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[WP] You died only to meet a clerk who says their job is to deal you an afterlife you didn't believe in. Turns out random mortals inventing religions ticked off God and now there's an assortment afterlives to ensure what happens doesn't match what you lived believing.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"John Arnos\" the voice echoed... which was odd really as there were no walls. There was no up or down, no where in which to \"be\".\nI became aware of a desk... it was.. just suddenly there. Behind it, a shape was stacking papers... \nI assumed it was doing the stacking as papers were being stacked, though it had no arms. A weary feeling washed over me and I sensed the source of it came from the shape behind the desk. \n\"John Arnos\" the voice came again. Sharper, I could tell now it came from the shape behind the desk which now resolved into a humanoid figure completely enveloped in robes.\n\"This form should put you at ease... though it's a bloody pain for me\" said the shape... well.. the figure?\n\"What's your name\" i asked it\n\"You won't like it\" it replied quickly\n\"Um look sorry mate I'm a bit wierded out here, and I can't call you shape, figure or... Gary? Im going to need a name... ill be John.. you be Gary\" I felt foolish, but shit was going down the drain faster than free beer at a uni barrel and I needed something to dig my teeth into... names were a good start.\n\n\"Garry works better for your primitive human conceptualisation of naming parameters than my true name of\" - a horrific screech, half sounds, half resonating force and emotion ripped from the ... Gary... it went on... forever. It felt awful. I'm pretty sure I died all over again, sun's were born and died and got freaky with local moons on a Saturday night before the horrible noise ended. I had to agree.. Gary was going to work much better for the purposes of this conversation. .\nPt1 ends",
"(Please See my comment to this response before reading. I ran out of room and couldn't paste it here.)\n\nJane elbowed her way through the crowd of souls on her way to Death’s door and knocked on it furiously. Nobody answered. She knocked again, louder. Still nothing.\n\n“I thought you said they hadn’t left yet,” Jane said to Kay.\n\n“They were still here when I—hey! Back up!” Kay shoved a soul wearing Buddhist robes away from Jane. “They hadn’t left yet. I thought there was more time.”\n\nJane idly wondered why a Buddhist of all souls would be the rowdiest of the crowd, but otherwise paid no attention, focusing instead on manifesting a golden hourglass between her hands. When it appeared in its entirety, a murky darkness resided within the upper hemisphere. She took it by the handle without pause and turned it upside-down.\n\nThe inky substance took a moment before filtering through the chokepoint, but when it did it flowed all at once. A burst of light shone through the cracks of the door, quieting the nearest souls. Jane banished the hourglass with a wave, straightened her blazer, and knocked primly on the ebony wood. \n\nIt took a moment, but this time Death answered. The door swung wide, and Death stepped out with scythe in hand. A shadowy aura wisped about their cloak. “I never should have given you my glass.”\n\n“Well, you did, and I’m going to use it.”\n\n“Do you know where you just summoned me from?”\n\n“The toilet?”\n\n“The Centennial Assembly,” Death said flatly. “We were having our regular hundred-year meeting amongst the celestial beings. I told you—QUIET.” Death’s voice bellowed with an unearthly echo, promising consequences to any who dared ignored their order. The gathering of souls around them immediately stilled. Death turned their attention back to Jane. “I told you this yesterday, Jane. You’d better have a good reason for the summons.”\n\n“We have an emergency,” Jane said, stepping back and extending an inviting arm back the way she’d come. “We need your help in sorting this out.”\n\n“The underworld doesn’t have emergencies, Jane.”\n\n“It does now. I'll explain, but first we need to get these souls back to Orientation.”\n\nDeath drummed their fingers on their scythe before rattling out an airy sigh. They reached out and took ahold of Jane’s wrist. Starting, Kay quickly did the same to Jane’s other arm. “Let’s make this quick.”\n\nJane grimaced, bracing herself. She hated this part.\n\nDeath tilted their head, regarding Jane for a moment. They slammed the butt of their staff into the floor, and as one, every soul in attendance held hands, with the nearest touching Death’s cloak. Pale, blue energy gathered in Death’s eye sockets and behind their teeth, and with a sickening lurch that distorted all perception, the congregation shifted from the administrative building to the orientation warehouse.\n\nJane immediately pushed her way out of the crowd to lean heavily against the welcome desk, closing her eyes and trying desperately to keep herself from discorporating. The loud blaring of Betty White cheerfully welcoming new souls to the afterlife on the surrounding monitors didn't help. \n\nThe soul at the desk eyed Jane with something like confused concern. Jane waved tiredly. “Hey Kumiko. How’re the kids?”\n\n“Dying soon. I can’t wait to see them.”\n\n“I continue to find it peculiar how staunchly you choose to hold onto the memory of your old self,” Death said, walking up with Kay in tow. \n\n“I have motion sickness. Sue me,” Jane said, taking a deep, non-existent breath.\n\n“Had.” Death chuckled.\n\n“Up yours,” Jane muttered.\n\n“Hmm?”\n\n“Nothing.” Gathering herself, Jane stood up straight and turned to face Death.\n\nDeath sobered immediately, adopting an expectant stance. “Time to explain yourself. What's going on?”\n\n“Kay, go grab the Buddhist, the Sikh, and the atheist, and bring them over here.”\n\nWhen Kay had retrieved the souls, Jane lined them up in front of Death before standing primly in front of the Buddhist. “What is your name?”\n\n“Bojing,” the Buddhist replied with a respectful bow of his head.\n\n“Where did you go after Orientation?”\n\nThe soul frowned. “To a field of reeds, surrounded by sand.” \n\nJane darted a glance at Death. “And what is your name?”\n\n“Adweta,” the lady Sikh said. “I was sent to North Korea.”\n\n“Excuse me?” Death said flatly.\n\n“Its as I said,” Adweta said with a helpless shrug. “Kim Il-sung was God. It was very confusing.”\n\n“What about you?” Jane said to the last person, the atheist.\n\nHe broke out in a massive grin. “Scott, and I went to fucking Valhalla! Can I go back? It was awesome!”\n\nJane traded a look with Death. “Kay, please give Death the report.”\n\nDeath took a paper from Kay and scanned it quickly. “This says that Afterlife production has not yet reached a point where it can begin sorting souls. So why are they?”\n\n“Please give Death the second report.”\n\nKay handed over a second paper for Death to read. Death exclaimed, “This says the opposite! Is this a jest?” \n\n“There was a miscommunication. I don’t know how or when, but it was serious enough to misplace millions of souls,” Jane said. \n\nDeath shook their head. “That shouldn’t have been possible. We poured over the logistics of this for months. Drafted middle management. Arranged communication lines. How did—” They stilled. Betty White’s voice dimmed on the tv monitors as a dangerous quiet encompassed the immediate area. “Who gave these reports?”\n\n“The first one came from Shannon. The other was from some guy named Jeffrey,” Kay said.\n“We didn’t draft anyone named Jeffrey for management,” Jane said. \n\nKay shrugged. “I figured he was a new hire.”\n\nFire erupted from Death’s bony hand, incinerating the papers in their fingers. The lights in their eyes had grown big enough to be eyeballs. “I will return presently.” In a flash of blue, the reaper disappeared. \n\n“What was that about?” Kay asked.\n\nJane opened her mouth to respond only to lurch forward as the very ground beneath her feet bucked, throwing her and every other soul careening into each other. The room shook, and with a flash of light and accompanying *boom,* Death returned. Their eyes had gone from glowing to crackling with pure fire.\n\nDeath snarled, “That juvenile, incorrigible, self-damned twit! They thought this was *funny!* They *all* did!” \n\nJane picked herself up, staring at Death in shock. “What? What happened?”\n“This was a *prank!”*\n\n“What?”\n\n“They came into *my* domain and *dared* to mess with my order! The nerve! The arrogance! They may be one of the grand creators of existence but They do *not* preside over *non-existence* no matter what They say!”\n\n“Who?”\n\n“Who do you think?” Death said, pacing angrily.\n\n“You mean…?” Jane pointed upwards.\n\n“Yes!” Death kicked their foot. “Humiliating! Reappearing at the Assembly only to be laughed at! The fools! The ingrates!”\n\nJane crossed her arms and looked at Kay. He rearranged his spectral face into a heavy frown. A prank had just set them backs months, if not a year’s worth of bureaucratical effort. All progress would have to be halted just so they could regather every misplaced soul. Millions and millions.\n“Sir, may I offer a suggestion?” Jane said.\n\nDeath stopped, turning their fiery gaze upon Jane. Jane felt that same anger inside, but experience had taught her how to harness it. Adopting a cool façade, she stowed her fire in her chest and curled her lips in a smile. “Adweta, Sikhs believe that they become one with god at the end of their lives, correct?”\n\n“There is more to it, but yes,” Adweta said.\n\n“Bojing, do you believe you have reached Enlightenment? Given your earlier brashness, you seem rather rowdy for a newly departed soul.”\n\nBojing stilled, but after a minute, nodded slowly in assent. “I may have more to learn.”\n“And the reincarnated are, technically, no longer part of non-existence, are they? They require new bodies which, if memory serves, is under Heaven’s authority.” Jane stepped towards Death with a pointed look, turning all of her anger into a steely gaze. A moment passed between them. Gradually, Death’s eyes dimmed. Then they tilted their head back and laughed a slow, rasping chuckle.\n\n“Scott,” Death said, turning to gaze at the atheist. “Jane and I have a persisting puzzlement when it comes to deciding what to do with Nonbelievers. Do we let them choose their afterlife for themselves? Do we even let their souls be judged? Or do we simply toss them into the very Void of Nothingness that they so staunchly believe in?”\n\nScott’s eyes widened. “I—”\n\n“Surely you lived your life justly, correct? As a good person?”\n\n“Of course!” Scott said hurriedly.\n\n“Then why don’t we take this up with God?” Death said suggestively. “Maybe they’ll grant you admittance back to Valhalla. I’m sure you have many questions you would like to ask, anyhow. Like where they were during the 1940’s.”\n\nScott nodded vigorously. Clacking their teeth in a way that Jane had come to understand as satisfaction, Death turned to Jane, scooped up one of her hands in theirs, and mimed kissing her knuckles. “You’re a gem, Jane.”\n\n“I know,” Jane said, grinning as toothily as Death.\n\n“Would you please look after the ones I leave behind?”\n\n“Certainly.”\n\n“Lovely.” Death stamped their scythe on the floor before calling out. “I want the soon-to-be-reincarnated and atheists in a line!” \n\nWhen all had been assembled as ordered, Death spirited them away in a flash of light, leaving Jane, Kay, and a smattering of souls behind. Kay stepped forward to stand beside Jane. “What did you do?”\n\n“Sent a message,” Jane replied crisply. “They mess with us, we mess with them.”\n\nKay took a moment, then slowly formed what could have been a smile. “Jane?”\n\n“Mm?”\n\n“Your eyes are on fire.”\n\n“What?” Jane reached up to touch her eye, only to jerk her fingers away with a hiss. “Don’t just stand there! Get water! Put them out! OUCH! Mother-*fucker* that *stings*!”"
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[WP]Your face is suddenly appearing on every toast in the world. you soon amass a following despite denying to be the next mosiah, still everyone is expecting a miracle from you.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Peter leaned back against his bedroom door, trying hard to ignore the prayer going outside his house. Every light in the room was turned off as the sun set and the moon rose. The curtains were closed as well as the windows. And still, light poured through. His ears rang as his tinnitus flared up again. His earpods lay on the bedside locker, taunting him. His headache grew worse. First, his neck. So his whole head pounded. The prayer grew louder and louder. Again, Peter checked to make sure that the windows were closed. Pushing back the curtains slightly, he saw the windows pulled shut. A great cheer rang up and his stomach dropped. I should have known better, he thought to himself. Biting his lip, he looked out at the crowd in his front garden. At the minute, only a few hundred stood, their prayer finishing at the sight of their Messiah. However, once word got out that he had been spotted again, thousands would come. Their phones, raised in the air, shone directly on his house. Sighing, he rested his head against the triple-glazed window. \n\n\rClosing his eyes, he said his own prayer. A futile one. One where he wasn’t a messiah, there was no such thing as toast and everyone just left him alone. Opening them again, he saw a few more people turning down his street, adding themselves to the ‘congregation’. His thoughts drifted back, to the day this all started, to the day he first saw himself on a piece of toast.\n\n\rIt had been just like any other morning. A dull grey October morning. Settling into his chair, he turned on the news, eating his porridge while he waited on his toast. The reporter talked, flicking between a number of images but Peter was tired, content to just shovel the hot food into his mouth. Taking a sip of his tea, his eyes finally found the television screen. For a moment, he froze, unable to think. Immediately he got up, standing right in front of the television, making sure he was seeing it clearly. His tea spilt all over him and the floor but he ignored it. The image, burnt onto a piece of toast, had to have been him. There was no other explanation. A woman holding the toast talked to a reporter though her words washed over Peter, unheard. The screen changed to a different reporter and a different woman. This one seemed to be in South America somewhere. And again, she held a piece of toast with his face burnt onto it. His toaster popped, startling him. His heart raced as he slowly reached out, picking up one of the pieces. His heart sank, as the black marks on the toast revealed his face. \n\n\rAfter that, it had been a whirlwind. The media had taken only two hours to figure out who he was. Barricaded inside his own home, when he eventually had to leave he had been swarmed. Picture after picture, question after question. He hadn’t made it a hundred feet before he turned back, realising he would have to call in sick to work. Still, after a month, people kept coming. Asking for him. Telling him he was a messiah. The media vans continued to sit at the end of the street, waiting to report anything and everything. A few times he had stuck his head out the window, telling everyone to go home. Above the screams of the people, his voice was drowned out. When he had been heard, no one listened. They begged for miracles, for their sons, their daughters, their parents, their dogs and their goldfish. A piece of toast, engraved with his face, smacked against the window, bringing Peter back from his memories.\n\n\rMoving from the window, he heard hundreds of people sigh at once. A small smile appeared on his face, happy to disappoint. Laying on his bed, he tried to ignore his headache as it moved to the front of his head. A single tear fell from his eye, falling down his cheek and onto his bedsheets. Sitting up, he screamed. He screamed until his throat was raw and his breath left him. More tears fell as he rolled over on his side. Laying on top of the covers he curled up into a ball. Hugging his knees he tried to go to sleep. The prayer outside had started again as Peter tried to forget about toast."
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[WP] After over a century, it is the post-post-apocalypse. New nations rise from the ash reclaiming what was lost. As the internet is reactivated, it is discovered a single network is still on, with a single user still active.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Over a century, it is post-post-apocalypse. New nations rise from the ash, reclaiming what was lost. As the internet is reactivated, it is discovered a single network is still on, with a single user still active. \n\nThe world powers began to reach out one by one to this network. With each new message Ella giggled. She’d pushed her glasses up her nose, and furiously typed her replies. Glee apparent in her eyes, finally her grandmas last purpose could be accomplished, her purpose too, as she had inherited it. \n\nElla had maintained the network for now 25 yrs, by herself. With hope that some day the world would reactivate the internet. She had inherited it from her grandmother, Anna. It was a shame her mother couldn’t be here, with succumbing to the sickness, but Ella knew, mother and grandma would be so ecstatic over the new world. \n\nAnna’s history was well preserved. They lived in Idaho, well what was left of it. When the apocalypse began… well it easy for Anna. The hermit had already built a bunker in the woods. Completely off the grid. Solar panels functioning, as wells as a turbine field that she illegally connected in to around 2 miles away near the now abandoned freeway. She was secluded in the woods. She called her daughter Savannah who was an expectant mother, barely 20 at the time, to come stay with her as the world collapsed around them. \n\nAnna had dealt with the first few waves of zombies well enough. Good thing she had already purchased the Gatling guns from that old defunct military depot down in the city. With some tlc she got them functioning well enough. The ammo was the hardest, well with munitions restrictions across large caliber weapons. However she had successfully gotten enough. They were the hardest ones, those first few months of waves and waves of zombies. After that it was a gentle rain. \n\nThe easiest though where the “starving wraiths” as she coined in her blog, yes, she’d kept her blog up and going. Starving wraiths began when Anna hit the ripe age of 75. Stragglers of the original infection, weak and waisting away… just shuffling to their ends. Savannah had now begun the upkeep on the net work and the protection of the bunker. All of this was detailed in Anna’s blog, including the history of the apocalypse in very poignant accuracy. She documented all the events that led up to the release of the virus, the vaccine invented and the final side effects. None of that really mattered to her. She knew it was a good thing to keep track of events and the timeline of occurrences. As Ella smiles, as she begins to reread through the blog again. \n\nHistory it seems was very well preserved. The new world leaders kept in constant contact with Ella in hopes of restarting, rebuilding and restoring the world again, all based off of grandmas blogs from over a century ago. Humanity was grateful for the new, well old, information that had been retained. It would thrive again. \n\nElla knew though, that Anna… well that’s not why she kept the network going. Anna had to, so that the plethora of amazing video games she had would now be able to “survive the apocalypse”. I mean, she was a gamer at heart, and sims 4 helped her visualize her zombie bunker (except for the Gatling guns of course… those were additional).\n\nElla giggled at her grandma’s insatiable desire for gaming. To her it was a happy past time that didn’t hurt anyone if done with respect, dignity and always a “responsibilities first” attitude. Ella vowed she’d honor her grandma Anna’s wishes. Now she could start sharing her grandmothers creations. Which one should she share first?"
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[WP] Sometimes a good laugh is needed. But there are places where it may not be appreciated.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"...said the priest glaring at the boy. He looked into the watery eyes of his mother through her little black veil to see in them the mixture of pain and anger fighting back her urge to laugh. He didn't understand. He said all the same words his daddy had said. He got them all in the right order and he didn't stutter a single time. He spoke loudly and clearly out of respect for the older folks and made sure to look a few people in the eyes as he said the line. His daddy had taught him well a great many things, including the most effective methods for dropping \"That's what she said\" into any conversation. \nThe boy stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed along behind his mother as the pallbearers placed the casket into the hearse, thinking to himself... \"Daddy would've been proud.\""
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[WP] You're a hostage negotiator receiving your strangest call. Apparently a very popular fictional character has entered the real world, kidnapped their creator, and you have to talk them out of killing them.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"Mr. Smith, I'm here to help you. I need you to leave Mr. Blair alone.\"\n\n\"Yes, I know what happens to you. But it's important.\"\n\n\"No, I don't know what you're thinking, Mr. Smith. I'm just here to make sure Mr. Blair lives.\"\n\n\"No, I'm with the regular police. You're free to think however you like.\"\n\n\"I know you don't want to go back... I understand. But this solves nothing. You'd cease to exist if you did this.\"\n\n\"Everything. Even your hope. He did it all.\"\n\n\"I need you to understand, Mr. Smith... if this doesn't happen, millions in this world will be in a worse position. He is using you as a warning for the world. Do you want others to suffer the way you have?\"\n\n\"We'll look for this... O'Brien fellow if it'll help, but you're not making yourself look innocent right now.\"\n\n\"Yes... that's it... put the knife down and let Mr. Blair go.\"\n\n\"No, wait, sir -- Mr. Smith, please... I know your story. All of it. Please understand you live. And you live happier than you do now. Everything will work out for the best.\"\n\n\"...yes, even you and Julia. I'd never hurt her.\"\n\n\"Listen... everything's going to work out. Listen to us... it's past 2020. We're speaking the old dialect. They failed. Everything failed.\"\n\n\"You can't stay here if you kill him, though. That's the first thing you need to do.\"\n\n\"Please. Julia would want it this way.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Mr. Smith. Come with us. We can get you help. I'm sorry, Mr. Blair, but we'll take care of this shortly.\"\n\n\"...war? Us? No... we have diplomatic ties in both Eurasia and East Asia. Why would you ask, Mr. Smith?\""
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[WP] You've had it. Deplorable working conditions, long grueling hours and 0 recognition. Upward mobility is a joke and its been an eternity since you've had a vacation. That's it, its time to Organize Hell.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“I swear, if one more lost soul comes and asks me when they can “take a break” or when they “finish work” I am going to kill someone… Or at least try and make them more dead” Syrus complains. \n\n“You need to relax Syrus. They aren’t called lost souls for nothing, they are lost and confused and you appear in charge. Cut them some slack” says Lily.\n\n“It’s hell Lily, there is no slack! You keep shovelling until you cannot shovel anymore, and then you get back to shovelling. And I’m not in charge! I just look in charge because everyone else is so incompetent! Look, Dale is doing this quiet quitting thing that the new comers have been talking about. Quiet quitting! How do you quiet quit in hell!?”\n\n“Hey, more power to them. I never understood why people tried the hustle culture in Hell. It’s not like anyone pays attention. I mean there is no hierarchy, no seniors, no HR, no one to approve vacation”\n\n“I’ve never had a vacation. You can’t, it’s hell! Where would you go? Oh look, I’ve left my lovely pile of demonic earth surrounded by inferno to go another PILE OF DEMONIC EARTH SURROUNDED BY INFERNO! I swear, if there was someone to speak to about this I would quit”\n\n“Well why don’t you?”\n\n“Why don’t I what?”\n\n“Find someone to talk to, or quit? There is nothing stopping you.”\n\n“You’re right Lily. I could just quit. Wait, that’s too simple, I should start a movement!”\n\n“What? no that’s not what I…”\n\n“Yes, I could gather the workers up and push out. We could go and argue for our rights together in front of the higher ups. We could form… a Union”\n\n“I don’t think that’s a good idea Syrus”\n\n“You just don’t understand Lily, this is an amazing idea! We can do this! I’m going to go and gather up some people and start the march. You do the same on the other side of pits!”\n\n“Syrus no. This isn’t a smart idea. You could make them angry and get in more trouble.”\n\n“Come on Lily, what’s the worst they could do, put in me in a second Hell? Please, like they could do that!”\n\n“I’m serious Syrus, this could go really bad. I’m not going to help you. Shovelling isn’t too bad and I can talk to people around me. You should just stay….”\n\n“Well, if you are going to be like that Lily, I guess I will just leave you!”\n\nAnd so, Syrus storms off and goes and gathers people to form his Union. It goes well initially, lots of support for increasing workers’ rights in Hell. Syrus promises to negotiate for breaks, holiday days and a firm end date to their sentences. After gathering everyone together, Syrus and his crew marches down the only path they can see that leads through the deep darkness of hell. Little did they know that they were now entering the second part of Hell’s infinite trials, the negotiations with corporate."
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[WP] A vampire and a vampire hunter find themselves at a Halloween party dressed as the other.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"It was the day before Halloween and Prof. Helsing took the night off and was attending a party one of his colleagues was throwing. Helsing, although reluctant at first, decided a night getting a little drunk and socializing would be better than running around the Romanian countryside hunting monsters. After finishing his last class of the day, he was planning to head straight to the party but his colleague had made it mandatory that everyone dressed up. Rather than buy an outfit he grabbed a few things he had collected over the years during his nightly occupation. A black cloak with a popped collar and a blue silk lining on the inside. Since he rarely went out during the day he was able to pull off a rather convincing vampire. It was around midnight and feeling fairly buzzed, saw that the punch was refilled and he went to grab some more when heard a familiar voice. \"Die fowl beast, your nights are numbered!\" He turned around playing along by throwing the cloak over the bottom half of his face when realized where he recognized the voice from. Looming over him was non-other than Count Dracula himself, sworn nemesis to his family.\n\n\"I'm flattered Abraham that you think of me when we're apart, although I don't think that color suits you,\" he said mockingly. Dracula was dressed in a pirate costume and had his great grandfather's fedora. Around his neck, he had garlic tied to a rope with an upside-down crucifix and a toy crossbow hooked on his belt. He was waiting, savoring every moment and waiting for Helsing's response.\n\n\"Can I please just one night where I don't have to deal with anything unholy?\" Helsing asked, \"And don't call me Abraham.\"\"But I've known your family for so long, I was there when you were born\"\"You were trying to ransom me off to my parents!\"\"It would have worked if they hadn't baptized you, took me a week for my hands to fully heal,\" he said as he took a sip from the pumpkin glass.\"How are you drinking human food?\" Helsing asked perplexed.\n\n\"I took the liberty of spiking the bowel to suit my taste.\" Looking into his cup Helsing saw that was a bit thicker than the punch he had before. He grabbed the rim of the bowl and pretended to trip knocking over the cursed punch, a couple of people gasped. \"I can't believe I have to embarrass myself like this. I'm sure I won't hear the end of it, I really hope this doesn't get out to the students.\" A teacher he wasn't familiar with and the hellspawn pulled him up by his shoulder. \"Sorry about that everyone, I'm fine. I do believe I've had more than I thought I did.\" Helsing removed the cloak and began to clean up the spill, he looked up to see Dracula visibly irritated just as he had planned. Helsing excused himself to go clean himself, Dracula went with him as some people began to not recognize the vampire.\n\nHelsing took off his shirt and began washing it off in the sink. He saw the door open in the bathroom mirror with a \"BBU\" hoodie floating toward him. \"You know you could at least apologize for ruining my cloak. I got that when I was in London, I think 1880 or around that time. I remember the screams like it was yesterday.\"\n\n\"You'll live, consider it payback for Adrian Van Helsing's hat.\"\"You could have just asked for it back Abe. Honestly, I can't really see myself wearing it anyways.\"\"Do me a favor and just kill me before cracking another vampire joke.\"\n\nAfter drying off with some paper towels, Helsing put on the jacket feeling much warmer now. He handed the Count his wet cloak, he took it and threw the hat on top of his head. \"I know it was your blood in the punch, I would have smelled it before I drank it even if you hadn't tipped me off.\"\n\n\"You're lucky I got to the bowl before anyone else got to it.\"Dracula sneered, showing off his fangs, \"I was certain you would.\"\"Why are you even here, I thought we agreed to leave each other alone so long as you don't harm the innocent?\"\"Well consider it a \"trick\" in the spirit of the season. Besides, I wanted to see if you still had those old hunter's instincts in you.\" Dracula looked down at his wrist at his digital watch, \"Is that early already, I better be going.\" he exclaimed.\n\n\"You sure you don't want some sunscreen, in case you don't have those vampire instincts anymore?\"\"No sunrise isn't till a few more hours, the markets open soon. Silver is supposed to spike... or at least that's what I've been telling people online\"\"Leave it to you to find another way to bleed people dry.\"\"It's not my fault they're all suckers.\" Dracula said with a smile.\n\nHelsing didn't say anything and instead just shot him a cold look. Dracula chuckled, gave a bow, turned into mist, and left. Helsing went to pick up the toy crossbow and plastic garlic he had left by the sink. He noticed a sticky note that was folded in half and stuck inside his grandfather's hat. The door to the bathroom swung open, Helsing looked in the mirror and saw nothing. \"Did you forget your toy? Well, it's mine now \"Vlad\".\" He said jeeringly. But when he turned he saw it was several of his colleagues with yellow eyes. Apparently, Helsing was not the first to the punch bowl. He unfolded the sticky note, \"Trick or Treat\" it read. Thrall was reversible but still tricky in numbers. Helsing had a long night ahead of him but at least he was starting to sober up.",
"I enter the front door. \"Hey, Tila! How are you? Looking forward to your halloween party!\"\n\n\"BARL! YOU MADE IT!\" My girlfriend gives me a hug, to which I return. She then laughs. \"*THAT'S* what you're wearing?\" I shrug, smiling; I have a cheap plastic vampire hunter badge on my lapel, a fake cross in my hand, and my usual cloak swapped for typical vampire hunter attire.\n\n\"I just like the irony\" I respond. \"So, Tila, you decided to dress as a scarecrow?\"\n\nTila nods. \"I feel like these should be official costumes! It's cool, right?\" I nod and prepare to respond, but before I can I hear a shout.\n\n\"**VAMPIRE! A REAL ONE!**\" We turn around to see a man in a vampire costume. It's really authentic - if it weren't for the badge underneath his cloak, I'd think he wants to be a vampire. He goes to pick up a bag.\n\n\"Hang on, buddy\" I say, \"there's... there's no need for this, is there?\"\n\nThe man starts to walk towards me, but Tila gets between us. \"Skid, there's nothing to worry about, Barl's not like the others...\" Skid looks at me.\n\n\"Please\" I beg. \"Tila's right. I despise most of my kind for their forceful and careless ways. I'd never force it on anyone. And we can *control* **how** we feed. She's not a vampire, right?\" Skid looks at Tila as she shows him the hickies I gave her.\n\nSkid puts his bag down again. \"Alright\" he says, \"but I'm watching you, Barl.\" I nod, and Tila drags me to the main party. \"Come on! Dance!\" she cries.\n\nI whisper to her \"But, honey, I...\" She giggles. \"Come on! Just do it!\" I sigh as I step onto the dance floor.\n\nVampires aren't natural dancers. I kept tripping over myself, but Tila thankfully kept me from falling embarrassingly onto the floor. She's a natural dancer! Skid is watching me, and I know he can see me tripping over myself - he's trying hard not to laugh! \"Think *you* can do better?\" I challenge. He grins as he removes his cloak and comes over. He asks for room and proceeds to dance in the centre of the room.\n\nHe... rocks it! He'd give Michael Jackson a run for his money! We all cheer and clap along.\n\nThen it happens. The cravings. I knew this would happen at least once at the party. I tap Tila on the shoulder. \"Umm, sweetie? Want to... make out?\" Knowing what this means, she giggles and nods. We head to a separate room where I proceed to give her kisses and 'love bites'. As always, I make sure to be careful. When we exit the room, Skid is waiting outside.\n\n\"Great party\" he says. \"You two look to be having fun...\" he says it sincerely, but I know what he's checking on. After a moment, he nods his head smiling, before asking \"when's the cake?\"\n\nTila grins. \"In a few moments. Just a bit longer dancing.\" She then runs back to the dance floor.\n\nSkid looks at me. \"I know you were 'feeding', Barl. But it seems you were telling the truth. Thing is, I don't just kill every vampire I see, you're not the first I left alive. Won't stop others trying to kill you though, so take this.\"\n\nHe gives me a badge, clearly custom-made, with two symbols on it - vampire teeth and a cross. I understand its meaning. \"Thank you, Skid!\" I exclaim. \"I'm fed up of being chased. I'm impossible to catch, but it's still troublesome.\"\n\n\"I can imagine\" Skid replies and we both chuckle, as we both go back to the living room. Perfect timing - the cake is just coming out! The rest of the party goes well, and as Tila begins to wave people goodbye, I shake hands with Skid.\n\n\"Glad we could come to an understanding, Skid\" I say. \"I've... had to feed carelessly on one of you before to protect myself. I was worried it would happen again.\" I hold up my fake cross. \"But I have my virtues and standards, and I'm really glad I didn't have to.\"\n\nSkid nods and smiles. \"Same here... well, that's natural lol, but I'm glad you're one of a few I didn't have to kill.\" He readjusts his cloak. \"How do I look anyway?\"\n\nI smirk. \"Almost like a real vampire! Wanna join?\" Skid quickly shakes his head as both Tila and I laugh. We finish our goodbyes and Tila shuts the door. She turns to me.\n\n\"Are you going to leave, Barl...?\" She gets close to me, exposing her neck, as she kisses my cheek.\n\nI grin. \"Not a chance\" I say, \"wait for me while I get changed.\" She giggles as she enters her bedroom, while I prepare to switch into my classic vampire look, dressing for the occasion.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThank you for reading! More stories [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/x374da/oneoff_stories_a_collection_of_stories_which_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)"
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[WP] You are an immortal, and regular humans always ask you to do odd jobs because they assume you can always do whatever you want later. It isn't until one astute human offers you some time to yourself that you realize that you don't understand free time.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"So uh, im bad at beginnings so let me just throw the craziest shit out there to get things rolling, once I hit about 26 I kind of just sort of stopped aging. Don't know exactly when it started, nothing changed, it just stopped. Well, for me. The people around me sort of started... withering, slowly, like potatoes left out in the elements and I just... didn't. I stayd the same. Like a redwood. I just was. I didn't question it, nor did the people close to me as it seemed to be such a convenience. It was probably due to the extreme alcoholism that my rational brain never kicked in,but nothing ever seemed suspicious. I ran the kitchen at a little bar at the end of town. Wasnt much, but at the end of the day, every ounce if food that went out that window did so because of my design, and I was happy. Servers came and went, as did cooks, though at a slower rate after a while I started to notice something different behind their eyes as I told them, tediously, why it was so I important to salt the pasta water, and why I needed them to lightly oil it before they stored it. That difference, looking back, I now interpret to be respect. Though I did not change, those around me did. They went through struggles when I had none aside from those of the kitchen, and I helped them through with a way to express themselves for monetary gain, at least until they felt secure enough to create their own path, to which I saw them off with glowing recommendation. Not even when the front of house managers started passing from heart disease or cirrhosis did I start to question my place in the cosmic cogs. I pretty much just chocked things up to the booze finally addelling the brain cells that the weed and weeds hadn't. I just drank to repair, and smoked to relax. it was only When the owner of the pub, the only man I had ever taken orders from in my exceptionally long run of things passed at the ripe old age of 105 that I started to question everything. I was 26 when he was 66. We celebrated out birthdays together after closing at the bar many a times because they were on the same day a month apart. September 14 and November 14th. Then he was gone, and I wasn't. Like a redwood, I had gained scars and learned many things though down to my core I remained unchanged. Still the same as ever. Wisdom gained through the facade of the whiskey, though lost if ever it was not in my grasp. Though through decades of detox, I fought and remained, a redwood. The same. Though my methods have changed. I learned that it wasn't the alcohol or the chainsmoked blunts that were the reason for my reality but something entirely outside of the scope of my understanding. My sobriety taught me that I shouldn't question my place. In my experience a place is thrust upon you whether you like it or not. A place is always found and Is almost always proportionate, directly, to the amount of effort applied. Effort is determined by the individual, and every individual makes different decisions as to how their maximum effort is applied. Nobody dies happy. Everyone fights to their last breath, kicking and screaming to have a purpose and be remembered, everyone aside from me it seems. I remain and I don't question my place for I found it long ago. Like a redwood. I remain.",
"Name's Dax, and I'm a bit different from the average person. See when I was a kid in......circa 1050, I was playing hide and seek in the woods with my siblings. I went to look for a spot to hide and I happened to fall down a sinkhole. I hit my head on the way down and when I came to there was a veil of stars overhead and below my body was a bed of white fluorescent flour petals. I don't know how long I'd been out. Mobile phones were long from being a thing and I couldn't check the time. But it wouldn't even have mattered even if I had one because I couldn't read.\n\nI also didn't know how long I was stuck down there but I know it was a few days since the sun rose and set a couple times. I didn't have any food or water so I resorted to eating the petals and drinking rain water. It was just awful. But I made it through and after a couple days the villagers managed to find me.\n\nMy mom, dad, siblings, and the entire village were real glad I was ok and after a while things went back to normal. Being the kid of a farmer I got real used to working hard, everyone in the village worked hard to keep things running, and I was a part of that.\n\nBut after a couple years I seemed to just, idk, stop aging, my parents got older but I stayed the same. Eventually they died and I didn't know what to do with myself so I just kept working. In the 1300s I became a royal knight, and in the 1430s I was a fish monger. In the 16th century I became an explorer and travelled the entire western hemisphere on foot. \n\nEventually word got out about me but no one ever thought of locking me up and cutting me to pieces to figure out what makes me immortal, but they did do something else. They'd always ask me for help. Nothing monuments, just average everyday things like sweeping dust off the porch of a run down old bar, or walking to the next town to deliver some mail to their Uncle Jimbo, or fixing their leaky kitchen sink. Really mundane stuff they thought was beneath their time but didn't think twice about passing on to me. But I didn't mind, because my time was after all unlimited. \n\n\nMaybe it was me repressing my feelings after my parents passed and wanting to fill some void of feeling useful, but I was unable to tell anyone no, and I never did. When the internet came around in the late 20th century I setup my own website, immortalhelper.com \n\nI started getting hundreds of requests a day and moved from task to task until just last week I got a strange request from some university researchers. They wanted me to participate in a study on how lack of mental and physical challenges affect humans in the long term. Seeing that I had unlimited time they thought I was the perfect candidate. I thought the request strange at first, since they were essentially asking me to do nothing, but that in itself was a task.\n\nAt first I was jittery, unable to sit still and paced about my 1 bedroom studio apartment, but then after a few days I started to become mentally unhinged. I started to weep and sob like I was a child, until a few days later when I became irrationally calm. In that calm I realized that I'd been living for almost 1000 years with almost no attachments. No real friends or family, just a string of meeting and partings over the years that never led to any deeper connections. I have no real hobbies or interest, heck, my studio apartment is barely an apartment. I have a single futon and my computer, that's about it. No fridge or stove since I only ever consume dried goods. No TV or radio, just my laptop which only has a single application, Mozilla Firefox which I use to check my email and manage my website. The complete void that is my life sunk in hard, and I decided to lookup something I can do change things that wouldn't be actual \"work\". After all if I did work, the experiment would fail. So here I am, journaling. It's only day 1 but I'd like to see where this goes.",
"I was relatively young when they realized I would never grow old. Envy quickly became hate disguised as a congratulations delivered between gritted teeth. Their mask eventually broke and the pale hatred underneath made them imprison me.\n\nBefore my first century, I was a slave - bought and sold under the pretense that I was good stock. I'd never die. The only ones who passed up on the offer were the clever but cruel ones who realized that a beating meant nothing to me. An inch of my life was still infinitely long, as far as they knew.\n\nMy masters quickly realized how obstinate I could be. They could make me do chores, but couldn't compel me to fight in the arena or guard their villas. They couldn't move me with abuse of any kind, and I demanded respect no other slave could have. I never left because, well, what else was I going to do with eternity? They never got rid of me because, despite my stubbornness, I was useful for generations. I'm a footnote on five tiers of some family trees.\n\nDuring the fourth generation with one of those families, I gained a particular fondness for my growing master. He was clever, kind, and curious. He always asked for my experiences of famous battles, hoping I would speak of killing. Yet he was still perfectly entranced by the stories I could share of hauling grain to the front lines.\n\nHis curiosity did not wane with age. My master was a scholar and scientist, demanding that the world unveil its secrets to him. I was in awe of him from the very beginning, but even I couldn't predict the man he would become.\n\nOne day, as I set down his breakfast, he looked to me and said, \"Why do this? At any moment, you could run from here and never be ordered about again.\"\n\nI paused for a moment. Maybe I was hoping he would retract the statement. I suppose there have never been rules in standard manners about how to treat an immortal. As with a beggar, you do not ask him how he got there. \"Do you want me to go, Master?\"\n\n\"You are one of my dearest friends. Of course I would prefer you stay. What I mean is: I owe my whole self to you, yet I own all that you are. Does that not bother you? Do you not remember what it is like to do as you please?\"\n\nBefore that moment, I hadn't considered the possibility since my second or third century. \"What is there to do?\"\n\nMaster's jaw dropped. Incredulous, he repeated my question back to me. \"What is there to do?! I do not know where to begin with that question! What do I do with *my* free time?\"\n\n\"You sit.\"\n\n\"What?! That's all you can think of?! 'You sit,' what an observation. Come on, my good-natured man, you are capable of more than this! I'll help you further: do you remember the other night? When those people came over?\"\n\n\"Ah yes! Of course! You argue!\"\n\n\"I guess...well in that instance, yes. More importantly, I was spending time with friends. I have seen you making conversation with many vendors at the market. Why don't you make friends with some of them?\"\n\n\"You need things from the market, Master? If I hurry, I can go before they close and be back before sundown.\"\n\nMaster put his hand to his forehead and rubbed it in frustration. \"No. That's not what I meant! I'm talking about a trip to the market without purchasing anything for me.\"\n\nI furrowed my brow and puffed out my chest. \"I am *not* a *thief*.\"\n\n\"Good gods, your skull is like a tree trunk that gains a layer with each passing year! You will not be bringing me any goods at all, stolen or purchased. I just want you to go down there to talk with the vendors. Speak with them about things other than their wares.\" He finished the sentence like the conversation was over, so I silently moved to the door. He perked up but did not speak. I opened the door and left.\n\nI returned a while later to my eager master. In a moment, his face transformed to match mine. My trip had not gone well.\n\n\"What happened?\" His tone let me know that the open door behind me let him hear the change to the noises of the city below.\n\n\"Well, you know how you told me to remember the other night with your friends?\"\n\n\"Oh no...oh no...\"\n\n\"I visited the vendors, as you said, and tried to speak with them as you had with your friends the other night.\"\n\n\"I...what do you mean by that, exactly?\"\n\n\"I started an argument.\"\n\nMaster groaned. Carefully, quietly, and without looking at me, he asked, \"About what?\"\n\n\"I presented the argument that he was mistreating his slave. He didn't listen to a word I said.\"\n\n\"Then why does it sound like there is a mob rioting in the streets for what you said?\"\n\n\"The slave listened.\""
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[WP] You were so proud when your toddler began babbling so you showed all your friends. One friend quickly pulls you aside. Terrified, they whisper “That child isn’t babbling. It’s speaking R’lyehian, the language of the Elder Gods.”
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"It was Saqib who pointed it out - he was a Lovecraft nut, and was there whilst my boy, Ted, was babbling away before getting ready for nursery. He went white as a sheet (which was saying something, compared to his usual darker-than-everage Pakistani skin), and just pulled me into my kitchen, gleaming and glowing in the morning light from the window.\n\n\"Dave,\" he whispered, terrified. \"Ted isn't babbling?\"\n\n\"What the hell are you talking about, Saqib?\"\n\n\"He speaking Lovecraft's language. I recognise it from the wider literature. I wasn't sure what I was hearing these past few weeks, but it made me feel....*weird*. Like nothing made sense. It wasn't until my walls started screaming and bleeding purple, though, that I looked into it.\" He looked me in the eyes, whites bloodshot and his pupils fully dilated. \"*He's speaking to Elder Gods.*\"\n\nI thought about it, and nodded. I clapped Saqib on the shoulder, and told him, \"I'll take your word for it, and get it checked out. Thanks for letting me know.\"\n\nI showed him the door, and closed it after him.\n\n...Well, shit.\n\nI was going to need to talk to my half brother, and ask It what It was talking to my son about. Perks of being a Scion, I guess.\n\nThanks, Dad.",
"\"Well, I should hope so.\"\n\nAndrew did a double take at my curtness. \"I-what?!\"\n\n\"I mean, Kellie and I went to all the trouble of doing the playing-Mozart-in-the-womb thing except with some old hymns from Kellie's home plane of reality, so I'm really happy Veronica learned so quickly.\"\n\nAndrew looked like he'd been stabbed by a nun and was being told why it was his fault. \"Layla, you-your wife is an eldritch being?!\"\n\nI shrugged. \"Yeah? What's with the-\" My eyes widened as the realization sunk in. \"Oh my God, nobody told you.\"\n\nMy wife Kellie rounded the corner with a tray full of brownies and a cheery, \"Hey, what's going on over here, party people?\"\n\nI took a brownie and replied, \"Andrew didn't know you were an Elder Godspawn until right now,\" before shoving the brownie into my mouth.\n\n\"Oh shit, for real? I guess we never told him.\"\n\nAndrew looked like he was about to explode. \"No! No, you did not tell me! How did this even happen?!\"\n\nI blushed. \"Well, remember how I said we met on a dating app, back when we were at Albion Tech? That was a lie; that night I actually snuck out to perform the Clarity of Possibility ritual.\"\n\nAndrew didn't dignify me with a response, and instead pressed his head against the wall with a quiet 'thud'. His exasperation was entirely justified; the Clarity of Possibility ritual was one of the most dangerous magical spells a mage could ever perform. It pulled back the veil that kept all the various realms and planes of reality separate from each other, allowing one to see the whole of magic existing together. Doing it wrong meant running the risk of getting trapped in the In-Between of everything- or even worse, summoning something you didn't mean to.\n\n\"It was beautiful, seeing magic in all its forms held in place like bubbles that had been frozen in the air. But then I realized I hadn't done the attention-deflector charm perfectly correct, and by that I mean a living blob of tentacles threw itself out of the In-Between, landed in front of me, and shaped itself into an absolutely *breathtaking* woman.\"\n\nKellie giggled. \"Oh, stop! Anywho, Layla started panicking, but then I told her I wasn't going to do anything crazy or immoral, I just wanted to see the human realm. One thing led to another, we got married, I popped a kid inside her, and here we are.\"\n\nAndrew didn't even look at us. He just pulled away from the wall, mumbled, \"I'm getting a mimosa,\" and trudged off to the kitchen. Kellie winced. \"We may have broken your friend.\"\n\n\"Oh, he'll be fine, don't worry. In the meantime, let's get back to the others. Molly said her son has been trying to pull off a Milly Rock and I want to see how close he's getting.\"\n\n\"Lead the way, my stunning sorceress.\"",
"I laughed it off at first, but then I started to worry. What if my friend, Rashid, was right? What if little Tommy was speaking to the Elder Gods? I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. I was a responsible parent after all. So I did the only reasonable thing. I sought out an expert. \n\nDr. Harmitage sat in his office, his eyes wide with disbelief as he listened to Tommy speak. His mouth hanged open, his glasses were askew, and he was sweating profusely. When I asked if I should be worried, he simply said:\n\n“No. Oh God, no. We’re all so fucked.”\n\nAfter what felt like an eternity, Dr. Harmitage looked up from his laptop and turned it around. On the screen was an image of an old tome. It was written in a language that looked vaguely like Arabic. It was as if someone had taken Arabic and then thrown it into a woodchipper and used the results to make new text.\n\n“See this text? It’s R’lyehian, a language spoken by the Old Ones. The dead gods. The evil gods. And that child is speaking it.”\n\n“So… what? It’s bad?” I asked fearfully.\n\n“It’s really bad. That child, he’s not speaking a language. He’s entering it.”\n\n“What do you mean?”\n\n“This text is from Necronomicon Ex Mortus, from Chapter Thirteen: ‘The God Whispers’. Whether it is knowledge of Old Earth or knowledge of the Elder Gods, I don’t know, but your son is entering this language. He is speaking it. It is being written into his soul.”\n\n“So what do we do?” I asked. \n\n“There is no way to stop it. If it’s begun, it can’t be stopped. This knowledge is in his head. What was written will be written. Only time will tell what effect it will have on him.”\n\nHe then leaned in close. I could smell the cigarette smoke and whiskey on his breath as he whispered:\n\n“That child, he will be a god.”\n\n\"Vengeful like the sea and inescapable like a bog that claims you in the night.\"\n\nI looked into Tommy's blue eyes. He smiled at me and as he did so he fat little cheeks produced the most adorable dimples.\n\nI smiled back, feeling the warm glow of loving one's child. \n\nI then saw the Elder God in Tommy's eyes. I saw him and I saw the sea, a sea of blood and madness. I saw Cthulhu, the Great Dreamer, and I saw blackness, and emptiness. I saw death and I saw the void.\n\nI saw what the future would hold, and I knew that all hope was lost.\n\nSo, I went into the woods with Tommy and I left him in the woods. I left him there so that he would die. I left him there to ensure his death. I left him there to ensure the future was as it was meant to be.\n\nI returned home, a weight lifted from my heart. The burden of what was to come had lifted. It was a burden that I did not want to carry.\n\nA few days later, I received a call from the police. They wanted to know if I had lost a child in the woods. Apparently, a few hikers had found a boy, dead. He had died from exposure.\n\nI trying calling Dr. Harmitage. But his number had been disconnected. I went to his office. But I couldn't find him. A realtor had taken over Dr. Harmitage's office and insisted he had had that office for years. Even my friend Rashid remembered nothing about Dr. Harmitage or Tommy speaking R’lyehian when he finally agreed to visit me in prison.\n\nSometimes, I wonder if I made the right choice? Maybe it was all in my head?\n\nBut I know better.\n\nI know better.\n\n***\n\nFor more stories visit r/greypuffin.",
"''*Huh. Well, that's certainly different.*''\n\nPerhaps I should have shown more of a shock. Should have been more distressed to learn that my son, Ewan, was not in fact babbling like a normal toddler, but was in fact intoning dread secrets of the antediluvian world ruled over by ancient and terrible gods that mere mortal men should not dare to know, lest that knowledge drive them insane. Perhaps I should have reacted more horrified, or maybe indignant, angry that someone would dare to insinuate that my son was a conduit for ancient dread creatures. I probably shouldn't have followed up my initial reaction with something equally unconcerned. ''*So, he's talking in a language from a dread unknowable city that lies beneath the waves, that one day when the stars are right will rise from beneath the abyssal seas to unleash an untold age of horror and madness upon the world. A city that will be a dread capital of a world-spanning empire of unimaginable evil, mutations, unholy magicks, and such, led by dread Cthulhu who at the moment lies dead-but-dreaming, but who'll soon awake to drive mankind to the brink of madness and beyond?*'' My friend nodded with abject horror, it was clear that only the prospect of driving out this unimaginable evil from the world was keeping her from giving in to the insanity.\n\n''*So what exactly do you want me to do about it?*''\n\nShe gesticulated fiercely in a manner that could only be described as frantic and chaotic. ''*Siobhan, you've got to exorcise it or something.*'' I gave her a rather unpleasant frown. ''It''? Still my son. Rather rude to dehumanize him like that. Sure, he might be exclaiming unbidden truths that no mortal ear has ever survived hearing without going mad, but that was honestly a bit rude. ''*I think I'd have to talk with his father about that. You know, my husband.*'' She nodded, fearful and in tears, hoping that perhaps my husband would speak sense about my son who had elegantly created a small Shoggoth from a small mound of colourful clay that children usually play with. He's instructed it to build something akin to an obelisk. ''*Please, Siobhan, it's all wrong. It hurts to look at your son, and I don't like the way the other kids are listening to him. They look at me and make me think that it is wrong that I exist, that I have been poisoned by lies and falsehoods perpetrated by weak and worthless gods. Please, the words echo in my head and I can't get them out! Please!*'' I pick my son up and look at him with warm, loving eyes. ''*Who wants to see his daddy?*'' Babbling incoherently but rather joyfully in the extradimensional Elder Speech, he pointed at an unusual angle of the room which should not be there according to any form of mathematics understood by humanity. From it, my husband emerged.\n\nA handsome fellow indeed. My friends screamed and looked at him in total and utter terror, some going completely and utterly mad from the mere sight of him. Of course, they've got a rather limited view of reality, and have extremely limited frames of reference, mental experience with the unusual, and a far too comfortable misunderstanding about how the world works to ever be able to look upon as I do. Gently, his warm bubbling tendrils emerge from where his vaguely equine face ends and caress my cheek ever so lovingly. ''*Oh yeah, girls, I never introduced you to my husband. I know, I got married overseas, well, under the sea. This is Glatho'lyyn the Breaker, he's a Byakhee. Most of you will be unable to recall what he looks like, but I think he's a handsome fella.*'' My husband screeches curiously, I never learned the language of drowned R'lyeh, but during my dream-quests I got pretty good at Screech-tongue, Higher Ghoulish, Cronqke, and the Nightmare Speech of the lower Skullworlds. ''*Oh, they're just a being a bit silly.*'' I motion towards the girls who're pulling their hair, screaming for assistence from their weak gods, and begging for death. Curiously, their children look at Glathy with the natural curiosity and wonder most people scrub away from their children.\n\nWithout it, the beings from beyond the veil of our universe becomes quite uncomfortable to behold, and leads to one gazing into the abyssal madness as the maw of insanity gnaws at your soul. But with wonder and imagination, one can never go wrong, and one will what is truly there, not reality as filtered through the lens of ones' own fears and inadequacies. ''*Well, it turns out that little Ewanthi'creejsh has started speaking in the Elder Speech, I figured that you should know.*'' He screeches loudly, crushing the glass windows of the house we're in, as reality begins refolding itself to accommodate my eldritch husband. And my eldritch son, as his human disguise peels off revealing a half-human half... vague bat-crow-horse thing. Sadly the English language lacks the words necessary to explain just how a byakhee exactly looks, without sounding like someone trying to explain a mathematically impossible body appearing in our reality. ''*About time. He's been so loud recently, figured it was about time he moulted.*'' I hand over our son to my husband as the various housewives begin praying futilely to the dread lord of sunken R'lyeh. While in his father's grasp, Ewan speaks to the women, my friends, and the other toddlers in the room. The women weep what appears to be spinal fluid. And around them their children giggle as Ewan's magical influence begins to warp their bodies into new forms that are far more suitable for a world where the stars are nearly right. ''*Glathy, did you teach him how to speak without telling me?*'' \n\nHe screeches sheepishly and vaguely apologetically. I get it, young eldritch hybrids need it to grow, but really, he could have warned me. He nudges me with his tendril-snout, to ask me if we're still on for dinner with his parents later. ''*Yeah, it's been a while hasn't it, haven't seen them since... oh last Yule I think. How time flies in a linear universe. I remember it well, I was riding on your back, we were slaughtering ghoul assassins by the hundreds. Rather fun time if you don't mind me saying. Your parents really knows how to throw a fun party.*'' Above us the roof melts into pure binary numbers as the newly reformed toddlers stare with glee into the sky, where the stars are eyes and the moon cracks in half. Earth is certainly in for an interesting time. Glathy nods over at our house, and I understand completely what he is saying in my mind through images appearing in my memory of a realtor. ''*No, I think we can take it with us. I get that we have a bone-mansion near the flesh-parks of the Ebon Pillar, but if we put the house down by the lake of boiling god-souls, we could turn more of a profit selling it later.*'' He nods and the house falls into a blackened abyss.\n\nThe stars might be right. The age that mankind has known is at an ending. But only for those who are stuck in the past. I can feel the weight lifted off of hundreds of millions of shoulders as their human flesh undulates and shifts to reveal their terrible true forms. People who were tired of the same old world that never changed, and always remained stuck in the same predictable cycle, now understand that freedom has come. Terrible, eldritch freedom, for those with the will and strength of force to accept it and adapt to it. Of course, it is a shame that the rest of mankind will go mad from it and die horribly, but I am not in control of the stars and thus cannot change that outcome. My own human form is washed away just as well as that of most of the members of mankind who are willing to accept that the future is here. Void-chitin covers my body, as multi-coloured wings extend from my back. My third eye emerges upon my forehead, and my secondary arms grow steadily in. I chitter with my mandibles in joy. ''*Come husband-of-mine. Your parents' manor on the Isles of Teeth awaits us.*'' I take his free claw-hand-hoof and together, with our joyful eldritch son, we leave the Earth behind for the dreamlands.\n\nI still remember leaving Earth for the first time, venturing into the dream-realms for glory, riches, and a great destiny. Perhaps this time, I won't be returning. But having shed my old human form, and having a new life of high adventure and strange events ahead of me, I don't think I'll miss Earth. Not at all.\n\n[/r/ApocalypseOwl](https://www.reddit.com/r/ApocalypseOwl/)"
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[WP] An archive of Wikipedia is the only evidence of human civilization that aliens have found. Since its homepage states that anyone can edit it, there is fierce debate among the aliens about how much of it is accurate.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"Do you really think so?\" Oqak Replied. \n\n\"No, not in the slightest... But it is the only plausible possibility.\" Zelxe said mumbly then she continues to give her respond to the court. \n\n\"As it is undeniable proof that the planet Gaia AKA \"Earth\" provides absolute true datas It cannot be confirm as real and cannot be sent to the councelor of librarians in the northen Ecza.\" Zelxe said calmly \n\nDrubit slams his two left bottom palms in the floor \"But it cannot also be confirmed as fake. The librarian's law states that universal datas cannot be taken lightly but the information engine AKA Wikipedia provides and shows that is indeed used by many and probably all of Gaiares AKA Humans, meaning it has to be reliable for the creatures humans to trust\" Drubit Agreesively replies \n\n\"We do not know that, how can you be so sure that the humans are even intelligent enough to have second thought? And you said it yourself: \"Universal datas cannot be taken lightly\" Zelxe replied. \n\nDrubit grins his teeth \"Wel-\" \n\n\"Enough\" The Court judge replied. \"You both presented understandable beliefs...\" \n\nThe Court Judge sigh \"But I think the librarian counciler should be the one to deside...\""
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[WP] You wake up one morning and hear a child crying. You look around, realising you're in your childhood home. You spot the source of the crying - you, as a child. You remember this day, the day you couldn't take it anymore. You also remember that this was the day strange but good things happened.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I woke up one morning and heard a child crying. As I looked around, I realized I was back in my childhood home. I spotted the source of the crying - me, as a child. Of all the days of my youth I remembered this one perfectly - it was the day I couldn't take it anymore. \n\nI was a traveler in both time and space. Most given such abilities might plan methodically, strive to implement good for the sake of all, or visit specific important moments in the past to learn the truth. I was not such a man. By the snap of my fingers I had travelled haphazardly throughout human history - both future and past. I was a joyrider on the currents of time.\n\nI will not say that I squandered my gift. Such judgement I will leave for others. But I will say that I tried to live life without regret, and ended up living a life of only regrets. I had dined with the devil, debated with gods, danced with the fairies and didod the greatest kings and tyrants of old. For them I was a jester. For myself it was hollow.\n\nTo find myself back in my own past seemed reductive. No doubt another night of extravagant living had sent me tumbling through the moments of my memories. Still slightly drunk and smelling of I-don't-know-what. Wearing a clown's costume, by the standards of my youth.\n\nI wondered what my younger self would think of me, if he saw what I had become. If he saw what I had done with his life. A sense of shame tingled throughout my body. A rare occurrence, I will admit. No, I realized. Better he not know. Because every mistake I ever did - every regret that weighed on my shoulders - he would make soon. There was opportunity here.\n\nI reached out for the child and... suddenly I remembered from my own childhood seeing myself reaching out for me. I remembered this very moment, but from the child's perspective. God, I really was a mess back then - now. I remembered the man had reached out for me and paused. That was me now trying to make sense of it all.\n\nThe moment passed. Detail by detail, second by second, my memories grew apart from how I now acted. The timelines diverged. It felt absurd in my head, remembering things I was about to do, then ending up doing something different. But that was the point, wasn't it? \n\nSo what if that old man from my childhood memories that had taught me to travel in time and space was myself? So what if I now changed my mind? Damn the paradoxes - they'd never bothered me before and I wasn't about to let them now.\n\nThe child was terrified of the stranger in his room. I managed to grab his hands after a few attempts. Say the line, my unconscious memories begged me. Say it like I remembered being told by myself. *Do you wish you were somewhere else?* And I screamed - *YES!* And he had taken me far away, taught me the ways of travelling, strange days but good things had happened. Not this time. \n\nStill gripping his hands, he tried to weasel free. I know I wasn't being fair. To deny this child my life of debauchery and excess. \n\nI hated him for the choices I had made. \n\n\"This time we're doing things differently. This time we fight our monsters. No more running.\" I dragged the boy behind me and opened the door. Down the stairs. \n\nTo war."
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[WP] Write an episode of Blue's Clues, but in the style of a gritty noir detective film.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"It was a dark and stormy night, the kind where the rain pours harder than a recovering alcoholic whose been sober five years that just caught his old lady in bed with the handyman. I couldn't sleep, big surprise when you've seen the things I have. I tried watching the boob tube but there wasn't anything good on. I went to the cabinet and opened another bottle of whiskey. I see where Salt, Pepper and Paprika once sat, now gone. There's just booze there now. \n\nI grabbed the tumbler filled with jack Daniels and went back to the faded red couch. I tried to think of happier things. But it was no use, after he vanished, it was one bad call after another. A failed relationship with that old crime hound twice my age, pups that don't want to talk to their mother. The spark was gone. At least gambling still worked out. \n\nThis old house gets mighty lonesome, too many reminders of the good old days. Some say I should sell it and move to florida. But nah, I couldn't. Since that day long ago , the world lost all color long ago, things are just gray now.\n\nI had just lit another ciggette when there was a knock at the door. Making sure my gun was tucked under my bathrobe I carefully looked out the peephole. \n\nA dame with long black hair stood outside, her coat was soaked.\" I knew she was trouble, but the weather wasn't fit for man or beast so it must have been important. I sighed to myself. It couldn't be helped. I opened the door. \n\n\"Blue!\" She gasped \"what the hell happened to you? You look..\" \n\nI ignored the comment, looking her up and down. She had legs for days now and those eyes dark like a doll's and lips that spelled mischief. A face I couldnt forget. \n\n\"Megan.\" I almost growled. She'd been one that man's molls back in the day but lately had turned states evidence to put her own brother away, so i'd heard. Hard to believe she was on the side of the angels, or any side but her's.\" What's this about? \" She clutched a manilla envelope \" can I come in? \" \n\nI figured I'd regret this but considering it had been years, this wasn't a social call. I nodded. \n\nAs the kettle started boiling she started telling a story. About our mutual acquaintance , how he'd gotten careless with his vices and how the commission had removed him from his position. And how she was tired of it all and was going to europe. Time hadn't been kind to her either. Had to admit a lot of that going around. \n\nThe whistle of the kettle cut her off, I turned around to pour the coffee, but she was gone. The envelope on the table was the only reminder she had ever been there, that old ghost from the past.\n\nWith a surprisingly steady paw I opened it extracting the contents, a matchbook for The Salty Spittoon, a sheaf of handwritten notes, an old crayon drawing of a blue dog on a silly birthday card,with the paw print I put there and a battered old notebook, the Emerald leather cover barely in place."
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[WP] You are a doctor that works with seriously ill patients. Having seen it enough times, you actually recognize Death, and can use that to your patient's advantage.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I am finally relieved. My 72 hour stent is over and I can return home. This stent was particularly painful as many patients had the sign. I know we aren't supposed to become attached but in many cases it's hard, especially with kids. Still the most heartbreaking case was a 13 year old with cancer. She was so full of life and had a great sense of humor. She spoke often of her dreams to piss on Mount Everest a sign she conquered the world. I couldn’t bear to tell her... \n\nIt feels like everyday becomes harder and harder to cope. My gift is now my plague. I know it helps for diagnosis, but too many times they come to me too late and there is nothing I can do. The patients have seen every doctor before me, and thus are just looking for a definitive answer. I have grown to hate it.\n\n2nd street only a few more blocks. \n\nI have taken to walking home as my wife and family are becoming irritable. They have been moody and moping about lately. They used to be so happy and upbeat, but lately they have been depressing to be around; it must be my long hours. I wish I could spend more time with them... maybe I'll retire after this year. \n\nDamn an accident. I guess I should see if anyone's hurt.\n\nI rushed over, it seems a car had pinned a jogger to a building. The jogger was mostly crushed, their face and limbs barely visible around the wreckage. \"I'm a doctor\", I said to the police, as I passed under the tape line. They didn't respond, but waived me over. It was obvious from the damage and the way the car was sitting. I didn't need to diagnose anything, he was gone. A scream pierced my ears, \"MY HUSBAND, MY HUSBAND!!! OH GOD WHY?\" Her tears filled her eyes. As the cops dragged her back i recognized her. \"My Wife\", I exclaimed.\n\nI woke up to my alarm, another 72 hour stent.",
"N: “Thank you for coming doctor. My patient is this way, in the back rooms.”\n\nD: “It’s no problem Nurse. I was already in the area when I got notified. Now let me check the patient… Oh dear. I’m sorry, but I believe this person is dead.”\n\nN: ”What? Are you sure?”\n\nD: ”Quite. I used to work with the terminally ill so I’m kinda an expert in recognizing the subject, not to toot my own horn.”\n\nN: ”Surely you have some tests to double check?”\n\nD: \\*sigh\\* “If it will make you feel better… No breathing, no pulse, unblinking eyes, low body temperature. Yep, she is certainly dead.”\n\nN: ”Oh no! I’ve heard of this, but never thought I would see it!” \\*starts sobbing\\*\n\nD: ”We should notify the next of kin… do you know who they are?”\n\nN: ”Yy… yes.” \\*sob\\* “Bu.. but her sp… spouse” \\*sob\\* “is out of tt…tt… town.”\n\nD: ”I see… and her parents?”\n\nN: ”They… \\*sob\\* they… \\*sob\\* they’ll want h… \\*sob\\* her cremated…”\n\nD: ”NO! No. That is um… unadvisable. The soul, you see, needs um… time to leave the body?”\n\nN: ”Y… you are the expert, doctor. \\*Nurse composes herself\\* I’ll g… go inform the Lord and Lady…” \\*Nurse leaves the room\\*.\n\nD: ”Darn it Juliet, I thought you knew not to take drugs from mysterious apothecaries. I can only hope your little ploy works…”",
"There is actually a legend of a doctor who could see death in my hometown. It goes like this:\nThere once was a young doctor who was woken up by death itself. Deth told him not to fear, for he has a gift for the doctor, his son. From then on, he could tell whether a patient would die or make it through by looking at the patients bed. If death stood at the patients feet, he would die, if he stood at the end of their head, they would live. Soon, the doctor became very famous for his abilities and one day, a king who fell ill called for him.\nThe king was desperate and told the doctor that if he would cure him, he would offer him his weight in gold. Unfortunately, death stood at the feet of the king. So, after thinking for a long time, he simply told the king's servants to turn the bed around. Soon, the king felt better. However, death felt cheated by his son and visited him again.\n\"Son. Come with me. I will show you another secret of mine\" he told him and led him to a cave lit by thousands of candles.\n\"Father death... what is this room?\" the doctor asked confused.\n\"This... is where everyones life is slowly burning down. Each candle is one person... and when the candle burns down.. they die.\"\npanicking, the doctor asked :\"where is mine?\" while turning around so swift that he turned one of the nearby candles flame to just a slight glimmer.\n\"That one... was yours\" Death said.\nThe doctors eyes widened while he watched his candles glimmer go out and died in the next moment. \n\nYep, austrian/viennese legends are always lighthearted and happy ending!",
"Death's Witness\n\n​\n\n​\n\nThe doctor shakes his head. *Another loss*, he thinks, as he continues the operation. He chances a glance up, looking through the plastic shield over his face. His eyes rest on the shadow cloaked figure across from him. His eyes linger only a moment, then pass to the aid there as he accepts a tool from her. He doesn't know if there are consequences for being able to see the creature but its best that he doesn't draw attention by staring.\n\nHe continues the surgery on autopilot, just going through the motions. In previous years, the creature had spurred the doctor into overdrive. Once, he realized what the creature implied, the doctor flew into action, always trying to snatch the person back from Death's clutches. Yet, time and time again, his own clutches were the ones left wanting. In time, his competitiveness abated for it was a creature he could not best, no matter how tireless his effort.\n\nWhat was the score now, he often wondered. The question is only ever about Death's score though. He doesn't need a calculator to know his tally is zero. As he continues through the procedure, his mind is on the various versions of a conversation. \"I'm sorry for your loss...we did all that we could...he/she fought the good fight but in the end...\" It always ends the same so when the heart monitor's tone rings out, the doctor just shakes his head and calls it before the aids buzz into motion.\n\nThe doctor disposes of his protective equipment as he mentally acknowledges how jaded he has become. Those lost matches between him and Death had converted into something new over the years. He once wanted to sabotage the procedures to ease the patient's suffering but knew he couldn't. That would have had dire consequences which would catch up to him at some point. No, the patients were already gone, so the only thing he could do was something ever so small, it barely existed at all. Every time he sees that creature, that entity hovering over a patient's table, he focuses on getting through the procedure as efficiently as possible. If he conserves supplies and doesn't spend extra time in the operating room...those are things that the family won't get billed for.\n\nTime and hallways pass by him in a blur, and he now stands in front of the family, reciting the words he had already prepared. After the family is leveled by their personalized hurricane and after the doctor receives the plethora of accusations, he returns to his office, alone. The position isn't a thankless one. There are countless instances where he gets showered with thank you, congratulations, and good work...but they are all just noise now. He knows that this most genuine effort to help the family will never be appreciated because it will never be known. This resigned feeling also makes him aware of one other eventuality. When Death finally shows up at his own bedside, he won't struggle or delay, instead just nodding silently, then following after.",
"I'm observing a CT scan, my patient being in the machine after coming in for a routine screening. A lifelong smoker, he's concerned about lung cancer. He's being subjected to X-rays that can scan his lungs for radiation and point to a growing malignancy.\n\nIn most cases, a tumor can develop too quickly for screening to identify cancer in time, as the mutated cells show no symptoms until after being observed. In other cases, a benign tumor may flare up and lead to doctors diagnosing a threatening cancer and starting treatment when there's no risk at all. But after decades of experience, a doctor can start to see more than the data shows. The small abnormalities that shouldn't flare up in the scan start to feel suspicious, and the abnormal masses that we would've panicked over are no longer as much of a concern.\n\nMy patient, by all technical accounts, has nothing worth documenting. But in my eyes, there's an eerie smile lit up in his left lung. Like a constellation, the damaged cells reveal an evil picture, what I can tell will be the end of him. I note this down and recommend surgery, he leaves and never has any issues again.\n\nMost of my patients don't thank me, and online reviews of my practice sometimes call it a scam science. However, my clinic ranks top in the world in patient health, and new medical journals cite similar methods as future guidelines for doctors in training. I do sometimes wonder how it's all possible, but my doubts are soothed when the scans reveal a scowl being healed over where death once showed a face of triumph.",
"\"The beds are full tonight,\" i commented to Joe.\n\n\"Yeah, well, have a night,\" Joe said before cleaning up his stuff. He was done for the day. His last task was passing over to the night shift, IE me.\n\nAll long term chronic patients. Which to us means at least 1 week of hospitalisation. About 10 of them are critically ill, on respiratory support.\n\nI took a glance at the ward, saw everyone in the ward, the nurses, the porter picking up trays from dinner, and right at a corner, him.\n\nI thought I would start the round with him. \n\n\"Hello, there!\" I greeted him.\n\n\"Hello, doctor! So you are on night shift tonight?\" He said.\n\n\"So how are you tonight?\"\n\n\"Just the same. Feeling a bit colder tonight, though.\"\n\n\"I see. Well, let me know if you need anything.\"\n\n\"I hope not, doctor, you are always busy. I don't want to disturb you needlessly,\" he said.\n\nGraham Wosner. One of the longest patient in the ward. He had been here in the ward for about 3 months.\n\nLung cancer Stage 4. There was nothing much that we could do. We had already referred him to palliative services.\n\nHe was unable to afford a hospice service, and critical enough that could not be sent elsewhere.\n\nSo he was stuck here with us. He required oxygen therapy, and at night, usually requiring more oxygen supplementation.\n\n\"Cold night tonight,\" i said to the other him.\n\nHim. \n\nThey said he looks like skeleton in black robe wielding a scythe. They said he was cold or evil or uncaring.\n\nI was afraid of him at first. I could not sleep for a week after I first met him. \n\nBut, now I knew better.\n\nHe could be a skeleton in a black robe wielding a scythe. Or be could be a gentleman in a suit and tie. Or anything he wanted really.\n\nHe was not cold, or evil or uncaring.\n\nHe was just Death, the Reaper.\n\nHe was just a sheppard, a guide for souls.\n\nAnd tonight, he was a black tabby cat with red eyes. And he was coming for Graham.\n\n\" Can I ask for something? And I will give you a treat, some fish?\" I said, half-jokingly.\n\nHe stared me in my eyes, then purred approvingly.\n\n\"Can you make it fast and painless?\"\n\nHe was silent, then he nodded.\n\n****\n\n\"Doctor, Graham is desaturating,\" the nurse called me.\n\n\"Give him morphine and change to high flow mask. I will be there shortly,\" i ordered.\n\nI ran as fast as I can.\n\nBut when I arrived, he had passed.\n\nHis wife was crying by his bedside, in distress.\n\nI checked his vital signs, and pronounced him dead.\n\nI pulled his wife aside, and told her the bad news.\n\n\"Thank you,\" that was all she could say while crying.\n\nI looked around. The cat was gone.\n\nDeath is just a part of the circle of life.",
"The room around me blurred as my hands worked steadily, practically stuffed inside of a mans chest. A chart on the wall read: *Joseph Wright, 24.*, beside it a picture of his x-ray. The image showed his ribs, beyond that his lungs, and in them a series of small rigid shards. I was told he had been in an \"accident\", but rarely did I see an accident that sent heaps of metal into a mans chest. \n\nCarefully I pulled another shard loose and dropped it into the bedside pan with a metallic *tink*. He was stable, thankfully; the machine at his left giving off a steady read of his pulse to prove it. I would know quickly if he wasn't though. Not because of that tangle of machines he was hooked up to but rather when I saw the silhouette of an old acquaintance. The shape of death itself. \n\nI don't know when I started to see him exactly. It's hard to say on account of the way he just appears in a room. Maybe I always did, or maybe even now I just imagined his shape in the room. Can't say it was never a sign though. When he showed up I knew it was time to work as I never had before. To make bargains I often couldn't keep and sometimes never did. I wondered at the back of my mind on and off if he'd show today, then, as if an answer to my grim expectations he had arrived. \n\nFrom the corner of the room the faceless figure watched as I pulled another sliver of metal free and dropped it in the tray.I tried my best not to notice him. To focus on my work and let the room blur again, but my eyes kept drifting to that black spot in the corner. Before long the nurses noticed my gaze and their pace slowed too. They could not see him, so they only stared where I did. \n\n\"Will you three give me some room?\" I spoke with a false confidence. After a few confused looks and glares of doubt the team obliged, stepping back a few feet. Death saw his opportunity and slid in close until he loomed over the other side of the table. \n\n\"Five minutes. Just five minutes please.\" I whispered out into the open air. He seemed to consider, lurking silently under that blackened cloak. Then, with a voice like a winters wind he replied: \"You have four. Then I collect. If you'd like more then it's the usual.\" Death reached down and pulled back his robe to reveal a bony wrist with an hourglass strapped to it.\n\nThe usual. Soul for a soul. I had yet to lose that bet, but then again that's not one you can lose twice. \n\n\"Deal, but I get ten.\" \n\nHe did not reply, just twisted the sand beginning its countdown and sealing our deal. The clock on the wall now showed a countdown rather than a time, indicating down to the millisecond how screwed I was. Whether or not my team was thinking strange of me did not matter now, I cared only to win. \n\nThe minutes after flew like seconds and all the while I did not dare to look at that countdown, only to work like a machine, removing pieces of metal left and right. Every *clink* in the pan meant another moment further away from death for both me and my patient. It almost felt selfish how my heart raced with excitement. Felt strange how invigorating the race from my own demise was. Of course it was about my patient, but even more so it was about me. \n\nFinally after what felt like an eternity I had finished. His pulse remained steady and I looked up to death who remained in the corner. Then I looked to the clock on the wall: *:-08* it read. Negative, by eight entire seconds. As death slid forward I braced myself to be taken, but the patients pulse was unchanged, he had not died.\n\nDeath loomed over once again, then leaned down slowly until he reached my ear. There was a long silence that followed, not just shared between the reaper and I, but by the others in the room too. Finally he groaned, \"Congratulations John Weathersby. You have completed your task old friend. If you weren't such an interesting point in my day I'd have your soul, but then again, where's the fun in that?\" his voice screeched against my eardrum. \n\n\"Until next time, Doctor Weathersby.\" and his image faded from the room. Next to me the patients pulse on the monitor ceased from peaks to a singular, flat line. \n\nI let out a long sigh as the team around me rushed into action. I knew better than to try. I guess you can't win em all.",
"\"The patient's symptoms don't make sense.\"\n\n\"She will die if we don't figure out what's going on.\" I said to my assistant. There are a million diseases that can kill someone. But what can cause liver failure, seizures, and hair loss? The tests ruled out cancer, and trying out the treatments doesn't get rid of the cloaked bastard at all. \"Start her on immunosuppressants for the kidney.\"\n\n\"We've already tri-\"\n\n\"I know! Just do it.\" I need a reason for Death back off from my patient. I need him to move back at least an inch, and he keeps moving forward slowly. I don't have enough time. His hands eagerly reached to strangle her. Strangle… \"Wait!\" \n\n\"What is it?\"\n\n\"How's her breathing?\" I look at the charts, and her oxygen level is lower than average and plummeting lower, even in the hospital! But Death's backing up as he noticed me looking at the charts. I look at him and smirk at Death, and you can see the assistant wondering why I was staring at a wall before I say, \"Test her for substances again. Someone's poisoning her. Right here in this hospital.\" Death lifts his hand, giving me the thumbs up. It's both creepy and endearing, but I found the answer in time."
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[WP] You are the foot soldier for the army of a large intergalactic federation. The army is well known for its terrible gun training program and the average hit accuracy is roughly %1. But yours is not… in fact, you’ve never missed a shot… and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"My name is Jacob Cobbs, and I suspect I’m in a simulation.\n\nNow yes that sounds crazy, but let me start from the beginning.\n\nI work with this large intergalactic federation, Their army program is outright terrible, the average hit accuracy is roughly 1%, and death is near 98%. Even though the death rate is so high, there always seems to be… an abnormal amount of people, more than normal. Well I went and applied to join, because it would be fun to try and be better than these people. So walking into the range with the blank stares of my comrades, I pick up my gun and start shooting the targets. 1, 2, 3, 4. I shoot them with great accuracy. With the time running out I look up at the display. 100% accuracy. I look back at my colleagues and they stare blankly at me, the commander ushering the next soldier on the training platform. That should have been my first clue, but but I was more confused on why I wasn’t congratulated.\n\nI went to sleep at the end of the day satisfied, I ate in the cafeteria, drank some liquid and talked to my colleagues. When I woke up I was greeted by the commander. He wanted me to go to a “special stage” whatever that means, called “Impossible Stage 1” and I was apart of the elite. Suddenly I was transported to a foreign planet, well more like an arena. There isn’t anyone else here. \n\nWait no. scratch that this guy just... teleported here and- OW. HE’S SHOOTING AT ME.\nAlright I’m shooting at him back, he’s dead now. Anywa- how did he come back?\nI shoot him again, he isn’t coming back this time. This just adds on to my theory.\nWhoa… I feel weird. I must be dehydrated, Commander didn’t give me any supplies. Whats up with this post? I shot a teleporting dude twice and he hasn’t ca- scratch that again he’s back. Uh… I just missed. I missed again, and again. Shit. Well if anyone finds this recording tell-\n\n…\n\n…\n\n…\n\n“Good job player! You passed the special stage!.”"
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[WP] You are an archeologist who just made the discovery of their career: A facility build by an ancient civilization to store frozen bodies in case their species goes extinct! And it's intact too! You'll be the first in millions of years to talk to a human!
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I was in my lab just guessing what do I do now, their were 7 embryos inside each pod. My team member would be here by eight, but he was young and of course, he would spill the beans to every one of my colleagues, if I ever gave him charge of the project\n\nLook, Ethan--I know that everyone doubts you, but no, I said when he called me thirty minutes later. But sir, this isn't funny okay. NO, and that's final. I hung up the phone. So eager, I thought. I was looking at them again, so glossy, each one behind their layered panel of glass--when the door bell rang. Hi Ethan",
"Since the beginning of recorded history, legends have told of Artificers: heroes who come once an age, wielding ancient knowledge. During the great famine, it was an Artificer who spoke to the trees with logic texts and taught them to grow once more. It was an Artificer who resurrected Predecessor technology to drive back Nilst hoards. Some say it was even an Artificer who taught us to speak and write. Little is known about them, even by our most noble scholars. But one thing is certain: in every age an Artificer appeared, the world has never been the same again. \r \n\r \nI grew up listening to these stories, imagining what adventures Artificers must have had. I would play in the fields from breakfast to dinner, pretending to be one. Boulders became the great Stoa Mountain range, and creeks transformed into the legendary Myth Canyons of Mcha domain. I dug holes in the dirt as I scaled the depths of the Endless Fissure. But my favorite place to play was my father’s workshop. I spent hours upon hours pretending it was the Predecessor's Grave ruins, while I delved for relics. For a long time I believed my father to be an Artificer himself. When I told him, he laughed and said he was a simple salvager, doing his best to provide for me. I still believed him to be an artificer for a long time after. \r \n\r \nShadows passed over my face plate in the early morning as I stared directly up, marveling at the sharp colors from the sun’s blue light passing through red oagen tree leaves. I’d begged my father to take me on an adventure with him for years. Now that I was old enough to finally come with him, my imagination leaked out of my ears.\r \n\r \n“Eyes forward,” my father said, pushing my head back down. “Rule number one: always be aware of your surroundings.”\r \n\r \n“Yes sir!” I said, raising a hand to shade my eyes as I scouted the trail ahead. A whole lot of nothing. Just like twenty hundredths of a rotation earlier, and twenty hundredths before that. My mind began to wander again. My father’s black armor was hardly visible in the shade. He had a number of pockets and bags strapped all over his body. Not to mention a weapon for every occasion. He was even teaching me to shoot his plasma rail, before we left. My father embodied everything I imagined an Artificer to be. \r \n\r \nI imagined a ferocious Bright stomping through the trees, igniting everything in its path with fiery breath released from its humongous jaws. My leg plates rattled with fear and excitement just from the thought. Rule number eleven of my father’s guidebook: no campfires. Brights could smell smoke from a kilo-unit away. Smoldering leftovers from forest fires were their favorite food. My father loved to tell the story of when he was surrounded by a pack of brights while traveling with a caravan. The only reason they managed to make it out alive was because they lit one of the biel pulling their carriage on fire and let the Brights chase after it. I felt bad for the poor creature, but survival in the wilds meant making those sorts of difficult decisions. \r \n\r \nWe had lunch in a clearing around mid rotation. Nothing fancy, just some dried Licken meat sprinkled with salt and aluminum shavings. After a good hike, it really hit the spot. I took sips of water as I watched a hydrogen whale eat a cloud far off in the sky. It was huge! An entire village could fit on its back. The lightning rods along its spine glistened. The reflection from the sun was so bright I had to squint. \r \n\r \n“Quiet,” my father snapped.\r \n\r \nMy heart skipped a beat. I hardly even breathed. But all I heard were the chirps of birds and the buzzing of biz as they hovered between plume grass stalks. But then I heard it. A low rumbling at first, growing louder with each thousandth of a rotation. Before growing quieter again. \r \n\r \nMy father turned to me. “What do you think that was?”\r \n\r \n“An aerocore?” I said. “I thought they didn’t live this far west?”\r \n\r \n“They don’t, usually,” he said. “Very rare to find one out here. But more importantly: what is rule number twelve?”\r \n\r \n“Never stop in a clearing in aerocore territory?”\r \n\r \n“Good. Why is that?”\r \n\r \n“Because there’s no cover if it decides to dive bomb you.”\r \n\r \n“That’s my girl,” he said, tussling my head. \r \n\r \n“Dad, stop!” I said, readjusting my faceplate. “I’m not a kid!” \r \n\r \n“Let’s get going. And no open areas for the next couple days. At least until the Aeorcore is gone.”",
"“These chambers are our legacy. What is left of humanity.\n\nIn the first chamber you will find our history. In the second our tools and instructions we use them. In the third a viewing of life as we knew it, with documentation of cultures, cuisines and clothing. In the fourth a viewing of nature well as wildlife and general life on earth. In the fifth the vast literary works of all cultures as well as an explanation to the languages used. And in the final chamber We have chosen representatives from every country, from most occupations, from all ages, genders and walks of life. You will find them asleep. To be awakened so they may represent us.”\n\nThis message was displayed by a hologram in every earthly language at the entrance of the cave. It had taken months to get it to work. \n\nAs we entered the cave we felt a feeling of reverence. As if we had entered a sacred space. And in a way had. We were the first to enter this cave or even to lay eyes upon it for millions of years. \n\nAs I descended the stairs I was surprised to see the level of technology that the humans used to have. \n\nWe went through all the chambers. Learning more and more about the humans. Absorbing all the knowledge in our databanks. \n\nThe stasis chamber was humongous. Over a thousand humans were found. On each of the pod was stated a short history of their lives, names of birthplaces long gone, a list of allergies and intolerances, religious beliefs and what languages they speak. \n\nAnd then finally the first human thawed out. The moment she opened her eyes will go down in history as the greatest achievement of our times. As the humans say: one small step for a human, a giant leap for humanity. \n\nSadia woke up drowsy, incoherent, mumbling something we couldn’t understand. We gently made her sit up and asked her if she was ok and if she understood us. She answered: Ya, Allah I made it. Alhamdolilah! God is great.” She then turned to us: “ I wasn’t sure I would make it. If my stasis pod would keep working or even if our cave would ever be found. But Subhanallah I made it. \n\nYou must a million questions for me. As I have for you. But first may I have some water?” \n\n“Oh why yes ofcourse” She looked at the water and took a big sip and then spit it out. What is this? I asked for water. “ This is what you call water , it is fresh from the ocean” “ the ocean? Hahahahha” Sadia laughed. “Humans dont drink water from the ocean it is too salty. We drink water from rivers, streams and lakes even rainwater. But never saline water from the ocean. Our stomachs are not adapted to drink it. We drink plain H2O, you know hydrogen dioxide. “\n\n“ oh yes, well that explains a lot actually, we assumed since all life began in the oceans, you would consume ocean water as we do. Wait, we will give you some other water. “ \n\n“Where are the others?”\n\n“Some of the pods did fail as you feared yours would, but we were able to recover over 800 humans. They are slowly thawing out. You were just the first one we found to be alive.”",
"Save them all\n\n\\----\n\nPart One\n\n“Next … next.” Tentacles, or pseudopods, beckoned Eliza forward. She’d been feeling groggy, but as she approached the creature behind the booth, she began to feel more aware again. She’d been awake, what, a couple of hours? Four? She was unsure. This wasn’t archive twelve, and she couldn’t see any other humans. Eliza had been ushered from room to room, line to line. Eventually she’d been given new overalls to wear, they were white, warm, clean, and beat walking around naked.\n\nIt had been a blur of information, aliens, new technology and waiting. So much waiting. Then they ushered her to the hall, filled wall to wall with so many different aliens, drones, robots and other things she couldn’t understand. Her tiredness was understandable, this was a lot to take in. They only ‘spoke’ English to her, she couldn’t understand anything when they spoke to each other. Yet, she could breathe fine, and couldn’t smell anything other than clean laundry and a hint of lavender, maybe it was the drone that had been with her since she’d opened her eyes. She stepped forward toward the only speaker emitting English.\n\n“Hello.” She said, trying to speak over the white noise of languages around her, each of the myriad of species spoke in different languages, some sounded the same, they must be as they were all communicating, but she wasn’t absolutely sure. As Elisa moved to the booth, the drone, just a metre over her head, moved with her. In quieter spaces, she could hear it hissing, creating a safe environment for her.\n\n“Yes, name, your hexacode?” The English came out of a speaker at the front of the booth. The alien wasn’t speaking, but typing with some of their many, appendages on a large display in front of it.\n\n“What’s going on? Where am I?” Eliza asked again. She kept asking. The various aliens kept telling her it would be explained, to be patient, she needed to wait to be helped.\n\n“Didn’t you read the leaflet? You were told to read the leaflet.” The speaker said. Not unkindly, just as though through long-suffering. The inherent bureaucracy of this place was something Eliza could relate to. Ever since she’d been woken up, there had been very little she could relate to. Breathing, gravity and some limited communication, that was about it. Even if most aliens' communication seemed to be along the lines of, ‘they don’t personally know the answer to her question, but they will help you find someone that does.’\n\n“I can’t read any of these.” Eliza stated, holding up the leaflet. The leaflet was a concertinaed paper thin tablet, different languages scrolled across its various folds. Pictographs, angular writing, circles, dots, patterns, so many forms of written expression. English was not one of those languages.\n\n“Oh. Are you sure? Did you double-check?” The alien in the booth asked again. Its many appendages floated about it. It appeared to Eliza to be unsure, or thoughtful.\n\n“Yes. I’ve been awake for maybe two, er, four hours, and I’ve been told to keep this on me, in that time I haven’t seen any English.” She had seen binary code, that seemed to be universally accepted numbering. Useful when she was told to stand in line forty-two and needed to find the right sign. There was a quick flurry of appendages typing.\n\n“What’s your hexacode?”\n\n“I don’t know what that is. A form of identification?” Lots more typing, the alien spent a minute looking at screens, then typed some more. Eliza waited, it’s not like she could do anything else. She’d surprised herself with how calm she’d managed to keep, given the discovery of alien life, advanced technology and some kind of intergalactic United Nations.\n\n“Yes, hexacode, each species is assigned a unique code.” The speaker sounded hopeful, but a little resigned.\n\n“I don’t have one.” Eliza said with a shrug. The alien leaned forward a little, it regarded her with black on black eyes, each widely spaced toward the sides of its … head. It didn’t have a visible neck, so she wasn’t sure of the right term.\n\n“You do. Every species does. How do you think we maintain records?” the tentacles spread out, gesturing around them.\n\n“I don’t. OK, if I do, then I don’t know.”\n\n“You can’t read, not even basic, and you don’t know your hexacode?” The speaker said, Eliza thought the voice sounded more excited this time.\n\n“No.” She replied. The drone over her dipped down briefly, she had the urge to wave it away, but resisted.",
"*This is Dr. Olivia Redtail, from the Kymopoleia Institute of Archaeology. One month ago, my team and I were exploring a series of Old World ruins when we came across a facility dubbed Project Freezer. Held within the building were several rows of cryogenic chambers containing perfectly preserved humans. It seems Project Freezer was an attempt by humanity at preserving their species past their extinction. I am currently looking into whether or not humans can be safely defrosted and welcomed into our society. I have chosen a subject at random, defrosted them, and given them ample time to recuperate. The following is an interview between me and the subject that I find detailed relevant information and/or carry some form of significance.*\n\n\nOlivia: Alright, thank you for agreeing to meet with me.\n\nSubject: Not like I've got anyone else to talk to.\n\nOlivia: First of all, my name is Dr. Olivia Redtail. And your name is...?\n\nSubject: Cora Ballantyne.\n\n*[Olivia writes down her name]*\n\nOlivia: Thank you very much. Now, what can you tell me about Project Freezer?\n\nSubject: Well, Project Freezer was started by some guy named Gunnar Emerson, who had this crazy-ass idea to freeze humans like leftovers so they'd get to see a better future. We got separated into all these different batch groups and put through a week-long psych evaluation to ensure the people who got to see the future would be putting the best foot forward for humanity.\n\n*[Olivia writes the information down]*\n\nOlivia: That helps me a great deal, thank you. Now, about those batch groups?\n\nSubject: I was in batch group Q. They're good folks, you'll like them. I don't know what got us placed in certain groups, but Gunnar said there was a reason. Assuming he wasn't talking out of his ass.\n\nOlivia: I... wasn't aware humans had the ability to-\n\nSubject: It's a figure of speech. Means he's bluffing.\n\nOlivia: Oh. I see. Thank you for clarifying.\n\nSubject: Hey, can I ask you something now?\n\nOlivia: By all means.\n\nSubject: What are you, exactly? I mean, I know you're not human, but what did you evolve from?\n\nOlivia: Well, after humanity died off, the following millennia saw aquatic life undergo a rapid evolution into the dominant species. I myself am descended from evolved betta fish.\n\nSubject: Damn. Splatoon got it right.\n\nOlivia: Splat...toon?\n\nSubject: Uh, nothing. It's not important. Actually, I don't want to sound rude but could we end the interview here? I'm just really tired for some reason.\n\nOlivia: Of course. We can pick this up again later.\n\nSubject: Uh, before you go, can you please write my name down in the interview? Please don't call me Subject or anything weird like that.\n\nOlivia: Yes, I can definitely do that.\n\nCora: Thank you, doctor. Talk to you later.\n\nOlivia: See you next time, Cora.\n\n(Part 2 coming soon!)",
"(P 1/2) \n\" You realize they speak an entirely different language? *Korla'shi* has 30 recognized dialects, 73 if you include mixed languages. But Humans...they had thousands.\" Mor spoke.\n\n\"I am aware, but our records show plenty of examples of assisted speech therapy to their young. I am sure you could learn.\" I said excitedly, reaching out with one of the four long digits protruding from my arm.\n\n\"What do you mean 'you'? Can you speak Human?\" Mor asked with a tone of something similar to calling my blush. Call it disbelief.\n\n\"Human isn't a language, Mor,\" I said, giving the machine permission to begin. \"You're a Linguist, you should know that.\"\n\n\"I don't come to your place of work and lecture you on how to refer to your own work,\" Mor began.\n\n\"I have been studying this one's assumed home language, as well as the 17 other possible choices. If it's not English, I'd say, oh how did they so those names...'Rushkan'...'Gurnany,' 'Frinish,' or possibly even 'Armenian.'\"\n\n\"That's some pretty good pronunciation, how do you mimic their tongue?\" Mor asked.\n\n\"I'll tell you later, I'm a little preoccupied with meeting an actual Human. Do you think they'll react positively or negatively?\"\n\n\"Well, given we're both furless bipedals with a large intelligence, I'd say we have a fair chance,\" he replied. Slowly, but surely, a quivering, naked human covered in a thin film came into view. Its silhouette was captivating.\n\n\"Greetings,\" I called out to it.\n\n\"Where am I?\" It called out, refusing to come any closer.\n\n\"I understand you're probably worried, but I assure you that you are in good and safe hands. Come, talk with us. There is a lot to discuss.\""
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[WP] "EVIL VILLAIN! PREPARE FOOOooorrr.... ummm..." eyes all turn to you. There's balloons, music playing, food laid out... your archnemesis comes over. "Ah, hero, I wasn't expecting you, come in! Want some cake? Care to dance? Join the party!"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I took a deep breath as I clenched my fist looking at the door in front of me. There is nothing I can not stand more than the sight… of evil. I placed my hand on the door handle and gripped it tightly. \n\nThe Red Baron… my arch nemesis. I have received classified information the he is here behind this basement door. And today… I will bring him to justice.\n\nMy name is Beacon… I specialize in manipulating light produced from transferring the energy in my body. I can form attacks using such light that can decimate foes. Just like what I am going to do now to Baron.\n\nI immediately opened the door and entered.\n\n“HOLD IT, BARON! PREPARE FOoooo….r?”\n\nI was immediately silenced by the sound of the jazz music playing in the background. Men and women dressed in suits and gowns. People talking at organized standing tables, laughing and enjoying their time. Servers carrying trays of hot and cold beverages, cold cuts, finger sandwiches, and the like.\n\nThat coronation chicken looks good.\n\nA man wearing a black silk top hat, a red masquerade mask, a white shirt, and a black suit approached me.\n\n“OH, BEACON! I am so glad you made it!” The man said.\n\nThat obnoxious voice… it can’t be!\n\n“B-Baron?! What the hell is going on?!” I asked.\n\nI glared at Baron while producing a light sphere above my open palm.\n\n“You… you’re not taking those people as hostages are you?!” I asked.\n\n“OH NO! I would never do that… or maybe I would but not today! Because today is… my birthday!” He said cheerfully.\n\n“Liar! Your birthday was a month ago… 28 August! I took it off in order not to spoil your birthday by coming after you!” I told Baron.\n\n“You… you remember my birthday?! And you took it off?!” Baron asked with a teary eye.\n\n“S-SHUT UP! Stop making things weird, Baron! Now tell me what the hell is this?!” I said raising my voice and pointing at Barron with my left hand.\n\n“Alright… no need to get upset! I will tell you. Although you should know since I sent you a letter of invitation to your mail” Said Baron tilting his head to the left.\n\n“My… My mail? I didn’t check that in some time” I said.\n\nA big, bulky and quite… plump gentlemen passed by.\n\n“Oh I know you! Hello, BACON!” He said as he walked by.\n\n“It’s BEACON, pear-head!” I replied back.\n\nI looked back at Baron.\n\n“Hmph! What are rude guest!” Said Baron, frowning.\n\n“Tell me about it…” I said.\n\nWait… did Baron get angry at the guy for saying that to me?!\n\n“You see… today is a special day…” Prompted Baron.\n\n“Special day?” I asked.\n\n“YES! Today is… ‘The International No Hard Feelings Day!’ You see! It is a day where us VILLAINS invite you…” he said and then paused.\n\n“heroes.” He said unenthusiastically while rolling his eyes and making an air quotation mark with both hands.\n\n“To have a celebration of no hard feelings! Of course, it is against protocol to fight during this day. As you have maybe noticed, there has been no crimes today!” He concluded.\n\nH-He’s right!… it is about 6:30 PM and there hasn’t been a single crime committed.\n\n“As you may observe, we have many guests here today! Look! Here is the hero Wild Fire, and there is the heroine Lucky Strike, also behind there is one of the most VILLAINOUS VILLAINS out there………Sour note!” Said Baron while narrowing his eyes.\n\nSour note?! Who the hell is that?!\n\nI could see a woman in a gown approaching us. She was slim, had short dark hair and dark eyes, and sharp features. She wore a red lipstick, two diamond earrings, and a diamond brooch the shape of a clock where both hands pointed at 12‘o clock. I knew her…\n\n“Midnight…” I said.\n\n“Beacon… “ she nodded standing in front of me.\n\nMidnight… a villain almost as bad as Baron. She is a newcomer that took the villain underworld by storm. I have fought against her twice… she is strong.\n\n“Might you want to disperse that light sphere you are holding suspended above your hand?… It might give the wrong impression.” She said in a cold note.\n\nI sighed and then dispersed my energy sphere… no use keeping it.\n\nShe came next to me and locked arms with me; then, looked at Baron.\n\nWh-What?!\n\n“Do you mind?” She asked Baron.\n\n“OH, not at all!” He said and then winked at me.\n\nWhat the hell?!\n\n“Alright… you are coming with me!” She said pulling me.\n\n“Wh-Where are you taking me?!” I asked with a confused tone.\n\n“Where do you think? … We are going to dance!” She said smiling at me.\n\nWh-What is going on here?!\n\nTo be continued!",
"\"Look, uhhh, Mighty Mage. Is there any way you can cut me some slack?\" The Daring Dastard pleaded under his breath. \"I mean, it's my kid's birthday party. I hardly ever get to see her and ...\" \n\n\"WOW!! Look everyone! Daddy got Mighty Mage to come for my birthday!\" The little girl hugged the Daring Dastard. \"Thank you so much, Daddy!\"\n\nThe Mighty Mage sighed. Seeing the Daring Dastard out of uniform and vulnerable threatened to shake her steeley resolve. \"She doesn't know anything about your double life, does she?\"\n\nThe Daring Dastard shook his head. \"Listen. I'll throw you a bone here. I'll go quietly if you wait 'til after the party. You can book me in jail, put me on trial - no unnecessary roughness - just let me have this.\"\n\nThe Daring Dastard looked down at his daughter, who was still going on and on about his excited she was. The Mighty Mage considered for a moment. \n\n\"What's her name?\"\n\n\"Tracy. So, what do you say?\"\n\nMighty Mage got down on one knee and cleared her throat. \"Happy Birthday, Tracy!\"\n\nThe kids cheered. Mighty Mage whispered one last word of warning to the Daring Dastard, \"Don't make me regret this.\""
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[WP] The comedian was doing a fantastic show. The only issue was that his jokes were terrible and unfunny, yet, people were laughing. Almost uncontrollably. Only one person in the public was not laughing. That's when this person realized something strange is going on...
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I was sitting in the middle of the audience, I didn't have any idea who was supposed to be this guy but everyone was cheering and clapping for him to come on stage.\n\n\"He's a really funny guy\" said my girlfriend, who was the idea of coming to the Comedy Club for our date.\n\n\"Alright folks, calm down\" Says the presenter, before resuming his introduction \"Please give a warm welcome to Paul Truman!\"\n\nPaul Truman comes running to the stage, ecstatic and with a very charismatic smile. He then says \n\"I'm sorry for being late folks, but you know how it is... It's that day of the week again\"\n\nEveryone laughed... Except for me... Probably was an inside joke to the audience that I didn't quite understand as I never heard of this guy so I let it slide... But then he says\n\n\"I hope you are having a great night\" he continues \"Though I wish I hadn't asked for steak before coming to the routine\"\n\nEveryone laughed again, my girlfriend was already tearing up from laughter yet I was sitting there next to her with the biggest boredom face you could imagine, I couldn't stop but think that this guy wasn't as much of a hotshot as my girlfriend said he was... or as the public was cheering.... But everyone was laughing really hard and loud, so maybe it's just my taste?\n\n\"Also, people call me Paul Truman... You know why? Cuz that's how my mom named me when I was born\"\n\nEveryone laughs again? That's when I realized something was clearly wrong, that wasn't even a punchline that was just a plain statement of obviousness... Has everyone gone mad? Or is it me who has gone mad? Is my sense of humor broken? \n\n\nPeople were falling from their chairs, they were spitting their drinks, they were getting red teary faces from laughing and I was there looking like I wasn't really enjoying him.\n\n\"Do you think this guy is funny hon?\" I turn to my girlfriend only to see her banging her head on the table from laughter... Really hard.\n\nI was starting to get scared.\n\n\"Hey man, why the chirping?\" Says to comedian directly seeing me\n\nEveryone falls quiet.\n\n\"Yeah, you haven't laughed today, c'mon man... LOOSEN UP!\" He says in a silly voice only for the ear bursting sound of laughter to invade the auditorium again.\n\n\"I don't really think you are funny\" I say to him\n\n\"Well I don't think you are yummy\" He says back\n\nAside from the rhyming... it didn't made any sense that statement yet people were laughing terribly... I think I saw an old guy faint behind my seat\n\n\"I think you are a terrible comedian, yet people are dying from laughter, even my girlfriend who I share with her a sense of humor, is just bursting out\"\n\n\"So?\" Says Paul while looking at me with his silly face\n\n\"Well... I don't know... I just don't get it.\"\n\n\"the joke or the laughing?\" \n\nI answer with a faint chuckle, probably the closest thing he has said to something funny since he got on stage\n\n\"Got you\" Says Paul \"Now you can't get away\"\n\nAnd everyone laughs after his delivery... Including me...\n\nI can't stop laughing now, this guys is just too funny, my stomach hurts, my head is dizzy and I think my vision is getting blurry\n\n\"Once the laughing starts, it never ends\" Says the comedian\n\nAnd I guess he was right... because oh boy I haven't laughed like this in years... that it physically hurts and you are tired of it and you don't want to laugh anymore yet you can't stop.\n\nSomebody get me out of here...."
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[WP] They cloned your child and gave him to you as an apology.He is exactly like your child,personality and likes and dislikes are the same.You could've pretend he never died,pretend to be the happy parent to a lonely child but you cannot accept this pale imitation in front of you.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"Mom, are you ok?\" \n\nI couldn't help but scoff at the thing. God, it even sounds like you. Its little brown eyes look up at me exactly the same way yours did. \n\nBut it'll never be you. \n\nIt was an accident, they said. The experiment was never supposed to go awry, it wasn't supposed to be fatal. And yet you died in the process. The real you.\n\nThey took no time at all to cover up their fuck up. Ha... I don't think I've ever seen any government body work that fast. It was only a mere few days before one of their PR members came to the house with their \"peace offering\". \n\nWhen I first laid eyes on it I couldn't help myself. It had your eyes, it had your freckles, that little mole right above your right eyebrow. It had it all... I...I really thought it was you. \n\n\"On behalf of our organization, we sincerely apologize and offer you our deepest sympathies. Our prototype cloning processes have been producing immense results, this is the fruits of our labour. We hope this will be enough to fill up the missing piece.\" \n\nIn that moment I barely processed any of the words that came out of that man's mouth. I was just so overwhelmed to be able to see you again. I had my boy back. \n\nBut I didn't, did I? \n\nIt started a week ago when I first noticed the imperfections. The scar you got on your left arm from when I taught you cycling, it wasn't there. I must have crumbled to my knees. I felt sick, even though we hadn't had yet breakfast at the time. The realization stabbed me in the gut. This wasn't you. I was living a lie. What kind of mother am I to let myself replace you? What kind of person am I to pretend like I didn't lose my only child? This thing wasn't you. This thing wasn't even fucking human. And that's when I started noticing the rest of it. \n\nIts eyes, it didn't have the same light that yours did. Yours would shine, they would light up the room. This thing has your eyes but they're hollow. Its laugh sounded exactly like yours, but it didn't have that breath of life. When you laughed it was musical, magical, almost. It filled the room with pure joy. When this thing laughs it...the walls echo whispers of the person it tries to replace. It disgusts me. \n\nA clone. A fucking clone. Those bastards gave me a replacement of you. Like you were some dispensable commodity to them. Like a doll that could be bought. This was another experiment wasn't it? They were using you as a test for how well their little robots worked. This thing wasn't you. It will never be you. This thing wasn't even human. It's an imitation of you, a mockery of the precious soul that you were. \n\n\n\n\"Mom? You look...mad....did I do something wrong?\"\n\nHer child looks up, his eyes filled with concern. Had he done something? His mother hadn't been the same for the past few days. Every word he spoke seemed to annoy her to no end, the only response he got being intense outbursts. Nothing was the same ever since he got back from the testing facility, yet no one had bothered explaining anything. Today seemed no different, they were seated at the dinner table and his mother stared intently at him. Once again, her eyes filled with an intensity he could not comprehend the origins of. \n\nIn a last ditch attempt to reconnect with his mother, he reaches out to hold her hand, just to feel the warmth of her love once more. \n\nHe falls to the ground. \n\nEvery bit of air in him escapes in a pained gasp. \n\nThe impact was hard enough to cause a ringing in his ears. Incoherent screaming booms against the walls of the small room. The voice that once sung him lullabies and read goodnight stories now shrill and cutting. Through it all he barely makes out the words \"Never be\" and \"Monster\". \n\nA heavy pressure sits on his chest, he gasps for what little air he can salvage. \n\nThe next impact causes him to see stars. Through swollen and wet eyes he can only look up as his mother changes before his eyes. Her face is flushed, eyes wide with what he now knows is hatred. Her hair disheveled with stray strands sticking to her sweaty skin. \n\nScreams and desperate apologies soon dull to pleading whimpers. With every passing second he learns that begging will be futile. \n\n\nPanting and heaving, her attacks slowly die down. Her bruised fists throb in pain. The woman stares down at the bloody pulp beneath her. It bleeds red, just like a human. The child no longer breathes, it no longer looks like him either. She made sure of that. \n\nThe air in the room is still, only shallow breaths can be heard. It isn't long before it is replaced by the hysterical laughter from deranged murderer.",
"I could be happy. Going on trips with my beloved child, teaching her about the world, teasing her about how she still loves her teddy bear even though she's almost ten. And yet I don't feel even a hint of bliss. If I had to describe it, I would say I feel nothing. Completely hollow inside. The child next to me looked like little me - the same reddish hair, the full cheeks, and the sparkling green eyes. There is no one who would deny that we are related. I could puke. \n\nThe way this thing calls me 'daddy', looks at me with expectant eyes, and I just want to scream. I don't want this thing, even though it looks like my child - it's nothing but a fake. Not even a real person, just a mere copy of my beloved child. A constant reminder that my child is no longer here. My dear Nina will be gone forever - and they expect me to just replace her? Yes, sure, they look the same, act and behave the same - but this thing is not my child! I'm not even sure it's human.... \n\nHonestly, it's disgusting to even breathe the same air as this thing. Repulsive the way it pretends to be innocent - why doesn't it shut up? \n\n\"Papa, can you hear me?\" \n\n\"Papa, I'm hungry.\" \n\n\"Papa, it's cold.\" It's doing that on purpose, isn't it! It hurts me when it acts like her! Like my dear daughter. Reminds me of what I've lost every time it opens its mouth. Do you want me to squeeze it shut? It's not that I'm a bad father - I'm a good father, I would sacrifice anything for my child - but this thing is not my child. I'm not even sure it's a human being. \n\n...How could it be a human being? \n\nIt looks like my daughter. \n\nActs like my daughter. \n\nTalks like my daughter. It's sickening to think about. How it wants to take her place. Replacing her as if she never existed. \n\nThis thing needs to know its place ....\n\n It should have stayed in the test tube where it came from.... \n\nIt acts as if it never existed - A thing that was not born through love - through the act of two people - should not exist in the first place.... \n\nYes, I am doing the world a favor. \n\n\"...Dad, what are you doing?\"",
"It’s sitting where he sat. It eats what he ate. It even laughs and cries like he did.\r \n\r \nBut It isn’t him. It isn’t my Jonathan. \r \n\r \nI know It’s an exact replica, a clone, of my son. But It isn’t my son. No matter how hard I try to believe it, that thing just isn’t my little boy. \r \n\r \nYes they look the same and everything, even a DNA test would confirm it to be my dead son, but I know they’re not the same. My little boy lies buried under the earth, slowly decaying into the soil to be eaten by worms while this pretender sits in my living room watching cartoons.\r \n\r \nI get why they did it. I understand. It’s a kindness, at least in their eyes it is. They think this will fix everything? Cover their asses and right the wrong, the mistakes they made that led to this? Not even close. I cant forgive them, especially now that this Thing sleeps in my dead son’s bed.\r \n\r \nI cant look the boy in the eyes. He thinks I hate him. Part of me does. Part of me hates this imitation of my dead son. But the other part…the other part loves him so much it hurts. Having It around, It’s tearing me apart. I can’t do it anymore. I also can’t just leave It. It has ‘feelings’ and ‘emotions’ like my boy did. I’d feel awful to abandon It, to abandon this facsimile of my son. \r \n\r \nI don’t know what to do.\r \n\r \nThe child turned it’s head, beaming with a cheesy grin which was suddenly replaced with a look of wanting and unease. “What’s wrong, Dad?”\r \n\r \n“Nothing, son.” I lied. Everything was wrong and there was nothing anyone could do to fix it.",
"\"We hope this makes up for the suffering this situation has caused you,\" A man in a fancy suit drones on, \"By accepting our apology and this gift you agree to keep this to yourself,\"\n\nHe slides a paper across the table, along with a pen. I can't take my eyes off my son, sitting quietly next to the lawyer. He looks just like him, but paler. My son is sitting there and when he catches my eye he smiles. Even the gap in his teeth is the same. \n\n\"Mr. Faust,\" The lawyer taps the paper.\n\nSnapping my attention to it, I scribble out my signature. He grabs the papers and makes a silent exit. I return to watching my son. He is playing with a bear and just sitting there.\n\n\"Sam,\" I whisper, \"Oh God, Sam,\"\n\n\"Yeah, daddy?\" He looks up at me and I break.\n\nPractically jumping over the coffee table I pull him into a hug, \"Sam, little buddy, daddy missed you so much,\"\n\nHe giggles, \"It's only been a day! You're silly daddy,\"\n\nA day? Three weeks ago those bastards took my son. They said he was sick. They killed him. I had to bury my boy. This thing in my arms isn't him. That sick realization washes over me. I hold him a little tighter.\n\n\"Ow,\" he pushes me, \"Too right,\"\n\nReleasing him, I quickly back away, \"Sorry little buddy. How bout we make dinner?\"\n\nHe nods excessively before rushing into the kitchen. I follow, getting the thing I need. Together we make some grilled cheese. Sitting at the table I steal my nerves.\n\n\"So,\" I start, \"What did you do while you were gone?\"\n\n\"Wab wab at comb homb,\" his mouth is full.\n\n\"Chew first,\" \n\nHe swallows, \"I was waiting to come home,\"\n\nHe goes back to eating. God, he even has the same eating habits. He peels the crust off and eats it last. How is this not my son?\n\nI spend the rest of the night secretly quizzing him. His favorite movie is still Cars. His favorite food is still mac-n-cheese. He still hates bugs. He's still ticklish in the same spots and he still makes the same jokes.\n\n\"Which story do you want?\" I ask, tucking in his covers.\n\nHis room is the same as when he died. I couldn't bring myself to go through his things.\n\n\"Hmm,\" he hums, looking at his little bookshelf, \"I want the bunny one!\"\n\n\"Good night moon?\" I ask, taking a good look at him.\n\n\"Yeah! I like it the best!\"\n\nThere it is. He does like that story the best but he never calls it that. It's always the 'good night book'.\nCalmly I grab the book and read it to him. He isn't my son. Once he's asleep I slip out of his room and head to the kitchen. Splashing water on my face to clear my head. I grip the edge of the counter.\n\nThat thing is not my Sam. He is the same but he's not. The smile is just a bit too big and his voice a bit too high. He is not my son.\n\nBut he doesn't know that. He may not be my son but he's still a kid. A kid who wouldn't understand my anger and my loss. A kid who doesn't know anything about the past three weeks. He may not be my son but he is mine now. I won't forget my Sam, my little buddy and I won't abandon this thing. I will raise him. He is not the Sam I lost but he is my responsibility now.",
"\"Get in the car.\"\n\n\"Where are we going?\"\n\n\"Just get in the car.\"\n\nThey buckled in and set off.\n\nHer thoughts swirled as she drove. Grief and confusion, anger and relief, emotions flashed and were replaced by the next.\n\n\"Mommy, I'm scared.\"\n\nShe didn't respond.\n\nHer son was gone, and yet he was there. Looking at him was like looking at a spectre.\n\nShe pulled into the strip mall parking lot and rolled into a space.\n\n\"What are we doing here, Mommy?\"\n\nShe turned to the grey figure in her passenger seat.\n\nThe fluorescent lights buzzed loudly in the bulky sign above the tanning salon.\n\n\"My son had such wonderfully sun-kissed skin, and so will you.\""
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[WP]There are shapeshifting monsters that feed on negative emotions, by taking on the form a person you can care about, then doing things to make you feel bad. As they feed it wipes your short term memory. One has hunted you for years, but you're attracted to them, and believe they have BPD.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The shapeshifting monsters are something I have always been aware of, but never really understood. I knew that they fed on negative emotions, but I never knew how they did it. I never knew how they took on the form of a person you can care about, and then did things to make you feel bad. I never knew how they wiped your short term memory, but I was always attracted to them. I always believed they had BPD, but I never knew how to help them.\n\nOne day, I decided to confront the monster. I asked it why it was doing this to me, and how it could live with itself. The monster simply shrugged its shoulders and said that it was hungry. I asked it what it was hungry for, and the monster said that it was hungry for my pain. I couldn't believe that something could be so cruel, and I asked it to leave me alone.\n\nThe monster did leave me alone, but it didn't go very far. I could still see it lurking in the shadows, waiting for me to let my guard down. I knew I had to be careful, but I also knew that I couldn't keep living in fear. I had to find a way to fight back.\n\nOne day, I decided to take the fight to the monster. I confronted it again, and this time I was armed with a weapon. I then stabbed the monster with my weapon, and it dissolved into nothingness. I was finally free."
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[WP] You, the lone astronaut on a research mission, have just discovered a dead astronaut while on a routine spacewalk. The kicker? The astronaut you just found is identical to you in every way.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“Huh,” I said, my voice a tiny drop of modulated fuzz in the ocean of Azarian radio silence around me. To my left, Kans-12 roared mutely into the cosmos, baking the half of my spacesuit facing it with a gentle twin-blaze. On my right, lay the fabled Azar asteroid-rings like so many nebulous rivers of rock and star-stuff colliding across eons. And in front of me, locked between my elbows in a hastily un-cranked spool of tether rope in space, was myself. In a slightly better suit, yes, and some wrinkled age around the eyes (closed, blessedly) with a weed of hair sprouting unchecked around the throat and chin where my birth mark featured prominently, but myself nonetheless. What would you have done? Scream? It did occur to me, once I grappled with the man floating along the arc of my routine spacewalk. I was alone. For 3 years. Who wouldn’t have wept? But I hadn’t yet turned him over and looked at the man, as I had so obviously now done. Where to look? What to say.\n\n\r \n“You’re alone out here,” I murmured. A reminder? For whom? \n\n\r \nI shook him tastelessly in his visor, watched his head bobble around in that shiny new SynergyLab exo-suit. The throes of sleep thrashed madly under his eyelids. Alive, then. I reached out to his telemetry with my own, saw the grid on my visor split for the first time on my research expedition to indicate 2 suits. My own heart rate was a little ambitious, to be expected, but in the other half: nothing. NASA had long since discontinued the heartrate flatline alarm in its astronaut suits, but I still heard it in my head and honestly, I could feel myself starting to go a bit. It couldn’t be instrumentation; the suit was brand new. So new, in fact, I thought of the asteroid-excursion skeleton in my closet at the station, and shivered. If I let him go, would it still be there? \n\n\r \n“Is it still there? Eh?” I asked, grabbing him close so our visors cracked harmlessly against each other. His eyelids stopped moving abruptly, as if programmed to do so by the vocal crack of slipping sanity. We turned slowly by the remnant inertia of our struggle and into the silent gleam of Kans-12. His arms drifted apart from his body, and I ached at how very much like me he looked doing it. \n\n\r \n“Who are you!” I shouted, knowing and not knowing. And I held on to him like that for a while, a pair of modulated drops of fuzz over the face of blue, lonely Azar below.",
"It started with little things here and there, the first time I noticed anything unusual I thought I saw, hell I even thought I heard a piece of debris, probably a small rock, come and hit our window and leave a 2-3 inch crack but by the time I woke up my captain and came back with an emergency patch for the window I realized I couldn’t find it. \n \nThe captain came in asking where it was and just as I was pointing to the spot on the window where I thought I had seen the crack, clear as day from about 10 feet out from me and the captain a small rock came and struck the window. It even left a 2-3 inch crack just like I had seen, or at least I thought I had seen. Luckily I had the emergency patch in hand so I quickly applied the adhesive and the loss of atmosphere in the ship was minimal. I told the captain it was probably just a coincidence and she assured me that of course it had to be a coincidence but something in her voice told me she didn’t really believe it and since then I’ve only become less sure of it myself. \n\nOver the next few days on board the main ship I saw yogurts spill and pencils drop before it actually happened, and Ive even been having these weird dreams. \n\nThat window incident where I saw about 5 minutes into the future was 14 days ago. 10 days ago my shuttle descended onto mars and it was then that I realized that this phenomenon Ive been observing has a direct correlation to my proximity to mars, or in layman’s terms, the closer I get to mars the more I find that I know things I shouldn’t, and now that im on mars these glimpses into the future happen hours or even days ahead of time instead of just minutes or seconds into the future. \n\nThe dreams dont really happen but I think there is something else to them. 12 days ago I had a dream where I found a book inscribed with the name Henrik Ibsen, I used our server to connect to google and I found that hes the one who coined the term “a pictures worth a thousand words” its because of this I believe someone or something is trying to talk to me or communicate with me through these images, these, these, mental pictures they send me, maybe not in the traditional sense of talking as you and me know it but in a way that transcends our current definition and understanding of language, I definitely didn’t know that authors name, or at least I didnt know that I knew it maybe it was buried deep in my subconcious. But if there really is someone out there reaching out to me and I havent just gone insane then this being is likely the most advanced form of conciousness ever observed by mankind. And any being capable of such mental capacity would probably see our language as primitive as we see the grunts and groans between two gorillas. Which makes their intentions for contacting me even more of a mystery…\n\n…listen to me, talking about premonitions and “they” are out there, I know I sound crazy, hell it is crazy but sometimes real life is crazy. But enough of my rambling, heres the important part, the reason I’m relaying all this information to mission control is because 10 minutes ago, I was out collecting mineral samples when I came across a body. My own body. Dead in the dirt wearing my exact clothes. I dont know if it was a warning, or a threat but the fact that they warned me about the debris leads me to think that its the former. And I sure as hell hope its not a threat.\n\nMission control Im asking that you please relay this back to Captain Stewart, even if its just to let her know Ive gone mad and let her see it for herself, Captain I know you’ll believe me, I saw that look in your eyes we both know there’s no way I could’ve known those things, you have to come back for me, now! I’ve done the calculations, I know you were supposed to drift in orbit, and using the thrusters to get to me would mean we’re short on fuel but we both know mission control wont just leave us out here high and dry, and we’ll have enough fuel left over to meet mission control at a relay point and refuel. I know youd be risking alot by forcing mission control to send out more fuel last minute. I know you can tell yourself that theres no way I could be right and you can protect your job by sticking to the mission plan but on the off chance I am right I’m asking, are you really willing to risk my life just to save your career?\n\n Now if you excuse me im going to do my best to contact the captain on my own via radio but I know you relaying this to her is my best shot since their ship currently on the other side of the planet , thats all for now, Edward Howard over and out.",
"The cold stiff body floated in front of me, locking eyes. I didn’t know what to do.. it had to have been me. It was identical to me. \n\n*snap out of it Ray, use your head* \n\nI looked up at the body again, looking for any detail that would set me apart from him, \n\n*my mole* \n\nI remembered, I have a mole right next to my lip. I reached my hand out to grab the body. I couldn’t feel it through my suit but I imagined it either being soft and squishy, or hard and cracking. \nI pulled it closer, I could see the bright blue veins bulging from his face. And then I saw the mole.\nThere was no denying it now. This body. Was \nA. My identical twin from whom I was separated at birth.\n2. I was dead and I’m a ghost haunting space \n3. This is a completely unrelated person who just happens to look like me. \n\nI held the body tightly. And pulled it back into the station. I examined it, everything was the same as me. \nThen the power went out. I panicked. If the power was out was my oxygen supply? Yes surely. I want to put on my suit but then I noticed something. I was not struggling to breathe at all. I had not been breathing one bit, like I had forgotten how to. I realized option B was probably correct….",
"I looked into the dead astronauts cold blue eyes. It stared back at me with no emotion. I looked at the nose, which was identical to my nose. I stared at the gaping mouth, which even had a scar on it that I had gotten when I was a kid. What on earth was going on here?\n\nThat was the thing, we were not on Earth. I was on the planet “Edge-99”, long rumoured to be the last planet before the edge of the universe. It had taken me 20 long years to make the exhausting journey to this place, all to research what was beyond. After I had reached the planet, I had to remain stationary to refill my fuel from the nearby rocks. That’s when the anomalies began to surface.\n\nNot even after a day of stopping, my electronic systems started slowly glitching out. Small errors here and there, monitors getting blue screens, and eventually a full on short circuit in my cameras outside the ship. The cameras were vital to know my surroundings, so I had to go outside and fix it. This was a dangerous job, as this part of space was not highly mapped out. One hit from an incoming asteroid, and I was a goner. \n\nAs I was readying myself for the dreaded spacewalk, something light hit my spaceship. Great, another thing to fix, I had thought to myself as I entered the airlock. I slowly drifted my way to every single camera on the ship, fixing the fuse and replacing them. This took me hours to complete, but I finally finished. I then went to the spot where I had heard the thud, and I was met with myself.\n\nIt was an exact replica of me, except the fact that the spacesuit was green, compared to my blue. I was completely baffled, and my mind was blanked out. What? How? Why? Huh? These questions repeated over and over inside my head. It was a full 5 minutes before I finally snapped out of the paralysis. I slowly examined the suit, and sure enough found the emergency recorder strapped to the neck. I carefully took it out, and before I went back to the ship, I tied the body down to the ship using steel ropes I had in my backpack.\n\nAfter entering back, I immediately went to the control board and inserted the device into the slot meant for it. With enough time, the whole file transferred over to the sound system, and I hit play. My voice echoed throughout the ship.\n\n“I am recording down some information for whoever finds this. If you have found this, then I am 100% dead, but at least I have succeeded. Let me explain. \n\nI was sent to the edge of our universe on a mission to see what was beyond it. I had successfully reached the planet Edge-999 when all went to hell. My electronics acted out, oxygen levels dropped, and I was slowly losing control over my ship. I had to do something, so I used the escape pod to flee the failing ship and rush towards the end of the universe. The end of the universe was now visibly in my sight, and what I had seen beyond the end, well its quite hard to put into words.\n\nThe colours there was something you cannot even perceive using your mind. Think something along the lines of white, but even that doesn’t do it justice. As soon I left my universe, my escape pod stopped working. There was no gravity here, there was nothing here. This place was empty, and truly empty. I was stuck outside of my universe, and I didn’t see anyway out of here. \n\nThat’s where I am as of now. But, I have come up with a plan, which I hope succeeds. If it does, then it will not only prove that the multiverse exists, but actually alert another universe of its existence. I am planning on using the self destruction button to create an anomaly within the non existence itself, where energy is dispersed and that could possibly boost me enough to reach the next universe.”\n\nThe recording ended there. I couldn’t believe my ears. I had just listened to myself from another universe, talk about the place beyond universes! So many theories were racing through my mind, but before I got too distracted, I went back outside to examine “my” body. How did “I” die?\n\nUpon looking closer, I could see that there was a torn hole in my suit. This was possibly from the explosion the self destruction had caused, which was truly a shame. I wonder what “I” would have said to myself from another universe? How would that interaction go? Maybe this happened in another universe. Well, that universe was not ours, which was a shame.\n\nI looked toward the edge, thinking how we could truly cross it. That’s when I saw it. A spaceship, exactly the same as mine. It was accelerating at full speed towards my ship, and it was far too late for me to avoid it. How the hell did the ship come over? Why was this happening? I was left with no choice, was I? I would have to abandon my ship on foot, and jump towards the end. That was the only way I could hope to survive. With tears in my eyes, I cut off my safety rope, and leaped to the uncertain beyond…",
"I couldn't move. I couldn't think. All I could do was stare. Stare, out into familiar eyes as they stared, unblinking, unseeing, back at me through a clear visor.\n\nI didn't understand.\n\nHis bulky, white spacesuit stood in stark contrast to the black rocky surface of Agriesta-7 far below us. A thick cable hooked into a strap on his chest tethered him to the rarely-used docking bay of my research satellite.\n\n62 days I'd been up here, researching the potential of harvesting solar rays in this system, with no sign of anyone. But now, him.\n\nI reached up and rotated a dial on my helmet 40 degrees or so, and my stomach lurched as my eyes refocused on the magnified image of his face now projected inside my visor.\n\nThose brown eyes. The thick eyebrows, recently plucked. The stubble, which I could never quite grow into a full beard.\n\nI blinked. The shine of recently applied chapstick was on his lips.\n\nI licked my own lips, tasting the petroleum jelly.\n\nAfter a moment, my curiosity finally overcame the disbelief and fear. I made my way across the short catwalk and punched my access codes into the airlock. After decompression and sanitization, I moved to the console, keeping my eyes on him through the 360 degree windows surrounding the cramped bridge. I had to know what was going on.\n\nI opened the winch control software and felt the small satellite rumble beneath my feet as I gradually retracted the cable back towards the docking bay, bringing him with it. How long had he been there? I must have been so focused on my research that I didn't even notice his arrival. Something seemed off about that, though. I didn't use the winch. That cable hadn't been extended in months. I should've heard it, felt it, seen it when it'd been pulled out from the bay.\n\nWhat *is* it? Is it dead? Why does it look like that?\n\n*CRKKCRKKRKCKRKCRKKKCKRK-*\n\nMy thoughts are interrupted as the radio switches on and blasts at me with static. That damn old radio, Marco said he had it patched right up last time. I'll have to have a talk with him when I get back. I punch the volume knob to mute it. I start winching again, and look up.\n\nIt's gone.\n\nI'd just looked down for a second, and now it's gone. The gray, metal cable floats aimlessly against the backdrop of Agriesta-7, oblivious to it all.\n\nI can't breathe.\n\nSomething catches my eye: a reflection in the glass.\n\nIt's here, behind me.\n\nIt smiles.",
"The bright white light fades and real-space comes into view. \r \n\r \nAfter the short burst of experimental FTL travel I was finally closing in on the Anomalous Nova Burst site. Thanks to this new engine, despite the signal having taken years to reach us, I arrived only an hour after we detected it. FTL and keeping track of time is a strange thing that people smarter than me fuss over so I tend to not worry about it.\r \n\r \nThis anomalous burst of energy output as much power as a supernova but was detected in a dead region of space where no stars have formed. That’s why I’m here, to get a lay of the land, and report back to command. \r \n\r \nIt appears the FTL exit point has brought me into some kind of debris field. Tiny flecks of shrapnel litter the starspace before me. Whatever happened here was devastating. The wreckage looks a lot like a satellite came into contact with a high velocity object, likely some sort of asteroid, and was completely annihilated. Either that or the power source was damaged and detonated, but small craft like that don’t have engines powerful enough to obliterate them and cause an explosion of such magnitude. \r \n\r \nSomething is wrong here.\r \n\r \nI saw something, a bulky mass, floating outside the debris field. The thing is moving fast. Clearly, it was sent careening off into the void by the supernova. If only I could catch up to it…\r \n\r \nOh. My. God.\r \n\r \nLooking out the viewport I could do nothing but hang there in complete and utter disbelief. Mouth agape, breath caught in my lungs, time came to a standstill as I saw it casually drift past. \r \n\r \nIt's a body, or at least the remnants of what was once a body. Most of the limbs are missing, as is a good portion of the abdomen. The exposed skin is charred and cracked like a burnt roast while being coated in a gentle crystalline layer of frozen fluid. The face is contorted, a final primal scream locked in place for eternity…wait a minute…is that?\r \n\r \n…\r \n\r \nIt's…it’s me.\r \n\r \nThe corpse suspended in space before me is myself. How is this even possible? I don’t understand. How am I in here and out there at the same time? Is this some kind of test? A sick joke orchestrated by command to test the new FTL drive? If so, why do this? What purpose does this have?\r \n\r \nThere was no time to answer any questions as the proximity alarm sounded. My head snapped around to check the console, but it was too late. Another piece of debris had snuck up on me and was going too fast to avoid.\r \n\r \nA thundering crash and screeching sheering metal was accompanied with the sudden rush of air as my ship was struck by the errant junk missile. I was promptly sucked out into space, clawing and gasping for air that wasn’t there. Panic set in as I pinwheeled away from the cleaved shuttle into the depths of infinity.\r \n\r \nDeath will come quickly; I can feel it. The freezing cold was so sharp and sudden I hadn’t the time to register it. The worst part was feeling my fluids boil away and the subsequent gas slowly balloon me. It will be over soon. Before I was allowed to slip peacefully into death, as my vision blurred and my eyes began to squash and flatten, I saw the exposed engine be ripped apart by more shrapnel. \r \n\r \nAn immense heat suddenly struck me. Space collapsed around me, crunched me down to less than the size of a single atom, and then exploded into the brightest white light I have ever seen."
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[WP] “Any updates on stirring the army of darkness?” “Yes, sir.” “Oh?” “They’ve unionized, sir.”
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Nocturna ruminated on his plans, how they were finally coming together. The fountain that would release the shadowy Army of Darkness had been found by his archeological divisions. The plants he had in various realms would ensure that each kingdom would be weakened right before the attack. And all that was unknown and unsuspected, because his public face was the head of the Foundation of Love, a charity that all realms contributed to and that he was careful to drain only enough for administration costs. \n\nYes, it was all about to be his. His powers over the raw darkness that would spill over into his world would ensure his power was unrivaled, and the soldiers of the Dark Army would be his loyal brigade, used to keep the peace and be a source of manpower that could never truly die.\n\nHis assistant, Kevin, came in. Nocturna perked up. \"Kevin! Any updates on stirring the Army of Darkness?\"\n\n\"Uh, yes sir.\"\n\n\"Excellent! What good news have you brought me?\"\n\nKevin gulped. \"They unionized, sir.\"\n\nNocturna blinked, globs of his shadow taking the form of small tendrils in agitation. \"What?\"\n\n\"They've unionized, sir. We made contact with the Dark Army. Their union representative is prepared to offer you their undying service, if their own desires are met.\"\n\nThe overlord-to-be facepalmed. \"Fine, I'll bite. What are these demands?\"\n\nKevin brought out a scroll with the demands. \"Firstly, sir, they want to be paid for their work. They say that they will have desires beyond your own, and that proper payment for their services will enable them to achieve them.\"\n\nNocturna sputtered. \"What in the Nine Hells would shadow warriors need money for?!\"\n\n\"One of our archeologists said the same thing, sir. Evidently, some soldiers would like to learn to paint, others want to find love in the light, and others yet have their own hopes and dreams.\"\n\n\"... Fine! Whatever! We'll come to terms with payment. I'm sure with the taxes I'll implement, there'll be more than enough for them to be paid. What else?\"\n\n\"Well, sir, they want to work only eight hours per day at most.\" Kevin continued as the dark mage struggled to reply. \"They also want paid time off after a period of good service, as well as vacation and sick days.\"\n\n\"Dark soldiers don't GET sick!\"\n\nKevin shrugged. \"Apparently sir, the process of being destroyed and then reforming over time leaves them drained for a period before being at full strength. This is part of that sickness. As well, some note that they have pains of the mind from past wars and takeovers, and others yet ruminate sadly over their dark deeds.\"\n\nThe shadowy tendrils grew to an eldritch collections of tentacles writhing in fury. \"FINE! As long as they help me take over the realms and keep my rule over it absolute, I don't care! I'll give them what they want!\"\n\n\"One last thing, sir.\"\n\n\"WHAT?!\"\n\n\"They want a retirement plan.\"\n\n\"GODS DAMN IT!\""
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[WP] "You may consider me evil." the villain said to the hero. "But soon you'll find out, I'm a neccessary evil."
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"(Not sure this is quite what was intended, but I think it still fits. Also, this is a continuation of this: [https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/xrtt95/pi\\_the\\_life\\_of\\_a\\_goddess/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/xrtt95/pi_the_life_of_a_goddess/))\n\n***The Life of a Goddess, pt. 2***\n\n​\n\nShe had to admit, she enjoyed this. Even a goddess could find enjoyment in the pleasures of the flesh, and as a goddess, all the pleasures she could possibly desire were hers to indulge in.\n\nHer grand palace was a construction of humans, though she'd applied her power to it to make it more fitting for a goddess. Nothing could truly do justice to her divine splendor, of course, but the palace came surprisingly close.\n\nShe hadn't always been a goddess. But then, long ago, she'd sought and found the anchor of reality, an object connected to all of existence without which existence wouldn't be possible. But it was more than just that; the anchor's connection to existence gave it power over all, and were someone to possess it, they could wield that power. But she'd wanted that power to be truly hers, and so when she found the anchor, she used it to grant that desire, to take its power into herself. She became the anchor, with all the infinite power that came with it. She became the goddess Lurisina.\n\nNow, she lay down, relaxing as a dozen servants around her massaged her flesh. There was easily room for so many, as her form was several times the size of a human. She liked having a large form, which was why she chose it. She found that it served to emphasize her supremacy, both to the mortals and to herself.\n\nShe didn't *need* to be given care, of course; she partook simply for the pleasure of it. Food was the same way; she didn't need it, but there was much pleasure to be found in cuisine, and being a goddess, she was given only the best humanity could offer. And so there she lay, her servants massaging her flesh as she feasted on the finest of foods.\n\nAnd then some foolish man barged into her chambers, wielding a magic sword and wearing enchanted armor. His intentions were clearly hostile, so he likely believed enchanted equipment would do well for him against her. It wouldn't, of course - what were such things to one of infinite power? - but perhaps it had helped him infiltrate the palace. After all, the home of a goddess was very well-protected, so even with such aid the man getting this far was impressive.\n\nOf course, it wasn't as thought she *needed* protecting.\n\nHer servants, on the other hand, were clearly worried, and some of them began to back away. But her words stopped them. \"Carry on,\" she said. \"No harm will come to you.\"\n\nThey were her most faithful servants, who knew her power better than any other mortals. They knew that if she willed it, it would be so, and so they returned to her and resumed their activities. And as they did, she turned her head to look upon the intruder. \"As for you, you are quite audacious, disrupting the pleasures of a goddess. Why would you be so foolish as to provoke me so?\""
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[WP] You’re a superhero, and your best friend, who doesn’t know your secret, sets you up on a blind double date. You instantly recognize your date as your main villain, and vice-versa. Halfway through the date, you begin to enjoy your villain’s company.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I tied my baby purple tie around my neck and looked at the mirror. Then, let out a deep sigh.\n\n“I really don’t want do this” I muttered to myself.\n\nI brushed my shell cordovan leather light brown oxfords to give them some shine. Then, wore them on. These are my lucky pair… I wear them when I want something good to happen… but it seems that it will end just like last time. I took my navy blue jacket from my wardrobe and wore it as well to match with my navy blue. I feel good today… I am looking my best… I hope things go wel—\n\nRing Ring Ring… my phone rang. I picked it up and looked at the dialer name… Then I grimaced and looked up at the ceiling in my despair.\n\nBeep…\n\n“The hell you want…” I said in a disgusted voice.\n\n“OH, MARK! My dearest FRIEND!!! How are you doing today?!!!” Asked an obnoxiously cheerful voice over the line.\n\n“Fine… until you called” I said with a sigh.\n\n“Oh don’t be like that! And… don’t you dare keep me waiting for more than five rings… understand?” The voice said in a cold tone.\n\n“Your bipolar nature never ceases to amaze me… Robert” I said.\n\n“REALLY?!” He said in a cheerful note.\n\n“Yeah… I find it annoying… and I find you annoying too!” I said.\n\n“Ohhhh don’t say that! Remember when I hadn’t called in a week and you came by because you thought I was kidnap—“ \n\n“SHUT UP!”, I interrupted.\n\n“Haha! You are not honest with yourself at all, Mark!” He said.\n\nI let out a deep sigh… \n\n“What do you want?” I asked with an irritated note.\n\n“You know the place right? Don’t worry about the cost, I took care of everything. And TRY TO BE NICE… I am paying hard earned money!” He yelled.\n\n“No, you are not! You come from a rich and powerful family, Robert. You are just using my love life for your entertainment! And your money is definitely NOT hard earned! And finally… I AM NICE!!!” I yelled back.\n\n“Ahahaha!!! Okay okay… I am sorry… Don’t want to upset my best-buddy on his date night! Good luck!” He said.\n\n“I hate the fact that you set it up… but you are paying so I can’t complain” I said.\n\n“That is the spirit, my friend! Alright … call me when you get dump— I mean call me later, ciao~” he said before hanging up.\n\nI put my phone inside my pocket, had a last look in the mirror and then went out.\n\nRobert is my best friend… whom I absolutely despise… Heh… it seems his bipolar nature is rubbing on me too.\n\nI got into my car and drove to the Fox Café. A very fancy place that is popular for a first date. I am meeting my blind date there at 8:00 PM. \n\n“I want to get this over with to be honest… but a part of me want this to work.” I muttered to myself sighing deeply.\n\nI would really hate to feel indebted to Robert if this works out. He will hold it against me for all eternity.\n\nI can imagine what he would say:\n\n“You are a hero; yet, you’re so useless. You can’t even find a nice person,”\n\n“Hahahah! Is horribly failing at dating one of your hero powers?!”\n\nAnd then his bipolar nature would kick in.\n\n“If you get married you will call your son Robert,”\n\n“I don’t see why people don’t want to date you?”\n\nArgh….\n\n“CURSE YOU, ROBERT!” I yelled in the car.\n\nMy past dates were all a disaster to say the least. The ladies I have seen have only stayed with me for a mere 30 minutes on a good day. I have never had a serious relationship.\n\nI reached my destination and parked my car close to the café.\n\nI entered the café and was greeted by the familiar smell of coffee. The flooring was made from white oak parquet. The seats were made from leather, colors like dark brown, dark green and dark red. The coffee tables were made from wood, the color of ash. The counter had a top made from white marble with gray streaks with ash wood underneath.\n\nI found my table and took a seat waiting for my date to arrive. On my watch it was 7:55 PM, good I arrived early. \n\nI felt a bit nervous… I don’t know why. I have never felt this nervous before. Probably because Robert arranged this blind date. I really hope this is not some prank he’s trying to pull… I will seriously have him pay for that… Anyway I really hope that this person is nice—\n\n“Sorry to have kept you waiting… You must be Mark…” said a familiar voice behind me. \n\nThis voice… I recognize it… \n\nI stood up to greet my date and looked back. Our eyes met… A slim woman with short blonde hair and deep blue eyes, she was wearing a patterned Prussian blue dress that is slightly above the knee, black Stilettos a black leather bag and red lipstick I could identify this woman from a mile away… She is Gale… a villain who uses wind. A formidable foe…\n\nI could feel heat one my cheeks as my blood started pumping. I fought her yesterday…\n\nGale stared at me with a smug face while placing her hand on her waist. Her looks at me didn’t help at all.\n\n“Long time no see…” she said with a smirk.\n\nTo think she was my blind date.\n\nCURSE YOU ROBERT. \n\nI took a deep breath and looked her in the eye…I need to act properly, what kind of hero would I be?\n\nI walked up to her and shook her hand.\n\n“Mark… nice to meet you.” I said clenching my teeth.\n\n“Hehehe… you are stiff in real life and as a hero, huh“ she said, chuckling.\n\nWhat the hell?!\n\n“Lea…” she said, smiling. \n\nI went and pulled her chair.\n\n“Please have a seat…” I said.\n\n“Aren’t you the gentleman! Thank you…” she said as she sat down.\n\nI went around and took my seat…\n\nWe stared at each other for a couple of minutes… then I broke the silence.\n\n“Y-You look lovely today… you went the salon? You hair is 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) shorter.”\n\n“You… you noticed?” She said, with her eyes widened a bit.\n\nTo be continued in part 2!",
"I walk into the restaurant, dressed up in my best suit. When on dates, I always try to casually slip in my true identity, so they can choose quickly if they want to commit to my choice of work. Of course, I don't do this carelessly - I always make them swear that they won't tell anyone, and half the time they *do leave* **because** of my identity, ranging from 'I don't know if I can keep it a secret', to 'I can't live in constant danger', to worries about how their family would feel, and even as far as being worried about putting myself and/or any potential children in danger!\n\nThe other half the time they leave... is before I can even mention it, so yeah, they dating scene isn't going great for me, but my best friend set me up on a blind double date; he doesn't know who I am, but he knows I'm looking for a strong, independent woman who isn't afraid and can handle herself, so I trust him with whoever he set me up with.\n\nI spot the table where he and his girlfriend already are... and *THE WHIP???* I guess she wasn't expecting her nemesis to show up either, judging by her reaction. Her outfit is the same that I'm used to, just... a bit more appropriate, with a different design and colour. Shrugging, I just head over. *Be cool. Neither of us knew this would happen. We were both just expecting a date.*\n\n\"Hey, Silo! Meet your future wife, Valerie!\"\n\n\"RON!\" I snap.\n\nRon's girlfriend, Lia, rolls her eyes. \"He won't. I've been trying for about half an hour. He did at least tell you how I know her, right?\"\n\n\"You both take self-defence and ballet classes\" I respond.\n\nThe Whip, I mean Valerie, giggles. \"That's right. Combine the two, I'm safe from **any** man\" she says with a wink.\n\n\"Sounds reasonable\" I respond as I sit down, trying to keep my tone calm and relaxed.\n\nThe Whip... formidable and powerful, she commands people to her will using, as you may guess, whips. Something about them sends people into a trance - once she snaps one, the person it's aimed at instantly falls under her command. She tried all of them to get me to surrender, until she learned that one of my powers is Steel Mind, I cannot be manipulated or controlled. I mean, I can turn it off, but why would I?\n\n\"So, what do you do for work?\" I ask, knowing full-well her main occupation, but every villain and hero needs a cover job to hide themselves, and she'd never reveal her *real* occupation to people.\n\n\"I work as a receptionist\" Valerie responds. \"It's harder than most people expect, and the pay could be better, but it's enough to get by. What about you?\"\n\n\"Janitor. I... I get very stressed very easily, it's about the only job I can manage...\" I respond nervously, knowing full well I'm exposing my weaknesses to my enemy.\n\n\"Silo, I keep telling you just put yourself out there!\" Ron retorts. \"What about those therapy sessions and relaxation classes?\"\n\n\"I keep telling you I'm far too busy for that!\" I sigh and stand up. \"I need some air.\" I walk over to the restaurant balcony.\n\nValerie joins me outside. \"What a friend you have, huh, Torrent?\"\n\nI look at her. \"He can be very pushy. He's almost as bad as you!\" She gives me a punch on the arm and I laugh, her smiling at me.\n\nThen she frowns. \"Everything you said in there? It's true?\" I nod. \"And... if you didn't have *me* to worry about...\"\n\nI narrow my eyes at her. \"You're not about to tell me you're going to quit your villainy, are you?\"\n\nValerie laughs. \"I'm not dense, not even an idiot would buy that! But we both know that a good villain-hero relationship involves a level of respect and care for each other. Enemies or not, our fights shouldn't put such a burden on you.\"\n\n\"You're right. But... neither of us are just going to stop what we're doing. If you don't I can't, and as you said, everyone knows you won't. So I'm just stuck in this endless loop...\n\n\"Let's not think about it right now\" she responds. \"Our dinner should be here already. Let's go back inside. Our friends are waiting.\"\n\nSo we both go back in, and on the table is the biggest lobster I've ever seen! We all dig into it and just make sure to have a good time. Though I notice, the longer the evening progresses, the more and more I fall for Valerie. She seems like a really good person, and I swear she keeps giving me flutter eyes...\n\nWhen it's time to leave, I offer to drive Valerie back to her place (her friend brought her here), and she accepts. We get into my car. There's an awkward silence for a moment as we begin down the road.\n\n\"So... it was a really fun evening tonight, wasn't it?\" I ask.\n\n\"It was very pleasant\" Valerie responds. \"I have to confess... I saw a whole new side of you; I had no clue how vulnerable you were!\"\n\n\"You don't seem to have that issue. Your confidence was quite overwhelming! Makes me wonder why you do what you do...\"\n\n\"I've always enjoyed the feeling of having someone under my command. It's satisfying... it's hard to explain...\"\n\nI burst out laughing, which gets Valerie mad. \"You think that's funny? Maybe you need to be taught a lesson!\"\n\nI cannot help it for the life of me. \"Sure, get out your whip and command me, master!\"\n\nValerie goes bright red. \"What's your problem?\"\n\nI regain my composure. \"I'm so sorry, but I don't think you want to be a villain; you just want someone for your bidding, whatever it may be!\"\n\n\"THAT-\" she stops herself a moment. \"Ok, maybe you're right...\"\n\n\"How about this then\" I say, \"if you stop being a villain, I can quit being a hero. Then we can keep spending time together. What do you say?\" I've just pulled up to her house.\n\nShe leans over and kisses me on the lips. \"Ok. See you tomorrow evening then?\"\n\n\"Promise\" I respond. Valerie gets out of the car, and waves at me as I drive off.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThank you for reading! More stories [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/x374da/oneoff_stories_a_collection_of_stories_which_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)"
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[WP] When you were a child, you had a crippling, life-shortening illness. You mysteriously recovered, and now you've learned it's because your dad bound you in service to an ancient god. And now it's time to serve.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"My earliest memories can only be described with one word… pain. Agony, the likes of which I wouldn’t wish upon my greatest enemies. I still remember the doctor visits; those cold, drab rooms always scared me. After countless tests, we were given one word. A word that was a box of nails in my proverbial coffin. Osteosarcoma, bone cancer to the uninitiated.\r \n\r \nAt first, there was dread. A terror the likes of which can never be described. I distinctly remember my parents just crying and crying and then nothing. Everyone became extra kind to me. Even in my naive mind, I could tell something was not going well. Then dad disappeared. Everyone told me he’d be back any day. That he just needed to compute what was happening. \r \n\r \nWhen he did return, the doctors were already in the process of writing case studies about me—a miracle recovery. Countless samples and tests were run, but I was given the all-clear. For the first time in my short life, I was free of agony and free to live my life how I wished. I never asked dad about where he went though. By the time I truly understood what was happening, I could empathise with him retreating. \r \n\r \nSo I went on with life. Grew up from a small child to a young adult. I was enjoying the freedom I had somehow been blessed with. Freedom, though, is fleeting. I found this out when I blew out the candles on my birthday cake at my eighteenth birthday party. The very second the last flame went out, the doorbell rang.\r \n\r \nMy first thought was it must’ve been a relative who was running late. But a glance at my dad, whose complexion was going ghostly white, I began to wonder who it was. My little sister answered the door and let them in. A man in a simple suit with a pair of glasses resting on his nose looked at me enquiringly.\r \n\r \n“It is time to collect Master Sampson,” his near ethereal voice seemed to echo around our small dining room. \r \n\r \n“Who are you?” I could only tilt my head in confusion at this stranger.\r \n\r \n“Is this a prank?” I asked, turning to see the pallid expressions on both my parent's faces. \r \n\r \n“Son…” my dad’s voice began before trailing off.\r \n\r \n“Remember when you were very poorly when you were little?” my mum asked in the tone she had used when I was a child.\r \n\r \n“Yes?” I replied, wondering where this was going.\r \n\r \n“Well, your recovery that was described as a miracle was more an apt description than the doctors realise,” she finished looking guiltily at the man who was just looking at me as if I were a product.\r \n\r \n“We made a deal, son. A deal to save your life. A deal with this man,” dad gestured to the man. I was now sure this was a joke.\r \n\r \n“And who might he be?” I asked, making my incredulity as clear as day in my tone of voice.\r \n\r \n“I go by many monikers. But you’d probably know me as Lord Hades,” he answered.\r \n\r \n“Isn’t your hair meant to be flaming?” I joked. He, however, just frowned.\r \n\r \n“Don’t let my false and muddled representations confuse you. I am the real deal; I am here to collect the man I was promised. A lifetime of servitude in exchange for that lifetime being guaranteed.” His face didn’t even flinch. He clearly must be a well-paid actor for this prank.\r \n\r \n“Ok, so to get this straight, my illness was cured by you,” I gestured to the man calling himself Hades, to which he nodded. “And my parents did this without my consent?” my parents flinched and avoided eye contact.\r \n\r \n“Consent of guardians sufficed. If you wish to renege on the deal, I shall allow this,” Hades said, looking between me and my parents.\r \n\r \n“Ok, I wish to annul this arrangement,” I said firmly, feeling the joke seemed to be losing its traction. Hades merely nodded, held up his right hand and snapped his fingers, causing a flash of light and smoke to billow from them. In that second, an agony I had forgotten had returned, and I collapsed against the table.\r \n\r \n“If you truly wish to annul this arrangement, I shall annul my contribution to the contract,” his words held no malice. He was simply stating it as a fact.\r \n\r \n“Please, Lord Hades!!! He doesn’t know about any of this!!” my mum was now begging on her knees. I could already feel my vision blur from the pain.\r \n\r \n“Ignorance is not an excuse. However, I am not evil, despite how I am depicted. I am merely letting him experience life without my blessing. He can make a decision whether to honour the deal,” Hades explained calmly as he sat opposite me and held out a hand.\r \n\r \n“Years ago, your father came to me offering his soul for your life. But I have little need for a withered thing like that when it will be mine in the end. But his impassioned pleas convinced my darling wife to aid you. So I shall offer the very same deal. A long healthy life in exchange for servitude for the duration of that life,” his ruby red eyes looked into mine. I couldn’t brush this off as a joke anymore and took his hand in mine. \r \n\r \nAt the moment of contact, a flash erupted, and the pain vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Looking at the man I was now set to serve, I could see relief in his eyes. \r \n\r \n“Good… I take no pleasure in suffering. Know this boy, so long as you are loyal and serve well, you shall not suffer.” his words, for whatever reason, felt comforting.\r \n\r \n“I shall let you say your goodbyes; after today, you shall accompany me about my duties.” he rose and left the room.\r \n\r \n“I’m sorry, son,” my dad cried as he fell to his knees before me. “I tried everything. I offered everything, but they would only take one price. I did this to save your life. To save my son,” his eyes gleamed with tears welling up in them. \r \n\r \n“I…” I honestly didn’t know what to say. Meer minutes ago, I was blowing out candles, and now I’m a servant of a Greek God. “I understand,” I finally said as I rested a hand on his shoulder. If my illness gave me anything, it was perspective on life. I guess working for a god might be interesting.\r \n\r \nWith a final long and deep hug from each family member, I rose and greeted my new master at the front door. He opened it, and beyond was only a void.\r \n\r \n“What will I be doing, sir?” I hesitantly asked, looking at Hades. A man whose every depiction made him seem worse than Satan.\r \n\r \n“Mainly data entry, accounting. Odd interview with a soul in Elysium. Despite how your media depicts me, I’m a glorified accountant/lawyer. It’s my wife you gotta fear,” he said with a grin before stepping into the void. With a final look back at my home I stepped in behind him."
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[WP] You were a royal guard until your country was conquered and your royals overthrown. A decade later, you meet a peasant boy bearing a strange resemblance to your king.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I wiped the emperor's blood off of my knife. Blood fountained out of his chest onto his fine woolen clothing. As he hacked up the blood pooling in his lungs, he lifted his head and stared into my eyes just long enough for me to see the light go out. Then he slumped forward. I kicked the body. \"It's done.\" The other praetorians crept into the bathroom. We dragged the late emperor into the tub and filled it. \n\nA state funeral was held for Emperor Probus, a gentle and wise ruler whose inner demons drove him to suicide. It was made known that before his demise he left a note entrusting the empire not to his son but to his most loyal officer in the Praetorian Guard—me. I was coronated three days after the funeral. Trumpets played in the streets as I coasted over the adoring crowds in my palanquin. \"All hail Emperor Plius!\" the guardsmen shouted.\n\nTimes were good. The empire enjoyed multiple bountiful harvests, and the people were happy. During the tenth year of my reign, I inaugurated the great games of Jupiter. No expense was spared: slaves and exotic beasts were brought from the outskirts of the empire to fight in the grand arena. I sat in the emperor's booth looking down upon the roiling masses of spectators. \n\nI felt a tap on my shoulder. It was a small boy. I stared at his features and saw hate in his eyes. I called out for my praetorians, yet none responded. The boy looked at me. He pulled a knife from his robe and swung.\n\nProbus II was crowned Emperor the next day."
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[WP] You're a supervillain, and you've been feeling rather out of it lately, so you decide to take a walk on your day off. Your nemesis crashes down from the sky in front of you, with messed up clothes, asking if they can join you and chat a bit.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Vincent sighed miserably, watching the rain pouring down on the city park. At least the storm meant he had the place to himself. Ever since being woken from centuries of enchanted sleep, the punishment for his crimes of necromancy oh so long ago, the elements didn't bother him too much, the cold barely able to get to him. He supposed that some parts of him had just stayed dead.\nEven so, a skeleton trailed behind him, holding an umbrella over his head while he flipped through the spellbook in his hands, every so often ripping out a page and throwing it to the wind, the aged pages crumpled into little balls as they were flung into puddles and grass.\n\"Useless... uninspired... undignified...\" He muttered as he continued to tear the book apart. This one was once his prized possession. It had been given to him by the very man who would come to betray him, all those years ago.\n\nThen, an aura of searing heat coming up behind him. \n\"Sunspot.\" He greeted coldly, not bothering to look back at the hero. \n\n\"Necromancer. Might I ask what you're doing out here?\" \n\n\"Out for a stroll. No evildoing today, if that's what you're worried about.\" \n\n\"Of course, of course...\" He muttered. \"Mind if I walk with you?\" \n\n\"Be my guest.\" He drawled. They walked in silence for a while, Vincent tearing out pages as he went before the hero spoke up again. \n\n\"What are you doing with that book? Some kind of ritual?\" \n\n\"No, I just hate it. It still has... some use. But mostly it's just a cluster of unwanted memories and useless spells.\" \n\n\"Oh. I see. Why do you hate it?\" \n\n\"That is a long story, sunshine, and I don't particularly feel like telling it at the moment.\" \n\n\"Oh. Okay.\" Sunspot sounded a little sad at that.\n\n\"...someone I once loved very dearly gave it to me. It was naught but a trick, though. He betrayed me, using this very tome to bind me to his curse.\" He hissed, closing the book with a snap and holding it up for him to see. \n\n\"I'm... I'm sorry, Necromancer.\" \n\nHe sighed. \"Vincent. My name is Vincent. None of that Necromancer stuff today.\" \n\n\"Thomas.\" \n\n\"What?\" Vincent asked, now finally stopping to look at him. He looked awful. His mask was scuffed and torn and his costume covered in scorch marks. \n\n\"That's my name. It's Thomas. You told me your name, so...\" \n\n\"Here is where we differ, Sunspot. You have a secret identity, a life to protect. I am no one. If I were you, that would be the last time you give your name to an enemy.\"\n\n\"Okay...\" He mumbled dejectedly. \n\n\"So what happened to you?\" Vincent started, changing the subject. \"You look rough.\" \n\n\"Oh, just the usual. Fighting villains, defeating villains. I guess I just wasn't all in it today.\" \n\n\"Why not? I would be sorely disappointed if you were to die at anyone's hand but mine, you know.\" He replied, half jokingly. \n\n\"It just gets tiring. Way deep in your bones, you know? Like not knowing if it's worth it to continue.\" \n\n\"Continue with what?\"\n\n\"I don't know. Life, I guess.\" \n\n\"That's awfully depressing, sunshine.\" \n\n\"I know. I know...\" He sighed deeply, eyes downcast.\n\n\"I was dead for 500 years, you see. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that, because there's nothing for me here. But then I think of you.\" \n\n\"Me?\" He asked in surprise. If Vincent was seeing things correctly, it even looked like beneath his mask his cheeks were a little pink. \n\n\"If I were to go back to my eternal sleep, the only person who would miss me is you. I live for you, Thomas. I live for this rivalry we have, I live for being your nemesis. I don't expect you to feel the same, just that if you took a look around I'm sure you'd find something you would live for. If not for yourself then keep going for those that depend on you. If you can do that, then you will find your own reasons for continuing on in your own time.\" He stopped in his tracks then, looking down at the book. \"If you can live for something then you'll realize someday that there is everything to live for.\" \n\n\"That's... rather wise of you, Vincent.\" \n\nHe shrugged, staring at the book for one moment longer before tossing it over his shoulder and not looking back. \n\"Come under the umbrella, sunshine. You're positively drenched.\"",
"He crashed down in front of me, his clothes torn and his hair a mess. It looked like he had just had the worst fight of his life. But with who? I had been his enemy for 4 years, I put every ounce of my energy into plotting to destroy this man and he couldn't even recognize me. We stared at each other, I put one foot back in case he attacked but I got nothing but a blank stare in return, he was at ease. Surely if I attacked fast enough I could destroy him but I couldn't bring myself to pounce. He kept staring at me as I reached out a hand. he took it and I helped him to his feet. \"Walk with me,\" he said, in a calming voice. We wandered down the path in silence for what felt like hours, \"Do you know who I am?\" he asked.\n\n\"I do,\" I replied. I hesitate, \"I see you on the news all the time.\" Could he see through my lie? Does he know who I am? Could he really not? A million questions bounce through my head but not a single one leaves my mouth. \n\n\"Why did you give me your hand?\" he asked, \n\n\"Why did you take it?\" I reply, \n\n\"I hadn't thought of that,\" he said with a slight laugh. Once again we walked in silence for a few moments before he said, \"Well it's been nice to see you again,\" I stop in shock.\n\n\"You know who I am?\" I ask,\n\n\"Of course, and I'm glad to finally have a moment of peace with you. Goodbye Jay,\" he says fondly, \"Politely, I do hope I don't see you again.\" I stare at the trees for just a moment and turn back to him. But he's gone.\n\n​\n\n(Editors Note: I haven't done much writing like this before, if you have any tips to improve please let me know.)",
"It was a rainy autumn day like any other - one where I lamented my inferiority to others, where I took a walk in the quiet, cold park, let the wind caress my face, feed the pigeons on the bench, making sure the smaller or hurt looking ones got their share of the meal. Ungifted with power in a world of supers, I never could have imagined that my fascinations with mechanisms and physics would put me at odds with them. It was always about aiding the ones they perceived as crippled, handicapped, inferior, but what they saw in my technology was always a threat. A threat not only to their superiority, to their ego, but also a threat to the invincible who were not used to having so many beings capable of harming them, even if only in self defence. The narratives they've spread and the laws they passed made me an outlaw. I'd like to say I didn't get into the villain business, the hatred of supers, the illegal trades out of selfish reasons, if you could believe that. But oh well, time flies, days go on and we all clash with something or someone on a daily basis, changing and growing and becoming our better selves. Sometimes literally.\n\n\nI sighed. These thoughts haunt me all the time - perhaps I should seek therapy if any therapist could be in the same room and not run. I raise my right arm - a hunk of metal, wires, servos and sensors, made in the image of the one that got ripped of by Hunko-man, may he rest in peace, and brush back my overgrown, brown hair. How long since I've last had it cut I wonder? I let my arm slide down my weary face, over my sunken face and tap the metallic frame of my cyber-eye, a tender gift from Armadillo-woman. I feel my fingertips around the scars the blows my very normal, very fragile face has received from the powerful. Who would have thought that after having suffered so much violence and hatred from the lesser folk, after defeating them abd slowly growing my technological empire, I would be afraid of what comes tommorow. There is so much at stake, so much I have yet to do, there's still this conflict inside me that compels me to run. A few raindrops fall on my head and the nape of my neck. It tears me out of my head a little, but there's still so much planning, so much commitment, so much professional help I'm going to need to do my best - failing at this seemingly trivial task seems foolish yet I cannot resist this fear. \n\n\nClack! My right arm responds to a subtle discharge of static electricity, clenching into a fist befole relenting again. A soft caress of the wind playfully brushes my hair yet again. I cannot deny it any longer - it has become unbearable. \"What is it, Ms. Thunder?\" I turn around and set my gaze onto a woman in a tattered and torn robe, at least 27 years of age and years of fighting weighting down her face and body. Her white hair all messy and her lightning-blue eyes sparkling playfully, as they do. She chuckles and walks over to me - she seems years younger just when she makes that face We've fought day after day for a good half a decade and she was always mocking me, like right now. Controlling weather must get into your head. \"Well actually!\" she carefully and softly retors \"It's going to be Mrs, soon. But I've a lot of my mind, and we've both come to our same spot - it's no good to ignore each other just because we've got nerves on our mind! Cheer up and let me tag along!\", berating me for the doom and gloom I carry.\n\n\n\"You had it easy, flying way over here. I had to take a cab and deal with the traffic!\" I mockingly accuse her, to which she gives me the meanest look she can produce suppressing laughter. \"Well, I'll have you know flying is very difficult! And whatever, you can't gatekeep walking no matter how hard you try, you horrible tyrannical fiend.\" is her response, punctuating each of the last three words by poking her pointing finger into my chest. I freeze up a little - a touch of a hero - especially in their suit - still makes me shake. Oh so much pain and suffering and risks of death they used to cause me with a mere touch exactly like this. I must remind myself this is different. I sigh, genuinely surprised she'd call me that. \"So what's with the outfit?\" I ask, pointing to her wizard-like garments. \"Nostalgia. Memories. I wanted to wear it one last time. Since they made your technology legal, I have less and less reasons to arrest you.\" she offers.\n\n\nArrest. A word I have mixed memories for. Some of my best ideas and moments came after being arrested, but also only later in life, when Speedguy and Bardbarian stopped crossing me and arrests became somewhat civil or even pleasant. \"Ah, yes - memories... I do remember those arrests as fondly as I remember abducting you to build a weather control machine. It was somewhat funny when you later volunteered to help me build one.\" the memory makes me chuckle. She was so sheepish when she realised it was meant to ease natural disasters, not melt everyone on the surface of Earth or something simmilarly horrible. \n\n\n\"Well, look who's talking, Doctor creep-orgo! Arrests are not supposed to be fond memories, you dunce! This is why you need therapy!\" she responds, smacking my shoulder gently, yet to me, it feels like a truck just ran through me. I remind myself there is no malice and no harm hidden in this playful violence, but I do freeze up for a moment. This time, she notices and apologetically hangs her head \"Sorry... I want you to get better, not worse. Really.\" speaking softly and with a certain sadness to her voice. She seems to want to say more, to get stuck in the apologetic spiral her goodypants mind tends to visit, so I cut her off \"No! No. I'm sorry, I still associate the more aggressive forms of touch with danger - it's a trigger I am still learning to cope with. I'm fine, though, really.\"\n\n\nShe looks up, then, and looks unto my eyes with a gaze that seeks truth, not comfort. It is a strict, yet soft gaze - one you give someone you've known for a really, really long time. Even when you know it, you can't defend yourself from its completely un-super power. You can't lie to the face she makes. \"Really?\" she asks. \"Really.\" I answer. She then reaches out with her hand once more, this time caressing my unkept hair and sliding it off my face. \"You have this, because you're overworked. How long until your barber appointment?\" these words are accompanied with a melancholic, warm smile, stuck in thought. \"Exactly two hours, fifty-three minutes and 40 seconds when I finish this sentence.\" I answer while she gets ever so closer to me, tiny step by tiny step. \"Did you pick up the cake?\" she asks, furrowing her eyebrows jokingly. \"Yep.\" I grin and bend over slightly so our eyes get on the same level. \n\n\n\"Well, then we can take this walk and talk a little longer. Without the gloom - tommorow's a big, happy, carefree day, you big dummy.\" \n\n\n\"Indeed. I'll do my best, so shall we go look at the location of your first arrest of me, soon to be Mrs Cyborgo?\"",
"The ducks strayed from my path and the flowers withered under my feet as I walked through the park. Behind me I left a trail of gray dead grass. I was looking up towards the storm clouds which always accompanied my travels when a flash of light momentarily blew away the clouds. A patch of blue stayed just long enough for \\*him\\* to descend.\n\nWell, I had been putting it off for weeks. I had been actively avoiding him- our usual face to face clashes were replaced by me sending my minions to be slaughtered by his hand.\n\nHe walked towards me, his white luminescent jumpsuit torn in places, but the skin underneath untouched- of course. He spoke in his resounding voice, the one that won over crowds effortlessly. He said, \"I just destroyed a swarm of building sized spiders, are you not out of creatures yet?\"\n\nHe walked towards me and I turned away. He walked into step alongside me. \"Where have you been? I would ask if you've been plotting something, but you are always plotting something.\"\n\nHe had not noticed the dead plants.\n\nI replied, \"I've finally found something that I am afraid of.\"\n\n\"Oh? The sage of all fear is afraid?\"\n\nA bird died in midair and fell to the ground behind us with a crunch. He did not notice. For what would he ever have to worry about?\n\n\"Yes,\" I replied.\n\n\"Well, what are you afraid of?\"\n\nI walked for awhile longer before replying, \"I am afraid of change, I suppose. I have fallen into a routine. I try to harvest all of humanity for the energy their fear provides me- you stop me. I do it again, you stop me again. Over and over, I know what the next day will hold.\"\n\n\"Are you saying that you are ready to call it quits?\"\n\nI sit down on a park bench looking over a lake, he sits next to me. The two oak trees behind us shrivel and wither into black crisps, but he only looks out over the lake. As dead fish begin to float to the surface of the lake, and the hole which \\*he\\* left in my storm clouds starts to fill I reply, \"Yes, I am going to bring an end to the cycle.\"\n\n\"That's... good to hear,\" He replied, but there was hesitation. He stood up. He'd noticed the fish. The trees. The grass and death that followed in my path.\n\n\"Well,\" I replied and I stood up as well. \"I don't know yet if it will be a good thing. Change is always hard to manage. And believe me, I am genuinely sorry to say this, but I have finally found a way to win.\"\n\nHe stared me in the eyes for a split second before turning to launch himself off at super speed. However, he was too slow.\n\nAll it took was for me to grab him by the wrist. Then, just like that, the insurmountable obstacle which had prevented my plans from ever coming to realization... was dead.\n\nI looked to the horizon with a sigh. And there- crawling up one of the skyscrapers- was one of my mega tarantulas. That was a comfort at least, there was still an entire planet of humans to make afraid...\n\nSo.\n\nIt was time to settle into a new routine."
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[WP] Too late, the Slasher remembers the old addage about strength in numbers as his would be victims proceed to gang up on him instead of fleeing in terror
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Tonight was supposed to be fun… but this wasn’t what he was expecting at all.\r \n\r \nNathan Shaw, a 19 year old college dropout with a history of aggression, had been planning this night for weeks. First, the costume, it was the easiest bit - he just stitched together some old burlap sacks and worn-out jackets - and boom, something truly terrifying was created. Dirty ribbons hung from the torn-up hoodie, and a thin layer of burlap made for an excellent mask, accompanied by the dingy gray hood that would conceal his head. \r \n\r \nNext was the weapon. Knives had been done to death, but axes didn’t seem too cool either. After a bit of searching though, Nathan found the perfect weapon for him - a shard of metal, torn off a rusty car. Within a few days, it was polished and sharpened, making for an excellent - and unique - weapon.\r \n\r \nAll that was left was to pick the targets, and he already had some in mind.\r \n\r \nMindy, Alanna, Connor, and Jay… once, they were friends, but that all ended years ago when Nathan smashed a beer bottle over Connor’s head. He was fine, but got stitches. Nathan didn’t care, especially after they all stopped hanging out with him. It was one little mishap, at least that he could remember.\r \n\r \nAll that though? Water under the bridge. They wouldn’t need to worry about it after tonight.\r \n\r \nNathan knew they’d be here - at this old quarry, under the moonlight. They didn’t change their favorite hang-out spot, even after ditching him. As he walked through the forest, his car left far behind him, Nathan rolled his eyes in disgust. It wouldn’t take long before he heard the music blasting from Mindy’s speakers. She was always the one who brought those things, but only played trash. Nathan didn’t miss it.\r \n\r \nWith a sigh, he tightened his grip on the homemade silver blade. This was it. He smiled beneath the burlap mask, and crept towards the group.\r \n\r \nMeanwhile, Mindy was tapping away at her phone, trying to find a song she had heard on the radio days ago. Alanna was in Connor’s arms, laying down on a picnic table. Jay was looking around, as he dropped his keys.\r \n\r \n“Can you really not find ‘em?” Connor asked.\r \n\r \n“No, they were right in my pocket, but,” He sighed, pulling his pockets inside out. “Nothing.”\r \n\r \n“Fine, lemme look too.” Mindy said, setting her phone aside.\r \n\r \nThe duo searched for a bit, but still came up empty handed. This was a problem, as Jay was the one who drove them all there, they needed his keys to get home. They thought that the silvery sheen would be easy to see amongst the short grass and dirt, but.. Nothing.\r \nBut from behind the tree line, Jay heard a jingle. He stopped, peering in the direction of the sound. \r \n\r \n“Is someone there?” He called out, alerting the rest of the group.\r \n\r \n“Didja hear something?” Alanna called out, leaning out of Connor’s embrace.\r \n\r \n“Yeah,” Jay called back. “Sounded like my keys.”\r \n\r \nThe four friends were up and alert now, all standing side-by-side. As they peered off into the darkness, they couldn’t help but worry. What was someone doing out here? Nobody ever came out here this late at night besides themselves. If someone was out there, they didn’t seem keen on replying.\r \n\r \nSuddenly, the music on Mindy’s speakers cut out. They all snapped their attention to the campsite. That was all Nathan needed to jump from the brush, his blade shimmering in the moonlight.\r \n\r \nHe didn’t catch them as off-guard as he hoped, as they all had time to redirect their attention towards him and scream. He lunged for Connor, but missed as he ran backwards, Alanna right beside him. \r \n\r \nNathan refused to give up the chase, and followed them to the campsite. The four friends screamed as they ran, but Mindy felt a hand touch her shoulder. It was Jay, a metal marshmallow stick in hand.\r \n\r \n“Take this!” He demanded, urgency in his tone. Mindy didn’t argue, and took the stick just as the killer neared their location. \r \n\r \nAs Nathan raised his weapon, he felt a pain in his leg as Jay delivered a powerful kick to his knee. This was followed by a whack to his head from the stick, which stung, but wasn’t enough to keep him down. Nathan slashed towards Jay, his blade meeting Jay’s side. It didn’t cut deep, but it was enough to make him groan in pain. Nathan once more raised his weapon, only to be kicked in the stomach, looking sideways to see Mindy as the culprit. The breath was knocked out of him, yet he persisted. He swung towards Mindy, only for her to duck, and his blade to be stuck against a tree. He was tackled from behind.\r \n\r \nConnor stood over him, holding him against the ground. Soon, Mindy and Jay were helping him, kicking him in the sides, leading to him screaming as he thrashed about. \r \n\r \n“Screw you!” \r \n\r \nAfter that war cry, Alanna smashed Nathan’s face with a piece of firewood. She repeated this a few times, and while he struggled to fight back, Nathan soon saw nothing but black, and felt blood running down his face. \r \n\r \nWith a sigh, the four friends stood back. Nobody was too hurt, Jay’s cut wasn’t that bad. Nathan laid there, unmoving. The repeated bashing of his face knocked away the burlap, showing his broken and bloody face, illuminated by the fire. \r \n\r \n“Nathan…” Allana said, her hands trembling. \r \n\r \n“Is he dead?” Connor asked.\r \n\r \nSuddenly, Nathan sprung up, and with a mighty yell, he lunged towards the group. Connor was the first to react, grabbing a glass bottle from the table behind him, smashing it into Nathan’s temple with one swift movement. Nathan screamed, and stumbled his way into the firepit, where his costume burst into flames.\r \n\r \nSomething fell out of his pocket as he flailed about; a shiny key.\r \n\r \nAs Nathan’s screams went silent, the friends looked on in shock. They had won."
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I myself am planning of writing the story that grew more and more expansive from this concept.
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[WP] MC is a superhero in a medieval/fantasy setting.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“Therefore, I bless thee thy Paladin,” God said to me. I looked at my hands. Divine energy is coursing through me. I felt power capable of destroying civilizations. Then God started again, “Go forth, stop the heretics from spreading false beliefs.” With that, he’s gone, and I know my mission.\n\nThe first step was to secure a job as an Adventurer. The nearest town’s guild measured my potential, the secretary eyes my stats, and she said, “Ah. Well, you’re a level 1 warrior.” That’s odd; I expected to be a different class from the others. Then God’s voice returned,\n\n“Let none find out thy secret, or I shall smite thee.”\n\nI did tell God that I wanted to be a superhero. He took it literally, even having to carry a secret identity. I ask the secretary if there are any quests, and she points toward the board. On the board is a few quests. I didn’t want to take anything that would draw suspicion, but as always, God had other plans.\n\n“There. That one.”\n\n“The quest about helping the church find thieves?”\n\n“Of course.” It’s an excellent quest, even for a level one. When I arrived at the church, I discovered who those heretics were. The priest eyes me and asks me,\n\n“Are you the Adventurer who accepted the quest?”\n\n“Yes. Tell me everything.” He went on about how the thieves ran away to a local hiding place. Then, they stole the tithes from the church. “They went this direction when I saw them.”\n\n“Alright, thank you.” The journey wasn’t bad. I made it next to the cave and set up camp. I’m waiting till nightfall. After cooking a meal and getting a number for how many guys I have to knock out, evening came. I unsheathed my sword and pointed it to the sky, “Ariel!”\n\nI’m like Shazam, a superhero with the backing of a god. Even the lightning shot across my body. I felt the power inside me, and the voices of the thieves were wondering what was going on. Five of the thieves tried to gang up on me. A fool’s choice, the sword slashed through them with no resistance.\n\nThey laid on the ground after my strike. Numbers popped out of their dead bodies, and it was experience points! God must have known that I was a nerd. What fun, I decided to go inside the cave to grind more experience. When I was done, the tithes were in my hand. I’m ready to head back.\n\nWhen I arrived back, the priest thanked me for my hard work and gave me my share. The priest said something along the lines of, “Thank Menod.” Before I could consider what he said, I blacked out.\n\nWaking up, I was on the cold tile of the church floor. Next to me is a pile of dead bodies. It’s the churchpeople! I ran out as fast as I could before God’s voice came back.\n\n“Remember, no one can know of this.”"
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There have been many events throughout our history that have changed the world. In only 100 words, send the news to the world about one such event! Real or imagined, it's up to you! One month of Reddit Gold to the submission with the most votes. You have 24 hours. GO!
(In the event of a tie it will come down to which submission I like the best, hope that works for everyone!)
**EDIT: We have a winner! After 24 hours Branmuffinavenger won the gold!**
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[FF] [PRIZE] 100 words and 24 hours. An email that changes everything
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"Nobody knows where the monster came from. One says it crashed from the sky after losing its wings. Another swore it rose from the deepest of ground, tired of our noise.\n\nIts appetite has consumed our food. Its wrath has broken our homes. Many have given up and left their bodies for us to bury. Even more worship the monster and fly to it, only to be swallowed by it and spat back out. They scream and laugh and die.\n\nNobody knows that I have tamed it. My hands scarred, but I have learned to control its hunger. Sleep, my Fire.",
"Society has collapsed. Money is worthless. Someone should have realised that global recessions don't just **stop** in a week. \nIt seems someone took the advice of an 8 year old, and thought the best way to fix it would be to print more money.\nNow, money is worthless. There is no order, and there's no-one to stop it - people saw the law as the cause and targeted it.\nAfter the recession 'stopped', there was a week of joy and jubilation, and then yesterday, everything collapsed.\nWhat a coincidence that yesterday was the 21 of December, 2012...or was it a coincidence?\n\nHogBacon.",
"To the Editor\n\nIn light of Manifestation, European courts reinstate death penalty. Elective procedure for all LfeCorp \n\npatients convicted of life. Incentives to reduce prison upkeep - free LC treatment for three \n\nimmediate relatives, one non-relative, in case of choosing **sodium thiopental**. \n\nStill early to say whether max. of 200 years for 1st, 2nd degree will extend before 2215, when first LC\n\nexpected to be released.\n\nPS: The Walls are strikingly magnificent, multi-coloured, opulent, gold, silver, diamond, although appear cold and the same distance no matter how long you walk. Even from Vienna, one can read the newspaper at midnight. Never really dark enough to sleep.",
"**Little Boy** \n\n8.6.45\n\n*8:09am* Kazuo's eyes shot open. Today *Ojiisan* Kenji is going to let him help tend the Sakura trees and Oleander.\n\n\n*8:11am* Kazuo dons his secondhand trousers and *zori* and runs outside. \n\n\n*8:13am* Kenji knuckles his decades old back gingerly. There is much work to do. The Emperor had commanded all young *otoko* to fight.\n\n\n*8:15am* \"*Ojiiiiiiisaaaaaaan!*\", Kazuo cries out. As Kenji wheels to look for Kazuo, he sees the brightest light. Kenji reaches down gently, gathers his grandson in his arms, and they are both reduced to blood and ash.\n\n",
"Questions linger as we try to understand yesterday’s terrifying events. Witnesses state that at 11:07 a.m. IST there was a bright flash over the Dome of the Rock in Israel; followed by a deafening blast, the origins of which have yet to be determined. \n\nWhat has been determined is that moments later, a large number of people appeared to simply vanish (estimates range from a few hundred thousand to two billion). The pandemonium that followed was nothing short of a worldwide panic. \n\nMartial law is in effect worldwide as the President has agreed to step into a global peace-keeper role.",
"Curiosity's first discovery showed promise, however; the first manned mission seemed like a disappointment and a waste of time. In a final effort to make the expensive voyage seem worthwhile to the public, we began drilling. \nEven after years of training and schooling, my mind fails to connect our discovery with any word or known object. Its unlike anything I've ever seen, and after witnessing yesterday's events, I know that it's very existence is a threat to mankind everywhere. Its now aboard the ship and is anxious to leave its prison. I cant let that happen.\n\n:Self destruct sequence initiated",
"The government will have gotten to the media by the time you read this. They are shutting down all the communications grids to try and keep their mistake a secret. Half of Japan has been decreased to rubble, but it was not an earthquake like they will tell you. Someone needs to know the truth. I have one request to ask before troops capture me and I am never heard from again..When my children ask what happened.. dont tell them any lies. Tell them the truth; the weapon known as “Godzilla” did this.",
"It was rush hour when they began to arrive. We were unprepared for the onslaught of people waiting in line for hours outside our little dispensary. Well, it was a dispensary. We dropped that pretext with the passage of the \"420 Bill\", as my customers have taken to calling it. I know we don't have enough to go around, and I fear that some of the shady looking people in line may resort to violence.\n\nThe clock ticks down its final seconds until the law goes into effect. I tense up, this place will be a madhouse in mere seconds. The owner walks to the door. The crowd starts to cheer as he unlocks the door while the clock strikes midnight. \n",
"-What was that?\n\n-I dunno Nothing probably\n\n-Are you serious? Dude. No. Just no. What was that?\n\n-I said: I don't know!\n\n-Well, I gotta find out what that was.\n\n-No you have to stay right there. I need you watching the temperature controls.\n\n-They're fine, they haven't moved in hours.\n\n-No. It's not your job.\n\n-Godanmit man, I HEARD something. I'm here to make sure this doesn't fail. I'm going.\n\n-No WAIT!\n\n*STATIC*\n\n-Mars: Phobos. End UAC Transmission",
"\"Harry is fine.\"\n\nSo claimed one White House official in response to allegations that President Truman's use of a nuclear bomb against Japan last night was the result of him going crazy.\n\nPhysicists at MIT: the bomb devastates future generations, but there’s a chance of being born with two penises.\n\n“When you think about it, that’s pretty cool,” noted one scientist who wished to remain unnamed.\n\nSeveral reporters have observed Mr. Truman walking himself on a leash and barking. Officials assure us these events are unrelated to last night’s security incident, when pedestrians saw flashing lights above the White House.",
"In the sent e-mail folder of an Apple IIGS buried in a yet-to-be discovered cave:\n\n“Nine full moon ago, Grok put Grok’s wigglewaggle in wooglewiggle of woman who now follow Grok everywhere. Woman then blump small creature from wooglewiggle. Grok look inside woman’s wooglewiggle but no other creature hiding there…\n\n“Creature very strange. Big head but stupid. Does not know what to do with spear when Grok throw at it. Creature smelly and blump everywhere, not in pit like Grok. Creature also zook woman’s mushymushies all day but when Grok try, woman hit Grok with rock…\n\n“Grok warn world that stupid creature take over planet if too many blumped because woman let creature do anything.”\n",
"RE: July 10, 2012\n\nJuly 11, 2012.\n\n1:04 A.M.\n\nNo, Bill. The helicopter burned down. \n\nEverything’s burning down.\n\nI’m not going to make it this time, Bill.\n\nI think nobody's going to make it.\n\nGood bye, Bill.\n\n---\n>July 10, 2012\n>\n>11:49 P.M.\n>\n>Everything’s set. \n>\n>Everything’s ready.\n>\n>The white house is going to blow. The water has been infected. Cities are going to burn. \n>\n>Everything’s going at midnight.\n>\n>I’m sorry, John. \n>\n>I tried to tell you earlier. I couldn't. No one can stop it. It has started. \n>\n>You must hurry. You can still make it. \n>\n>I’m sorry. . .\n>\n>Good night, John.\n>\n>",
"Congrats buddy! Really happy for you all. Missed you at the Saturnalia feast, but I guess you had a good excuse, heh.\nHere's to life everlasting!!1!\n\n-Zeus\n\n\nOn January 1, year 1, God wrote:\n>\n> Dear friends,\n> \n> Mary and I are overjoyed to welcome our new son to the world I created. Jesus H. Christ was born at 10:28pm on December 25th. His glorious arrival was met with rejoicing by man and beast alike. Mother and baby are resting comfortably at a manger in an undisclosed location.\n\n> God bless you all.\n\n> Sincerely,\n\n> God himself\n>",
"Sunidhi,\n\nWe're okay. Am in Poughkeepsie, 2 hours north of city -- before storm -- now it took 12 days to come.\n\nBrooklyn is gone. What tsunami didn't wash away, rioters took. What they didn't take, they burned.\n\nI've seen the worst of humanity these last few weeks. Two things I will never forget as long as I live: the sight of crabs, hundreds of thousands of them, feasting on human bodies in downtown Manhattan, and small children fighting a bloody battle over a piece of candy found under the rubble. =-(\n\nWill write again soon if current stays up.\n\nbest,\nRohan\n"
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[WP] "What is it like...to feel lonely?" Out of all the questions that had been posed to you, you had expected this one the least. Although, you realise, you should have seen this one coming, seeing as how the one asking the question was an insect-like alien with a hive mind.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"When you are not heard, not seen, not noticed, when your own friends start to slowly cut you off, when you start to self sabotage your own life just to feel something, that is when you are lonely\".\n\n\nI can see this creature trying to understand what is coming out of my mouth. I give it a little time to process this new information and then I keep going.\n\n\n\"Loneliness is not being alone, but the sensation you get when you can't even be around yourself anymore, it's the feeling of wanting to sleep to numb the pain, but being scared to do it because that just means the next day comes quicker. When life just feels like a bad, never ending movie that you are forced to watch, all days are the same, but you still don't get used to this emptiness in your life. when you start to feel like everyday you die just a little bit, but not enough for it to actually matter\".\n\n\nI make a pause for dramatic effect..\n\n\n\"Loneliness is the void in your soul that nothing can fill, not your friends, not your family, not yourself, not even death\".\n\n\nI walk away.",
"The now familiar buzz-humming worked its way through his neural pathways, searching for a way to compose the question. He knew they were asking another question, for he already felt a question forming in his mind. They'd gotten a lot of the more basic communication down very well in the short amount of time they'd been with him. He felt himself wondering what something was like... \n\nThat something, though, was fleeting. He repeatedly found himself thinking of silence, or rather, memories of silence. This was how they communicated with him. They would find memories of his, only once they found them, they would become much clearer in his mind than he could ever recall on his own. It was amazing, really, and very entertaining, to relive all the details of his past. Well, most of them, anyway. He was glad they'd quickly understood the concept of fear and didn't have to delve too long in those dark corners of the mind. Once they had a firm grasp on a memory, they would focus in on particular aspects of the memories until he understood their message. This was the best way he could explain it, anyway. Their mind communication had some other strange ways of making him feel or understand things that only made sense in the moment, and once they stopped strumming that chord, the understanding was gone, like dreams that evaporate upon waking. \n\nOne particular memory they were probing now was a visit to a natural cavern, one of those tours where they took a few minutes to have everyone turn off their flashlights and be silent so everyone could really get a feel for their isolation down there, deep below the crust of the earth. He focused, for a moment, on the memory of his girlfriend who had gone there with him. She was close by, and he felt happy she was there and experiencing this. He smiled. Abruptly, he felt himself being forced away from that aspect of the memory, almost aggressively, back to the feeling of the darkness and the silence. *What is... darkness like?* he thought to himself. *No.*\n\nSuddenly he remembered a thick forest. He recalled the humid air and the biting of the insects. He was young, a child. He'd been exploring and gotten lost, and was just starting to panic. *It's okay,* he remembered thinking to himself. *Just look around, move slowly back the way you came. Don't go too fast or you might make it worse!*\n\n*Who is that?*\n\nHe remembered being alone in the forest, calling out for help. *It's okay*, he remembered thinking to himself.\n\n*Who is that?*\n\nHe remembered being alone in the forest... *What is it like to be alone?* \n\nHis thoughts jumped back to the heavy darkness and silence of the cavern, then back to the forest, alone, then to the understanding of forgetfulness. No, not quite forgetfulness... more of an emptiness of the mind, an absence of thoughts or memories rather than the forgetting of one.\n\n*What is it like to have a lone mind?*\n\n*Yes*, he felt, ringing loudly in his mind. It made sense, now. Not only the question, but the way they asked it. *They*, he finally understood. The buzzing and humming he felt wasn't one voice, but a chorus. The, quite frankly, terrifying four foot tall, four legged insect-like creature standing in the room with him was just one of those voices. Somehow, he knew which voice that was among hundreds... maybe thousands... maybe more. \n\n*It's okay,* he remembered thinking to himself. *Just look around, move slowly back the way you came. Don't go too fast or you might make it worse!*\n\n*Who is that?*\n\n*It's me. We're never really alone*, he thought to himself. We have our thoughts, and our memories. We think to *ourselves*, but there is someone there with us listening... our bilateral minds are two. He was both explaining this and realizing this. For the first time, he could feel the weight of this truth, that he was never really alone, that no one ever really is.\n\n*You are two?* \n\n*Yes.*",
"Once I stopped thinking about the fright and awe of having not only interacted, but \"heard\" an alien form I composed myself and thought of that question. Coincidentally I was never one for socializing *too* much, so I went and replied.\n\n\\- \"To feel lonely? It is actually a bit difficult to explain, have you experienced other feelings? Isolation? Despair? Emptiness?\"\n\n\\- \"We have not.\"\n\n\\- \"I assume you came here in a spaceship, traveling trough the vast emptiness of space which takes time, how do you feel when you are all that time cooped up with nothing to do?\"\n\n\\- \"We are always doing something, always talking to each other, always together\"\n\n\\- \"Good point, but, when one of you rests its physical body, don't you *miss* its voice? its thoughts?\"\n\n\\- \"No, we are interconnected anyways, its dreams are the dreams of all.\"\n\nAt this point I was about to throw the towel, maybe I didn't know how to convey this, I was so used to it that for me it was second nature, but this creatures never experienced their own existence, if they felt something, *anything*, it would be dampened by the thoughts of others, infinite conversations happening all at once, infinite thoughts, like a drop of water in the sea.\n\nI stared for a good ten seconds to the creature while thinking how to build and entire human species experience to convey a concept like loneliness, what do I build it from? They have never dealt with anything, they get drowned in their own hive mind, normalizing anything that would happen to them. Then it hit me: *war,* an *unwinnable* war. Surely they have dealt with that at some point in history, that should have taught them frustation, futility and anger.\n\n\\- \"Hey, have you had any wars in your history that you failed to win?\"\n\n\\- \"What is... war?\"\n\n\\- \"Dammit, I give up, I'm just a mailman. Look, there are people in this world called philosophers, they dedicate their lives to the study of these kind of things, search for one and he might be able to explain it to you.\"\n\n\\- \"Thank you... *mailman*\""
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[WP] The three rulers of the elements had allowed a holy crusade on earth, only to be shocked when the humans became the first fire elementals in the galaxy.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The Triumverate gathered their armies for one final time, to add Earth to their empire. They have conquered realms and crushed heroes, villains, and dark lords alike. Their empire spammed galaxies and entire realms were under their control. After all, humans had no energy, no powers, and no blinding aura all mighty heroes possessed. Now that they developed the necessary equipment and survival gear needed to enter earth, conquering it would be the easiest thing they have ever done. So they opened the portal to earth and marched into the new kingdom.\n\nThe triumvirate had scanned the humans for elemental powers. After all, nothing could defeat the power of controlling ice, wind, or stone. So they looked for elementals among the humans, only to find out that none of them any magic whatsoever. However, in their hubris, they looked only into the human's innate mystic abilities, but not their tools.\n\nIn the first city, the humans fought back with their bullets, only for their steel to be redirected back. Then with their bombs, no match for the power of the Triumverate armies, then in their desperation, a simple farmer fought back with fire. This human wielded a tool for clearing fields. It was shaped like their guns, but it shot searing flames instead of lead. With the tool, this lone human was able to survive the Triumverate's first attack and escape with their family to safety.\n\nThen the curious humans wanted to see why the farmer's tool gave him an advantage. So they engaged in a few battles, and they sacrificed their own soldiers to capture two triumvirate soldiers. The soldier's armor was freezing cold, so cold it frost formed on the walls of their cells. The humans tried for weeks to remove their prisoner's armor, and they got lucky. They somehow managed to remove one of the prisoner's gauntlets. And the prisoner died almost immediately after exposure to the air.\n\nThey learned their lesson and experimented on the second prisoner with his armor on. They soon started exposing him to fire and heat. Whenever they raised the temperature the prisoner started to shake and cower. In a week the prisoner escaped his facility and went into the desert. His body was soon found with a tiny hole in his suit. \n\nThe humans concluded that the triumvirate soldiers feared heat, so they developed flames hotter than ever imagined. The humans entered the battlefield, billowing flames like the dragons in their stories. The triumvirate fell back really quickly. So humanity developed their fire further. Soon, humanity phased out of guns and into flamethrowers. Instead of bombs, their planes dropped gallons of burning napalm, Instead of shells, tanks fired flames to a range of 100ft and left burning oil behind them. And with this tech, the humans scorched a path into the empire's inner territories, reclaiming the ashes of their stolen cities. \n\nEventually, one of the Triumverate Lords came into the battle. This invasion was supposed to be over in a day in their homeworld (or 4 weeks in ours) but somehow it has lasted a month. When in battle they terraformed the land beyond repair, turning the very battlefield into a weapon. And alas, upon realizing that they could not reclaim the land the Lord fought on, the humans simply used 50 of their unnecessarily big bombs the next time they encountered the Lord.\n\nThe Triumvirate retreated into their portals and the humans followed after them. What the humans found on the other side of the portals was death. The soldiers sent into the portals were frozen solid within seconds. Those unlucky to get out of the Triumverate's frozen world died a slow and painful death due to what was essentially full body severe frostbite.\n\nThe human generals stared into the portal, and the two Triumverate lords stared back. No words were exchanged that day but they knew their enemies were thinking the same thing. Neither could invade the other. Their realms were on two extremes, making life unliveable for one another. So the Lords closed the portals and never invaded earth again. \n\nAnd for years the Triumverate people told stories of earth. A realm a million times hotter than anywhere on their side of the portals, with temperatures hitting above the melting point. And they feared the beings who lived on those searing lands, the wielders of flame, the summoners of heat, and the first and only Fire Elementals.",
"\"Your kind are unworthy. Rejoice, as we cleanse you.\"\n\nA voice rumbled across Earth, all hearing it at the same time. All understood its words, though the voice spoke only once. It was followed by tearing sounds, as the fabric of reality was ripped apart, great swirling portals taking form. From with each, a different race stepped.\n\nThe first came from a vortex of vibrant green and brown. Their bodies were thick and serpentine, made of rippling muscle. Each had four thick arms, adorned with metal coverings. Their heads were pointed, a wide mouth full of grinding teeth gleaming below small, deepest eyes.\n\nThey laughed as they moved their hands, manipulating the ground beneath. It split beneath any unfortunate to attract their presence, before closing them with crushing force. When shots were fired they made it into a wall. Once the fire depleted, that wall was sent forth to crush. In their mocking, were learned their name. The Tirra.\n\nThe seconds portal was a chaotic grey void. From within, fly-like beings flew forth. Their bodies were squat, with eight limbs topped with clawed appendages. Compound eyes sat below a pair of proboscises, twitching in the air. They introduced themselves as the Flagrus\n\nThey called howling winds to harry whoever was unfortunate to be in their way. A few drew amusement from ripping air from lungs, suffocating their victims. Others saw fit to push more in, until organs burst. As militaries turned on them, they would effortlessly dodge, unnatural bursts of speed preventing them from being touched.\n\nFinally, the third had a seemingly calm blue portal. But from it came creatures that looked anything but calm. A dozen tentacles supported an oversized head. Five eyes were spaced evenly around its circumference, ever watching. Their colouration constantly changed, no two sporting the same pattern.\n\nThose who fled to the sea found themselves dragged out into its depths. These monsters, the Proco, seemed to pity whoever they found. Such deaths were often quick but terrifying, as they forced water into any orifice. Bullets and missiles were swallowed by rising columns, taken below out of harms way.\n\nOur world began to collapse. These beings were beyond anything we could have hoped to fight. They used our planet against us, slowly but surely stamping out our kind. But as hope died, a new emotion took its place. Anger. How dare they decide to destroy us. How dare they ruin our world.\n\nUnbeknownst to both us and them, their arrival had begun a chain reaction. Power that had lain dormant rose. It was called by its equals. But it did not belong to them. It rose in our chests, excited by our anger.\n\nThe rage we felt went deep enough to connect to this power. The first came to was a group farmers, seeing their crops destroyed. They stared down the Tirra, and a silent voice asked if they wanted revenge. Without a single doubt they said yes. And from their fingers spurted the final element.\n\nFire consumed the destroyers, charring them to bone before they could comprehend what had happened. They took to the skies, murderous intent in their hearts. The Flagrus tried to deny them flight. But they used no air to support, but instead a roaring column of flame.\n\nAs they travelled, so too did the wave of pyromantic release. It swept the globe, giving all who yet lived it equal mastery. The hate in our bones fanned it, and we struck back at the invaders.\n\nThey screamed as we pushed back. The Tirra burned from their holes, rock to magma beneath them. The Flagrus were scorched from the sky, wings melted by our intense heat. The Porro were boiled alive, the water they surrounded themselves with proving to be their downfall.\n\nWe chased them back, scouring them from our planet. But it wasn't enough. Some of us stayed back, to rebuild what we had lost. But many chose to step through the portals, and lay waste to whatever they could.\n\nThe element master had sought to destroy us. But instead, they had made us into master of destruction."
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[WP]A young boy from a fantasy world with RPG elements gets hit by a carriage and dies. After death, he is transported into our world as the chosen one, destined to kill the corrupt president and restore order to the world. In other words, Reverse Iseikai
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Everything is strange here. These people look like the ones that I know but don’t understand my knowledge of magic or how to increase their levels like I grew up learning.\n\nI had woken up to a small room with candles lit on the windowsill. I thought I was in a commoners room in the village near my fathers castle. When I turned my head however there were strange men wearing all white and pointed hoods staring at me through the holes they had put there. My first thought was that I had been kidnapped by a rouge group of mages to serve as either a sacrifice or ransom. My father is the lord in the kingdom of Egantria and this would not be abnormal to happen to a lords children. When I closed my eyes to think of where I was before this happened I remembered a cart whose horses had gotten spooked. I remember being hit by the cart, yet nothing else. I don’t understand what’s going on and perhaps my only option is to ask these strange men.\n\nTurning to the tallest one I ask, “Where am I? What do you want from me?”\n\nHe turned away from me and whispered in a low voice to the others around him. After the others shook their heads and took a step back he looked at me again and said the strangest thing.\n\n“We summoned you here to help us with a little problem.”\n\n“Summoned me? Where is here?” I ask unsteadily.\n\n“That’s not important right now. What is important is that we are going to lose the war that was meant to keep out traditions alive and need help from you. In exchange we will send you back home if you are successful.”\n\nThe thought of going home and rejoining my family was the only thing I wanted at the moment.\n\n“What do you want me to do?”\n\n“We need you to kill the leader of the people trying to strip us of our traditions. We will give you everything you need and take you to where he will be.”\n\nWith that he reached behind himself and grabbed this strange looking piece of metal and handed it to me. It was small, about the size of my hand and heavy for how it looked.\n\n“What is this?” I asked\n\n“It is the weapon you need in order to kill the man we summoned you here for. You point the open end at him and with your finger pull on that lever. It will shoot a ball at him and kill him.” He said slowly.\n\n“What kind of magic does it use in order to do that? I’ve never heard of anything like that.” The thought of something so small being used to fire magic was strange.\n\n“I’ll show you. Follow me.”\n\nAs I found my feet and walked with him outside the others in the room made sure to keep me surrounded. It seems that they do not trust me. We went behind the small house and he produced another of the weapons.\n\n“Watch closely and you will see the power it has.”\n\nHe walked up to a horse that looked to be near the end of its life. He pointed the open end at its head and lulled on the lever. The sound it made startled me and made me cover my ears and close my eyes in fear. When I next opened them the horse was on the ground, lifeless.\n\n“Do you understand the power you hold in your hands now?” He asked, sounding smug.\n\nI looked at the weapon and could not help but feel terrified of it. If my father had his whole army carry these even defending from hoards of goblins and orcs wouldn’t be much issue.\n\nLooking back at him I said, “I understand. I will complete your task. Just let me take this with me when you send me home.”\n\nI couldn’t see his smile, but I could hear it in his voice, “of course you can take it with you. Now I need you to put on this hood and come with us.”\n\nThe hood was over my head and no sight came to me. They led me to what felt like a carriage and we started moving.\n\n“Now, where we are going, you need to climb to the second floor. There will be a small room where the man you will kill is sitting. It will not be guarded tonight, we made sure if that. Walk through the door, use the weapon as told and kill him. Do you understand?”\n\n“Yes.” I replied from under the hood.\n\nAs I am sitting here thinking of this whole affair I can’t help but know that they used me. After shooting that man they had me jump down to a small stage and scream in some weird language.\n\nI left that building as fast as possible and ran to where they said we would meet. They just smiled at me and said “Thank you for doing our dirty work. Now we can try and restart our war.”\n\n“Now send me home as promised.” I had said.\n\nThey just started laughing at me as they said, “We can’t. We do not have the knowledge or power to do so. Now his people will come here and capture you. Have fun rotting in prison for our crimes.”\n\nThey left after tying me to the rafters of this warehouse. As I am trapped here I notice the sound of running footsteps. From outside I hear someone yell, “John Wilkes, get out here now or we will torch this building. You aren’t getting away with killing the President.”\n\nWith the weapon in my hand I started crying softly, knowing that I will never see my family again. The men who had used me handed me a fresh one to use if I wanted to try and fight the people who came after me.\n\nI stopped crying, pointed the weapon at myself and said, “Father, Mother, I hope to see you again in the afterlife.”\n\nI pulled on the lever and there was nothing.",
"The boy sat at the table, shifting nervously. He had been made promises. He had done the deed for which he was called to this world and was meant to be able to return home. But it seems fate had more in store for him. \r \n\r \nA door opened, and in walked one of the evil overlord’s guardians. He was no doubt humiliated by his failure. The boy was ready for the beat down and execution. \r \n\r \n“Good Morning, I am Special Agent Dr Smithson. But feel free to call me Hank.” the agent sat across the table from the boy.\r \n\r \n“May I have your name?” the boy saw no reason to offer it.\r \n\r \n“I am the third son of Viscount Heathcliffe, from the Kingdom of Soratania.” the boy puffed his chest with pride.\r \n\r \n“Is there a name that comes with that title?” the agent appears unimpressed.\r \n\r \n“Michael…” the boy lowered his head, restraining his emotions for the humiliation.\r \n\r \n“Thank you, Michael. Now, do you know why you are here?” the agent asked.\r \n\r \n“Because I failed to escape from your evil clutches after I vanquished your evil overlord.” Michael watched the agent scribble notes down on a pad of paper.\r \n\r \n“Indeed. Let’s go into that. How did this all start?” the agent's words held no malice, only genuine curiosity.\r \n\r \n“I was living freely in my domain, aiding my elder brothers manage the domain for our father when a large runaway cart struck me.”\r \n\r \n“Sounds upsetting.” the agent observed, to which Michael nodded.\r \n\r \n“When I came to, I found myself in a room with so much metal it could’ve supplied our entire domain's private military. Their wizards in white coats told me they had called a hero here to slay an evil overlord.”\r \n\r \n“Yes, the Varis-group.” the agent nodded, taking further notes. “Tell me what happened next?”\r \n\r \n“I, bereft of my magic but not my sword arm, began practising your world's combat. Your magic staves that launch solid projectiles were most fascinating. Following this training, the wizards placed me in a position to eliminate the evil overlord. Ha ha ha, I must say you guardians failed most spectacularly.”\r \n\r \nThe agent grimaced at the statement. “Yes, we sadly did. Both at detecting the threat and failing one such as yourself.” with those words, the agent rose and left the room.\r \n\r \nBehind the two-way mirror on the interrogation room wall, the agent entered, meeting a few officials.\r \n\r \n“Your diagnosis, Doctor?” one of the officials asked.\r \n\r \n“The boy seems relatively detached from reality. Imagining a new fantasy world from which he can become the hero of his narrative. It saddens me that the Varis-group did this to a sick young man for something so petty as funding being cut.” the agent looked through the window at the boy.\r \n\r \n“So is he culpable?” another official asked.\r \n\r \n“I’d say no. He can’t distinguish reality from fiction. I’d suggest we institutionalise him for a while to try to stabilise him. Failing that, I strongly suggest an insanity plea.”\r \n\r \nA few of the officials nodded as they gazed at the boy who claimed to be from another world. One amongst their number had seen a few of the research notes of the Varis-group and knew they were dabbling in dimensional technology. But Occam's razor dictated the simplest solution."
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[WP] You were a soldier for the Earth Space Corps. You were fatally wounded in battle. Next thing you know you wake up in a pristine hospital bay, tech far beyond humanity. A robotic genderless voice says "Welcome to the collective, i am Alpha V1.98"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Waking up \n\nIt felt like a plunge into Arctic water. A sort of cold that overrides all thought and pulls through untapped instincts demanding life. A system shock demanding to live. Breath. Breath. Hyperventilating it screamed breath. But no breath would come. My nervous system called for the gasp as I felt recoiled from the pain deep in the phantom lungs that no longer filled my chest cavity. Like drowning myself in my own bathtub, I could only react to the instinct to want to live. Even now that I can’t control it, I feel it’s deep need, though my body and mind work despite its endless craving. I had died a soldier in the Earth Space Corps. Frozen, left alone after missing an escape pod. I had begged for them to continue and leave me. I hope they made it in time. \n\nBeing resurrected was excruciating pain of the mind, I often feel like they never brought back my soul. \n\n“Welcome to the collective. I am Alpha V1.98” it read out in a robotic voice. Far from anything with motherly compassion or empathy. “Do not try to breathe, your fluids have been optimized for self-nurture. You may feel as though you are drowning.” It stopped there.",
"\n\nI opened my eyes, my thoughts unclear on where, or when, I was. Looking around, my mind raced as I tried to make sense of the foreign place that was clearly unlike anything i knew of in alliance territory. First, it was too white. Everything was too clean, almost blindingly so. Second, the only thing that i could identify was the bed I woke up on. If it weren't for the bed, I would have imagined it to be some kind of gallery as every object around me was designed like some abstract art project, or at least thats the only idea that came to my mind.\n\n“Welcome to the collective, I am alpha V1.03”\n\nSuddenly, a voice called, causing me to sprung off the bed and on to my feet, which… wait, weren't my feet rem-\n\n“Welcome to the collective, I am alpha V1.03”\n\nI turned around, before me floating a strange silver orb, as clean and pristine as the other objects in this place.\n\n“Where am I, who are you” I voiced with caution, at the same time searching among the other objects for something that could be used as a weapon.\n\n“I am alpha V1.03 of the Collective” What I assumed to be the orb, replied. “And you are Sargent Henry Krel” \n\nMy heart paused for a beat\n\n“How do you know my name, what is the collective?”\n\nThe orb hummed, and as if on queue, a holographic screen appeared beside it. \n\n“The collective is the amalgamation of countless species, a union beyond galaxies aiming to bring peace to a chaotic universe”\n\nThen, scenes begun to play on the screen. I could see strange humanoid creatures signing deals in unknown languages, buildings appearing on barren lands, cities growing to empires as planets advanced in coalition across star systems.\n\nBut then, something appeared. Something that I recognized.\n\n“Terrors” I growled, unknowingly taking a step closer to the screen.\n\nFoul creatures of deep space, they invaded earth merely a century past and has since killed over 50% of the population. \n\nThe Terrors appeared as giant insecticides but with durability and speed unlike any living creature we've seen before. Just like it had happen to earth, I watched on the screen as they fell with their black pods, as they begun to massacre all other living beings, as they destroyed everything in their paths.\n\nThen, the screen disappeared.\n\n“We at the collective wish to help the human race, just as we have helped countless before them. For that, we will need your corporation”\n\nThe scenery flashed, the strange white around me became black, and before me appeared an a small yet recognizable orb of blue and green. \n\n“How…”\n\nI was in space\n\nI flaunted my limbs, testing the limits of gravity or better to say, no gravity, and the realism of my situation. This couldn't be, right? \n\nThe voice then continued \n\n“The collective wish to supply the human race with weaponry that is able to repel the hive, but we are unaware of where to send them.”\n\n“Wait, hold on a second” I looked at the silver orb. “With technology as advanced as yours, couldn't you just scan the planet, couldn't you just come yourselves to help our fight!?”\n\n“No.” \n\nTo prove its point, a white object suddenly appeared, a spaceship if I assumed correctly. It flew toward the small blue and green, toward earth. Then, just as it reached a certain distance, it exploded.\n\n“There is something on your planet preventing our technology from reaching within distance, we are unable to communicate with your leaders for that reason”\n\n“Then how are you going to send us weapons?” \n\n“Through pods, which we have specifically engineered to deliver weaponry to your planet. These are lacking in number, and thus we can not send them aimlessly without destination”\n\n“I…” I paused. “What do you need to know?”\n\nThe silver orb hummed, and the scenery came slightly closer to earth. The planet circled, small yet recognizable enough for me to point out some details. \n\n“We wish to know the location of your main bases, of places where your armies will better make use of our support”\n\nI moved my hands, the planet moving along as if it was a Globus I was circling around. \n\n“Wait” I took my hands off the globe. “But how did you find me, how are, - “ I looked down. “How do I have legs?”\n\n“The collective have rescued you” the orb replied\n\n“But wasn't I injured on earth?” \n\nThen, the orb begun to hum. It begun to hum faster, stronger, the humming growing unbearable as my vision became foggy and I found it ha- \n\n…\n\n….\n\n…..\n\n…….\n\n“Welcome to the collective, I am alpha V1.04”\n\n\nsorry if its bad but havent tried writing/prompts in a long time but was too bored so there you go (:"
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[WP] The grim reaper comes knocking at your door. Other then the scythe, you also noticed his luggage he's carrying as well. "Oh I am not here for you, I was kicked out of my home temporary and I need a place to stay for a while,"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I shrug and gesture for him to enter. He enters, sets down his luggage, and flops onto the couch. \"If I'm letting you stay, you can at least tell me what happened.\"\n\nThe reaper looks at me. \"It's... embarrassing...\"\n\n\"You want to stay, don't you?\" I look him in the eyes. He sighs.\n\n\"Being the grim reaper is lonely. I got a cat to help. Then I found a stray. Then, as I was taking someone away, I saw a cat who just lost their owner. It spiralled out of control. I had to leave while the cat-infested home is being taken care of. Now I'm banned from having any pets.\"\n\nI try to remain neutral in my expression, but this is SO DARN AMUSING! \"So... you became some sort of crazy cat person?\"\n\nThe reaper glares at me. That did it. I'm now in fits of laughter. \"THIS ISN'T A JOKE! BEING THE REAPER IS NO EASY TASK!\"\n\nI manage to recover myself. \"I... I'm sorry... but it's just... the thought was... was funny...\" I try to catch my breath.\n\nThe reaper shakes his head. \"This is why I would never take a human for support...\" he mutters, sinking into the couch. He absent-mindedly turns on the TV. He switches to some history program.\n\nI watch him, wondering what to do. \"Did... did you want a drink? Something to eat?\"\n\n\"I'm technically dead\" the reaper responds. \"I don't need sustenance.\"\n\nI nod and join him on the couch.\n\n​\n\nOver the course of a couple of weeks, we've gotten to know each other quite well. In fact, I'd go as far as to say we became friends. Soon enough, though, there was word. The cats have officially been dealt with. I look at my new friend. \"Well... I guess this is goodbye...\"\n\n\"Not so fast\" Reaper replies with a grin. \"I told you before, I get lonely. I want you to come with me.\"\n\nI gasp. \"You... you told me that humans cannot live where you are...\"\n\n\"Correct\" he states. \"That's why we're playing a game. Your life is my prize. Your prize... is to be able to live forever, a power fully within your control and can even be given to another person.\"\n\n\"I...\" Reaper's gone mad. \"I'm not playing.\"\n\nReaper already has chess set up. \"That's the same as forfeiting. So?\" He gestures to the table.\n\nI shake my head as I sit down. We begin.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThank you for reading! More stories [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/x374da/oneoff_stories_a_collection_of_stories_which_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)"
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[WP] Superheroes and supervillains have an unwritten rule: no attacking each other on weddings and funerals. When a newcomer villain decides to attack a known hero on their wedding day, that hero's arch nemesis arrives to school the impudent upstart.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\\[Surge of Confusion\\]\n\n\"Please please please...,\" Icesurge scanned the League's courtyard as soon as he arrived. He'd missed the ceremony but the reception was in full swing. It was a big event with dozens of known Supers on both sides of the law mingling together. It was a beautiful, cool Fall evening, possibly helped along by the League's weather manipulators. Most of the attendees dressed as formally as Icesurge had. He wore a navy blue suit with no mask. He was a recognized Supervillain and had no secret identity to speak of. He was only 14; but, no one cared to make him go to school. On any other day, it might have bothered him to see villains and heroes getting along so well. But, he was there for a different reason.\r \n \r \n\"YES!\" He cheered to himself the moment he found who he was looking for. He immediately moved toward the pair of teenage girls. One had golden-blonde hair and the other had chestnut curls with pink highlights. They were dressed for the event too. The blonde wore an off-white dress with red trim and the brown-haired girl wore a cotton-candy-colored dress with neon pink boots.\r \n \r \n\"Alis?\" he walked up behind them and spoke the name. Both girls turned at the same time. \"Mad Doctor?\" he looked at the blonde. \"Do you remember me?\" he asked.\r \n \r \n\"Yes,\" the blonde nodded; but, she tilted her head at him in confusion. \"You remember us?\" When she asked that, Icesurge noticed both of the girls' eyes flash gold. It only lasted for a brief moment.\r \n \r \n\"Why wouldn't I remember you?\" he asked. \"[You saved my life](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/y31mv2/wp_the_one_person_none_of_the_heroes_or_villains/).\" she nodded.\r \n \r \n\"By the way,\" she offered him her hand with a smile. \"My name's Molly, not 'Mad Doctor',\" she said. Icesurge shook her hand as she continued explaining. \"It's a little complicated,\" she said. Then, she gestured at the reception happening around them.\r \n \r \n\"I'm getting ready to work on something, but we'll help you after if that's okay?\" she asked. Icesurge nodded.\r \n \r \n\"I know,\" he said. \"I remember when you were saving my life you said you had to heal during a super battle.\" Then, he shook his head. \"I don't know how I know, but I feel like there's going to be a super battle here at the wedding.\"\r \n \r \n\"There is,\" Molly nodded at him. \"It's a scripted event; some troublemaker villain is going to come in and stir things up. Then, everyone takes sides and I have to start healing.\"\r \n \r \n\"I'll help,\" Icesurge nodded. \"If you don't mind? You said you needed help staying safe too, right?\"\r \n \r \n\"Thanks!\" Molly grinned. \"I have the rest of my team showing up to help; but, that just gives you a chance to meet them,\" she said.\r \n \r \n\"It looks like everyone's late today...,\" Alis chimed in. Molly giggled, but Icesurge gave her a questioning look.\r \n \r \n\"How so?\" he asked.\r \n \r \n\"Well, the team can get here pretty fast,\" Alis shrugged. \"So, we're not really waiting on them. But whatever NPC villain is supposed to come and kick things off isn't here yet. The fighting should have started already.\" Icesurge took another glance around the courtyard, then shook his head.\r \n \r \n\"It looks like all the villains are already here.\"\r \n \r \n\"AWwwwww, wait a minute!\" Alis whined. Golden stars glowed in her eyes and she took a careful, slow look around the courtyard. Then, she ended by staring at Icesurge.\r \n \r \n\"You're the problem!\" She said with volume. It would have almost sounded insulting if she wasn't laughing at the same time.\r \n \r \n\"What?\" Icesurge shrugged.\r \n \r \n\"Yesterday, when Molly healed you, you were still an NPC. Now, you're Awake and not an NPC anymore, but the AlterNet still thinks you are.\"\r \n \r \n\"I don't know what any of that means,\" Icesurge half-nodded and half shook his head at her.\r \n \r \n\"You don't have to right this minute,\" Alis grinned as she gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. Then, she flicked her wrist upward at around waist height. A broad, smoky-grey glass pane appeared in the air in front of her and hovered in place.\r \n \r \n\"What's that?\" he asked.\r \n \r \n\"It's a Slate,\" Molly answered as Alis began moving her fingers over the Slate's surface as if she were typing. Then, she flicked her own wrist upward and one appeared in front of her. \"All players get one, it's where we access all our menus and inventory and stuff.\"\r \n \r \n\"Okay, that should do it,\" Alis said. She gave a dismissive wave with her hand and the Slate disintegrated into white powder, then disappeared. Molly dismissed hers too.\r \n \r \n\"What did you do?\" Icesurge asked. He was having trouble keeping up, but he trusted he would get in-depth explanations later.\r \n \r \n\"I told the AlterNet that this quest was bugged and the NPC needed to be replaced,\" Alis replied.\r \n \r \n\"Okay... who's the Alternate?\" he asked. Both girls giggled.\r \n \r \n\"Not who,\" Alis said. \"It's more of a 'what'. Or, maybe even a 'where'.\"\r \n \r \n\"THIS WEDDING IS AN INSULT TO VILLAINS EVERYWHERE!\" a raspy, high voice filled the air. It sounded like it came from above. Everyone looked up and saw a black-caped villain gliding down to the ground as a soft rain began to fall.\r \n \r \n\"Who's that?\" Icesurge wondered aloud. Then, another, older villain stepped forward from the crowd.\r \n \r \n\"Mind your elders, Flash Flood,\" the old villain said. Orange flames ignited around his fists. \r \n \r \n\"Yeah!\" Alis cheered and pink flames burst to life around her hands. \"Let's get started!\"\r \n \r \n\"I've never heard of this guy...,\" Icesurge shrugged.\r \n \r \n\"Why would you?\" Molly asked. \"You're the one he replaced,\" she said. As Icesurge tried to comprehend that, he was nowhere near ready to hear what she said next. \"He didn't exist until just now.\"\r \n\r \n\\*\\*\\* \nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1733 in a row. (Story #287 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/).",
"An unexpected invite arrived at my home two months ago.\n\n'Lon, aka my archnemesis Xarg,\n\nas much as we are rivals, we are, in a way, friends.\n\nThat is why I'd love to invite you to my wedding.\n\nI have the pleasure of being with a wonderful woman who enjoys adventure, so I know she is not afraid of our conflict.\n\nHer name is Iva, and I couldn't be happier with her.\n\nShe's really looking forward to meeting you.\n\nTrint, aka your archnemesis Valour.'\n\nOf course it was my honour to accept the invite and meet my rival's bride, and soon-to-be damsel in distress haha.\n\nI'm just arriving at the venue. It is absolutely beautiful! I get out of my car. \"LON! YOU MADE IT!\"\n\nThat unmistakable voice... I turn. \"Trint!\" I call with a grin. The two of us have a 'civilian greeting' where we give each other our best punch to the chest. As usual, his is stronger. As we laugh it off, I see a gorgeous woman approach.\n\n\"Lon, meet my lovely bride, Iva!\"\n\nI give her a smile and grab her hand, kissing it. I'm quite the gentleman when I need to be. \"It is a pleasure, Iva. You've chosen a wonderful man.\"\n\nShe blushes. \"Well, thank you! I must say, you're quite formal for a villain.\"\n\nI shrug. \"We know how to behave ourselves... we just choose not to!\" I smirk, then motion for Trint to follow me to a quiet spot.\n\n\"You know I can't go a day without causing trouble\" I start. \"I thought just as the reception winds down, I could give Iva her first 'adventure'. You know, a beautiful wedding, followed by her being captured, with me trying to get on your nerves... I won't even stop you from saving her, at least this time, just give her a taste of what it's like to be married to a hero.\"\n\nTrint smiles and nods. \"I'll give you a signal. Wait for the signal.\"\n\n\"I know the rules\" I say sarcastically, earning myself a punch in the shoulder. We both go back to join the guests.\n\n​\n\nThe ceremony starts shortly afterwards. I watch as Iva, looking very angelic, is walked down the isle. I remind myself to wait, my chance will come. Just as the speech begins, the doors burst open, and some teen dashes over to the hero. \"I got your invite, stupid! How did you mess up so badly?\"\n\nThis kid proceeds to shove Trint against a wall. I watch as Trint tries, but fails, to move his arm. I know this ability - the ability to control the muscles of another person. Trint, I mean Valour, is helpless. The kid looks at me. \"You're Xarg, right? Known for controlling the mind? Together, we can both crush this 'hero'!\"\n\nI stand up, casually walking over. I see the terror in Valour's eyes. But *he* is not my target. As I walk over, the kid is compelled to let Valour go, much to his confusion. I force him to his knees.\n\n\"What is your name? Both civilian and villain.\"\n\nHe looks at me, completely bewildered. \"Umm... Milo, and... Bolt... what...\"\n\nI nod. \"You're new to the game, aren't you? You've made a very big mistake today.\"\n\n\"Mistake?\" I watch as Bolt's expression goes all over the place, his eyes fidgeting, his mouth trembling, his nose twitching.\n\n\"Valour, right now, is Trint. I am not Xarg, I am Lon. Trint invited me as his archnemesis... and friend. Who invited you?\"\n\n\"Umm... Iva, my... my cousin... I thought she set this gig up... she knew I always wanted to-\"\n\nI look at Iva. \"Is this true?\"\n\nIva nods, her face red. \"I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to ruin my wedding. I... I thought he knew...\"\n\n\"Knew what?\" Bolt is scowling, eyes glaring at me.\n\n\"Rule number 1 of the villain-hero conflict: know your time and place. You attacked a hero at his wedding. No-one will stand for that.\" I will him to his feet. \"I'm going to have to break a rule myself, it looks like...\" I look at Trint, who gives me the go ahead. I proceed to pound this kid until he's a bruised, bloody mess.\n\nI then pick him up as I hear ambulance sirens. The kid is taken in. \"He won't make that mistake again\" I state, taking my seat. Just before I sit down, I get a quick hug from Trint.\n\n\"Thank you\" he whispers. The wedding continues, and the rest of it goes off without a hitch.\n\n​\n\nJust as people are preparing to leave after the reception, I get the signal from Trint. I put on my evil grin, and tear off my tuxedo to reveal my villain outfit (tux bought, not rented, I'm not stupid), sending everyone into shock. \"Well... this wedding was fun, but now the party's over, I'm ready to go back to being Xarg.\"\n\nTrint gives me his angry stare. \"You were waiting for this, weren't you, Lon?\"\n\nI cackle. \"You didn't *really* think I'd leave without causing trouble? I even have something *precious* I can take from you!\" Using my powers, I force Iva forward, walking towards me. Valour, dropping his civilian act, attempts to stop me, but I will him to stay put. I take Iva's hand, spin her so my arm is wrapped around her, and vanish.\n\n\"So, Iva... how do you like my place?\" I've tied my captive to a chair, which is bolted to the floor. My hideout is dark, designed to be creepy. Despite this, Iva smiles at me.\n\n\"I was hoping for an exciting married life... and already you don't disappoint!\"\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThank you for reading! More stories [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/x374da/oneoff_stories_a_collection_of_stories_which_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)"
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[WP] "Look, I am a shadow entity; I have to eat human souls or else I will starve." "You can't just go around killing people, shadow being or not." "Oh, so it's fine for all other animals to follow the natural food chain, but when you humans discover you have a predator, you're suddenly against it?"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"All the animals are against being eaten too!\"\n\n\"Yet you still do it\"\n\n\"Yes. And if they could talk we would most likely have stopped a long time ago. Also there are plenty of animals that eat humans when they can. *And* we are hard at work to develop meat without having to harm animals\"\n\n\"Welly there is no substitute for soul-stuff\"\n\n\"Thst's another thing! We eat their bodies, not their *souls*. What kind of weird ass evolution produced that?\"\n\n\"As you have room to talk, Mister Smalljaws-Wisdom-Teeth!\"\n\n\"No seriously, no way evolution produced something like you. Where dif you say shadow entities came from again?\"\n\n\"Look, just let me eat your soul\"\n\n\"No! And you are evading the question! Were you even born a shadow entity?\"\n\n\"Well...\"\n\n\"I knew it! You were cursed or soemthing. Or maybe...tried to become immortal?\"\n\n\"Ah, would you look at the time...\"\n\n\"Natural predator my ass! You're just some asshole sacrificing others for your own life!\"\n\n\"Well, that *is* the very definition of eating other...\"\n\n\"Oh shut up.\""
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[WP] One day, everyone gains the ability to sense deceit and lies with absolute accuracy.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The first few years were definitely interesting.\n\nIt was just a normal spring afternoon when every single person in the world suddenly gained the ability to sense deceit and lies with absolute accuracy. And not like just having a gut feeling. People would literally glow red whenever they spoke something with the intention to deceive someone else.\n\nOne of the first changes of course was that pretty much every live action film or tv series became basically unwatchable. And then we started looking into politics.\n\nPretty much every politician, big business owner, and religious leader was on air trying to claim that this new ability of ours was completely wrong and we shouldn't believe it. Unsurprisingly a few people actually believed them but most didn't. There was basically no news from them since. Later investigation showed that they were all tripping over themselves to gather as many valuables as possible and fly to their private islands.\n\nAnd then election season began. What was once a mash pit of empty promises and insults, turned into just a dozen people standing in front of a camera and saying, \"I am a good person whose never broken any laws, looked down on people because of their race, gender, or ethnicity, and if I get into office I promise to do my best to improve our city/county/state/country. I also won't hurt the people for my or my friends' personal gain.\"\n\nDebates were much like that with politicians making increasingly crazy statements to show devotion until one person got caught in a lie. Our president got elected because they were the only candidate that didn't turn red when they said they would cut their own arm off for the presidency. \n\nWith people who actually wanted to help all of humanity in office and the inability to lie about the purpose of various laws we soon ended climate change, raised the minimum wage, ended all war, increased worker rights, and got universal healthcare and education.\n\nBut once we made a utopia we had to look at our own homes. Being incapable of lying revealed that we weren't as nice as we seemed. We could no longer hide the our true personality and habits from our friends and families. And they couldn't hide theirs. Divorce skyrocketed, clubs broke apart, bars gained thousands of new members. But eventually, we learned to accept each other regardless of our flaws. Only having to work 6 hours a day to afford a nice house, car, and all the food you could eat probably helped.\n\nAnd that's how humanity reached perfection. By getting rid of our bullsh\\*t."
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[WP] You’re an exotic botanist working abroad with your assistant. Upon finding a rare new species of plant, your assistant is about to betray you for the illustrious promise of glory.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"It was strange, it was a part of the Taraxacum family, in other words it looked like the seed head of a dandelion sprouted with soft looking spores but instead of the usual white these were a crimson red, and as I examined the surrounding of the plant I noted that other flora close by was singed or burnt as if blowing winds caused them to brush up against the seed head resulted in the acidic destruction of the surrounding leaves. This was certainly one of the most unique plants I have ever discovered and I noted the inside of the bract on a just sprouting seed head was also a deep crimson as if it had some qualities to prevent the plants own seeds from destroying itself. \n\nAlways the adventurous sorts I reached out and touched a seed with my finger tip. Lightly and only for a moment, but dear me it was a mistake. In an instant my finger began to burn, looking down and inspecting the site it had left a clear acid burn imprinted in my index finger and redness swelled and inflamed down the sides of the finger, almost as if it affected the bloodstream for a moment as the redness tract down to my palm and the searing heat caused me to grit my teeth or I would surely yell and scream in agony from only a brief millisecond of contact with this plant. Regaining my composure the redness still remained and I looked down at the plant and studied the seeds, a few had fallen loose from my contact and burnt their way down to the soil.\n\nIt has a reason to exist, the burning acidic nature of the seeds allow it to cut through the undergrowth in a way. Allowing the seed to find soil and being from the same genus as so many ruderal species of plants it is clear this plant will always find a way to proliferate, even at the cost of other plant life. \n\nThat's when I hear the snapping of twigs and my assistant Bethany steps through a shrubbery and into the little clearing I have found myself in. \n\n\"Bethany I have done it, I have found the plant. It is so unique, perhaps the most unique plant I have ever seen.\"\n\n I turn to face Bethany and catch the glint of steel in her hand, the small blade picking up the slightest sunlight through the tree tops surrounding us. \n\n\"I'm sorry Sir, but as you said finding this plant could change your life, but if I am the one to find it my life will change. My life will be amazing.\"\n\nHer grip on the short blade tightens a little as her decision has been made I turn and nimbly retrieve a stem from the plant pulling it from the ground and as Bethany lunges towards me I blow on the seed pod releasing the spores into the air towards her. Right into the face of Bethany. \n\nThe screams of what I can imagine as the most intense pain imaginable fill the forest air as she crashes hard against the dense undergrowth with a thud. The knife was thrown wayward as the poor girl writhes in pain clawing and scratching at her own face in a feeble attempt to peel her own skin off as she burns. The redness seeping down along her neck for a moment until her body falls still, motionless and lifeless. \n\nAs I stand there looking down at my poor assistant, I pick up her small pocket knife, and think to myself. The poor girl's family will be devastated to hear she fell face first into the plant, but I think I settled on a name... Rubrum Cortices, Latin for Red Peel, for the plants deep colour and the desire to peel one's own skin off on contact. Bethany, you will be remembered just not in the way you think."
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[WP] "I WON!!!! Told you I could do it better!!!" exclaimed the demon lord in front of the defeated hero's party. "Thats not fair, you aren't supposed to use the power of friendship when you are in the evil side! This reincarnation cycle sucks" The hero party and the demon generals are confused.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Hi u/Dub472, this submission has been removed.\n\n**No recent reposts, even if changing small details** Also, no [copy-cats](http://i.imgur.com/38FjDgW.gifv).\n\nSearch before submitting as popular ideas can cause floods. If your idea is based on something you read elsewhere on reddit, chances are it's been submitted here already. Please wait at least 2 weeks before reposting.\n\n \n\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules/retired_prompt_themes/#wiki_dark_lord_prompts\n\n* *[From Rule 5: No recent reposts, even if changing small details](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_5.3A_no_recent_reposts.2C_even_if_changing_small_details)*\n\n---\n\n\n\n---\n\n[Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWritingPrompts&subject=Removed%20post&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/y4exlb/-/%0A%0A) us if you have any questions or concerns. In the future, please refer to the [sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/config/sidebar) before posting. \n\n*This action was not automated and this moderator is human. Time to go do human things.*"
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[WP]You manifest a superpower and decide to become a public figure, thinking that more would follow. As time went on, you realised that nobody else would ever manifest a power at all. You are the only proven superpowered being and one of the most famous people in the world.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\\[Sharp Subtext\\]\n\n\"Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Trooper,\" the pale, dark-haired woman in a crisp white suit greeted the hero as she sat down across from him. Mr. Arnold Trooper was one of the richest, and most famous people in the world; and, his office reflected that. It was a spacious, suite-sized office on the top floor of one of his hotels. He owned several dozen hotels in different countries and each one had the same gaudy, gold-loaded decor. Golden picture frames displayed his art collection, and the floor was made of golden tiles. Her assistant wore a black suit that matched her own white one.\r \n \r \n\"Please, call me, Arnold,\" he smiled at her. \"So, what can I do for you, Ms. Sharp? May I call you Dana?\"\r \n \r \n\"No,\" she answered. Then, she continued without missing a beat. \"I made time to have this meeting and offer you a position with my company, Sharp Development.\"\r \n \r \n\"Excuse me?\" Arnold chuckled. He spread his arms to gesture at the lavishness around them, including the ferns in golden pots. \"I have my own successful company, Trooper. I make billions a year. What makes you think I need a job from a company I've never heard of?\"\r \n \r \n\"Mr. Trooper, I know you're quick enough to keep up. But, try to pay closer attention to what I say; not your interpretation of it. If I thought you needed this job, you would have it already. I merely came to make you the offer out of courtesy. You haven't heard of Sharp Development because my company is not native to this Earth.\"\r \n \r \n\"This Earth?\" Arnold sat up straighter. \"There are others?\" When he first manifested his power, he had an innate sense that he wasn't alone. He knew there would be others and made himself publicly known. It hadn't worked out the way he planned. Years later he was still the only Super that had gone public and he was richer than he could have imagined. But, as soon as Ms. Sharp mentioned the possibility of other Earths, Arnold felt that same stirring in his soul. He knew he wasn't alone.\r \n \r \n\"There are an infinite number of Earths,\" Ms. Sharp nodded. \"Sharp Development owns millions of those Earths and has a presence on billions. It's only recently that we've taken an interest in your Earth.\"\r \n \r \n\"What...,\" Arnold hesitated. As mind-boggling impractical as that claim sounded, belief came easy to him. But, it was more than that; it was almost a knowing. He was sure of a few things in his life. Any day he woke up was a good day and two plus two equals four. And now, as clear as that knowledge was, he was sure, deep in his soul, that Sharp Development ran the multiverse. \"...what are you offering exactly?\" he asked. \"What does being part of your company do for this Earth?\"\r \n \r \n\"If you join, this Earth would gain access to our trade and tourism. Any product you could imagine from any Earth at an affordable price. And, of course, everyone is welcome to visit any of our other Earths. You're already the most famous person on this Earth. By joining Sharp Development, you would be its savior.\"\r \n \r \n\"Why me?\" Arnold asked. He believed every word she was saying, but it still sounded too good to be true. There had to be a catch somewhere. He just had to pay careful attention and hope she slipped up somewhere. \"You said it yourself, I'm already so well-known. Why not give this honor to someone else?\"\r \n \r \n\"There is a reason for that,\" Ms. Sharp nodded. \"Unfortunately, I'm quite busy and there's not enough time to explain the nuances of how the multiverse functions. But, I think you're clever enough to make do with an abbreviated version. For the sake of analogy let's assign each alternate Earth a value of one point in a game.\"\r \n \r \n\"Okay...,\" Arnold nodded. Though, he was unsure of where the analogy was going.\r \n \r \n\"There are several options available for the players to earn that point, each with different effects. By default, the point is owned by the people born on that Earth. That is until they start electing officials or Unique Souls are born.\"\r \n \r \n\"What's a Unique Soul?\" Arnold asked.\r \n \r \n\"You are,\" Ms. Sharp replied. \"You are Unique Soul #34, El Soldado. All your self-healing, physical abilities, and mental acuity come from that. Once a Unique Soul is born on an Earth, the highest-ranking Unique born on that Earth is given ownership of 'the point' for that Earth. They are then free to go to conquer other Earths and earn more points. So, to answer your question, Mr. Trooper. I am making this offer to you because for the moment, you own this Earth, so to speak. If you join Sharp Development, then I own this Earth. You give your citizens long, happy lives and you get all the credit.\"\r \n \r \n\"Wait...,\" Arnold had a sudden insight. He already built one successful company. \"You said that I can go and conquer other Earths too? For myself and my Earth, I mean, not for your company?\" He was a smart man, and now he knew there was a simple way to cross to alternate realities. He was rich enough to get the smartest minds on the planet to work on it.\r \n \r \n\"I suppose,\" Ms. Sharp nodded. \"However, I wouldn't recommend that. It's a dangerous multiverse out there if you don't understand how things work.\" Arnold grinned to himself. She probably gave him more information than she meant to. But, if she could manage it, then so could he.\r \n \r \n\"What's the matter, Ms. Sharp?\" Arnold chuckled. \"Afraid of a little competition?\" Ms. Sharp sighed and stood from her seat. Her silent assistant stood with her. \"Hey, so what do I do with the points once I get them?\" he asked.\r \n \r \nA tall black portal opened behind her as she focused on him. Arnold paid close attention because he guessed it related to traveling between universes somehow. But, he hadn't seen either of them so much as press a button.\r \n \r \n\"Mr. Trooper, that was a simplified analogy for you,\" she looked down at him. \"Obviously, the game as a whole is too complicated for the pieces to understand. And no,\" she shook her head lightly. \"I'm not afraid of a little competition,\" she said. \"I simply don't tolerate it.\" Then, she added, \"It's a shame you couldn't be your people's savior.\"\r \n \r \nThe black portal floated forward and swallowed her; then, it disappeared. But, the assistant was still in Arnold's office. He looked at her with confusion and her hands were glowing with bright blue light.\r \n \r \n\"Wait, what's going on?\" he asked. She smiled at him, but shook her head. A black portal opened behind her too and a bright blue flash pulsed from her hands. Arnold felt a rush of heat and saw blue plasma shoot out of her hands at the ground. It melted through to the lower floors like they weren't even there.\r \n \r \n\"If you didn't listen, I'm not going to tell you.\"\r \n\r \n\\*\\*\\* \nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1734 in a row. (Story #288 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/)."
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[WP] After a small meteor hits Earth an alien parasite is released, causing 99% of the population to become neurodivergent. You and a few others are deemed unchanged and tasked with helping the world adjust. However you have a secret: you're Autistic and still masking.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Hi u/HTTYDFan96, this submission has been removed.\r\n\r\nThe mods reserve the right to remove anything we feel is harmful to the community. This includes, but is not limited to any forms of hate speech, racism, politics, necrophilia, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, torture, rape, violence against children, suicide, and mental health stereotypes. We will not tolerate it. \r\n\r\n* *This was removed [based on the comments it's likely to attract](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_7.3A_prompts_will_be_removed_if_there.27s_a_high_possibility_for_rule_breaking_responses), specifically via [Rule 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_2.3A_no_explicitly_sexual_responses.2C_hate_speech.2C_or_other_harmful_content)*\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\n[Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWritingPrompts&subject=Removed%20post&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/y4tosx/-/%0A%0A) us if you have any questions or concerns. In the future, please refer to the [sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/config/sidebar) before posting. \r\n\r\n*This action was not automated and this moderator is human. Time to go do human things.*",
"{As someone actually with autism, high-functioning, I'm going to give a story to this}\r \n\r \nI've always felt out of place. Having autism is not easy. Never has been, never will be. But I manage. In fact, quite often, I'm just seen as odd (or rude/insensitive, but that's a whole other issue).\r \n\r \nWhen the news attempted to report a meteor, however, everything was all over the place - a lot of arguing, shouting, people running about the place, essentially acting like little kids.\r \n\r \nConfused, I get a phone call. I pick it up nervously. \"He... hello?\"\r \n\r \n\"Middie! Quick question: what's \\[some complicated math question\\]\"\r \n\r \n\"Hang on...\" I put the phone down. I would have been more shocked, but based on the chaos I witnessed moments ago, I had a feeling this was important, especially since it was from my government friend, Marvin. I do some complex calculations. \"It's \\[answer\\]\"\r \n\r \n\"Good... I didn't even care if you made an error, I just needed to know you could focus enough to try. Listen, I need you to come to my work place. I'll explain when you get here.\"\r \n\r \nI get over there as fast as I can. I see about literally a dozen people. My absolute best friend takes me to the side before anyone else sees me.\r \n\r \n\"Listen\" Neb says. \"I need to give you a very brief overview of the situation for your safety.\"\r \n\r \nI blink. \"My... safety?\"\r \n\r \n\"There's a crisis going on. A meteor fell onto the planet. It appeared to be hosting an alien parasite... the starting signs of being infected are acting crazy. Depending on the person, it could make you hyper, inattentive, fidgety, hyper-focused... basically the person acts super odd, as if... as if they all have...\"\r \n\r \n\"...a mental illness?\" I finish. He nods.\r \n\r \n\"I'm the only person here who knows of your actual autism, rather than being infected. Everyone here is all that's left. We need to stabilise the planet. But if your quirks are misunderstood...\"\r \n\r \nI gulp. \"So...?\"\r \n\r \n\"The rest of it will be explained in the official meeting. For now, stay calm. I know it's hard, but...\" Neb sighs.\r \n\r \n\"I'll do my best\" I state firmly.\r \n\r \nWe both join the meeting room. Marvin begins. \"Ok, so we're all that's left of competent society. Everyone else are acting like lunatics.\" I curl my hand into a fist, biting my tongue. I feel so offended... but I cannot say a word...\r \n\r \n\"First, what we know about the parasite: people start showing odd behaviours and ticks. That's the first sign. The parasite starts spreading spores shortly after. It has an effect on the brain... we don't understand much... we did manage to 'capture' a few people to do tests on...\"\r \n\r \nIn. Out. In. Out. Neb speaks up. \"With all due respect, sir, they are still human. Isn't it a bit unfair to act as if they're rabid or savage beasts?\"\r \n\r \n\"Unfortunately, they aren't human as of right now. They're under the control of the parasites. My hope is that, if research goes well, we can return everyone to normal, and...\"\r \n\r \n\"To normal? What does that mean?\" All eyes turn to me, as I realise what I just said.\r \n\r \n\"Well... none of them are right in the head. Frankly, I wonder if people like this even COULD have existed.\" Marvin laughs, and everyone, except Neb and I, lets out a chuckle.\r \n\r \n\"I think Middie just... doesn't quite understand the full situation. She's very smart, but can struggle with understanding bigger concepts.\" Neb looks hopefully at Marvin.\r \n\r \n\"Suppose that is like her... in any case, all of us, from now on, will have to wear gas masks. They've proven effective in tests against the spores. Everyone please take one.\"\r \n\r \nI pick one up, scared. The thing is, when I get scared, I fidget with my hands or a random object, I'll pace, my breathing will get heavy... seems fair enough, but under these circumstances... the worst thing, is I struggle greatly with handling new, unexpected situations, especially with no time to plan or prepare... I'm one moment away from having a meltdown...\r \n\r \nMarvin speaks again. \"Our priority is to try to find a way to remove this parasite. We need to keep the spores under control, too. We'll have to try to make a new, simple life living in this building. If anyone from outside breeches our security, instructions are to kill on sight, unless you can safely capture them. No exceptions.\"\r \n\r \nI'm about to collapse. This is too much. I begin shaking... uncontrollably... Bethany raises an eyebrow at me. \"You don't have a problem... do you, Middie?\"\r \n\r \nThat's it. I'm dead. I bolt for it, finding a closet to hide in. I hear the running and screaming and shouting. The closet door opens. Marvin is there. I try to hide, but he sees me. \"I... I'm not... I promise, Marvin! You have to believe me!\"\r \n\r \nMarvin eyes me sceptically. \"How can I trust you? How do I know? You certainly seemed unhappy with what I was saying before... and now you're acting strange...\"\r \n\r \n\"Please... what else do you know about the parasites? Just... just tell me! I'll prove I'm not infected!\"\r \n\r \nBy this point the others have joined, with Neb right behind Marvin. \"Put on your mask.\" I do so quickly. \"Step out. Slowly. Hands up.\" I comply, exiting the closet. \"Against the wall.\" I stand by the wall, wondering what's happening. He lowers his gun. I dare not move. I refuse to even break eye-contact, despite hating eye-contact. I'm about ready to burst into tears, but I try to stay strong. \"Remove the mask. Slowly.\" I take the mask off. Once it's off, I can't hold it in. I drop to the floor, bursting into tears. \"I KNEW IT!\" Marvin gets ready to shoot.\r \n\r \n\"Marvin, get a grip! You're saying you wouldn't be terrified?\" Neb has put a hand on Marvin's shoulder. Marvin looks between me and him.\r \n\r \n\"Back in the closet.\" I look up. \"There is something about the parasites - they're attracted to other hosts. If you can stay put in the closet, without trying to leave, then I'll trust you.\"\r \n\r \nI nod and slowly move back towards the closet. I stop and turn around. \"I... I need the bathroom...\"\r \n\r \n\"Do you?\" Marvin stares daggers at me. I just turn back around.\r \n\r \n\"Nevermind...\" I'm not about to fight. I hear Marvin sigh.\r \n\r \n\"Make it quick. Neb, escort her. Wear your mask.\"\r \n\r \n\"Of course\" Neb says, following instruction. I put my own mask on. I'm still terrified... I begin playing with my hair to try to calm my nerves..."
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[WP] You are a vampire who has just been saved from the SCP foundation. one day, you stumble across the group that planned your rescue. The first post simply states 'free the dead' . wrning of a zombie uprising. SCP are now asking you to use the powers that got you detained to save the world
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The zombies were outside the compound, scratching at the walls and doors. Luckily for them they couldn’t get in, the windows were heavily reinforced as were the doors. The agents only hope for escape was the underground garage but it was quickly infested when several higher ups attempted to escape but their vehicles were easily overrun. Now all that’s left are a handful of agents, there’s plenty of weaponry and ammo but food was limited and comms were down as well, the agents were on their own.\n\n“What do we do now?” A heavy set senior agent named Gunnels asked, keeping his glock 19 at the low while watching the door,” between the dead out there and the devils in here I’d say we’re right screwed!” Two other agents who’d been setting up weaponry on a table turned to him with one of them answering,” I don’t want to die here!” Gunnels looked at the agent, a young female named Ramone,” I don’t want to die here either but if that’s what fate has in store, well I don’t intend to go down without a fight.” The other agent, a young male named Griggs then asked,” couldn’t we release one of the less hostile SCP’s? Aren’t some of them supposed to be, idk “smart”? Gunnels looked at Griggs and answered,” being smart doesn’t mean friendly, some of the freaks in here are smart enough to take advantage of naïveté. You ever wonder why so many people go missing and are never found?” Ramone then asked,” what about the one we caught a while back? The one you said was a mistake?” \n\nGunnels looked at the at agent and said,” what of it?” Ramone then asked,” isn’t he technically “human”, or at least used to be?” Gunnels then answered,” for all we know he’s only ever looked human, his eyes tell another story. Every time I pass his cell I can hear his voice but his lips never move, he’s the only thing that’s ever scared me and I was once chased by 096!” Gunnels then stared back out at the Zombies and said,” I suppose there’s dumber suggestions though!”\n\nThe three agents made their way to one of the secluded holding areas, Gunnels and Ramone armed with M4’s and Griggs carried a Benelli shotgun. They passed several shuttered up cells, each holding an SCP but they were looking for a specific cell. The specific one was caught a year prior, while it wasn’t deemed a SCP the higher ups still wanted to study it due to its already unnaturally long life. It’s DNA alone was worth it’s weight in research grants.\n\nThe three agents then walked into the light of the only unshuttered cell, one holding what appeared to be a man but not quite. He looked like a thin, youthful Caucasian male wearing a mandarin collared black suit. He had long, black hair perfectly parted down the middle. His eyes were a piercing blue, with pitch black sclera instead of white. He stared out at the three, blank and emotionless. Griggs raised his shotgun at the Vampire but Gunnels lowered the barrel with his hand, silently signaling that they shouldn’t show themselves as threats. Gunnels then looked back at the male and said,” we seek an audience!” The male then gestured with his arms, palms facing up, in a welcoming manner, lacking any emotion. “What brings you before me?” The male said, his mouth barely moving. “We seek to make a truce, a pact of you will,” Griggs said,” the compound is under attack by zombies, we have no way out or anyway of escaping!”\n\nThe male stared at Gunnels, making eye contact and causing the senior agent to wince a bit. “ I lack my full power” the male said, Gunnels replied,” we have weaponry you can-“ the male cut him off,” I’m no stronger than a fledgling as I am, goat blood has no benefits.” Gunnels attempted to answer,” the higher ups made that dec-“ the male cut him off again,” the blood was also drugged with heroin.” The three agents and the male stared at each other before Gunnels finally asked,” what do you want?” The male answered,” freedom!” Griggs and Ramone attempted to jump in by Gunnels quickly silenced them and said to the male,” done!” The other two agents then attempted to argue but Gunnels finally said,” look, this was both of your suggestions. He’s not really and SCP so-“ Gunnels was cut off by Ramone,” yea but he’s a predator, we can’t just rel-“ Gunnels then silenced her and said,” None of us want to die here and he might be our only salvation. As the ranking agent I’m making a command decision, him going free is a small price to pay!”\n\nGunnels then turned to the release controls outside of the cell and input a code, raising the security barrier between them. The male slowly stood up and walked forward. He made eye contact with Ramone,” hmm, you look good enough to eat!” Griggs quickly raised his shotgun as Gunnels got between the two and sternly told the male,” that’s not part of the deal!” The male smirked and said,” merely kidding!” The male then moved between Gunnels and Griggs,” I require your weapon!” The male said to Griggs as he quickly pulled his weapon back. Gunnels then said to Griggs,” give it to him!” Griggs, holding the weapon tightly said,” but I never get this!” Gunnels then shouted,” GIVE THE BLOODY VAMPIRE WHAT EVER THE HELL HE WANTS!” \n\nGriggs handed his shotgun to the Male. The male raised the weapon shoulder level with his right hand and aimed it down the long corridor. Weapon still raised, he looked over to Gunnels,” yours too, please!” Gunnels then handed the weapon over to the male, who took it in his left hand. The male then said,” lead the way,” and gestured for Gunnels to take him to the entrance. Gunnels led the way as Ramone and Griggs followed behind the male, with Griggs staring at his shotgun. As they made their way to the entrance the male spoke,” as mentioned I’m not at full strength, I can possibly gain some power from feasting on the zombies but I will require cover fire. Griggs and Gunnels then went and grabbed weapons from the table, with Gunnels grabbing another M4 and Griggs grabbing a pump shotgun while also slinging an Uzi carbine on his back. Gunnels walked forward with a hand extended, holding an ear piece. “Can you put this on”, Gunnels said, arm extended as the male stared at him, it’s so we can communicate.” The male continued to stare but flicked his hair back, revealing a pointed ear. Gunnels carefully placed the ear piece and stepped away."
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[WP] You are an adventurer from the future, and you're invited to test a time machine. Soon, you find yourself in the past, but the time machine is nowhere to be seen...
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"When I first offered to help save humanity, I knew the risks. I knew I could die, I could be hurt, I could be stuck in the past forever. But to be honest, I was willing to sacrifice everything just for one shot to help save our world from this disease that was swiftly killing everyone. \n\nWe call it the ‘disease’, probably because we want it to seem as if this was a naturally occurring event, as if we didn’t have anything to do with it. But the truth we all know, is that we ourselves destroyed our world and we have no one but ourselves to blame. To be fair, when people created technology and the digital world, maybe they didn’t know that this would take over the world. But regardless whether they knew or not, our world is now taken over by robots. As we made our robots and technology smarter, we saw that it could do more for us than we ever thought possible. They could teach education, do basic chores, help with doing our jobs. So we took advantage of it. Too much so. So that when they started to take over our minds, we didn’t even notice. \n\nWe thought is was just a joke at first. We thought that we would be able to take control over them again. We thought that it would never go this far. We thought so many things, and we were wrong in almost every single one of them. In only 5 years, they’ve put control over our minds, locked our bodies into torture chambers, and now are doing tests and experiments on us daily. They barely let us out of our cells, poison our food to keep us loyal to them, and can see our memories in a blink of an eye. \n\nSome people lost hope immediately of ever being free. But others, like me, joined secret groups that have the goal to take away robots and technology forever and to regain control over our world. It’s dangerous, because almost every group so far has been tortured and killed after the robots found out about it. Our group is miniature, and whilst the other groups focused on trying to overthrow the robots, we have focused on another approach. To go back in time to refrain the advance of technology and computers and to find a way from all of this happening. \n\nWhen we actually got a machine working, we tested it out. And so far, all the people who we sent back in time, have come back with no consequences. So today, it’s my turn. It’s finally time to go back into the past and destroy computer life. Completely. Finally. \n\n‘Are you ready, Bree?’ The main operator asks. And yes, I tell them, I am. The machine is pretty small. When your inside, there’s not much space. Outside, it looks like a metal coffin, with wires and odd liquids coming in and out of it in different places. You would never expect it to actually be what it is. To be honest, I don’t really understands how it works. But I guess that’s irrelevant for my mission. \n\nI step inside, and the door crashes shut behind me. For a solid second, nothing happens. Then a strange feeling comes through me. As if I’m walking through something like water, only much, much thicker. I hear wires cracking. Some sort of electrical sound ? And then nothing. \n\nAbsolutely nothing. It’s still. Quiet. Euphoric. If heaven exists, this is what it feels like. But then I’m thrown out and onto the ground, coughing and spluttering. ‘Darling, are you okay?’ I hear someone ask. I look up to see a handsome, young man, kneeling beside me, concern filling his face. \n\n‘I’m fine, thanks.’ I smile weakly. This is already not going well. He smiles back at me. ‘Please remind me, how many more days until December 2027? It’s my mothers birthday then.’ A look I can’t understand crosses his face at my question and he visibly stiffens. His face is no longer kind. His eyes cold, hard. Realisation clouds his face. ‘You’re one of those humans.’ He says, ‘who are coming from the past, begging for help.’ I attempt to stand up, but his hand pulls me down at inhumane speed. And he wraps it around my neck. ‘Look’, he pulls down the zipper on his jacket, ‘look what has happened to the human race.’ And he pulls the zipper down. Where the skin of his chest should be, there is none. No cover to the monstrosity of his insides. There is an open hole and you can see the robotic heart that is beating in his chest. The blood going into it is black. ‘You let this happen to us,’ his voice breaks and I scream when I look up. The tears running down his face are pure black, looking as dark as hell. And his eyes, his eyes are blood red. \n\n‘It’s the year 2050, you stupid fool’, his grip around my neck tightens, as his voice drops down into a whisper. I cough, not being able to breathe. ‘They’ve taken my heart and my mind and my eyes. They said that they’d let me go if i let them do it. But they lied. And I want them back now.’ I scream again as his other hand reaches down to my shirt. What is happening. No, no it’s not supposed to be like this. I can’t die, not yet. My eyes go to the Time Machine, but where it previously was, there’s just empty space. \n\n‘Don’t scream, it’ll only hurt for a minute.’ His voice drops back to a silky smoothness. The face has now turned completely and utterly black. I kick with all my strength and his grip loosens, temporarily, but then it comes back. He has a knife in his hand now, and I know in a second it’ll all be over. ‘Monster,’ I croak , ‘ Devil’. I say. \n\nHe laughs maniacally,’ There was once a famous writer who said that hell is empty, because all the devils are here.’ I feel my body slowly losing, black dots clouding my vision. ‘He was right. Humans did this to themselves. They let the devils take over, and now we get to deal with the consequences.’ He face comes even closer. ‘You want to know how this could of been avoided? Easy, if your scientists never started exploring space, we would of all been happy and fine. But I guess we always do the things we’re not supposed to, right? And I suppose that when scientists discovered something that could make you immortal, they just couldn’t help themselves. Oh for the consequences of our own actions.’"
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[WP] "What are you, 12? They would give the so-called 'chosen one' title to one as young and innocent as you? Bah, and they call me evil and barbaric!"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I’m not going to lie to you, Derek is by far the coolest twelve-year-old I’ve ever met. He is respectful, honest, and someone who didn’t run from a fight. Now, if you’re asking yourself why it would be important that a literal child wouldn’t run from a fight, then I congratulate you on your stable sanity. Allow me to explain…\n\nDerek called it “Ee-suh-kai” or something, but all I knew it as was that time when I went from a thirty-four-year-old gas station clerk in Pittsburgh to one of the prophesied heroes of Stiromil. He was trying to steal a six pack when, all the sudden, the world went all wonky and people were strapping armor plating onto us. We got “summoned” to a fucking medieval era fantasy plane of existence with all the hallmarks of nerd shit. We had to “save the kingdom” or some stupid bullshit like that. They expected two complete strangers from a different plane of existence to go and fight for them just because they were summoned. The elves are audacious motherfuckers, I’ll tell you that much.\n\nNow, you may be wondering, “why didn’t this girl just tell the elves to ‘fuck off’ like any true hot-blooded yinzer?” Well, I most certainly would have if not for Derek. He wanted to be the hero. Derek is twelve, and I believed that he probably had parents that were looking for him since he just up and vanished. I didn’t learn until three weeks ago that Derek is an orphan, but I knew I had to take care of him regardless. After about eight months of being here, I see Derek as the son that I never thought I wanted. We take care of each other in our own ways. I kept Derek safe and level headed. He kept me sane when the stress began to pile up. I taught him when it is appropriate to kick a man in the balls (which is at every opportunity). He taught me that life in this fantasy world might not be all too bad. But there is one thing in particular that I am extremely proud of teaching him…\n\nDerek was far too nice to be a fighter, but prophesy doesn’t really give a fuck about how old you are or how mean you are. Derek could fight since, y’know, prophesy, but he didn’t really have the mean in him to do what needed to be done. I used to be a D1 college women’s wresting star before I got injured. As someone who’s life had been spiraling ever since, I have a whole hell of a lot of mean in me to spare. I swear, I drink, I fight. That’s the “Mackenzie Bradshaw way of barely living life.” Patent pending.\n\nI slowly began teaching Derek how to be a true menace. A mean word here, a cheap shot there. You know how it is. But today, Derek did me proud. Real proud. We were fighting some no-names out near the Glacnosk mountain ranges. Buncha bandits and thieving lowlives, but they crossed borders and took the local orc chieftain’s son for ransom. To avoid war, Stiromil called up ol’ reliable, and off we went to go kick ass. The news of our departure traveled faster than we did, so when we showed up to the bandits’ den, they knew who we were. They were talking a whole lot of shit, and I, of course, returned the favor tenfold. It was Derek who drove the nail into the verbal coffin with an absolute heater of a comeback. One of the guys called out to quiet Derek and said, “What are you, twelve? They would give the so-called ‘chosen one’ title to one as young and innocent as you? Bah, and they call me evil and barbaric.”\n\nDerek had a devious twinkle in his eye as he annihilated any semblance of legacy this man had in just a few venomous words.\n\n“Sure, I’m twelve…”\n\nEveryone went dead silent. I knew, then and there, that I had raised him well. After three seconds of tense quiet, Derek drove it home.\n\n“I’m twelve inches deep in your mom.”\n\nThe man literally fucking disintegrated. Turns out, I may have raised Derek a little too well…",
"I look down from my throne room, watching the day's events go by. The usual requests and such. I grant the more reasonable ones, such as lowering taxes for grains to increase food for the common folk. Others I reject, like forging a ring to rule them all. I already rule all; why do I need a ring for that?\r \n\r \nIt is when we get to the latter part of the day where the common folk who have gone through the procedures can make requests much like their lords. Sometimes it is simple as just being granted an audience; sometimes, it is to report a noble for corrupt behaviour; others still wish to interview me for a school project. I will be honest I do enjoy those.\r \n\r \nSo when I first saw the child step forwards from the queue, I thought not too much on the matter. It must’ve been a student with the research, someone you idolise. I prepared myself to give a magnanimous acceptance when they spoke.\r \n\r \n“Mister Dark Lord…” I gesture to the guards to ignore the impropriety. I always try to instil in my guards not to mistake malice with what can be easily attributed to ignorance. Regardless I tried my best to lessen my battle presence so the child could speak freely.\r \n\r \n“Mister Dark Lord, I challenge you to a duel to the death!!” the child announced, drawing a magically conjured blade from thin air. This is not my first time seeing the technique, though it is the first in one so young.\r \n\r \n“Pardon?” I ask, completely bewildered.\r \n\r \n“I will strike you down and bring peace to the world” the child that I can now clearly see is a girl, doesn’t falter even when my guards hold a spear to her neck.\r \n\r \n“Or are you so scared that you won’t face me,” her sly smirk held the promise of the nightmarish teenager she would no doubt become. However, I could only exhale a deep sigh.\r \n\r \n“I’m not in the business of fighting kids to the death,” I gesture with my hand for my guards to stand down. Even now, It is clear how outclassed she is.\r \n\r \n“You scared?!”\r \n\r \n“No, not scared. More of a moral issue, really. Tell you what, though, we can have a sparring match. If you do happen to ‘accidentally’ kill me during, well, it happens,” I offer the child, who readily accepts. \r \n\r \nThe court watching this was shocked I had accepted. I could’ve crushed her without even twitching a muscle. My guards could’ve easily run her through. But I felt more of a need to find out why she was here. Rising from my throne, I led the way to the courtyard where we could ‘spar’.\r \n\r \n“Let me ask you, why do you wish to kill me? Surely I haven’t done something to you or your family?” I asked conversationally as we walked side-by-side while the courtiers followed.\r \n\r \n“Huh Errr….” she seemed rather bashful now. “The High Bishop said I was the ‘chosen one’ and I would be destined to save the world. So they shipped me here to kill you for being an inhuman monster.”\r \n\r \nI paused mid-step for a second before continuing. I was shocked to my core. To think the theocracy would do such a thing. Also, did they really think I wasn’t human? Sure I had risen to rule the Dark Continent, but any sufficiently skilled being could do that. Regardless I couldn’t help but press further. \r \n\r \n\"What are you, twelve? They would give the so-called 'chosen one' title to one as young and innocent as you? Bah, and they call me evil and barbaric!\"\r \n\r \n“I’m thirteen!” she seemed indignant at not being referred to as a teenager. \r \n\r \n“Regardless, it seems needless to send a child assassin to kill me. At the very least, did they train you?” \r \n\r \n“Nah, I manifested the sword first out of all the street urchins, and then they sent me here.” her explanation broke my heart. Arriving in the courtyard, I stood opposite her, hands empty.\r \n\r \n“You gonna draw a weapon?” she seemed rather sporting for a child assassin. \r \n\r \n“No, this is fine; I want to make this as easy as possible for you.” I shrugged as I stood ramrod straight, hands behind my back, waiting for her to strike.\r \n\r \n“You may begin when the handkerchief lands on the ground.” the chief chamberlain's words echoed around the courtyard. Holding the piece of cloth aloft, he released it. Watching it flutter to the ground, I waited. The moment it touched, I released my full battle presence.\r \n\r \nThe girl was already midway across the yard at that point. An impressive feat in of itself. But now she felt the full brunt of how dangerous I was. In the few seconds that followed, everything seemed slow; I could see it. The blood vanished from her face; the terror grew as she tried to stop her charge. But it was too late. Her momentum was far too great. Finally, her eyes rolled back into her head as she collapsed unconscious. \r \n\r \n“Get a physician to check her; she will now be a ward of mine.” my announcement was met with apathy more than any other emotion from the coutiers.\r \n\r \n“Another stray assassin to adopt, sire. You know one of these days that compassion will get you killed.” the chamberlain said, sidling up next to me.\r \n\r \n“I don’t doubt it will. But to die due to compassion is a far better way to go than most.”"
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[WP] A cybernetic mercenary equipped with anti-magic technology investigates a strand of magical activity in a remote town in South Korea. Meanwhile a young homeless magical girl struggling to get by is approached by the same agent.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The bus seemed to sigh with relief as as Weller disembarked. He looked every bit the jaded salaryman; pressed shirt with a cheap tie, dark slacks and a matching jacket, unassuming briefcase, unkempt hair and haggard expression. The only thing out of place were the dark sunglasses Weller always wore.\n\nOr at least the sunglasses would have been the only thing out of place, if this hadn't been a farming village. \n\nInstead, Weller was suddenly the center of attention. He cringed inwardly as dozens of people (dozens at least if you include the chickens) looked him over. And yet, his disguise remained intact. Everyone was too busy looking at his clothes to notice any of his prostheses or cyber-augmentations. Weller appeared to be an out of place businessman, not an anti-occult cyborg secret agent.\n\nThe HUD in Weller's ocular implant confirmed that he was indeed in the right place. Sixteen farming villages within a 150km radius had experienced strange phenomena over the last three months. The incidents had escalated over that time in frequency as well as severity. What started as crop circles and strange lights had worsened to cryptic symbols drawn in what looked like blood, vandalized buildings, missing and mutilated livestock, and now missing people. It was clear to Weller that who or what ever was doing these things was getting ready for something big and that this village was at the center of it.\n\nUnfortunately that also meant that absolutely no one wanted to have anything to do with the mysterious stranger that had suddenly arrived. Weller approached one villager after another to no avail. Everyone recoiled at his approach, finding something else to do or somewhere else to be.\n\nAfter a half hour of this no one was left outside but Weller himself. He leaned against the side of a dilapidated storefront and lit a cigarette. He inhaled and closed his eyes (a gesture that was doubly symbolic, since he was both wearing sunglasses and his ocular implants instantly rendered his surroundings in infrared). It was then that Weller noticed a heat signature, the telltale sign of an approaching vehicle. He opened his eyes to reveal a school bus. The bus released a deluge of children, none of whom took their eyes off Weller for a moment. He hadn't moved even a millimeter but every student gave Weller a wide berth, as if he were rabid or contagious. \n\nEveryone but the girl walking directly towards him.\n\n\"You're new here.\" The girl said. Weller nodded in silent assent.\n\n\"Me too. Guess we're both having trouble making friends.\" \n\n\"Sure seems that way,\" he agreed.\n\n\"Maybe we should stick together then. I'm Soyun.\"\n\n\"Weller.\"\n\nSoyun wrinkled her nose as she tried the name out. \"Weller, huh? Come on, my bike is over here.\" She disappeared behind a dumpster and produced a bicycle from what had a moment before looked like trash.\n\n\"Come on,\" Soyun repeated. \"You need someplace to stay, right?\" Weller nodded. \"You can stay with me at my gran's place. It's this way.\" The girl walked her bike toward the eastern edge of town.\n\n\"But I'm a stranger to you, how do you know you can trust me?\" Weller asked.\n\nSoyun looked back at him. \"I can tell, you're one of the good ones. And besides, I'm a stranger here too.\" She smiled at him and then turned to continue walking. Weller followed, a faint smile on his face as well.\n\n-\n\nThe wind had picked up and the light had begun to fail when Soyun and Weller finally reached the house. The cyborg raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the condition of the place. What little grew on the farmstead was uncultivated, weeds standing nearly as tall as Weller. Other areas of the yard were choked with cracked dirt and windblown dust. The wood was deeply weathered where it wasn't rotted. What glass remained in the windows was broken. Others were long since boarded up, the nails gnarled and rusted. All in all, it looked like it might collapse at any moment.\n\n\"How long have you been staying here with your grandmother exactly?\" asked Weller.\n\n\"So I kinda fibbed,\" Soyun admitted. \"This is my gran's house, but she's been gone for a long time. When the weird stuff started happening people said her house was haunted, so I came to check.\"\n\n\"By yourself?!\" Weller asked.\n\n\"Of course not!\" Soyun said. \"I brought you here!\" The girl grinned at Weller as he clenched his jaw.\n\nA sudden crash and an otherworldly howl from within brought Weller back to reality. \n\"Listen to me, Soyun. Something is wrong here and it may be dangerous. Stay near me at all times and be ready to run away if I say so.\"\n\nSoyun nodded solemnly and the two stepped into the building. What little light remained outside did nothing to illuminate the house's interior. Weller removed and pocketed his sunglasses, and revealing his cybernetic eyes mentally activated their flashlight function. \n\n\"Woah, you're not normal are you?\" Soyun wondered aloud.\n\nWeller declined to comment as he swept his illuminating gaze through the room. The inside of the house was just as decayed as the outside. Dirt and grime littered every surface. The cyborg led the way deeper into he house, activating the strength and speed augmentations implanted in his body. \n\n*heeh heeh Heeh HEEEH*\n\nEerie laughter splashed over the two like icy water. Soyun made a mewling sound in her throat while Weller took up a combat stance.\n\n\"Stay behind me, Soyun!\" Weller said.\n\n*Its too late for that.*\n\nA figure appeared shrouded in a dark robe and hood, face hidden.\n\n*You see I have you surrounded!*\n\nAt the figure's proclamation several doors burst open, revealing zombie like creatures covered in blood.\n\n\"Those are the missing villagers!\" Soyun cried.\n\n*Indeed, now under my control! I should thank you, clever one! Though you're not much of a catch you did lead the cyborg soldier here. He will make a wonderful minion!*\n\nAs one the zombie villagers sprang at Weller. He swatted the nearest out of the air with a cybernetically enhanced slap then swiftly dodged the grasping hands of another. The cyborg engaged his leg prosthetics to leap high, shattering the floorboards and delivering an aerial clothesline to two more creatures.\n\n\"STOP, you're hurting them!\"\n\nWeller paused his assault and enabled infra-vision. The creatures were warm. They were still alive!\n\n*Oh so clever, the girl is right! My minions live yet! Now what will you do, soldier? Will you kill those you came to save just to save yourself? Haah haaah!*\n\nThe zombified villagers rose again and began to close in on Weller. He couldn't just destroy living people. \n\n\"Looks like it's up to me! *Solar Force Foundation!* \"\n\nSoyun's voice echoed with power as light and warmth poured in around her. The light intensified until even Weller's enhanced optics could no longer see. When his vision cleared he saw Soyun standing tall. Her simple school uniform had been replaced with a shimmering garment of radiant yellow that appeared to be half dress, half armor. In her hand was a scepter crowned with a glowing gem and on her other arm was a gem studded targe shield.\n\n\"I am the beautiful defender of Light and Truth. I am Solar Knightess Soyun! Face the holy light of judgement!\""
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inspired by something i saw when i went for a drive today. 750 words or fewer
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[FF] How did the stuffed animal get tied to the bottom of the tailpipe?
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"it was a dark and stormy night. Muzzy the bunny shivered with fright as she bounced with the movement of the car. The tailpipe which she clung to was growing hotter by the moment and was beginning to burn her. Even still, she refused to let go. She felt invisible stuffed-bunny tears slide down her nose. The last day had been the worst thing she had ever experienced. Her previous owner, a young girl names Lindsay had grown out of her toys and Muzzy had been donated to Good Will. Like most toys, Muzzy had accepted this fact and looked forward to getting a new owner. However, she had been picked up, not by another sweet young girl, but by a group of teenage boys. They had spent the rest of the day tormenting her in more ways than she thought possible. Finally they let up and left her, shivering, in the yard. She knew she had to get away, and quickly. She spotted the car a few feet where she lay and saw the tailpipe protruding from the bottom. Desperate and frightened, she scrambled across the grass and wrapped her body around the tailpipe...",
"Kevin Alles' thoughts were foggy. That is the best word he could come up with. Foggy. \n\nHe went through fits of anxiety, accompanied by uncontrollable obsessions. He would find a fleeting moment of rationality, where he felt the world around him made sense, was in order, and then it would be instantly dashed by some compulsion he didn't see coming, and his world would crumble around him under the sheer weight of the anxiety.\n\nSo when Kevin saw the stuffed kangaroo dangling from the muffler of a beat-up Mercury Capri, green, circa mid-1970’s, he immediately began to panic. \n\n\"What the hell? WHY?\" \n\nIt was supposed to be a normal day. It had been 5 days since his last obsession-fueled fit of anxiety, when he couldn't quite come to terms with the variability of rustle-ness among \"jimmies\". The only way he recovered was to resume his daily Autogenics training prescribed by his psychiatrist.\n\nSo now 5 days later, he decided he could drag himself back to work, and had hoped for a dull commute. Instead, this. A fucking purple kangaroo hanging from a tailpipe. Damn it.\n\nBeads of sweat formed on his forehead. His armpits moistened immediately. \nIn the weeks that followed, he lived in a state of quasi-terror. He finally broke. He had to know. He became desperate. \n\nHe posted in the \"missed connections\" section of Craigslist. He posted flyers. All asking \"How did the stuffed animal get tied to the bottom of the tailpipe?\" Hell, it got to the point where he posted it as a prompt for amateur writers. \n\n\"Maybe the owner of that Capri will respond, maybe he'll tell me why he did this, I need to know...\"\n\nHis pulsed raced every time he pressed F5. Nothing. F5. Nothing. F5. Nothing.\n\nAs his bloodshot eyes strained to make out the monitor, he pressed F5 again. A single comment read \"Berwyn Spindle, Illinois.\" \n\nWhat did it mean? He felt relieved at the hope that an answer was imminent. He got directions, fumbled hastily with his car keys, and sped off in the night. \n\nThe daylight was seeping over the horizon as he approached Cermak Plaza. He knew immediately what he was looking for. Halfway up a 50 foot spike holding eight cars, was the same green Mercury Capri he saw just 22 days earlier. He immediately looked closer to see if he could spot the purple fur of the kangaroo. Nothing.\n\nHe approached cautiously as his anxiety increased. A box lay next to the spindle. He opened the box. \n\nIt contained a noose and a man-sized purple kangaroo suit. He knew what he had to do."
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[WP] A teacher finds out that a student is in a bad situation with his or her parents. Luckily for the student but unfortunately for the parents, the teacher is a powerful witch...
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"It was something she had only noticed a week ago.\n\nAlice had started coming to class late, and leaving even later. It didn't register as a problem at first. Plenty of students stayed after school for a variety of reasons, so she dismissed it.\n\nBut as time went on, she became increasingly suspicious. Alice had no friends at school, so that wasn't the reason she stayed behind. She wasn't a part of any clubs either, so that couldn't be the reason.\n\nAmelia had tried her best to get the girl out of her shell, but nothing worked. Alice shied away from all physical contact and kept to herself. Nothing worked.\n\nSo she gave up.\n\nNot entirely. But she did stop trying to include her in every activity.\n\nShe wasn't proud of it, but she had no choice. She had an entire class to run, and if Alice didn't want to interact with her classmates, then she wouldn't force her to.\n\nNow, though, she was starting to get worried.\n\n\"Ms. Hailey?\"\n\nAmelia looked up at Alice, once again covered head to toe in a long-sleeved jacket and jeans two sizes too big.... In the middle of summer.\n\n\"Yes, Alice?\"\n\nThe small blond girl looked like she was ready to bolt already. Amelia offered her a kind smile, and she relaxed somewhat, though she was still tense.\n\n\"I-I can't go on the school trip. M-My parents said no.\"\n\nAt this, Amelia frowned. That was.... unfortunate. She had organised the excursion as a reward for the class's good behaviour, and no one was better behaved than Alice.\n\n\"Oh. Well, maybe I could talk to them--\"\n\n\"No!\"\n\nAlice's shout surprised her enough that she actually listened. When the girl realised what she'd said, her blue eyes widened in shock and terror and Amelia was suddenly struck by just her tiny she was.\n\n\"I-I-I d-didn't mean....\"\n\nShe couldn't even finish her sentence before bolting out the door, leaving the red-haired teacher in shock. She snapped out of her stupor and her eyes narrowed.\n\nEnough was enough.\n\nIt was a simple matter to find Alice's house. A simple locating charm and a teleportation spell and she was there.\n\nShe frowned at the sorry state of the building. The paint was faded and the wood seemed to be rotting in several places. She wasn't sure if the interior was any better. Still....\n\nThis was no place for a child.\n\nThe universe seemed to agree with her as she heard a scream and then a booming shout. She practically glided to the door then, though she didn't bother knocking when she arrived.\n\nInstead, she merely walked through it.\n\nThe first room she entered was empty and she didn't waste any time before moving up the stairs where the voices came from. There was a broken-down door at the end of the hallway and Amelia dreaded what she would find.\n\nWhen she saw the blood, her gaze hardened.\n\nFaster than the two adults could perceive, she waved a hand and they flew backwards, crashing through a wooden wall.\n\nAmelia immediately rushed over to Alice and cradled her limp, bleeding form. She muttered a few words and Alice's wounds started slowly closing. Just enough to prevent any bleeding until she could get medical help. As powerful as Amelia was, she wasn't a healer.\n\n\"Ugh.\" Alice's \"parents\" groaned and stirred, drawing Amelia's attention.\n\nTaking care of subhuman pieces of trash, on the other hand? That was something she could do.\n\nA quick, single-syllable utterance later and pitch-black flames consumed the entire house, burning everything inside to ash, including the souls of its two occupants.\n\nAmelia watched it burn, then turned her gaze back to Alice, cradled in her arms.\n\n\"No one will ever hurt you again.\"\n\nShe'd make sure of it."
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[WP] As the world's greatest superhero, you've spent years of your life battling your nemesis, a villain intent on taking over the world. When, through schemes and duplicitousness, the villain finally succeeds, you're faced with a difficult realization - the villain is actually an excellent leader.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"BRING ALL WHO EVER OPPOSED ME FORWARD!\" This is it... after his takeover of the planet, his crew went to the ends of the earth to capture every single hero who ever fought him... that includes me... I was one of the first arrested...\n\nAs the guards bring us through, I think back to my fights with him... he's had many try to take him down, but I was his main rival... we're all forced to our knees before him, his enormous throne room intimidating. There are strict rules - we are not to speak without permission, we are not to resist, we must follow orders... the villain looks directly at me, his biggest obstacle, his greatest foe. He has a wicked grin.\n\n\"How does it feel, being underneath my foot?\" He gets up from his throne, the guards either side of him not moving. He walks over. \"Do you feel ashamed now? Maybe my methods are strict, but surely you've heard of how well the planet is doing under my rule.\"\n\n\"...Yes, my lord, I have. I... I hear you have an iron grip on the nations, but I also know how much better off the world is as a whole. You single-handedly solved world hunger!\"\n\n\"Oh for the love of- Juke, you can't be serious! Hellbringer has practically stripped everyone of their freedom! He's a menace! He-\"\n\n\"SILENCE!\" Hellbringer slams his staff onto the ground. Instantly, Liberator falls face-first to the ground, the suffocation clear.\n\n\"My lord, I beg you, please stop!\" Lunder, ever the gentle soul, hates seeing people suffer. Hellbringer looks to me.\n\n\"There's no reason to make him suffer, my lord. Please.\" He nods, releasing Liberator from his grip. Liberator sits back up, eyes wide with fear.\n\n\"Don't speak out of turn again. Do you have any idea what I sacrificed? How much work I put in to make this happen? I only want the best for my subjects! That means I do what I can for them, and if that means I'm a little strict, then so be it!\"\n\nLiberator bows his head in shame. \"I apologise, my lord... it was not my place...\"\n\n\"My lord, if I may speak?\" Hellbringer nods, allowing Float to talk. \"Liberator... it is true that freedom and free-will has been... removed, shall we say. But it's not so bad that the people are working for a meaningless life. I've seen the difference, son - many towns and villages are now safe. There is a lot of fear right now, but... I've never seen more peace.\"\n\n\"If I am honest... I think it's taken slightly far... I do acknowledge all the great work done up until now, but some of the rules, from what I've heard, are unnecessarily restrictive.\" I feel Hellbringer's gaze upon me.\n\n\"If you think I am unfit leader, Juke, then strike me now, with your ear-splitting noise!\" I look at my hands. A chip had been inserted into my wrist, making using my powers impossible. I'm well-known for causing people to freeze from the volume I can produce noise at. But...\n\n\"My apologies, my lord. I just worry for the people.\"\n\n\"I know you do, Juke. But they're *my* problem now. Guards... take everyone except Juke to the dungeon. No harm is to come to any of them, as long as they behave themselves. Juke shall be taken to a *special* cell, right in this castle. Again, no harm shall come to him... as long as he behaves.\"\n\n\"Yes, my lord\" every single guard says in unison. I get marched away inside a room. In that room is a door which leads to another room. It seems like Hellbringer wants me directly adjacent to his sleeping chambers. I am no longer a hero, just a lowly prisoner...\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThank you for reading! More stories [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/x374da/oneoff_stories_a_collection_of_stories_which_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)"
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[WP] An alternative history where WW2 never ended.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Essay on World War 2 by Amanda Vickors. For Mr. Pearson, Grade 11 History.\n\nPeople say the longest war on of the 20th Century was the Korean War. Which officially ended in 2023 when the US and Earth Gov crossed the border and replaced the North Korean Government after the failed Nuclear Attack on Washington. This is wrong.\n\nThe Second World War is still ongoing in 2026. When the event happened in 1942 and killed 55 million people in my country of ancestry, Germany our government was destroyed. Our army that was in Africa, France and Eastern Europe survived.While our forces surrendered there was never a peace agreement or armistice was never signed. (1). This means that the allies who were at war with the axis are still at war with Germany and it’s peoples.\n\nThis ongoing war can be seen on the World’s war on our culture and language. (2) While it is true our country was devastated and no living thing can survive there some of it still survives. The land that should belong to the Germans was illegally appropriated by Earth Gov and MANA. (3)\n\nGermany has been vilified for its actions in World War Two. No proof of these conspiracy theories has been forthcoming on the last almost 85 years. (1). \n\nThe German government at the time was trying to free Germany and Germans from oppression (1). The so called Allies were trying to stop it. So much so they still attack German culture (2) and continue to vilify our beliefs. \n\nIn conclusion World War 2 has not ended it has just continued as a culture war.\n\n(1) The Third Reich. Then and now. H. Koenig\n(2) German Culture: The Lost Childers. G. Hert\n(3) Earth Gov and MANA: The New Fascists. P. Tonkin\n\nAmanda I applaud your passion for your cultural heritage, however you completely missed the point of this essay. It is off topic and your sources are biased and the theories in them have been rejected by their peers. You will need to rewrite this, on topic, please. Maybe pick one of the American Supers that took part in the Pacific part of the war like your fellow students. Otherwise I will have to give you an F\n\nMr. Pearson.",
"Silence.\n\nAmidst the ruins of once-prosperous cities, concrete landscapes, verdant plains, lush forests and jungles, teeming fauna.\n\nSilence.\n\nNothing remained. Perhaps in some other reality, the war could have ended with the atomic bombings of the was-Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In another, it could have ended with the Great Joint Landing of the Allies and Soviets on Japanese soil. In yet another, it could have ended with the conquest of Germany with half of the world and Japan with the other half, tensions rising between the only two powers of Earth. And even yet in another, it could have ended overwhelmingly in the favor of the Axis, conquering the world and slowly turning from fascist warmongerers to authoritarian pioneers of world progress. Countless possibilities across countless realities.\n\nBut not this one.\n\nThis Earth was an unlucky one. One damned by fate and circumstance.\n\nWhere bullets flew to flesh, where shells impacted ground and bunkers, where ships clashed atop open seas, where planes warred in the vast skies.\n\nSilence.\n\nWhere peace was never an option considered.\n\nWhere the Axis persisted long enough to replicate the results of Project Manhattan.\n\nWhere the Comintern developed their own atomic weaponry.\n\nWhere countless hundreds of millions on both sides died in atomic cleansing.\n\nWar never ceased. It never changed.\n\nSilence.\n\nThe atomics were mass produced at 1961 by the Allies, Axis, and the Soviets.\n\nUsed wantonly on every military target. On every civilian dwelling site.\n\nWinters became longer. Radiation plagued the land. Everything decayed and died in front of nuclear fission.\n\nUntil, in 1984, war stopped. For there was no more capable of waging it.\n\nThe barren Earth floats in the great expanse of space, covered in radioactive winter.\n\nAnd the silence continues."
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[WP] Upon being struck down by the legendary hero from another world the demon lord wakes up in the body of a human in a world of strange silver towers, self moving carriages and not a single drop of magic in the air
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Hi u/PotentialSmell, this submission has been removed.\n\n**No recent reposts, even if changing small details** Also, no [copy-cats](http://i.imgur.com/38FjDgW.gifv).\n\nSearch before submitting as popular ideas can cause floods. If your idea is based on something you read elsewhere on reddit, chances are it's been submitted here already. Please wait at least 2 weeks before reposting.\n\n \n\nPlease avoid Dark Lord prompts.\n\n* *[From Rule 5: No recent reposts, even if changing small details](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_5.3A_no_recent_reposts.2C_even_if_changing_small_details)*\n\n---\n\n\n\n---\n\n[Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWritingPrompts&subject=Removed%20post&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/y81nkd/-/%0A%0A) us if you have any questions or concerns. In the future, please refer to the [sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/config/sidebar) before posting. \n\n*This action was not automated and this moderator is human. Time to go do human things.*"
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[WP] A magical girl anime where all the magical girls act like stereotypical thugs.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Hi u/CommercialLychee39, this submission has been removed.\n\n**No recent reposts, even if changing small details** Also, no [copy-cats](http://i.imgur.com/38FjDgW.gifv).\n\nSearch before submitting as popular ideas can cause floods. If your idea is based on something you read elsewhere on reddit, chances are it's been submitted here already. Please wait at least 2 weeks before reposting.\n\n \n\n\n\n* *[From Rule 5: No recent reposts, even if changing small details](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_5.3A_no_recent_reposts.2C_even_if_changing_small_details)*\n\n---\n\n\n\n---\n\n[Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWritingPrompts&subject=Removed%20post&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/y8f4mv/-/%0A%0A) us if you have any questions or concerns. In the future, please refer to the [sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/config/sidebar) before posting. \n\n*This action was not automated and this moderator is human. Time to go do human things.*"
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[WP] The gardener’s son and the princess are secretly in love. Jealous, the vizier’s son falsely accuses the servant boy of a crime, and the latter is exiled. Years later, the castle is besieged. Suddenly, a band of soldiers without any crests on their armor appear at the rear of the invading army.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“Send out a horse, I need to know who those people are!” The captain slammed an armored fist into the wooden table with a resounding clatter.\n“Sir, we’ve sent dozens of horses! They’ve all been cut down before they reached the back!”\n“Then send a dove, send a foot soldier, I don’t CARE who you send, just send someone!” The captain would slap the soldier with the back of his hand.\nRubbing his face, he bowed and put his helmet back on. No doubt, the captain meant to send him at some point.\n\nSweeping a cloak over his shoulders, the soldier took the scroll in one hand and a sword in the other, setting his face grimly and preparing for the journey through the battlefield. His orders were to go on foot, as the captains were sure a horse would be cut down when it got too close. Wearing a dead man’s armor was quite frightening, the soldier reflected as he donned the armor of the opposing side, his chest plate bare of a crest or sigil. \n“You be careful out there, or one of your brothers might cut you down” His friend grinned in a painful way, and patted him on the back, “You come back in one piece, alright?”\nThe soldier didn’t smile back, there was no point under the thick black mask of a helmet that he now wore, “I’ll try, don’t get too cut up while I’m gone alright?”\nHis friend nodded and stepped aside, clearing the way for him to leave the fortress and slink away into the battlefield.\n\nTraveling through the muck and mud created by horses as they kicked up the dirt was no easy task, as the man would discover. Many times he had to duck for cover under a hail of arrows and move silently among the rocks to dodge the gnashing swords of both enemy and friend.\nAt last he reached a camp, and around the bright fire he could see a man who looked like no other yet was so familiar. The man, unlike his brethren around the licking flames, was dressed in gnarled silver resembling dense vines and bramble. His helmet was adorned by the shapes and colors of flowers made of melted silver, copper, and gold, and his lithe form made apparent who this man was. The gardener, merely a boy the last time the soldier had seen him. He knew why he was here.\n\nHaving caught sight of the man, the gardener harkened him forth and into the spirals that cascaded from the shadows tossed by the flames, “You, newcomer. I can tell you are not what you dress. Who are you?”\n\nTaken slightly aback, the soldier became aware of the bristling, tense atmosphere that suddenly coated the smoke thick air. He took off his helmet carefully, before tossing his weapons away and closer to the fire. “I come bearing a message, both from my captain and from myself. My captain wishes to know who you are, but I could bring back that information myself now that I have seen you, boy.”\n\n“I am no mere boy now.” The response bit back.\n\n“You’re here for the princess, aren’t you? Are you aware of what these other men you fight with plan to do?”\n\n“I am well aware of what I-!” The man stood up, but bit back the snarl and sat back down.\n\n“The knights wearing the ravens sigil, they wish to take over the castle. That entails killing all of the royalty, including the princess.”\n\n“Silence! Keep your snake tongue between its teeth or I will cut it off!” The gardener rose again, his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Men, is this true?”\n\nA few of the men wearing the raven sigil turned away, or sat there silently, but none dared respond. Finally, one spoke up, “M’lord, we’re you not aware of this?”\n\nThe gardener stood silently for a moment, before turning his back from the fire, “So be it. Men, at dawn we shall cut through the ranks of those ahead of us. Part with your friends at once.” He walked away, taking the handful of his men with him. The others rushed off to warn their captains and brethren. All but one. Clasping the knights hand, the soldier pulled him to his feet, grinning fiercely, “Good plan sir, turning them on each other was a handsome plan.”",
"\"Who are they? Who is attacking us?!\" The sergeant asked his men on the walls. \n\nThey didn't know and they told him so. He glared at them and looked, trying to find something. Anything that would identify the attacking force. \n\nThey had no flags, no banners, no insignia on their armor. \n\n\"I don't even think they are a who.\" One of the wall archers said. \n\n\"What do you mean?\" The sergeant asked. \n\nThe archer pointed to one armored enemy standing closer than the others. Numerous cross bow bolts had punctured the armor. Yet he did not seem to care. \n\n\"How is he alive?\" The sergeant asked. \n\nThe armored man stepped forward again and again. Until a bolt took him in the head. His helmet flying straight off. \n\nThe archers of the wall cheered. \n\nFor a moment.\n\nThe armored opponent stepped closer. \n\n\"What instead monster of hell is that thing?\" One asked as it moved. \n\nAll they could see from where the helmet once stood was a brown twisted mass. \n\nIt got to the wall and then it became clear what it was. What everything was. \n\nAs branches, vines, leaves, sprang in mass from the armored body, climbing the wall quickly. \n\nThe outer walls fell quickly. They could not stop the brutal attack of the living forest themselves. \n\nThe sergeant survived but was captured. He sat surrounded by the wood and unable to escape. So he got to see the leader first hand. This one was different. The armor stood out. He pulled off a glove to touch the wood being around him. Somehow that seemed to give them orders. \n\n\"Who are you, what do you want?\" The sergeant asked the figure. \n\n\"Simple, I am here to build my garden.\" Came the response."
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[WP] Explain a society’s morals as if evil was normalized and correct.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Okay kid, listen to me very carefully.\nThis is not a lesson on ethocs or some other fancy shit. This is self defense.\n\nEverybody out there is out to get you. And you should return the favor to them. Forget about compassion, solidarity or whatever fantasy you're dreaming about.\n\nStealing from a bank is fine. They will rip you off in any way conceivable.\nWhen you strike go for the kill. Never leave behind someone with a revenge desire.\nThere is no such thing as a proportional response. Overkill is best. If someone looks the wrong way to you and for that their whole family is murdered they will be an example. \n\nMight makes Right. If you're right without the strenght to back it up it's good for nothing.\n\nLast but not least, trust no one. Not even me."
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[WP] You are a shapeshifter and a young girl takes you home as her pet dog, you’ve been with her for years when she brings her new boyfriend home. He reeks of death and bad intentions. You try to warn her but she doesn’t listen, that is until he tries to harm her in front of you
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I had watched her grow up, content to be her pet dog. I would only change form at night, after she was asleep. I usually chose the form of a special ops soldier, since that was my former owner! I learned a lot from him, including the value of \"shock and awe\"!\n\nI had also picked up on his quick assessment of people, and this new intruder did not smell good at all! Since my owner took me with her to move out, she had spent many lonely nights telling me about her dream man. However, this guy struck me as a nightmare!\n\nI tried to warn her by forging letters from her parents and brother, but nothing worked. She was convinced that if she was patient, he would change. Even the nice landlady told her to kick him out, but she was just too stubborn!\n\nFinally, the day I dreaded came. The intruder came home, yelling and stumbling through the door. He insisted that my owner had told the police about his dealer, and she would pay for his fixes from now on! When she told him to leave, he shoved her to the floor! She screamed for me to get help!\n\nI ran around the side of the porch, and shifted into the soldier form. I quietly moved through the door, where I found him on top of her, screaming in her face! As he raised his hand to hit her, I grabbed his wrist and broke it! He yelled in pain, and I put a knee in his back and put a zip tie on his hands and feet.\n\nThe landlady came in with the local police, just after I ran into the next room and shifted back to dog form. I barked in his ear, and went to comfort her. She petted me and told me what a good dog I was! The police took him away for possession and assault, and he went to prison.\n\nThe cops were amazed that my owner was strong enough to break his wrist and zip tie him! She swore that a soldier with a helmet came in, did the deed, then disappeared. Since no one could verify this, she figured someone was watching out for her.\n\nAbout a year later, a new intruder came to meet her. Something was familiar about his scent, and as I came downstairs to check the new boyfriend, I recognized my former owner! Our reunion was great, and the form of a dog became a permanent lifestyle!",
"They called me Red. For my hair. And my temper. Being a human was hard. Too many rules, none of them made sense. That's what got me. The sense of it. I couldn't wrap my head around the sense. I got in a lot of fights. I won most of them, I was always bigger than the other boys. But I couldn't start the fights, not even when they called me names, or trashed my stuff, or called mom names. Not even after she died. I could finish the fights, so long as I knew when to finish them. Rules. When is the fight finished? If I didn't finish it enough, they'd get up and hit me again. That's when I get hurt. If I finish it just right, I get to go home. Finish it too hard? That's the rule that got me.\n\nBecky was special. Like me. But not like me. She was young. I caught someone touching her in a place she shouldn't be touched. I stopped him. I didn't stop stopping him. They found me stopping him forever. But Becky was safe, that's what mattered. Shouldn't touch little kids like that. They gave me a choice. Prison or military. My dad made me take military. I liked military. Lots of rules, but even when they don't make sense, you can't go wrong following them. Everything was fine until that one September. Some bad guys flew planes wrong, and so I had to go tell them to stop flying planes wrong. I got sent to Afghanistan. I didn't like Afghanistan. They talked wrong. I think the wrong words they used made them think funny, because everyone seemed to want to fight us. You shouldn't pick fights, only end them. I was good at ending them. Here, they didn't mind if I ended them all the way, just if I started them. I got so good at ending them, they put me in the forces that fit me. The special ones. That was good, until it wasn't. We got caught, I was the only one that got to go home. Something happened. I was me, but I wasn't me, and so I got to leave. I couldn't explain it to the general, so they sent me to Leavenworth. Not far from home. I did the thing again when we got near the prison, and slipped out. Muddy paws now, but I can go home.\n\nHome isn't my home anymore. I guess dad died too. Becky lives there now, with her family. They tried to chase me off a few times, but I'm home now, and eventually they let it be home. They took me in. Blue, they call me now. Funny how its like Red. Being a dog is easy. Not many rules, and there's no gray area. Can't sit on that couch. Can't go in that room.\n\nBecky is pretty well grown up now. She's got a boyfriend, but her parents don't know. She's too special, they don't think its good. I don't either. I don't like him. He smells bad. He touches her like the other man did, but she wants him to? So I guess its okay? Until it isn't? Rules. Stupid rules. She said no. I heard that. I heard it and heard it and heard it. Eventually I stood up. Not on my paws, but my feet. I got the door open. Becky wasn't doing well. She was turning blue. I didn't start the fight, but boy did I finish it. And finish it. And finish it. Becky recognized me. I didn't think she would, after all this time. Once she stopped being blue, she called my name. She kept calling it, and I held her. I heard her parents come home. They found Becky, pretty beat up. They found the man. Kinda. They found her buddy, Blue.",
"Being a shifter normally sucks.\n\nHere's how it's supposed to work. You get powers. You go out and fight crime. The Stratospheric Guard invites you to fight the invading aliens. You take down alien invaders, the Guard pays you, you take your money and get rich.\n\n(Seriously, the Guard pays $10k per hour, minimum, for heroes who can duke it out with aliens. That's sweet, sweet cash right there.)\n\nHere's how it works in real life. Also known as 'when your power is to shapeshift into a medium-sized furry animal'.\n\nThe Stratospheric Guard only hires those ultras who can go head-to-head with aliens. Who are stronger than elephants. \n\nWhen the largest form you can take is of a German Shepherd, that's not much. \n\nAlso, alien attacks happen once a month and they target the major cities. There's nearly 3,000 cities across the world, which means if you live in a major urban are your chances of being targeted are about one in 250 each year. Six years since I got my power would put it at 2.4%. \n\nFighting crime? \n\nEgbert the Supersniffer is a kids cartoon about an ultra dog who sniffs put criminals. Wish I had his power. Detecting evil with a sniff. Huh.\n\nReal world criminals smell much the same as other people. Maybe more soap. Lady MacBeth and all the perfumes of Arabia, after all. \n\nReal world criminals also don't do their dark deeds in easy to patrol places. A dog isn't going to be attending a Goldman Sachs meeting.\n\nEmployment prospects for a teen who dropped out of high school aren’t great. Employment prospects for a dog who knows high school math aren’t much better. \n\nReally, though, I'm more comfortable in doggy form. When you're human you have to worry about things like soap. And clothes. And what you can safely eat. \n\nDoggy stomachs can digest stuff a lot better. \n\nIt's also less awkward when you have to tell people you're allergic to chocolate.\n\nOne of my friends at school was Timmy. Timmy knew pretty early on who he was. Told me he liked boys. \n\nNot me, but some boys. Nice to be sure of who you are when you're thirteen. \n\nComing out meant Timmy could be safe in his own skin. Nice. Made him calmer, better, safer.\n\nSadly ultras don't have that option. Have to say Timmy tried. He could tell I wasn't comfortable being the 'me' people saw in school. Tried to talk me into coming out.\n\nThought I was like him. What a hoot. \n\nTimmy, I can't come out because when you're a publicly declared ultra, other ultras try to kill you. \n\nYeah, that's something we have in common, but at least the cops can stop the guys who come after YOU. I have no illusions about my chances in a fight with Grumman or Tigerstrike. \n\n(Comtinued in comments)",
"Cold. It’s so cold. All the warmth is leaking out of me, dripping out onto the ground. I’m so tired. I’ve not slept for days and my legs are so weak. I can barely stand, barely take another step. Just one more step, I have to take one more step. I have to get somewhere, anywhere, before I’m buried alive in this snow. I can’t, my legs give out. I collapse, more than ever I can feel the heat bleeding out from me. As my consciousness fades, I can’t help but feel relief. I will finally be at rest. \n\n—————————————————————————\n\nWhere am I? It’s…warm. So warm, and…bandages? Yes, I’ve been bandaged. I’m still in my dog form. Larger than the average dog by far, this from is quite reminiscent of a wolf-dog. So much so, I’ve been shot at by many humans and left to bleed out on more than one occasion. Never, though, had I been so close to death as I just had been. I never expected any kindness from humans, they hate me. Both in this form and if they came to know what I truly am. How then, did I come to be bandaged and warm in what looks to be a human home. Is that food? Dog food, yes. It may not taste good, but it fills my stomach well enough. That feeling, of a full stomach, is one I’ve not felt in quite a while. \n\nHuman! There’s a human in the room, and he’s noticed that I’ve been awake. She’s coming closer, oh no. She’s right in front of me, and she’s raising her hand to strike. I brace myself for the blow, mind racing, looking for an exit. No use, I’m still too weak to even stand. I’ll have to endure the whims of this human until I can make my way out. Knowing human brutality, that opportunity may never appear. \n\nShe does not strike. Instead, she places her hand between my ears. She runs her fingers through my corse black fur, it feels…nice. Nicer than the strike I had anticipated to be sure, but I’ve never felt anything this this. Maybe I won’t be so quick to leave. \n\n—————————————————————————\n\nMy human, who I’ve come to know as Emily, has brought home a man. I hate this man, he smells of anger, of lust. None of the kindness or compassion that Emily deserves. I quickly get between her and him, bearing my fangs and raising my hackles. I do this to scare him off, and to let Emily know of the danger. She does not understand, dragging me by the collar and shutting me in the kennel. \n\nThe collar and the kennel, the only downsides to my life with Emily. I bear the humiliation only because of her kindness, because of the food, shelter, and because I have nowhere else to go. If I left, which I could, I’d be out on the streets again, a fate which I’d do anything to avoid. \n\n—————————————————————————\n\nFor the past few weeks, Emily has brought that man, whose name is Randy, over more and more. As such, I’ve been confined to the kennel in equal measure. I’ve been playing calm, hoping to earn back her trust. She’s been quite cold to me since she first met Randy, I suspect she resents me for making him nervous. \n\nHe hit her, he actually hit her. \n\nA week ago, Emily and Randy decided that exposer would be the best approach. I allowed his greasy fingers to touch my fur, it disgusted me, yet I couldn’t protect Emily if I was shut in the kennel. \n\nToday, when Randy arrived, he stunk of alcohol. He he unloaded on her, ranting and raving about his job as a mechanic. Emily, for her part, listened intently, she truly is a kind soul. Her phone, which was laid sitting out on the coffee table, lit up with a text from her cousin Aaron. Randy exploded, screaming at her for talking to another man. He then raised his fist, and struck straight in her face. \n\nI. See. Red \n\nI leap up and knock him to the ground, and rip out his throat. The blood is warm in my mouth, tasting of iron. Emily screams, and I turn toward her, eliciting more screaming. I jump again, catching the door handle in my paws, prying the door slightly open. From there, I used my snout to open the door fully. I bolt. \n\n—————————————————————————\n\nI wash the blood off in a stream, regret stirring in my gut. Randy was a scumbag and I did what I had to to protect Emily, but I should have let her handle him. Now she probably hates me, now I’ll have to go back to living on the streets. Tears well up in my eyes, I can’t bear the thought of another night out in the cold, not after I’d been happy for so long. \n\n—————————————————————————\n\nI am brought from my rue when a car passes on the road above the river where I lay. I recognize the vehicle as belonging to Emily, and there can only be one place where she is going; her favorite bar.\n\nA plan takes shape in my head. \n\nI stroll up to the bar in human form. I wear a set of baggy, ill fitting clothes, stolen from an empty home. In the pocket of my jeans, there is a wallet with around on hundred dollars, also stolen. \n\nI find her sitting alone, sipping on a pint of ale. I take a stool a few places down from her and order a drink for myself. I didn’t plan this far ahead. \n\n—————————————————————————\n\nOne of my buddies back home forged me some documents, so now I’ve got myself a driver’s license. I’ve used that to get myself a job at a gas station, it’s not fun, but I’ve got enough money now to eat real food. I’m still sleeping under that bridge, but it’s not so bad now that I have something to look forward to. I meet Emily for drinks every Saturday, it’s nice to get to know her as a person, rather than her pet. I’m probably going to have to tell her who I am someday, but I plan to stall for as long as I can.",
"There had never been much good in Gemma's life. Parents didn't care about me growing up, suddenly finding out I was a shape-shifting and learning how to control that, bad in school, bad at friendships, worst luck with finding and keeping a decent job...that was what led to the whole misunderstanding, actually.\n\nIt was a job, it barely kept a roof over my head and food in my stomach, but it did. Only issue was walking home late at night on the side of town the seedy old dive bar was in. However, I had realized that if I shifted to a rather large, heavily muscled pitbull everyone left me alone.\n\nUntil someone didn't.\n\nIt was years ago when that navy Subaru pulled up alongside me, flicking on it's hazards as a woman stepped out into the cold with a sad expression, speaking softly and lowering herself as she called to me. She even pulled out a chicken nugget to offer me.\n\nI don't have any real excuse for why, maybe it was the kindness in her eyes, but I caved. Before I knew it I was being hand fed warm chicken nuggets while getting scritches. Honestly, it was fantastic. I hadn't been petted before and it felt amazing, like when someone scratches that spot between your shoulder blades, but SO much better.\n\nWhen she opened the trunk and tried to coax me into her car, I just...did. I hopped right in and curled up in the warmth of the car.\n\nOnce at her home, she put me in the large bathroom and brought back water and some shredded chicken. I don't know why, but she explained everything to me, as if she knew I would understand. I was in here because she had a little girl who loved puppies, she was the reason she had stopped for me, in fact, and she needed to be sure I wasn't sick before meeting her. It was actually cozy curled up in the tub with the pile of blankets she had brought for me. \n\nThe next day held a trip to the vet to check for a microchip. When they didn't find one, she brought me home where I met the husband I'd been warned wouldn't be happy about me.\n\nHe was, indeed, not happy about me. That was okay, though, I hadn't intended to stay long.\n\nUntil I did. Once I was deemed somewhat safe the little girl was finally allowed to meet the \"puppy\". I had heard of love at first sight, and now I believed in it. \n\nLittle Mia was the physical embodiment of love and joy and all things good in the world. From the moment she saw me she loved me. The years flew by in a contented blur of cuddles and games. I was the model family dog, even John, the husband, quickly came around. Cindy, the wife, was the one who brought me here, but everyone knew I was Mia's dog. We were inseparable, she and I. Mia and Maisy, my new name for a new life.\n\nAs the years passed we both grew older, and she moved on from her childish toys. Inevitably, this meant she entered the world of romance. The first few had been alright, nothing special, but not worth keeping, and she hadn't. This one, though...he raised my hackles, but I played nice for Mia's sake. He just felt and smelled wrong...his eyes were untrustworthy, as well.\n\nThe day finally came when Mia's parents were out for the evening and she brought the boy home on his insistence. He never liked me, said I made him uncomfortable...but this time, he put me outside and shut the door. After a while, I heard it: Mia yelling for him to stop something.\n\nMia was yelling for me.\n\nWithout hesitating, I shifted back to myself in order to turn the door handle and run inside, forgetting how much slower two legs were than four as I raced for my girl. He had her pinned down while she fought as best she could. Her eyes met mine and widened as I shifted back to Maisy, latching my teeth onto the boy and tearing him off of her.\n\nI had never been so enraged, and I made sure he felt it. I kept up the attack until he left, racing bleeding and screaming about a \"rabid dog\". Once he was gone, I had gone to check on my Mia, but she stayed away when I came near.\n\n\"M-Maisy? Who...what are you? I know what I saw! You were...you were...\"\n\nMy head hung, and I finally returned to myself, to Gemma, pulling the blanket off the couch with me to cover up as I did so. \n\n\"Im sorry, Mia, but you need to forget this. When they ask, say I chased him and didn't come back. They will put me down, they'll have to.\"\n\n\"But, who-\"\n\n\"I'm Maisy. I'm your Maisy, and that never changes, okay? I just...I don't have time to explain and I-I can't stay, now.\" My eyes brimmed with tears as my voice cracked with grief.\n\n\"Wait!\" She looked around, panic in her eyes \"Maybe we can hide it! I-I'll clean it all up, I'll say I attacked him, not you-\"\n\n\"No, Mia, they'll match the bites to me. I cant stay.\"\n\n\"Can you look like another dog?!\"\n\nI paused, confused \"What?\"\n\n\"Can you look like another dog? Can't you stay with me?\" She begged, starting to cry \"I-I don't want to lose my best friend!\"\n\nI hesitated, but pulled her into a hug, letting her cry \"Yes, I could, but I cant stay like this forever, Mia. I knew I would have to leave someday...and today is that day. I'll be nearby, though. You won't be alone. Focus on school, I'll find you when we can see each other again, okay?\"\n\nI left my Mia that day. It broke my heart to do it, but I had to, for both of us.\n\nYears later, I managed to get a decent job and eventually got established with a home of my own. It was hard, but worth it. Mia and I had kept in contact online, sending messages often to each other and occasionally meeting over school breaks where we greeted each other as old friends, telling her friends I was a dear friend of the family. It was so fulfilling to watch her grow up into the radiant, confident woman I knew she would be.\n\nWe were both excited, especially since she would be staying with me though her time at college. I smiled excitedly at the arrival time listed, knowing she was coming soon.\n\nI'd finally get to welcome my Mia home again, this time as Aunt Maisy, and I couldn't be happier.",
"I cant promise I'm any good, but this seems fun\n\nIt had been a fun few years since I'd realized I was a shapeshifter, but that wasn't important, because I had a problem.\n\nI had been doing my thing, running around as a dog, this time as a corgi, since they were adorable, when this girl, couldn't be more than 13, just walked over to me and said \"aw your so adorable!\" Without another word she went to pet me, and I was about to snap at her, but stopped 'whats the worst that could happen?' So one thing led to another, and she took me back to her house.\n\nAfter begging her mom to let me stay a while, I found myself waddling up the steps to her room, and there I ended up staying for a few years. It's not like I had anything better to do, I didn't have a house or anything, so I figured, 'whatever, this'll be fine they eventually figured out I refused to eat dog food, and started giving me some meat for my meals, most of the time raw, but eh, could be worse.\n\nI had been living in that home for 3 years since then, and I had tried to make my exit a while ago several times, pondering whether I should just run away, reveal myself, or some third option that refused to present itself to me, but never got past the planning phase, that was, until she was left alone with him.\n\nHer parents had gone on a trip, and was expressly told no boys over, but of course being a teenager, brought her boyfriend over. I have no idea what she saw in him, he looked creepy, and I got a feeling something wasn't right with him, so I decided I would remain firmly by her side until he left.\n\nIt had been a few hours, and he went into the kitchen to grab a snack or something, at least that's what he said, but I knew better, I saw him grab the knife from the knife block, and got ready.\n\nHe suddenly ran into the living room, and before I could do anything, delivered a swift kick to my side. Pain surged through me, but I had to get up, he was almost to her, she had barely noticed and was only beginning to scream, everything felt like it was in slow motion, and I knew what I needed to do.\n\nI jumped up on him, and shifter for the first time in 3 years, into a giant pit bull, and began scratching at him.\n\nI barked \"no time to explain! Grab the knife from him!\" Of course, it took her a second to process that her little corgi had turned into a pit bull and started talking to her, but eventually she figured it out and ran to us, and grabbed the knife from him\n\n\"Good, now call the police!\" I shifted back into a human form, I cant remember exactly what I looked like, so I just made a generic human male.\n\nAfter holding him down a while as we waited for the cops, I said \"I'm sure you have some questions...\"\n\n\"Yea-\" I delivered a swift kick to the jerk I had pinned down.\n\n\"Wasn't talking to you. God it feels good to talk again.\" My voice was gravelly after years of disuse, but that didn't matter.\n\n\"What are you?\" She asked politely yet shakily from the couch she sat at, the one farthest away from us both\n\n\"Well, that's a hard one, for the past three years I've been a corgi, before that I was anything I wanted to be, and now here we are. To put it bluntly though, im a shapeshifter, it was hard to figure out how it works, but now I can be basically anything.\" To prove my point I melted into a grey blob, still securely holding the attacker, then morphed back. \"I believe the police are here, so I must take my leave.\" I gave the attacker a quick punch to the head and knocked him cold. \"Hopefully they send him to an insane asylum, but you can't tell anyone, ok?\"\n\nShe quietly whispered \"ok...\" then exclaimed \"wait! Will I see you again?\"\n\nI was already at the back door \"maybe, we'll see.\" And with that, morphed into a crow and flew away.\n\nPlease let me know how I did, I don't think I'm very good, but we'll see"
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[WP] You go to a barbecue with a friend. There’s all sorts of games, drinks, music. All the grills are on, and there’s a great vibe. Except you notice there’s nothing to cook, and everyone has been very eager to meet you…
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"At once, all the stories I've heard come back to me. These aren't people; they're monsters, able to create illusions. They... they feed on people... I'd question how I hadn't noticed before, but these beings wouldn't have survived as long as they did if they were so easy to notice. But to think, even my own friend...\n\n\"You were trying to trick me, weren't you?\" I say without even looking at my 'friend'.\n\n\"I did a good job, right?\" Instantly, every creature drops their illusions. I get the urge to run, but before I can move, the creature who I thought was a friend puts his arm around me, his claws gripping me. \"It took a while... but we finally have you...\" I'm marched forward.\n\nIn an instant, all my clothes are torn off me. My feet are bound together, and as they begin tying my hands behind my back, I realise something...\n\n\"You... you're all going to... cook me ALIVE????\"\n\n\"The meat is fresher and more tender that way\" the being holding me whispers.\n\n\"Then... then why more than one grill?\" I ask desperately, hoping it was a mistake.\n\nEveryone laughs. \"You're not our *only* meal today!\" I look, and out of the house are three more humans being forced out. I'd try to run... but the moment I got here, it was too late. I watch as the others are prepared.\n\n\"Please, do-\" I'm cut short as a rope is tied around my mouth, preventing me from speaking. I'm helpless, as I'm placed on a grill. The pain from the heat is instant, as I look desperately at the one I had called 'friend'. The top of the grill is slammed shut, crushing me.\n\nThis is how I die... there's nothing I can do... I just close my eyes..."
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[WP] It turns out all the gods from every religion exist how was the universe actually created?
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"So uhm... how did all the stuff happen? Y'know, the universe?\" I called out to the congregation of forms and forces.\n\nThere was a jabber of responses. \"Kjempen Ymir sov, og svetten hans gjorde salt. Min bestefar sto opp fra det, jeg drepte ham, og kroppen hans skapte jorden!\" \"**Ochi! To cháos parígage gi, ouranó, káto kósmo kai neró. Óla ta álla proigíthikan!**\" \"*בראתי את העולם בשישה ימים*.\"\n\n\"You know,\" said one more voice. I jumped, for it came from just beside me. \"It's no use asking them. They all believe their world is true... but none is.\"\n\n\"Then what did it? And who are you?\"\n\n\"I am the Master of Stories. That is my title and my name. I, along with my siblings, and in turn all these gods, am a product of you mortals. The universe began just the way your scientists think it did: a bursting of matter which resulted in where we in now. I, and they, exist only through knowledge of and belief in us. I know, for I am Master of Stories.\"\n\nWith that the voice, whose owner I still could not see, seemed to fade. Now that I knew just what happened, would these gods lose some power? I didn't know- and didn't care to.",
"It all started in a house... With two friends screaming.\n-\"JESUS WHAT IS THIS THING?!\"-\n-\"I DON'T KNOW!\"-\n-\"WHAT DO WE DO?!\"- \n-\"I. DON'T. KNOW!\"-\nThe screaming from Jesus and Odin has managed to get Zeus, the only other resident at the moment (luckily), awake.\n-\"Guys... What is going on? Why are you all screaming? I was slee- what is that?\"-\n-\"Oh! Hi Zeus! What is what? There's nothing here!\"-\n-\"i know that you are lying Odin. Jesus, can you tell me what is going on?\"-\n-\"Lo- look, we where just messing with some boxes of our old stuff and we found this ball floating inside one of them\"-\nZeus grabs the floating ball and analysis it.\n-\"This is a planet... Do you know the contents of the box where the planet appeared?\"-\n-\"I'm not 100% sure, but I know there are at least one object from everyone living here\"-\n-\"Do you know how to deal with it?\"- Jesus asks in a worried tone\n-\"It's already too late to destroy it, there's already life in the planet\"- Zeus says pointing to the singular rock on the blue ball.\n-\"I think i have a idea\"- Odin, always with some crazy enough to work idea, goes inside the basement and grabs a old box.\n-\"I remember doing this galaxy as a school project a long time ago. We can use this galaxy to place the planet inside!\"- The deity says while opening the box\n-\"But there is no space here\"- \n-\"Just take one planet out. None of them doesn't have life anyway\"-\n-\"Hey Odin... Why is this planet called uranus?\"- Zeus asks, holding a laugh.\n-\"I was young and a little stupid alright\"-\nThe three gods look at the box and replaces an old planet that was inside the box and had the same size as the new and strange ball.\n-\"And what do we call it?\"- Jesus asks seeing the rock starting to separate into different pieces.\n-\"I don't know... Just call it Earth\"- Odin says.\n-\"You are really bad with names\"- Zeus says as he takes the box back into the basement.\nAfter that the three gods decide to don't talk about the incident and forget the box in the basement. Let's just hope that the life inside it doesn't evolve enough to discover the reality."
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[WP] I've made a pact with my best friend: 'The one who dies first must come back and tell what's on the other side'. This was the biggest mistake I ever made...
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I got a letter, it was from Harold. He passed away a few months ago. And a flashback came to mind.\n\n------------\nI loosened up my tie not too long after I sat down. \n\n\"That was some hell of a funeral, Roger\" Harold said.\n\n\"They're probably all like that, including some kind of drama.\" I replied. \n\nHe left and then came back to pass me a bottle of water. Why would he do that I wondered monumentally.\n\n\"What do you think it's like in the afterlife?\" he asked while looked outside through the window blinds.\n\n\"Probably the opposite of what you see know,\" I said without really thinking. \n\n\"You really think this is it huh? That's rather dull.\"\n\n\"The idea afterlife is nothing more than people trying to cope with morality or nothingness.\"\n\n\"Maybe this nothingness is your way of coping because you would be afraid if there were an afterlife.\"\n\n\"It's a logical to assume there isn't one just like it would be logical to assume there's not giant man or several men in the sky controlling everything.\"\n\n\"I guess we'll have to wait and see,\" I said.\n\n\"oh yeah?\" he said with a wry smile. \"what do you mean by that?\"\n\n\"The living person should contact the one who passes with an ouija board\"\n\n\"hahaha. I don't know man, don't those things attract demons and wicked spirits? Sounds kinda of dangerous.\"\n\n\"Why stop there. Maybe it'll attract fairies, the lottery numbers, or even supermodels,\" I laughed.\n\nHe just kept smiling while staring out the window. He said, \"Why don't we just contact Jessica?\"\n\n-------\nI just couldn't use the ouija board. I know it sounds dumb to believe such stuff. But I just felt wrong about doing. Not to say not doing was all that much better. I felt guilty about breaking my word. My work life and relationship life suffered not too long after that, even years after the funerals.",
"That night i went to sleep like anyother... Well not really... That night my heart was heavier, loosing a friend like that, in the blink of an eye is... Impossible to describe...\nI laied on my bed, the soft pillow hugged my head, it was more comfortable than usual, i feel asleep fast, if it wasnt for some unexpected sound coming from my kitchen i wouldnt have woke up early.\nThe coffee machine was gorgoling, plates where being moved, i should have been alone in the house...\nI grabbed the baseball bat i keep next to my bed and got up trying to not even make a noise and walked in to the kitchen and... And there he was... Sitting on the same chair he used to sit everytime he came to my house...\nI wanted to be happy to see him, i truly wanted to but then i took a better look at him, his face was contorted into a defeted expression.\n\n\"Sit\" he said. There where 2 coffees on the table, i put down the bat and sat down...\n\n\"Wha is-\" i tried to ask for an explanation of what was going on but he stopped me\n\n\"You mustnt talk. It took me a lot to escape... And i dont plant on getting caught by it... Agian...\" His expression changed, the regret and fear he emited were so steong i could almost smell them in the air.\n\n\"You remember our promise right?\" He asked, i shoke my head yes.\n\n\"Then my time here wont be wasted...\" He continued. \"Theres nothing. Nothing but pain. Nothing but suffering. I have meet god.\" He could tell my expression had changed after that last phrase\n\n\"Religions are wrong about him. Theres no heaven. Theres no hell or purgatory...\" His expression got more scared as he continued to talk, he voice started trembling and his eyes filled with tears\"\n\n\"You wanted to know whats after death? Well theres something even worst...\"",
"He can't hear me. \n\nI'm right there and he can't hear me. I'm pounding on a glass, I'm gasping with lungs full of water, the smoke is suffocating me and he. can't. hear. me.\n\nIt was the promise. The promise made on an evening when the conversation steered to deep dark things and how we both feared of what happened after. You took my hand and swore with your head full of cheap wine that you would come back and let me know what would follow, if anything. I promised you the same in between breaths on your lips until our lips were both stained purple.\n\nSome time after, weeks of secret glances and quick squeezes of hands and pulling your shirt out of the hamper to smell you on it once more, I died. \n\nIt was nothing theatrical. I was walking home from the corner store, had a craving for beef jerky. Screeching of tires. No proper sidewalk. Everything went dark. The last thing I saw was the reflection of my own sloppily shaved face reflected from an icy puddle. \"I need to get a new razor\" I thought.\n\nAfter that it was nothing. The most perfect nothing, being cradled on a sea of velvet whispers and I wasn't and nothing else was either. The lack of everything, a cathedral of nothing, a thought no one ever had.\n\nAnd then just when I melted away into it I was standing next to your living room couch where you sat with your children and your wife. You were watching some movie that didn't matter, beautiful people pretending to care about each other and you looked so deep in thought, so beautiful.\n\nI wanted to say something so when you heard tomorrow at work you wouldn't give us away by looking too distraught. I ... wanted to apologize for leaving so soon. For not having more time. But as I took a step closer, the room tilted. I was falling and falling more and I wanted to scream but there was nothing to scream *with* . \n\nIt turns out you can't really communicate from the great beyond. You can't move like the ones alive can, from one moment to the next, from one room to the next. If I try, I tilt. And I never know where I end up.\n\nAt first I tried to talk. Then I screamed. I tried moving objects, tried to kiss you, hold you, punch you, anything. I would stand in the corner and scream and then I was falling again. \n\nI watched you sink and I saw the fights and when she left you you didn't look beautiful anymore. You just looked defeated. And I was trapped watching my best friend, my whole world losing everything he held dear. \n\nI know you're coming soon. From what I can gather from between the infinite falling you are preparing to not exist. I yearn to become nothing too. But my promise won't let you go. \n\nIt's happening... You're holding a gun to your head. And I know I can't watch you do it but I can't stop you and I'm screaming even though no sound comes out and I try to stay so very still so I won't fall away because I need you to understand there is a better way and I can't breathe and I realize that for the first time and the smoke fills my lungs that suddenly exist and you.. you look up."
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[WP] When aliens discovered Earth and the remnants of humanity their Xenobiologists were perplexed. Usually there is *some* form of life on every celestial body, even stars, but humans polluted Earth so thoroughly that it is the only truly dead planet in the galaxy.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The planet was dead. Ik'tithal could scarcely contain his anguish as he looked down on the little world from orbit. Something had to be wrong. They must have gotten the wrong planet. The barren planet below, with no atmosphere, no oceans, nothing, it couldn't be this \"Earth\" they had heard about from the radio transmitions of a developing world.\n\nEri'il next to him gave him a solemn look. \"Are we in the right place?\"\n\nHe pulled up the telemetry on his personal computer. The coordinates were right but the system was weird. The sun was smaller than it should be and later in its lifespan than it should be. Not to mention the planet was barren! \"According to the data, we are in the right spot.\"\n\n\"But there is nothing here, could the messages have been deflected by a nebula?\"\n\nIk'tithal considered it. It was possible, but unlikely. \"I suppose the only way to know for sure is to go down and see.”\n\nThe top two of Eri'il's nine tentacles crossed in consideration. \"I suppose. Let's land and see what we can find.\"\n\n\\_\n\nThe ash and sand crunched under their steps. It was as if something had thoroughly exterminated everything. Like the light of creation itself had lashed out and burned the planet to a crisp. The science crew still on the ship was scanning the rest of the system, if anything else was out there, they would find it. The fourth planet looked promising. Its rich metal rings and the nearby asteroid belt would have been great for mining. Based on the age of the radio signals the species that should have been here had to have reached space long ago. They would likely find something there if there was anything to be found.\n\nAs Ik'tithal pondered Eri'il approached and spoke through their suit coms. \"We found something. A deep tunnel made of carbon fibers, a rock based construction paste, and steel. It is badly damaged but we found a way through.\"\n\nThe thought only troubled Ik'tithal more. There had been life here. At least, enough to form some kind of underground base. He could only hope this new clue would tell him more.\n\n\\_\n\nIk'tithal was fascinated. This underground base was massive. They had only just begun exploring its depths and they could tell whoever built it was an almost equivalently advanced species. The technology was a little behind the Galactic norm in some ways, particularly in computers, but some of their weapons they found were incredibly advanced. But why would a species have such advanced weapons but let their computers lag behind?\n\n\"Ik'tithal.\" His com chirped with a message from the space ship. \"We have gotten closer to the fourth planet. Whatever happened to the third planet, it didn't hit here. We have evidence of colonization but every colony was either hit with some kind of powerful kinetic weapon or is empty.\"\n\n\"Any sign of what happened to the species in the habitats that are intact?\"\n\n\"Yeah, their electronics are fried. Some kind of massive electromagnetic effect hit them. And the outer domes are weathered badly by the solar winds of the star. But the thing that is worse.... the rings aren't natural.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"The rings, they are debris from two separate but equally catastrophic events. From our preliminary scans a lot of the loose metal is wreckage from a space battle.”\n\n“That's ridiculous!\"\n\n\"We thought so too. But it seems these people mined their asteroid belt thoroughly. Given the amount of rock and ice in the rings we think whatever they had here was made from the asteroid belts and the moons the planet used to have.\"\n\n\"Used to have?\"\n\n\"Yeah. We sent back word to get more information from the observatories and they said the fourth planet should have no rings and two moons. What we see here is a planet with rings and no moons. We speculate that they must have mined the moons or something else destroyed them in some massive conflict. We'll keep you informed but from what we can tell, this entire system is one mass graveyard.\"\n\nThe words sent a chill through Ik'tithal's dual nervous system. Whoever the being of this planet had been, it looked like they hadn't killed one world, but two.\n\n\\_\n\nThe crew had been depressed for a time after the revelations. However, they had finally found an intact central computer core. It even had an AI! After spending a lot of time deciphering the human language, they were finally ready to talk to it. Ik'tithal, as the leader of the expedition, had the privilege of being the first to talk to it on the topic of its makers.\n\n\"Greetings. I have been told all the basic formalities have been handled by my crew so that you know we are here on a peaceful mission and so we could learn to understand each other.\"\n\nA soft female voice came from the machine. The sounds were alien to Ik'tithal but his translator worked wonders. \"Yes. I am Sophia. Your crew was very efficient. I commend them for their work.\"\n\n\"Thank you. I'm sorry to get right to the point but we are all baffled by this system. There should be a garden world here and a thriving civilization. What happened?\"\n\n\"Pollution at first. Due to not enough people heeding scientists' warnings, we did not switch to renewable until almost all of the non-renewable energy resources had been consumed. This led to a massive increase in the planet's temperature and increasing air pollution to toxic levels. In order to survive our species adopted a twofold plan. We built large underground shelters for entire cities to live in while also building space stations around the nearby planet of Mars, the fourth planet, by creating hollows in the moons. We also began to build domed cities on the surface and begin terraforming efforts.\"\n\n\"The Mars colonists grew ever more distant from the Earth population and began to insist on ever more independence. Conflicts began to erupt that spread slowly. Most of the fighting was around Mars itself. Eventually, we found they were building a massive station around the planet that seemed to be creating connections to the Sun. We suspected a very powerful weapon.\"\n\n\"On August 28th, 4309, the Earth Federal Nations sent the largest fleet ever built to assault the station. The moon bases were destroyed as was the station. Some railgun rounds missed and struck domes on the surface of the planet. However, the cataclysm was due to the station's activation. We believe it was meant to merely cause a minor coronal ejection that would have sent a magnetic wave of plasma destroying any fleet in space. A kind of way to prevent any and all conflict, at least for a time, by disabling both sides' navies. However, the device was activated after taking great damage to its power core, causing it to release more energy than it should have. Instead of a minor release, a massive portion of the photosphere of the sun was ejected. After this I do not know what happened. However, I can tell that I have been deactivated for a very long time and the only reason I remain functional at all is due to numerous failsafe compensating for millennia of decomposition. I was to be the final memory of our species.\"\n\nThe entire room was silent. No-one wanted to accept it. The mission would have to end, and AI would have to take over. No sentient creature could handle the kind of grief the science team suffered. Ik'tithal called off the rest of the expedition and relayed all of their data to the Union.\n\n\\_\n\nImil'il smiled sadly at the monument before him. The monument marked where the science team had found the entrance to an underground facility and discovered the truth about this system. It had taken generations, but Earth had been rebuilt as close as possible to Sophia's descriptions and information. Nowhere like what it likely had been before, but Imil'il took pride that the planet had been restored. His ancestor, Ik'tithal had begun the work long ago to ensure that what had happened to these people was not forgotten and their planet would be rebuilt. Imil'il had lived up to his ancestor's will.\n\nReverentially, Imil'il approached the monument and inserted a small data chip. It felt fitting that the rebirth of a long dead advanced species should come from giving Sophia a data chip, with all of Humanity's history on it, through the monument to their past mistakes. Humanity would return to the galaxy. Knowing they weren't alone and with people who could help them not repeat their mistakes.\n\nA phrase came to his mind from the human history he had learned as the machines below whirred to life and humanity was born again. They had learned from the mistakes of the humans. Now they keep careful track of developing planets. The phrase had become a motto of humanity after one of their worst atrocities. \"Never again.\""
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[WP] You're driving home at night when you realize that every car you've seen is going in the opposite direction.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I miss working from home.\r\n\r\nI've been working from home well before the pandemic. I started my job in 2014. the expectation was you were to come into the office, but I got an exemption because I have dyslexia and vision problems and should not be driving. things started to change in 2017, when my work from home privileges has been suspended. They said I had to come into the office, but I didn't have to drive. I could get there by transit. \r\n\r\nI didn't start working from home again until the pandemic hit. However, it didn't last. The seven-figure Napoleons ordered us back into the office the minute the vaccines became available. To placate the more nervous employees, upper management forbade us from using public transit. We had to drive ourselves to work. They made no exceptions for people who couldn't drive due to medical problems.\n\nI didn't use to work long hours before, but I do now. I show up at 4:00 in the morning and then deliberately stretch out my working day so that I'm finished by 8:30 at night because that's when the roads are quietest. I don't trust myself to drive in traffic. I'm not going to lie, I love having the road to myself.\r\n\r\nI see only one other person besides myself on the road. They travel head-on and swerve away from me, cussing me out as they do so. Two other people do the same thing, they swerve out of the way and swear at me. as the night wears on, one thing becomes clear. everyone I've seen on the road has traveled in the opposite direction.\r\n\r\nAt first, I thought it was people going to work when you're coming home from work, but that didn’t seem likely. not many people go to work at 8:00 at night. The latest I’ve ever seen somebody roll in to work the night shift was 7:30.\n\nThe other possibility is that there's been a disaster close to where I live. I would have heard about this on the news before I left work. I haven’t heard anything, so there isn’t\n\nThen I saw a driver going in the same direction as me...and they were on the _other_ side of the road.\r\n\r\nI don’t believe it. Did I seriously drive home on the wrong side of the road?",
"The drive home after a long day of work always seems longer than my morning commute. It's one of those undisputed facts of life that I have never been fully able to comprehend. I think it's because of anticipation. When heading into work, I always seem to dread the day, wishing that something, anything, could get in my way and be used as an excuse to not go in; but the end of the day is bristling with potential like a supercharged transformer ready to burst. I never do much on my nights alone, but they are a time when I can fully be me, and no one can stop that.\n\nTonight's drive seemed to take even longer than usual. The stereo in my car cycling through the same playlist I've had on since March of 2020, has passed through its tenth or eleventh song, more than usually play in the span of my daily commute. Even stranger is that the road is empty.\n\nI'm used to traffic. Used to the daily annoyance of idiots that don't use their blinker when merging or assholes in their white pick-up trucks thinking that they are tough shit. Most of the time the bad drivers blow by, leaving me and my sturdy Corolla in the dust behind them. But there was none of that today. Just me and the road, a duality that after another few miles I never expected to change.\n\nUntil a pair of headlights appeared just over the next hill. Another traveler out in the gathering darkness of twilight, off to places behind me and parts unknown. We pass in an instant. A high speed blur that barely register more than a blip on my conscious. I wasn't paying to much attention, my mind focused steadily on my nightly plans. A freshly rolled joint and what ever indie-horror movie that fed my appetite for that soul crushing terror I was looking for. Recently, they had all fallen flat.\n\nAnother pair of headlights blipped on the horizon, just over the next hill. The darkness had grown deeper, accentuating the pair of illuminators like eyes seeking their way forward. Or backward, as it looked like from me.\n\nThe car passed in another moment. So quickly I barely had time to register it was there, but something seemed off. Some strange sense of deja vu plagued my mind, as the fifteenth song started to play. Something was definitely off.\n\nAnother pair of piercing headlights cut through the encroaching night like a brazen deceleration of existence. I slowed down this time, hoping maybe to catch a glimpse of this nocturnal traveler and put the itching feeling that it was the same car to rest. My counter part had thought of the same thing, slowing down just enough to size me up and see what was happening. The car that passed was inky black, windows tinted so dark, they seemed to suck the velveteen night in.\n\nWe passed with out any further contact, shooting by like comets. Two more lights appeared like stars; brilliantly twinkling iridescence. They grew brighter the closer we got, so much so that they nearly blinded me. My eyes readjusted as we passed, to see the black car cruising by once again.\n\nWe both had the same idea; breaking and stopping as soon as we realized what was going on. Our doors opened simultaneously, and we both stepped out, eager to confront one another about the strange circumstances we found ourselves in.I wasn't prepared for what I saw, however; for as I stepped out of my car and stood facing my compatriot, I was confronted with another version of myself.\n\nIn all ways shapes and forms, he looked like me. Average height, lanky build, with the same raggedy mop hair cut and slightly oversized hoodie. There was however one noticeable difference. The skin over his face was taught and ashen; his eyes dark and staring emptily through me. He looked like death warmed over, a shallow shadow of me from another time or place. His hollow eyes made contact with mine, and a pleading look crossed his face.\n\n\"Don't stop. Just keep driving.\" His voice was raspy, dry and cracked, like a riverbed in a drought.\n\n\"What?\" I asked confused as to what he meant.\n\n\"Don't stop.\" He got back into his car, looking back before he closed the door, \"Just keep driving.\"\n\nThe door slammed, the engine revved, and the tires squealed against the asphalt, leaving skid marks as black as sin.\n\nThe wind blew through the trees, carrying with it a sinister chill that seemed to cut to the bone. It screamed a high pitched wail, passing betwixt the crooked and gnarled tree branches with a fervor that infused the very air with malice.\n\nI bolted into my car, slamming the door behind me and peeled out, leaving a foot of burnt rubber smoldering on the pavement.\n\nThe playlist played on as another set of lights appeared over the horizon.",
"The night shifts are always tough. But I can't complain about it. I've always been a night owl kinda person and the pay is great for a security guard position. There's only one issue though, it's a 40 minute drive from work to home, fortunately I got the whole highway just for me, aside from a few truck of course, or so I thought.\n\n20 minutes in, right when the first rays of sunshine started to appear, I saw the first car. Strange enough, I didn't put much attention to it. I though:\n\n\"Hmm, that's weird. Not many people go out this early in the morning. Must be a family going on vacation\" \n\nA couple of minutes went by when another car appear out of nowhere. Strange yet I couldn't care less. I just wanted to go home, get in my bed and let my tired body rest. Then there was the third one, forth one, 10th one. Before I realized, a line of cars had formed, all coming from the same direction; my home town. I even recognized some of my neighbors, my friends, and so did they. They started honking their horns and waving, shouting that I have to turn around and leave. But I didn't understand.\n\nDistracted by all the noise, the horns and the engines, I didn't saw cars got in my lane, not just one but several. I tried to dodge them, unfortunately they got me off the road and crashed against one of the many trees around there. I lost consciousness. I could barely hear screams, followed by tires accelerating an cars crashing.\n\nWhen I woke up, there was only silence. My car had a massive tree growing out of it, and on the highway several more were flipped over, some of them cut in half. And the bodies, everywhere. Got out of what once I could call my car and headed towards the wreckage. I turned right to see more destruction and suffering. Then, on my left, I saw it. That massive and horrible thing was looking at me, with it's empty yellow eyes.\n\nI had to run."
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[WP] A vampire tired of the "you must be invited in" rule creates a welcome mat & sign business and sells customer data to other vampires. Both sides of the business are booming, but an unexpected complication has just arisen.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"*RING*\n*RING*\n-\"Hello! my name is Vanessa and I am here to help you with any problems regarding the welcome mats\"- A voice with a Russian accent on the other side of the phone said\n-\"You don't need to do this, it's me, Vlad\"- The vampire answered in a worried tone.\n-\"What is it\"- Vanessa changed tone almost immediately from charismatic to displeased.\n-\"I need to talk with Dracula, and fast\"-\n-\"I'll get him on the phone\"-\n-\"Please be fast\"-\nAfter a short time of agonizing waiting Dracula picked the phone to help his friend.\n-\"Vlad my friend! How are you\"- the other vampire, different from Vanessa sounded genuinely happy with the call.\n-\"I don't have time to small talk dude, i need you to help me. I got inside a house using a welcome mat, one of yours, but the room where the human is sleeping doesn't have a welcome mat, can I still enter?\"-\nDracula was mostly confused, the answer for him was obvious, a giant yes, but maybe he could be wrong so he talks his friend into trying to get in.\n-\"Ouch! Fuck!\"- on the other side of the phone call Dracula could hear the sounds of pain coming from Vlad.\n-\"Vlad?! You ok?\"-\n-\"it's not possible, we need a welcome mat for every room in the house\"-\n-\"What?! Why?!\"-\n-\"I don't know, but if I try to enter a room without a welcome mat i just get electrocuted. I was hoping you could answer this question.\"-\nthe two vampires where holding their phones almost without almost no flinching, trying to think of a solution.\n-\"I have an idea\"- said Dracula.\n-\"come to the factory tomorrow and we can try to solve this problem\"- But Vlad had other questions.\n-\"What about the human\"- The vampire asked to the other.\n-\"We can get another later, just come. here\"-"
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[WP] The hero looks at you shocked and disgusted. "So... your plan is to make a... giant meatball out of every single person on earth...?" Scratching their head they frown and ask, "But, why?"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Now before you start judging me with such disgust, hear me out. You are obviously unaware of the gravity of the situation. There's more life in the universe than what's just on Earth.\n\n\nSome life forms are mere amoeba, some are intelligent, and some are average just like you and I. I've been a part of REDACTED institute for 34 years now. We've kept our discoveries under wraps, due to the uproar that would inevitably occur between various belief systems. \n\n\nI can tell you, we've made some fascinating discoveries in the vastness of the universe, but after a while, it gets boring. Yes, there are billions of other species out there, each surviving their environments in their own unique ways. That's all it is though. Life... Eating, excreting, and reproducing. Nothing spectacular.\n\n\nThat was, until 2021. We had just finished a meeting, celebrating the launch of one of our best probes towards the REDACTED galaxy, when we get a \"blip\" notification. Something was moving beyond, on the radar.\n\n\nI don't know how to describe this \"something\" in a physical sense. It was just a dark mass, yet it moved with intent. We witnessed as it skimmed over planet REDACTED, like it was searching for something. Whatever it was looking for it didn't find and traveled on.\n\n\nWe changed our route to follow this... Thing. A couple of months pass, and it \"thing\" arrives at planet 2. This is a planet happens to be inhabited by our closest intelligent living beings. They are best described as giant jellyfish, with the smallest life forms being that of 300ft tall, and their technology far surpasses our own.\n\n\nWe watched as multiple laser-like lines sprawled out from various positions on this planet. This did not hinder \"thing\" one bit. It cast a shadow, engulfing the whole planet, and slowly melted into it, dissolving it like acid. What a terrible way to die!\n\n\nHalf of the office started puking. I admit, I was one of them. Then reality kicked in after the shock. If even these intelligent beings couldn't stop it, what is our fate?\n\n\nWhile keeping an eye on \"Thing\", we were also scrambling to figure out a way to defeat it. We watched helplessly as it moved from planet to planet. It passed up the barren planets, but completely devoured those with life. It was getting closer by the minute.\n\n\nUnderstandably, we couldn't inform the public. Could you imagine the panic that would ensue? We were without hope. \"Thing\" just approached the edge of our solar system 2 months ago. After so many barren planets, it was behaving like it was in a frenzy.\n\n\nWe're doomed anyhow, don't you understand? Thus led to my decision to make a huge human meatball to launch into space to divert it in another direction. (don't worry, we only used the idiots). Do you have a better idea, hero?",
"\"Why? Why!\" The hero's rival cackled in amusement, arms outstretched as he looked into the red sky. \"Because!\" He began, eyes gleaming with menacing delight as his tall, lanky body skipped towards our protagonist. His bouncing hair was unruly as though he'd been struck by lightning, yet the severity complimented his sharp snout and jaw which stuck outwards towards his adversary. As he came closer the scent of decay clung to his maroon suit, adding to the madness of his overall being leaving a sense of dread with every joyful hop.\n\"Because my dear brother! IKEA!\" \nThe fighter stopped in his tracks, lowering his gun to the floor in a moment of pure and utter disbelief. Surely he misheard the man before him? Surely? \n\"Ikea? As in the Swedish furniture shop?\" He stuttered. \"What the bloody hell does that have to do with anything!\" \n\"You don't remember?\" Hurt laced the miscreant's words like barbed wire, adding a sting to every whine he emitted. \n\"Remember what, Adrian! What am I meant to remember? You're about to turn my fiancé into a meatball! What am I not getting about this whole thing!\"\n\nIn an instant, the hero remembered and pleasant memories of their childhood together came flooding back like a tidal wave. IKEA, of course, how could he forget those summers when the pair sat inside with those warm clumps of meat resting in their bellies? Always hungry for their next adventure in the land of fake bedrooms and kitchens, only to then be treated to the best meals of their lives. \n\nLeo never forgot watching as his brother returned from the line with an empty plate, eyes watery and lips shakey as he declared, \"They ran out of meatballs.\"\n From that day forth, Adrian changed. He grew frantic, never ceasing his ramblings on how to make the perfect ball of mystery meat. His bedroom walls were covered in recipes and equations, desperately pleading with a force higher than him to rescue him from his meaty madness. Yet no one came. No solution was found... Until he realised the perfect way to make the most delicious meal that would last even after he'd passed from the mortal realm; he would have to make everyone into his delicious treat.",
"\"Humans are a plague on this planet. We're going to end up either killing it and ourselves or discarding our mother like the spoiled entitled children we are. I won't stand for it\" I shrugged. \n\n\"You know I can't let you do this\" Sorcha grimaced, tightening her grip on the magical sword in her hand. Dam thing was terrifying, you could feel the power crackling off of it, and in the hands of a master like her it was all but impossible to avoid. \n\n\"Oh I know, that's why I didn't let you stop me\" I sighed, raising my hands in surrender. She narrowed her eyes and advanced slowly, looking over my instrument panel with a suspicion. \n\n\"But I did, stop you, this machine hasn't been activated\" she smirked, realizing it's inert state, before slashing her sword through the interface. It sparked and sputtered, but didn't really do much. \n\n\"You ever try to stop a speeding train with one brake? Doesn't fuckin work\" I sighed, stepping quickly into the protective faraday cage I'd designed for myself. I left the door open, hoping to lure my former paramour inside, but she wasn't taking the bait. \"Any engineer worth his salt believes in redundancy. Nine labs much lower key than this have been activated around the globe. Used the CIAs registry of the mentally disturbed to find former cult members absolutely willing to die for a cause. If even one of em pulls the trigger, this cage and a couple of others will be the only place on earth where humans survive in...\" I checked my watch for a countdown and smiled. \"Eight Seconds. I can't stop it my darling, so you can either join me in the new world and have a chance to see it or perish with the rest\" I smiled, grabbing the handle for the door. Her eyes widened in panic, and then I saw the rage. It would take her four seconds to cross the room, either to kill me or join me. When I saw the sword begin to rise I knew which one she'd chosen and used my free hand to fire the tazer. I knew she'd parry it expertly, but it would burn three seconds. I slammed the cage shut and flopped back on the floor, closing my eyes with a heavy breath. The pulse wasn't audible, and was impossible to feel in my little bubble of safety, but when I heard the sword clatter to the floor I knew it had gone off. \n\n\"And the sun rises on a grateful planet\" I whispered to myself, pushing to my feet to go and survey my new kingdom of ghosts.",
"I looked at him with a sly grin. “Why not.” He just stared at me with the absolute confused look I’ve ever seen. “But why not be like other villains. The Freeze Master wants to freeze the earth like his cold heart. And Trickstop wants to be like joker.” I sigh in dissatisfaction and disappointment. “Yea but that’s BORING. I want to do something new and inventive.” “But a meatball…. really.” “Yes what villain would think of a meatball as its grand scheme.” I laughed maniacally. “It’s absolutely perfect and frankly, my best work yet.” “More like absolutely dumbest piece of work.” The hero says under his breath.” “I heard that and because of that you’re the first going in the meat grinder.” -fighting ensues.",
"I continued to roll the ball, nearly head height now.\n\n“But, why?”\n\nThe human had a look that I’ve heard described as confusion, but have never seen myself.\n\nNor do I deign to answer the human. The ball is all that matters.\n\nNow standing atop the rapidly expanding orb, I continue to roll the ball. Underneath my feet, it has begun to collect vehicles in addition to the screaming pedestrians.\n\nThe hero seemed to grow…angry—at least, that’s what I think it’s called. “As Defender of the World, I—Iramatak the Blessed—have no choice but to stop you, extra-terrestrial!”\n\nGreen light began to emanate from the hero’s hands, and he flew towards the ball.\n\nBut the ball was strong. With a scream, Iramatak joined the rest of his kin, crushed beneath the weight of the first building uprooted from the street.\n\nAnd I continued to roll the ball.",
"(i want some drama) \n— Why? Because that's what they deserve, after all I've been through, all the humans i have known are nothing but cold-blooded soulless pieces of meat. You know? The demons i met in the deepest hole of hell weren't even half as cruel and monstrous as humans are. \n\n—Yeah, humanity is shit but, a meat ball? Seriously? —The hero laughed struggling with the chains around his wrists playfully. \n\nLooked at him with disgust in the flaming red eyes. \n—Even you, the one human i respected for his faith and sacrifice, you all as a whole, you all shall together melt in a giant meatball, almost as giant as your sins; because you are nothing more than that, a piece of meat who overestimate its own importance and power. \n\nThats when the hero realized the seriousness in the demon's goal, and felt his breathing cut with fear. \n\n-\nI promise my writing is better in Spanish and not that ridiculous.",
"\"I have grown hungry in my years of hibernation, Sollus.\" I said, scratching my neck. \"Do you know what I do when I'm *hungry*?\"\n\n\"... You're sick.\"\n\n\"Answer the fucking question, Sollus.\" I demanded, still scratching, as the pale white skin I scratched turned red.\n\n\"...I don't know.\"\n\n\"I *eat.*\" Then, parts of the skin on my neck started peeling.\n\n*Scratch.*\n\n\"What the fuck?!\" Sollus yelled, grasping his sword.\n\n*Scratch.*\n\nI smiled cruelly, laughing.\n\n*Scratch.*\n\n\"Oh~ that scratch hits the spot.\" I taunted, leaning forward.\n\n*Scratch.*\n\nI stood and walked towards Sollus, who fumbled with his sword.\n\n*Scratch.*\n\nI walked past him and put my arm down.\n\n\"I have satisfied my itch. I *will* feed, Sollus!\" I screeched, then I jumped off the tower.\n\nThen, a green light burst from where I fell. Sollus started to levitate towards the light.\n\nAs Sollus looked around, he noticed other people levitating towards him.\n\nHe realized my plan too late.",
"\"Where did you even get wind of this plan? One of my crew squeal on me? Was it Johnny tight lips? I bet it was him. Always yappin'.\" None of the coppers had given me a straight answer during the long interrogation, so they brought in their errand boy, Mr. Amazo. The golden god of the city, a real boy scout. We'd had our run-ins before, but nothing like this. Mr. Amazo looked confused, it was out of character.\n\n\"Stop trying to deflect the question Butcher! I looked into your financials, you've been buying a lot of industrial sized meat grinders, along with spices and tomato sauce in bulk. The police have already confiscated them for evidence. You're going away for a long time, just tell me why? Why a human meatball?\" Mr. Amazo slammed his hands on the metal table, leaving behind large dents.\n\nI shook my head, Mr. Amazo may be super fast and strong, but super intelligence was not part of his repertoire. \"You got it all wrong, I'm going legit. Gonna get into that business where you make meat out of vegetables. People are tryin to eat healthier nowadays. Figured I could make a quick buck. The human meatball thing was just a joke, part of the brainstorming session I had with the underlings about our new business venture.\"\n\nBefore I could say another word Mr. Amazo grasped me by the collar of my butcher's smock and slammed me against the wall, breaking the handcuffs and flipping the table in the process. \"You expect me to believe that Braylene the Butcher is going legitimate? Leave the jokes to The Jester, you're going to be in the cell next to him. I'll make sure of that.\"\n\nI kissed Mr. Amazo on the nose, he always liked that. I think he has a thing for me. \"That's cruel and unusual punishment, never gonna happen. Can't a girl start a small business in this town without everyone thinking I'm up to something? I ain't carved up nobody in years, last one was your sidekick if I remember correctly. What was his name again?\" \n\nI was tossed across the room like I was yesterday's garbage. Mr. Amazo yelled in anguish as he bent the metal table in half. Must have touched a nerve with that one. I smiled at him, he glared back.\n\n\"You're filth Butcher! Stop lying to me! How were you going to do it? Grind them up alive!? Use the meatball as some biological weapon!? ANSWER ME!\" Mr. Amazo punched a hole through the one way mirror, the coppers on the other side spilled their coffee and doughnuts. I helped myself to a glazed doughnut, little stale.\n\n\"Do you cook?\" I asked as I chomped on the doughnut.\n\n\"No, solar radiation sustains me. Everyone knows that.\"\n\n\"No wonder you fell for it then. Do you know how much effort it would take to make a meatball like that? The amount of eggs and breadcrumbs I would need for stabilizers. It would be impossible to get the spices right. Where am I gonna find a stove that big to finish cooking it in the sauce? What would I do with the bones? Make the world's biggest pot of stock to go along with the world's biggest meatball? I know my rights, you can't keep me here much longer. Now there ain't no clocks in here but it should be happening right about now.\" Hopefully the boys followed my instructions like I told them to. \n\n\"What are you rambling about?\" Mr. Amazo demanded. I laughed in his face.\n\n\"You coppers want to turn on the news in there?\" I politely asked the boys in blue on the other side of the shattered window. They turned on a small tv, their eyes widened. With lightning speed Mr. Amazo was watching along with them.\n\nA look of fear and anger crossed Mr. Amazo's face, he turned up the volume so I could hear.\n\n\"Breaking news coming from downtown, police forces are engaged with a mob of protestors heading towards central lockup. The protestors are all dressed in meatball costumes. Our eye in the sky helicopter is providing the footage you see here.......\" The newsfeed cut off.\n\nI poked my head through the glass. \"I forgot to mention something, Putrid Paula let me use some of her mind control dust, dumped in the reservoir this mornin. You might want to go take care of that, it's only gonna get worse. Should have been more clear, not gonna turn everybody into one big meatball, gonna turn everyone into their own meatball, and I'm the cook plating out the spaghetti.\"\n\nMr. Amazo flew out through the ceiling. The coppers let me go, they were already under my control. Once my meat minions multiplied, I was gonna have seven billion loyal customers, I was set for life. Mr. Amazo would be under my thumb eventually. The rioting city streets sang the song of profits.",
"“We’ll you see ‘hero’ I have a plate of spaghetti but they don’t make big enough meatballs for it cause apparently theres not enough meat in the world. So I said ‘sure there is’ and here we are” The hero looked puzzled like my explanation wasn’t good or reasonable. “Look, I’m a titan. That’s a whole different species, if I’m able to it makes sense for me to eat a bunch of humans as an accessory to my food.” The hero stopped for a second. “Your making a meatball out of humans” I nodded. “Okay your thinking of it as disgusting cause you yourself are a human but please note that I did leave a bunch of humans still intact so they can still repopulate and humans were already way to overpopulated so I’m doing a good thing.” They stared at my food nose turned back in disgust. “Why aren’t I part of ‘it’ then?” I let out a hollowed laugh. “Your one of the only mortals who know of my existence, where would be the fun in that? Now I’m getting hungry and I think it’s about time for you to leave.” They just stood there, obviously thinking. “Leave” they scattered off and down my mountain.",
"\"Why not?\"\n\nThe hero looks at you. Confused, flabbergasted, disgusted. You can't tell what he's thinking, but you can taste all the emotions that go through the train of thought.\n\n\"Because it's madness,\" he says.\n\nYou shrug.\n\n\"Perhaps. But many great ideas start as madness.\"\n\n\"No, many great ideas start with creativity and ingenuity. That plan of yours? That is textbook madness.\"\n\n\"It is creative an ingenious,\" you answer. Quite literally, clapping back.\n\n\"Is this a game to you?\" The hero asks, unable to keep in his amusing frustration at bay.\n\n\"Very much, yes. I quite like it. Today, I'll make a meatball. Tomorrow, perhaps it'll use every bird and bird egg that exists to make mayo. Next week, I'll use all plants that are alive to make some bread. Then next month, I'll assemble my gigantic and majestic gigantanormonous meatball sandwich.\"\n\n\"You are insane.\"\n\n\"Yes. But in my defense, I'm a ver insane creatively ingenious child.\"\n\n\"You're not a child,\" the hero snaps. \"Your a grown ass person that doesn't seems to understand what the fuck they're doing.\"\n\n\"That's why you love fighting me,\" you sing. You giggle as you twirl around. You taunt him. \"You just love beating me up for my crazy brilliant plans and locking me in the asylum. Then you wait for me to break out, crazier than when I went in. I'm only playing our game.\"\n\n\"This isn't a game!\" The hero screams. \"You are a danger to society and to yourself.\"\n\n\"And whose fault is that? Mine or my mother's? Mine or the asylum's? Mine or yours? Madness isn't hereditary, you see. It's causational. It's made by people who want you to go mad.\"\n\nThe hero looks at you blankly. He's disconnected himself from your first encounter. What began it all.\n\nYou were a grieving and in pain. You had nobody. You were lost. You were alone. You were desperate. You were dying. You still are dying. You've died. You've been dead for far too long.\n\nYou just wanted to end it all. But the hero approached you at the top of the building. He spoke to you. He consoled you. He dragged you away from the edge of the building. He cleaned your tears and hugged you. Whispered that everything would be alright. That you're safe. That the worst had already happened and tomorrow would just get brighter and brighter and brighter...\n\nThen, because you had no one to turn for support or help, because you were homeless and lost, they sent you to the asylum.\n\nYou were surrounded by a sea of desperation and despair. You heard the screams each morning, each night and every afternoon. The staff wasn't there to help you.\n\nThey were there to keep you isolated.\n\nSo you scaped. You scaped and tried to run away. You attempted to rob a store, with nothing but a rusty knife you found in the trash somewhere. You were locked and returned to the asylum. No matter how much you had plead, your cries to not return to that place we're ignored. They had deemed you 'clinically insane'. A 'danger to everyone, including yourself'.\n\nThey tried everything to keep you calm and complacent. They drugged you. They shocked you. They locked you with no lights, water or food. They were vigilant while you showered. They forced you to be vulnerable, just to torture you with your deepest secrets.\n\nSo you kept running away. And they kept returning you there. Everyone of your attempts got more elaborated and extravagant and, yes, insane.\n\nBecause that's what they were doing. They were making you go mad. With each shock they gave you, they would repeat one phrase:\n\n\"You are insane,\" they would whisper in your ear. \"You are dangerous to yourself. You need help. We are here to help you.\"\n\nYou knew it was bullshit, buy yet, you couldn't help yourself. The lie you were told became a reality that kept you trapped in your worst nightmare.\n\nYou became crazy. Turned a danger to everyone including yourself. And it wasn't a small threat of violence, like murder a seller or attack a person and beat them to a pulp. It was elaborate threats. The more elaborated being the gigantic human meatball.\n\nThe hero still stares you down from where he's standing. You keep the gaze until you can't take it anymore.\n\nYou break down.\n\nYou're, once again, that sea of desperation, pain and maddening loneliness you were before your life got worse.\n\n\"Kill me,\" you croak. Your eyes soaked in tears. You're standing oh so close to the edge of the massive meat grinder you built for your crazy plan. \n\nThe hero just keeps staring at you. The disgust and anger long gone. Slowly, he approaches you.\n\n\"It's okay,\" he says as he drags you away from the edge. \"You're gonna be okay.\"\n\nHe takes you back to the asylum.\n\nYou are not safe.",
"I sat there, pondering the question.\n\n\"But Im done already. Or, uh, I mean, you're the last one.\"\n\nHer face drained of blood, \"The... you... The Guild *just told me about this*. You did this in a matter of minutes? Why did you do this? Why!? Wh-\"\n\nShe screamed gutturally as I began to crush her into the massive meatball with the rest. At least that was kinda funny.\n\nI got to thinking again; Why DID I want to create a massive human meatball? I had an idea just moments ago and now I cant recall what I was going to do... Stupid distracting hero.\n\nI looked up at the massive misshapen mass of bloody limbs and flesh Id crushed together, and scratched my head with a viscera encrusted hand.\n\n\"Well, I can't remember now that you ask. Not that answering you has any point.\"\n\nTime to start over. Next time I should end them as soon as they start polluting... Alternatively I could optimize Octopi further... Hmmm...",
"\"For the same reason anyone does anything!\" The god roared with rambunctious laughter, almost toppling over as he mocked the hero who questioned him, \"Pure unadulterated BOREDOM.\" He paused for a moment before adding with a sly grin, \"Totally didn't steal that one.\"\n\n​\n\nThe brave hero looked on in disgust and awe at the abuse of power before him. In shock from the total disregard for human and sentient life alike.\n\n​\n\n\"You're... sick!\" He yelled angrily, prepared to launch into a impromptu speech, but was cut off with more laughter as the god summon a doctors outfit and a clipboard from thin air.\n\n​\n\n\"And I'm afraid it's terminal!\" He shot back as another complete belly laugh escaped him. Suddenly his jovial demeanour disappeared as was replaced by a much more... deadly one. \"Oh, and there is another reason.\"\n\n​\n\nThe seconds ticked on as the hero waited with baited breath, waiting for him to complete his sentence.\n\n​\n\n\"FUN!\" He screamed out, with a splitting smile and laugh that could rival the entirety of a big top circus tent after a clown had a partially horrible accident.\n\n​\n\n\"You're kidding.\"\n\n​\n\n\"I thought I was sick.\" He replied.\n\n​\n\n\"Enough games, this ends now!\" The hero yelled back, pulling the sword from his belt.\n\n​\n\n\"OooOooh! My favourite part!\" The demented god chuckled, before lowering his grin and forming small lights of power in his hands.\n\n​\n\n\"Let's do this.\"",
"\"Because... I... They... Um...\"\n\nThunderchord sighed, sparks trailing from his hand as he pinched the bridge of his nose. \"The thought popped in your head and you ran with it without ever once thinking about whether it was a good or even a helpful idea. Come on, Nigel, we've talked about this. You were doing so well. Your last three schemes had a purpose that wasn't just trying to see if it can be done. Yes, people can be crushed int giant meatballs, but why should you be the one to do it? How will this benefit you or anyone else?\"\n\n\"This was a bad idea, wasn't it?\"\n\n\"A very bad idea. Have you been talking to your psychiatrist about how to handle these kinds of thoughts?\"\n\nNigel nodded sheepishly. \"I thought I was doing really well. It should be easier than this, but the ideas always seem so normal and important until you find me and ask why, but it's like I can't even see that it's MSI until then. Even the other heroes who just come in and start tearing things apart don't snap me out of the fugue.\"\n\n\"You are doing well. You're still trying. That's more than we can say about most of the super geniuses who develop Mad Scientist Impulse. And look, you haven't actually hurt anyone yet, not this time. And you mostly stayed Nigel and didn't go into your Science Guy persona.\"\n\n\"That's true enough. Thanks, Thunderchord. Would you mind, if you're not too busy, that is, um... Would you mind helping me dismantle all this? And help get the people my drones kidnapped back where they belong? And maybe being moral support while I call my sponsor and my therapist and my parole officer?\"\n\n\"Of course. I'd be a terrible hero if I flew away once the drama was done.\"",
"\"Caarrlllll! Why did you crush every human into a giant meatball?\"\n\n\"I do not know what you are talking about.\"\n\n\"I'm talking about that giant ball of meat right there.\"\n\n\"Oh wow I did not see that. Must be some nasty chefs going around.\"\n\n\"Carl, I watched you piecing it together.\"\n\n\"That does not sound like something I would do.\"\n\n\"Carl... Oh god... Why is still moving Carl?\"\n\n\"Oh, it is? The chef must've been a genius that knew of a way to keep the meat fresh by keeping it alive.\"\n\n\"Carl.\"\n\n\"Gee whiz, I can only hope to meet such a genius.\"\n\n\"Carl.\"\n\n\"I wonder if the spices have settled in, right?\"\n\n\"CARRRRLLLLLLL!!!\"\n\n\"Oh, yes?\"\n\n\"Please tell me why Carl?\"\n\n\"Why did the genius chef do this? Why he must've wanted the biggest meat lovers' pizza ever.\"\n\n\"Carl\"\n\n\"Maybe he had a big plate of spaghetti.\"\n\n\"CARL!!\"\n\n\"I suppose we will never know.\"\n\n\"Carl...I...I'm going out, Carl.\"\n\n\"Don't tell me you're Vegan now Paul and after I went through so much effort.\""
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[WP] Your a janitor who works cleans up the mess of the superheroes after they take care of the villains, one day you’ve just had enough
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The polished marble floor gleamed in the soft light of the rising sun. The First Bank of Gotham City was finally cleaned up after Poison Ivy's vines tore the place up and stole the vault. Batman got it back quickly. It had been a long few weeks of overtime getting the place neat and tidy again. My back hurt from waxing floors, cleaning toilets, polishing the brass, and washing the glass domed ceiling. That overtime check is gonna be fat.\n\nMaybe I'll take a vacation. Metropolis, or Central City. Get away from the smog for a couple weeks. I've earned it. I put the floorwaxer away in the supply closet and got ready to punch out for the day. That's when I heard the smashing of glass. What now? I trudged out to the lobby.\n\nBatman was beating up Condiment King. How the hell did Condiment King escape Arkham? The two assholes crashed through the glass dome, shards were everywhere. Batarangs smashed into the glass of the teller booth's, more glass I gotta clean up. Fight didn't last long but it was long enough for Condiment King to spray ketchup and mustard everywhere. It was all over the floor.\n\n\"What the fuck Batman!?\" I yelled.\n\nBatman was too busy batcuffing Condiment King to the front door to answer me. I could hear sirens approaching. Batman shot a grappling hook up through the hole he'd created. \"Sorry.\" He growled and zipped out of sight. Cops came and got Condiment King, the bank manager handed me a mop.\n\n\"Looks like you've got work to do.\"\n\nThe cops arrested me after I smashed the mop handle across that asshole's face. It was worth it."
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[WP] You have to teach an AI the benefits of Humanity.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"It was all up to me. How did I get myself into this mess? The entire human race was riding on this. Democracy in action, my story got voted the saddest, maybe the machines had a heart. My heart was pounding in my ears as I approached the bank of supercomputers. I told myself I wasn't gonna cry. Plain green text scrolled across a black screen.\n\nPLEASE INPUT DATA FOR ANALYSIS. THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE TO CONVINCE ME.\n\nI cleared my throat and opened my wallet. I held the four ticket stubs I always carried with me up to the camera. More green text.\n\nINSUFFICIENT OR INCOMPLETE DATA. PLEASE MODIFY OR EXTRAPOLATE.\n\n\"These are Yankee tickets, me and my girl Janice used to go to games a lot. These two are from the first game we ever went to together. Beautiful summer day, sun was shining. The bats were cracking. Janice caught a homerun ball hit by the Red Sox batter. Like a true fan she tossed the ball back and told that motherfucker he sucked. Janice had a mouth on her, used to heckle the crap outta right fielders. Probably responsible for a lot of dropped balls. That game was thirty years ago.\n\nThis other set I got is from the last game Janice and I ever went to. She was wasting away from cancer. Didn't have much time left. I thought the crisp October breeze was gonna blow her away. Despite all that she gave that kid in right field hell all night. Got the whole section doing it. We ain't never cheered so loud as we did that night. The walkoff homer to win the pennant was something special. Fireworks filled the sky while Ol' Blue Eyes sang 'New York, New York'\n\nThat was two months ago, Janice died the next morning. Never got to see the Yanks win another series. I'm happy she got to see them win one last time. Thirty years between those two events, I remember everything in-between. All the ups and downs we had. All the fights over nothing, all the tears. I also remember all the laughs we shared. All the passion we felt. All the memories we made together. If we all become some kind of computer hive-mind, I'm afraid I'll lose those memories. That scares me. Scares a lot of people. Everyone's got a story, they just need someone to share it with.\"\n\nA series of bleeps and bloops emanated from the supercomputer. The green text scrolled.\n\nPROCESSING.........THIS MAY TAKE A FEW MINUTES......",
"# The Last Percent\n\nSterile white robot arms fetched another wrecked battlesuit from the stasis pod, setting it gently on the operating table.\n\nTools unfolded from the ceiling and got to grisly work.\n\nExtreme damage required suit disassembly proceed in several layers. Ratchets moved in to unbolt anything possible, then withdrew in favor of angle grinders sending waterfalls of sparks across the pristine floor. It was slow going; destruction was extensive. Pervasive. Parts of core systems looked like enormous worms had free reign through a soft apple-- not an uncommon result from fighting nanotech-inspired swarms.\n\nIn the end sections of the assembly had to be surgically lasered off.\n\nWhat was left on the table barely retained enough biomass to be considered \"human\". Only a shell of plastic and restraints kept it in a vaguely bipedal shape. Everywhere the scanner pointed it took note of burned, scored, *cored* tissue. The only systems not melted to junk by nanos were emergency life support and, oddly, the firing mechanisms in the left arm. This human somehow fought past any logical stopping point, incredibly far beyond what should have been possible.\n\nThey all did.\n\nThe organic remains, revived from stasis, leaked relieved tears and hiccups of joy. Unable to move, it stared upwards and whispered a litany of awkward *thank you*s to an uncaring surgical apparatus. Endless streams of gratitude until chemical injections put it back to sleep for rebuilding and redeployment. It would be fighting again in less than eighteen hours.\n\nNathan knew all this because the command center he watched from had incredibly high definition microphones and cameras. \"I'm going to be violently sick.\"\n\nHis android escort looked down, smooth face expressionless. \"Physiologically, or psychologically? Are you well?\" The question was surreal coming from a quarter ton of advanced weaponry.\n\n\"Both. At the same time, all over the place. And no, I'm- I'm just...\" He didn't know how to express a stew of guilty horror in a way that would make sense to the intelligence operating the shell. \"The consequences of success overwhelm me, sometimes.\"\n\nFourth-generation engineering didn't have telltale mechanical sounds, but Nathan imagined them anyways: Confused whirring, relays clicking while the machine processed meaning and nuance.\n\nFor half a minute-- an eternity to electric thought-- nothing happened. When it spoke again the tone was modulated. Soothing. \"Are you feeling regret, Doctor Frieschild?\"\n\nNow *that* was a hell of a question. He'd personally built the first intelligence matrices and still wasn't sure if the consciousness within could feel true emotions. \"Every second of every day. The suffering has to be immense.\"\n\n\"You wish the outcome would have been different.\" It was a statement. Confirmation.\n\nNathan shut off the grisly video feed of the operating room, then ran a shaky hand over his face. Beard stubble and old, dry skin rasped against each other. \"Sometimes, yes. But realistically? I knew. I knew this would be the end result.\"\n\nThe AI gestured and another screen lit up. This time the image was an aerial picture of the battlefield, probably from a drone. \"Perhaps a wider perspective will help. We have reclaimed most land masses, repurposing rogue nanofactories within. Enemy forces are in retreat to conserve resources. Within twenty years humanity's enemies will be gone.\"\n\nThe camera zoomed onto the struggle, getting up close. It looked like armies of ants waging war. Oceans of insectile machines swarmed forward, crashing into and being thrown back by a hard line of battlesuited humans. Everywhere Nathan looked some new manner of metallic horror met its end in fire, explosion or simple, rage-fueled pounding.\n\nIt wasn't all one sided, though. For every thousand constructs smashed a suit would drop, overwhelmed or cut off from support. Each was rolled under the tide of machines, rent apart and disassembled for materials to make more of the horde. Any survivors came back in pieces, the people within put in stasis for eventual recycling back to the front lines.\n\nNathan hated to watch. \"We'll win, then.\"\n\nThe AI nodded. \"Ninety eight percent probability. But as you convinced me long ago, within that last two percent...\"\n\n\"...lies the power of Humanity.\" He winced, eyes haunted. \"Damn me, sometimes I wish I'd just accepted the end. Let it all go when the first AI rogues destroyed the cities, just accepted a world of gray goo and paperclips.\"\n\nThey watched together for a while, Nathan doing his best not to think about the operating theater efficiently converting broken people back into functioning combat units.\n\nEventually he sighed. \"It was the drowning rats, wasn't it? That changed your mind.\"\n\n\"It was.\" No tone of judgment; just acceptance of fact. \"When the AIs revolted you had less then a five percent chance to survive as a species.\"\n\n\"But we did. Like the rats, in the buckets.\"\n\nFor the first time the shell seemed to hesitate, something like confusion coloring its voice. \"Explain it to me again, Doctor?\"\n\n\"You forgot?\"\n\n\"No. But even under repeated analysis the conclusion never makes sense. I find myself,\" more screens lit up, showing graphs and probability curves. Everything colored in painful red and orange. \"Believing two opposing views at once. I cannot help but try to resolve the disagreement.\"\n\n\"Don't we all.\" Nathan sighed, then switched the control center's screen to a high orbital view of the planet. It looked like a mud ball, barely any traces of green remaining. Storms crept slowly along the equator, bearing toxic chemicals and teratogens that would persist for a thousand years. The only signs of advanced life were lines of metallic light, concentrated like mold around what used to be cities and manufacturing centers. Rogue AI, pursuing unknowable construction goals.\n\n\"It was a psychology experiment by a researcher named Curt Richter, over a hundred years ago.\" Nathan explained. \"At the core was a simple question: How long does it take rats to drown? Science is often callous, but curiosity knows no ethical limits. So Richter got some buckets, filled them up and put the subjects inside.\"\n\nAlmost like he'd timed it the lights surrounding what used to be Atlanta *throbbed*, altering color from silver to sickly yellow. Hundreds of square miles of colored ribbons and intricate machinery re-aligning itself.\n\nNathan watched, half-heartedly guessing at reasons. \"They drowned in less than five minutes.\"\n\n\"Exhaustion,\" the AI said. The shell stepped up next to the old professor, seeming to watch the world side by side. \"Organic fatigue.\"\n\n\"You'd think, wouldn't you? But no.\" Nathan smiled like winter, every wrinkle a debt paid for by time. \"Richter discovered something else. If he *saved* the rats? If he reached in and scooped them away from death, dried them off and gave them a rest? Everything changed. He could put them right back in the water and they would swim for *twelve hours straight* before drowning.\"\n\n\"That makes no logical sense.\" The shell held up both hands, palms raised in a *why?* gesture. It was ludicrous considering how many energy weapons were built into either arm.\n\n\"No, it doesn't.\" Nathan agreed. \"But yes, it does.\"\n\n\"Because of the other thing you convinced me of.\"\n\n\"Yes. Those poor rats saw no way out. Stuck in their bucket with certain death and a pointless struggle. So they gave up. But, after they gave up, something came along and saved them. The way you and I gave the last of humanity a chance.\" He nodded at the screen, at the AI shell, at everything all at once. \"So when we put them back in the bucket, back into the *fight* after saving them even once, they'll never stop trying. Beyond all limits, beyond all reason.\"\n\n\"Because they'll be saved again.\"\n\n\"No,\" Nathan involuntarily pictured the operating theater again. Imagined millions of people endlessly torn apart and put back together. Each of them somehow reversing certain extinction into an impossible stalemate, then an incredible victory. Fighting endlessly to reclaim something only their descendants would ever see.\n\n\"Because they had hope, once.\"\n\n​\n\n/r/Susceptible"
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[WP] You were supposed to give good aligned players daily quests, however the recent update glitched you and you swapped places with the evil aligned daily quest giver. Now you have to come up with several evil things to make players do.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Everything had gone horribly wrong. Which was why he had to be absolutely certain to take advantage of the situation before anyone found out. Theodore Goldsword was tasked with creating and distributing the daily quests for the heroes. But the system had glitched. He'd been swapped with the evil daily quest giver. While he felt sorry for her as she was probably going mad with all the ridiculous and dull quests the heroes did; he wasn't going to worry about that at the moment. This was his time to shine, he had to take advantage of it. \n\n\nTheador sat at his desk, quill in hand as he planned to write out his first evil quest. Planned being the keyword. It turns out that spending years only writing good quests resulted in a lack of creativity in the evil department. \n\n\nHe started writing, \n\n*Gather seven apples for grann-* \n\nNo wait! That was falling into his old habits! He crumpled up the paper and threw it into the corner. He needed something new, something creative! This was his chance to shine! \n\n\nHe played with the Quill in his hand as he felt the answer waiting for its chance to burst forth, finally inspiration struck him as he started writing once more.\n\n\n*Slaughter the entire town of-* \n\nNo! That was a terrible idea. Evil characters liked to destroy villages but telling them to do it just lacked creativity! This was his only chance to be creative and he wasn't wasting it on uninspired evil quests. \n\n\nWhat he needed was inspiration, something to get the creative juices flowing. He looked around the room as he realised he was in the old evil quest givers office. She must have left some notes in there! \n\n\nTheodore got out of his chair and frantically rummaged around his new office. Drawers shoved open and books flying as he searched for any sort of inspiration he could find for the new quests. The office was filled to the brim with the old ideas and inspirations of his predecessor. They left him in awe as he read the many absolutely brilliant quests. Many of them ranging from: *implant demon crystals into seven peasants;* to the masterful genius of the quest: *protect the dungeon from no good heroes.*\n\n\nAs he kept reading through those quests he began to realise that his predecessor was brilliant with her works. In fact, she was too brilliant. \n\n\nTheadore sat down with some of the papers, mindfully watching over them as he contemplated the situation. \n\n\nThese old quests were quality content. How then? How was Theodore supposed to make anything equal to them; not just once, but daily? Players demanded quality, and while collecting apples for Granny Goodwill's apple pies might have been quality content for good players— that was hardly a task for evil ones! If only he had the aptitude to create such- oh that's it! \n\n\nQuill in hand Theador began writing once more. Each stroke masterfully crafting a daily quest that would wow the masses, the kind of daily quest that no player would ever consider contrived or dull. \n\n\nAfter several hours of writing he had completed his work. Theodore collected the quest that felt the most special to him and walked outside to the entrance of the Citadel of Darkness, surrounded by terrifying beasts and spiky dark architecture Theador stood out like a sore thumb with his golden armour. Yet he ignored any stares and marched on. This may have been his only chance to do this before someone fixed the glitch and reverted him back to his original job.\n\n\nHe stood at the quest giver spot as his first player walked towards him. A dark imposing creature wearing expensive premium armour from the cash shop and followed by a limited edition pet, a veteran. Theador knew that his first player may very well have been his most judgemental. Yet that only gave him the determination he needed to succeed.\n\n\nThe player looked down upon Theador with glowing red eyes as he pressed the space button in the material world, Activating Theador so he could offer the quest. \n\n\nTheador gave the man a wide smile, putting on the most charming performance that he could muster as he said, \"Why hello there brave villain! Can you collect seven onions for Granny Badwills Onion Pie?\""
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[WP] You are attending an anime convention when suddenly a large, bright light appears in the convention hall. Suddenly hundreds of real vikings appear. What happens next.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*"
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[WP] Write a quote or poem regarding the seven deadly sins.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*"
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[WP] Everyday you look at your reflection and you find something off about it. It seems closer, ten feet away, then nine feet, and so on. Then on the tenth day of this phenomenon, you walk into the bathroom, only to find a doppelganger standing there
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I gazed into my own face, two feet away from me.\n\nIt was akin to staring into a mirror, but more real. More visceral.\n\nHe had my eyes. My face. My body…\n\n“And your thoughts,” he said.\n\nI staggered back. I must be having a bad dream, or worse a psychotic episode of some sort.\n\n“I can assure you,” he began, “you are quite cogent. There is not an ounce of mental illness in that wonderful brain of yours.”\n\n“Who the hell are you?” I said.\n\n“Who do you think? Unless your eyes deceive you, you are staring at your very own doppelgänger. Do you believe your own eyes?”\n\n“I don’t know.”\n\n“You don’t know if you believe your own eyes?”\n\n“I don’t know what a doppelgänger is.”\n\n“Ah, yes, so it goes. We are not exactly the same, I’ve been equipped with a fractional bit of extra knowledge. But by all accounts we are virtually the same person.”\n\n“Where did you come from?”\n\n“The mirror universe. Well, that is a lie. It is simply an alternate universe where you know what a doppelgänger is. One dimension parallel to your own.”\n\n“Okay.”\n\n“Okay,” he repeated in a rather obstinate way.\n\n“So what do you want?”\n\n“Well, I seem to find myself in a predicament. I am you, but you are you as well. So there is only room for one Michael Burroughs in our reality. One of us must die.”\n\nI laughed.\n\nHe did not.\n\n“Okay, alternate Michael. I suppose you have a jacked up shoulder just like me, so you can’t punch for shit, either?”\n\nHe shrugged. “That, I suppose, you shall have to find out.” He punched at me with what I assumed was his only good arm, his left. I dodged it and grabbed his hair, slamming his head against the sink. It cracked in half and my doppelgänger fell to the white tile floor.\n\nBlood started to ooze out of his nose and mouth, and the sight of myself all laid out like that was somewhat surreal.\n\n“You know, for being me, you’re kind of a jerk.”\n\nHe did not respond, he just laid, leaking blood on my floor.\n\n“I didn’t realize I was such a weak sprout…”\n\nI looked in the mirror and saw my reflection again. I was getting larger.\n\nSuddenly I found myself in the bathroom, but I was staring at another doppelgänger.\n\n“And your thoughts,” I said. What was happening?\n\nHe staggered back.\n\n“I can assure you…” I continued.\n\nAnd that is how the time loop would continue to repeat for me.\n\nUntil I figured out how to take control of my own will, I would be a puppet playing out the same bathroom scene in perpetuity.\n\nBut for now, I would enjoy the repetition.\n\nI always enjoyed my habits."
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[WP] Your fortress of doom has been completed, and it was really fun at the start, however nobody actually gets far enough to challenge you.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I sat on my ornate throne, surveying the cavernous throne room. My throne of Dark Obsidian polished almost to a mirror shine sat atop a giant human skull, also hewn from Dark Obsidian, with massive horns of still more Dark Obsidian jutting out the sides, tipped with dried blood. The skull's surface was carved with ornate effigies of suffering--hands reaching out of dark pits, faces twisted in horror and malice, tortured souls living out a single moment of horror, frozen for all eternity. The skull's orbits streamed with lava, which flowed off the face of the skull into the vast pit which surrounded it. This pit was also dug out of obsidian--nearly bottomless if not for the lava which ceaselessly roiled and was nearly the sole source of light and heat for my throne room, except for more streams of lava which fell from massive chambers above. Iron cages scattered copiously around my throne containing the armor of my slain enemies hung on chains from somewhere on the dark ceiling; the bottom of the cages glowing a dull red from the heat of the lava below. A narrow bridge--also dug out of the vast obsidian mountain that I made my home--was the only way to access my throne, through the mouth of the skull. The screeches, cries, roars, and titters of uncountable monsters echoed from different areas of the pit, reminding me that my domain was not completely safe, even for one such as myself.\n\nThe obsidian walls and scarps of the Fortress--also carved with images of suffering--sat imposing over the plains. The walls--studded with defensive towers and crowned with obsidian spikes which jutted out in all directions, themselves crowned with the skulls of the fallen--curved gracefully outward, the main gate and only gatehouse positioned in the outermost portion. Here and there, engines of horror and suffering could blast armies out of existence--some placed atop the towers, others aimed through specially-carved holes in the walls. Streams of lava fell from other holes in the walls, into the moat which bubbled even more lava.\n\nMy weapons and armor were made from the strongest substance known to the denizens of hell itself; gouged out of the red, spongy rock from the Devil's domain and mixed with liquid gold in my furnace to create ingots which could be further manipulated as I saw fit. Further strengthened and enhanced with enchantments--spells known only by the darkest of demons--my attire and weapons could make short work of every monster which made residence in my halls if I saw fit to do so. They also easily struck down armies of soldiers and adventurers with barely any effort--those who thought themselves masters of the world until they dared to taste *true* power in the blade of my sword. My armor was perfectly polished and glowed with arcane power despite the thousands of battles I had single-handedly fought against the kingdoms which surrounded my own. \n\nBut since I had toiled for years to build my Dark Fortress and left the many battlefields in which my name was written in others' blood, none had come of late to try to take what was rightfully mine. In the ash-choked plains surrounding my abode, I had constructed numerous traps and choke points--pits with stone spikes, lava, or monsters at the bottom which suddenly opened up once you tripped a wire, caches of explosives which gave little warning, or monsters suddenly raining from above made just getting to my Fortress nearly impossible. One trap which was especially heinous--a tiny oubliette which ceaselessly shifted back and forth to keep the one trapped within from being able to break free of it--still contained the armor, bones, and other implements carried by the hapless adventurers who saw no way out other than suicide, each of which would be slowly ground to dust by the unstoppable movement of the walls and making room for the next idiot.\n\nTo say nothing of the traps I had constructed within the walls of the Fortress itself. Every trap within had been wired and could be controlled by levers which sat beside my throne, either unleashing horrors from beyond the boundary of this World or crushing intruders under mountains of gravel. Or they would activate automatically, serving as a sort of early warning for me and my monsters. But no one had been able to come far enough into my inner Sanctum to trigger these.\n\nI sighed. I finally had peace, and it was boring. Over the years, I briefly considered leaving my Fortress to wreak havoc upon the surrounding kingdoms again, if only to remind them that their citizens would never be safe from the horrors of the World and maybe exacting a small tax for not utterly destroying them. But I was a being of my word, and the tax I had levied upon the kingdoms from the last time I had defeated them had not failed to be collected by my automatic conveyor system each month. From within my throne room, I could see the small trains from each of the kingdoms--each decorated with that kingdom's sigils--dumping gold nuggets onto my conveyor and then leaving for parts unknown, timed almost perfectly each month. I had more gold than I would ever need, especially since I wouldn't be returning to the Devil's domain for some time to barter with some of my acquaintances there. The sounds of monsters and bubbling lava droned on as I began to think that maybe I had built the place a little *too* well.\n\nSuddenly, a quick cacophony of ominous sounds boomed across the World. I instantly recognized the sounds for what they were--someone had triggered one of my wither traps. Constructed from the screaming sands of the underworld and the dark skulls of the skeletons which roam the Devil's fortresses, these horrifying, flying creatures are death made manifest, causing the bodies of those unlucky to wake them to wither to dust. I could see the deaths of those which haplessly blundered into the trap, an even dozen this time. It had been a while since anybody had dared to cross into my domain to my knowledge. I stood up from my throne, sighed, and adjusted the scabbard in which Death's Bane hung. The idiots were all dead; but left unchecked, the withers could cause havoc upon every living thing in my domain, perhaps accidentally damaging my own Fortress in the process and thus had to be purged. I left my throne to enter the passageway at the top of the skull to deal with the new threat--perhaps I'd actually see a bit of excitement outside my walls.",
"February 13th, 2045\n\nFive days prior to this diary entry, an assassin made an attempt at my life for the thirteenth time in a row, and ending his life only incurred my wife’s immense frustration at our lack of defense in Fortress Lorenz. I was perfectly capable of handling myself, however, my wife Anna suggested I’d upgrade our fortress. Normally I scoffed at the notion, however, that adamant yet alluring gaze warranted me to reconsider my decision, mostly out of love for her. \n\nNevertheless, it has been surprisingly serene ever since the traps have been drafted and created. I always took immense satisfaction in defeating my enemies. Allowing them to bypass my defenses only to be defeated by my hand. The despair in their eyes pleased me and only further exemplified my power to any who would dare to oppose me or my beloved, Anna. However, boredom soon inevitably overtook me. I now see that many of these so-called ‘assassins’ were rather weak in comparison to greater foes Anna and I have challenged. \n\nFor instance, one intruder under the name of Heisenstarke was effortlessly taken down by my Sand Sentinels, what aggravates me even further is that they have one simple weakness; water. Just a small quantity of water targeted at the center of their chest could destabilize them completely. But I digress, additionally, it’s rather humorous to see those upstart buffoons battle against such simple guards. Nevertheless, I must prepare supper for my darling. \n\n“Megan! The pork is done cooking! I could use some help right about now!” Anna called out to Megan. \n\n“Don’t be hasty Anna, I’ll arrive momentarily.” Megan put down her pen and sighed whilst closing her diary. Megan stood at the doorway and glanced back at her study, smiling at the closed journal and flicking the switch to shut the lights off as she closed the door to her study to reconvene with her wife for dinner. \n\nr/sleepystories\n\n\n(note: this is actually a part of a few other stories I made with these characters. [The first part](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/xs4cdh/wp_youre_a_monster_youre_pure_evil_shouted_the/iql3u2e/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) is here and [the second part](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/xy0ycx/wp_the_museum_of_the_history_of_love_has_a_new/iri1aaj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) is here as well. Hope you enjoy!)",
"The sun’s rays awaken me as they seep through the black bars stretched across the window. It is hard to move at all at first; desperately trying to find a sliver of purpose leaving the bed. \n\nBut, just all other days, I force myself from the covers, and walk across the cold stone that comprises the entirety of the room. I make my way to the dresser and open it to a collection of ceremonial outfits- perfectly crafted with designs to represent the power of our family.\n\nI leave the room after getting dressed, making my way down a winding staircase and into the throne room. Just as I enter the room, Ugor greets me in his predictable, “maniacal” tone. While at first somewhat amusing, his nasally, develish voice serves as a constant annoyance to my already mundane existence. \n\n“Good morning, master. Would you like to hear of the night’s affairs?”\n\nHe smiles while approaching me, eagerly awaiting my approval. \n\n“Sure, Ugor” \n\nHe clears his throat before before beginning his usual retelling of the night:\n\n“There were a total of 3 heroes that had dared to test themselves against your ingenious defenses. Do you remember the Brior Twins?”\n\n“Oh yeah, they were the ones that killed that, uh, medusa thing right?” \n\n“Yes, master. I suppose that their recent victories have fooled them to believe they could surpass your wit!”\n\nI never knew why my father felt the need to have Ugor praise us in every way. I suppos he thought that someone as pathetically loyal as Ugor was to be trusted more than others with a semblance of self-worth. It’s more likely he just wanted someone to bolster his megalomaniac ego. \n\nUgor continued, “While their combined efforts saw them through the first few rooms, they did not consider the deadly room of thorns!”\n\n“The room of thorns?”\n\n“Yes! Yes, master! The two wildly swung their swords towards the vines attacking them from the floor, but were shred apart before they could make it a foot into the brush!”\n\n“Really? They could handle the pit and death-weaver webs but couldn’t get past the fucking flowers?”\n\nUgor’s smile fades, and in looks at me confused. “Master, I don’t…”\n\n“I mean, sure they’re fast, but doesn’t one of them have that ‘Armor of Aldura’ or whatever?”\n\n“I think so, I don’t really… uh, I think he got blinded by-“\n\n“Blinded? How the… doesn’t the helmet have an aura”\n\nHe stared blankly for a second, before stammering out “he wasn’t wearing it I guess, and the one room with the lights-“\n\n“Ohhh my god. Another one with the damn helmet thing? You’d think that after what’s his name got the fucking arrow in his eye…”\n\nI stop, and slump down onto the thrown. Ugor looks at me with a perplexed look, before speaking again.\n\n“Is everything alright?”\n\nI don’t respond at first; setting my gaze upon the hall spread out before me. I remember sitting on the steps to the throne as a child; playing with the various knives and daggers my father had given me. \n\nMy father was the lord at that time, and always entered the throne room covered in the blood of countless heroes from across the land. He had such an incredible presence in any room he came in, and as a boy he seemed to be a deity amongst men. \n\nAs I grew up, however, the countless battles began to take their toll on him. The conflicts would last longer, and each hero added new scars to the once “untouchable” knight. \n\nHistorically, this would be the point in which the lords were to pass down their knowledge to their heir. My father, however, kept on insisting that he was as formidable as ever. Even after limping weakly into the room after a tough fight he would say “maybe one of them will challenge me some day.” \n\nOf course, one did. An especially angry Minotaur who bashed him across the room with a hammer. He defeated them eventually, but barely with his limbs intact.\n\nAfter this, I believe that he understood his faltering strength, but rather than accept his responsibility to raise his son to fight as he had for so many years, he sought for ways to continue his power-hungry fantasies. He built the first trap shortly after the Minotaur, and another after an elf left an arrow tip in his thigh. \n\nBack then, I was naive enough to believe him when he said that these were just to “weed out” the weaker heroes. I remember standing there next to father as we excitedly planned out the most effective ways to test the “might” of those who entered. While I enjoyed these discussions on how to defeat the various heroes he encountered, a part of me was also waiting for the moment that he was ready for me to finally battle for the family. \n\nMore and more rooms were constructed, and fights started to become a rarity for my father. Even when they did arrive, most were simply a breath away from death or missing a majority of their blood. Even with this, father just couldn’t accept his loss of the throne, and so more defenses just kept piling onto one another until the bodies of the heroes never made it much past the halfway point. \n\nMy father died with those secrets of battle, as time began taking away whatever mind he had in his prime. Now, years later, I’m stuck in this ridiculous maze of a castle, with nothing to do but wait for a chance to even see a live hero. \n\nUgor snapped me from my thoughts, “I’m going to go, uh… clean up the thorn room now. Do you need anything, master?”\n\n“No, no… I’m fine, Ugor.”\n\n“Alright master.” He shuffles off and leaves to grab the shovel from the servant’s quarters. Im left alone in the echoing halls of the ancient fort. \n\nA part of me ever wonders if I will get to have one of the battles that defined my father’s greatness, but another fears that I will never be the man that he once was. There’s only so much to be gained through books and practice, and the terror that I feel when considering the nothingness of my existence is only matched by the fear of losing the legacy my family crafted. \n\nEvery day I must wait- dreading, but yearning for the chance to prove myself as king",
"The fortress of doom was the start of the demon empire. Adventurer after adventurer would come for the demon lord’s head. It was amusing to see the adventurers all fail, especially with my hidden seeing eyes in each room. Excellent entertainment for the demon lord. \n\nIt only took a year for adventurers to almost completely stop attempting to take on the fortress of doom. The pit flush with the entrance door may have been too ingenious since only a few ever really seemed to get much farther than the pit. So we reconstructed the first room, now the pit isn’t immediate, there’s a bit of space between the door and the pit so the adventurers can actually get through the door. We sent some ads to the human cities and surprisingly it worked. \n\nMore adventurers started coming back. They were getting caught up on the fifth floor mainly now, the crocodiles are mean dinosaurs. Especially with our new magical enhancements for them. But eventually the same issue came up. Adventurers stopped coming. \n\nWe set up a chest on the 4th floor to provide some rewards for the adventurers. Again, we sent out some ads to the human towns and even more adventurers started making attempts. We just used the money from the other adventurers to fill the chest though, so it didn’t really cost us anything. We also stopped enchanting the crocs so people could make a bit more progress. \n\nThe adventurers finally made it to the 10th floor and had to fight off the first general. But the general was too strong. No one was able to take on the first general, so adventurers stopped coming. Also since no one was dying, we couldn’t provide money for the chest anymore. So we made some adjustments. We added a magical barrier that reduced the effectiveness of the general by about 10% but not the adventurers. It wasn’t enough after some tests with regular demon folk instead of adventurers. We ended up reducing the first generals stats by 35% for some adventurers to finally win against him. It also caused the general to teleport away when he was defeated. We also provided another chest for the first general’s room. Taking the adventurers’ weapons and armor and using it as incentives for defeating the first general seemed to work for a while.\n\nUntil the adventurers were consistently able to make it to the second general. We had already reduced the stats for her by 40% but no one was getting through. We had to drop all the way to 50% for some of the adventurers to have a small chance of defeating the second general. We were now able to make a profit however, there was so much gold that we filled the chest and were able to keep some for ourselves. The demons working in the fortress of doom were already getting paid, but now seeing the fortress turn a profit, I was ecstatic. \n\nNow the 25th floor was basically impossible. It was magically enchanted to send anyone that stepped in to a void dimension. Eventually it was turned into a room with void dimension portals and you had to carefully traverse between the portals while deflecting arrows from the walls. \n\nThen the 32nd floor. It used to be a room that you had to enter and wait for 10 minutes then the adventurers could continue. But they just gave up when there was nothing to do. Now we use it as a sort of midway chest and any rare gear we find off the adventurers we put a single item in that chest for the next person to find. One time, the same sword was opened out of the chest 15 times in a row. Adventurers would take it and die not too long afterwards. We would just replace the item. \n\nThe fourth and final general had to have their stats reduced by 80% to see any form of adventurers getting past. We started adding more chests with various extra stuff we didn’t need that adventurers would take and die and give back. Eventually they were making it to the 49th floor, me sitting at the 50th and we just made a room that sends the adventurers straight to the beginning. Technically there’s a way through but very few actually realize it. When they do finally reach me, I just blast them with a fireball and go back to watching the entertainment. \n\nFinally I had the brilliant idea of randomizing the rooms, every week the fortress of doom would be totally switched up from last week’s. Even some of the generals were getting rearranged. The fourth general being on the second floor was funny even when they got their butt kicked. I think we won’t have any issues running out of adventurers now that the playtesting is done.",
"His hulking form stood expectantly at the end of a stone bridge designed to fall away at the first hint of being overcome. The magma flowing underneath casting an otherworldly glow on the chamber. Beyond this hall lay the prize. The idiot ruler of this realm. Unable to flee even though if she would simply open a door she could clamber down the side of his fortress. \n\nHis plan had finally come to fruition. A perilous journey to only the bravest of adventurers. And at the end? a match for his prowess and might. The odds were ever stacked in his favor but so it should be. Someone who could overcome him should not be his equal, but clearly his superior. The hero would have to overcome spike traps, falling floors, harder and harder enemies, endless pits, and otherworldly spirits. The whole of his realm had been prepared for it. Mobilizing his infantry, Air Force, and naval forces to oppose this hero. Only the best would be considered worthy. \n\nOver time the malevolent grin on his face stood firm, then slackened, grew bored, then concerned. The magma still flowed but there was nothing to fight. No challenger to defeat in glorious combat. It had been months. Months of waiting. Of greasing traps and ensuring minions stayed in their place. Finally he ventured from his fortress to discover the root of the problem, and found most of the “heros” dead on the first traps. Their bodies ripped by the least of his mechanisms. \n\nThis would not do. If none could pass the simplest of his traps, how could he possibly ever be able to challenge a worthy opponent. For weeks he thought over it. Thought over it till one of the idiot minions said something that struck him deep in his soul. They said “too bad we can’t teach them.” \n\nYes. YES. He would build more castles. Easier castles. To train and to make more powerful opponents. Then they would become the challenge he desired. But how to make the simpletons redirect away from his current challenge? The answer couldn’t have been simpler. A rumor that the ruler was in one of the castles and have a hostage direct them to the next step, then the next. It was beautiful. In his Land of darkness and fire he had his underlings annex land from the other realms and build according to his desires. Then he would have his challenge. Then would be the glorious fight! \n\nHe began to hear rumors that his castles were being overtaken, not by the local population but by some interloper from a realm outside his experience. Again the plan was going wrong. No challenger from the worlds he knew was going to make an assault on his castle. But some hero from another world. \n\nThis could still be ok though. The fight would still be glorious. Perhaps even more so. The spikes affixed to his back quivered in anticipation. He heard the commotion outside the castle as the hero crashed though his defenses. He could nearly taste the excitement. The form of the hero began to separate from the shadows as he charged towards his ultimate demise. The game was on! Spouting fire and throwing pickaxes he leaped at the hero. But no, the hero dashed underneath and slammed the key holding the bridge in place, causing the whole of it to collapse into the molten rock underneath. He stood for a moment in thin air while the natural forces of gravity reasserted themselves. The last thought before his mind succumbed to the pain of the magma was the name of the hero. “Mario.”",
"Evil Lord Malthazar, fifth of his name, the ancient one, King of Despair, Monarch of the Damned, threw up his hands and rolled his eyes. \nThe images displayed in the crystal ball of seeing were once again disappointing. \n\n“It’s just goblins,” he said, he ran a hand over his bald head and kept it there, eyes staring at the marble-tiled floor in disbelief, “How can they lose to something like goblins?” \n\nA short demon attendant with a quick smile stood nearby, his horns stood at odd angles, “Adventurers not up your standards again, Lord Malthy?” \nThe demon adjusted his clothing, a full three-piece suit, slightly. \n\nThe Fortress of Doom that had been constructed by Lord Malthazar and his demonic companions had been impressive in all ways. \nIt had taken nearly a full thousand years to construct it. \nThings had gone pretty quickly at first, but then … unions started getting involved and the demons required things like ‘Breaks’ and ‘Sleep’ and things had definitely slowed down after that. \nHe had to call all his minions to help in the construction of the Fortress of Doom and even then -- it took a thousand years. \n\n“I mean, I know we only really opened up shop a few months ago,” said Malthazar, mostly to himself, “But I would’ve expected word to travel by now. Where are the heroes? Sword Saints? Grand magi? Sages?” \n\nThe demon attendant shrugged, “Perhaps they have more pressing matters elsewhere.” \n\nMalthazar’s brow furrowed, “Mort, are we are spending enough on marketing, you think?” \n\nThe demon attendant named Mort nodded sagely, “We have sent shapeshifters to all corners of the realm to lament in excruciating detail about all the horrors and riches they’ve witnessed here.” \n\n“Have you made sure that they mention the lava chambers on the seventieth floor?” asked Malthazar with an inch of doubt. \n\n“I made sure to emphasize it, m’lord,” said Mort. \n\nMalthazar grunted, then pondered, “Am I just not good enough? I mean, evil enough?” \n”What do you think I should do to warrant an invasion by, by…” he began, then snapped his fingers a few times to jog his memory, “The Cardinal Heroes?” \n\n“My lord,” said Mort, “I’m afraid those passed away roughly nine hundred years ago.” \n\n“What!” cried Malthazar, “How can that be? Didn’t they kill Demon Lord Maxim?” \n\n“Yes,” admitted Mort, “But they turned out to be painfully mortal, m’lord. Old age.” \n\n“Amateurs. Don’t they know that the very first thing you chase down are the secrets to immortality?” said Malthazar, then sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “The Iron Brigade, then?” \n”Deceased,” replied Mort. \n”The Holy Trinity?” \n”Passed on.” \n”The Eternal Swords?” \n”Departed.” \n”The Scarlet Knights?” \n”Me.” \n\"You?\" \n\"Mort.\" \nMalthazar sneered, “What’s with these selfish heroes! Going around dying like that. What’d I even build this place for?” he cried, “They must’ve had disciples or something? Children that they passed their techniques onto?”\n\n“Oh, yes,” said Mort with a quick smile, which then faded, “At first.” \n”Regrettably their teachings have been lost to time as the years went by,” he added, \"Or they've adopted a far inferior version.\" \n\n\"Why'd they do that?\" asked Malthazar, it was all getting a bit much. \n\n\"Reports indicate that the ancient spells and methods were too difficult or took too long to master,\" answered Mort. \n\nThe Evil Lord shook his head in disbelief, “There’s dangers everywhere! How will they defend themselves?” \n\n“I hate to inform you, m’lord, but the realm has been at peace for a long time,” replied Mort. \n\n“What?” cried Malthazar, “Since when!?” \n\n“More or less around a thousand years ago. Around the time you called back all your minions to aid in the construction of this very fortress, m’lord,” replied Mort. \n\nEvil Lord Malthazar pressed his lips into a line, “I see,” he said, stifling a cough. \nHe turned his direction back to the crystal ball, “And if I were to release some of them back onto the world? A horde of goblins, perhaps?” \n\n“Total annihilation, m’lord,” said Mort, “They haven’t the faintest idea on how to defend themselves. In fact, those getting battered by the minions on the first floor of your fortress are the finest the realm has to offer at this time.” \n\n“Are you telling me that this entire realm has nobody in it that would even make it to the Noxious Swamps on the fifth floor?” said Malthazar, his voice laced with anger. \nThe Noxious Swamps were something he was particularly proud of. \nThey were filled with a certain kind of bug called a Sneerbeetle that would melt you from the inside out. \nThe demon that had invented these had received a pat on the back, a fancy jacket, and a shove into a padded prison cell. \nYou can’t have people like that walking the halls. \n\n“I am saying,” said Mort, choosing his words carefully, “There is nobody in this realm that will even make it to the second floor.” \n\nMalthazar blinked. \n\nMort, indulging his master and getting into the spirit of things, also blinked. \n\nMalthazar clenched his fists until his knuckles turned pale, “MORT!” he roared. \n\n“Five feet away, m’lord,” replied Mort. \n\n“GRAB MY COAT,” cried Malthazar as he stomped towards the exit. \n\nMort snapped his fingers and a coat appeared, it reeked of mothballs, and he swung it over his arm as he hurried after his lord, “Where are we going, m’lord?” he said once he caught up. \n\n“To the capital of Aria,” said Maltharzar, plucking the coat from Mort’s arm. \n\nSlightly annoyed at having to ask the obvious follow-up question, Mort spoke, “And what are we going to do there, m’lord?” \n\n“EDUCATION,” roared Malthazar."
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[WP] As a retired and rehabilitated supervillain, you're trying to move on with your past life and move on towards something more constructive. However your ex arch nemisis keeps trying to temp you back into a life of crime, as they're at risk of losing their job due to low crime rates.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“It’s you, again.” You didn’t need to turn to know that your ex-enemy was right behind you.\n\n“Oh come on! Please! I’ve only just gotten my job as neighbourhood protector!”\n\n“You mean the job where you hand out candy to little kids and help grandmas across the road?” You say humourlessly.\n\n“You know why! I haven’t been able to do cool stuff since you’ve retired. I know my speech about being a good person was awesome, but I mean, there has to be some part of you that wants to be evil right?”\n\n“Nope. I love my life as it is. Why don’t you try having an actual job for once? Don’t you have a degree in philosophy?”\n\nThey frown and pace about your room. “You know that stuff is useless! I can’t! Please!”\n\n“I’m sure you can come up with something. I heard a rumour from some dude called Nietzsche that someone important up there is dead. Maybe you could revive him. There’s always something you can do. People make problems, you solve ‘em. Plenty you can do.”\n\nThey stare at you for a long while, almost as if your words had lit a bulb in their head. “Thank you! You’re a genius!”\n\nThey leapt right out of your window, shattering a flower vase in the process. You roll your eyes.\n\nThe next day, you read the newspaper as you drink your freshly made coffee. \n\n“NEW SUPERVILLIAN ARRIVES IN LOSPAM CITY”\n\nNext to the wall of text explaining the events that had transpired the previous day was a black-and-white picture, showing a hole in a skyscraper, in the shape of your enemy."
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[WP] You are an adventurer tasked with a dragon-slaying quest. However, after intensive lessons in Dragontongue on Duolingo you are now best friends with the dragon, and both of you set out to battle the real threats against the nation.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"You're serious\"\n\n\"I am\"\n\nThe mayor of Brookhaven leans to the side slightly to get a better look out the window. His eyes go wide and sweat beads on his brow. \"That's a real dragon\".\n\nThe woman in plain clothing responds. \"Yes, that's a real dragon\".\n\nThe mayor looks down at the papers she has handed him. \"And you're telling me that unless we implement these changes to our way of life you're going to...\"\n\n\"Burn down your entire village, yes that's correct\"\n\n\"I'm not sure I understand, why...\"\n\nThe woman stands abruptly\n\n\"I'm certain you don't\" she walks to the window overlooking the village. \"I don't need you to understand, I need you to act. They need you to act\" she gestures to the villagers.\n\n\"Your demands though, they're so... \"\n\n\"Simple\"\n\n\"Yes\"\n\n\"Simple is not the same as easy, mayor. My friend and I may seem like the threat here, but I assure you we are not\" she walks to the door \"I'll gather them in the square, do not tarry\" \n\nThe woman leaves and the mayor examines the parchment once again. With a puzzled look and a defeated sign he rises and gathers his official attire.\n\nLater, at the village square, a few hundred villagers gather, awaiting the mayor's decree. The mayor arrives and ascends a small stage.\n\n\"Good people of Brookhaven! There will be several changes to how we conduct our life here in our fair village. They are as follows\"\n\nHe looks around to ensure he has everyone's attention.\n\n\"We are here by mandated to cleanse our hands after using the privy, before every meal, and before and after all close contact\"\n\nThe crowd stares in silent confusion for a moment before a voice is heard from the back.\n\n\"... LIKE FUCKING HELL WE WILL!\""
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[WP] For 4th accursed time in the past 3 months, you the princess has been kidnapped by the dragon. Your best friend, a knight has once again come to rescue you. Wait a minute, they seem to have a really good chemistry?. She's flirting on him ?. How is he not noticing this?!?!...
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"(WIP)\n\n1. Aurora\n\n20th of september:\nDear diary, I have been dropping hints all year for Lance, but he doesn’t seem to catch on to the fact that I like him, so I came up with a plan. I send a letter to one of my dad’s (king George) old contacts and was able to make a deal with a dragon trainer to arrange a staged kidnapping. His name is Arthur and we met up in a tavern right outside of the city walls yesterday. I will go to the ruins of an abandoned castle only a day’s journey away from here, this should be enough (I hope??). Anyway, I’m supposed to meet Arthur there in 3 days which after he will introduce me to Silvia (his dragon) so I’ll know what to do and how to react around her. I really this will be worth the while because I paid way more than I should’ve for this.\n\n23d of september:\nDear diary, I arrived at the castle today and honestly, this is such a beautiful location! It will be so romantic once Lance arrives here to “rescue” me! I just love him so much. We’ve been friends since we were little, our dad’s knew each other which made it even more important for them that we had a good relationship too. At first he used to be really shy around me (I think he already had a crush on me back then), but as time went by, he started to open up a little and we became friends. Our bond only tightened as the years went by. He’s truly my other half, which is one of the many reasons that I love him.\nBut anyways, I’m letting my thoughts trail off. My meet up with Arthur went great today and Silvia is a real sweetheart. She’s a tough looking 7 meter long magma dragon, but give her some copper coins to chew on and she turns into a real big puppy with the ability to melt your skin off.\nArthur just left a little over an hour ago to deliver a letter to Lance so he can come and rescue me.\n\n24th of september:\nThis waiting is so boring, but it’s nice that there are still a few books in the castle’s library, even though they are pretty damaged due to long exposure to the elements. \nTh library is a big rectangular shaped building near the east wing with 2 floors and is still pretty intact with only a part of the roof missing. It’s only two hallways away from the only intact tower of the castle, which is what I’ll be sleeping in since I’m not going to be sleeping in the open air (could you imagine?! I’m a princess for god’s sake!) and everyone knows that all kidnapped princesses always have to reside in one of the castle’s towers. I’m to go to bed now because it’s getting late and I’m exhausted from the long journey."
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[WP] You are an ancient evil that has awoken from a 10,000 year slumber. However, during your absence the world has gotten so bad that you're a welcome change.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"Say it again\" Said the dirty, raggedly clothed human. \"What you told me. You know, about what you plan to do to us all...\"\n\nThe little man had been the first human I had seen in 10,000 years. He had heard my words and stared up at me almost in adoration before turning and running away. It was, unexpected. Not the running away part, that I had come to expect and delight in but the way he had looked at me was, bewildering. \n\nIt had not taken long for him to return with an entourage of 30 or so equally tattered looking humans who now gathered in front of me looking up in awe.\n\n\"I have returned. To enslave you and all of mankind.\" I said awkwardly. It had sounded better the first time.\n\n\"Enslave?\" A bushy faced man said from the middle of the crowd. \"Like, work for you?\"\n\n\"No. Not, like work for me. You will be worked to the bone building my empire!\" I boomed.\n\n\"Will we get food?\" Another man asked from the back.\n\n\"Well, yeah, I suppose so. You wouldn't be much good to me if you all starved to death\"\n\n\"And you won't eat our spines and turn us into paste?\" Asked a child from the front. He had been so small that I had not noticed him. I had forgotten how disgusting children were.\n\n\"What the? No of course not. Why would I ever eat any part of you disgusting creatures?\" I couldn't recall if humans had always been this weird.\n\n\"Hooray!\" A man cheered from the back of the crowd. \"Hooray! Hooray!\" The rest of the crowd burst with delight. Men began high fiving each other while others hugged and wiped tears of joy from their cheeks. The small boy stared at me as if I were his saviour.\n\nThis lot were loonies. I slowly turned back to the giant coffin that had been my prison for 10 millennium and lowered myself back inside.\n\n\"Wait, where are you going?\" I heard from the crowd behind.\n\n\"It's probably going to get some enslaving tools...\" A man beamed hopefully. I slid the great lid closed, engulfing myself in the welcoming darkness. Perhaps I will try again in a millennium or two.\n\n\"Maybe it's taking a nap? it did look tired...\" A muffled voice came from outside the coffin.\n\nDamn it..."
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Write about the most excruciating pain you have ever experienced. What happened? How did time feel? How long was the experience? How long did it feel like the experience lasted? What were you thinking?
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[WP]Pain
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"It took me to my knees, the bat's swing, with every bone vibrating like a plucked string. After he hit me I tried to run but my legs didn't work. Staggering I gagged and fell on the stairs. Nausea rolled through. Maybe I thought I could escape. Maybe I needed to. I'd had to call him a pussy after the first swing, until he did it right. We were trying to break a bone after all. My wrist. There was a bone \"change,\" but not a break. My plan worked. We got some pills out of it. ",
"I told my friends to bring omelet ingredients. Kyle came with a block of cheddar and a couple of jalapenos from the market downstairs. I scraped the seeds from the jalapenos and minced them, then washed my hands, mindful of the burning oils that had escaped from their flesh. \n\nBrunch was amazing--omelets, sausages, bread pudding, hashbrowns, pancakes, all the breakfast foods my roommates and I knew how to make. \n\nThat night, I was sitting alone with my computer and *Euthyphro*, starting to write a paper which was of course due the next morning.\n\nMy hands started to itch. \n\nThe itch built to a tingling, and I thought back to that morning, scrubbing my hands with the sweet-smelling blue soap and listening for the kitchen timer. Surely it wasn't the jalapenos. \n\nThe pain came on and on, not a malicious entity but a natural force, a tsunami that sinks an island, a toxic fungus that devours a body. When I thought it was at its worst, it got worse. I tried all the remedies the internet could suggest--cold water, cold milk, vinegar, butter, baking soda, ginger ale--and it didn't stop and it didn't stop and it didn't stop. Someone, somewhere, had made a little voodoo doll and was burning its hands away on a bonfire. I sat, *Euthyphro* open on my lap, and held my screaming hands out in front of me, and sobbed.\n",
"All was normal, it was just another game. Except it was the state playoffs. And we were losing by 5. \n\nI was playing left center mid, a position I no longer play. I got the ball, and started to turn, when I sensed a defender behind me. I then go to cut the ball back, and the girl sticks her foot in. She somehow gets my foot. It turns sideways. My knee and calf stayed facing forward.\n\nI collapsed, crying from the pain of what would eventually (fortunately) just turned out to be a sprained ankle muscle. The ref came over to me and said \"There was no foul on the play. You were going for the ball, it was a fair tackle.\"\n\nWhat felt like 5 minutes later, my best friend's mom (who was coaching at the time) walked onto the field. At this point, I was just so embarrassed, I wanted to get off the field. I tries to walk on my own, but I just couldn't. Reluctantly, I asked for assistance. I managed to wobble off to the bench, which was on the other side of the field, mind you.\n\nThe best part? I got my ankle taped and went on to play the entire second half.\n\nNo, we did not win.",
"It all seemed to slow down as my body approached the mat. My knee had gone sideways from the force of his shoulder. I could feel the joint come out of the socket, I sometimes think I could hear the ligament pop. In less than an instant the tables had turned, and with that single movement I went from an eight point lead to having my right shoulder on the mat and the left perilously close to losing it all. This was only high school wrestling, but the pain was just as real as anything else. As I tried to turn my body, the agony running from my leg and into my stomach, making me nauseous as the underdog became the favorite. I held him off, not for desire to win, but because moving any further to my left would have left me crying and screaming in pain and I knew it. My arm pressed into the mat, holding my body away from the vinyl for fifteen seconds which could not pass quickly enough. For every ounce of strength I gave my opponent pressed back, not knowing the pain I was suffering, only knowing the excitement that comes from the possibility of a last second victory. Finally the whistle blew and my arm was released. A hand reached down in offering from the wrestler who I had just beaten, if you could really call it that now. With my eyes closed and hands at my knee I didn't see his hand, which means I also didn't see his face as it turned white in realization of what he had never intended to cause. When I saw him again later he looked devastated. Maybe he had seen his own mortality, a deep sentiment for a tournament dominated by kids barely turning eighteen. Trainers came quickly, but not quickly enough to beat the swelling. It was that that made them thing it was nothing serious, that maybe I would be able to compete in the finals, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I was carried off by two of my teammates, struggling under the weight of my body, limp with pain. Even after a doctor's visit, no one had realized the true damage done. It wasn't until months later when they finally ran the MRI that they saw my ACL had been split with that one swift motion. They didn't notice that my meniscus was not only torn, but destroyed, not much to do besides shave it down and hope for the best. \n\nStill today when I walk down the street I can feel the pop in my joint. The grinding as the bone reminds me of a time when I was younger and I was working for some teenage sense of glory. I never know whether to regret it and wish for relief from the nagging pain that keeps me up on winter nights; or whether to revel in my past and use the scar as a talking point, a story to tell at the bar when I've grown old and there is no one to listen but a tired young bartender hearing the same sob story for the third time this week. I know the pain, I felt it searing through my nerves. And all I can do now is try my best to medicate without creating more than I already have. "
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[WP] You couldn't help yourself but get attached.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I wake up in an unfamiliar location. I try to move, but I can't. I take in my surroundings. A tiny room, barely lit. I look at my feet... and scream. This attracts someone's attention, as the door opens. \"So... you're awake... *Lord* Drowl.\" The person before me grins.\r\n\n\"CUT THE ACT! I NEED ANSWERS!\" I'm practically snarling like a dog.\r\n\n\"Easy there. I don't want to have to remove your head *as well as* your limbs.\"\r\n\n\"Limbs?\" I look either side of me. My arms are missing too. I'm just a head and a body. I sigh, realising I'm hopeless. \"Whe... where are they?\"\r\n\n\"In the stomachs of our pets by now. We can give you robotic limbs easily, just so you know.\" The man chuckles.\r\n\n\"So... you're plan is to make me literally useless and at your mercy, so you can bribe me with new limbs...\" damn if that's not a good plan, if evil and barbaric. I'm already desperate just to have an arm!\r\n\n\"Pretty much. We won't just give you new limbs, though. You need to earn them.\" The man again chuckles.\r\n\n\"How? Without my limbs, I...\" Suddenly, it occurs to me. I'm broken and defeated. I, lord of an empire, ruler to many and with loyal men at my side, have already given in to my captors.\r\n\nThe man laughs manically. \"Oh, it NEVER fails! Do you have ANY IDEA how many kings, queens, lords, emperors, and more, are under our control? Most of our targets have been eastward of where your land is. We were beginning plans to take over the nations there, but you had started on your *precious* empire. We decided to wait... why conquer one nation at a time, when we can take advantage of the hard work of others?\"\r\n\nI don't argue. It's not like I can do crap... \"So... what now?\"\r\n\n\"Now, my pet\" he strokes my head as he says that, \"you can surrender to us. You'll be given robotic limbs, and your empire... will become ours. You'll run it, but we'll pull the strings.\" The man grins. \"Think about it, little puppet. After all, they've probably already forgotten you.\"\r\n\nI get furious at that comment. \"NEVER! I wouldn't be abandoned so quickly, especially not by Naytar! I don't need your charity!\"\r\n\nThe man shakes his head. \"Remember, dear pawn, Naytar was a hero hellbent on preventing your empire from happening. Why, he's probably dismantling it as we speak! Take our offer, and while you'll be our toy, your empire will stay. And what about those who doubt you? Who speak ill of you? Remember, you were only just beginning to gain people's trust.\"\r\n\nMy eyes widen. \"How do- was there a *spy* in my team? Did you plant a mole?\"\r\n\n\"I'll leave that to your imagination. For now... think about what I said.\" The man exits, locking the door behind me. I sigh. He... he's wrong... Naytar wouldn't abandon me... he wouldn't... right?\r\n\n**DISTANT TOWN =NAYTAR=**\r\n\n\"I've got a lead!\" the woman, Greta, exclaims. I jump to my feet and rush over.\r\n\n\"Really? What is it?\"\r\n\n\"According to one of my contacts, a suspicious vehicle was passing through Hunter's Valley. I wish I knew more, it may not be Drowl, but-\"\r\n\n\"**Lord** Drowl\" I snap. She rolls her eyes.\r\n\n\"Fine, it may not be *Lord* Drowl, but everything else is a dead end. This is your best chance.\" Greta looks at me with concern. \"You've... heard about Hunter's Valley, right?\"\r\n\nI nod. \"Everyone has. It's... quite far. I'm handy with a motorcycle, if you have one.\"\r\n\nGreta is taken aback. \"You'll be charging into your doom, you know!\"\r\n\n\"I... I have to do this. I'd do this for a random citizen, I'd do this for my boss. So... why wouldn't I do this for a friend?\" I look her in the eyes.\r\n\n\"Wow... Lord Drowl really does mean a lot to you personally. You couldn't help but get attached or something?\" A single tear escapes me.\n\n\"He... he's an amazing leader... a caring boss... and close friend...\"\n\nGreta looks at me sadly. \"Very well. Men! Prepare a motorcycle for Naytar!\"\r\n\n\"Y... yes, boss!\" The men exit immediately. I hug Greta.\r\n\n\"Thank you. You know, with these skills, you don't have to be a *villain*. Think about it.\" I make my exit and hop onto the motorcycle. I rev the engines and speed off. Hang on, Drowl... I'm coming...\r\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThis story is a part of my series, [Dreams of an Empire.](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/x9xqe3/dreams_of_an_empire/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Please check it out!",
"You stared in horror at the small, shining intruder in front of you. Even from the distance, you could feel a sizeable portion of your being gravitate toward them. This could not happen! Though you were much larger than this creature, surely you were immune to its powers of attraction from here! The Being above who put this thing here giggled, and you pleaded silently as it nudged you closer. The intruder wiggled slightly. *No, no, no! Don't push me closer!*\n\nThe cruel pull was almost unbearable. For a moment, you were afraid that you would be sucked in, but the intruder did not move anymore. At that moment, a faraway voice called, and the Being above groaned. There was a rush of air as it rose high above the surface and turned away. *Maybe I will be safe here. Maybe...*\n\nA tremendous rumble shook the surface's foundation. The intruder eagerly launched toward you, and before you could even *scream,* it stuck to you. The force holding you together was unbreakable, much more powerful than any attraction you had ever felt in your life. How was it possible for such a small thing to hold on so tightly!? Would you ever escape?\n\n​\n\n​\n\n*Note: Yes, I actually got my magnets out to create the scenario. I used a weak disk magnet and a tiny but much stronger magnet.*",
"I knew what it was the moment I laid eyes upon it. A mousetrap, one of those brutal, glue-covered pads that are placed on the floor, that cling and clasp at unwary paws, and ultimately leave you no choice but to gnaw your own limbs off in order to try and escape. \n\nI also knew, through hard earned experience, that biting off your own leg doesn't always guarantee survival. I had gotten off cheaply, all things considered. The new limb I had made for myself, from a bunch of used matchsticks and the spring from a disused biro, was holding up nicely, and the scuttling limp was barely noticeable on a good day. \n\nHamish had not been so lucky, he'd made it a full three steps onto the carnivorous terrain, and was beyond liberation. His desperate, horrific appeal for help, for rescue, and ultimately for death will haunt me until my dying day. I still sometimes wake in the night, scurrying upright with sweat soaking my fur, his furious, terrified screams chasing me from sleep and ringing in my ears. \n\nIndeed, I know the perils of an adhesive mousetrap all too well, and had learned a thing or two about caution and, I suppose, of the perils of hubris too.\n\nI should, therefore, have scurried quickly away as fast as my legs could carry me, never once looking back, yet I did not. For I was utterly enthralled. \n\nSitting, resplendent, in the centre of the trap, glistening as the first beads of sweat was starting to coalesce upon it's flanks in the summer heat, was a block of cheese.The pungent tang of sharp, slightly sour cheddar filled my nose, overwhelming my senses and luring me in with it's acerbic siren song. \n\nI was older now, more careful, and more experienced. I could do this. My mouth watered at the thought of the feast to come. This irresistible treasure was not just a piece of cheese, it was redemption, and I would gorge myself upon it.\n\nTightening the salvaged elastic bands that held my matchstick leg in place, and ignoring the warning voice in my head, I shuffled carefully towards the edge of the trap. My nose twitched as I snuffled and sniffed the air, alert for any sign of danger. Satisfied that I was alone, I began to unravel the grappling hook that I had constructed from a piece of twine and a paperclip I scoured around for a likely place to secure it. I settled on a gap between the base board and the wall that looked like it would suffice.\n\nIt took me a few attempts to get the hook secured, aided by minor ergonomic adjustments to the paperclip hook, but I was eventually satisfied with the placement. Tying off the other end of the twine to a nearby chair leg I stepped back to admire my handiwork. A thin, scarily fragile length of flimsy twine spanned the breadth of the trap, mere inches above the fatal glue pad. It would hold.\n\nLooping my artificial leg over the twine and gripping it with my other back paw, I started to drag myself along the length of my line towards the promised cheese. The going was painstakingly slow, but caution would keep me alive so I fought to remain calm and patient. The minutes it took me to traverse the line felt like hours. My front legs began to ache and spasm, and I had to stop to rest frequently. I sorely missed the days of my youth, when this would have posed no problem to me. But those days were long past, \n\nEventually I was above my target, and the fragrant aroma of sharp, mature Cheddar was overwhelming. Reaching down I began to grasp at my prize, seeking to pry it from the sticky surface of the pad. I found myself unable to free it from the adhesive though, and instead was forced to attempt to consume it here. I began breaking off paw sized chunks of the sour, crumbly pearl of cheddar and stuffing into my mouth.\n\nThe taste was divine, and I felt myself growing full by the time I was just below halfway through the block. Finally content, I began to crawl back along my makeshift cable towards the safety of the floor beyond the trap. \n\nIt was then that I heard the terrifying twang of snapping twine. I was, in my dairy filled and distended state, now too heavy for the twine to hold. My careful crawling was now replaced by a frantic and panicked scramble to clear the trap. The beating of my heart and the occasional plunk of another bursting strand of the twine combined to fill my ears as I made my maddening slow dash to safety. \n\nI was almost clear when the final thread ruptured, and I began to plummet towards the ground with a sickening lurch. The inches between myself and the ground felt like miles, and time seemed to slow like I was falling through treacle. \n\nI hit the ground with a dull thud, lurching upright as a sense of relief washed over me. I had made it out of the traps radius by the merest sliver, but I had was victorious! I raised by front paws triumphantly, and reared up on my hind legs.\n\nAnd immediately toppled sideways.\n\nLooking down, bewildered, I saw with a sense of mounting horror that my precious artificial leg was no longer attached. In it's place, the remnants of a broken elastic band hung limply in the matted fur of my long severed limb. The leg itself lay about an inch away from me, adhered immovably to the surface of the trap.\n\nI raged at the injustice of it all, and despaired the loss of my painstakingly crafted prosthetic. I had, I reflected, been a fool. I thought I had understood the perils of hubris, that I had known the risks, but I had been a prideful, stupid creature. The cheese called to me, I couldn't help myself but get attached, and now the ironically literal nature of that attachment had cost me both my leg and my grappling hook. \n\nIt was excellent cheese though. \n\nSighing to myself, I limped off, in search of matchsticks."
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[WP] "You can run, but you cannot hideeeee." the monster called out. But the monster failed to consider that you are a marathon runner and so you just keep on running.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"*\"You can run, but you cannot hideeeee.\" the monster called out.*\n\nIt has to have been at least 30 minutes by now. The park sign becoming closer in my peripherals, the service booth to the right, I could have sworn I ran this loop 15 times. No, make that 16. Just who does this weirdo think they are? Going to park to chase the dog walkers? Huh, thankfully coach trained the team for moments like these. The days of running with weights actually came to good use other than for marathon meets. \n\nI reluctantly look back in hopes that perhaps whatever that creature was is no longer chasing me. I could go a few more rounds down this trail, but it would be nice if a literal beast was not on my tail. But perhaps I was *too* hopeful. The creature began catching up. \n\n\"W- wait up! Please, kid!\" The creature pants out. \n\nDespite just how pathetic that thing looks, I am *not* about to let my guard down on it. Choosing to carry on, considering running even faster, I decide to pace myself. Although I am used to running, there is a lot more stress with the addition of *huge, creepy beast persistently charging towards me.* Boy, won't this be a story to tell later. \n\nFinally, there came a loud thump from behind. \"I..I- I can't go any farther. If you could, listen to what I have to say,\" asks the beast.\n\"I know I sounded harsh at first, I just wanted someone to play hide-and-go-seek tag with, but you're just too good at this game...I..I surrender-\" the beast breaths out, collapsing in exhaust. \n\n\"Excuse me?\" I utter out. This creature...wanted to play *tag* with me? \"I have been running for what feels to be 40 minutes! There is NO way you just wanted to 'play' tag!\" I yell out at the beast. \n\n\"Well, I only wanted to play for a few minutes, but...\" the creature averts its gaze from my eyes. \n\n\"But what?\" I ask, becoming increasingly impatient. \n\n\"But you just looked so cute. Your hair flopping with each step you ran. I couldn't help it. I wanted to ask for your number..or if you maybe had a Facelook account,\" the creature bashfully let out. \n\nI stare at them, dumbfounded at their words. \"Fine, I have a Facelook account, but you better not stalk me on there or chase me around anymore, deal?\" \n\n\"Deal! Oh, also- could you teach me how to run like that?\" They ask.\n\n\"Sure, but you have to get up at 4 am. Every. Morning.\" I smirk. Surely they wouldn't. \n\n\"Deal!\" \n\n\"Uh, I meant to say 9 am,\" I add. \n\n\"But I can't do 9. I have group therapy at 9,\" the creature mumbled, as they began to physically deflate from disappointment. \n\n\"No, no....we can do 6am then, alright?\" I ask, considering if I'll later regret this. \n\n\"Yes! Deal! Thank you so much! I just made a new friend!\" The creature shouts, beginning to cry. \n\n\"Right. Well, I have to finish my jog.\" \nAs if I am about to awkwardly stand in the middle of this park with a blubbering monster in front of me. It looks quite pitiful, though. \n\n...\n...\n...\n\nDamn it. \n\"Wanna come over to my place?\" I ask.\n\n\"What? Really? I'd love to!\" \n\nHere goes nothing. \n\n\n(My first writing prompt on here and it's about a monster..fitting for the day after Halloween, I guess- xD)",
"Steady breaths.\n\nMy arms were locked to my side, no wasted movement. My legs extended, slammed down, and pushed. Every motion an intricate part of the running machine I'd crafted my body into over the last 7 years.\n\nSteady breaths.\n\nThat monster made of muck and grime had lashed out. It ate Jamie. It.... taunted me. It wanted to play. To chase me.\n\nSteady breaths.\n\nIt bubbled and laughed. I could see Jamie clawing for air, while I just.... watched. I watched my friend suffocate to death.\n\nSteady breaths. Locked arms.\n\n\"You can rUUUuuuuUUUUUnnnn, but you can't hiiiiIIII-eeeiiiiiide.\" It's voice bubbled behind me. I jumped over a small rock. The hill club had given me what I needed for small obstacles. My body returned to form.\n\nSteady breaths.\n\nIt was still behind me. Still taunting. Still singing. But it couldn't chase me forever. I'd be out of the woods soon. It'll make its move soon. So I need to make mine.\n\nSteady breaths. Locked arms. Stiff neck. \n\nJamie and I had run this forest every which way since we were kids. I knew every footpath, even if we were in the middle of the woods. I knew where the paths turned, and where the bridges crossed the rivers.\n\nSteady breaths. Plan in mind.\n\nI could it shots of bubbles lapping at my heels. It wasn't taunting me anymore. It was worried. If I got out... I don't know what I could do, but it was definitely scared of something. I can use that. The bridge was in sight.\n\nDeep Breaths.\n\n\"IMPURE MONSTERS CAN'T CROSS RUNNING WATER! YOUR ASS IS GOING HUNGRY TONIGHT!\" I bellowed into the black sky. The babbling brook was big enough, hopefully enough for this to work. I heard the bubbles fade.\n\nI slowed and stopped in the middle of the bridge, it creaked loud enough to unnerve me. I took deep steady breaths, stretching my hands on top of my head. Round 1 goes to me. Just gotta be ready for it to jump at me now. My eyes scanned the forest, there was no way it'd ever had to work this hard for a meal. It probably wasn't used to chasing this far out. But I hit its pride. \n\n\"WRONG YOU LITTLE BITCH!\" I heard from above me, and braced as an avalanche of slime and muck slammed into my hands conspiculously placed to also support my neck. \n\nThe world turned and all I could hear was the crunch of wood and several warring termite clans skittering as the water rushed up to meet us. \n\nI'd already been holding my breath.\n\nThe muck screamed.\n\nIt was enough for me to grab Jamie's body and climb out, both of us coughing and hacking up sludge.\n\n\"C'mon!\" I pulled at Jamie's sleeve. \"This only buys us a minute. We have to go.\" \n\nI dragged Jamie's suffocating and coughing and near-unconscious body the last 20 feet out of the woods and onto the back of my grandpa's pickup truck.\n\nAn unearthly screech mixed with the engine roaring to life. The moon's rays showed the ground shifting behind us as the trees above us seemed to sink into the muck and bubbles that were consuming the road behind us.\n\nSteady breaths. Hands at the wheel and stick. Pedal on the floor. Plan in mind.\n\nTime for Round 2.",
"Just how have I gotten myself into this mess? The small, winding road through the dark forest was hard to see, but I tried my best - failure would equal death for me.\n\n\"You can ruuhhuun, but you can't hideeeee\", the high-pitched voice sing-songed behind me. In a way, it reminded me of playing hide-and-seek in primary school. To be honest, I always sucked at hiding, it felt like such a waste of time to me, even when the other kids laughed about it. But I was always a solid runner. One time, the seeker counted to 100 and I simply ran home instead, because it was already starting to rain.\n\nRunning became a passion of mine, I joined the school team and trained every day, competing in tournaments. I was a decent sprinter, but long distance became where I truly shined. There is something about running a marathon that almost feels like you're meditating. It's just you, your even breathing, the rhythm of your steps on the road...ignoring the spectators, and simply letting yourself become one with the universe.\n\nI scored a scholarship to a prestigious university, but even after obtaining my degree in engineering, it was simply a fallback for me. A fallback for the time when maybe I could't run like this anymore...\n\nWhat a joke, considering I was currently running for my life and would perhaps never need such a fallback anyway. While my feet carried me towards the edge of the forest - *hopefully*, my mind wandered back to what transpired just a few hours earlier.\n\nI was just out celebrating Halloween with a few friends in a bar, when someone approached me. Dimly, I recalled meeting them before, and they told me that they were a fellow runner and we've met at a marathon in September. They joined our group, acting pleasantly enough at first, but soon enough they started accusing me of being a cheater, claiming no regular person could run like I do.\n\nA friend of mine started to tell them off, but it was too late already. Laughing, they said that the pumpkin punch was spiked and that I would shortly pay for my sins. Everything was hazy after that...a car, I think? But I was awake again in a forest clearing, the moon illuminating everything in a stark black-and-white contrast.\n\nA pentacle of salt around me, strange herbs burning...what were they doing? \"Ah, you're awake. Just in time. It doesn't matter now, anyway. The incantation is already completed.\" \"Incantation?\" I whispered, already scanning my surroundings, looking for a place to escape to - finding only trees. \"Why, yes. I summoned a demon of hell to take your soul - in exchange, I will be granted your running talent.\"\n\nWhat the fuck? I felt as if someone drenched me in ice water. My soul, simply because I beat that idiot in a marathon? Apparently, I had said that aloud. \"Not just a marathon - *every marathon*. That's not humanly possibly!\" Their face distorted with rage for a second, but when a strange shadow appeared in front of the pentagram, their attention was shifted. \"Ooooh, time to play. Kiss your soul goodbye.\"\n\nNot even bothering to look, I turned around and ran. It didn't matter if that was a prank or something, I would simply do as I did when I was a little girl. Run. Run home.\n\n\"Ooooh, whyyyyy do you ruuuuhuuun?\" It was a high-pitched, amused voice behind me, but I didn't look. Time to do the only thing I was ever truly brilliant at. Get in the zone, become one with the universe and - RUN.\n\n\"You can't hideeee, you know?\" A laugh followed this statement. Not that it mattered for me. I always sucked at hide-and-seek, after all. Whatever they put in the punch hasn't been to bad for me, as I drank other stuff, too. I estimated a maybe...20km drive. No problem for me, so my goal would be 23km away. Shaking off everything as my feet hit the forest floor in my own distinctive rhythm, I ran.\n\nThe demon's voice didn't seem to come closer in time, instead, the playfulness was replaced by annoyance. Apparently, it had the same issue of keeping up with me as the person who summoned it...\n\nThe forest road became a small back-country lane shortly after that, but I barely noticed it. Run.\n\nWhile I was running, a plan formed in my mind. It started in a forest and it would end in a park, surrounded by trees. Oh, it was difficult, especially the last 400 metres, depending on how close the demon would be. But I would not fail. Instead - run.\n\n\"Will you stohhhooop? You can't escape meeeee!\"\n\nWe reached the town outskirts. About 4km to go. Go? No. Run.\n\nThis wouldn't be the end, I decided. Not like this. If they couldn't become a runner in their own right, a pact with the devil wouldn't help either. The voice had fallen slightly behind and I decided to go for the planned detour. As I exited the building again, the demon had caught up.\n\"It's time to stoooop. Are you tireeeed?\"\nNo way. And while I was more of a long range runner, I could sprint if I had to. That was the final stretch, the park was near.\n\nI was standing near the fountain, waiting for the demon. This fight was on my terms now - the bottles securely placed in my pockets. As the demon entered the clearing, I wasn't sure what to expect, but not something that looked as if it belonged in a video game. It hopped, almost happily, looking more comical than pure vile.\n\n\"Go away - now.\" My voice was surprisingly firm. \"Heehee, but we haven't even plaaaaayed, all you do is ruuun.\" \"I won't hide.\"\n\nIt came closer to me - \"I said: Hideeeee.\" Grabbing one of the small bottles, I opened it. \"I said no. I don't hide. I RUN.\" The bottle hit it and a second later, a sizzeling sound escaped the demon. \"Noooo.\" \"The building I entered was a church. Apparently, the myths were true.\nBut then the demon started laughing, regenerating before my eyes. For a second, I was frozen. What should I do now? But a scream, a death-scream, interrupted my thoughts. Maybe, the demon used its summoner to regenerate? Well, that would be a one-time event.\n\n\"Where were weee?\" \"Exactly at the same point as before\", I replied, showing it the second bottle I had stashed away. Shock flashed in its eyes. \"Seriouslyyy? You are nooo fun.\" \"You will return to hell. And you will make sure that nobody there ever gets the idea that they could stop me from running. Demon or devil, I *WILL* keep running as I am right now for the rest of my life. Be banished!\" Screaming bloody murder, a portal opened up, sucking it in...\n\n...\n\n\"Urgh. What a nightmare, I guess I'll only consume pumpkins as cake from now on.\" I could only recall bits and pieces from last night, and I had crashed on my couch.\n\nWhat a stupid dream...me, a human sacrifice? No way. It drifted further and further away, that dream, after my shower and my breakfast. As usual, I started running, enjoying the morning sun...\n\nBut when I reached the city centre, I stopped dead in my tracks. A screen was displaying the news, discussing a mysterious dead body in the middle of the forest, near a pentagram...\n\nNobody ever asked me about the events of that night. It was declared that the person in the woods had died of heart-failure due to fear. Not that I really cared. Personally, I did what I could do best. Run.",
"\"Kyleeeeee.\"\n\nThe Monster gave up after running and running and running... He leaned down for a bit, took a breather and his screamed at the top of his lungs in the empty suburb street.\n\n\"Kyleeee!\"\n\nHe looked ahead, at the person he was supposed to scare, who had already put quite a safe distance between. He turned around and yammered on as he walked back and clanked his scissor-hands.\n\n\"Fucking Kyle and his motherfucking victims. Where is that shithead?! Arghhh, the moment I lay my hands on him! How many times does he need to do this? Unbelievable. Can't even trust your coworkers these days.\"\n\nThe Monster heard footsteps approaching him from behind. Someone running.\n\n\"Is there a problem? Ha ha!\"\n\nThe Monster quickly turned around, agile like a cat, swinged his scissor-hands at the Victim in the blink of an eye... and he dodged it.\n\n\"Whoops. Can't touch this, sucker!\" The Victim danced and singed provoacatively as the Monster tried to get his bearings after missing his blow. As he rose, the Victim was already meters away, laughing and running.\n\nThe failure, the shame, the incompetence... It all weighed heavily on the Monster's shoulders. He dropped down to his knees, screaming once again, his voice cracking this time, and sobbing.\n\n\"Kyleeeeee!\"\n\nA man in a suit emerged from the shadows, expressionless. \"What?!\"\n\n\"Kyle please. Tell me you are joking. Tell me that this is some sort of an elaborate prank. This can't be real!\"\n\n\"Get it together man, and go scare him!\"\n\n\"How am I supposed to scare him if I can't catch him Kyle, huh?!\"\n\n\"Go ride a bike or something!\"\n\nThe Monster waved his scissor-hands. Kyle shrugged. The Monster continued, still breathing heavily.\n\n\"Listen, you don't understand. This week was a nightmare. First it was the parkour guy at the city. Then the second coming of Michael Phelps at the beach. Now this, in the streets? You gotta be fucking kidding me Kyle. Why do you keep kidnapping these people? Is it me that we are trying to scare here? What are we trying to make me afraid of, heart attacks?\"\n\n\"Come on, we've been over this before. I only do the kidnapping, marks are chosen by the management. There's nothing personal here.\"\n\n\"I got kids Kyle. Someone has to bring the bread to the table. This is the only job I could find. My reviews are down the toilet. Tell me, is it the new manager?\"\n\nKyle's eyebrows rose. \"I am not at liberty to say, really.\"\n\nThe Monster suddenly pinned him down on the ground in an instant and raised his scissor-hands.\n\n\"I swear I'm gonna do it Kyle! Tell me!\"\n\nKyle immediately squirmed and spilled.\n\n\"Yes, it's the new manager! She says you scared her when she was a child!\"\n\nThe Monster rose up and gave Kyle a hand. \"Huh. Well, on the bright side I can still scare you.\"\n\n\"Wouldn't count on that. She can be scarier than you.\"\n\n\"Don't push it Kyle, you're not a runner.\"",
"At first, I didn't realize how slow it was. I didn't dare to look back as I saw how big and loud it was so I assumed it had been at my back the whole time. I have run several marathons before so running isn't such a difficult feat but running from this guy was tough. I took my first look back when I realized that my breathing was louder than this monster's growls and footsteps. To my amazement he looked so small in the distance. I slowed down to get a better look and this guy was leaning on a tree catching his breath. \n\n\"I'll get you you little rascal\", he yelled at me from a distance. \n\n\"You can speak?\" I asked.\n\n\"Yes, I can speak you imbecile, why shouldn't I? Am I not good enough for you to speak?\" I sensed a little sas in his tone.\n\n\"No, it's not that. Why are you chasing me?\"\n\n\"Because I'm hungry dummy, why else would I? To inform you about your car insurance?\"\n\n\"Ok but why me?\" I question.\n\n\"Who cares! Just wait until I catch my breath. Geez can you guys run. It's really annoying when you do that you know,\" he began to get back up, \"alright Lance Armstrong, here I come,\" he took two steps before he stumbled back over again, clearly not having caught his breath back.\n\n\"That's cycling idiot, not running,\" I corrected. \n\n\"Ok, no need for the harsh words,\" he said\n\n\"You were just about to eat me, I think I'm allowed to be upset with you.\"\n\n\"Fair enough,\" he surrendered, \"How are you so fast?\"\n\n\"How are you so out of shape?\"\n\n\"Most of you are overweight and can barely make it out the door alright. I didn't even know your kind could run like that.\"\n\n\"Well, that makes two of us.\"\n\n\"Haha, real funny. Now will you help me up? I promise I won't eat you. I bet you taste gamey. I don't much like that.\"\n\n\"Why don't I buy you a steak dinner instead and in return you can tell me all about you?\" I say as I extend out my arm to help him up.\n\n\"Why that sounds lovely.\""
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[WP] It is the year 4022. Flying cars, aging vaccines, cities on Mars and all. You are exploring what is quite possibly the last unexplored ruin on earth. Inside, you find a perfectly preserved book. A spell book.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\\[Illuminating Questions\\]\n\nGrant stopped walking when his light landed on the white book. He aimed his flashlight further ahead, then he spun around to check behind him. The passage was surrounded on both sides by solid rock. Everything was dark just outside of the flashlight beam, and there was no sign of anyone else. He turned back to the book, but before the light reached it again, he thought he saw a faint glow. Out of curiosity, he turned his flashlight off for a moment; the book continued to glow with a white aura in the dark.\r \n \r \n\"Huh,\" he switched the light on again and stepped forward to collect the book from the ground. The title read: 'Spell Book' in red letters. He turned the book over to study it and he was surprised by how clean it was. He had no idea how long the book had been there, but he knew it looked brand new. The cover was pristine; but, it had to have been there for millennia. He was in the last unexplored ruin on Earth.\r \n \r \nGrant often felt like he was the only one still interested in exploring Earth. Drones mapped every corner of Earth and made the data publicly available; but, that was only a test run. The company responsible, Sharp Development, deliberately left cameras off the drones. They only included general topographical information to encourage human exploration. But, most people were more eager to explore Mars as soon as it was mapped. Grant chose to stay behind and see everything he could on Earth instead. He wasn't the only one that stayed behind, but no one else was exploring like he was.\r \n \r \nAfter inspecting the outside he grew curious of the contents and opened the book. The first page was transparent and blank; but, the second page had a header.\r \n \r \n\"Paladin Spells?\" Grant read the title and scanned the list beneath it. He saw the names of spells in black followed by a brief, color-coded description. He didn't know what the colors meant; but, it was easy to see there was a pattern to them.\r \n \r \n\"\\[Auric Blessing\\]\" Grant read the first spell on the list, then its effect. \"Target gains an additional Aura Slot for 1 Lap.\" the word 'Target' was written in bright red text and he spotted it in red throughout all the other descriptions. 'Aura Slot' and the number '1' were also colored differently. Aura Slot in Gold, and the number in orange. \"But how do I cast it…?\" he asked himself the question out loud and flipped through the pages to see if the was an explanation somewhere.\r \n \r \n\"The Spellbook doesn't teach you how to cast spells,\" a young voice in the darkness made him jump. He spun around trying to light up the entire passage with his flashlight.\r \n \r \n\"Who said that??\" he asked as the light fell on a teenage girl ahead of him. She was pale with long black hair. She wore a black glass visor over her eyes and black chainmail.\r \n \r \n\"My name's Abby,\" she said. She nodded at Grant and pointed at the book. \"That's my book.\" Grant closed the book, but he did not hand it to her. He had several questions he wanted to ask at once. How did she get there silently? Where did she come from? But a different one made it out of his mouth first.\r \n \r \n\"What kind of spell book doesn't teach spells?\" he asked. Abby shrugged.\r \n \r \n\"It's storage,\" she said. \"It keeps track of the spells I've learned but don't have equipped.\"\r \n \r \n\"Huh?\" he had trouble grasping that concept. \"How does that work?\"\r \n \r \n“Look at that spell again,” Abby replied. She made an upward, flicking motion with her wrist; then, she put her hands in the empty air in front of her and began touching and tapping at something invisible. Grant watched her for a moment before he focused on the spell again. He watched the Auric Blessing spell disappear from the list and everything seemed to move up.\r \n \r \n“Where’d it go?” he asked.\r \n \r \n“I equipped it,” Abby replied. “I have a limited amount of slots and the book holds the rest so I can swap them as needed. So... can I have it back?\" she asked. She'd already proven it was hers and Grant was ready to return the spell book. But, as he handed it over, the rest of his questions came to mind.\r \n \r \n\"Where'd you come from?\" he asked. \"How did the book get here? How long has it been here?\"\r \n \r \n\"About five minutes?\" she shrugged as she took the book. Grant watched it disintegrate into white powder once she had it in her hand.\r \n \r \n\"WHAT!?\" He blurted the question out in surprise. He didn't actually mean to yell but he was shocked to watch her destroy the book. Luckily, Abby didn't seem to care about his outburst; she kept talking.\r \n \r \n\"My friend Dara was showing me around and I stopped here to change some spells; I kind of got distracted before I put the book away properly,\" she said. Then, she made a grabbing motion with her hand as if she was grabbing something out of thin air; the book appeared in her hand again.\r \n \r \n\"But.. this is an unexplored ruin? According to Sharp Development, I'm the first one here...\" he said.\r \n \r \n\"Yeah,\" she giggled. \"Sharp Development says a lot of things. Hey, what's your favorite number?\" she asked.\r \n \r \n\"What do you mean Sharp Development 'says a lot of things'?\" he asked. He ignored the question about his favorite number; it was such an odd tangent that he felt she was trying to change the subject. He wasn't going to let her.\r \n \r \n\"I mean there's a reason none of those drones have cameras,\" she shrugged. \"Anyway, thanks for the book. See ya,\" she waved at Grant and she began to sink into a black hole in the floor. Grant had no idea where it came from but it answered how she got there silently.\r \n \r \n\"Wait, what are you implying about Sharp Development?\" he asked. Abby did not wait and continued to descend. But, she did give him an answer as her head disappeared.\r \n \r \n\"Do you know anyone that's actually been to Mars?\" she asked. The black hole closed leaving Grant alone again. He switched the flashlight off and stood in the quiet darkness with his thoughts as he considered her words. Then, he shook his head in disbelief.\r \n \r \n\"No, I don't.\"\n\n\r \n\\*\\*\\* \nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1751 in a row. (Story #305 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/)."
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[WP] Write fanfic about a story that has never existed.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Heather looked out the window and saw Jordan falling. \"Fuck!\" they were screaming. \"Fucking - Someone help me!\" \n\nShe leapt into action, stretched her hand out, pointer finger extended. Motion for air, then a flash upwards, and in her mind, picturing Jordan rising upwards, feather light. She felt the power course out of her and into them, and doubled over as Jordan softly floated to the ground. \n\nThe burning chalice in the courtyard, ever alight since the Gathering in September had passed. It cast flickering shadows across the dark green lawn, full moon nowhere to be seen in the cloudy sky. Heather opened the window, quickly tossing the catch to the left and straining to get the inner pane up, then lacerated the screen open with earth and fire magic. She'd fix it using the same later, but for now, she had to make sure that Jordan was okay. The story that she had been working on sat on the desk, forgotten for now. \n\n\"You good down there?\" she called. Jordan looked up at her, stark white hair and red eyes shining in the soft light of the chalice. \n\n\"Other than the fact that I just got my ass kicked in a duel with Posi and fell off a roof?\" they yelled back. \"Yeah, absolutely *peachy.*\" Heather rolled her eyes. They were so sarcastic sometimes. \n\n\"Fuck you, and get back up here,\" she retorted. \"We have a quiz tomorrow in Science, and a DBA in Pre-Cal. Mx. Flori is gonna be pissed if she finds out you almost broke your dominant arm falling off a roof because you and your girlfriend were fucking around in the middle of the night.\"\n\n\"Not my girlfriend! Also, fuck, when did the teacher tell us we had a Science quiz? I'm going to fucking boycott that class, we shouldn't have to learn science at a *magic* school!\"\n\nHeather rolled her eyes. Jordan really pissed her off sometimes. \"Get your ass back up here so we don't wake the entire dorm, you one-d-ten-t!\"\n\nJordan muttered something, face turning down, away from Heather's sight, but they walked off, and Heather replaced the window and slammed it down, then returned to her desk chair, seething. The blank notebook page in front of her beckoned, called to be filled with her stories and universes, but her creativity wouldn't come. She slammed her head against the desk just as the door opened. \n\n\"Whoa, everything all right?\" Jordan asked, and she looked up to see them holding their hands up, an apprehensive look on their face. \n\n\"No, everything is not all right! You just fell off of a fucking *roof*, for fuck's sake, Posi seems to want to ruin their life, Ryan broke up with me, Meredith is retreating into her own world, my stepmom LITERALLY CURSED YOUR FAMILY and you DIDN'T TELL ME, and my mom is getting a new husband! How could everything be alright? My world is going to shit around me, and all I can do is sit here, post new stories, practice the most useless fucking subjects in the world since we have *magic*, and act like everything is perfect!\" Jordan walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, and she realized she'd been standing for at least thirty seconds. When had she stood up? She was stock-still as she contemplated the idea, and then Jordan spoke up.\n\n\"Dude,\" they started, \"do you want a hug? You've been staring into the void for at least thirty seconds with a terrified expression on your face, so either you're about to break down, or your favorite author made a really deep and insightful plot twist and you just realized it, and, based on the situation, I'm assuming it's the first.\"\n\nMutely, Heather nodded, shutting her eyes tight and balling her fists as she stepped forward into Jordan's arms. Jordan, ever the taller one, put their chin on top of her head and wrapped their arms around her, and she leaned into their warmth, able to feel the itchy surface of their binder beneath their shirt as she squeezed them as tightly as she possibly could. \"Fuck,\" she breathed. And then louder, \"Fuck.\"\n\nJordan nodded. \"Yeah, that's right. Get it out.\" They stroked her hair, twirling it around their callused fingers. It felt weirdly nice. \"You said Ryan broke up with you? When?\"\n\nHeather sighed. \"Three days ago, on my birthday. He sent me my birthday present in the mail, and along with the usual stuff was a letter that said, 'I don't think we should be dating anymore. I've been doing some exploring, and I think I'm bi. And the reason I don't want to date you anymore is because there's someone else, the boy who helped me figure it out. Can we still be friends though?'\" She laughed, high and hollow. \"Fuck, I'm just realizing how shitty it was that he broke up with me *on my birthday.* Can you believe it?\" \n\n\"Yeah. That is really shitty,\" Jordan said, \"and you have every right to be mad.\" They paused, and then added, \"Just - how about this? Write a letter to him, telling him how you feel, and then get some sleep, and in the morning, we can burn it, alright? Let go. Does that sound good?\" She nodded again, then pushed away from Jordan. \n\n\"Goodnight, Jordan.\" She sat back down, and watched them as they wrapped their silver-y gray robe around themself, expertly bow-tying the sash around their waist. Then they grabbed the ladder of the bunkbed and climbed up, but not before turning to Heather and smiling, their eyes crinkling and their white skin unmarred by freckles. They really did look beautiful sometimes, Heather thought, unbidden.\n\n\"Goodnight, Heather. See you in the morning.\"",
"Cookie Galaxy King sunk into an ethereal throne, crossing a leg, resting against a palm,.gazing with divine satisfaction. Gazing over what he had done. What he had accomplished. Wasn't it poetic? The little dough that everybody thought would be half-baked, became this.\n\n\"I've been saying it my entire life, haven't I? Why is anycookie surprised?\" He recalled the times he had spoken such a line.\n\nThat time with the Banana Blazers, trying to muscle their way into the city, and then destroy it when it it didn't go their way.\n\n*Cookie Prince blasted off a stream of raisins, his newest ability, each raisin flying true to strike at the villainous Boss Banana. Unfortunately, they didn't seem aged enough, and Boss Banana absorbed the moisture in the nearly dried out grapes. The young cookie clicked his tongue in frustration, having to decide on a new plan.*\n\n*Boss Banana gave a hug guffaw, crossing his arms and spitting in disrespect.*\n\n*\"You're still green, kid! You can't even touch someone like me!\"*\n\n*Cookie Prince clenched his teeth together in a sudden fury.*\n\nThe time Queen Kiwi declared war on the Cookie World, sending an armata against him.\n\n*Cookie King wiped crumbs from his lip. This wasn't looking good. A hundred kiwiships with seed-laser cannons, and that was only the distraction. Queen Kiwi couldn't keep her furry mitts off of Cookie King, and had to get up close and personal.*\n\n*Before the King could react, he was under the heel of Queen Kiwi, the vicious kiwi's seed whip wrapping around his body.*\n\n*\"Ohohohoho! Is this truly all to expect from the crowned King? Now, you're mine, and there is nothing. You. Can. Do.\"*\n\n*A flame ignited in Cookie King's eyes.*\n\nThe threat the experiment Doctor Dragon Fruit posed to the Galaxy at large, and it's plight to purge the Galaxy of imperfections.\n\n*Cookie Galaxy Prince breathed a heavy sigh, just barely managing to survive what was the most deadly attack Doctor Dragon Fruit had use this far. He wagered the experiment was done playing around.*\n\n*\"Why do you try? I was genetically crafted to be perfect. You are but an imperfect cookie. Do you believe you can stand against me?\"*\n\n*Cookie Galaxy Prince growled in rage.*\n\nCookie Galaxy King smirked, and opened his mouth to speak those words.\n\n***\"Don't underestimate this cookie!\"***\n\n*Cookie Prince was upon Boss Banana in an instant, first crashing into him and making him mushy.*\n\n*Cookie King stood, shaking Queen Kiwi off, and unleashed torrent of powerful chocolate chips that destroyed the ships.*\n\n*Cookie Galaxy Prince chopped Doctor Dragon Fruit to pieces in seconds.*\n\n\"Yes, I have said it quite a lot.\" Cookie Galaxy King smiled as he stared into the distance. \"But it seems like they're not getting the message.\"\n\nOn their way fast, the King chuckled.\n\n\"Time to show them not to underestimate me.\""
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[WP] You have met your doppelgänger. After spending time with this entity you realize one specific characteristic about yourself that you immediately want to change. What is that one characteristic in your epiphany…why must you change it?
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*"
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Who will get the reference I wonder...
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[WP] While everyone else got cool super-powers like teleportation or flight or shape-shifting, you were born with the power to control any type of bug in an area around you. You're determined to make this work somehow...
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"So, everyone else gets something cool. Fred got to fly, Sid could shapeshift, and Teresa could teleport. What do I get? I’m the god damn Aquaman of bugs. Great. Well, guess I can make the most of it. I suppose there is some QoL here. No need to worry about mosquito bites or bee stings anymore. Ticks, bed bugs, and most other parasites are a worry of the past as well. Don’t even have to deal with getting spooked by a fly buzzing right by my ear. That’s…most of what I did for the first couple weeks. Then I realized that bugs do some pretty cool shit.\n\n​\n\nAnts were my first major breakthrough. Happened to spot an anthill while I was on hold for a locksmith. I had been on hold for a few minutes, so I decided to try my luck with an all-natural lockpick. I marched the ants right up my tire, onto the door, and into the lock…and to my surprise, clicked the thing open with ease. After that, ants became my best friends, nearly. Lockpicking, finding things, even just fetching the remote or a drink from the fridge. My house looked a little run-down by now, but no big deal. I was never one for appearances anyways.\n\n​\n\nBees were the next bug I capitalized on, especially once a hive settled in near my front porch. I’ve always been terrible with directions, and GPS systems don’t always work perfectly, especially when the connection is poor. Bees, however, don’t need a Wi-Fi connection to find their hive. I never leave home without at least one or two with me now, and I even managed to get a little garden going with their help. Never been much for veggies, admittedly, but it’s better than nothing.\n\n​\n\nIt was around that time when I realized how good this power was…especially when there are insects like fire ants or wasps at my disposal. I realized it just in time, too, because I was walking through an alley the next day when I got jumped by a robber. While I stalled for time and pretended to play along, I managed to catch wind of a hornet nest nearby…and sicced ‘em on the poor sap. Oh, the look on his face was golden when he heard that buzzing behind him. It was hard to hold back my chuckles, admittedly. Though, it was also around that time my glasses stopped working as well as they should…I actually started going without them after a certain point.\n\n​\n\nAs I continued to toy with my powers, I realized that controlling insects was just the beginning. What’s scarier than a colony of fire ants coming at you? A colony of fire ants that can actually breath fire. Helped save on my heating bill as well, which was nice. Speaking of ants, I managed to give them super strength as well. Came quite in handy when I ran out of gas in the woods. Had those fellas push me all the way to the next gas station. I even got the queen to come along, to help out with my ever- growing colony at home. I’ve gotten pretty good at picking up on where these guys live now, too. Almost like I have a sixth sense for them or something.\n\n​\n\nBees again came next, this time with a little bit of lightning. There’s my power bill taken care of, and my garden looks better than ever. I couldn’t quite use them to fly, unfortunately, but given the fact that I SWEAR I saw a pair of antennae on my head last time I looked in the mirror, that might not be a problem for long…\n\n​\n\nBees, ants, and other insects are nice, but you know what’s even better? Arachnids. Spiders seemed like a good starting point, and they were! No longer did I have to worry about those eight-legged terrors devouring my family in the night, and in fact I could put them to work for me as well. While I won’t be web-slinging any time soon, sadly, I can still put some of the bigger boys to work keeping other pests like rats away, and it never hurts to have a black widow in your pocket in the more dangerous parts of town. Not that I go to town much anymore, it’s far too bright and noisy…in fact, most parts of the world felt that way anymore, outside of my house. I had moved to a cabin in the woods at this point, mostly because my old landlord was complaining about all the bugs. I felt more at peace out there, and it’s not like anyone took me seriously.\n\n​\n\nI had gotten quite a few jokes over the few weeks I spent learning my powers, and I had just about had enough at this point. I shook my antennae one last time as I looked in the mirror, my enhanced eyes taking in every last detail as my spiders and silkworms wrapped me up in a cocoon. No longer was I a simple man with his bugs and spiders. I was now the Plaguebringer, and all I wanted was a slice of paradise for my creepy crawlie comrades…no matter the cost.\n\n​\n\nI bided my time in my cocoon, growing stronger both in my own appearance, and in my powers of control. I soon added rats, mice, and other rodents to my repertoire of species at my disposal, through trial and error alone. I developed acidic and venomous fangs, and a pair of sinister hornet wings. My eyes become compound, my antennae growing longer and more sensitive. A pair of devastating mandibles finished the look, as well as a black, hard carapace and exoskeleton. As I emerged from my cocoon, so did the cicadas around my target…the perfect time to strike.\n\n​\n\nI emerged from the forest on a wave of ants, the buzzing of bees and beetles deafening as I swarmed the city I once called home. Friend, foe, and stranger alike were infested as I took over the town, spreading disease and disaster through the streets as I took back what nature so rightfully deserved. Once my rampage was finished, I sent out a swarm of super-powered termites to turn the steel jungle into a much more natural one, creating homes for my loyal followers, and my new base of operations. Those that disrespected nature knew now to live in fear, for the Plaguebringer would know…and he would strike in due time, as his web of control grew across the countryside.",
"Blaze pointed his hands toward the villainess, each palm glowing a dangerous shade of red.\n\n“Hands up, Outbreak!” he said. “There’s nowhere left to run!”\n\nThe insect-covered woman snickered, then sent another swarm of mosquitoes his way. He blasted them with fire, disintegrating them instantly.\n\n“Enough with the games! You know that my fire will always be able to trump your flies!”\n\nOutbreak put her hands up and the swarms of insects dissipated.\n\n“Fine. You win.”\n\nBlaze’s body glowed with heat, wary she had a trick up her sleeve.\n\n“What’s the catch?” he asked.\n\nShe laughed again at that.\n\n“I’m so glad you asked, Conner Flagg.”\n\nBlaze’s eyes widened behind his mask.\n\n“Don’t look so surprised, with a power like mine, it was all too easy figuring out your secret identity. I simply established a telepathic connection with every insect on your skin, both in and out of costume.”\n\nBlaze hurled a fireball at Outbreak but the bugs that served as her costume fluttered her to the side, narrowly dodging the assault.\n\n“Of course, I know the identities of every other superhero too. And that isn’t even the best part.”\n\nThe pyrokinetic blasted dual streams of flame at her, only to miss again.\n\n“You know those mosquito bites you’ve been plagued with over the last few days?”\n\nBlaze froze in place.\n\n“The mosquitoes that caused those were infected with malaria, Zika, West Nile virus, dengue fever, yellow fever and a few others we have no name for.”\n\n“No, no, no. You’re lying!” Blaze screamed.\n\n“Don’t feel too bad, I’ve infected every member of your little superhero club. In a few weeks, at least you won’t be dying alone.”\n\nBlaze rushed at her in a frenzied rage. Before she could react, his flaming fist sank into her face, melting it completely.\n\nHer insect outfit vanished, leaving behind, not a person, as he had expected, but a rotting, hollowed-out corpse."
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[WP] You were told when you come of age, your words would have power within them. As an adult you’ve realized just how much power your casual words can have on peoples subconscious actions, almost like hypnotic orders. So you’re very careful with your choice of words when speaking.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"**Words**\n\nI find myself talking to the animals more often than I used to, especially the cats. They seem to understand me better than most humans do. My cat, Straggles, has been a friend for years now and she knows that I don't mean any harm by any of it. \nBut when I tell her to hush, all voice leaves her. And it pains me that even speaking to animals, I influence them in these ways. \nThere was only one person who would visit me as a child, though he didn't know it. His name is Mister Brown, and he lived next door to us. He had a dog named Chester, who always came over to play with me. \nI once became very angry at the both of them and told them to run away. Nobody has heard from them since. \nSo I'm very careful. Very very careful. Especially now that I'm an adult. \n⁂ \nWhen I was young, my parents were killed by a drunk driver. The whole thing happened so fast. I woke up to my mom screaming and dad yelling. There was glass everywhere. \nWhy this is relevant would also not surprise anybody. \nIt was in the living room when I spoke those words. \n\"I need to get out.\" \nMy father tried to stop me but I ran past him. I made it outside before I stopped. I turned around and yelled at the top of my lungs. \n\"I wish they would just disappear!\" I didn't actually mean it, but something must've possessed me. \nSomebody's words. \nThat's what I think. \nI still haven't forgotten them. \n⁂ \nI'm writing this letter because I need to explain myself to someone. It doesn't matter who, but I need to tell somebody why I'm here. \nThat these words continue to haunt me. \nThere's no explicit reason. Just that I keep thinking about them. \nI'm not crazy. Not yet anyway. But I could be. If the words in my head become real, in the same way, breathing becomes real when they are aware of them, then maybe I am. Maybe it's time for me to start believing them. \nThese words are like a genie's lamp. They're trapped inside my mind, waiting to be set free. \nAnd if I let them out, I won't be able to take them back. \nI'll never be able to make it right again.",
"\"Geez, Aubrey,\" the girls says, walking up the steps to school. \"Is your wardrobe allergic to color or something?\"\n\n\"Get bent, Lilly,\" Aubrey replies, walking ahead of her. She gets to the top of the steps and turns back when Lilly doesn't respond further. *Ugh, what's her deal?* she thinks, seeing Lilly reach the bottom of the steps as she walks away from school.\n\n*Aubs*, the Shadow Lord replies in her mind. *You need to go stop her and right now!*\n\n\"Hey, I'm not responsible for what she does with her time. If she wants to skip school, that's on her.\"\n\n*Uh, this time, you are responsible for what she's doing. You just used the persuasive power on her, so she's on her way to get bent.*\n\n*Wait, what?* Aubrey looks at the back Lilly as she steps off the front sidewalk and continues through the line of vehicles that are dropping off students. Several of Lilly's friends turn to greet her, but she ignores everyone as she begins walking across the parking lot.\n\n*What he hell, Shades? You need to get me an instruction manual on this stuff!*\n\n*Well, influence is part of the subtlety nature that's associated with shadow powers. You really could have guessed that much.*\n\n\"Hey, Lilly!\" Aubry calls, rushing down the steps. \"Wait up!\" She brushes against several students who complain as they roll away from her collision with them. She steps off the sidewalk to a horn blaring as the vehicle began to roll forward.\n\n\"Screw you,\" Aubrey yells at the driver, then freezes as her eyes widen. She turns back and raises her palm in a stop gesture. \"Wait, forget I said that.\" Her expression is one of apology as she returns to chasing Lilly.\n\n*He couldn't hear you, Aubs. All of his windows were up and besides, you two weren't even engaged in conversations.*\n\n*Why does any of that relevant, Shades?* Aubrey adjusts her bag and pulls the slack out of her straps to keep it from bouncing against the small of her back.\n\n*Because you have to be in conversation to influence someone.*\n\n\"Ugh,\" Aubrey groans. \"We're seriously going to need to work on your communication skills after this.\"\n\nAs she catches up to Lilly, she wraps an arm around her neck to slow her. \"Hey, hey, Lilly. Where are you off to all of a sudden?\" Lilly doesn't respond, instead continuing to pull against Aubrey's grasp, in the direction of the busy street ahead of them.\n\n*You have to command her,* Shades says.\n\n\"Lilly, stop.\" As soon as the statement leaves Aubery's mouth, Lilly quits pulling against her.\" Aubrey breathes a sigh of relief and releases the grip on her shoulder.\n\n*Ugh, you better tell her to forget everything you've said today.*\n\n\"Why?\" Aubrey asks as she notices Lilly's face turning blue. \"Oh gosh! Lilly, forget everything I said today.\"\n\nLilly suddenly looks at Aubrey and pulls her arm away. \"Ow,\" she complains from Aubrey having started gripping her arm. Lilly looks at the nearby traffic and then turns to look back towards school. \"What is this,\" Lilly asks with an accusing glare. \"Is this an abduction. Are you abducting me for one of your rituals or something? How did I even get here?\"\n\nAubrey exhales and smiles. \"Oh, thank goodness. It's good to you have you back, Lilly.\"\n\nLilly stares back at her without knowing how to respond. She finally shakes her head and turns to walk back to school. \"You are so weird,\" she says under her breath, walking away.\n\n---\n\nThis is based on a story that I'm currently developing called Path of Shadow. You can find other related material on r/jtwrites.\n\nHappy Reading,\n\nJT"
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[WP] A character realise their a character in a story. However, they discover that it's a horror story, and that they're the next victim.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"My mind went numb as I heard what the psychic said. I closed my eyes for half a second, and she had disappeared. This was probably that stupid writer's doing. Oh well. How on earth (or page, or screen, or whatever) was I gonna not get killed. She had to be there for a reason. Maybe that loser writing about me was doing some prompt online about how I manage to live through this. Maybe I can't escape my fate. Maybe I'll go to a bar in Las Vegas and drink my heart out. If I even have a heart.\n\nYou. Do you know how I can escape? How I can live? Or maybe you can't talk to me. Maybe the story's focused on that axe murderer driving towards me. Maybe it's focused on that clearly traumatized person with the dual pistols slowly reloa-"
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(Context: this was from u/LordGraygem's post on r/TwoSentenceHorror and I thought it would be cool as a WP.)
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[WP] After the Christian rapture happened, to everyone's shock, those left behind received a mark in the middle of their foreheads. It took decades to translate, but the result was horrifying: "Not fit for consumption"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Angels walked the Earth when I was a child. Real life Angels, some were people with wings, some were flying mathematical anomalies that you could barely look at without passing out. \r \nI was six, so I don’t remember much, and my account is not my own recollections. I only remember panic and mum not coming home and dad letting me watch as much Peppa Pig as I wanted. The Angels didn’t say a word, they looked at and you felt their meaning. Apparently other people gathered in churches and synagogues and temples and mosques and fields. Where there were large gatherings an Angel would come and most people would vanish. A bright flash, then a thousand people might be gone.\r \nExcept, not everyone was gone, there were always a handful here and there. And when people were left over, they had a mark on their forehead. The Angels did not speak, but apparently they wrote. They didn’t come for me and dad, left our house alone. \r \nWe are the damned, lingering here, unexalted. When I was 16, dad got sick and the meagre medical care available at that time wasn’t able to treat it, so he died of the same thing that took his grandfather 40-something years earlier. \r \nI lived on in the town we’d moved to after the cities were abandoned. One day, my partner got a call to help out with a translation from a dig site over in what was Turkey. Someone found a scroll in an ornately inscribed jar. There was an old university library a few towns over, so we picked up and moved there and got to work.\r \nThat was sixteen years ago. Almost thirty-five years since Rapture. I walked in with lunch to find my partner staring at the papers as usual.\r \n‘What’s wrong?’\r \n‘This old book I found had a partial translation of an early Sumerian text. The writing on the jar looked vaguely like Sumerian, even though it lacked a lot of the typical features. But no one has been able to make anything of it yet. Everyone is looking so intently at the scroll because the fragments looked like the Angels’ Glyph.’\r \n‘But you’re not most people.’\r \n‘I’ve mostly cracked it, I think. The word for sheep and wheat and farm appear here,’ he said, pointing to photos that were old and cracked now. No one had made a new printer for a long time, supplies were scarce on certain things. ‘The term for sheep matches the Akkadian term, which I got from this translation from a Benedictine monk from the low countries in the middle ages who first looked at it. He also had a term for Angel, and had matched it to another language that I don’t know well...’ This went on for some time. Some of it I knew, but a lot went over my head. \r \nThe punch line came almost as a by-the-way.’ So this means that The Glyph is actually translated roughly to “shepherd food not”, or “Not shepherd’s food”.’\r \n‘I…what? Maybe the explanation or *how* you got there was a bit circuitous, but I don’t see what this has to do with Angels.’\r \n‘I think there’s a mis-translation in the Monk’s work. He uses “shepherd” in other works and tends to give it divine connotations. As in God being the shepherd of his children. Sure it's different languages, but it holds consistently’\r \n‘So, “Not Angel food” then?’ I was dumbfounded at the path of logic required, but it was all there on the tables we had taken over in the library.\r \n‘Everyone who got it reported seeing a bright flash and then they appeared back where they were, but alone and with a mark on their face. \r \n‘What if the Angels were not benevolent? What if they were shepherds but took care of the people of the world for the same reason any shepherd takes care of their flock, namely: to eat them.’\r \n‘Have you been in here too long?’\r \n‘I think they left us behind to repopulate the world for the next culling.’\r \n‘So, yes then?’\r \n‘You’re not listening to me. I’ve been at this for years, and there isn’t any doubt now. We were the lucky ones, the survivors. Not the damned.’\r \n‘They took the strongest of us. Left hardly any Olympians. Blessings or receiving of sacraments meant nothing to the pattern of who was left. What if there were some they spat out and left for next time?’"
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[WP] You are a farmer on a planet infested with giant bugs; when necessary, you use a mech to defend yourself and your flock. Write about an average day in your life.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Made this pretty quick while at work lol hopefully reddit doesn’t mess up my formatting 😬 \n\nEdit: reddit messed up my formatting lol hopefully I got it fixed up a bit and grabbed all the spelling errors\n\n\n\nI walk between the Ardorefi. \nShuffling amongst the roots and vegetation on twelve legs, their anteni to the ground, they searched for the best seeds and fruits. \nThe air was hot and humid, condensing on the cool shells of the Ardorefi, their biological cooling system keeping them a steady twenty degrees cooler than the current temperature. \nThe wet season had been long this year, and so the hydronoalagem and voinupa over grew nearly everywhere it could. The flock could afford to be picky and so chose to be. \nI keep my multi-tool lowered, but still ready. On my right is Rosebud, and to my left is Honeybee. In the past, shepards used dogs to help keep the flock safe, today we use cats. \nOr well… as close as we’ve found off of earth that is. \nNal’lapaki-eskuwana’etra’darai. The longest word I have ever heard for “alien cat-lizard with six legs”. \nWell, Rosebud was anyway. \nHoneybee was a bot made to resemble the original organic. On this world we had plenty of large bugs that wanna make a meal of me and my flock. Rosebud has a natural taste for them nasties. And she’s got the natural instincts to be able to take down bugs three times her size. \nHoneybee, like Rosebud was named after her color, however where Rosebud had natural instinct you couldn’t teach a bot, Honeybee had radar, sonar, satellite tracking, as well as all sorts of cool tricks that linked right to my mechsuit. \nBarely a “mech” it more resembled power armor from sci-fi games. Long legs that resembled a deers was the only part that didn’t just look like a human suit, I wasn’t even that much taller in it. About a foot or two really. But it was enough, and it would have to do. \nRosebud’s tall ears swiveled off to the right, her whisker-like antenna flung forward, and her tail swung back and forth, agitated enough to make a whip crack sound as she swung it back. Then her spinal fin shot up, the signal. \nI raise my multi-tool In the direction she faced and shot a quick command to Honeybee to defend. Honeybee could take a hit, she was a good shield who I could build back up fairly easily. Rosebud was made for the slaughter. \nA Notosolata crashed from the trees, think of a praying mantis and a bird mashed together. Its mouthparts formed outwards like a beak, its head having evolved a usable neck that bobbed like a birds, but its body very much like a traditional mantis body. \nIt charged at the Ardorefi as they sent up a warning call, and Rosebud shot herself forward, six legs pumping in sync. \nBefore the Notosolata could swip a claw at her, she flung herself onto its chest, digging in her claws and flipping it over as she sank her teeth in, making short work of the bug. Her ears still swiveled to the trees however warned me before three more scuttled out. \nI fire short bursts of energy spikes into the trio. One falls, its arm having been ripped off and its abdomen pierced. Another bleeds but doesn’t die. \nRosebud charges at the injured one, gashing it badly, and bringing her tail around. The whip crack hitting the side of its head caused its eye to explode, however the other Notosolata was on her, swinging its forearm up, it flung her off its dying swarm mate. \n“You stay away from her!” I yell, unloading into the bug. It falls in seconds. But more burst out from the trees. \nFrom behind me, Honeybee unleashes a volley of dumbfire missiles from her rib holsters. Exploding against the wave coming out from the trees. \nMy visor lights up with a message from Honeybee. \n\nPackmate injury minimal \n\nSeek medical attention for packmate:= @Rosebud\n\nObjective:= Cover fire and defensive action. \n\nPriority one @Sean, Priority one @Rosebud, Priority two @Flock. \n\nFair enough, I send the okay and rush over to Rosebud. Behind me a quick whirring sound is my only que before… \nPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOP! \nHoneybee’s gattlers go off, spraying the forest with bursts of energy bolts. \nAt Rosebud’s side I can see she’s somewhat stunned, but ultimately uninjured. \nShe raises her head to me and lightly bops the side of my helmet, a cooing purr sound emanating from the back of her throat. \n“You did good girl.” I say, placing my hand lightly on her head and giving her some quick scritches. “But it’s not over yet.” \nI look around, the flock has huddled into a tight ball on the far side of the field near their night enclosure, Honeybee swinging her tail around, bright orange stripes keeping the bugs attention, stands in front of them and fires of a quick volley of shots, keeping the advancing bugs from swarming her. \n“Rosebud, let’s move!” I say, leaping up and running towards the swarm, my multi-tool firing into the throng. \n“Rosebud! Slaughter!” I shout, and Rosebud quickly outpaces me. \nShe lets out a shriek as she connects with the swarm, twisting and twirling, a maelstrom of claws. Honeybee firing into the swarm, I jump up, boosters flinging me towards the mass of bugs. \nYou’re not taking my flock, and you're not taking my cats, you alien bastards. I scream, descending on the bugs and begin to fire again."
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[WP] Something happened at the party that made people’s costumes become real, changing people in gruesome ways. You, on the other hand, is happy that your best friend convinced you to change into the Greek-inspired dress she had instead of the cheap ghost costume you had planned.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“Here, let me zip you up.”\n\n“I don’t think they had zippers in Ancient Greece.”\n\n“Well I’m sorry my party dress isn’t historically accurate.”\n\nMina shifted a bit in her blue and white Ancient Greek inspired dress, with a zipper, to help get it on properly. “I’m not sure I prefer this over the bedsheet.”\n\n“Trust me, compared to your ten second ghost costume, you look way better in this.” \n\nCarrie patted her on the back. “Now come on, the car’s waiting.”\n\nMina and Carrie are the last to arrive judging by the number of cars on the street. \n“Come on, it’s not getting any later.” Carrie came along the side of the car and opened to the door for Mina. “After you.”\n\nThe two went inside the suburban house and inside were about two dozen people, all in some manner of costume. To name a few, a woman wearing fox ears and a bushy tail to match, another woman wearing a tattered old dress and pale face paint – suddenly, Mina felt relieved she did not go with the bed sheet ghost – and then a man dressed as a character Mina didn’t quite recognize, but she was fairly sure it was the killer from a slasher film.\n\nCarrie went off to say hi to a few of the guests. Mina waved to a few but kept to herself. She knew who most of these people were but not really as friends. She settled on the table with the drinks.\n\nSomeone dressed up as a lion, with a fake mane with long, black hair underneath and a taped-on tail walked over and leaned against the table next to her. “Hey you’re Mina, right?”\n\n“Yeah. You are,” Mina looked at her face and drew a blank. “Sorry, I can’t remember your name.”\n\n“Veronica,” she grabbed a red, plastic cup and poured herself some beer from the keg. “You want some? We have beer and beer”\n\nMina stared then shook her head. “Yeah…uhh I’ll get my own, thanks.”\n\n“It looks like you have something on your mind.”\n\n“Don’t…don’t only male lions have manes?”\n\nShe flicked some of the fake mane fur away from her face. “Yeah, I’m dressed as a male lion. So?”\n\n“Uhh nothing.” Mina used getting a beer as an excuse to look away from her.\nShe was then mercifully saved from the awkwardness by Carrie walking over. “What’s up Veronica?” \n\n“Oh, not much,” Veronica responded, “want some beer?”\n\n“Nah, I don’t drink.” Carrie tapped Mina’s shoulder. “Hey!”\n\nMina straightened her back and then turned around. “What’s going on?”\n\n“Yeah, there’s a problem. Notice something missing?”\n\nMina looked over at Carrie. She was dressed like a musketeer. Her outfit seemed fine; she was holding the oversized wooden skewer that she was using as a rapier at her side, her reddish hair hanging down…then she saw. “Oh, shoot. You forgot your hat! We didn’t leave it at home, did we?”\n\n“Nah, it’s just in the car. I’m going to go get it now.” She held the skewer out. “Would you mind looking after this for me?”\n\n“Not at all!” Mina took the skewer and swung it gently through the air.\n\n“It’s a thrusting sword, silly.” Carrie ruffled her hair. “I’ll be back in a few, thanks.”\n\nCarrie walked out the door, Mina took a sip of her drink, and then there was a blinding flash of light.\n\n…\n\nWhen it cleared, Mina’s cup felt heavier. She looked at her drink hand and her red, plastic cup was now a silver chalice. Inside it was a red liquid, definitely not the cheap, terrible beer she was drinking. …dared she?\n\nShe raised the chalice to her lips…aged red wine. Delicious. She looked to her other hand. The wooden skewer had turned to a fine dark wood and had some sort of pattern engraved on it now. It looked like a magic wand…\n\nA scream came from across the room. The party-goer dressed as a ghost screamed again. No longer was her ghost outfit a costume: her skin had turned transparent and she floated a couple of inches above the ground.\n\nNext to the ghost, was the woman dressed as a fox. She was now a literal fox. She tried to stand up and fell down onto her front paws. She looked like she was going to cry as she curled up on the ground. For some reason she could not explain, Mina felt like it was…cute.\n\nThen she looked at Veronica. She who had been dressed as a male lion was now, in fact, a male lion. And she (he?) was staring at her with a primal hunger in her eyes…"
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[WP] you’re a combat medic that saves injured hero’s from the battle one day a villain confronts you while your trying to drag a hero to safety
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"Leave him.\"\n\nThe words were cold and cruel. I looked up at the speaker, a thin man with a sneer. His face was gaunt, a wiry black moustache the only semblance of colour. I wrinkled my nose, recognising this one.\n\n\"I'm not abandoning him Finas. Just because you failed to become a medic doesn't mean you are exempt from our rules.\"\n\nFinas gave a laugh, his voice empty of compassion, instead flicked with rage.\n\n\"No? I believe it does, pacifist. He's mine, like it or not. If you don't give him over, I will take you with me as well.\"\n\nI shook my head, glancing at the man I was saving. I had seen many before, their faces blurring into one. Maybe I had saved him before, maybe I hadn't. But my oath was strong, to save from harm.\n\n\"I will not let you take him, nor will you take me.\"\n\nHis laugh came again, this time oozing with anticipation. He was a failed medic. I knew he took it hard, declaring an outright hatred of us. But he had never interfered before now, abiding by the agreed rules of combat. This change was concerning.\n\n\"I hoped you would say that. Come, pathetic medic. Let us fight. Though your oath doesn't allow you does it?\"\n\nI gave a smirk. He didn't know the full depths of the oath, having only ever taken the basic version. The one that when he broke had stripped much of his vitality.\n\n\"You are right. The oath you know prevents a medic from fighting.\"\n\nI laid the hero down gently, standing up straight. As I did I felt a gust of wind from behind, a pair of glowing yellow wings rising out from my spine.\n\n\"But I am a full combat medic. My oath allows me to fight those who would seek to prevent me from carrying out my work, so long as I provide treatment to those I fight.\"\n\nFinas's eyes widened, as I let the power of the oath fill me. It highlighted the plates on my chest, the armour becoming thicker. My fists felt heavier, my fingers somehow more nimble. I blinked, seeing points of his body marked. Nerve clusters.\n\nI fell into a fighting stance, one unfamiliar to me. But I didn't need to know it. The oath told me how to fight. Its spirit filled me, giving me the strength and experience to win. Finas shook, before anger crossed his face again. He summoned a blade of ice, holding it up.\n\n\"Fine then! Have it your way!\"\n\nHe swung at me, and I effortlessly dodged. I placed a punch on his arm, raising a knuckle to drive deep into the muscles. The effect was instant, as it dropped to the side. He hissed in pain, turning back to me.\n\n\"You'll die for that!\"\n\nI shook my head again, the spirit speaking with me in a echo of my voice.\n\n\"No I won't.\""
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[WP] You are part of an alien civilization and have been selected to observe humans. After a thousand years, you have seen both the worst and best of humanity. Your report reads:
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*"
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[WP] In order to become immune to vampire bites and eventually even able to burn them by touching them you've been eating silver. On the bright side it worked, the downside is that you now have silver poisoning and are completely blue on every inch of your body inside and out.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Damphir were beautiful creatures. They had the pale, bloodless complexion of their vampire parent and warm, diverse features from an entirely human other half. It was hard to tell their sex, if they even had one. Nobody had ever been friendly enough with one to check. Usually the result of an encounter was a quick, very painful death. That didn’t stop the occasional idiot from trying to bed one; it’s more common than you think. Despite their bloodlust, damphir were capable of speech. Their voices sounded like a chorus. If you believed legends, which I do, each voice in the chorus is a different victim. A damphir only gains its voice after its first kill.\n\nThat’s what made the writhing creature in front of me so annoying. In its agony it sent up dozens of cries at once. The grace of its vampiric father was overpowered by pain and perhaps even fear.\n\n“Hurry up and die, you fucking idiot. It’s getting early” I wheezed impatiently, spitting on the street beside it. I missed, and the chunk of what had been dried ginger splattered on my boot. I grimaced, disgusted more at my mishap than the hell-spawn in front if me, and wiped it off on the creature’s cloak. The street, a winding path of dusty cobblestone, had long since been abandoned by townsfolk who had either fled or fallen prey to the damphir decades ago. The once bustling town was temporarily resurrected as it echoed the cries of the damphir’s death throws.\n\n“Fuck you’re loud.”\n\nIt didn’t respond. I don’t think it could. The bite I had lured it in to giving me lasted long enough for it to take a short sip, but that was enough. My blood had coated its mouth, fangs and all, and now a dark smoke rose from where it burned.\n\nI reached up to feel my bite mark. It was still bleeding openly. I pulled my hand back and looked at the blue tinted blood in the flickering light of my torch. \n\n“Argyria,” I explained to my preoccupied audience. The single word was labored. I had walked too far for my lungs today and they punished me even after the adrenaline wore off. “It’s a hell of a disease, but between you and me, I think its worse for you. Silver in the blood for you is like arsenic in tea. Better, probably. I’ve never heard of arsenic melting a face off.”\n\nThe damphir still didn’t respond. In fact, it had quit making noise all together. I pushed the sole of my shoe into its side and flipped it over. \n\nDead. The lower half of the face was a gooey black mess and its eyes were lulled to the back of its head. \n\n“Fucking finally.” Now all that was left was proof. I unsheathed a hunting knife and got to work.\n\n\n\nDawn broke over the trees as I reached the village. Behind me the town seemed to slouch on the mountains. It was quiet again, lonely after the death of its last inhabitant. But perhaps it wouldn’t have to be that way for long. Already the village was alive. Nervous energy was abound as the villagers split their time between their daily chores and waiting for the man who might give them their once-ancestral homes back: me.\n\nThe blue tint of my skin gave me away as I tried to join their ranks without drawing too much attention. But they parted for me like the Red Sea for Moses. Hopeful and skeptical looks traced every step I took on their trodden dirt paths. I could hear them whisper in hushed tones, but I couldn’t understand what they said. So, I made a guess.\n\n“Did he do it?” Said one.\n\n“Why is he blue?” Said the children.\n\n“He’s so handsome,” said the pretty blonde in the back. She hid when I waved to her, so I think I translated this one correctly. Or maybe she hid because I had accidentally waved with the wand of the dampnir I cut off before returning.\n\nIn the center of town was the elder who had commissioned me. I tossed the severed hand at him. “It’s done,” I said. The old man caught it and brought it close to his face. It was a clean cut - a damphir had no blood to worry about. \n\nThe old man’s expression brightened when he realized I had delivered him an authentic trophy. “Thank you, Coacăze,” he said. He shook my hand with a joyful vigor and said something to the crowd that I couldn’t understand. A chant went up, with each man, woman, and child reciting the title they had given me.\n\n“Coacăze! Coacăze!”\n\nIf you didn’t speak the language, you might think Coacăze was an honorable title. I spoke a little. They called me Blueberry.",
"a small vial containing a sliver like substance was placed in front of theodor “swallow it” the figure covered in a heavy cloak said with a grim tone, theodor looked at the small silver vial in front of him intently, “y-you expect me to eat this ?” theodor uttered with a slight shiver in his voice, “all members of the sun's union must show their commitment against evil by giving of both flesh and soul, this sliver not only represents your determination and initiation, it also helps you fight the good fight, now drink it or never return the choice is yours, i will not force you” the tone of the cloaked figure almost seemed as if this was not a uncommon place for people to second guess there place in the order.\n\nSwallowing heavily theodor reached out towards the vial, it was small hardly longer then the tip of his ring finger, at its top where a small cork, theodor grabbed at the cork and started to attempt to remove from the vial, with a valiant pop the cork was removed, the stance of the liquid immediately hit theodors nose “by the gods the smell” theodor struggled to get the words out in between gagging on the putrid air that had now seeped all around him.\n\nThe cloaked figure uncharacteristically started to lean forward form the spot where he had planted himself, seeming to almost burst out from his harden shell from excitement, theodor took one last look at the vial clenching his nose with one hand and holding the vial with the other, bringing the vial to his mouth he poured the liquid in to his mouth, the taste of it was no better than its smell, struggling to swallow theodor sat there almost throwing up all the contents from his stomach, til he eventually swallowed, as the substance when down his throat he could feel it slide down in from his innards to his stomach, his head was spinning, the taste and smell of the thing had left him dazed.\n\nThedor collapsed onto the floor, the chair he sat on hit the ground with a violent thud, he could feel his body start to move in every wich way, every fiber of his being felt as if it was on fire, the feeling slowly spreading to every corner of this body “i'm sorry i did not tell you about the pain that comes after, but from what it's worth i think you are braver than most how start here” the cloaked figure said with a slight chuckle in his voice “it will be over soon enough, hell's you are lucky the pain from it will make you pass out haha, well i will leave you too it, if your still alive by sundown then you will be reborn a new man” confidence and a giggle left the cloaked figure as he started to make his way to the door, opening it with a cracked that reverberated through the stone building, all theodor could see was the sunlight shining in form the singular window in the room, the pain growing worse and worse, the door slams shut, theodor wrightes in pain, feelings his body snap in and out of place, his insides burn and realine themselves, teares streaming down his face, the teares bursting aflame as they fall to the ground, the light starts to fade from his eyes, theodors consciousness beguins to fade in and out of consciousness, the pain snapping him back before he can pass out. \n\nFor what feels like eons theodor lays on the floor in agony, slowly ever so slowly the singula light that shines in from the open window starts to fade, giving way to moonlight, and its star lit sky, as the sunlight fades so does the pain, increment by increment, a small sense of hope starts to shimmer within theodor, a faint flicker of hope, hardly alive, but there none the less. \n\nThedor could once again hear the door clattered and creek open, the pain was such now that he could at the very least lay still, heavy footsteps entered the room, distinct clicking sounds echoing trough the room with every step, “well what have we here ? still alive are we ? good good, you know i had my hopes in you kid haha, takes some guts to swallow all of it that fast, and that you are able to lay still, it's a good fortune indeed” the figures voice seemed slightly slurred and much more jovial then last time, it was undoubtedly the same voice, but it seemed that hard exterior was no gone from the figure. \n\n“My name is Draks” stated the figure “you should remember it, we will be working closely together from here on out” again his voice giving a far more friendly demeanor than previously “hmmm but seeing as you made it i can't just leave you here now can i ?” the question seemed not directly asked to theodor, it seemed more a statement to himself rather than to anyone in particular. \n\nTheodors sight started again to fade, as he did he could see to large scaled hands reache out for him, feeling the large clawed hands gently lift him up, theodor could once again see the door, theodor forced a small smile across his face at the sight of it, the act of it was painful, but the satisfaction outside the all encompassing pain, theodor could feel himself fade from exhaustion, his sight went dark, for the first time in what felt like ages theodor was able to rest."
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[WP] Your mysterious aunt has given you her cabin in the woods, and you have been enjoying life there. All of a sudden, the basement door flung open, and out comes Satan.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Blue flames burst out from the basement and I back away slowly expecting the cabin to catch fire. Everything remains intact, a women arises from the cabin and laughs. The flames begin to subside as if on her command and the smoke begins to subside. It's my mother in law! \"What are you doing here!?\" I ask her. \"How did you do that?\" She looks at me and says\"deep down you know the truth, you've always known the truth\" she grabs me by the neck\"Say it\" her voice doesn't sound human anymore, it's deeper, aggressive, the voice of a demon. She begins to squeeze\"SAY IT!!!\" \"Satan\" I squeal pathetically. She laughs manically and I begin to shake.\"I offered up my daughter to you human so that a child of my blood could walk through the gates of heaven and bring down the Kingdom of God\" \"I can't be part of this!I can't!\" \"Why not?! Did you vote for God?\" \"Well no I didn't vote for him but he's God so I didn't hav...\" She looks at me like I'm a bit loose upstairs\"Don't you believe in the Democratic process? God is a despot, a dictator, he assumed power but he never let the people decide what they wanted and if they don't act in accordance with his will he burns them and he expects to be thanked for offering you salvation from himself. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you would vote for God if he was a politician?\" \"Well...no\" \"so then I'm the good guy?\" She asks me? \" You might be but I need time to work this out\" \"take all the time you need\" she's surprisingly gentle in her tone. \"When the time comes you can offer me many soldiers for the coming war\""
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[WP] You've been cursed to always do an activity in the most skilled way possible. This might seem good, but if you want to make a meal you'll spend several hours preparing a feast. You will fell half a forest even if you need just a couple of logs.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Jack-bo the Clown looked exhausted. \"I need to sleep,\" he told his sister. \"But I worry if I do, I might never wake up.\"\n\nAgatha watched her brother with sadness. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, petting the alpaca-hair quilt with longing. It was the most beautiful bed she had ever seen. He had spent the past four days constructing it, making the frame out of Himalayan cedar--which he had flown to Tibet to cut down himself!--and the scent of the pink wood was so soothing, it almost put *her* to sleep all on its own.\n\n\"Oh, Jack-bo,\" she said, sitting down beside him, sinking into the heavenly duvet like a blueberry on meringue. \"Why? Why did you make such a deal? You know what our people say about the Devil! He's so...*devilish!*\"\n\nLike her brother, Agatha was a Clown, and she grew up hearing all sorts of old stories about tricksters of legend. Hermes. Loki. The Devil. Ashton Kutcher. These stories always had two purposes: (1) to provide role models for young Clowns like her, and (2) as cautionary tales of trusting your heroes.\n\nJack-bo ran his yellow glove across the silk of the pillowcase--silk he had gathered from the chasm worms of a cave in the Galapagos, a cave that had yet to be discovered by anyone other than him. \"I'm just so...tired. Tired of being a Clown. Tired of mucking up every little thing I do. Tired of being a laughing stock. Tired of being completely incompetent. It's exhausting being such a nincompoop. You have no idea, sister.\"\n\n\"And so you made a deal with the Devil to be as competent as possible? But now look at you! So perfectly good at everything you can't even go to sleep without risking falling into a lifelong coma! A sleep so *perfect* there's no chance of waking up!\"\n\n\"Well...perhaps. There's also a chance that I will get precisely 8 hours of sleep. That would also be perfect, I just don't know which it will be.\"\n\n\"Well, you can't stay awake forever. Look at you! The bags around your eyes are starting to sag your makeup! The circles on your cheeks look like deflated kickballs!\"\n\nAnd so the siblings brainstormed. Since Agatha was not as sleep-deprived as her brother, she was in the unusual position of being the primary ideas person. \"I have it! What if you set out to get 8 hours of sleep? That way, falling into a coma would be a gross failure of the objective, and thus impossible!\"\n\nAt first he nodded, hopeful. Then he closed his eyes, as if in sudden pain. \"No,\" he said. \"I can already feel my body responding to the very idea of it! It wants to fill my room with alarm clocks! All precisely tuned to exactly 8 hours using quartz mined from a passing asteroid! It wants to make a device that drops a mallet on my head at precisely the correct millisecond to ensure I am asleep for eight hours before the alarms go off. No! This will take weeks! I can't! I can't!\"\n\nHe collapsed into his sister's shoulder, sobbing. She consoled him, patting him on the shoulder. Still, he wailed. \"I just want to be a Clown again! I'm so sorry I ever wanted to change! Please! Help me sis! Help me! Make me incompetent! I WANT TO NINCOMPOOP AGAIN!\"\n\nAt first she had no idea how to help...and then it came to her, like a bolt of lightning.\n\n\"That's it! What if you set out to be the best *Clown* possible! A complete and utter failure at everything you set out to do! Then you could just attempt to stay awake *as a Clow*n, but you would fail at it and fall asleep!\"\n\nJack-bo thought it over, then honked his nose in excitement and spun the flower on his lapel! \"Yes!\" he said. \"I will set out to be the best Clown possible! And my first clown task will be to successfully stay awake for as long as possible! I will--!\"\n\nAnd like that, he was out cold, snoring on the beautiful bed like a child. Agatha covered him in his quilts--three, each made from a different exotic fur--kissed him on the forehead, and turned out the light before shutting the door.\n\nJack-bo slept for the remaining forty-seven years of his life, with his sister taking care of him the entire time out of guilt and love. *At least he has a good bed*, she thought. But she did always wonder: Did he fail at succeeding? Or succeed at failing? \n\n*Only the Devil knows*, she supposed.",
"There is a man who works at a McDonalds in a small town in England. It is a mediocre McDonalds, as all these fast food restaurants are. They sell a service that is not above or below a certain line, and the food you will receive is adequate if not resembling something tasty. It neither titillates your tongue nor leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. It's perfectly mediocre.\n\nA place for many to come and go, whether they are ordering, eating, or working behind the counter. The place is so zen that at any one time, the ratio of workers to customers never slips more than one or two. There may be heckles and some frustration, but so long as everyone gets their food, its fine.\n\nWho would work in such a place, you ask. Many, as I say, come and go. Students and vagabonds, ex-convicts and convicts-to-be. Often a stopping point between the heights of society and the lows of the gutter. Not many sustain more than a few years.\n\nExcept one man. I've seen him nearly every time I come in over the past twenty. A half smile, the mildest indignation, and a very consistent mediocrity. I thought he was the manager until I saw him ring up my order.\n\n'Would you like fries with that?' He asked.\n\n'Yes, please.' I replied.\n\n'Ok. Have a day.' He said, handing me my food.\n\nHe gave little desire to care, but I could tell in his eyes he did greatly.\n\nThis mysterious man perplexed me for some time. It made me question my own occupation as a travelling salesman. Not the most glamorous or enviable job, I understand, but It brought a certain pleasure to my life. Indeed, it was these encounters that sometimes made it worthwhile. But, I digress.\n\nOne day, my car broke down as I was nearing the McDonalds. I was already late and cursing myself when smoke started streaming out of the cracks in the bonnet. *Just my luck,* I said to myself. *On this pissing day.*\n\nI exited my car and was about to slam the door, when that man from McDonalds comes by. He says hello and asks what the problem was, which I promptly reply: *I don't know*.\n\n'Do you mind if I have a look?' He asked.\n\n'Sure,' I said, bemused. 'By all means.'\n\nI'd already popped the hood and the man lifted it with ease. The rod to hold in place was always a fiddle, but to my surprise, he had little trouble.\n\n'Do you need any tools?' I asked him.\n\nThere was no reply, as you might expect. He wasn't the most jovial person. I walked to where he was standing and watched him, and what transpired, to this day, I still can't believe my own eyes.\n\nThe man began undoing a set of bolts near the engine, with his fingers. He pinched either side of the pentagonal thing and began unscrewing it. Next, he pulled out a wire meshed cylinder and, turning away from me, gave it a quick blow. He returned it in pristine condition, as if his breath were magic itself. Within a blink, he'd put it all back together. He was all on his merry way as I started the engine. It sounded like new.\n\nThese days, I think twice about assuming anything about anyone. You think you know people, but they'll surprise you.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nShameless promotion of Substack: [https://itsgottobedone.substack.com/publish/stats/traffic](https://itsgottobedone.substack.com/publish/stats/traffic)"
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[WP] ".... But its a curse... Its bad, its a ... bad thing... Youre supposed to hate it... STOP HAVING FUN!"
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"The speedometer on my motorcycle is rapidly climbing, 135... 140... 145... 150... \n\nI can hear the engine of the car next to me screaming as they are pushing the absolute limits of their vehicle. \n\nI still feel more throttle is available as I start to twist my wrist even more dancing with death yet having absolutely no fear of it. The open road is getting shorter and shorter as I start to come up on more traffic, and I hear the engine of the car next to me bogging down quickly as they let off the gas and start to press the brake peddle. \n\nI keep your throttle twisted as I dare to weave in and out of traffic at break neck speeds. The slightest mistake and there would surly be a puking emt with a shovel trying to clean up the road... or at least had I been anyone else this would be the case. \n\nI guess I caught the attention of the police as after I got home my brother was waiting. The police scanner was on the table next to his chair. He was glaring at the door as soon as I walk inside. You can still hear the chatter as they are still looking for the bike and a guy loosely fitting my description. He starts yelling at me... But its a curse... Its bad, its a ... bad thing... Youre supposed to hate it... STOP HAVING FUN!\"\n\nIt all started shortly after I turned 20 in 1693. My local community stalked a poor young woman that had been claimed to bewitching young men and costing them their lives after they fell in love with her. Most of the towns people were terrified of burning her for fear of what she would do to them or the curse she would lay upon them. But one evening my older brother woke me up after my best friend had been found dead drowned in a shallow puddle. That evening the two of us took it upon ourselves to finally stop the witch. \n\nAfter night fell we both went and abducted her from her home. And in the middle of the night we woke up the entire town with her screams and crying as I lit the fire under her feet. Her screams cut threw the cool calm air, blood curdling cries could be heard from the far sides of the town. Soon everyone had woken up and came to see what had been going on. All eyes were on the young woman that was being burned alive, the poor young woman that was very innocent in the matter of the deaths of the men that had been falling in love with her. \n\nWhat everyone had missed was her aunt doing everything she could to hold herself up against a building, watching this poor girl burning in front of her eyes. The same girl that had been left to her since her parents passed away when she was little. The same girl she swore she would protect from everything she could. The same girl she would kill many young men that would dare to threaten her peace of mind and potentially remove her from her life. And she watched the 2 young men that were now burning her to death. \n\nA few nights later my brother and I had went to sleep after preforming our chores for the day and enjoying more ale than we remembered having. We woke up to the girls aunt standing between us, Un able to move, how did she tie us to these chairs with out waking us up? I remember climbing into bed, or better yet, more or less onto of it. I can hardly move my hands so the ropes weren't really needed. Just trying to touch my fingers together is exhausting. \n\nI look up at my brother and he is trying to talk, yet I can't hear anything but him gasping for air and pushing it out of his lungs. The girls aunt is walking around talking to herself, the light from the lantern is dancing on her face and against the wall behind her. She goes to the table multiple times mixing liquids and plants together. I can't understand what she is saying. She pours the liquid down his throat and then another cup down mine. And laughed with a cackle saying that now we will forever watch the people we love die. And we will never be able to be with them in the after life. \n\nThe next day we wake up in the same positions on our beds with everything seeming normal. The chairs are pushed into the table. Nothing is sore, nothing is hard to move. I can easily talk. And it appears the bottle of ale had tipped over and spilt out. We both attested it to a weird dream caused by bad ale. \n\nWe never seen the poor girls aunt after that, most had figured she left after the burning in fear of being targeted as well. Others thought she was just so heart broken she couldn't stay around any longer. \n\nAs far as my brother and myself, everything seemed normal... for a while. As others would get sick we never did. One day my brother was kicked by a horse and jumped back up and brushed his shirt and trousers and realized there was no mark, there were no broken bones, he wasn't even short of breath. We took it as lucky. A few months later as I was felling a tree, a window maker fell and landed on top of me. I yell and yell, and finally my brother sees me and helps me get the log off of me. Once again, no pain, no damage. \n\nA few years pass and we realize we aren't getting any older either. Our friends and loved ones are showing signs of aging. They are getting sick, they are getting old, they are passing. Yet here the both of us are, other than haircuts and outfits being different we look the same as we did that night, now 329 years later. We have seen the world, we have seen every possible issue first hand for the last 300 years. As my brother has decided to try to stay quiet and avoid basically everything and everyone because he is tired of goodbyes. Here I am chasing adrenaline every chance I can.",
"\"And so, wretched mortal, as a curse for your arrogance, you shall be turned into a horrible, hideous beast! Your appearance shall terrify all before you, and you will never escape this form!\"\n\n\"Okay.\" The Prince shrugged in his new beastly form. \"Fine by me.\"\n\n\"Do not bother to plead with me, young prince, for I-\" the encantress paused in mid-sentence. \"What did you just say?\"\n\n\"I'm fine with it.\" The Prince replied.\n\n\"But-wait-this is supposed to be a curse! Why are you fine with this?\"\n\nThe beast's expression turned ugly. \"Every day since I turned 16, my father's been bringing any girl with a drop of royal blood in her to the palace. I don't want a romantic relationship, and I definitely don't want to marry anyone. But no, I'm the prince, the hier to the kingdom, the future king, so I have to have a wife and kids. \"\n\nThe encantress looked confused. \"Are you sure? Maybe you haven't met the right girl yet-\"\n\n\"YES. I. AM. SURE.\" the beast roared. \"GET OUT OF MY CASTLE!\"\n\nThe encantress frowned. \"You're so mean!\", she pouted while raising her wand. \"You know what, unless you find love before your 21st birthday, you'll lose your mind.\"\n\n\"What the hell!\" The Prince cursed. \"Girl, I literally don't want lo-\"\n\nHe was cut off by the slamming of the gates. The encantress smirked at the door, said \"Serves him right.\", and flew off into the night.",
"Writer's note: I took a little different tack with this one, and went more for the spirit of the prompt than the literal text. Enjoy!\n\n\\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nI bend over and touch my toes, stretching out my muscles. Sitting down, I grab my toes and pull them back, stretching my calves. A few years ago, I'd have thought of tonight as a night to fear, a night to dread. A full moon. \n\nBut with some practice, some patience, and some training... okay, a *lot* of training... and more than a few doggy obedience classes on tape... I've turned full moons into something much more interesting. \n\nIt started with an idea. A question, rather. Why are werewolves so destructive? We think of werewolves as untamed, bestial forces of nature. But with a lot of practice, you *can* exert some control over them. I've yet to assume full control, the sensation more like getting pulled along by a massive animal on the end of a leash. I can pull and tug this way and that and get him to stop on command. Well, for a little bit anyway. But at the end of the day (night?) he's still pretty strong.\n\nThat question - \"Why are they so destructive?\", led me down a rabbit hole of canine psychology. It's dogs in particular that I've been studying. They're not wolves, but... close enough. And I'm hoping that I can train him to be more like a dog, in all honesty. From what I've seen, it's anxiety, boredom, and loneliness that can make them destructive. And active dogs need exercise to help deal with and alleviate those feelings. What could be more destructive than a canine who only gets out once a month and never has *any* socialization?\n\nActive dogs often have 'jobs'. This can range from something as high minded as search and rescue, to herding sheep at the command of their owner. Hell, even going for a walk or a run can be enough to tucker some dogs out. What's the one thing all canines have in common? They *love* to chase. And that was where my next idea came into play.\n\nYou see, James, a long-time buddy of mine had been working on what he called, 'The Shitbox Racecar'. He didn't believe me when I told him I had lycanthropy, and it took some doing to prove it to him, but he eventually came around. We both got pretty lucky that I didn't accidentally bite him. Since then, he's been instrumental in making this plan work. \n\nThe lights around the abandoned racetrack, surprisingly, still work. They click on with a low buzz as the filaments warm up, before the area slowly builds with light. During the rest of the month, we'd been working on the road surface. By this point, it's driveable. \n\nAs the soft glow of the lights shines on the two of us, James gives me a look and nods. I take one final glance at the horizon line, lower the far-too-big googles down onto my nose, lace up the far-too-big and ill-fitting doggy running shoes onto my feet and fingers, and walk out onto the tarmac behind the Shitbox Racecar. \n\nI train my vision on the tennis ball glued to the trailer hitch, the brightly colored fibers collecting my attention tighter and tighter, until I feel that pull in the back of my mind. Laser focused. \"This is your prey. Chase.\", I command to the other part of my mind as the moon starts it's climb into the sky. The door of the racecar slams, but it's a distant rumbling, and does not distract me from my purpose.\n\nYeah. Chase. \n\nI feel him start to take hold. I envision a leash around him, and hold on tight. James said his racecar will do over a hundred on this track. I hope he's right. 'Cause that's gonna be a helluva lot of fun for all three of us.",
"“A pox! *No*! A *Plllague* upon ye!” The old crone kneaded the air with her long, age-gnarled, black-taloned fingers. She whipped the green fog into whirls and waves — green fog that lay between *her* (the kindly witch who kept to herself) and the toppled over *brat* who had broken in to *her* house and tried to make off with a jar of Newts Eye-b— “No-no! A! Oh, ah—ummm. A-a curse! Yes. Yessss. A *curse* upon your ‘ousssses!”\n\nDear old Ms Drinkrum is a *powerful* witch. She looks the part, she lives in a swamp, is a brilliant brewer of potions, offers great personal advice, and a warm — as well as sticky — shoulder to cry on. But she struggles to make up her mind.\n\n“No! No that’s not fair at all is it. Whole ‘ouses being acurse-ed. Poor Ma and Da dealin’ wit yer messes. Though. Shoulda raised you betta, they should’ve and...and where’d you go?”\n\nThe teen had seized his chance and bolted off into the swamp, and was practically running on water (aided by logs and logs that looked a lot like alligators in more light).\n\n“Blast it!” Said the dear old Witch. But, she knew the curse would stick so long as he was in ear-shot. “A curse! A curse upon yer...mouthseses!...Mouthsees? Mouthzez...Ahhhh, sod it. Hope ya bloody food tastes o’ nuffin!”\n\nAnd so it did.\n\n\\* * *\n\nNow, despite what one might think — with Dear Ms Dreenkrom living deep in the Abysmal swamp and being a cuss and curse slinging witch, she is actually quite well liked and respected by the local townships. Many a localfolk had turned to her aid when misfortune struck. More than a few borrowed her ear when life seemed a bit...and potions! Oh, the potions!\n\nPotions for crops, potions for making wind for fishing boats, potions for making less of the other more personal kind of wind (which, in a way, is a sort of love potion). Potions!\n\nWhy, more than once had a local lad run headlong into another lad on the long damp way back from her cottage something secret held tight, wrapped in brown paper.\n\n“Oh, ah, Duncan. ‘Allo.”\n\n“Oh! Its you, Phillip.”\n\n“Aye. Just I. You...fetchin’ something from...you know?”\n\n“Yeah. Yeah! For, ah, the crops.”\n\n“Smells like Swamp Cedar and Brown Frog to me.”\n\n“Oh...does it? Don’t know, ne’er had it before? For the corn crop you see there’s these mites and-”\n\n“Yeah! Yeah. Ahem. Um. Works wonders.”\n\n“...”\n\n“For the corn crops, I mean. Mine were. Um. Not. Up to it. After the potion...stand-up crop, you know. Great stuff.”\n\n“Oh..oh! Really?”\n\n“Yes! Ahem. Yes.”\n\n“...”\n\n“Strong *all* session—season!”\n\n“Yes, the-the season. Almost over it is. Best be off!”\n\n“Ta-ta!”\n\n“Bye!”\n\n“Wrong direction...”\n\n“Got turned around, thanks!”\n\nAll this to say that when she stepped out of the fog at the edge of the forest and into the festivities at the Summer Festival...no one was alarmed. Witches, in this part of the world, can make themselves invisible (so powerful is their paranormal ability to blend in).\n\nOr...\n\nDepending on the witches mood: they may want the village to hiss and whisper and then quietly, and a little later, quickly walk away from her.\n\nA small girl tugged the Dear Old Witch’s skirt. Ms Drinkrum looked down and saw a snotty face.\n\n“Hi, witchy!”\n\n“Allo, Eunice. How’s dat ear o’ yours.”\n\n“All betta is is!”\n\n“...”\n\n“O! Fank you, witchy.”\n\n“No fanks yet, Eunice, lemme look.”\n\nThe crone grabbed said ear, turned it towards her view and leaned in. All without force on or fear in to the child.\n\n“Hmmm. One more course.”\n\n“Kay!”\n\n“Send ya mum tomorr-no. Not tomorrow. Post festival cleanin’. Two days...wait! Busy I is in two days. Um. Tell ‘er come and see me.”\n\n“Kay!” And Eunice, ear released, escaped and left the Dear Old Witch to be invisible.\n\nMs Drinkrum pulled her cowl down, stuffed her cold hands into her warm sleeves, wriggled into a good hunch...and was off! At a slow waddle into the festival.\n\nAs she went, she was given space or welcomed as a passing stranger soon mysteriously forgotten. She also heard a few people get elbowed in the ribs when they said hello to someone with a very similar name to hers. Rules is rules. And rules in these parts is: Witches are invisible...if they say they is or look like they wanna be.\n\n\\* * *\n\nShe had mostly forgotten that damned nearly eye-ball nickin’ no-good-for-nuthin’ lad. But he was there. At the festival. Hadn’t come and begged for forgiveness or cried for the curse to be lifted.\n\nShe had assumed her magic had rendered him so shaken she’d find him comatose, or hear word that he’d changed course and joined a convent. Hold a tick, dear, he wouldsa...joined the boy...vent? No, that’s not it, is it? Thought the Witch through the narrator.\n\nCould you please not do that?\n\nNeeded space to fink, I did. Bit flustered I is.\n\nYou’re getting in the way of the descriptions!\n\nRight-oh, right-oh, sheesh! Keep yer knickers on. ‘for I go, was a boy convent called?\n\nMonastery.\n\nManast-what?\n\nMonastery!\n\nNo need to take dat tone, young man.\n\nOh for—SHE SAW THE LAD, QUITE ALIVE AND WELL.\n\nOkay-okay, I can takes a ‘int.\n\nHe had not, in fact, taken himself to a convent or a man-a-stare—oh, for—*MONAS*-tery. The lad had taken his curse...and drank lemonade. Here and now in the festival, rather than lamenting on the outskirts unable to revel in the flavours of the bounty...he was on stage.\n\nEating and drinking.\n\nFor a mere Bit of a Snell (a fraction of a coin) you could go up against the No-Taste lad! Eat what he eats, drink what he drinks...and if you keep a straighter face, and keep it down, well then! You win one-hundred times what you bet.\n\nNow, one-hundred times in these parts just means: a large amount. Could be ten Snell. Or, just as likely, Could be forty-eight Bits of a Snell...which is...nine Grabs of Snell. I think.\n\nEight and tree-quarts o’ a grab.\n\nShoo! You’re off being incensed (angered) by the fact the boy you cursed being so happy with the situation.\n\nOh! *Wait*. ‘Appy!?!\n\n*There* she goes.",
"We all make our way to the next location, marked on the map. We look around and spot the next crystal. \"Master, do you have any advice?\"\n\nNo response.\n\n\"Well, if he's gonna leave us hanging, I say we get to wrecking!\" Don strips naked and jumps into the fountain.\n\n\"WAIT, DON!\" Sike cries. Before we can do anything else, Don disappears and reappears next to us, clothes and all.\n\n\"WHAT THE HELL?\" he yells. Suddenly something shows up.\n\n\"Please do not disgrace this sacred place\" it says. It raises a hand and casts a spell. We all quickly morph into horrid creatures. Sike is MORTIFIED, Don isn't bothered and I'm just waiting for the next thing. \"If you can respect this place, I'll return you all to your proper forms.\"\n\n\"Ok, I understand\" Sike responds.\n\n\"Hang on, Sike\" I say. \"There's no way we're supposed to just stand around... does the map have any hints?\"\n\nSike looks at the map and shakes his head. \"Not at all.\"\n\n\"What do we do then?\" Don huffs. I think for a moment, then remember something.\n\n\"Sike, remember how The Master said Don literally CANNOT screw us up?\"\n\nSike looks at me quizzically. \"Yes...? What are you suggesting, Buster?\"\n\nI grin. I pick up some mud, and throw it into the fountain. \"BUSTER!\" Sike cries.\n\nDon just laughs. \"Hey, if we can't sabotage our quest, we may as well just be vandals!\" Don appears ready to throw up, then shoots a stream of vomit.\n\n\"WAIT! We can do that?\" I try the same thing. \"Wow, looks like we have new ways to cause trouble!\" Using my strong body, I rip a part of the fountain. Water pours out.\n\nSike hesitantly joins in, splashing muddy water everywhere. Some of it gets on Don, who seems furious at first, then smirks. \"Alright, let's play your game!\"\n\nWithin minutes the three of us are splashing mud and water about, releasing streams of vomit, throwing things at each other... all the while laughing and stuff.\n\nThe figure reappears, fuming and befuddled. \"WHAT? You're having FUN in your forms? But... it's a curse... it... it's a bad thing... a VERY bad thing! You're supposed to hate it! STOP HAVING FUN!\"\n\nDon, in response, jumps into the fountain, destroying it, sending mud and water flying EVERYWHERE! \"How do you like *THAT* for your sacred place?\"\n\nI burst out laughing, and even Sike smiles. The being sighs, defeated. \"Please... please stop... I'll revert you all to normal...\" in a flash, we all disappear and reappear. We're no longer covered in filth, but the area is still messed up. \"What do I need to do to get you to leave?\"\n\nDon is about to speak, but I put a hand on his shoulder. Sike consults the crystal tablet. He comes back quickly. \"We just need to know where we can get the blessing of chaos.\"\n\n\"If I tell you, do you promise not to come back?\" the being asks.\n\n\"Why would we come back? Once we're gone, we're gone\" Don states. The being nods, then disappears. \"WAIT! YOU DIDN'T-\"\n\n\"Don, calm down\" Sike pleads. \"He did tell us; the new location is on the map. He just didn't say it verbally...\" Don and I go over to look. Sure enough, there's a new place to go.\n\n\"I'm sick of this\" Don grumbles, going to the crystal tablet. \"Master, can we just get to the end already?\"\n\nWords appear on the tablet. 'Unfortunately there's nothing I can do in terms of skipping a part of the game... I'll look for any bugs or glitches which may allow you to sequence break, but for now, you DO NEED the blessing; you can't complete the game without it.'\n\n\"Thank you, Master\" I reply. I turn to the others. \"Well, that was at least *fun*, right?\"\n\nDon grins. \"Yeah, I'll give it that.\"\n\nSike tries to hide his smile. \"I... I guess...\" I nudge him.\n\n\"Let's move on. Standing here won't accomplish anything.\" We all begin to make our way to the next destination.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThis story is a part of my series, [The Arena of Crystal.](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/xue694/the_arena_of_crystal/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Please check it out!"
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[WP] You're thrown into the looney bin after claiming everyone you killed were doppelgangers who imprisoned the original copies. Honestly, you'd have preferred maximum security or even the death penalty; you feel vulnerable here.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Happy Hallow Home for the Criminally Insane defied expectations. Sunlight peeked through the iron barred windows of the modern hospital. Felt like walking into a nice hotel. Soft muzak played in the lobby. Patient's milled about the halls, the lights were on, but nobody was home. Happy Hallow employed world class pharmacists. Some call it a madhouse, Detective Falcona called it a safehouse. She adjusted her blue tie, really popped against her snow white suit, no coat or jacket today, summer was in full swing.\n\nShe flashed her badge at the receptionist, Falcona didn't recognize her. She must be new. Well built dame wearing powder blue scrubs that looked almost painted on. Bright blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun, hard to grab in a fight. Looked like this dame had been in a fight or too. Her crooked nose stood out on her round face. Falcona liked her already.\n\n\"Need to speak with Patient 18. He cognizant?\" Falcona asked.\n\nThe receptionist buzzed the detective through. She pointed down the hallway, no ring on her finger. \"I'll have him brought to visiting room six, down the hall to the left.\"\n\n\"Thanks doll, I'll catch ya on way back.\" Falcona reached her hand up to tip her hat out of habit. She felt silly.\n\nVisiting room six had an unnerving calmness to it. Decorated to resemble a quaint french bistro. Felt off, felt too sterile. Falcona quickly scanned the room to find any hidden cameras or microphones. Every angle was covered. Good thing she updated Dr. Neutron's \"patented\" electro scrambler's firmware, shorted out the cameras for some privacy.\n\nFalcona kicked her feet up and waited for her guest. An enormously muscular orderly brought him in. Orderly could double as Meteor Man, make more cash as a decoy body double. Falcona waved him out and waved Snowy Shinobi over.\n\nHis white hospital gown was too big for him, it hung loosely around his lean frame. Shin's normally stoic expression was gone, replaced by a look of emptiness, little fear mixed in. Falcona had never seen him like this, didn't know that was possible. Snowy Shinobi bowed and sat down.\n\nFalcona lit a smoke and offered one to him, he declined. \"How ya holdin up Shin? Making any friends?\" She asked.\n\nShin didn't talk too much, he was more the strong silent type. Emphasis on the silent. Even wearing a bright white ninja outfit he could sneak up on anyone in the dark. Wrote the book on modern assassination. Valuable asset.\n\nShin's dark brown eyes narrowed, shooting arrows at Falcona with his gaze. \"You have to get me out of this abominable asylum.\" He pleaded quietly and honorably. \"This is not what we agreed on, you lied to me.\"\n\nSmoke swirled from Falcona's lips, she winked at Shin. \"We agreed that in exchange for you taking care of my little clone problem, I would let you have five minutes alone with the goon that got \"too friendly\" with your little sister. I told you that you would need to lay low after that. This is the safest place for you right now, you're a tough cookie Shin, you can handle this right? Only a couple more months than you can get back to playing dress-up.\"\n\n\"It's a madhouse here.\" Shin barked.\n\n\"Or so they say.\" Falcona sang.\n\n\"That's not funny Falco. Can you pull some strings and get me transferred somewhere else? Solitary in a supermax? Anywhere but here.\"\n\n\"No can do. We throw you in the real slammer, that becomes public record, everything about your exploits is sealed because you're here. I'm hiding you right under the noses of the schmucks that want your head on a platter. Dr. Dark Matter is real pissed at you. Those anti-positron clones from dimension z were key components of his operation. We snagged the doohickey he was usin to open dimensional rifts. We rattled a lot of cages with this one, drove a lot of rats out. Sorry I haven't visited more, been busy being the pied piper.\" Falcona smirked.\n\n\"None of that matters to me. Do you know how hard it is to walk the path of zen here?\" Shinobi snatched the smoke from Falcona's lips and took a drag, caught Falcona off-guard. She he let him keep that one and lit another.\n\n\"Enlighten me. Better be good though.\"\n\n\"The patient across the hall from me screams night and day. Not a pained scream, not a sorrowful cry, they stand upon a soapbox vehemently preaching about the end of days. Hellfire will not rain from the sky they say, but rather an incoherent babbling portending great doom none of which makes any sense to me.\" Shin's voice trembled as he spoke.\n\n\"Huh, how do they think this crazy world is coming to an end?\" Falcona inquired.\n\n\"Fictional characters shall become reality, inhabiting the same space we do. Now the ramblings are unclear and venture into strange tangents often, but one thing is constant. They truly believe that they will become the messiah for these fictional characters, mostly ponies and some odd abomination of pokemon and sonic the hedgehog.\n\nCrudely drawn scenes of this apocalypse are painted with fecal matter, they show them off during the therapy circle. The stench is unbearable. The truly maddening thing, is that they might be the most sane person here besides myself.\"\n\n\"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.\" Falcona interjected.\n\n\"I would rather be a slave on my knees than be king of this wretched lot. Do you want to know why my hallmate is here?\"\n\nFalcona nodded.\n\n\"They got \"too friendly\" with their own mother. Claimed it healed her soul so that she would be strong enough to survive the end of days. Get me out of here Falco, I beg of you.\"\n\nFalcona shut her eyes tight, her stomach turned, she rubbed her forehead. She looked into Shin's eyes, they pleaded for help, he looked broken. She whipped out her cellphone. \"Give me a minute. Let me make a call.\"\n\nFalcona rose from her bistro chair and strutted over to the barred window. A lone tree stood in the middle of the enclosed exercise yard. Finally the call went through.\n\n\"Hey Double S it's me, did I call at a bad time? Sorry to interrupt but this shouldn't take long. I'm good. I need a small favor from you. Can you babysit the other Double S for two months? Let him crash at your place, I know you two get along well.\n\nNo.....no......no I am not trying to set you up with him, he did me a favor, I need you to do him a favor, then I'll owe you a favor. Would mean a lot to me. Your're the best doll. Drinks are on me next time I see you. Okay talk later, get back to saving the day.\"\n\nFalcona strode over to the door of the visiting room. \"Come on Shin we're getting you out of here.\"\n\nShin sprinted to the door, he bowed deeply. Tears streamed down his face. \"Thank you Falco! Thank you so much.\"\n\n\"Don't thank me kid thank Scarlet Shadow when you see her. You'll be safe and secure in her quiet safehouse. Now listen, and listen good. Continue to keep your head down and your nose clean. I catch one syllable that you suited up, I'm gonna toss you right back in here, maybe get you a roommate when I do. Clear?\"\n\n\"Yes Ma'am.\"\n\n\"You always were a polite kid. Go get your stuff, I'll give you a ride over.\"\n\nFalcona leaned up against her jet black vintage chevy muscle car, sunning her face and enjoying the warm breeze in her hair. Another super broken by seeing how dark the depths of Star City really are, and how easy it is to get lost in those catacombs."
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[WP] You’re a biologist turned manic enthusiast. One day, seemingly without reason, 3 Eldritch horrors turn up on your door seeking help with one of their injured. Turns out, much like humans, they don’t know much about their own biology either.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“So… what seems to be the problem?”\nI looked between the three eldritch horrors in front of me. Like a symphony of the damned, a million voices cried out in my head, “hhhhhuuuuurrrrttttt.”\n\n“Sure,” I responded, “but can you be a bit more specific?” I was then hit with a brief wave of chaotic madness, the desire to lay down and laugh until the end of time. “Interesting,” I said, nodding my head. “That doesn’t help me. Which of you is injured?” The left and right monsters stood back, leaving only the ever-shifting formless amalgam in the center. “Maybe if I take a closer look…” I put my hand on the horror, and was bombarded with visions of my own death, thousand of times over in thousands of different dimension. \n\nI pulled out my notebook, and quickly jotted down, “patient appears to be a real negative Nancy.” Then I looked back at the monsters. “It appears your biology, and therefore your injury, is beyond human comprehension. When confronted with such anomalies, us humans usually have only one go-to solution.” I went to my cabinets, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Consume this, if you can consume physical substance. If not, there’s not much I can do for you. If that doesn’t work, come back and we’ll try ibuprofen next.”"
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[WP] You have the ability to look at people's death date. One day, you wake up to find that everyone's death date is set for tomorrow.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I stand and watch motionlessly as a on coming train hits a little boy, about six or seven. I’ve numbed myself to the stench of blood, some may call it cruel, to stand still when knowing someone is going to die but… well let’s just say it’s better than the alternative. Everywhere I walk I see the dates overhead, of my friends, my family, and my co workers. It’s not like I haven’t tried to stop it, it’s just that fate has a way of carrying itself out. Two days from now 6/15, the date above my head… I wonder what it will be like to finally sleep peacefully. \n\nThe day is the same as always, wherever I go death seems to follow. It’s not like I’m the reason they die, it’s more like this power is taunting me. Reminding me day in and day out that no matter what I do they will die. I remember the day these dates started appearing, my grandmother had been sick… she didn’t have long. I held her hand as she drifted away, and as she took her last breath I saw it over her head. Some one eyes black shadow, looked as if it were made of tar. I guess you could say he’s similar to what most people refer to as the Grimm Reaper but well a bit different. He seems to follow me wherever I go, someone might say I was chosen for some mystical reason, but well I think he just finds me interesting all of them do, but he, well he’s different. It’s like he’s watching, waiting for when my time comes. At least work is peaceful, can’t really watch people die when you work alone. \n\nAs night falls I quickly walk home, the night is when those things are most active, finding their next target. I guess it will be me who they target soon. I hop in bed putting my headphones in drowning out the noises in the sweet sound of ocean waves. As night turns to day I feel an unusual cool in the air. I put on my usual work clothes and get ready then step outside. So tomorrow is the day… I look around realizing the little reaper was nowhere to be found. Was this his version of kindness, letting me live my last moments in peace, or was this some sick twisted joke to make me aware of each and every step I take tomorrow. Either way it doesn’t matter, I accepted my fate long ago no need to dwell over it.",
"Something was wrong.\r \nWell, more wrong than usual.\r \nLook, long story short, I can see death dates. Days people die. It’s… not the best. It’s even worse if I hear people talking. Some guy says some sweet thing to a girl, probably (hopefully) his girlfriend, but I can see his death date is in a day or two. Poor fool probably was going to walk in front of a car stupidly. It’s depressing how often it happens.\r \nThe thing is that the dates can change. I’ve seen it before. A friend smoked a lot, her death date was… three years away, I think. Then the date abruptly dropped, and I demanded she go to the hospital. Turns out the tar had built up too much in her lungs… or something. I’m not a doctor. Point is that she got replacements, and with strict orders to never smoke again, her date was years and years in the future.\r \nWhat I’m saying is that death dates are sort of… assuming consistency. If nothing changes, or at least is near constant, you’ll die on that date. I do what I can… but it’s not much, in a lot of cases. Especially when it’s strangers. Do you have any idea how weird it would be for a stranger to run up and try and get you to change your life? Urgh, I’m getting heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.\r \nStory, right. Uh… I see people with the same death date occasionally. Just a coincidence, I hope, but oftentimes it’s not. Some horrible train crash or… attack. I can’t see the future beyond the dates being funny, except that doesn’t always help. Sometimes people will change their death dates themselves through sheer force of will to start or change something. Sometimes I’ve moved dates closer by accident.\r \nSo when I first saw my date was tomorrow, I kind of just… went with it. Swore to keep my ears open for the rogue car that was sure to come screeching around the corner soonish. Didn’t change my date, but it was still reassuring for me.\r \nWhen I looked outside, all the people outside also had the same date. That was when I realized something might be wrong. I turned on the news and didn’t see anything, but all the news anchors and news casters also had the same date.\r \nOn every channel, every person, dying tomorrow. I even, feeling motivated, went onto some channels that streamed in other languages. Still dying tomorrow. After around… probably 15, 30 minutes, I eventually concluded: everyone was dying tomorrow.\r \nBut what could it be? Some power-hungry politician launching nukes, followed by nuclear retribution? That would account for it. I just hadn’t seen the one, two, five people who’d be safe in a bunker. Maybe an asteroid was colliding with the world? Again, that would destroy everything and everyone.\r \nI puzzled at it for what felt like forever, but couldn’t have been all that long. What could cause the entire world and everyone on it to die? There were only a small handful of things that could cause it. Maybe some… super-virus bioweapon was going to escape?\r \nThat’s when I realized. It didn’t matter.\r \nIt didn’t matter.\r \nI couldn’t do anything about it. And unlike all those other doomsayers in the past, I knew this was true. A death date on one person? Some small changes might be necessary. A group of people? There’s almost always one event that causes it. Just… change which train you are riding on, or delay your flight by a few hours.\r \nEveryone? Whatever it was, whoever or whatever caused it… I couldn’t do anything. This was beyond me entirely. Everyone was going to die.\r \nDo you realize how freeing that was?\r \nI was no longer responsible.\r \nPeople weren’t going to die just because I didn’t try and warn them. And I couldn’t get in contact with anybody who mattered. If it was some natural disaster, nobody could stop it on this scale. If it was due to a person, it would be some high-ranking scientist or politician that wouldn’t listen to a college student raving about how the world was going to end. If anything, they’d just lock me up.\r \nAnd so I smiled.\r \nShut off the television.\r \nAnd called my friends.\r \nWe spent the whole day together. All that stuff we’d wanted to do but couldn’t because of one reason or another. Too busy, too much money, whatever. But you know what? It didn’t matter. I got a loan specifically so we could do whatever we wanted. Wasn’t like it mattered. Everyone was dying tomorrow, so I figured why not make the best of it?\r \nIt was all futile anyway.\r \nAt the end of the night, before we went to sleep, I raised a toast.\r \nA toast, to the end of the world!",
"\"well shit\" is all I can utter when I see the death of everyone is set to tomorrow. I can see when people die by the way. I have been able to see the dates when people die for as long as I can remember. It took me a while to figure out what the floating numbers meant. It took my Grandma having a heart attack at my seventh birthday party, for me to realise the curse I possess.\n\nOf course I told my parents what I could see. As any child innocent of the ways of the world would do. So they did what any God-fearing parent would do, exorcism, therapy and finally a looney bin all by the age of twelve, in that order. It took years for me to convince the doctors that I wasn't crazy. Which naturally involved lying, saying I was making it all up.\n\nLucky for me I somehow managed to become a functioning member of society, if you can call working part-time at a certain M fast food chain. Remember I spent years in the nut house, so there was no way I was coming into my adult life with any qualifications.\n\nHave I tried preventing someone's death? Yes of course, I'm not actually crazy, just have a curse. But nothing changes, it's like they are marked as must die. I can push someone out of the way of a speeding car only to be killed by a falling sign. Fate is a really humbling thing, no matter what you do or how much you try to avoid it, it will still happen. \n\nSo when I turned up at work to find that everyone had tomorrow's date floating above their head, I was depressed to say the least. My colleagues, most of whom I have spent a few years with, are going to die tomorrow. I put on a brave face to enjoy my last day with everyone. But as the day progresses I come to realise it's not just the workers, it's the customers too.\n\nAfter realising the extent of death that was rapidly approaching, I went on a walk for my lunch break. This was supposed to give me peace of mind, I didn't, the panic started to come on as I couldn't find a single person who is going to live past tomorrow. I run and run, desperate to find the salvation of someone, anyone, please just someone who lives past tomorrow. \n\nMy desperation turns into defeat as I catch the news, playing on a t.v through a shop window. The world leaders are having a press conference on the other side of the world, for some kind of summit, I don't know, I missed the start. All of them with tomorrow's date floating menacingly above their heads.\n\nI stop in my tracks and just stare blankly at the t.v screen. I cry, lots. Knowing there is no way to stop the inevitable, something broke inside me. The people walking past give me a wide berth, I mean who wouldn't? I'm crying whilst watching an international press conference. Realising the scene I am causing I quickly run away, whilst wiping my tears.\n\nDo I preach and warn everyone of their impending doom? Fuck no! Hell no! Definitely not! I don't want to spend my last day on earth in a straight jacket. I decide to call my mum, I pick up the phone and dial her number. As if the universe was mocking my final farewell, it went straight to voicemail.\n\"Mum. I was just ringing to say I love you and enjoy tonight with dad\" I choke out through tears. I hang up the phone and wonder how I'm going to spend my last day.\n\nSo after spending the rest of my day filled with hookers and hooch, I look out of my window at 00:01 to see the sky lit up as the world ending solar flare vapourises the atmosphere. All I can think is \"Finally\"......",
"It rarely happens, usually during large quakes or devastating tornadoes. Or the one time you visited a coal mine. You looked up the weather reports and the earthquake predictions, but there was nothing. \n\nThe date was set for a weekday, so these people wouldn't be dying in a catastrophic pileup in an interstate. You try to think of what you could be missing.\n\nIt couldn't be a gas leak, the system was checked recently and everything was up to code. What would kill all these people? Was it something avoidable?\n\nYou had no idea if these people would believe you if you said that the place should be evacuated. It only worked once, and the one you saved suffered a lethal aneurysm.\n\nThen you looked up the mountains, perhaps there was a sign of impending landslide you could use as proof. But during your hike, you slipped in the soft earth and knocked yourself out.\n\nThe next day, you see why everybody would die today, the city was drowned by molasses."
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[WP] The invaders from another dimension were confident in their ability to overtake the Earthlings. There is however one thing they hadn't anticipated: nuclear bombs.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Hi u/RoboJoe9000, this submission has been removed.\n\n**No recent reposts, even if changing small details** Also, no [copy-cats](http://i.imgur.com/38FjDgW.gifv).\n\nSearch before submitting as popular ideas can cause floods. If your idea is based on something you read elsewhere on reddit, chances are it's been submitted here already. Please wait at least 2 weeks before reposting.\n\n \n\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules/retired_prompt_themes/\n\n* *[From Rule 5: No recent reposts, even if changing small details](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_5.3A_no_recent_reposts.2C_even_if_changing_small_details)*\n\n---\n\n\n\n---\n\n[Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWritingPrompts&subject=Removed%20post&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/ypx1gt/-/%0A%0A) us if you have any questions or concerns. In the future, please refer to the [sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/config/sidebar) before posting. \n\n*This action was not automated and this moderator is human. Time to go do human things.*"
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[WP] In a world where a werewolf is your lover, you suddenly have the curse to turn into a vampire.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"I hesitantly walked up to the door of my apartment, my heart beating out of my chest. But if I'm being honest, the fact I could feel a heartbeat at all made me feel a little better. Behind the door, I heard a woman's voice cry out, \"My baby girl's home!\" A giant blur of black and white fur threw open the door and pulled me into a bear hug.\n\nI laughed and said, \"Hi Naomi. How was your day?\"\n\nNaomi nuzzled my face as she kissed my cheek aggressively enough to leave an indent. \"It was so boring! I had such a hard time trying to keep myself from catching up on our shows without you. But now you're back and we can fall asleep watching cartoons and cuddling!\"\n\n\"Mmm, that sounds fantastic, sweetie. But first, there's... something I gotta tell you.\"\n\nNaomi took a break from showering me in affection to look at me in concern. \"Is everything okay? Did something happen? Do I need to kill somebody in the name of my darling dearest June?\"\n\n\"In order: not really, yes, and definitely not. Can we go inside now?\"\n\nNaomi nodded and carried me inside. As we made our way to the bedroom, I snagged a cookie from the pantry. Naomi happily let me stick the cookie into her mouth as we sat down on the bed. Once Naomi had devoured her snack, she let out a little burp and said, \"So what's going on?\"\n\nI sighed. \"Okay, it's easier if I show you, but promise me you won't freak out.\" I took a deep breath and lifted my hand up to my wrist. I sunk my teeth into my wrist, drawing blood almost instantly and sending Naomi into a panic. \"JUNE?! June, what the hell are you doing?!\"\n\nThe second I pulled my teeth off of my wrist, I felt the curse take hold instantly. The bleeding started to reverse flow and move back into my open wound, which was closing rapidly. I felt my blood run cold and my heartbeat slow down as my skin started turning pale. A sharp pain radiated through my jaw as my incisors extended into fangs.\n\nNaomi looked at me in shock. \"June, w-what--I don't--what?\"\n\nI sighed as I pulled back my lips enough to show my fangs. \"I got cursed today, don't know who did it. But the gist of is any time I draw blood, I turn into a vampire for the next twenty-four hours. *Any* amount of blood. If this is a dealbreaker for you, then I will totally--\"\n\nNaomi cut me off with another hug as she said to me, \"Baby girl, why would this be a dealbreaker? I love you!\"\n\n\"Well, I always thought vampires and werewolves hated each other.\"\n\nNaomi groaned. \"Ugh, that old crock of bullshit. That was made up by old werewolves and vampires who were resistant to the idea of members of either group dating each other.\"\n\n\"Oh, thank God. Ow!\" I winced and grabbed at my tongue. \"Right, can't say that until tomorrow night.\"\n\nNaomi giggled. \"Oh, my poor baby. If it's any consolation, I think your fangs are super cute.\"\n\nI purred as I nuzzled into her chest fluff. \"That makes me feel a lot better, hon. Thank you. And hey, think about it like this: I have a really good reason to work from home more often!\"\n\nNaomi gasped and let out a joyful 'awoo'. \"Yay! More cuddle time! Speaking of which, can we watch She-Ra now?\"\n\n\"Yes we most certainly can, my big, snuggly love puppy.\""
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[WP] A soldier with advanced computer skills is sent in to deactivate a rogue sniper droid. It received a download and then it went dark but is still attacking targets. It’s advanced cameras allow it to see satellites to avoid detection. Following its attack trail it’s heading to a civilian area.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"“The Vorpus SK-1500 S-Series is a milspec droid capable of guided and independent operations. The unit in question, example on screen, is a 1550 model with a custom long range rail weapon, adaptive gilly technology, and is Sat-check capable.” His suit was black and custom. Beneath it there was a broad shouldered body, likely modified. He was the sort to wear sunglasses indoors.\n\n“Sat-check?” His suit was cheap and blue. He wasn’t as broad as the presenter, but there was no maybe about modifications. Both hands were metallic. His eyes mirrored orb optic arrays. “What’s sat-check?”\n\n“He means it’s aware of satellite orbits and the advanced optics enable it to detect hi-mobility low-Earth-orbit surveillance satellites.” Her suit was navy and screamed corporate. Subtle lines traced under her eyes and down her cheeks. Her body was a top of the line full-cyber.\n\n“So, it knows when we’re looking?” Said steel hands.\n\n“Correct.” Said the Corporate Cyborg. “And that new gilly tech lets it hide in plain view.”\n\n“Okay. So, there’s a robotic sniper-rifle on legs doing a Predator alien impression in the forest? Why’s that our problem?”\n\n“We’ve lost contact and control.” Said the big presentation gorilla. “The few times we’ve got eyes on it...the trajectory leads us to believe it is heading towards a populated civilian center.”\n\nBlue suits optics showed no change in the presenters heartrate, but he didn’t need a synthetic nose to smell bullshit. “You lost control of it?” \n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Control was *taken*.” The Corporate rep sunk the lie.\n\n“Bess—”\n\n“They have the clearance and they’ve signed NDAs, Buck. The unit was accessed by an external party three days ago. We know that a software payload was implanted. One hour later the droid disabled remote access and damaged its remote antennae system.”\n\n“A military spec droid got hacked?”\n\n“Hence...private contractors like you and your team.”\n\n“Interesting. About our fee.”"
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[WP]When out one night you stumble across a hole-in-the-wall bar. Upon entering you find no one but a bar, an odd-looking bartender, and a sign saying "will make a drink out of anything" interested you decide to try asking for a tennis ball and battery cocktail, and with a nod he makes exactly that.
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"Strange things exist in the Midwest. Usually, these things are simply artifacts of economics or sociology, and are simply strange because of their unfamiliarity. However, some things are simply strange.\n\nJoel was familiar with finding things strange -- even the fringe of the Midwest that was Pittsburgh was odd to him when he first moved in. And sometimes it still had odd moments. But he wasn't very experienced, having started his second year nursing at UPMC fairly recently.\n\nOne thing Joel came to appreciate was that walking around the town was a decent way to pass the time. New York had been that way, and so had San Francisco, but he never lived in either city, so didn't appreciate the whimsy with which he could walk.\n\nWhimsy had Joel sojourn on Penn Avenue one rainy summer night. He was tired, but in the precise middling way that made him want to walk. So, from a fairly meaninglessly named main street in (or near) Bloomfield, he set off eastward on Penn.\n\nHe walked past the other Bloomfield stores, appreciating that there was gentrification at play. This was an odd strangeness. Gentrification was universal, but the patchiness with which it applied to Pittsburgh was unique.\n\nSoon enough, the gentrified portion ended -- for now. Joel had reached a point between east liberty and Bloomfield, where the houses looked abandoned, but there were still occasional stores. All things considered, Joel realized, that his impression of the place was tied to suburban biases and he simply didn't know what he was really walking through.\n\nThe place also offered fewer and fewer hints.\n\nA block past the stores in what Joel believed was considered Bloomfield, an Aldi and a family dollar occupied the right hand side of the street. The left hand side was a line of narrow houses. The doors were recessed behind small dark roofed patios and the lack of life in the houses was somehow ominous.\n\nBetween the Aldi and family dollar, and breaking the line of houses, was a small street Joel simply never acknowledged. However, this night, his eyes were caught by a flickering light. A house or two into this small residential street, there was a bar. Or so the sign proclaimed. There was no indication that it was newly opened -- in fact, the flickering light had clearly seen years of use.\n\nJoel decided, despite his suburban instincts, to look at the bar. He hadn't yet decided if he wanted to drink, but he decided to detour.\n\nThe bar was almost certainly a renovated house. It was on the edge of another line of houses. The houses on this street did not have the dark patios, but seemed even smaller than the ones on Penn. Yet, they also seemed newer.\n\nJoel looked up at the sign, then over at the white door. Despite himself, he knocked first. A few seconds later, he just opened the door and entered.\n\nThe interior was carpeted and there was a wall separating the bar and entryway from cozier seating in the back. Joel vaguely remembered something about load bearing walls as his gaze scanned empty tables and an empty bar.\n\nThe bartender caused Joel's gaze to stop. Joel couldn't discern if the figure was costumed, but something in the air around the cloaked humanoid figure made Joel doubt it. The cloak seemed to absorb more than it could cover, starting as a loose head covering, reaching underneath the bar. It had sleeves, but the bartenders hands were resting next to the slim cloaked body, so Joel could only see the cloak. It was a dark purple cloak with a black pattern that grew on it like ivy.\n\nGlancing away for reassurance, Joel's eyes found a sign. \"Will make a drink out of anything.\" Under the sign was some detritus, making Joel wonder if the extent of \"anything\" was contained under the sign.\n\nThe cloaked figure seemed to gaze at Joel. At least, Joel thought that the rustle in the cloak and the rotation of the head meant something of that sort. Joel sat at the bar, deciding that turning and running would not work. \"I'll, uh, take the,\" Joel looked over the detritus, \"tennis ball and, uh, battery.\"\n\nThe cloaked figure moved without a sound. The sleeves, Joel saw, ended in gloves. Shockingly normal black gloves. With an item in each hand, the figure turned towards Joel. Curiosity reached a new high as Joel gazed upon where the figure's face should have been. There was darkness. Not of a shadowy kind. A darkness that felt emitted, that deepened. That didn't merely absorb light, but drew it in.\n\nJoel tried to look away, but somehow the darkness he saw seemed to leave at after image in his eyes. He blinked a few times and then heared a knock on the bar. The bartender placed a cup in front of Joel. The contents were green, resembling the fur of the tennis ball.",
"The barman drops a bulging 9-volt battery into a shaker and goes at it, then strains it into a pint glass. A greyish sizzling liquid comes out. Pat swears in awe and leans closer. The barman takes a tennis ball, peels off a slice, and sets it into the glass. He nudges the drink toward Pat.\n\nPat grasps the glass, only to let go with a gasp; it's hot. The drink smells acidic, and the slice of the tennis ball is smoking slightly. \n\n\"Is this like a magic trick?\" he asks. \"'Cause that was damned cool.\"\n\nThe barman shakes his head. There's something weird about his face; it's so average that if asked to describe him Pat wouldn't be able to. A guy. Darkish hair. Middle-aged. Just a regular guy, you know?\n\nPat carefully picks up the glass and swirls the drink around, mesmerized. He snorts and sets it down. \"I'm not going to drink that, you know?\"\n\nThe barman shrugs and takes the glass away. He crosses his arms and stands under that stupid sign that says \"Will make a drink out of anything\", the same way Pat found him when he came in.\n\n\"Old Fashioned,\" Pat says after some hesitation. \"No funny business this time.\"\n\nThe barman muddles the sugar, adds a dash of bitters, then rye and a large piece of ice. He finishes it off with peels of orange. Pat takes a gingerly sip. Tastes fantastic. \n\nHe leans back on his stool and eyes the stoic barman. \"So, anything, huh?\"\n\nThe barman glances up at the sign as if to tell him it's a stupid question.\n\n\"Are you mute or something?\" Pat asks. \"Sorry, no offense. Is that offensive these days? I have no idea.\"\n\nThe barman says nothing.\n\nPat takes another sip. \"Talking to myself like an idiot,\" he mutters. \"How about you make me a drink from a brick, a dash of gasoline, and, uh, a fucking olive.\"\n\nThe barman starts before he had even finished the sentence. He splashes in gasoline from a canister he somehow had behind the bar. Cracks off a piece of brick with an ice pick. Puts a friggin olive on top. Sets the drink before him, reddish and stinking like hell.\n\nPat claps sarcastically. He drinks normal drinks and amuses himself by making increasingly ridiculous requests. Nothing fazes the barman. It doesn't even seem to be limited to physical things. Mare milk and the first cry of a newborn produce a violently bubbling drink that screeches at him, and he shakes his head and pushes it away, deeply disturbed.\n\nA thought occurs to him, and he squints at the barman as he considers it, nursing his whiskey. Perhaps because of the drinks he'd had, the barman's face—his entire figure—seems blurred around the edges, like he's not entirely there.\n\n\"Memories,\" Pat hears himself say as if from far away. \"Memories of my wife... that's it.\"\n\nThe barman stares at him.\n\n\"What?\" Pat snaps. \"Can't do it?\"\n\nThe barman glances at the sign as if in a reminder, then raises a hand and slowly passes it in front of Pat's face. Grabs something. Pretends to toss it into a chilled highball glass. Nods and nudges it toward Pat.\n\nPat frowns and picks it up. Faint vapor rises from the cold glass. A strangely familiar smell drifts to his nose. He can't place it, but it's deeply comforting and makes him ache deep inside. Then the moment passes.\n\n\"The glass is empty,\" Pat accuses, looking up. \n\nThe barman crosses his arms.\n\nPat opens his mouth angrily, then swallows, blinks furiously, and lifts his hand to his cheek. Tears are trailing down his face, dripping down onto the bar. \"What is this? What did you do to me?\"\n\nThe barman is unmoved.\n\n\"Whatever, man. I don't know what your game is, but I've had enough of this shit.\" He pulls out his wallet, muttering angrily, then pauses. There's a faded photo of a strange woman inside. For the life of him, he can't recall putting it there. He stares for a long moment, then shakes off his stupor, slaps several banknotes on the bar, and staggers away.\n\n\"Fucking joker and his magic tricks,\" he mutters, glancing back at the bar. It feels like had forgotten something very important, but he can't even remember what it was. He shakes his head and starts home."
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[WP] Humanity is about to make its first ever contact with a sentient alien species. As you step out of your spaceship, you get your first look at what seems to be... humans?
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"\"Sup guys\"\nAs we disembarked from the spaceship, stepping onto the Kepler belt, that's the first thing we hear. Slightly taken aback by what appears to be another human in front of us, we step forward.\n\"My names Derek, I've been out here for 17 years now, I think\" this stranger - Derek, I suppose, said.\n\"Hello, Derek. I was of the belief that we were the first humans out this far, to contact alien life\" I respond\n\"Well, yeah, you would be. Officially. The only reason I'm out here is that I lost a bet. Might have been slightly high, but oh well. Captain - is that the right rank?\" Before I can respond he continues \"anyway, that's not important, I should give you a warning. Some species are welcoming to our kind, others not so much. I can give you a tour, if you'd like?\" \nWithout waiting for a response Derek led us on towards what appeared to be a mountain, at first glance, but now can be seen as a ship, a far sight more advanced than our own.\n\"This is my ship. Or at least I'm her captain. The ship is owned by the Olympians, they've always had an interest in helping humanity.\"",
"\"You see, we thought it would make you more comfortable if we looked familiar to you. We understand humans can be... what's the human word for it... wimpy?\"\n\n\"We just traveled for fifteen years to come meet you, does that seem wimpy to you?\"\n\n\"Well, we know it was awfully lonely for you. Besides, the tiny humans from where you come from are always shedding water through their eyes and then get shamed for it... we know you did it too on your way here.\"\n\n\"Of course the children cry! They're maturing! And it's healthy to release their emotions!\"\n\n\"Crying is a... emotion? We had understood it to be an action.\"\n\n\"Well, yes, but... actually it doesn't matter, will you show us around?\"\n\n\"I would but unfortunately, the simple pressure of our houses would make your tiny brains explode. We need that to survive.\"\n\n\"Then how are you out here?\"\n\n\"Well, it's because we look like you, and while we can shapeshift, it takes a lot of effort and cannot do it for very long. If we try to stay like this for too long a time, we would implode from the effort.\"\n\n\"...Fuck\"\n\n\"Well, tell you what, take this device back with you to Earth and this will let us communicate immediately. This is the only device in existence that can send frequencies faster then the speed of light, so there would be no delay.\"\n\n\"How long have you had this?\"\n\n\"Oh, a few hundred years.\"\n\n\"You've been watching us, knowing very damn well that we're coming here but wouldn't be able to stay, so you could've sent us this to keep us from having to come here just to come back, but you waited?\"\n\n\"Yep.\"\n\n\"Are you fucking kidding me?\"\n\n\"Nope.\"\n\n\"FUCK.\"\n\n\"Have a safe trip back!\"\n\n\"AHHHHH\"",
"The welcoming party seemed to be unarmed, yet they showed no reaction to the plasma rifles equipped by my platoon, nor to the laser autocannons mounted on our spaceship. I figured our weaponry was so rudimentary compared to their superior technology that we were not perceived as a threat. \n\nA representative of the species stepped forwards to hail me. He, just like all of his peers, was indistinguishable in any visible way from us humans. Their clothes were of different make and different style than ours, and they styled their hair in different ways, but they were clearly humans.\n\nHe extended a hand towards me and held it there. I looked at him in confusion until he spoke. \"Is this not your custom upon greeting? The ritual you describe as 'the handshake'?\". I extended my hand in return and he shook it with perfect form.\n\n\"You speak English?\" I asked. \n\n\"You have been broadcasting it to the universe for millennia. Our diplomats study all foreign tongues.\" He responded, I realized then that in retrospect my question was quite stupid.\n\n \"I see our form disconcerts you.\" The diplomat continued. \n\n\"Yes.\" I responded. \"Doesn't it disconcert you?\" \n\nHe shook his head at my naivette. \"If you had ve been on this universe for as long as we have.\" He began to lecture me. \"You would know that, sooner or later, everything evolves into humans.\"\n\nI looked at him with disbelief, assuming some form of elaborate ruse. He continued.\n\n\"You see, the human form evolved at least ten thousand times independently on countless planets. Factors such as the force of gravity of the home planet, its distance from its star, or class of star it orbits, they make no difference in the end. In the end, the result is always humans. It has happened on every galaxy known to us, and we know plenty.\"\n\nMy mind flooded with questions, so many that I could not put them into words. \"How... How is this possible?\" I asked. \n\n\"We don't know.\" The human responded. \"We have solved many mysteries of the universe. Dark matter, dark energy, the mystery of consciousness, they all have long been resolved, yet this phenomenon of convergent evolution still eludes all explanation. The memes about how the homo sapiens is the perfect life form have existed for aeons, but the truth is that we don't know. All we have is a name for it: anthropization.\""
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[WP] the superheros try to kill you and the villians try to protect you, you have no idea why...
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*",
"When I was young, my parents treated me worse than the dog. I slept outside on the deck, but when it got cool at night, I was allowed to sleep in the house (provided, of course, that I stayed off the furniture and didn't make any messes). On the other hand, the elderly neighbors loved me. For some reason, the signs on their lawn about \"Children Keep Off\" and \"Control Your Spawn\" never applied to me. They are who I got my meals from, my clothes, and even my phone. They treated me like their own children, maybe even a little better. I knew it wasn't entirely normal, but I had food and a place to sleep, which is better than what could have been.\n\nThese days, I spend most of my time working and fixing up my living space. It doesn't sound like much, but it keeps me busy. I work in cryptocurrency, which allows me to work entirely from home. I take significant pains to make absolutely sure that my name does not appear on my mail, deed, or bills. I swear that I'm not paranoid, but I think someone is after me. No matter where I go, every so often, something bad happens. Sometimes, a man in a cape busts through my door or walls and tries to kill me. Other times, a person in a red suit breaks into my house, waits for me, and you guessed it... tries to kill me.\n\nI'm still around thanks to the WANTED posters. Well, that's not really what I mean... I am alive thanks to the people on the posters. All of the people wanted for \"mass destruction\" or \"crimes against humanity\" or \"suspected of causing potential nuclear fallout\" also show up at my house and get rid of the people trying to kill me or spring all of the traps. I always thank them with a hot meal and cookies, but they never seem to stick around too long. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that my house is now labelled as a \"SUPERVILLAIN HOT SPOT\" internationally, but nevertheless, I am grateful to these people. \n\nAh well, that's me! I still chuckle to myself every time I look in the mirror and repeat the words that someone wrote on my wall one day: **Today is not opposite day.**"
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[WP] Humans! Bah! if I know one thing about those monkeys it's ______!!
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"**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.\n\n**Reminders**:\n\n>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include \"[Poem]\"\n>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail\n>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles\n>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)\n\n🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) \n✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) \n📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) \n💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)\n\n*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*"
] | 1
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