him.” " ]	1
	[WP] In between the time your heart stops and your brain shuts off, you face the final boss, the devil himself. Beating him grants you immortality. You are the first to beat him.	[ "With the feeling of immortality, came pride. Before I saw new light, my new immortal, yet finite, mind corrupted pride into arrogance. With this sense of arrogance, I woke up to the new world. My world. Or so I thought, until I realised that I couldn't .... \"Wake Up\"\n\nI tugged and pulled at my lifeless limbs only to find my efforts go in vain. It was as if my limbs and my eyes were defying my effort with an infinite force. I was dead. I could hear and feel what my body felt, but not see or move. So how was I immortal? And then the constant beeping in the background made sense to me. I was alive but in a coma, with the added 'advantage' of being aware of my almost lifeless body constantly.\n\nThe day passed by with my constant effort to jolt myself into existence. I didn't know what 'I' referred to anymore. By night, I was thoroughly exhausted even though I didnt move an inch. But this fatigue was strange. It didn't come with the familiar feeling of being drowsy. It was as if I was constantly awake. I couldn't recollect how and why I used to sleep everyday anymore. I assumed 'I' was not the part of me which used to do the sleeping everyday, and hence was agonizingly unaware of it completely.\n\nAs the days of the week passed by, the first feeling which started in me was despair. It was followed by pain. I understood that as a living being, I was blissfully unaware of how painful an existence could be. Small things like not able to scratch at an itch, which persisted on my body for minutes together, ate away at me mentally. I could actually count the number of itches I got on my body everyday and believe me, it wasn't a small number. Weeks turned to months, Months turned to years. They call solitary confinement \"The bing\" because after 50 days of it, the mind goes \"Bing\". Despair, pain, Agony, frustration became the language of my thoughts.\n\nWith each passing year, I could feel myself turning corrupt, toxic, EVIL. Every interface to the world passed through this devilish lens. I started cursing at fresh air. I started wishing death when I heard a gentle baby coo. I knew due to my families constant visits to me, that my presence had caused rifts in the whole family, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could feel my strength of spreading evil, grow. I had become the devil. My euthanasia and my burial, with creatures constantly nibbling at my decaying body was not a pain, compared to the pain I had gone through for 20 years. \n\nThen one grim day it happened. I could move 'Myself'. I was finally free of the clutches of my body. Finally, the time has come. I was thankful to the statement of 'me being the first one to ever do it'. Every source of corruption originated from that simple statement. It was then I understood how the devil thrived. By imbibing a sense of individuality into us. So simple, yet devilishly effective. Immortality can't be handled by us, if we haven't transcended our puny thought process. I wasnt the first one to defeat the devil, I was one of trillions to join it." ]	1
	[WP] Nicholas Cage stars in the third National Treasure, where he discovers he was the real national treasure all along.	[ "Nick Cage waited. There was a treasure nearby, he could feel it. He couldn't see it, but he had been looking for years. The warnings others had given him were not listened to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway. \n\nNick was a treasure hunter for fourteen years. When he was young, he looked at the Declaration of Independence and he said to his dad \"I want to steal the Declaration daddy\"\n\nDad said \"NO! You will BE KILL BY ILLUMINATI!\" \n\n\"This is Riley\" the radio crackered. \"You must steal the Declaration!\"\n\nSo Nick gotted his glasses and blew up the church wall.\n\n \n\"HE IS GOING TO KILL US.\" Said the Illuminati. \"I will shoot at him\" said Sean Bean and he fired the gun bullets. Nick bulleted at him and tried to blow him up but then the elevator fell and they were trapped and not able to kill. \n\n\"NO! I must find the Declaration!\" he shouted. The radio said \"No Nick. You ARE the declaration.\" \n\nAnd then Nick was the treasure. " ]	1
	[WP] You have died. Like all people, you have been sent to hell. However, instead of having your punishment chosen for you, everyone must pick the severity they believe they deserve. You are the first to get it right.	[ "Wha! Where did everything go? Just a moment ago, that car rammed straight into ours, and now it’s just me, floating in an endless expanse of darkness. I can’t even see my hands in front of me! I am still wearing my long-sleeved jacket and jeans, though, which was to not draw attention. Is this what it’s like after you die? Am I stuck in eternal suspension, or is my destination yet to come?\n\nI feel something at the corner of my shoe and impulsively pull my leg up, barely holding back a gasp. I peer down to see only more blackness. I reach my foot back out and feel a hard, flat surface: a wall? Or perhaps a floor to land on! When I reach my hand over for a feel of the texture, the rest of me suddenly drops onto it. Yup, it’s a floor; a cold, but smooth one.\n\nRelying solely on my touch, I carefully position my hands and legs before taking my time getting up. Once I am on my feet, I tread on slowly, reaching my hands out for anything in front of me. This goes on for a few minutes before my scrawny arms can’t take any more and I need to set them down. If only I exercised more. I sink my hands into my pockets and continue walking, stopping every now and then to feel around the floor. Where am I, and why is everything so dark?\n\nSeveral more uneventful minutes pass by before I sit down to rest my tired legs, seeing no more sense in continuing. My mind is numb from no stimulation, so I might go to sleep right here. I fling my hood atop my head and lay down my head , doing my best to get comfortable. Soon after, though, I start hearing crunches and crackles from all around me. Oh, now something starts happening! Okay, what is it?\n\nA large, circular green cluster of hexagonal holes, about four times my height, lights up brightly before me, making me jump back in surprise – and turn away in horror. Ugh, I finally get to see something, and it happens to trigger my mild Trypophobia! At least now I know I haven’t gone blind.\n\nOnce I can bring myself to look at this sight, I notice at its center a ring of six glowing, closed-up hexagons surrounding a deep hole, both being bigger and lighter-colored than the others. I also detect six thick, zig-zagged rods protruding from around its sides and a tail or stem it props itself up with.\nI hear it speak. “Helloo!” Its swaying, high-pitched voice and jovial tone fall into an uncanny valley between soothing and threatening, a trait accentuated by disorienting echoes that bounce around us.\n\nMy mind is in shambles! Where am I? What am I looking at? Why are things playing out like this? Was I being watched this whole time? Oh, how stupid I probably looked! What’s going to happen to me?! Could be a very lucid dream? My dreams are much faster-paced, though. Oh, I forgot I've got company now; I should say something!\n\nI manage to cough something out. “Wh-who are you.”\n\nThe entity’s voice becomes more controlled, the echoes settling within it. “Why, I am an overseer of sin; I keep track of the sins of every individual I am assigned to. There have to be a bunch of us because, as you may know, many people can die at once.” Way to rub it in.\n\n“S-so-” I tremble at my next words. “-am I…i-in hell?”\n\n“Nooo, not quite,” the overseer corrects as if to comfort me. “You may call this your own personal ‘purgatory’; everybody has one constructed and designed specifically for them whenever their life is put at risk; this is why we can usually only meet one person at a time.”\n\nI scroll my eyes across the vast dome of blackness surrounding us, the only light source still being the overseer’s eerie luminescence. I guess this would match my propensity for anxiety; just gazing into it gives me paranoia of something jumping out.\n\nI turn back to the overseer. “So, w-what next?” I ask, my confidence slightly boosted by the assurance I am not (yet) in hell.\n\n“Here, you are to reflect upon on all of your unrepented sins.” A large larva inches halfway out of one of the overseer’s holes, making my skin crawl. “For each valid sin you admit to, no matter how small, one of these little sweeties pops out to greet you from the hole corresponding to that sin. It seems this one already senses your fearfulness.”\n\nYeah, I'm a nervous wreck. “Heh heh, I do make it pretty obvious, don’t I?”\n\nThe overseer continues, “If your self-assessment turns out to be completely correct, you get to decide your own punishment! After all, if a sinner fully understands where they went wrong, they would surely know the best way to suffer; it’s the least we can do. Hm-hm!”\n\nSo I can choose what happens to me? Does that mean anything so long as it’s bad? What are the rules on all this?\n\n“Now, as a fair warning,” the overseer notes, their tone turning a tinge more serious, “we are in full power to apply our own punishment if we deem yours unfit.” They lean forward rather intimidatingly. “Do you understand?”\n\nI nod in short, meek bobs. “Yes, I understand everything.”\n\n“Alright, then!” they announce with returning cheer as they swing back where they were. “Let’s get started!”\n\nI think it over a bit before I know just what to say. “Okay, well…I’ve done nothing.”\n\n“What’s that?”\n\n“I did nothing to get here; that is, should’ve done stuff, but I didn’t. At an early age, I grew to fear the consequences of failure, defeat and disappointment, so I never took up more tasks than I had to nor seized any social outlets.\n\nThe larva wriggles up and down in excitement. “Very good so far!” the overseer interjects. “Please continue.”\n\nMy voice rises, my repressed feelings of guilt resurfacing. “Furthermore, I held back from speaking my mind except when forced. Even if I didn’t, though, I wouldn’t have had much to say ‘cause I hadn’t actually adopted any opinions or beliefs beyond those crucial to functioning. I was afraid to have doubts or faith; I couldn’t commit to anything! I became complacent, unsocial and, frankly, somewhat lazy!”\n\nA second larva slinks out while the first one thrashes about with more enthusiasm. “Yes, yes! Spot on!”\n\n“My Mom eventually caught on to my inactivity, however, and had me join a co-worker’s son and his friends on a trip to someplace I forget. They were a diverse group; I could’ve probably made at least one friend if I tried.\n\n“Anyway, after the light went green for us at an intersection, the driver forgot to look both ways, and the others were too busy with themselves or each other to see another driver speeding through from the left. Admittedly, though, the car was far, and I only caught it from my peripherals myself. I knew I had to alert everyone, but I choked up; I guess a part of me winced at the supposedly unflattering image of me suddenly shouting out after being so quiet, so let's throw a pinch of pride in the mix, too.”\n\nAt this point I am so wrapped up in guilt and shame that I do not even look up at the overseer, instead looking down with my hands gripping my hair and face. “That could’ve been my turning point; I could’ve saved all those people and started making progress, but I blew it, all because I was so cowardly and selfish that I couldn’t get myself to talk to people!”\n\nI lift my wet eyes. “Yet here I am-” I swing an arm open to gesture, “-opening myself up after it’s already too late!”\n\nA peculiar arthropod now rests in the middle of the central ring. Could that represent-?\n\n“Well done,” the overseer congratulates. “You’ve recapped all of your sins with perfect honesty, including the one behind all sin: pride. Now-” they lean down in anticipation, “-what shall be your punishment?”\n\n“Again,” I answer defeatedly, “nothing; what should I reap if I hadn’t sowed anything? You can just leave me here to rot away in isolation.”\n\n“Hmmm,” the overseer mutters in yet a darker tone than before. “Perhaps you’re not as fun as I’d hoped.”\n\nThey slither back, their light fading out. As soon as they leave my sight, the crackling sounds return, but they gradually muffle out until they are gone once more. I then hear a gentle ting high above me.\n\nWhat was that about? Did I choose an improper punishment? I figured they would’ve wanted a punishment corresponding to the deed. Maybe isolation isn’t severe or intense enough. If so, what awaits me now? How long will I wait for it? Or perhaps it’s already started: my punishment could be eternal anticipation of impromptu attacks or spontaneous jumpscares to attack my heart and senses! Oh, I can feel the stress crushing me already! I think I’ll just lie down now; maybe the torment won’t be so bad then.\nI close my eyes. If only I had a second chance; if only I could escape this nightmare.\n\nA bright light hits my eyelids. I stand back up, a hand over my eyes to protect them. This isn’t a trap, is it? I move my arm to see an white opening in the apparent ceiling.\n\nThis opening – and the light emanating from it – feels oddly devoid of the desolation that enwrapped me since I got here, which I feel sort of burning away. When I take a step forward, my feet lift off the ground. I look down to see my reflection on the floor, and my tense muscles relax with relief. Am I receiving mercy after death? \n\nAs I draw closer to the light, a layer of brightness envelops my body. It looks like I am being granted a second chance! I get to change my ways and be a more active human being!\n\nA new life begins here!", "Darkness. Heat. Where am I? I was driving, wasn't I? And then that truck... Yes, so this is like...\n\nAn smooth, playful, but somewhat sinister voice interrupts me: \"Yes, you are dead. Finished. Crushed \\-quite literally. Why can trucks be fluffier? Anyway, welcome to the afterlife. Darkness, heat, all the good stuff. Welcome to hell\"\n\nI try to muster some words, while trying to distinguish my conversation partner: \"Who... what... where are you?\n\n\"Don't waste your time. You can't see me (we are very proud of our total darkness protocol). You musn't, and, even more importantly, it wouldn't do you any good. I'm way too beatiful for you to see. Just listen. Listen carefully...\"\n\nThe voice seems to be able to read my mind. It also wanders through the void, feeling really close sometimes and suddenly far away. I can not only hear it, but somehow I feel it all over my head. It doesn't sound quite honest, nor it sounds completely deceiving; I think i'm being tested\n\n\\-\"This is the deal. You are guilty, as everyone is. Living is sinning (and sinning is living, isn't it?). There is no point in pretending otherwise (hold your thoughts, and keep your breath) Therefore, you are up for punishment...\"\n\nA million thoughts invade my mind. I did wonder about this in the past. Could it be? Living really is sinning, but how can you be so strict? What about choice \\-and forgiveness? I mean, what's the point of anything in life if you just come here and...\n\n\\-\"Hey, save your energy, i heard that. You are not convincing me (nor anyone in here). It doesn't matter, it's no longer about that. It's autumn, and you just walked and crushed some leaves. No ill intentions (or intentions at all, maybe), no purpose, but they got broken. And you answer for that today. It's just mmmm, like thermodynamics. Sorta, somewhat delayed. We are getting equilibrium today\"\n\nMy mind continues firing. I try to communicate, and my lips start to move (it's a test, isn't it?): \"So this is about that, equilibrium? Is it all about some weird metaphysic law of energy? Is this the price of existing? Then I am just ike a cog, a little piece of the universal machine. But...\"\n\n\"Before you ask, yes, we do recognize you as an individual \\-rocks do crush leaves too, and even trees when they fall do too. But out previous intent based punishment policy was way too confusing. This is just better. It's about something bigger than you or me. I'll not judge you. In fact, no one will. You'll have the opportunity to show your individuality. It's very simple: you choose your own punishment\"\n\nA gigantic cloud blocks any clarity from me. I choose my punishment? How could I? How could that ever be right?\n\n\"Just take your time, gather your thoughts, remember, reflect and ponder. Indulge in your individuality (yuck) and in your freedom of will (double yuck). Be creative (please) and pick wisely. Time is not of importance in here, but, if you may, do hurry: I'm kinda hungry\"\n\nHungry? Be creative? Can this really be afterlife? There has to be more to it. If anything, I would be the worst person to judge myself: you cannot get equilibrium that way. How could that ever work? It can't be. The reason behind paying is just mechanical, universal and cold \\-crushing leaves. Yet, I get to choose my punishment. Couldn't I aspire to something better? Bigger than me? Can't the universe aspire to something else? (Can the universe provide it?). This is not good enough. Not fair enough, not beautiful eno...(i have it, i have it!).\n\nWords come out of my mouth: \"There's no punishment. There was not and there will be not. I'm forgiven, because I forgive myself, and because i was forgiven by others and because I will forgive \\-and be forgiven\\- and because I forgive you too. As I'm always guilty I'm always forgiven, as everyone else is. Everyone is as guilty as me, and everyone is pardoned. I'm sole and leaf. Equilibrium. You crush but also get crushed, but it doesn't matter: the universe is, in the end, very fluffy.", "Everyone needs to go. We all know that. Some go earlier than others. Some want to go earlier. Some get sent earlier. Yet there are also the fortunate. Those who hadn't sustained injuries, were mentally sane or just naturally blessed with a strong body. Or luck.\n\nI wasn't one of them. At the ripe old age of 32, I got hit by a swerving truck while I was hiking alongside a highway, killing me on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself surrounded by fire. First, it took my sight. Seconds later, my breath. For a full minute, all I could see, hear and feel was the unending Inferno of Hell.\n\nI scoffed. \"Figures.\"\n\nA voice responded to my comment, the last kind of voice one would expect to be hearing here.\n\n\"Ah, yer here. Top a the mornin' to ya, lad! How are ya? Smashin' day, i'nnit?\"\n\nWith an expression of anxiousness and surprise, I turned around.The Devil is... Scottish? I thought to myself.\n\nAs if he read my mind, he started laughing, a weirdly charming, but ominous laugh. The person, if one could call him that, that floated in front of me started to come closer, and the closer he came, the more details I could make out. He was wearing a buisness suit, for example, and a few meters later, I noticed it was a deep blue instead of a shade of black, with a white shirt underneath. The person inside the suit, however, was far more extraordinary. His skin was made up from unequal shades of red, with deep black crevices all over. His face was mostly human, but his eyes were the same, this time a solid and smooth, dark black that filled the crevices. His mouth, however, had no solid shape. It was as if where his lips should've been, there were two strokes of running lava, with the same colour as his skin. And although they were a bit small (they were barely reaching his knees), the suit he was wearing couldn't contain two leathery wings, with sharp, dagger\\-like spikes at the very ends.\n\nThe Devil took a deep breath, cleared his throat and somewhat straightened his face, before bursting into laughter again. \"Oh, wow. You should've seen your face! Absolutely priceless!\"\n\nAfter I realised what just happened, my face turned red. Hey, I thought to myself, it's not as if you could've known.\n\nHe cleared his throat once more, and took a more serious face. \"So. You probably wonder why you're here?\"\n\nMy reaction took him by surprise. \"Actually, a little bit, yeah.\"\n\nThe Devil smirked, but I was too late to see it. I was too preoccupied with taking in the surrounding area. The fire had faded when He first appeared, and now I could see where I was. At face value, it looked like a modern appartement. When looking more closely, however, I could notice that nothing had an actual, solid shape, and, as far as a soul could feel anything, I was quite certain that everything was at least boiling hot, wich explained the way everthing looked like. It was wavy, not solid. I snapped out of my thoughts, almost litterally, when the Devil clapped his hands.\n\n\"There are no need for introductions, as I already know your name, and I also know that you guessed who I am. And I can tell you, you guessed right.\"\n\nThere was a silence for a few seconds, until the Devil took the lead again.\n\n\"So, let us get straight to the point. Yes, you are in Hell. More specifically, Limbo, if my memory serves me right. Just between you and me, this place is an absolute maze. If I wasn't immortal, I couldn't for the life of me remember everything. So anyways, Limbo. Here we, or to be exact you, are going to pick a punishment.\"\n\nNow He took me by surprise. \"I\\-I'm sorry, what? I have to pick\\* my ow\\n punishment?\"\n\nHe suddenly floated towards me, putting his almost clawed hands on my shoulders. He leaned in towards me, whispering in my ear. He suddenly sounded... almost seductive. I unawarely shuddered, but His voice was simply enchanting:\"That's the way the cookie crumbles around here. And surely, you have regrets of something,* right? Otherwise there's no way you'd be here.\"\n\nI was about to answer, but noticed just in time that He was putting words in my mouth. Words that weren't true. So I shrugged. \"Like I told you, I have absolutely no clue why I'm in Hell.\" Wide\\-eyed, I realised something. \"Unless masturbation and cursing are sins?\"\n\nThe Devil laughed, a sincere laugh. \"If that was so, then Heaven could've been shut down.\"There was a certain tone in his voice, that made him sound a wee bit uncertain, perhaps even nervous. But I shook that feeling off. There's no way.\n\nHe started whispering again. \"You are absolutely certain? You can't recall a single sin? Not even a grain of remorse?\"\n\nI shrugged again, but felt a bit more confident. \"The only thing that I regret is that I didn't get to go to my best bud's wedding. I was his best man, but now I'm stuck here.\"\n\n\"Sorry to hear that. But the big man in the sky has a plan for everybody. I'm sure this has happened for a reason.\"\n\n\"I guess. Still doesn't really offer any comfort, though.\"\n\nHe let go of my shoulders, and clapped in his clawy hands.\"So, you would tell me that you deserve absolutely no punisment?\"\n\n\"Not even a smack on my face.\"\n\nThe sudden feel of dread couldn't take away my confidence.\n\nAnd as sudden as my dread, the Devil turned red with rage, if more red was possible on his skin. \"No. You're wrong,\" he stammered. \"You're both wrong.\" He said that last bit towards the sky. \"What is your plan, Father?\"\n\nMy anxiousness returned. \"What do you mean, I'm wrong?\"\n\nHe pinched his nose bridge in irritation. \"No. You... you're right. Correct. For the first time,' and every word that followed was said more loudly than the first, 'for the first time, ever since time started to exist, a human is correct! Unbelievable! Do you really want this, Father?\" That last sentence, he yelled whilst pointing at me.\n\nBut He stopped his rant abruptly, and sighed. \"Fine.\"\n\nI got overwhelmed with fear. \"W\\-wait, what? What's happening? Where am I going?\"\n\nThe Devil smiled once more, shockingly sad. \"To a better place.\"\n\nThe red filter that had been in front of my eyes this entire occurence got peeled off, and the Devil had made place for a different being. It looked like the Devil like they were two raindrops, even the sad smile was still present. The only difference was that the shades of red had made place for a blue colour scheme.\n\n\"Well. That's a first. Welcome to Heaven, unfortunately.\" \n\n\nEdit: almost fogot: if you liked this, maybe check out my sub, r/WritingsOfAnAmateur. It's where I keep most of my writing.", "“Do you know what sins you have committed?” the being asked. It was a vile, misshapen thing, towering up twice her height and looking at her through empty sockets that seemed to see too much. A long tail had slowly wrapped itself around her and the being took a step closer. “I do,” it continued, now smiling with its toothless mouth. “I know everything, every single thing that you have done to further secure your place among us. There is a lot of them. A lot.” The tail returned to its owner, who closed the remaining distance between them in three agile strides. She swallowed a scream when it leveled its sockets with her, and felt tears well up in her eyes. Had she known it would come to this she would have been a better person.\n\nThe being laughed. “Oh, would you now? That’s funny because if I recall correctly there’s a whole bunch of people practically screaming at the top of their lungs what happens to people that act like you did, every major religion really. They warned you once, they warned you twice, and when you still wouldn’t listen they offered to forgive you and start over again.” The being inched closer and seemed to take in her scent; she shivered. \n\n“Mm, but it wasn’t in your nature to listen to them. It wasn’t in your nature to repent, to set things right, to walk the path of the righteous. No, I can smell it on you. You enjoyed every misdeed, took pleasure in every shortcut that came at the expense of someone else. I dare say that even if you had received convincing proof that this was what awaited you, you wouldn’t have turned back. \n\n“Because you don’t belong in heaven, you don’t belong with the people who stand in line, who turn the other cheek, who bend over and get fucked by life. No, you belong with us, down here. Your spot has been reserved ever since you strangled that rat and felt nothing. Everyone knew what you were from then on, even your parents, although they denied it at the time. Not even your beloved Jesus would have taken those odds.”\n\nThe being walked around behind her, she could feel its breath on her neck as it lowered itself to her level. \n\n“Now wipe those pathetic tears from your face and I will show you what you’ve done, everything.”\n\nShe took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes, hating herself for having let them fall in the first place; she was better than that. The being was right, they were pathetic.\n\nTwo hand grasped her shoulders and turned her around. She came face to face with the two sockets, but they weren’t empty anymore. A translucent light filled them, filled the space between the two of them, filled everything. And then she saw. Starting from when she was three until her last breath, the being showed her every wrongful deed she had committed. But it went beyond that, it showed her the fallout of her actions, the impact it had on the recipients, her victims, the poor souls who happened to be between her and what she desired at the time. It all merged together. Small things like a line of cocaine in the office became a dead man who had been stupid enough to take her to his place. Paying for sex, framing coworkers, pushing an old lady down a flight of stairs.\n\nSomeone was laughing. She wasn’t sure if it was her or the being, but she was definitely smiling. After all, it was beautiful. She was unstoppable. No one stood in her way that didn’t live to regret it. She exacted vengeance on everyone who wronged her. It only seemed fitting that an overdose was the cause of death; nothing but her own greed was strong enough to kill her. She only felt a tinge of sadness at the empty funeral, but it was a small price to pay.\n\nSuddenly she was staring into the empty sockets again. She was still smiling, and so was the being in front of her.\n\n“You seem pleased,” it said and cocked its head. She met its gaze, or what she supposed was its gaze. It didn’t seem as terrifying anymore.\n\n“So do you.” She sounded confident than before, felt confident.\n\n“I’m always pleased when someone lives up to their potential, to see weakness snuffed out like a candle.” The being took a couple of steps back and raised its arms. Seven doors appeared behind it. Each opened to reveal horrors unthinkable. The sights gave her mixed feelings. \n\n“And now comes the time for your choice.”\n\n“My choice?”\n\n“Yes, the free will you were given extends down here as well, to some extent. You get to pick your own punishment, pick what you think you deserve. Choose wisely and you might manage to repent, to be invited upstairs, be too soft on yourself and you might have to spend eternity down here before reaching redemption, and choose to severe a punishment and you might not have the stomach to endure it; might only be a husk of you left when you’ve made up for your wrongdoings.”\n\nShe scoffed.\n\n“Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me.” The being cocked its head again and the mouth turned into a snarl. If it had eyes she imagined they would narrow.\n\n“Bullshit?” it asked with a silk voice. \n “Repent? Be invited upstairs? Please, sounds like something you tell people so you can watch hope slowly leave them as we’re edging closer to eternity.” The snarl turned into a smile and the being shrugged.\n\n“Maybe. And then again, maybe not. You’ll just have to make that gamble.”\n\nIt was her turn to shrug.\n\n“No, I don’t.”\n\n“No? And why’s that?”\n\n“Because it’s irrelevant to me.”\n\n“So you’ve made your decision?”\n\n“I have.”\n\nThe doors vanished without a sound, although the echoes of screaming lingered for a few more moments.\n\n“And?” \n\n“I want to be your apprentice.”\n\nThe being was silent for some time before it went down on all four and crept closer, until it was merely an inch away from her. It smelled as vile as it looked, something she had not noticed before.\n\n“My apprentice? And what makes you think you deserve that?”\n\n“We are to choose the punishment we think we deserve, but that requires us to believe we deserve to be punished in the first place, to believe we have done something wrong. To want to repent it. But it’s like you said, I belong down here, and I think I should be rewarded for my actions. Some might consider being your apprentice to be a punishment, the worst punishment perhaps. But I don’t. I’ve earned it.”\n\nThe smile returned, and she thought she could hear the being purr. It sent shivers down her spine but she kept her back straight, and her eyes locked with the sockets in front of her.\n\n“Clever girl.”", "\"Uh, hi?\" I frowned as I walked into a plush office that looked just like an ordinary accounting office. I paused as I spotted a TV on the wall. It looked like it was broadcasting stock charts but instead of companies it appeared to be different sins with the Seven Deadly Sins in bold.\n\n\"I don't have all day, Audi.\" A man was seated at a large oak desk. He didn't even look up at me as his fingers clicked over an adding machine with the graceful ease of a well practiced pianist. \"And my condolences, that your parents named you after a car. I must admit though that there is some irony that you were killed by your namesake\"\n\n\"Yeah, hilarious....\" I muttered as I sat down in a chair across from his desk. It was lumpy and uncomfortable. I guess I wasn't going to get the 5 star spa treatment in Hell. \"So... are you the devil...?\" I questioned as I looked over the man in front of me. He had a slight frame with neatly trimmed blonde hair and large glasses that seemed to keep sliding down his nose. He wasn't really what I had been expecting. I mean, he was wearing a sweater vest.\n\nHe snorted with annoyance. \"You have no idea how many times a day I get that. No, I am not the devil. Only the big contenders get to personally meet with the Big Boss. I am Steve, Junior Director of the Vanity Circle.\" He explained. \"Now let's get started, shall we? I have a deadline to meet in about an hour so let's get this over with.\"\n\n\"Okay, but do I get like a lawyer or something? Because I def do not belong here.\" I gave him the brightest smile my dazzling bleached teeth could manage. It was a well rehearsed smile that had a 95&#37; success rate.\n\n\"You sold your soul for a pair of Louboutins...\" He replied dryly.\n\n\"Okay, well... Okay, that may have allegedly happened but...\"\n\n\"But nothing. You sold your soul for the sake of vanity because you wanted to show up your rival on Instragram.\" He waved his hand and the TV screen on the wall switched over to Instagram shots of me and my endless closets, shopping sprees, vacations and expensive cars. Is it really my fault that my parents were well off and gave me whatever I wanted and that I married a private island realtor that was twice my age so I could carry on my life style? I liked nice things. Was that really so terrible? It's not like I ever killed anyone or anything.\n\n\"Oh, can you pause? My hair looks really good in that pic. Do you think I should go back to blonde? I decided to do the ombre thing because it's like hot right now but\\-\"\n\n\"We are here to discuss your sins not your best fashion moments.\" He scowled. \"But honestly you looked best as your natural brunette.\"\n\n\"Really? Huh? You're the only person to ever tell me that.\" I told him. I had changed myself constantly over the course of my life. I had always wanted to be on top of the latest trends, even more so when Facebook and Instagram became popular.\n\n\"Anyway, it's not even debatable that you let vanity control your life, so let's just move forward with your punishment. Uh...\" He scrolled through his phone that seemed to contain a list of punishments. \"An eternity of birds eating you alive over and over. There will be mirrors all around you so you can watch as they mutilate you. Alright, you can go back the way you came in.\" He gestured towards the door as he went back to the accounting he had been working on.\n\n\"Did I like catch you on a bad day or something, because that seems really freaking medieval?\" I demanded. \"Hasn't hell like updated with the times?\"\n\n\"Here. I can update it so the mirrors show you with the SnapChat filters with animal ears that you are so fond of...\" He began to type on his phone barely even paying attention to me.\n\n\"Steve, come on! Yeah, I'll admit that I am kind of an asshole but I am not 'evil'. I don't go around hurting people and I am not like sadistic or anything. Doesn't this punishment seem a little extreme to you? Do I really deserve such a violent punishment?\" I questioned.\n\nHe just raised an eyebrow as he set his phone down and leaned back in his chair as looked me over with new found interest. \"Alright, Audi. What kind of punishment do you think you deserve?\"\n\n\"I don't know, maybe a lot of minor inconveniences that grow to drive me insane because I am a trash human and then they just start back over. I hate grocery shopping. I had a personal shopper because I hated dealing with peasants. So picture this, I am grocery shopping at like some value chain that only has off\\-brand products. I grab a grocery cart and it has a squeaky wheel. So I a grab a different one. It also has a squeaky wheel. They all do.\" I search Steve's face to see if I still have his full attention.\n\nHe nods thoughtfully. \"Go on.\"\n\n\"Okay, so the handle of the cart is like sticky and there are no antibacterial wipes to wipe away the grossness. I can see people with sweaty hands, people coughing on the carts and little children with their mouths all over the handles but I have to get a cart so I get a cart. I start shopping and the lights are too bright and I can hear the low electronic buzz of the florescent lights slowing getting louder and more high pitched in my ears. Somewhere a child starts to throw a tantrum. My grocery list is endless and most of the items are on a shelf just out of my reach or they are out of the item and I have to ask irritated employees for rain\\-checks or to look in the back. All of the boxes are smooshed or damaged in someway. There is nothing organic in the store and all the produce is either too ripe or not ripe at all. Eventually I make it to the checkout line and my wheels squeak the entire time. Once I am there everyone ahead of me either has some sort of issue with the items scanning or something of that nature that holds up the line. They also pay entirely with coupons and loose change for massive orders. Another child throws a tantrum. My frozen items have melted and I really really have to pee. Eventually I get up there and it takes forever to scan my items and they aren't ringing up the right prices so a manager has to get involved. Once everything is sorted I go to pay and realize that I don't have my wallet. Then everything starts over again. This just continues on and on, maybe with some variety but overall just the same terrible thing over and over forever.\" I explained.\n\n\"That... was beautiful.\" He sounded genuinely impressed.\n\n\"Really?\" I perked up.\n\n\"Look at my arm. I have goosebumps.\" He held up his arm so I could see.\n\n\"I mean this isn't like ideal because it sounds awful but can we do my punishment instead of the one you picked for me?\" I questioned carefully.\n\n\"Actually... I have a another idea. I have always been more into the 'business' aspect of this department and meeting the soul quota to keep the Vanity stocks up. How would you like to my assistant to deal out the punishments? And before you answer, keep in mind that you don't get anything for free.\" He seemed to word the last part carefully.\n\n\"I have always been good at judging people.\" I shrugged. I also would give people fair punishments instead of just choosing something at random like Steve seemed to have done. \n\n\"So we have a deal?\" He held his hand out to me. Whatever the consequences were had to be better then being tortured.\n\n\"Yes.\" I agreed as I reached out and shook his hand. I yelped out as I immediately felt a sharp burning across my face. \"OWWW! What did you do?!\" I demanded in a panicked voice.\n\nHe just shrugged as turned his phone on camera mode and held it out so I could use it as a mirror. I let out a loud scream at the reflection. \"My nose! You gave me back my old nose!\" I touched the large monstrosity that had replaced the cute button nose I had gotten for my nineteenth birthday. I noticed that the freckles I had lightened were back and that the Botox treatments I had gotten to get rid of wrinkles by eyes were gone. My straight ombre hair had transformed into my natural wavy brunette hair.\n\nI shook my head as my eyes burned with tears at the monster I was looking at. \"I changed my mind. Feed me to the birds.\"\n\nHe rolled his eyes. \"Don't be such a drama queen. I was an underwear model before I ended up here.\"\n\nI raised an eyebrow skeptically as I looked at his slight frame and sweater vest. \"Really?\"\n\n\"Everything has a price, Miss\\-I\\-Sold\\-My\\-Goddamn\\-Soul\\-For\\-a\\-Pair\\-of\\-Shoes. \" He shook his head at me.\n\n\"They were really nice shoes...\"", "Satan's eyes were both beautiful and perilous. They screamed pain and pleasure. They burned and soothed. Their color seemed to shift continuously. The edges of his mouth nearly touched his ears, his smile was so big. The question he had asked lingered between us like the smoke from the fire pit below.\n\n\"Well?\" he asked, in a way that calmed me but also sent chills down my spine.\n\nI leaned into him to ensure he could hear me over the nonstop screams in the background of our conversation. \"I've trudged through the mud of mankind. I'm an abomination. I've committed the foulest of acts, and I relished every second of it. And it all led to here.\"\n\n\"Yes. I was a big fan.\"\n\nI looked around to see unspeakable horrors. I took it all in and imagined myself receiving them all. I looked back at him and said, \"It's not enough.\"\n\n\"Pardon?\"\n\nTo make the devil question was a feat I thought I'd never accomplish. \"None of it. All of it. It's not enough.\"\n\nSatan leaned back and looked about. He spread his arms wide and said, \"In this realm of terrors, you see not a single punishment which suits you?\"\n\nI stared him in those menacing eyes, and I told him, \"I don't think even you are creative enough to give me the punishment I deserve.\"\n\nThe devil laughed. It was a hard laugh. It boomed, and even those in the midst of torture turned to see its source. It echoed through the halls and tunnels of the damned place, and I felt it would echo for eternity, for I believe there is no end to its expanse.\n\n\"No amount of pain will bring about an inkling of remorse,\" I said. \"No amount of suffering will make me feel even an ounce of regret. Hell is not a place that could ever bring me sorrow.\"\n\nThe devil tapped his fingers together, intrigued. \"You are an interesting fellow, aren't you?\" His smile widened, stretching his face beyond human capabilities. \"But you underestimate me. ALL can be punished. Even you.\" He gestured towards a nearby minion. \"Take him to the forbidden place.\"\n\nThe demon blinked \\- if that's what it could be called \\- unsure of what his master was saying.\n\n\"You heard me!\" boomed the devil. You heard me. You heard me. You heard me. It bounced off the walls.\n\nThe minion nodded and led me away.\n\n\"Enjoy.\" It would be the last word I ever heard from Satan.\n\nWe walked for what seemed like a thousand years. My feet bled, and my bones ached, and yet I never tired. We finally came to a gate. It was heavily guarded and covered by swarms of spider\\-like creatures. They gasped as the minion took me to it. He unshackled me and nodded. Ready for whatever was on the other side, I gladly stepped through.\n\nA flash of light ripped through my body. When I opened my eyes, a man stood before me. Not a demon, but a man. He peered at me quizzically, and said, \"Welcome.\" The air was warm and enveloped me like a bed I never want to get out of. The man reached out his hand and said, \"It would seem you have been forgiven.\"\n\n\"What?\" I asked. \"Forgiven?\"\n\n\"Yes. I don't know what you did, but you're in heaven. No sins of a man who crosses that threshold will ever be spoken of. You have a clean slate. Welcome to heaven.\"\n\n\"Clean slate? No. No, my sins... my... \" I tried to remember them all. I tried to remember all the horrible things I had done. \"No,\" I said. \"NO!\"\n\nIt only took a few minutes before I could no longer remember any of them. None of my transgressions. None of the maimings. None of the slaughters. It was all gone. And for the first time since my birth, I screamed.", "“Well, child?”\n\nWhat is that? Why am I here? Where is here?\n\n“To make a decision. You know where we are. Damnation.”\n\nIf you can read my mind, you know I don’t know the question.\n\n“Oh, you do. You just haven’t put it together yet. We’re in Hell, correct? You had to have been sent here for a reason.”\n\nI... have done things wrong, I guess... So I deserve to be punished?\n\n“You are allowed to choose your own punishment. If I deem it unjust, I will choose for you. Think carefully on your sins.”\n\n___\n\nI’ve done so much. How could I have not seen it before? I deserve the worst.\n\n“Is that your decision, child?”\n\nY... no. No. I’m worthless, right? No reason to waste punishment on me. Set me free.\n\n“Worthless, child? For what did you sin?”\n\nFor... Mom. Dad. My family. My friends. I did bad things, but I only wanted to help. I know what my punishment is.\n\n“Let’s hear it, then.”\n\nPunishment is meant to teach something. I’ve served it.\n\nThe dark figure smiled, a genuine, pure smile. Glimmers of light started to spin around me. \n\n“Finally. I’ve been waiting for someone to understand what this was for, for so long... my son.” \n\n", "\"So, let me get this straight,\" I stare the angelic being in the eye as best I can, his fallen nature cut down on the blinding light but it still wasn't comfortable, \"I'm here in Hell to make an honest accounting for my life, confess all my sins, and suffer appropriate punishment for as long as I feel is honestly fair?\"\n\n\"That's right, human,\" The Lightbringer spat. \"The Father has given you pathetic wretches Free Will, something I never had, and you all still end up here anyway. You've committed a great many sins, and now you must pay. Confess your sins and choose your damnation.\"\n\nI cannot begin to describe the torrent of emotions that flooded through me, shock, anger, pain, guilt, despair... It was like one of my worst days on earth when the depression and anxiety would crush me beneath a psychic weight. But I did not have a mortal body here. I did not have a head full of chemistry telling me how I had to feel. Here, I only had myself, and it was time to push through and make a decision. I could do this. I forced myself out of bed and into work even on days when there was no light in my life, when I existed today just so that I could suffer tomorrow. If I could do that, I could do this. Just push emotion to the side and function, one last time.\n\nIt was tempting to throw my early christian upbringing out and see if it stuck, but I realized that if I were in Hell it was already too late to bring that up.\n\nInstead I went through my life. I'm far from perfect, I'm the first to admit it. While I think we're all guilty of the Big 7 sins from time to time, pride is not my weak spot. Maybe lust as I did love the ladies, maybe wrath as I had a temper at times, but my waistline was saying gluttony was a strong contender... Hard to say what my defining sin was really.\n\n\nBut ultimately, as I went through everything I could remember (and no human body meant no fallible human brain), I saw my own failings and was humbled. I'd hurt some people. I'd lied for no gain. I'd broken a ton of laws, and even stolen a few things. I was starting to become very worried about my future the farther along I went. Especially after I watched one romantic relationship after another implode and my mental health hit all time lows. I was a mess and I hurt a lot of people.\n\n\nI almost gave in to despair, and I could see the Prince of Lies start to smile, but then I got to newer memories. Therapy, medication, making ammends, and saw me getting my life back together.\n\n\nFinally, as I reached the present day I looked up at Lucifer and I found myself with a strange peace.\n\n\n\"You know,\" I sighed. \"I bet Hell is just chock full of devout Christians who never once bothered to check their beliefs.\"\n\n\nSatan nodded.\n\n\n\"They get down here, they're met with a literal devil, a fallen angel from the christian theology, and told they're in hell because of their sins,\" I began to dust myself off and shed metaphysical dirt and grime from my soul. \"But they forget what their religion was supposed to be about. They forget about forgiveness.\"\n\n\nThe Devil begins to look angry but I continue on, \"Yeshua of Nazareth was a human sacrifice to atone for mankind's sins. God, the Father of all, loves his children. What father wouldn't? He knows we make mistakes because we're imperfect, and the system he set up for atonement was too rough for a lot of people, so he made forgiveness possible.\"\n\n\n\"I was forgiven by the Father before it ever happened,\" I finish shaking the metaphorical dirt from my soul which is starting to shine. \"I've been forgiven by most of the people in my life who I hurt, and I forgave them in return a long time ago. I've been sent here, to Hell, because when I was alive I could never begin to forgive myself. I was human, I was imperfect. I made mistakes, I got hurt and I hurt people in return, but none of it was out of malice or cruelty. It's only now that I have surpassed mortal concerns and been able to look at my life with perfect honesty and perfect impartiality that I can really see that.\"\n\n\nIt was easy now to stare the greatest of God's angels directly in the eye, \"So, what punishment do I truly deserve?\"\n\n\nI saw the landscape of Hell start to crack as stairs formed in front of me, \"Time Served.\"\n\n\n[A/N; Sorry for the religiosity, but in a prompt with literal hell and a literal devil, some christian mythology was bound to sink in. I personally believe that forgiveness is a process. You can't just say \"I'm a christian, whee!\" and get a free ticket to heaven. It's not about works either, but if you're embracing the concepts and not just the label then your acts should reflect that. I have to believe that whatever God there is will respect an honest effort, regardless of labels.]", "Darkness hung its head down watching all of us single file through the gates. Chains dragged my soul across the snow toward the front of the line. Statues stood in disarray from the souls that froze into solid ice. Fire sprouted like spring flowers in order to protect the souls coming to Hades.\n\n“You!” I heard someone shout from the front. A tall man ran from the line trying to escape his fate. It only took a few seconds before hounds bigger than three men put together tackled him, ripping his soul apart.\n\n“Don’t run,” a demon leaned in close to me. His entire face was swirled in a mess. His mouth was the only facial feature that had been normal. That was until I watched his mouth open again. It looked like he had rows of shark teeth inside. “Keep moving.”\n\nIt wasn't like I had a choice. I was chained to the person in front of me. I don’t understand how that tall man got out of his chains the way he did. His ankles must have been so skinny, his soul just slipped out when no one noticed.\n\nThunder drummed when each person stepped into the chamber of Hades. My curiosity itched at me to look around my environment, but I knew better than to look up again. I just kept my head down until it was my turn to enter the chamber.\n\n\\It was my time.\\ I felt my chains break into the snow. I am guessing that is how the tall man made a run for it afterall. It had been his turn to enter the chamber, but he chose to run instead. Running is no option for me. I am ready to get this over with. I lifted my head to see nothing but the mouth of a cave. I had never seen anything so dark before. As I took my first few steps inside, I heard the thunder signal my entrance from behind.\n\nI couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t hear anything. There were no smells, not even a taste of the air. The cave was pure nothingness as I continued straight the best I could.\n\nMoments later, a small flame flickered in the distance. I slowed my pace trying to concentrate on its image.\n\n“Do not keep me waiting.” An order slithered along the rocks around me. “I will not wait any longer.”\n\nMy feet picked up in a sprint toward the flame. I found myself running into a room housing a man slouched in a throne. He wore a dark robe with a dancing flame as his hair. It was Hades himself. Falling to my knees, I felt my soul growing weaker by every minute.\n\n“Please,” I found myself begging.\n\nHades straightened his back before smiling. “What’s your hurry? We have all the time in the world!” He stood up from the throne laughing. I watched the flame atop his head turn to blue. He slicked the flame backward with his hands making it roll back down toward the floor.\n\n“Please,” I continued, “just get it over with.”\n\n“Do not give orders to me! You are nothing but a pathetic parasite! You are a weed that I’m responsible to pluck!” He shouted while his hair of fire stretched toward the ceiling. He slicked it backwards again before continuing, “No matter how many weeds I pluck, they always keep coming. I have started doing something for all of you. This game has gone on for way too long.”\n\nI stood up while watching Hades pace back and forth. He had a man in the corner chained down by both his hands and feet. What caught my curiosity wasn’t the fact there was someone else in the room, but the fact he was leaned over puking pure fire into a bowl.\n\n“The new game,” Hades snapped. “I will ask you what you think your punishment in this world should be. Do not worry, I’ll be fair – somewhat.”\n\nI didn’t respond. My attention was still fixed on the man endlessly puking fire into the bowl. Hades rolled his eyes. “That’s my pet. He, like you soon will, is paying his punishment to me. Isn’t that right Prometheus?” Hades chuckled. Prometheus tried to look up but the fire kept spilling from his mouth. “That’ll teach you to give away my property again.”\n\nHades slid over in a smoke to glare his yellow eyes into mine. “Tell me, what should I do with you?” He rested his forefinger over his lips.\n\n“Just toss me into the river below us.” I answered. I knew the stories covering the river of lost souls. I spent most of my life thieving, it is only poetic that my time itself becomes stolen by the cold waters of the river. After, my statement, Hades reaction was – I have to admit – unsettling.\n\n“Really? Wow, you are the first to ever want to join \\that\\ party.” Hades glued his eyes onto the river flowing below. You could see the elbows and hands breaking the surface of the water by the souls caught in its current. “I know they are having a blast, but I have something else in mind.”\n\n“What is it?” I asked.\n\n“Don’t,” Hades rested his hands on both my shoulders. “Don’t look afraid now \\- not after you were willing to go in there. Don’t disappoint me now.” Hades pointed toward the water right as some soul’s head rolled across the surface with its eyes gone. “No. The punishment must fit the crime.”\n\nHades walked back over to his throne. I waited for what he had planned to do. When Prometheus vomited his flame again, the fire slithered up into Hades’ hair like a serpent.\n\n“Instead of a punishment, you will service me in procuring certain pieces of interest.” Hades decided.\n\n“You want me to return to thieving?” I was interested in his overall plan.\n\n“I hear you were quite the talent – back up top. I need someone with your talent back up there.”\n\nBefore I could make another word, Hades snapped his fingers. I woke up in the middle of the woods where the guards had executed me. The taste of the wet air, the smells, the sounds had all returned to me. I looked around trying to get bearing on my situation. Hades emerged out from behind the tree next to me.\n\n“This place is so much more fun than the house downstairs,” he chuckled. “Your first task is to find me a child. I am a long term solution guy. I need this child for events that will unfold down the road.”\n\n“Who’s the child?” I asked him.\n\nHades smiled. “You’ll find her in the kingdom. Bring her to me and we’ll talk about your next task. Do not let me down.” His hair caught the tree next to us on fire.\n\n“Do I get a name to work with?”\n\nHades answered before he disappeared out of thin air. “Her name is Megara.”\n\n\\\\\\*\n\nTo read more of my stories, visit [r/13thOlympian](https://www.reddit.com/r/13thOlympian)" ]	9

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