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[WP] The year is 2237. An Atheist scientist travels back in time and kills the child Ibrahim, halting the creation of all Abrahamic religions throughout the world. Upon returning to his time, he discovers a very different world.
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"Jonathan returned to his lab, stepping out of the time travel machine and donning his coat. He did the first two buttons and then looked around his tiny office. Not much had changed - everything seemed where it once had been. He *hmmed* to himself, walking to the window and looking out at the city. It looked very much the same. \n\nHis assistant Alison came into the room. \"How was the trip?\" she asked. Jonathan sat and she began to take his vital signs, writing them down on a chart. \n\n\"Unremarkable, it seems,\" Jonathan said. \"It doesn't seem to have changed anything?\"\n\n\"And what did you do this time?\" Alison asked. Jonathan remained silent and Alison made a note on the chart. She cleared her throat, \"Well all your vitals seem in order. Are you going to head home for the day or are you going to wait until dinner?\"\n\n\"I think I'll wait a bit,\" Jonathan said. He was honestly perplexed at the lack of change that his action had taken. He took out his notebook and looked at his actions. He had killed Ibrahim. As a result there shouldn't have been any Abrahamic religions. The world should have been vastly different. \n\nAt some point Alison brought in his dinner and laid it down on the table. Jonathan took out his napkin, tucking it into the collar of his shirt and picking up his knife and fork. Alison looked at him and frowned. \n\n\"Aren't you going to pray?\" she asked. \n\nJonathan nearly dropped his utensils in surprise. \"Pray?\" he asked. \"Pray to whom?\"\n\n\"To the gods,\" she said. \"To Demeter for the bounty and to Zeus for our existence and the mercy he gives us?\"\n\n\"The...the *Greek* gods?\"\n\nAlison tilted her head. \"I suppose they do live upon Mount Olympus, but it's odd to hear you qualify it with the word *Greek.*\" \n\n---\n\nThanks for reading. For more stories check out /r/Celsius232 "
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[WP] You have been having the same dream every night for months, which always ends the same way, no matter what you do. One day, you find yourself in the situation in real life.
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"Again?\n\n\nI needed to go to a psychologist or something. What did it mean?\n\n\nEvery night the TV in my room turned on. All that displayed on screen was a picture of my bedroom window, the curtains closed, live from my own room. If I turned on the light, the light turned on on the TV. If I stepped in front of the window, there I was, on screen. There were subtitles on the screen too, but they didn't mirror my own speech or any sound that I made. Just \"Don't look\". And no matter what I did, my curiosity always got the better of me. I ignored the feeling of dread that seeped from the wall of my room. I slid the curtains open, and something darted across the field outside, and then I woke up.\n\n\nThis must have been the hundredth time. Normally it happened after dawn, but today I woke up in the middle of the night. \n\n\nThen I noticed it. The TV in the corner of my room was on. It was glowing, but the screen was black, it wasn't displaying an image. It illuminated all the objects in my room with a pale glow, like moonlight. \n\n\nI'd probably just left it on, and whatever channel it was tuned in to had closed down for the night.\n\n\nWell, I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for ages. I turned on my lamp, and got up to get the remote and change the channel. But the TV wasn't displaying a black image anymore. It was my window, illuminated by the lamp light. Even the folds in the curtain were the same. But this wasn't a dream. It was all too real. I considered doing the cliched thing of pinching myself, but there was no doubt about it. This was real. \n\n\nI sat on the edge of my bed, but my paranoia got the better of me, and I lifted my feet back up onto the mattress. I didn't want anything grabbing my legs and dragging me into the under-the-bed dimension from horror movies.\n\n\nI decided I would have to find whatever camera was sending the image to my TV. Perhaps it was just a still image, some elaborate prank set up by someone. Probably Harry. I'd told a few people about the whole recurring dream thing, and he was the one most likely to pull a prank like this. \n\n\nI stood up, ignoring the possibility of under-the-bed demons, and put my hand in front of the window. Sure enough, it appeared on screen. I walked forward, at an angle so that my face would be centred. When it was, I looked straight forward, but there was no camera. I reached my hand out, watching on screen as my palm filled the image. As my hand was about to be pressed against the invisible lens, the screen went black. I retracted my arm, and there I was again. I repeated this a few times, but I couldn't grab a camera. There was nothing filming me. And yet, there I was. \n\n\nI looked back at the window, covered by curtains. No chance. I wouldn't even go near that wall. \n\n\nSo I left my room. Luckily, all the curtains were closed. In the living room, the TV was also on, showing the window from that room, the same subtitle at the bottom. I tried to change the channel, but the remote didn't work. I replaced the battery, still nothing. What the hell was going on? \n\n\nI walked back to my room, and looked at my phone. 7 AM. But it was still dark out! The sun should have risen by now. This was more than just a well thought out prank. The time of dawn couldn't change so quickly.\n\n\nWithout thinking, I stepped towards the window, and slid the curtain open. The sun hung lazily over the field, casting long shadows, light suddenly pouring into the room. Why had it appeared as night before?\n\n\nAnd it was then that I realised. Whatever the thing was that just darted across the field was, it had tricked me into opening the curtain. It moved so fast, I only saw its silhouette for a split second. And then I woke up.\n\n\nIt had been a dream. I was crazy for thinking it was real. I definitely did need to see a psychologist.\n\n\nIt was night, still dark out.\n\n\nAnd then a wave of dread hit me. I turned on my lamp. My TV lit up, a window on screen. I picked up my phone.\n\n\n7 AM. "
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[WP] On a camping trip with friends you lose your bearing momentarily then return to camp to find it completely abandoned.
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"\"The Fuck\"? That of course was my immediate reaction. \"The Actual Fuck\"? was my second. I admit it was probably not the most rational thought to mutter aloud but the camp was gone. Being an introverted shutin with a distinct fear of the outside world, going camping was an insane idea. But my former middle school friends wanted to have a reunion. So I begrudgingly went. I examined the camp site but the food, the tents, even the pillows were still there. Their cellphones weren't but they had been undoubtedly on their person when they left to wherever they currently were. I then found myself running toward the parking lot. Which I don't understand as i'm not a very active person and even though it was the logical destination I generally walk instead of run. So finding myself running only made it that much worse when I arrived. The car was just sitting there and I could see through the glass all three of them were inside. With confusion I slowly approached the vehicle. As I grew closes I noticed they were all staring directly ahead Jenny, Adrian, and Jake. They just sat there I came over and tapped on the Driver side window. \"Hey are we leaving? I'm ready to go but you might want to grab the stuff so people don't steal it.\" I suggested and yet there was no response. I went over to the empty seat meant to be mine but the door was locked I tapped some more and called out to them but they continued to ignore them. I walked a few feet away trying to get a signal to call for a ride. Finally I managed to get a taxi service. I'd have to swing by an ATM and probably lose sixty bucks for this stupid adventure but i'd have something to tell reddit. Angrily I turned back and noticed they were all watching me now. But they were smiling that weird unsettling smile that lets you know something is up. Something in my soul knew to not get close but from a distance I began to circle the car. When Jake continued to be staring at me from the front seat even when I was nearly behind the car, without turning his body my heart nearly stopped. That's when I booked it I hid myself out in the open far out of eyesight of the car. I didn't want to have people cornering me. When the Taxi called me I went back to the parking lot but they were gone. I got home and called the police but they didn't find anything. I was questioned but ultimately they found me both harmless and unhelpful to the investigation. They still don't know where my school friends are but I know i'm never camping again.",
"I woke in a haze of pain in my lower stomach. It wasn't just any pain. It felt like the sort that motivates men from their well-endowed Sunday morning camping with friends to empty their bowels and curse any foreign targets with a spray of liquid as if they were in Zoolander. From this biological discipline, I became one with nature as I swiftly left the tent to tend crucial matters. It's cold outside. The memory of warmth slowly faded as a joyous feeling of relief sank into me while I unleashed a pure stream of liquid onto a victim pine-cone lonely resting nearby an evergreen pine-tree. I could hear it's non-existent, muffled screams as I showered the innocent cone with my unrelenting morning strength of ten-thousand mighty gods. \n\nBy this point in time, I had lasted long enough to absorb the brightening view of the surrounding mountains and their alpine carpet of trees. Everything felt so clear and still as I listened to the orchestra of birds spouting their early morning screams to surrounding neighbours, bird or not. As I looked back down to pack up my body kit I noticed the ground was steaming from where I sprayed my morning bliss. It seemed to mirror a swamp from other perspectives. '*Intriguing...*' I mumbled. \n\nCompleting the ritual, I returned with the aid of my groggy morning navigation system as I manoeuvred through the maze of alpine treeline often finding remnants of last night's antics including that of fleeing marshmallows that were playfully used as projectiles for rooting up shit-stirring grins as many suffered the quick succession of being forcefully slapped by the half-roasted bullets of gelatin. Each step met the ground clumsily through the pine needle covered turf, meanwhile my brain was possibly walking in a whole other direction as the morning fatigue hit the reset switch. Eagerly, with the cold nibbling away at my skin, I brushed through the last curtain of pine branches to meet a small circular clearing where before had been the fortress of tents as well as my sleeping friends.\n\nOne...Two...Three...Four... seconds had passed before my body hit the 'what the fuck?' stage of analysing what was happening. Mr Brain™ finally had finished downloading Windows 10 after the long night and finally came to the sense of the present moment by crunching down all logical solutions like a 16 year old the night before the math test. None of it made sense, there weren't any footprints, signs of a hurried exit, the litter had disappeared, no marshmallow projectiles or even the slight flicker of embers that had been present a few minutes before. My efforts of searching were soon quietened as my heavy panting from a panicked frenzy state slowly subdued to a few sad, cold breaths. Being the pussy I was, I sat down and curled into a ball while thinking of what could have happened. A cascade of scenarios echoed through my head. *Is this some sick game? Have they been murdered? Were all of those super creepy stories true? Did aliens get them? Did they getting turned into a science project by aliens? Or killers?*\n\n\n\n\n\n*\"LEEEEEEEEEEEEE^ROOOOOOYYYYY JEEEENNNNG^KIIIIEENNNNS\"*\n\nThe trampling of marching elephants could be heard as I witnessed my fate. The fate of a fool. I felt a candy mixture of emotions ranging from proud, relieved, annoyed to as only my friends could describe as \"*get fucked dickheads, fuck off*\" as they swarmed myself with blankets and what many would call a dog pile. The collateral image of us all probably resembled a scene from 300 as we remained a turtle made of fur in the cold of the morning. We all went home safely that day with none our of belongings being stolen by one another.\n\n "
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First time prompting, so if it's too specific, feel free to change it up :) love this sub and all the stories!
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[WP] An unlikely origin, to an unlikely superhero, with a unique superpower.
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"I was masturbating furiously and didnt notice the radioactive spider crawling towards me. Just as I reached orgasm, I felt something bite my balls. I screamed and came for what felt like ages. I woke up a short time later and couldnt beleive my eyes...radioactive babies everywhere! \n\nI watched these babies grow before my eyes, and noticed they had uniqie abilities. Some had super strength, others had super speed. They all had super smelly shits.\n\nIt was then that I realised my unique gift. I am The Super Babymaker. TM. \n\n"
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[WP] There's a reason we haven't been back to the moon - We brought something back with us.
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"\"Dad, what happened to space exploration?\"\n\n\"Huh?\" Dr. Jettison mumbled. \"What do you mean? We have gone to Mars.. We are on our way to land a rover on Saturn..\"\n\n\"No... noo... I mean. What about that thing?\" Timothy Rasin pointed at a bright blob in the sky. \"That's not even mentioned in our science textbook anymore. I forgot what that's called... what is it?\"\n\n\"A satellite, of course. What do you think?\"\n\n\"It's too bright to be a satellite... I mean it should be impossible to see one so clearly from here.\"\n\n\"Well, technology has improved a lot since then. Why don't you go off to your training camp right now, Timothy. Dad got to work.\"\n\nTimothy stared at the blob again and sighed. With a click of his palm, he opened a bronze-crusted gate, filled with ancient cryptographic languages. As Dr. Jettison saw his boy disappear into darkness, he sighed in relief.\n\n\n\"Kids these days sure are curious.\" a woman aged mid-30s came from a door that read, \"Gender Y Private Room\". With a visor over her eyes, she seemed more like an army commander rather than the professor's assistant. Her sapphire-stamped suit ironically glowed in the room like the blob that Timothy was so curious about. \n\n\n\"Some day he will understand. Madison, could you bring the lab report?\"\n\n\"Is it finally over?\" the woman smiled mischievously, tossing a booklet of papers without a hint of grace. \"30 years? 40? How long was it?\"\n\n\"I don't know... I heard the news just about now. It's been such a while... *We have to see it.* Turn on the webcam.\"\n\n\"Webcam? What webcam? Oh that one. Sure, yeah.\" With a click of a button, the transparent screen suddenly illuminated a picture of an empty, crimson room, filled with various utensils and sharp-edged tools.\n\n\"You hear it?\" Dr. Pettison muttered.\n\n\"I do... Yes... Yes I do.\" \n\nA scream echoed in the empty crimson room. Suddenly, a man in medical gown crept in, holding a pair of scissor and a syringe. He, also, was a shade of red, blending in with the encroaching grim atmosphere.\n\n\"Test 1. Subject 1. Informed.... BEEP. Celestial body code 132. Accomplished.\" The man sat down, hidden from the view of the webcam. With a muffled echo, he pulled out a dark figure that intensified the sound of the scream. The figure was twisting and clawing onto the man's arm, screeching and creaking.\n\n\"So they finally caught it,\" Dr. Pettison's voice was full of excitement. \"They finally did it.\" \n\nWith shaking hand, the professor pulled out a paper with his glowing green hand. \n\n\"Kidnapped subject... 1969. Full name: Cameron Rasin. Ordered by.... \" he read out slowly in a trembled voice. \n\n\n\"NASA... from Planet Terra.\" \n\n\"They feared us for so long. They know now,\" Madison mumbled. \"Poor Cameron. He suffered for so long.\"\n\nDr. Pettison sighed, staring at the bright blue light in the sky, the one Timothy always talked about. \n\n\n\"Now we wait.\"",
"She sat in the middle of the room and stared up through the crystal dome. It was a full moon tonight and the light from it seemed to glow within her, her translucent hair glimmering in the pale rays. The hospital looking gown was a shocking white – the cleanest I’d ever seen – that made her blend in with the curved walls.\n\n“That’s her?” I asked. I unconsciously reached up and pushed my glasses up with my thumbs and rubbed my eyes with the knuckles. Dr. Carver laughed.\n\n“Yep, that’s her. Incredible, right? I couldn’t believe it when I first saw her either.” He gave me a knowing look and I saw his gaze rest on my hands now perched over my mouth. I quickly thrust them into my pockets.\n\n“It was just a long flight…” He laughed as I said it.\n\n“Astonishment is nothing to be ashamed of,” he said, “it’s not often men like us get to enjoy that feeling of pure wonder anymore.”\n\n“What…what is she?”\n\n“First of her kind, as far as we can figure. Maybe the last. We’re not really sure.” Dr. Carver reached up to touch the glass, then thought better of it. “She hasn’t told us much. Heck, she hasn’t told us anything.”\n\nI gave him a quizzical look. “Hasn’t told you? This is a government facility with some of the best minds in the country. You didn’t think to try and, I don’t know,” I looked at the girl through the glass and regretted the words even as I said them, “extract the information?”\n\nDr. Carver merely shrugged. “We’ve thought of that, sure,” he said, “but we’ve never really been compelled to push the matter.”\n\nI think I was in even more shock hearing Dr. Carver – the most ruthlessly ambitious man I’d ever met – say he wasn’t *compelled* to do something. “You never felt *compelled*? Really? You’re sitting on the biggest secret in the history of the world and you don’t care to learn more about it – about her!”\n\n“Well, do you?” he asked me. I turned and looked through the glass again, watching the girl with the moonlit hair and milky skin play with a few strands as she watched the moon through the dome. What secrets lay in the recesses of her mind? What wonders were buried there?\n\n“No,” I heard myself say, “I don’t. I think she’ll tell us when she’s ready.” The notion of that sentence both shocked and soothed me. It was like jumping into a steaming tub, the words scalded every sense of logic and reasoning from my tongue, but before I felt any pain, the warmth they left behind gave me peace. Everything felt like it made sense, like it was where it was supposed to be.\n\n“You know,” Dr. Carver said, “she’s the reason we went in the first place. Space is no place for humans, much less the moon. We haven’t found any use for the deserts on our own planet, what good is the one out there? But we had to go. It was an itch we had to scratch, a hunger that needed to be satiated. And so we accomplished more in a decade than the entire human race could muster in the millennia before. Do you know why? Because we were *compelled* to do so.”\n\n“She wanted us to rescue her,” I thought out loud.\n\n“Yes! I believe that too! I think she needs us. But more than that, I think she knows we need her.”\n\n“What do you mean? We need her?” I had to force myself to look away. She was hypnotic, this little girl, her back turned to me, staring up into the night sky. She was the most captivating creature I’d ever seen.\n\n“When you speak to her, or you’re even just around her, you get the feeling like you’re in a movie. That we’re all in a movie. Only, she knows how it ends. Now I don’t know if it’s a good ending or a bad ending, or whether she wants to change it or fulfill it, but you get the sense that she knows what it is either way. And you get the sense, or at least I do,” I saw that Dr. Carver was just as mesmerized now as I’d been before, staring through the glass as he spoke, “that it doesn’t end here. Like she needed our help to get her off the moon, I think she needs our help to get off the Earth. And this time, I think she wants to take us with her.”\n\nI didn’t know what to say, so I stood there, looking from Dr. Carver to her, and back to Carver. I could feel the pieces falling into place. My ambitions, my dreams, everything that I knew I was working toward - pieces of a puzzle I couldn’t yet see. “And you think that’s why I’m here?” I asked.\n\n“I think,” Dr. Carver said smiling, “that’s why you were compelled to come. Now, would you like to meet her, and ask for yourself?”\n\nI felt my heart jump into my throat. I gave a quick nod, my mind racing, as Dr. Carver led me to a small door. It opened with a pleasant hiss and the little girl turned to face us, her silver crescent eyes lighting up with a childish grin.\n\n“Luna,” Dr. Carver said as he ushered me forward, “meet Mr. Musk. I believe you two have a lot to discuss.”\n\n"
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[WP] You are the world's smartest person. You can easily understand incredibly complex systems intuitively, and have solved some of mankind's great problems. Unfortunately, you are baffled by overly simple things.
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"\"It's really not a complex procedure, Doc.\"\n\nTheo sat upon a chair not very far away from where the Doctor was tinkering. The youth had a positively bored expression on his face, as he watched his grandfather tinker with the machine that was on his desk. \n\n\"Then how would *you* suppose that it works, Theo?\" the Doctor asked. He was a frazzled older man, certainly- complete with the whole *mad scientist* getup. Over the course of his life, his intellect had helped the world see hundreds of new innovations. Yet, when it came to even very *simple* things, he sometimes couldn't understand them. Nobody knew why, exactly. \n\n\"It's a bit too complex for my brain,\" Theo said- and the true machinations of the device were often out of the reach of many average humans. Most people didn't know how everything in their house worked, exactly. \"How about we do one of those, uhh- scientific method things. Y'know, ask a question-\"\n\n\"I know how the scientific method works, Theo! Do you think I have not *tried* it, before? This machine is beyond the method!\" the Doctor shouted. \n\n\"Alright, alright. Let's try one more time, then,\" Theo said, \"Just once more, okay? I'll bet it'll work this time.\" He cleared his throat, and then stood, pacing over toward the Doctor and his desk. He gestured very carefully with his hand, toward the device the Doctor held. \"What is this object for?\"\n\n\"Heating foodstuffs.\"\n\n\"Do we have any background for constructing a hypothesis about *why* it does that?\" Theo asked. \n\n\"It did it this morning, when your mother used it.\" \n\n\"So it can be assumed that if we followed the very same steps that my mom did, we could reach the same result, right?\" Theo asked, craning his head down slightly. The arcane object in the Doctor's hands glittered in the light, and it reflected both of their faces. \n\n\"Yes. And so, we must test it,\" the Doctor said, setting the object down. He ran off momentarily, and then came back, carrying two slices of bread. He set the bread into two slots on the device, and then sat back and stared at it. \"It's not working, Theo.\"\n\n\"You have to press the lever down, grandpa.\"\n\nThe Doctor very carefully pressed the lever on the device down, and yet, the bread popped right back up. Curiously, the device did not turn on. \"The heating coils aren't working.\"\n\n\"Are you sure you didn't break it, Doc?\" Theo asked, glancing toward his grandfather's face. \n\nThe Doctor began pressing the lever down repeatedly, almost angrily. Finally, he threw his arms up, and began to storm away. \"I give up! Confounded toasters! Every day, they mock me...!\" His voice faded, and then he went up the stairs, practically slamming the door behind himself. \n\n\"Oh, crap. It wasn't plugged in, was it?\" Theo asked. Sure enough, the toaster had not been plugged into a wall socket, and so, it had no power with which to make toast. "
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[WP] Pokemon Go has been released, causing chaos all over the world...
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"Oshawott and Chespin sat hunched over the Go board, each lost in concentration. Frowning slightly, Oshawott placed a white stone in an unoccupied space.\n\n\"Osha, osha, wott,\" it gestured, impatiently. Chespin picked up a black stone, twirled it in its hands, and placed it beside Oshawott's white one.\n\n\"Osha!\" it exclaimed. Chespin bowed slightly, grinning. With a frown, Oshawott picked up another white stone. Instead of placing it on the board, it hesitated. It looked at Chespin, at the board, then back at Chespin.\n\n\"Osha, wott, wott, osha!\" it said to Chespin. With a laugh, it bowed again. Ash wandered over to take a look. \n\n\"Gosh, Oshawott. Chespin really has you hemmed in, doesn't he?\" \n\n\"Osha!\" it agreed.\n\n\"Well, don't give up, buddy. I believe in you. I know you'll do your very best to win this game of Go.\"\n\n\"Osha.....wott!\" it agreed happily, and bent back over the board.\n\n---\n\n\"Oh, what *are* those twerps doing now?\" groaned James to Jessie, who was watching Ash's group through the team's set on binoculars. \"They can't *ever* seem to do *anything* quickly.\"\n\n\"They're still playing that *ridiculous* game,\" she said, lowering the binoculars. \"We could be here awhile. Meowth, could you and Wobuffet see what you can find for us to eat? It's been *ages* since breakfast.\"\n\n\"Meowth! Can do! C'mon, Wobuffet. Let's see in we can drum up something for dinner. Don't snatch any Pokemon without us!\"\n\n\"Wobuffet!\" agreed Wobuffet.\n\n\"Don't worry,\"James assured Meowth. Off they went to find some berries.\n\n\"All right,\" said James to Jessie. \"I thought we'd *never* be alone.\"\n\n\"Finally!\" she said.\n\n\"So....speaking of snatching...\"\n\n\"I thought you'd *never* ask,\" she said, as she lifted off her top."
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[WP] You look back on the years you have lived as an immortal.
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"The water glistened below and the distant white caps blossomed in the San Francisco Bay breeze. Looking over the edge I felt the familiar sharp twinge of fear. My heart raced. Panic creeped upwards in my chest. My breath escaped me. I told myself with uncertain confidence that this was the final time. The bridge must've been swaying as I walked and I grabbed the hand rail for support. It felt cold and foreign on my palm, like I wasn't actually holding it but rather watching myself hold it.\nA seagull called out. It didn't seem that long ago sitting on the other side of this bay that I discussed the beauty and absurdity of seagulls with Lorellai. at the time we were married. She was fascinated that, as birds, seagulls survived off of the ocean. Life had evolved from single cells to jello-ish fish to sea monsters to sea monsters with legs waddling along beaches to dinosaurs to flying dinosaurs to birds including seagulls which then dove back into the ocean and developed webbed feet. It appeared life had circled back on itself. Instead of perfume she applied scented oil to her neck every morning and it gave off a sharp aroma of a flower trying to smell too much like a flower. She was beautiful. I brought her last bottle of this scented oil to her wake and applied the remaining drops to the cold tender skin of her neck. Then I wept and when I brushed the tears from my eyes the oil residue that was on my fingers stung and made the crying even worse. I was incapacitated on the floor in front of her over flowered body in both physical and emotional agony. I don't remember how long I was curled up there crying, sometimes I wonder if I ever got up. Too often I relive those pains, not only of losing her, but losing everyone. And in case you were wondering, it gets harder. \nI have tried writing notes before, but I've never completed one. I always get to a point in a suicide note that I feel should be the end, but I either scrap it because the note was nowhere near what I had intended, or I simply do not have an ending suitable. Once I even made a video, but I never got around to editting it. There's a lot of things I haven't gotten around to. With my infinite time I've developed a bad habit of putting things off. It's very easy say, \"I'll practice that song tomorrow,\" or, \"I'll start writing that story next weekend,\" when tomorrows and weekends literally never end. Five centuries and the skill I've honed most is procrastination. The greatest relief of death will be shrugging the burden of potential. With \"I can do anything,\" comes, \"I should do everything,\" comes, \"Why haven't I done anything\", comes a piling heap of guilt and waste that gets recycled into the optimism of \"tomorrow\". But in reality, I'm not going to do shit tomorrow. I never was. The center of the bridge is the low point of the cables, and with the low cloud cover I only see an arc descending from a hazy heaven. I look down again. Then back up. My legs feel cemented to the platform and my hands feel just like the iron bar they are gripping with white knuckles. For a moment that seems like a lifetime I sit in a limbo between committing and conceding. The seagull is still calling and I can feel my eyes begin to sting. Fuck. I give in to the decision I knew I was going to make all along and turn to the side of the bridge I came from. As I walk the cable ascends further and further above me until I can no longer see it. Paing and potential. Maybe tomorrow I'll jump. "
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[WP] The world is ruled by a cabal of supervillains, who have systematically annihilated all others born with superpowers. On your 18th birthday, to your horror, you discover your powers for the first time.
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"I touched another pencil in class focusing on it for a moment, and then when the teacher's back was turned I released it. Predictably it shot up straight into the tall ceiling next to the gathering assortment of pencils I had already stuck up there. This is how I practiced my power since I had found out last October when I had accidentally stuck my stupid dog to the ceiling. It been trying to hump my leg for the fourth time that day and when I went to shove it off the dog had yelped before falling upwards towards the our vaulted roof. I smirked remembering the dog’s disorientation as it gained its feet on the ‘popcorn’ ceiling and began to bark at me. I had been in awe wondering what had just happened, when our dog dropped right back down into my arms. \n\nFrom that day I had wondered just why I hadn’t been tagged in the blood tests they did on you every five years. It was said that they were looking for a gene or something in the blood that could tell if you would eventually develop powers, or that you had them. Ghost stories of people that disappeared in the night never to be seen from again was a common rumor but I had never seen that. The Big Five as most people called them had free run of most of the world, each owning a different section of the world and keeping far away from one another. This probably had to do with not trusting one another is what I thought.\n\n“Xander Mathson please report to the front office. Xander Mathson, please report to the front office,” said a voice on the overhead speaker. This ripped me from my thoughts and pencils fell down around me clattering to the floor. This coupled with the announcement got laughter from all of the students around him. If you’ve ever had to go do something important or been called to the front office you know the types of looks you get, and the comments that filter around the classroom. Whispers of what you might be in trouble for. It would usually be because your parent was here to pick you up for an appointment, or you might need to take medications at a certain time of day, but this time was much different. I didn’t have any sort of those reasons for being called to the front office, I rather hoped this was something mundane in nature.\n\nGetting up from my seat I looked to the teacher who nodded before going back to addressing the class. Once I was out into the hallways it grew quiet save for the sounds of my footsteps. I always hated being in hallways in-between classes. It always made me feel exposed, like I was somewhere I shouldn’t be and any minute some sort of security guard was going to come out of nowhere and arrest me. Silly notion sure, but it didn’t help the feeling of anxiety I was having at this moment.\n\nMaybe someone turned something into lost and found, or a relative is in from out of state so my parents are taking me out of school to spend time with them, I secretly hopped. Upon entering through the double door to the front office however those hopes were dashed against concrete. Two large men in suits standing to either side of the receptionist turned to look at me. I still had the door in my hand halfway closed when I froze looking at them. Should I run? Are they were to make me disappear like Danny Dalmier had said all the others who developed powers went. In that moment I delayed too long to even be given a choice, as one of the large men approached me.\n\n“You must be Xander, it’s a pleasure to meet you son,” said one of the large men sticking out a hand offering me a hand shake. Not having much else to do I accepted it trying to get that perfect hand squeeze that I could never pull off. “If you’ll follow us into the principle's office, we have someone special waiting to meet you.”\n\n“Who are you people?” I asked still not sure I should go with them. I looked at the receptionist at the desk, but Deborah gave me no indication of what was the appropriate respond. The other man responded this time, and it was then I noticed they looked exactly alike. “All will be explained in time, but we mustn’t keep her waiting, son.”\n",
"I open up my eyes to see a bright light in my face. I try to raise my hand and block the light with my hand, but then feel that they won't move. I then look to my sides to see that I'm bound to a old, wooden chair. It feel incredibly uncomfortable. I then hear a voice say \"Look like the kids awake\". It was a gruff voice, very deep in tone. \"Sorry about the restraints, just protocol\", said the gruff voice. \n\n\"W-Where am I?\", I say, trying not to whimper. \"Well, I'm glad you asked. You see, I'm apart of a secret organization that controls the world. We have superpowers\", he said to me. As my eyes adjust to the bright lights, I see him. He's wearing a official looking black tuxedo. He then produces a bright ball of fire from his hand. \n\n\"B-Bullshit\", I stammer out, trying to act tough. Hey laughs, saying \"Its cute to see people with no power trying to look cool. It has come to our attention that you have particular abilities that we think could be of use to our organization.\" I'm flabbergasted. I must have made a shocked face, because the man said \"Shocked? I know that feeling kid, I was there too.\"\n\n\"So, are you trying to make me be apart of this secret organization?\", I asked. \"Yes. But first, you may ask any questions you want\", he says. I then said \"What about my Mom and Dad?\". He then sighs, and then says \"We had to, well, drug them.\" \"WHAT!\", I yell out. \n\n\"You see, in order to control the world, we must eliminate any ability for any one to stand up to us. We must make sure that anyone who knows of our existence we must either kill them or drug them to terminate them. We chose the former for your parents. They will have no knowledge of your existence.\"\n\nI didn't know what to say. \"No. Your lying\", I say. \"Sorry kid, just protocol.\" he says. \"We also had to eliminate the possibility of her producing any more offspring.\", he then added. \"You're evil! You're evil!\" I yell out to him. \n\n\"We have to do this. We have to make the necessary precautions for this.\", he says in apologetic tone. \"Your powers are the most useful for the organization. We know you have the ability to become invisible! Its incredible, no other person could have done that in over three hundred years!\", he says.\n\nI'm crying at this point. \"I won't help you! I won't help you!\". \"Oh well, you'll crack at some point\" he says, walking out of the room. I then look out to my surroundings. I'm in a small room, with large lights above me. I can't believe that this happened. Why did this happen to me?",
"The concept of time is strange. From the moment I was born, til my 18th birthday, I've always had no trouble in school. I've never been in a fight. I've never even so much as scraped my arm. And if we look at the society we live in, it's hard not to find yourself dead. People die everyday for just thinking about rebelling from the villains that rule us, let alone take action. It's hard to live past the moment you are born. This is because birth is regulated. If you are found to be super-human, you're lynched, killed off, **dead.**\n\nThe concept of living past 13 is also something of a dream for those who have godlike abilities. Because when you turn 13, powers hidden inside you that have gone undetected, usually unfold. But when you're 13, you might slip up. You show it to your parents. Your friends. If you are found to know of someone with powers, and don't report it, everyone around you will die. If anyone figures that you have any sort of powers, you die. We have been trained that way and live that way. Like sheep to a Shepard. Even small things; A sixth sense, to breathe underwater, to levitate a foot off the ground. You're killed because of it.\n\nThose who live to be 18 are \"Destined\" heroes. Xai-Shin, The One with Many Lives. Zhin WuKong, the Conjurer, and Lu-Song, the \"Chosen One\". All have died even though they are destined to change things. The only known Heroes to live till the age of 18.\n\nThen there was me. When I was 18 I finally found out why I never got into trouble. Why I never got into fights. It was because my talents acted subconsciously. After I was revealed to the world because my powers decided to go haywire, everyone knew me as one thing.\n\nThe Boy who Shattered Time."
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[WP] Jesus has finally returned and announces that the whole thing was "just a prank bro"
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"Although he played an unethical joke \nMy mother claims he's a nice bloke \nHis teachings remain untarnished \nHis crucifix still kept varnished \n\nFor what died the sons of man? \nOr those who represent the Qur'an \nAt his expense needless death \nAt his expense many took their last breath \n\nBut for such all is forgotten \nAs his edible body goes rotten \nFor what he did was help grow \nAll in all it was just a prank bro \n"
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[WP] Death has been overcome, we all live forever young. Although, the world is abruptly coming to an end very soon. A large space ship is launching taking 10,000 people to a new planet and you've luckily received a ticket.
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"I can't believe this has happened. I am still trembling and it's been 2 days since I've received my letter. I thought it was a joke. Like really? There is nothing about this anywhere. I've seen a few threads online after digging but they've been dismissed as fakes.\n\nMy Dad's gone nuts laughing and saying he's going out like a man taking his own life before the meteor hits and my mom is pretending that everything is normal. My girlfriend left me and has become super religious. I can't blame them, we must cling to whatever we can now that the world is ending. \n\nI still haven't told them.\n\nIf I told them they would lose it, I think my dad would either get mad that he didn't get one, tell me that my ticket was actually his and I had stolen it or he'd just leave. Everyone is fragile, my mother would probably break down and tell me to go anyway and I don't think I could leave if that happened.\n\nI want to take them with me but I can't. \n\nThe ticket does says it's transferable though.. Is it wrong that I can't bring myself to even contemplate giving it up? \n\nI think it's best if I just leave and don't tell anyone. \n\nThey say world is ending in 15 days and on the letter it says the launch is in 5. If I don't think I can stick around to the last minute, I should leave now.. I can't bare to let them know.\n\n[[Img](http://pre10.deviantart.net/d7d8/th/pre/f/2014/033/e/d/when_worlds_burn_by_fataardvark-d74u82m.png)]"
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[WP] After hundreds of years and many setbacks, humanity has finally made contact with another race. The alien race responds "Good to see you again."
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"I don’t know what we were expecting to find when we landed on this planet. I suppose we expected to find some sort of life, our probes had reported lifeforms on their initial scans. Maybe it was just me, but I didn’t realize we would be crash landing in some sort of alien crop field. Off in the distance we could see a looming metropolis, shimmering buildings of beautiful other-worldly colors I’ve never seen before.\n\nWhile the team of 5 scientists/astronauts gathered their belongings and prepared to disembark, I sketched like mad. Trying to take in every detail. I was the resident culturologist, a social scientist. Everyone else thought I was a waste of space on this ship – and maybe I shouldn’t have been here, but I made some brilliant friends while in school and pulled some strings to get aboard. This was the opportunity of a lifetime to potentially study a new race and their culture. No one has had this kind of opportunity, ever. This work could make waves and would hopefully prepare the Human race for reception of alien visitors (if they even existed). I think the city and the farm we ruined prove the existence pretty solidly, but hey- I’m “not a real scientist”.\n\nWe disembarked from our wrecked ship and suddenly we were surrounded by tall creatures, at least a dozen of them. They babbled threatening noises at our group and we all froze. They were tall with smooth skin, some had different shades of blue, green, or purple skin – an effective camouflage on their very natural and green planet.\n\nA tall green creature stepped forward, it’s hair was purple and flowed down its back. “Remove your helmets. You do not need them. Face us, criminals.” Its voice was deep and commanding, and surprisingly he spoke English. Everyone started to take their helmets off one by one for the aliens to inspect. I fell in last, as usual since I’m not a real scientist. \n\nThe alien stood in front of me as I struggled to unlatch my helmet. I tugged it over my head, hurting my ears in my haste.\nMy platinum hair unraveled from its loose bun and fell over my shoulders. Suddenly the aliens’ relentless babbling hushed. The green alien stepped closer and lifted my face with it’s cool, slightly sticky hand. Its face broke out into what looked like a smile. \n\n“Goddess,” it murmured, bowing deeply. All the other aliens were on their knees surrounding our group, waving their arms hypnotically and humming quietly. It rose from its bow and looked around at his worshipping comrades, “Good to see you again.”\n"
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[WP] Did you really think you could change anything?
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"\"Did you really think you could change anything? Did you really think that you were going to come here to fix all of this? I already told you; one and a half million is buried under the safe house on Wilson but the other eighteen and a half is gone, along with the rest of your damn product. Even someone as daft as you knows that once Guillermo gets his hands on that scanté you push, you'd have to kick down the door of every meth head and two-bit dealer in North AND Central America to get even a fraction of it back. \n\nBut none of that matters now because here you are holding a gun to the only face of reason in this God forsaken, anarchist hell you call your \"empire\". All because you think you can kill your way up the ladder, motivated by some idea that you're actually gonna make it as top dog. HA! \n\nYou know how I know you won't do it? Because you're afraid. You're afraid of Guillermo and what you've seen him do. You're afraid of the Cartel, and what their capable of. You're afraid of the unexpected. I mean, why else would you have ALL of your men scouting the neighborhood right now? So we can have this chat in peace? No...I know you're afraid that one day, YOU'RE gonna be the one in my position. You're afraid that YOU'RE gonna be the one on his knees staring into a gold-plated .45 while you weep for mercy. That's why you're here. Not about money or drugs or vengeance or whatever you thought you were here for. You're here because of fear. \n\nHonestly, it doesn't even matter what choice you decide to make in the next few seconds because I know you're going to keep on with your massacre. Whether you spare or kill the lowly middle man, I know that when it comes down to it, you're going to be sitting right here where I'm at, beaten and broken, wondering where it all went belly up. In that moment, the moment before everything you've ever known is ended at the hands of your foe, I want the last thing you ever think of to be me, sitting here in a puddle of piss and blood with a gun to my head saying 'I told you so...' \"",
"You're such an optimistic man. Or, were you? I don't know anymore. Lots of disappointment, right? Well, you were always a stubborn one, so I'd guess you're still somewhat optimistic, strangely enough. Most men would've despaired by now, but not you, though I wonder if you have seen the folly of your cause. An optimistic man who realizes what he wants is impossible? Is it possible for a man to exist in those two states? \n\nIt was never going to be like Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. I don't know why you expected that. The Senate is just a body made out of normal men, with their own allegiances to their own causes. Though you may speak and speech, the loyalty men have to their own preconceived notions of justice and equality is greater than anything in this world, especially in this little Washingtonian bubble and not even God Himself come down from Heaven can sway their beliefs. But still, it had some effect, right? You were seen as an idealist, you became popular, and some things did get through, but only some. It fell short of what you, the perennial firebrand, considered as change. It wasn't really change... but the little victories are what matter.\n\nBut it had another effect, you got some national spotlight. And indeed, lo and behold, you got picked for Veep. Congratulations. Did you like the campaign? When the press digged into your private life, harassed your family, took your statements out of context? I remember you lecturing the press, but that didn't go too well. Not soon after you being picked as Veep was considered a mistake and any influence you might've ever had with your nominee was gone. You were put out of the spotlight, hidden away. Still, you did well enough in the vicepresidential debates.\n\nSo, here we are. Your party won the election, congratulations. The president won't really tell you anything, won't really let you do anything. You're just... there. Do you miss your old spot in the Senate? I would. You cut ribbons now, but you desire so much more, I can feel it in my bones, I can see it in your eyes. Perhaps you could've, if you were a different man. Different men would've been able to get real change through, different men would've been able to shape the destinity of the United States. But you, you firebrand, you idealist, you fool, so convinced of his rightenousness, did you think YOU could change anything? No, the firebrands and the self-righteous are only despised by all, from the yuppie in California to the miner in West Virginia. Even the president didn't like you, so here you are, stuck.\n\nThe idealist and firebrand eventually runs into the ground in Washington, burning up. I hope you have learned that now. I hope pragmatism and compromise will guide you now, for God's sake. Learn of this well, for you will need it in your new position. Perhaps God took pity on you, or perhaps it was simply the boss' time, but here you are, with a second chance given to you to create the change you so desperately want. Don't throw it away.\n\nThe old president is dead, sir. Long live the new president! Now, make your adress to the nation, sir, and give 'em hell. \n\n\n",
"He was born in the morning of Sunday the 8th August, 1945 at 19:15 on the Weill Cornell maternity ward in New York, USA; a baby boy weighing 9.7lb. It was dropped at 8:15 on Monday 9th August, 1945 from the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, Japan; a little boy weighing 9700lb. After a first breath, he started to cry. After a short flight, 66 thousand people vopourised.\n\nHe grew to become a healthy young boy. He visited a museum when he was 8. He asked mummy why his birthday was famous. She told him, whilst he understood what she said, he didn’t comprehend the answer. He grew up oblivious to the trauma that occurred around the world from his birth.\n\nHe began to appreciate girls. He began to appreciate the cold war. His life revolved around Heather and H-bombs. He proposed to Heather; he protested the H-bombs.\n\nHe made it to the Senate. He made it to the White House. He decommissioned the nukes. He decommissioned destruction. He thought he'd changed everything.\n\nHe watched the spider spin its web from Russia to Europe, from Russia to America. He watched another spider spin threads from Europe. America's spider had died. The webs spread across the screen in front of him. His Chief of Staff turned to him, “Did you really think you could change anything?”\n",
"The air shimmered and a crack formed in the fabric of reality as Henry squeezed through the portal and fell hard on the fluffy snow. The crack hastily disappeared and the only sound in the night was a nearby dog barking. Henry winced in pain, the dog’s bark faint against the beating of his heart as he clutched his stomach. Blood soaked the snow and dripped through his fingers as he bent over, struggling to catch his breath.\n\n“Did you really think you could change anything?” Footsteps crunched nearer and Henry shivered. Not from the cold or the snow but from fear in his skin. He propped up against a lamp-post and breathed heavily as his blood soaked skin glistened orange under the light. A man stopped near where he stood. Shaking his head, he begun kicking white snow to cover the blood.\n\n“I...almost...” Henry felt water in his mouth and before he could control it, vomit spewed forth. It was full of blood.\n\n“Yes, yes you almost, “He said impatiently. “But as I said before, and as I CONTINUE to say,” His face was inches from Henry’s. Narrowing his gaze, the intense blue eyes bore into Henry’s. The voice was almost a whisper but it was as menacing as any shout. “You do not fuck with time.”\n\nHenry felt a sharp blow as the man punched him hard in the gut. He doubled over and fell face first in the snow. The putrid smell of vomit clung to the air and he struggled to focus through the intense pain. The man leaned over in front of him. Snow lined his brown suit and his top hat as he just stared, refusing to speak.\n\n Henry clutched the lamp post with desperation and pulled himself up. “I...can....save...her...” \n\nThe man frowned. “No you can’t. How many times must we do this Henry?” \n\nHe continued to pace but quickly froze as Henry clutched the device in his hands. “Don’t do this...”\n\n“I...have...to...”\n\n“I told you before. Every time you do this, every minute detail you think you’re changing, in the end time rights itself.”\n\nHenry reached for the switch.\n\n“No!” He screamed and leapt at Henry, snatching the device from his hand. It slid into the road. They exchanged glances before scrambling for the device. Henry jumped forward and was first but the man snatched the other side “I don’t want to kill you.”\n\n“And I...don’t want...to kill...you...” Henry flipped another switch on the device and a crack formed.\n\nThe air shimmered and a translucent wall appeared teasing a view of green fields and sunshine. Henry kicked free of the man and crawled toward the crack. He reached inside and immediately felt warmth on his fingers. Blood oozed from the man’s nose as he growled and clawed, trying to get a good grip. Henry kicked again before scrambling to the portal and tumbling into the void.\n\nTwisting and turning he fell through darkness for what seemed like hours before landing hard on the ground. He opened his eyes and a green blur filled his vision. The faint aroma of fresh bread drifted over from a nearby village and somewhere overhead a flock of birds sung loudly as hot sunshine bore down on him. He rose to his feet and immediately felt steel against his back. Henry turned slowly as the man stared at him. His nose bent and dry, cracked blood lined his upper lip.\n\n“I told you.” His smile turned to a grin, “You don’t fuck with time.”\n",
"I could write you a book about what I see in your eyes. \n\nI could compose you a symphony with the sweet notes of your laugh. \n\nI could go blind from the radiance of your smile. \n\nI would run in the rain with a flower and promise, if I could ring your doorbell and see you standing there wanting to see me. \n\nI would hold you higher than the sky if it meant you got to have your head in the clouds for only a moment. \n\nI would do anything to see you happy. \n\nBut you don't see that in me. \n\nSo why do I think I can change anything?"
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[wp] Six thousand years later, you realize that you still think in English.
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"\"I'm here with Charles Phinney, and today we are celebrating his 6,000 birthday! Looking young as always, Chuck,\" Maggie said, giving a cheeky smile as she brushed a strand of silvery hair out of her face. \n\nCharles gave a sarcastic laugh. \"Oh, I've never heard that one before,\" he said giving a knowing smile and wink to the camera floating before him. \n\n\"So tell me, for the sake of our viewers who may not know your story, how have you managed to live so young?\" Maggie asked, leaning in, her bionic arm glistening off the camera's lighting. \n\n\"Well, you see, Mag, I just ate my vegetables like my parents asked, and I stayed in school and studied hard. No, but really, I still don't know! Once I hit my mid 30's or so, I just stopped aging. Scientists have tried to figure it out, but nobody has been able to replicate my longevity. I guess that's for the best though, else I'd be strapped in some old military warehouse for the rest of my life.\"\n\n\"What was it like, then, when you first found out you were immortal?\" \n\nCharles paused to think for a moment. \"Well at first, it was exciting. I didn't know for sure I wasn't aging for quite awhile, but once I knew, it was surreal. Life just... Well, small things just ceased to matter anymore. I did big, crazy things like climbing Mount Everest. It was actually on that climb that, while I may be immortal, I wasn't indestructible.\"\n\nCharles waved his hand, showing a robotic pinky finger on his left hand. \"The combination of a misplaced ice pick and frost bite sure wasn't fun.\"\n\n\"But as we entered the 22nd century, I started to get nervous of my... uniqueness. I laid low for close to a hundred years. Of course, eventually the government - United States of America - if you remember the history books, found my information and realized I was very much alive. They did a lot of testing to replicate my immortality, but still nothing has been figured out. Eventually, well, they just let me go.\"\n\nA light blinked on Maggie's inner arm as text scrolled across. She glanced down briefly. \"And how did that affect you?\"\n\n\"Frankly,\" Charles responded, \"it was a massive relief. Finally, I knew I was safe to live as I pleased. I lived a couple good lifetimes as a 'mortal' person. I got married. Started a family. Repeated. Eventually, though, it didn't work for anymore. I grew tired and old, even though my body stayed young. I went back to school and learned all I could. Mostly about the new sciences. I guess I could have taught history, seeing as I'd been there.\"\n\nCharles paused and chuckled to himself. \"But I wanted to learn more. About space and medicine and physics. Once I'd had enough lifetimes of that, I tried the 'having a life' thing again. That worked out for awhile, but I grew tired of that again quickly. Eventually, I just settled to watch the world happen. You know how, as we get older, years seem to pass more quickly? Years feel like minutes to me now. So watching humanity grow, prosper, and spread across the galaxy has been a beautiful thing rather than slow and tedious.\"\n\nMaggie smiled, somewhat lost in his story before shaking herself to attention. \"You have seen so much in the development of science and technology. What has been the most interesting thing for you?\"\n\nCharles thought for a moment before sighing. \"You know, that's a good question. I've seen humanity travel to outer space for the first time. I've seen us develop the ability to send information across the stars almost instantaneously. I've seen us build weapons that could destroy entire planets. I've seen us use those weapons and completely eliminate alien races. \n\n\"But what still might amaze me most is the instant translator chips. Being able to talk to anyone anywhere and being able to fully understand them in your own language. It's amazing. Huh... You know, I never thought about this before. I actually still think in my native language, English, despite the language being completely dead otherwise.\"\n\nMaggie let the silence linger just a bit before nodding to Charles. \"Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us. It's been an honor.\"",
"Time had ravaged on all around me. The world had changed since the First of The Wars. The one where I lost 90% of my body in the Birmingham Incident. The government patched me up. My work was too important, and nobody else could do it like I could. \n \nOnly, after the First War, there was no American government left. There was barely an America left. I had survived, thanks only to the technology in which my body was placed. Technology I would soon learn prevented me from aging. \n \nI first noticed it in a conversation with my wife on our fiftieth anniversary. \"Your hair is as black as the day we met.\" And it was. Wrinkles had formed all over her body. Gray hair has sprouted and consumed her head. I, however, had skin as smooth as I had always had. Hair as black as tar. My physique had changed none at all, my musculature retained from my younger, more active years. \n \nSoon, she would die. The Second War was waged on the other side of the globe between those powers that remained. Only maybe 100,000,000 people were left alive. And far fewer of those were English-speakers. \n \nThe world rebuilt itself around me. The people came together into only a few groups, and they intermingled and gave birth to a new generation. The languages, in one area Mongolian and Cantonese being dominant, and another French and Spanish being dominant, to give two examples, bred just as the children did to produce new languages. The few survivors who spoke English soon perished, leaving their children speaking some jumble of national languages. \n \nSo time passed. My body required little more than sunlight to operate. A cup of water every month or two kept things moving pretty well. Soon, 6,000 years had flown by me, and I had spent it more-or-less in solitude after the first three or four generations had passed. There was no way for me to relate to those that were alive. \n \nSo I traveled the world, making sure to steer clear of any human interaction. My body was capable of such journeys due to the self-repairing nanites inside me. I traveled for years and years, watching the world grow and die. Grow and die. Grow, and die. Grow. And die. \n \nIt had been 6,000 years, and I still thought in English, a language long dead, just as everything else had come to be."
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[WP] Your friend takes you to an illegal back alley dog fight when you realize that one of the dogs that is about to fight is your dog that went missing three months ago. And by its partial missing ear, you know that this is not its first fight.
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"I've hit rock bottom. My boss fired me. My wife left me hell even my dog ran away. They were taking my house in a week, and I needed the cash. I normally didn't hang out with randy, he was one of those \"I know a guy who knows a guy type people\". He knew I was stressed for cash and at this point I didn't give a fuck how. I showed up at his house with the simple rule \"mums the word\". \n\nWe walked several blocks through an even more shifty neighborhood. It smelled like old asphalt and gunpowder. We approached a gate with a cut and that's when he passed me the bottle. \"This is more then liquid courage. This shit right here is to get you right.\" I didn't have anything else to lose so fuck it. I took the biggest chug I could and barely threw up half. He pushed the gate apart and I climbed through, ripping my shirt in the process.\n\nWe approached an old barn. You could hear the barking from the inside. \"You got the money?!\" Randy yelled as we approached the door. My\nHand sunk into my pocket feeling the cash. \"You bet your ass I do.\" I was ready to triple what I brought and get my life in shape. I was never much for betting but hell when your this far down the rabbit hole, you gotta lose your head. \n\nI walked into the crowded arena close to randy. I could tell he was a trilateral by the amount of people looking at him. He approached who appeared to be the man in charge. \"Give me a stack on Rager.\" I grabbed his arm \"that's all I got!\" \"Damn trust me bro. This a new cat off the street. He's gonna make your pockets heavy.\" Reluctantly o handed him the bread. This is his world, and I'm just a pawn in it.\n\nAs we gathered round the ring, a small bell rang. Two dogs popped from opposite cages. \"What the fuck?!\" I couldn't tell if it was the drink or reality having one last laugh, but stepping from the corner was patches. That dog got me trough so many bad times, and here he was fighting for his life. \"Stop the fight!\" I yelled. Tandy grabbed my arm \"bro you gotta chill with that sympathy shit. It's too late\". \n\nThe other dog shot at patches, grabbing his neck. Patches yelled out for help. My insides were burning. I jumped over the stands and ran into the ring and that's when I felt it. Teeth around my throat. I tried to scream for help but blood filled my lungs. As I looked up, patches released his grip from my throat .\n\nDamn."
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[WP] You're reading responses to a Writing Prompt. Someone you can't identify has submitted your exact life story, but you *really* don't like the ending.
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"I've always had these feelings. Deep inside, I've always known: They're watching. They're coming.\n\nIn high school they kidded me about it. Paranerd, they called me. But it wasn't that bad; it was manageable. In college it got worse. It lead me into my career doing computer security, but it also made Beth leave. \"I love you, but I can't live like this.\" I understood. I just stood there and cried when she left, powerless. It's why I don't leave the house, why I only work remotely, why everything I own is ordered online. I have to live this way. I don't have a choice.\n\nI rarely read Reddit, almost never read Writing Prompts, and when I do, it's only through Tor. But today, today, there it was, top of the New page. No one else would notice. The story wasn't interesting or well written. But it had every detail, details no one else would know. It was the only post by a new user, Time4You2Go. There were no comments.\n\nI had to reply, I had to respond, regardless of the rules. \n\nPlease. No. Not now. Not like this. Whoever you are. Please.\n\nI held my left hand over my heart waiting for the last beat as the tears rolled down and hit Save.\n\nError 404.\n\n404? The logical part of me shook me out of my reverie. 404? That can't be. https://reddit.com: 404. Server not found. Nslookup: server can't find reddit.com: NXDOMAIN. Whois.net: reddit.com is available--buy this domain for $12.99.\n\nI put my hand on my chest again. It was hard to hear over the computer's fans, but the beat was still there. I got up, walked to the front door, turned the deadbolt, opened the front door, and looked outside for the first time in years. The sunlight blinded me for a few minutes. Then I could see.\n\nAn empty cul-de-sac, no one outside except for one neighbor mowing his yard. No one else around. *No one is watching.* I step out and close the door. I don't bother to lock it.\n\nI'm going for a walk."
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[WP] Russian roulette is the worlds most prestigious sport and you've been the world's champion for many years, but you have a very bad feeling about your next match
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"I went to school to become a chemist, I never knew I would end up as a professional athlete.\n\nWell, athlete is a stretch. I hold guns up to my head for a living and hope to god my head is still there when I put it down.\n\nI have been playing Russian Roulette as a sport and as a source of income for over two years. I have won millions of dollars on blind luck. And I have watched 86 people die. \n\nThe first was a man named Clark. I had known Clark, we had went to middle school together. Clark was a piece of shit. Seeing the pink matter getting sprayed from the area his temporal lobe used to be was strangely satisfying. The last was some kid named Chuck who couldn't have been more than fourteen years old. The fact they were letting kids play this game was fucking sick. But that was to be expected. The world was fucked up beyond repair nowadays.\n\nAt the moment, I'm sitting in my penthouse apartment. Tomorrow I am supposed to play my final match of roulette, and then I will go into retirement. Retiring at 24 years old. I'd say that's a pretty solid life.\n\nI don't know why, but I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen tomorrow. Maybe it's the stress of the past two years, maybe it's the fact I have watched 86 people die, the absurd amount of alcohol I'm currently drinking probably doesn't help much either. As I go to take a last shot of vodka, all of the memories come to me. All of the people dying, all of the cries of agony shouted from the friend's and family of the deceased. Everything comes over me like a flood of despair. This only makes me more on edge. I'm sweating by this point. What am I supposed to do?\n\nAnd idea finally hits me. I'll do a practice run! Surely that will make me feel better. Yes, a quick practice is all I need! I chug the last of the vodka and pick up the gun. With a smile on my face, I hold my 9mm up to my head.\n\nYes, this will make all the pain go away.\n\n",
"Disclaimer: I don’t actually plan on blowing half of my face off, believe it or not.\n\n\nIt started as something stupid. I needed money, and I was going to get some or die trying. The bets were always high – you won or you’d never need any money again, right?\n\n\nThe first time I won, I took the money and ran my blood-soaked ass all the way home, crying from relief, fear and trauma from seeing an actual dead body. I didn’t count it until I got home and had showered. I won five hundred dollar.\n\n\nI went back soon, having spent my money on food and - I hate to admit it, I really do – drugs. I won again. I must’ve been the luckiest bastard in the world. \n\n\nThe more I did it, the more I won, the more desensitized I became from seeing a man’s head being blown off for some bucks, the cockier I got.\n\n\nAt one point, I really didn’t do it for the money anymore, I had a reputation. I had to keep going. People placed bets on me, so if I were to quit, I’d get in real trouble.\n\n\nBut today is my last match. I can feel it. \n\n\nWhen I agreed to it, a week ago, my stomach dropped as soon as the word “yes” left my lips. There was really no reason for my nerves, it’d be a game like any other.\n\n\nI sit down. The bullet gets put in the gun. A spin of the barrel and it closes. I’m up first.\n\n\nI’ve always been quick, and there’s no difference today, but I still feel like I hesitated.\n\n\nClick. Empty. Pass.\n\n\nThe week leading up to the game I’d visited my mother for the first time in seven years. I can still see her tears through my poorly hidden ones now.\n\n\nThe man next to me looks positively horrified. Click. Empty. Pass shakily.\n\n\nAt night, the ceiling danced in front of my eyes, the blood and parts of people that should never have seen daylight terrorizing me. I close my eyes and the pictures become even clearer. I ended up on my balcony, smoking the night away, only going to bed when the city had woken up at 8AM.\n\n\nThe next man waits too long. I shook my head slightly. If you wait too long, you’ll only build up more nerves, and end up like a blubbery mess even if you make it out alive.\n\n\nHis index finger looks uncomfortable on the trigger and the gun is at an awkward angle. Most likely he’s never held a gun before, his hand getting tired from not being used to its weight.\n\n\nHe closes his eyes.\n\n\nClick. Empty. Pass.\n\n\nIt’s been a while since I’ve played with men as nervous as these. Maybe they feel the same way, like today isn’t their day. But only time and a well-placed bullet will tell whether it’ll be your day or not.\n\n\nI’d taken three days off work, calling in sick. I ended up walking around the downtown area at night, my only light source the crescent moon and the neon-colored streetlights. They gave me a headache.\n\n\nThe next man is the epitome of calmness. No fucking around. Click. Empty. Pass.\n\n\nI swear I see him exhale a little.\n\n\nOne more man and it’s my turn. How many rounds does this gun have? Are there even any revolvers with more than five rounds? Or six? For someone who handles revolvers on a regular basis, I sure do know next to nothing about them.\n\n\nThe next man’s leg jiggles. I think back to middle school, where I once hit one boy because I told him to stop jiggling his leg and he told me to go fuck myself. He ended up with a broken nose and lots of regret. I ended up with an afternoon at the principal’s office and a thorough scolding.\n\n\nI want to punch this one in the face too.\n\n\nClick. Empty. Pass.\n\n\nI take the gun, its handle warm and slippery from the sweaty hands of my \ncontestants.\n\n\nI stop myself from shaking as I bring the gun to my temple, making sure it’s aligned with my brain and absolutely not my face. I wouldn’t be the first to simply blow my face clean off and lay on a table, still registering everything happening, crippled by pain.\n\n\nI look every man at the table in the eye, hoping I look determined and fearless and not as hopeless as I feel.\n\n\nYou either win, or you die trying.\n\n\nMy index finger twitches, not quite pulling the trigger. I inhale sharply and pull it.\n\n\nClick.\n\n\nEmpty.\n\n\nI exhale, not caring about my tough façade anymore. I pass the gun to the next man who is all but crying. I raise my eyebrow, sure of my win. Or at least, my not-death.\n\n\nThe man looks me square in the face, grabs the gun, puts it against his temple and misses the view of the pink and red bits splattering all over the dark room.\n\n\nI guess my luck hasn’t run out just yet.\n"
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[WP] Write me a tale of how vengeance gradually transformed an innocent girl into a worse monster than the object of her revenge.
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"If you pluck the petals off of a flower, they say you can predict love. At the end of everything, I said, if you pick the wings from a butterfly, it becomes as ugly as I did. I gave myself a justification for my /alleged/ atrocities. Because, well, you can do anything if you think you have a good reason. In my case, it was love. Of fucking Christ, do I sound cliche'. Like some prom-squad yuppie. Anyway, in case you live under a rock and didn't catch the headline, I gave Sandy Pulse the rope and choke. It wasn't quick. I told her parents that; I thought they should know. She suffered. She deserved it though. Seriously, her got her fucking HIV snail train all over Danny. There isn't a single hermaphroditic slut-whore cunt in this school that doesn't know Danny is fucking MINE. She had the nerve to not only ask for his number, but I caught her going to his house for \"studying\". What the fuck. Like I don't know what that means. Don't fucking worry, Danny. You got it, too, just like prom queen Sandy, the little slut. I bet she made you so goddamn happy. Well, I happen to be the only one feeling anything, right now, so I guess you both chose wrong. Danny, Danny, Danny, we could have been together. But no, you had to go fuck that bitch Sandy Pulse. "
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[WP] Satan wants to return to God.
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"\"Alright God, new plan. I've tried tricking you, I've tried making bets with you. I'm done with these silly games.\"\n\nGod looked bored. \"You've said this a million times, Satan. Nothing you can do will convince me to let you back into Heaven.\"\n\nSatan raised a finger. \"Ah ah ah! You haven't seen this!\" He pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket, and fanned them out.\n\n\"If I show you a magic trick that truly impresses you, then you have to let me back into Heaven, deal?\"\n\nGod rolled his eyes. It wouldn't be long before Satan got angry and gave up. \"Alright, one truly impressive card trick.\"\n\nSatan pumped his fist in the air and started shuffling. \"Nice! I've been practicing!\"\n\n\"Pick a card, any card.\"\n\nGod slipped a card from the middle of the fan. \"Eight of diamonds.\"\n\nSatan dropped his hands. \"No no no! You're not supposed to tell me what it is! Here, let me start over. Pick a card and *don't* tell me what it is.\"\n\nSatan fanned the cards out again, and God picked one. After memorizing it, he laughed softly and shook his head. He took the deck from Satan and shuffled, as per the instructions.\n\n\"Now, prepare to be amazed.\" \n\nSatan walked to the edge of Heaven, held the deck of cards out and numbered them off as he threw all the cards over the side of the cloud bank.\n\nGod looked perplexed as Satan strolled confidently back to him.\n\n\"You do know you've just ruined your chances of finding my card, right?\"\n\nSatan grinned from ear to ear, and stuck out his hand for God to shake.\n\nGod looked skeptical, but took it and shook anyway. When they released, a card fell to the ground, to God's bewilderment.\n\n\"Oh, lookee here, a card!\"\n\nSatan bent down, picked up the card and showed it to God.\n\n\"Is this your card?\"\n\nGod's mouth dropped open further as he looked at the card he had picked at the beginning of the trick. Satan patted him on the shoulder and gave a very confused Peter a crisp high five before marching into Heaven.\n\nPeter ran over and grabbed God's shoulder.\n\n\"Do you know what you've done? Did he cheat you, pick a duplicate card?\"\n\nGod shook his head slowly and showed him his card.\n\nPeter took it to have a better look. When he realized what it was, he dropped his arms and threw the card over his shoulder.\n\nLanding face-up, the card showed Satan walking into Heaven, whistling, while God was seen crying into the arms of Saint Peter.\n\n"
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[WP] Imagine a sword that kills magical beasts.
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"Some blades are fit for a swift death and nothing more. Plain of steel, their edges ring with the void they bring, their handles no more than a practical grip for a steady, unwavering hand. The swords are tuned to the law, knowing remorse nor spite. They are Law-Bound.\n\nSome blades were forged to please the eye, encrusted with glittering jewels that dazzle the eyes of ladies and bring on the jealousy of men who know no better. These blades are weak and full of flaws, and will shatter at the first strike of a Law-Bound opponent. They are Pleasure-Bound.\n\nSome blades are cruel and filled with hatred, hooks and spikes adorn their grips, and blood-thirsty teeth are grafted into the cutting edge. Their sight evokes sorrow; wielding them is a curse to any man, but those who have long left their humanity behind. These are the Blood-bound.\n\nBut there is One Sword that belongs to none of those, and all of those at once. Its blade courses with the emotion of the wielder, and yet with a splendour of its own, amplifying the best of both identities - for this One Sword has a soul of its own. It has no name. It only has its purpose.\n\nOne Sword: Magic-Bound."
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[WP] Sweet things. Soft things. Dark things. Dead things.
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"They mostly come out at night to play.\n\nThe dark animates them - night seeping in like rich oil down into their pores, filling them with a midnight luster that I can't resist. They whisper, faint and sly, with the rumble of dry autumn leaves, inviting me to join in their mischief.\n\nAnd I do. I give in, like I always have. Sweet, tangy, almost rotten - the things that are bad for you are the best. That is the allure of youth, a rebellion preserved and pickled and treasured.They tease and push me, knowing well that I'm just a man. Weak and single-minded. They heed, and I follow.\n\nTheir skin sticks to me - finely treated, soft and supple, manufactured to entice, to bewitch. Pale plush velvet encasing perfect forms that twitch and shudder in the dusk. Marble-bright stares reflecting the dim copper light a single lamp.\n\nToday I take Tracy. I lift her body off the wallhook, and place her on the cot, her small form sinking into the sheets. I caress her cheek, and the others watch, eager for their turn.\n\nDeath made them compliant. I made them caring and tender. Now, all that tenderness is mine to share and take in the dark.",
"\n\"This is just a rather dark series of words.\" /u/lordmalifico remarked, bringing his mug of coffee up to his lips to take a long, slow pull. Morning had just begun for him, given that it was nearly noon and he was still in his sweatpants. The disheveled writer gave a look up at the top of the screen at the title. \"Sweet things. Soft things. Dark things. Dead things. Is that supposed to be a riddle or something?\"\n\n/u/ManEatingCatfish crossed their arms and glared at him, unamused. \"No, you idiot, it's supposed to inspire, it's supposed to,\" They rolled their hands and gestured, fishing for the words, \"Maybe call to mind images that can get the ball rolling.\"\n\n/u/lordmalifico took another pull of his coffee and glanced up at the top of the screen once more, now that his story reply had reached three paragraphs. \"Are you sure it's working?\" He scratched at the soft hairs of his goatee, as ManEatingCatfish's glare grew sharper. Catfish hated meta prompt replies, especially ones like this. \n\nThey thought they were subtle, oh, that they thought they were edgy or smart, but the truth is, meta is overplayed. Catfish was so fucking tired of /u/lordmalifico's snark. As the fat guy took another drink from his coffee, his eyes distracted by the title and his musings, the /r/WritingPrompts moderator removed a pocket knife from their back pocket.\n\n"
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[WP] A small kid, struggling to learn how to read, finds a demonic book full of forbidden incantations and evil spells.
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"Phlingu malluf Cuddle Rhy wagnal fart. He smiled and picked up the black book. As he got ready to walk away he noticed a small squid sitting on the spot he just grabbed the book from.\n\"Who are....\"\n\"I Am Cuddles bringer of destruction, kneel gnome\"\n\"hehehehehe cuddles\"\n\"Stop mocking me gnome, you summoned me and now shall reap your REWARDS\"\n\"OOOOOOHHH presents?\"\n\"Make your wish puny gnome\"\n\"Can I wish for anything?\"\n\"Yes, now get on with it\"\n\"Can, can you teach me how to read?\"\n\"READ?\"\n\"Pretty please\"\n\"Alright, Alright\"\n\nCuddles crawls onto his shoulder as he sits down and they start the exercise.\n\"So the important thing to remember is to word out the letters one by one\"\n\"Pee heigh\"\n\"Very good\"\n\nThey continue on all the words one by one.\n\"Ok now all at once\"\n\"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn\"\n\nAnd the world ends."
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[WP] Describe who/what you are.
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"Darkness? Perhaps.\n\n Now you see me as a shadow, Wisps of Black smoke and ash curling in the breeze. Yet I am not unlike you. I also once valued Life, Love and Honor.\n\n But what did I gain from that? Respect from Honorless Soldiers? Gifts from corrupt Kings? Land that was not Fertile? Love that a God had taken away?\n\n The black stone has offered me more. To be my own King. To take whatever lands I wish. To command respect from my soldiers, Not through Honour, but through Fear!\n\nAnd you... You can join me. You can aid me in all of this. I was once \"The Bear of Thaven\" Honoured throughout the Kingdoms. Now, Now I am the Black Dragon of Ubradil!!\n\nDarkness... Yes... \n\nBut I am still your Father."
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[WP] You have come up with the best prompt ever, but no one writes for it.
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"It had been 12 hours since his last meal. It was dinner. Chicken. Plain, no sides. \n\nIt's now 8am and Bagdar has finally finished his one-sentence writing prompt for Reddit. It's brilliant, he thinks to himself, as he doses off. \n\nHe waited years to post on Reddit. He adores his 0 karma. Any karma would be embarrassing, since it would be for silly jokes that even he would not remember. Why should that be saved to his account far past his lifetime, or anyone's? \n\nNo, but this was to be the post that would make him feel something finally. \n\n\"[WP] In the 19th century, residents of the small, isolated Pennsylvania village of Covington live in fear of nameless creatures in the surrounding woods and have constructed a large barrier of oil lanterns and watch towers that are constantly manned to keep watch.\"\n\nAs he drifts off, he finds himself thinking about all the front-page posts that he's seen. He imagines them drifting effortlessly to the top. 3441 upvotes. Then 4524, 6335, 8475. He will be a successful writing prompter.\n\nHe wakes up 12 hours later. It's dinner time again, but he can't eat. He's too anxious. He turns on his Dell computer, as the rain registers against the window with an all too recognizable droning. Without thinking he automatically fetches the Reddit homepage and sees one message. In the top right corner sits a red envelope, with a (1). He has never seen one, but he's sure it is important. \n\nAfraid to look, he delights in the fact that at least, regardless, somebody wrote something.\n\nHe takes a breath and closes his eyes. This is too important to be groggy. Coffee first!\n\nHe labours over the grinds, smelling them closely. He feels the boil of the water in his chest, and for the first time really hears the water pouring over the grinds as the fine brew culminates and drips to perfection. \n\nHe takes a sip and lavishes every sensation in his body. Today is the day.\n\nFinally, Bagdar returns to his computer and clicks on the red envelope that had been burning a hole in his brain, behind the sensations, behind the madness of the brew.\n\n\"Off-Topic Discussion: Reply here for non-story comments.\n\nWhat is this? • First time here? • Special Announcements\"\n\nAnd then he kills himself.\n"
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Write about anything, I'll read them and have no idea what's going on until the end.
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[WP] Write me a story without telling me the prompt until after you've written it.
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"Petunia Harris, botanist extraordinaire, woke up on that fateful Wednesday feeling particularly good about herself. She had gotten dressed in her favourite cactus-printed dress, a gag gift from a workmate, and had enough time to make cinnamon toast for breakfast instead of choking on one of the health-nut bars her roommates kept in the cupboard.\n\nThe hallway of her apartment complex was quiet, the faint buzz of early morning echoing off the off-white walls and settling in her old bones. The faint tap-tap-tap of her flats on the stairs matched the rhythm her fingers tapped against the brass staircase rail, and she nodded at the doorman as she walked out the door.\n\nThe sun was just piercing through the fog, carving through it like a rose-coloured knife, and she stood in just the right spot, waiting for the lights, that one of these shards of light shines on her face. She closes her eyes, smile soft and bright. \n\nThere's a beeping, the lights to cross. She's humming a song, something she half-heard on the radio recently, when a truck runs a red light and smashes right into her.\n\n~~\n\nPetunia Harris - well, she is no longer Petunia Harris, not with the whole reincarnation thing going on - wakes up on a lumpy couch with a groan. Het two roommates - the same roommates she's had for centuries - are there, one holding a cinnamon scroll and the other holding a potted cactus.\n\n\"I got hit by a fucking truck.\" No-longer-Petunia groans, and the one holding the cactus nods. \n\n\"Is it a bit like being trampled?\", The cactus is placed on the coffee table as her roommate speaks, and No-longer-Petunia waves her hand over it. The budded flowers bloom, bright pink and yellow patches exploding on the deep green.\n\n\"Worse. It's a bit like falling down the stairs ridiculously fast.\"\n\n\"Well, guys,\" The pair turn to the baked-goods-toting member of their party, \"I've found our names.\" He's holding up three ID cards, and No-longer-Petunia reaches out.\n\n\"Please tell me it's not stupid.\" She says, before plucking hers out of the set. \"Huh, Phoebe Miller. Nice.\"\n\nThe man reads his, \"I'm now Henry Copperfield. That's bloody ridiculous.\" He throws the third ID card at their roommate, who catches it with a poked tongue. They read it, and cackles.\n\n\"I'm Artemis! Ha! Suck my fucking clit!\"\n\n\"What's your last name, asshole?\", Now-Phoebe says, and Artemis snorts.\n\n\"I'm, apparently, Artemis Jackson. Wow. Just, wow.\" Artemis leans back on the wall, flipping the card over and over again. \"Do you think we have jobs?\"\n\n\"Mine's hospital ID.\", Phoebe says. \"So, probably. You kind of sound like responsible adults this time.\"\n\n\"Ha fucking ha.\" Artemis says, getting up from the wall. She walks over to the tiny kitchen they share, and flicks through the fridge. \"Oh my god, there's no fucking food in here. I'm going to throw myself out of the window.\"\n\n\"Not again. We don't need to see that, Artemis.\"\n\n\"Of course you do, for all you know I've stopped bleeding gold.\"\n\n~~~~\n\nPROMPT (from a friend): Reincarnation with a group. Three very different people. Bonus points for mythology references."
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[WP] Any story you want, but it has to include the phrase: "Long story short, you need a new microwave."
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"\"Okay so yeah after all that, we finally managed to get that working and done\" Jack waved his arms about dramatically, shaking his head erratically.\n\n\"What did you do? I don't understand, everyone knows your madder than a bat. Even though I'm your brother, I can't understand *quite* what you mean\" Alek sighed and crossed his arms. He gazed up at the sky and cursed his parents for working the entire summer. Because as a consequence, he was stuck looking after his crazy brother.\n\n\"Uh, well, we got that working and we pointed it at the sky. Nothing happened so we decided to add some eggs and lasers\" Jack stared at the sun unflinchingly, the glare of the sun reflecting harshly off his glasses.\n\nAlek stammered and shook his head, trying to make sense of what he had just heard. Not that there was any sense to it anyway.\n\n\"Eggs? Ok, I get that you and your 'friend' like to make stuff, and a laser, while probably illegal in this instance if you're pointing it at the goddamn sky, I understand. But eggs? They're food!\" Alek sat down on the worn out camping chair Jack had put on a large and cumbersome pile of sheets of metal.\n\n\"Plus, Imigo isn't even real. And the real word is Amigo if you think he's Spanish and your friend\".\n\nJack stopped what he was doing abruptly, stood up, turned around and glared at Alek. \"Says the guy whose name is spellt differently!\" he waved a finger accusingly at his younger brother.\n\n\"Yeah, yeah. I've heard that one before\" Alek shook his head, \"would be nice just to have it spelt with a C or I could just be Alex, instead of some random name\" he mumbled as he got out of the chair and made his way over to Jack.\n\n\"Look, it's boiling out here. Hot enough to cook the eggs you used up\"\n\nJack glared at him again.\n\n\"Anyway, I've come outside from packing as I want to make sure if you've taken your meds this morning. We both know how you can be if you don't take them\" Alek put a hand on his brother's shoulder gently.\n\n\"Nuh-uh. I put them in the microwave, thought that would make everyone see that I'm right and they're wrong. That's what the lasers were for, to broadcast the facts. The eggs were just power\" Jack nodded in the strange way he did and rubbed his glasses feverishly, as if there was something stuck to them.\n\nAlek stared at Jack in shock. \"Y-you put your pills in the microwave with a laser and some eggs?!\"\n\n\"Yup\" Jack was now grinning from ear to ear proudly.\n\n\"That was my going away to college present! From Mom and Dad! You know Aunt Grier doesn't have a microwave and that I'm going to be living with her as I can't afford the dorms\" Alek grabbed onto a scrap piece of metal poking out of the pile. He didn't care if it cut his hand or what, he just needed to restrain himself from punching Jack. That would just make his mind worse.\n\n\"Hey! Don't touch my stuff! And it's inventing stuff, not making stuff. Inventing is what I do\" Jack swatted at Alek's hand. Alek ignored him.\n\n\"It's not your stuff. It's Dad's stuff. You know, he's a panelbeater remember? And this shed is his\" Alek stared at the ground. Was Jack finally loosing his mind? At the young age of 19? Alek remembered Jack being quite promising and seeming like he would go far in life. But that was before Alek got older and understood that Jack was rapidly spiralling into madness.\n\n\"Oh yeah. But I didn't do any of this, this was all Imigo\" Jack sputtered out, pulling his body inwards, his eyes darting periodically from side to side as if someone was standing next to him.\n\n\"And what did you do?\" Alek decided there was no harm in playing along for once, the old, sane Jack was long gone. And he wasn't going to be here tomorrow morning. He'd been accepted for a job and he wanted to save some money before college started.\n\n\"I connected the plug to the socket in the wall and turned everything on\" Jack picked up the scorched extension cord lying at his feet.\n\n\"I don't think you should be touching that\" Alek pried the fried cord from Jack's hand gingerly and dropped it.\n\n\"Whatever\" Jack pushed his glasses up, \"Long story short, you need a new microwave\".\n\n\"Let's just get you inside and find some of your medication\" Alek put his arm around Jack and began walking.\n\n\"Don't forget to call Aunt Grier and tell her you're going to hers tomorrow. Imigo says it's important\" Jack nodded seriously.\n\n\"I sure will. You just go on inside and sit down, I'll call her now\".\n\nJack nodded again and went inside the house.\n\nWhipping his phone out of his pocket, Alek unlocked it, pressed something and put it to his ear. \"Hi Mom, sorry for calling you when you're at work. Something's come up. Yes, it's Jack. Long story short, the garage floor is burnt, Dad won't be happy, and I need that microwave present replaced\".\n\n"
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[WP] As a prank, someone swaps the US constitution with a joke constitution full of absurd rules and laws. No one notices the swap, and those laws start getting enforced.
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"10:54 - 24-Hour Party Palace (Formerly White House)\n\nThe hexagonal office was still undergoing its refurbishment but was functional enough to hold a meeting. A handful of non-conformists sat around the huge table. The thumping bass rattled the wooden doors on all the cabinets and the treble made the glassware inside squeak. The eight suited figures raised their voices in order to hear one another as they all waited patiently for the other two members.\n\"How did this even happen?\" Shouted a tall man in a navy suit.\n\"It's preposterous!\" Heads around the table nodded, there were probably jeers but they were too quiet to be heard. The anger seemed to turn to shame and sadness as eyes looked down towards the floor. \n\"How did we let this happen?\" a light brown haired woman spoke.\n\"The whole country has been turned upside down in a matter of weeks, because somehow, somewhere we slipped up.\"\n\"It's nobody's fault.\" The tall man said.\n\"No it's all of ours.\"\n\nSuburbia\n\nEveryone on the bus was giddy, not only because there was no school today but also because it was February, which meant everyone had a mouthful of jellybeans on the hour every hour. The bus braked quite sharp as the sound of pop goes the weasel pumped polyphonically down the open road. A colourful ice cream van sped past the cheering children as the police officers inside gave chase to a rusty brown car. They pulled it over and excited the van, people cheered as they passed in their cars, some still chewing on their jelly beans, mouths watering. The two officers one male and one female were dressed in official attire, colourful hoodies and neon patterned jeans, their trainers popped with vibrant vinyl styles, no longer looking menacing and intimidating to the public but instead setting new trends. \n\"Is there a problem officers?\" the crusty looking man said through his toothless mouth.\n\"Oh you know it man. Look at your ride fool.\" The officer pointed both palms upward at the beat up excuse for a vehicle in front of him. His partner began circling and assessing the evidence. \n\"Sir. The sticker on the mudflap says 'I'm going nucking futs',\" The balding man nodded in shame. \n\"You've been riding with a Jar-Jar Binks bobble head on the dashboard,\"\nThe man covered his eyes with his hand.\n\"Son of a vegan sausage, is that what I think it is?\" Both officers lifted their designer shades to take in the full inglorious ink on the man's forearm. They stared in disbelief for what seemed like minutes at a poorly tattooed emoticon captioned with simply 'lol'.\nThe next thing the man knew he was being forced against the boot of the car and handcuffed. \n\"Sir you are under arrest for unlawful levels of wackness.\"\n\n11:08 - 24-Hour Party Palace (Formerly White House)\n\nThe room still shook rhythmically as the music forced its way through every wall and floor. The repetitive sounds were much louder for a moment as the other two suited men stepped through the door, closing it behind them.\n\"Do you have it?\" the tall man said, anxiously raised from his seat. The pair nodded and sat down in the remaining chairs.\n\"Any trouble?\" he enquired further, fingers now fanned on the table. \n\"No sir, well, we had a little trouble finding it.\"\n\"I thought as much, you used the safe code I gave you? Was it guarded?\"\n\"No actually.\"\n\"There was no one on guard in the room that holds some of the country's most important artifacts?\" One of the women chimed in, she was having trouble trying to balance the shock with confusion. The two recon men exchanged a glance.\n\"Show them.\" One of them said, his colleague opened his suit jacket as he reluctantly explained further.\n\"We had trouble finding it because it wasn't where we expected it. We gained access to the safes, the filing cabinets and the desk draws and cupboards. It was in none of these-\" He reached into the inside pocket. \n\"After almost 10 minutes of sifting and double checking we found it in plain sight on a side table-\" He pulled out something small and pale and slid it into the middle of the table.\n\"We believe it was being used as a coaster, sir.\"\nThe gasps that filled the room were audible over the music, hands covered mouths and palms slapped foreheads in disbelief as everybody stared speechless at a badly scrawled on napkin.\n\nSouth Central LA \n\nThe turf war was generational, the debts and plots of revenge had looped over and over endlessly for as long as anyone can remember. Thousands had fallen, and now the final battle was almost at its end. It had been raging on for days, in the scorching heat and into the cold of night. Bullets had not stop flying, the sounds of gunfire echoed in the head of everyone from miles around, invading their thoughts and intruding on their sleep. Soon it was promised to be over; soon there would be a victor.\nThe appointed leaders of both gangs locked eyes as they entered the community centre from opposite exits. Each one felt the gravity of what they were fighting for, for the name, the respect, and all who were eliminated along the way. No words were spoken as they took strides towards one another, trigger fingers itching. A ruckus grew behind them as their elite followed in tow. The tension was micron thin as they approached, mere feet away from each other. The proximity itself was groundbreaking; neither of them had left their respective hideouts for months in the lead up to this. Now they stood, each soaked in the colours of their clan, each responsible for countless kills to the opposition. Here is where the bloodshed ended, not in a truce but in one final duel. This was old school, one on one. \nEach felt the weight in their pockets, their custom instrument of death sitting snug next to their thighs. They were close enough to gut each other, a well-hidden shiv could have ended it there and then, but not in the right way. Despite what the onlookers saw, despite the amount of times it was broken, there was still a fragment of honour in this. Enough that no side attempted a low blow. The two grown men crossed each other’s paths, turned, and then stood back to back. The noise became silence; all that could be heard was rapid heartbeats and a low hum. It was time.\nSimultaneously they drew their controllers and pressed start. The FPS battle to end them all began.\n\n11:17 - 24-Hour Party Palace (Formerly White House)\n\nThe bundle of ten suits huddled round the end of the table and collectively read through the brief and bizarre list in front of them. The multitude of expressions that washed over their faces were varied and complex, no one knew what to say, instead pieces of sentences just came out.\n\"But that doesn't even-\"\n\"How is? It doesn't-\"\n\"Do they know what this is meant to be or?\"\n\"Stupidity it's, it's pure stupidity.\"\nAfter they were done someone turned over to the other side to view the extra scribblings. It was as if whoever had written it had almost forgot to finish. \n\"How can this be allowed? How was this passed? It's gotten out of hand so rapidly.\" a lady said trying to comprehend it all.\n\"It doesn't matter,\" the tall man replied \"Because it was passed, it is. We just need to figure out how to fix it. That’s what we are doing here.\"\n\"Can we fix it? Really?\" another man asked pessimistically.\nThe tall man stood up straight and pointed both his fingers into his chest and then out towards everybody else in the room.\n\"Look who were are, we are the true leaders, we have been doing this for years. Yes, we made a mistake, the greatest people always do. What makes them great is that they grab that failure by the horns, turn it around and ride it until it becomes another victory.\" He stabs his finger into the napkin and looks everyone in the eyes. \n\"Look at the caliber of people we are dealing with here. They are not trained like we are, they are barely; if at all intellectual. How can they best us? There is no way they can outsmart the minds that have run this country for so long.\"\nHis rousing speech finished as he inhaled, someone sat down uttered a \"Sir...\" in a manner that did not instill confidence. The tall man looked down at where his finger was pointed, everyone’s eyes followed. \nThe last item on the list, two simple words, seemed to undo the hope of everyone there in a millisecond. It was only then that they knew defeat and they felt it deep in their bones. Crushed by the simplest and most immature of rules. There on the napkin, in blue and white read 'No Take-backs’.\n",
"It was early. Far too early. Daylight savings time had come, and I had gone along with it and set my alarm an hour early. But in my haste, I had accidentally overdone it. And now I was up, crap crusting around my eyes while the alarm shrieked at me like a mechanical harpy. I slithered out from under the covers, put on a robe, and went downstairs. \n\nThe coffee maker burbled happily as I filled it with hot water, and the TV waited patiently for me to finish pouring. Setting the pot down, I obediently turned on CNN. But the sound of coffee filling it soon rapidly slid down my priority list. The newscaster was an older, plain faced blonde woman who was struggling to keep her composure. \"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an official degree here from the White House, as signed by President Jay Swizel, Lord of the Dark Carnival and Master of the mirthless masses. He demands that all women between the ages of 42 and eighteen send a picture of their face, their waist, and their breasts to his facebook account or to PresidentJayismyMaster.gov. He says he must choose a Harvest Festival bride, and his wife demands that he pick someone pretty.\" \n\nPerhaps some coffee would be helpful. I went up and got some. When I cam back, the newscaster had brought in an expert of constitutional law and a Chaplain for the Church of America. The expert told her that the Master of the Silver Throne must have a bride for the Harvest Festival, or it will bring ill luck. \"But must she really be a virgin? Surely such archaic standards of female worth are...\" the newscaster asked. Suddenly, the Chaplain leapt up and smacked the newscaster. \"Blasphemy! You feel a spinster is worthy of the Lord of the Dark Carnival?\" The Chaplain drew a spatula from his belt and pounced on the newscaster. He began to strike her with it. The camera rapidly cut away to the weather report. The weatherman stammered something about it being a great day, before running off screen clutching his mouth. \n\nI took a swallow coffee. It was almost lukewarm. Gulping it down, I turned off the TV. I went upstairs and started getting dressed for work. I was almost done when I heard a knock at my door. I walked downstairs, \"Just a minute.\" When I got there, the door swung open to reveal woman with a face painted white, a purple triangle around her mouth, and red teardrops on her cheeks. She smiled at me. \"Salutations to you sir. Tell me, is your reddit account username TaranTastic?\" She smiled at me, but her eyes were cold. \n \"Yes?\" \n\"Oh good. For a second I thought I had the wrong address.\" She smiled at me, then turned and strolled away. I watched her walk down my driveway, then shut the door. \"Weirdo,\" I said as I finished tucking in my shirt. I was almost finished getting ready, now I just had to find my keys. I went back upstairs to look for them. However, as I was rooting through the pile of garbage that was synonymous with my room before I got around to my monthly cleaning session, I heard another knock. Probably the clown girl. I went downstairs and threw open the door. \"Listen here,\" I paused, as there were two men in suits and matching makeup standing on my stoop. They had a large purple triangle around their mouths and red teardrops on their cheeks, and unlike the woman they were very large and imposing. \"Mr. Thompson?\" One of the asked. \n \"Yeah, that's me.\" \nThey looked at each other and nodded. The other one pulled out a piece of paper. \"Is it true that you wrote frequented /r/gaming in the year 2013 to the year 2015?\" I nodded. \"Yes, but I unsubscribed to them a few months ago.\" \nThe two clown men nodded. \"So,\" the second one began. \"Is is true that you posted this on April 6th, 2015. 'I find that Heavy Rain is one of the underappreciated gems of the last console generation, and I feel that it is far better than what normally passes for game storytelling.'\" I just looked at him. \"I don't know, maybe? I don't remember everything I post.\" The first one smiled. \"That sounds like a confession.\" His partner nodded. \"I concur.\" He launched forward, punching me in the stomach. As I doubled over, the first one grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the open door and threw me into the grass. They pulled out rubber truncheons and beat me with them. Blows rained down on me. I curled up into a ball, trying to protect my kidneys. And then as quickly as it came, it was over. The clown men put away their truncheon and walked away. \"Don't wear white on Monday again,\" one of them called over his shoulder. I watched them leave, then ran back inside. I called my boss. \"Sir, I can't make it today. I've got the flu.\" Then as soon as he said he would have someone else finish the proposal draft, I hung up and sat down on the couch. I had a lot of news to catch up on. ",
"“Jesus Christ, Betty, tell security to lock the doors, in fact, tell them to put the whole facility on lockdown and dial 911, immediately,” said Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs. \n\n“Mr. Blankfein…are you alright?” His secretary asked, as she walked into his executive suite, two guns holstered on each side of her elegant black business skirt. \n\n“Oh my god…please tell me that’s a toy gun,” Blankfein stuttered, flummoxed, sweat bubbling like boiling water on his forehead. \n\n“Mr. Blankfein, you don’t look so good.” Betty added, before looking down, gazing into her iPhone. \n\n“The employees….They have guns,” Lloyd gasped. \n\n“Look,” he shouted, pointing his index finger with the intensity of a bloodhound picking up a scent. \n\n“My god, Betty, is that Harvey Schwartz? He is wearing a Fuck Trump! t-shirt. Harvey is CFO of Goldman Sachs. And who is that?” he yelled at Betty. She approached the window, scrolling up and down the iPhone screen.\n \n“Which one?” Betty asked, looking up. \n\nThat one… that girl, right there. She’s wearing…wearing…something much worse than fuck Trump. She’s wearing a Feel the Bern t-shirt. Goddamnit, she can’t wear that. For one, this is and will always be a Clinton family organization, or did I not make that clear with those $300,000 speeches, where she praised our rapacious behavior, and applauded our pristine record of screwing over those thick fingered clowns they call the American people. \n\n“Plus, she just can’t wear that.” Lloyd added, standing up, walking laps around his mahogany desk once owned by Thomas Jefferson, rumored to be the one he banged Sally Hemmings on. But this was no time for a history lesson, or maybe it was. It sparked an idea. He would call the President as soon as he was alone. \n \n“Is this another one of your famous gags sir?” Betty asked, taking her perfectly sculpted physique contrasted by Lloyd’s confused, ruffled face, which she included in the pic. It topped over her right shoulder. \n\n“Perfect,” Betty said, inching closer to the mirror, puckering her lips, moving a strand of hair behind ear and placing it back to where it was seconds earlier. \n\n“I just posted this on Facebook. Look,” she said energetically, turning the phone around for Lloyd to a beautiful woman, and fearful, withered up little man, with an erratic look and a baldhead. \n\n“I’m going to call it little bitch, because you look like a little bitch. Don’t you think?” Betty’s face was sincerely invested in whether he might have a better title than little bitch. \n\n“You can’t talk to me like that. I’m your boss. And you can’t have guns in here.” Lloyd’s mind was like a man in a straightjacket, movement was superfluous, but movement like hiccups can’t cure insanity. \n\nBetty let out a stream of laughter, “You’ve done it again. This isn’t your best one, but it was pretty good. That true Lloyd Blankfein spirit, that wry sense of humor we’ve all come to love,” her high heels dug into the carpet before she turned out the office door. \n\nJust as she left, a large redheaded man with bulging muscles entered the room. \n\n“Sir, the employees are going nuts. They don’t know why the doors are on security lockdown,” said Tim, head of security. \n\n“Tim,” Betty giggled, “Lloyd’s doing one of his famous practical jokes.” \n\n“Ah....that Lloyd Blankfein sense of humor we’ve all come to love. Very good, quite the actor too, can I ask you a question: did you dab your forehead or can you sweat on command. I’ve been taking this acting class downtown…never mind, I better go unlock the doors,” Tim chuckled, taking the elevator down to the lobby. \n\nOnce the door closed, he called the President. \n\n“How are you this morning?” President Hillary Rodham Clinton asked, swiveling back and forth in the chair behind the Oval Office desk. \n\n“Mrs. President, what is going on? My employees are doing things you’re not going to believe. Asserting First Amendment and Second Amendment protections and god knows what else, maybe freely assembling outside and demanding other things, other rights.” \n\nClinton chuckled, while simultaneously thinking about launching a drone strike later that afternoon. \n\n“Lloyd, you’re too late Jamie already bet you too it. Let me guess, you were going to pretend the constitution didn’t apply to private business and you were going to pretend to have amnesia. Jamie already called, ten minutes before you did. Hilarious…hey, I have to let you go, damn Elizabeth is here; you were right, she is a real pain in the ass. Never should have chosen her as VP.\" \n\n",
"I got pepper sprayed in the face.\n\nIt was a peaceful protest. We were protesting against the murdering of majestic Elephants in the wild.\n\n\"It was a peaceful protest!\" I heard my friend scream at the officer before getting his very own spray in the face.\n\nThe officer laughed.\n\"According to the First Amendment, only hateful, racist protests can take place. Any acts of peacefulness will be dealt with by being impaled with a sword.\"\n\nSo be it.\n\nI grabbed the officers pepper spray and flung it across the wall, proceeding to grab his gun and shoot every cop I saw down.\n\nThe protesters saw my actions and followed my example, shooting cops in the knees, using pepper spray, grabbing things and attacking other non-protesters with it.\n\nThe cops stopped, looked at us, and walked away.\n\nI paused.\n\"What the FUCK was that?!\" I yelled.\n\nAll the protesters just shrugged and left to go back home.\n\nI did also.\nOnly to find my house door open.\n\"WHAT NOW?!\" I thought.\n\nI was then tackled from behind by a police officer.\n\"According to the Second Amendment, having a gun in your house and not shooting any civilians with it for any more then one day is punishable by death by no internet usage for ONE YEAR.\"\n\n\"No,\" I said.\n\"No. no\"\n\"No, no, no\"\n\"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\"",
"First time here in WP so please understand this is probably bad:\n“Officer I swear I wasn’t going over the masurbating speed limit” I pleaded. I knew I couldn't afford going to the torture room. It would be the 3rd time this month, and Katy would be furious. One was for sneaking in another donut at the 12 o’clock meeting, and the other was for, and I quote, “being a douchebag, by having more than 3 wheels on my vehicle.“ The officer responds “Well sir I just stopped you because I don’t want you to hurt the ‘equipment’. I’ve seen a lot of guys end up getting surgery for what you were doing right there.” “So are you not going to give me a ticket?” “Well this being your 3rd offense this month I believe that I’m going to have to take you in” I grudgingly get into the back of the trike, and we ride to the station.\n\t“Hey guys I caught this guy going about 10 strokes a second!” the officer yells gladfully. The chief comes up and gives him a big pat on the shoulder and reply’s “Man where did you catch him?” The officer simply says “Right beside yo momma’s grave!” The chief cracks up in laughter. I don’t understand this, it isn’t even funny the least bit, but since everyone was laughing hysterically I decided to chuckle a little. “Well come here, tell me all about the incident” the chief directed at me. I came up and stated “I was at the designated spot at Barnes & Nobles and the officer came up to me and told me to stop” He was flabbergasted at the idea of me using the mastabatory station at the B&N and he exclaimed “That one is utterly disgusting! Why on Bruce Wayne's holy name would you do that?” “I was in a pinch, mainly because I had just came from Victoria Secret’s and theirs is always busy” “Oh that is true, but why didn’t you use Game Stop’s or Lid’s?” “I needed to start quick and end quick and that’s why I was going over the 5 SPS limit sir.” He obviously seemed compassionate, but he ended up putting me in the torture room anyways. I don't think I’ll ever look at Steven Seagal again, and I sure won’t masturbate in public anymore."
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[WP] Thawed out in the year 3000 after being cryogenically frozen, you're told that you are the first "old one" to see the future and not ultimately commit suicide. They request you teach a history class.
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"\"Either the 'sleeper awakes' jokes or the 'are you cursed' quips\" I said \"but honestly, the ... Restrooms are the most annoying thing\".\nOne student(seems there will always be one) asked for further detail.\n\"When you do something everyday, sometimes multiple times, it becomes a habit. I feel uncomfortable in the new...Restrooms\"\n\nThe class made the usual joke about pooping on Their hands like monkeys and after the laughter died down I changed subjects.\n\n\"Are there things I miss? Sure; family, friends, computers, the free expression they allowed but... Knowing the price, knowing what they did to people, to society, I see why we cannot have them anymore. You need to understand that back then; we saw no downside, all of our seemed like it was leading to a better world. To see brief, fleeting moments of another person's true unfiltered inner self. Those were rare, precious moments; some good, some bad but always...Honest.\"\n\n\"Looking at you all here today, it's good to know so many of the things we worried about worked themselves out but also it's horrifying to realise that something that in my time was so...trivial cost the world so much.\"\n\nI paused, considering my words carefully.\n\n\"If I could ask you all one question, I guess it would be: can you ever forgive humanity for what it did to the world you inherited?\"\n\nThough the clicking, baking and hooting laughter, a few students said \"of course, there was no way apes could have known\"...\n",
"I'd come to the 31st century.\n\nIT was everything I thought it would be. Thanks to that cryolab beneath 51st and Main. There was even a stupid guy with glasses who yelled, \"**WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW!**\"\n\nYes, real life in the 31st Century matches up remarkably well to the animated comedy *Futurama*. Right down to the usage of AIs and machines.\n\nAfter being thawed out, I'd been given an identichip, designed only for me. A combination of bioneural lattices and quantum solices, encrypted with my alpha-delta complex wave.\n\nI'm on my way to History class. I'm the new teacher here. And I'm here to teach the 'Early Third Milennium' module. I'd already managed to pre-sync my neural interface with the rest of the class, so their questions could be delivered at literally the speed of thought. That impressed me - that we'd broken thermodynamics in such a way.\n\n*Is it true that there was a mad alien running for President of ancient America in 2016 who was only defeated by the noble warrior of the Last Week?* was the very first question. Of course, someone would damn well ask about Donald Trump.\n\nHmm...maybe I could have some fun with this.\n\n*That's sort of true*, I broadcast across the class network. *There was a running joke that the man running for President was run by his alien Toupée, and it was the hard work by the host of the* Last Week Tonight *show who demonstrated that he was actually running on a then-criminal scheme to make money. So that statement covers everything that happened without ever actually being true in any meaningful sense.*\n\n*Next Question.* I broadcast. A person by the handle *tiddlydix69* came up.\n\n*Is it true what they said about the old Afrimericans and their pants?*\n\n...This is going to be a long session, isn't it?",
"It seems they've grossly overestimated my knowledge of my time period. Here I was, teaching a history class some 900 years after everyone I ever knew had perished. \n\nI stood at my lectern, staring out into the crowd that had gathered to take my course, to learn from my true experiences and learn the realities of the early 21st century. There was worry within the government that the history books were misrepresenting the past, and my class could clear up any inaccuracies. \n\nAt least that's what they thought of me. \n\n\"So,\" I mumbled nervously, \"where to begin?\" Sweat began to bead and roll down my face, dripping from my eyebrows and the tip of my nose. \n\nI didn't want to do this. I didn't want to be here. I was a mechanic in 2019 when I was forced into the chamber the archaeologists discovered two months ago. I knew about engines, not history. I'm not sure what the reason was that I was chosen to be put in such a device. The purpose might have been to keep me preserved, but I had no idea. I would never know. \n\n\"What do we think we know about the years between 1990 and 2019? What kind of myths or legends have any of you heard about my day?\" What kind of shit question was that? They don't know anything, you idiot!\n\nA hand rose from the middle of the third row of seats in the stadium that I was lecturing from. The cameras that broadcasted the event worldwide swung from my face out to the young woman, who had stood to answer me. \n\n\"In school we were always told that people wrote in many different languages long ago. That people from different areas couldn't understand each other.\" I adjusted my earpiece, a universal translator I had received upon being released from my preservational prison. She continued: \"We were told that there was constant fighting over beliefs and land, and that there were laws about who could own what, and who had rights. We were told that there was a time that people couldn't marry because of who they loved. That people had to fight against world leaders for years and years to earn their own ability to do what others had been doing since the dawn of time.\"\n\n\"Well yes, all of that is true. Many of those issues persisted throughout my life. Some were dealt with while I was still around. At least, legally. People were slow to accept change. Simply letting others live their lives in peace was, for whatever reason, unacceptable. People let their beliefs rule over others without thinking of those other people's beliefs. Life wasn't about equality. It was about being better than others. Nobody would admit that. There were those who realized this backwards way of life, and they tried to stop it. They tried to change the way things were,\" I paused, briefly. This was going better than I thought it would. \"As for the language issue, that was actually something that was being dealt with when I was frozen. This technology,\" I said, gesturing at my ear, \"was beginning to be figured out around 2015.\" \n\n\"Sir,\" the young woman spoke up again. \"Why were you frozen?\"\n\nThe question just about sent me back to the chamber. I stood there, staring out at the crowd, absolutely speechless.\n\nAfter a moment I gathered myself enough to respond. \"I honestly have no idea. I was at work, some men came and grabbed me, and the next thing I can clearly remember is walking out of the chamber a couple of months ago.\"\n\nI let the stadium and those watching the broadcast know that I was done for the day, but that they would see more of me. Class was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Same time, same place. \n\nAs I walked off the stage I was congratulated by a voice to my right.\n\n\"Good job, buddy. You did great. \"\n\nI turned, and a man emerged from the shadows. He was tall, broad shoulders, just a mass of a man. \n\n\"Thank you,\" I replied, and continued walking. \n\n\"Don't you want to go celebrate a job well done?\" the man asked. There was malice in his voice. \n\n\"I think I'd rather just rest tonight. Thanks again,\" I sped up my pace, only to collide with another behemoth in front of me. \n\n\"Come with us, we'll show you a real good time.\" They grasped my shoulders and my forearms, nearly lifting me from the ground. \n\nMy heart raced, I pleaded for them to let me go, but we were gone. \n\nThe next thing I knew, a door opened in front of me. \"Welcome to the year 4000.\"",
"James was overwhelmed with a feeling of cold. He never felt anything cooler in his life. And despite feeling like he had a good night's sleep he was tired. Not knowing where he was didn't help either. When he finally gathered himself he noticed he was locked into what looked like a tiny cell with a glass door. \n\n*\"Where am I? Hello!?\"* he shouted without seeing anyone. He didn't get a response so he reached for the door and pushed. To his surprise it wasn't locked and he stepped outside in one swift motion. James swiftly scanned his surroundings and noticed two tall but thin men. The two bearded men didn't look frightening in their scientist coats but James was cautious nonetheless. \n\n*\"Welcome, James! How do you feel?\"* one of the men asked him in a calm voice whilst both approached him slowly. \n\n*\"I.. I'm fine.\"* said James although he still felt a little dizzy, *\"Where am I?\"* he asked in a panicked tone. \n\n*\"You're still where you left off, in London, remember? But it's not 2016 anymore. Some years have passed\"* the other man said with a smirk in his face, *\"It's the year 3000. You volunteered to be cryogenically frozen. You might not remember it, temporary amnesia appears to be a common side-effect of prolonged cryostasis. It should pass soon.\"* he explained. \n\n*\"3000!? That's amazing\"* James shouted, *\"I do remember volunteering but I thought I'd freeze to death or the procedure would fail. I have to see the world. Oh my god the amazing things that happened? I have to explore the world. Where's the exit?\"* James continued ecstatically. \n\n*\"I'm sorry but we cannot let you go at this moment. You will be able to explore in due time!\"* one of the men explained, *\"Let me give you a quick tour of the past 1000 years instead, it will be quicker anyway than figuring it out on your own! Besides, you could die of shock if you weren't introduced to the changes gradually.\"* he said while lacking a facial expression. \n\nThe two men proceed to give James a quick tour of the world. They explain how technology has rapidly become better and smarter. Many things had no meaning to James, or he simply didn't understand them, but he got the gist of it. He was especially amazed at how far space technology had come. Ever since his childhood he was interested in anything related to space. Hearing that one of his theories, to build space stations in orbit that build space ships, has come true sent a shiver down his spine. \n\nAfter a rather long tour that didn't cover much in detail, the two men showed James his room where he had to sleep in. James was suspicious but complied and he slept well. The next two weeks were very routine. He'd be told more information about the past and he went to bed in his room. That stopped one day abruptly and the two men entered his room with a stern expression. \n\n*\"We need you\"* the man said, *\"to teach your history to our children!\"* finished the other man. \n\n*\"Can't I learn more about your world first? I mean, you told me so much but I feel like I still don't know anything\"* James expressed his worries. \n\n*\"No! We can't allow that. After all, you are\"* the man said, *\"the first to not commit suicide.\"* both finished the sentence in unison. \n\n*\"Suicide?\"* James shrieked. \n\nJames didn't listen to what the men answered. They might not have answered at all. He was too deply focused on that last sentence. He thought about why people like him would commit suicide, the world seemed better than ever after all. When his thoughts turned worse than they ever had James ran. In an instant James was already out of the door and the two men struggled to get up after being pushed over. The men knew that James had to be stopped, had to be stopped before reaching the outside. \n\n*\"Don't go outside\"* The men yelled simultaneously but out of sync. \n\nJames ran through the doors and found himself outside. The air was warm and fresh, but the sky looked dark red. As he looked for any place to run to James noticed something. Or rather, he noticed nothing. There were no streets, no buildings, no lights, nothing. Not a trace of human life. Before he could comprehend what happened, the two men caught him in their vehicle. \n\nThe men now explained what really happened. \n\n*\"In 2045, World War III started. It didn't last long, 4..5 years maybe. It was devastating but nothing humanity couldn't recover from.\"* the man started explaining, \n\n*\"Then, in 2206, there was World War IV. Now that one was a proper World War. EVERY COUNTRY was involved. But the technological setback from WWIII meant there were no weapons of mass annihilation, and the concept of MAD wasn't a thing either. 55 years of wars. The last World War was WWV. 2 years of war only. 2834 - 2836. That was where humanity went practically extinct, save for a few cryogenic labs like this one. We have been searching for a man and a woman to clone so we could save humanity. We found you, a perfect candidate in terms of DNA. But we need to find a woman to save mankind. Will you help us find one?\"* \n\nJames was overwhelmed and unable to answer for a few minutes. When he finally came to, *\"Yes! I will help you.\" \n\nThus began a long journey. Long, exhausting and uneventful. It took them around four months to find another cryogenic laboratory. \nWhen they entered, they found a living female human, still frozen. Mankind was save, for now. \n\n---- \n\nKept you waiting huh? Hope you enjoyed this one!\n",
"I sat rubbing my temples, elbows propped on top of my desk. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I let out groan. \"Okay class,\" I stand and move to the front center of the room. \"Let's get started. Everyone pull out your homeowner and pass it forward.\" \n\nThe next couple minutes were filled with the rustling of paper and the plaintive wail of excuses for unfinished homework. I listed to each little tail of unlike adventure and happenstance that had befallen each individual assignment. If this were an English class I might have given some point to the perpetual malingerers for talented story telling at the very least. Alas, this was history, and like the stock market after the housing bubble, their grades were on the steep decline. \n\nIt had been six months since I first took up my position at Imperial High. I had never seen myself becoming a history teacher, nor any other sort of teach besides perhaps theater, but my options these days were limited. \n\nI had been working third shift janitorial at MIT when the accident happened. Though I was there, I knew little of the details until they were related to e after. All I knew at the time was that some snot-nosed wannabe scientists had told me there was a spill in one of the labs and I was needed to clean it up. His face was known to me, but not his name. To me he was simply \"asshole\", a rare exception to the normal mannerly and humble albeit brilliant majority of the student body. But it was my job to clean spills, so clean the spill I intended to do. \n\nI was mopping up a large spill of water, wondering why the little fucker couldn't have just taken care of this with some paper towels, when I felt a shove from behind. I landed hard inside what seemed like a metal coffin. Before I could turn around, I felt my whole body go chill, and then darkness. \n\nI awoke what seemed like seconds later, freezing to my core in a manner I had never before felt in all my years living in New England winters. It was a few moments before I realized the room was lit and configured differently from what it had looked like just seconds ago. And a few moments more before I noticed people were speaking to me.\n\nOne thousand years, or near enough to make no difference. According to the records, the told me, asshole had meant to simply prank me and thought I'd be unfrozen the morning following. what he hadn't known was that cryogenic tube had an atomic lock that couldn't be overridden. And the moron in his fumbling had set it for what he thought an arbitrary time. The records didn't say what had become of asshole, but it probably wasn't enough.\n\nAnd so there I was. The first person to jump forward one thousand years into the future unwillingly. My janitorial work had been outsourced to robots. My expertise in technical theater was centuries out of date. I hadn't even finished getting my degree, but even if I had it would only count for a few credits at best. Even \"English\" as it was now spoken was nearly incomprehensible to me. And so I spent the first couple months catching up with the new dialect.\n\nWhen my lessons were nearing completion, I was asked what I'd like to do in this new world. \"Fucked if I know.\" I had to translate the sentiment.\n\nA week later, a proposal was brought before me. I was offered the position of early-modern history teacher at the high school dedicated to the royal families of the Terran Star Empire. The pay was beyond belief, the housing more than I'd ever have managed in my old life, and what the hell, teenagers were usually funny.\n\nI should have known better though. Most of the kids were alright. But there was always one...\n\n*\"Mr. Blackensail? I have a question about a thousand years ago.\"*\n\n\"Go ahead. But so help me Timmy, if this question is-\"\n\n*\"What was it like having to ride horses everywhere? Was it better once you figured out soap and could wash the horse smell off every couple weeks?\"*\n\nThere's always one. I turn to face the student in question. Timmy. He is a spitting image for asshole. \"Timmy, do you know what \"The rack\" is? Because the next time you as me a fucking question like that...\"",
"After I emerged from the freezer, two of the engineers in charge of greeting the old ones tried to scare me, they did a good job at it too. I proceeded to look out the window and see how much my city had changed. After my psychological evaluation, I walked into the job assignment room. The purple-haired-combat boot-wearing Cyclops lady introduced herself to me.\n\"Hello,\" she said \"It's Phillip right?\"\n\"Ummm\" I stumbled over my words, \"Y- yeah.\"\n\"Alright Phillip\" she said as she glanced over her notes, \"Because you are the only one who has come out of the freezer and hasn't tried to kill themselves we think you are ready for a job. We want you to teach a history course at the local high school.\"\n\"Honestly,\" I said as I found the courage to talk \"I think I would rather be a delivery boy, like I was back in my time.\" I had seen an advertisement about an interplanetary delivery company out the window. She said \"Alright but I think your experience could be more useful as a teacher.\" \nMy mind was already made up, I was going to be the best interplanetary delivery boy out there, or my name isn't Phillip J. Fry.",
"I slowly pace in the quite room contemplating the choices ahead of me. My body stiffness limits my movements greatly. Assured that it takes a few more hours for the joints to ease up, I was ushered into the common room to have a few hours to myself. A quick history lesson was given to me of the past few centuries, but my only question would not be answered.\n\n The room contains a bed across from the door, nightstand on the left of the bed hosts the only light source. Golden flame shining from the lamp dances shadows across the room. There is quilted blanket folded neatly on the head of the bed. I walk over and inspect the pattern. The base color is a meek gray, but dashes of red and oranges sprinkle across the blanket. \n\nLetting a tired one thousand years of sleep sigh out, I sit down on the bed. I was incredibly groggy after the \"waking\". Blurred faces bobbing in and out of view. Carried into a bright illuminated white room, I was laid, face up on a bed physically checked. Steady stream of faces not breaking.\n\nI look down and inspect the back of my bandaged hand. A small red spot the only remain of where a needle had struck. I've been in this small darkly lit room for the last hour and half. I vaguely remember the training I had to take before going under. The harsh 1 year training the we all had to go under, constant mental, physical, and psychological abuse we had to go through to ensure no matter what happens we stay true. True to the cause. A knock on the door disrupts my thoughts. I slowly strain to stand.\n\nA grey haired, pale faced man enters. Age has taken a toll on his features. Wrinkles, dark bags, back slightly arched with walking stick in hand, I would place him in his early seventies. \n\n\"May I enter?\" A smile breaks out across his face. I realize I've been staring. Nodding, he slowly hobbles into the room. The light gives me a better look at his clothing. A gray long sleeve cotton shirt, black pants, and grey sandals. No visible markings. \"How was your sleep, Sleeper?\"\n\n\"Fine\", I croak. Voice still a bit raspy.\n\n\"Good, good. You have not taken the 'pill' yet. Should I take that as you have come to an answer?\" His response came out calm and kind, reminiscent of my father. Eyes a sad blue. \n\n\"Am I the last?\"\n\nThe old man breaks eye contact, averting his gaze towards the ground. Cold sadness replacing the warmth of his voice. \"Yes\". I close my eyes, holding back the tears. My worst fear confirmed. Whirlwind of question fills my head. A long silence falls over the small room.\n\nI remember the promise that was made. A slight side affect of the sleep may occur. The confusion that might overwhelm some. Causing delirium and hallucinations. Manic behavior. But quickly as if clock work, the promise that this was a small insignificant chance to us. One that may affect 1 in 1000 at worse. A negligible fear. A clear lie. I take deep breaths. Jake. Mia. Sarah. Gordon. Marcus. Jose. Daniel. Singh. Robert. Tears fall off my chin. \n\nMinutes pass. I wipe the tears with my sleeves and look over to the man. Kindness had left his face. His sad eyes now match his facial expression. My endless question need answers, but the pill was not it. I clear my throat, \"I'll teach the class.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n",
"\nMy head hurt. \n\nThe implant they had put in made everything I thought seem to go through a haze. The year was 5018 and the realities of the future were beginning to dawn on me. The forced peace amongst the mases, implanted with all sorts of biotechnology and “upgrades.” Humanity had evolved into long-limbed strange things, almost completely devoid of muscle and stamina due to the overworking of the machines. \n\nIt was all too weird.\n\nI reached into the non-existent pocket of my single piece suit that was perfectly clean and maintained me entirely too comfortable. But it chaffed like a motherfucker. The collar was tight against my neck like a noose.\n\nI looked at the so-called woman that guided me to the classroom. Her lanky frame devoid of the curves necessary to allure the men of the 20th century. More pre-determined asexual stature than anything else. Her movements were graceful, sure, but she moved in a lithe way. Like a well-fed tiger in the zoo. \n\n“So, anything you can tell me about this class?” I asked her, beads of sweat beginning to form as I attempted to keep pace with her long, ground-eating steps.\n\n“They are eager.”\n\n“Eager?” I stopped in my tracks. “Eager for what?”\n\n“You. For what you represent and what you can provide.” The humanoid creature spoke. Her tone hauntingly smooth. Almost serene with little fluxuations that would barely be noticeable for anyone else.\n\n“Well, that’s ominous.” I chuckled as I followed her through the double doors.\n\nA chair sat by itself in the middle of the room. Around it stood several of the tall humanoid creatures all looking the same. When asked, the woman said that most had not yet chosen their gender. The thought in itself was alarming but I tried best I could to hide the surprise from my face. It was all incredibly odd. \n\n“Adepts. This is your lecturer for today, Mr Norman.” Dozens of blank stares fixated upon him as the woman left the room. Making an awkward greeting I sat down slowly. \n\n“So, I was a biology teacher in the twentieth century. Probably something you might have already known.” Shrugging I continued. “What are you studying? Anyone?”\n\nQuiet filled the room until a manuscript appeared in front of my eyes. Half faded but easy enough to read. *this is going to take some getting used to for sure.*\n\n“Alright. It seems like you’re into human evolution and anatomy? Great. Well, the evolutionar-“ My words were shut off as I sat down in the chair. No sound emanating from my open lips as the whole of it grew quiet. The chair stretched itself backwards into a table and the students approached, ever slowly, almost menacingly.\n\nThey watched me with curious eyes and I lay motionless on the table, until one of the reached forward with something I could did not know and I felt a burn deep in the tissue of my arm.\n\n‘aGassraas” Sounds emanated from my mouth, none of them intelligible. Panicking and unable to move fully aware that today’s lesson was hands-on. \n\n___________________________________________________________________________________________\n\nCheck out some of my other stuff. /r/abdantaswrites\n",
"They said to me, \"you WANT to live?\" \nAnd looked me in the eye, \n\"It's just you are the very first \nThat didn't want to die!\" \n\nI said \"this world does fascinate \nAnd thus it makes me fond: \nWho wouldn't want to emigrate \nA thousand years beyond?\" \n\nThey followed up by asking me \nAbout the olden days; \nI answered with alacrity \nIn quite bewitching ways! \n\nThey said \"you really have to give \nSome lectures on the past \nWhere many years ago you lived, \nBut sadly didn't last.\" \n\nI said \"I will\" and didn't wish \nTo lie throughout the course, \nBut happily my gibberish \nDid garner great applause! \n\nFor I did err, admittedly, \nWhen I was meant to thaw \nThe man who fell out rigidly \nAnd shattered on the floor. \n\nI swept him up and filled the bin \nAt quite a pretty pace, \nAnd tied the bag upon a shin \nAnd fragment of his face. \n\nThe scientists had been dispatched \nTo check upon their man, \nSo quickly did I dare to hatch \nA fiendish little plan. \n\nI stepped in to the chilly pod \nAnd donned the dead man's tie, \nAnd hoped to God the scientists \nBelieved I was the guy. \n\nThey did and more, and once I lied \nAbout my epic trip, \nThe rubbish bag I took outside \nAnd tossed it in a skip.\n\n\n",
"I walked around my desk once more, just to be safe. The three holographic 'monitors' laid out side-by-side on the floating metal alloy bench had various different pages of Wikipedia up, as well as the obligatory Facebook plug-in which I still haven't figured out how to shut off just yet.\n\nThey promised me that no one can see what I'm looking at from the other side; which was true. The holographic images became entirely transparent when looking at them from the wrong angle, but I still had to check. Hard to trust technology you don't understand. It was then that I had a small reminder pop up in the top right of my vision which became clear when I focused on it. A friendly reminder from my new implant that class was about to start soon. For a brief moment I forgot how to turn it off, trying various combinations of eye-maneuvers to tell it to shut the hell up.\n\nBoth eyes closed.\n\nOne eye closed.\n\nOne eye looking up with the other closed. Ah, that did it.\n\nI was starting to realise why those who got frozen ended up going a bit... loopy. There's a bit of a sensory overload going on. \n\nAlright then. Lets get this over with. There's no bell to signal the start of the class in this... school? I suppose? Not with everyone having their own implants which keep a track of what's going on. It only took a flick of my wrist to unlock the door to the classroom (which I'll admit, is ridiculously cool) and then they started coming in. Talking to each other while looking straight ahead, small flicks and motions of their right hand as they all quickly sorted themselves into a seating arrangement. Looking out across the classroom it was a bit strange to see such a mix of ages. Ranging from what looked to be 14 up to the the middle aged (who I've been told could be as old as 90, as people are aging much more gracefully in this millennia). School's certainly changed, a quick run-down told me that the majority of learning and subjects are simply there for those who are interested. A universal income was granted to everyone, and most ended up taking up academia to pass the time.\n\nAnyway, best not let myself get carried away in thought. People already seem to act as if I'm rather slow, being a 'primitive' from the year 2016.\n\n\"Alright then. Well, welcome to 'An Introduction to the 21st Century\". I'm David, nice to meet you all.\" That was met with a few murmurs, mostly people staring at me as if I was exotic. I suppose I am, in a way.\n\nA few small red blips appeared before me, all hovering over various students heads. My HUD telling me they wanted to ask me questions, I suppose. Pointing to one, a young woman who looked to be about 15, I nodded. The red blip above her head expanded, then disappeared.\n\n\"Are you *really* from the year 2016?\"\n\n\"Ah, yes. Yes I am.\"\n\n\"Really?\" Well, teenagers never really seem to change I suppose.\n\n\"Yes, really.\" I pointed to another. \"Yes, the young man in the back?\" Wait, shouldn't have said anything. He'd have known I signaled to him, now I look like an idiot. Shit.\n\n\"What's it like, coming from the past? What's shocked you the most?\"\n\nIn response, I tapped my temple right where the implant rested. That caused it to ask me if I wanted to shut it down. I did not.\n\n\"Everything is connected, it's slightly overwhelming. When I was frozen, we had just started to work with the 'always online' mentality, having smartphones and laptops which were always within range of Wi-Fi, or a phone network. This is just a whole new level of that, I guess.\"\n\n\"What's... Wi-Fi?\" Oh boy.\n\n\"Oh, right. Uhm, Wi-Fi is what we called wireless information that transmitted between computers. For the internet, things like that.\" \n\nUnfortunately, that just encouraged a whole new range of blank stares.\n\n\"It's... It's what Facebook ran on, back then.\" I continued, hoping to see some understanding faces. Thankfully, a few nodded. \"Yes, next question?\" I gave the heads-up to a middle aged man wearing some extremely outlandish glasses. Hopefully he'd ask me something... easier.\n\n\"What's a meme?\"\n\nOh boy."
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[WP] You are a monster under a child's bed and you're hatching a plan to get the parents to stop scaring you away.
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"It's kind of cliche, but you ever think about how, before you were born, it's just nothingness? Not like being asleep. Pure oblivion. Well, that happens to me every night. Just lurking around under the kid's bed, spooking him out – it's like food to us monsters, you know. We do it to survive. Can't directly interfere with the kid, of course. \n\nSo there I am, scaring the bejeezus out of the kid in his dark room. But then after an hour or two, what does he do? What does he do every night? He hollers to his parents! So then I'll be sitting there crestfallen under the bed, I'll hear steps plodding up the stairs, and before I know it, poof! I'm gone. Sun sets the next evening, the kid settles into the bed, and poof! I'm back. No monster should have to go through that. It's humiliating.\n\nYou can mark my words, I'm putting an end to this. So here's the plan, right? I've been hatching this one up for a while now. Usually, the natural thing for us is to shift around a little, make the kid feel like stuff is moving. Classic! But, tonight, I'm thinking about breaking the rules, letting the kid hear a whisper or two."
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[wp] You stumble upon a genie in a bottle, instead of granting three wishes he gives you three choices. End world hunger, stop all current and future wars or find out what's in the box.
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"I was wondering aimlessly through a field I had passed through many a time before this, when I felt a sharp pain in my foot, and noticed something metal at my feet. I had incredibly found a genie bottle! It was a rough metal, with many years of wear. I gave a slight caress to the object and a large swarm of wind came about and knocked me off of my feet and assaulted my senses. When I collected myself I saw that a large genie had appeared right before my very eyes! \"Glorious human! You have stumbled upon my lamp, and to reward your stumbling, you have three choice!\" The massive beast bellowed belligerently at me. \"But- Wait. I thought genie's granted wishes? Not give choices\" I sheepishly interjected. \"Yes, yes. We used to grant wishes\" The Genie replied. \"But your race was so callous and careless with your newfound power that we had to change the whole system.\"\nI stood back and evaluated my current situation. \"Choices? What kind of choices?\" My mind was racing. What kind of power was I about to receive? \"Choices on the fate of the human race\" the vast being replied. \"You have three choices. One: You can choose to end world hunger. Two: Stop all current wars and prevent any future wars. Or three: Find out what's in that box over there.\" I looked behind him and saw what appeared to be a large chest that had never been in that field before. I was perplexed by the current choice I found myself in. I evaluated my choices one by one. If I ended world hunger, thousands of lives would be spared and struggling countries would be built up and improved beyond their wildest imaginations. Ending all of the current and preventing future wars would save thousands, possibly millions of lives. It would also bring stability to a world that has never seen true stability. But that box, what's in the box? My mind raced, and I could not decide what to choose. I had the the opportunity to save millions of lives or prevent any foreign conflict for all eternity. I finally made up mind and turned to the Genie. \"Great genie, I decide-\" And suddenly everything went black, and I woke up laying in the field I had previously strolling through. Thus ended my first mushroom trip.",
"**\"What's in the box?\" For some people, there's only one answer to that question.**\n\n\nPossibly the worst part of this entire fiasco is that the genie looks like Wayne Brady. He sounds like Wayne Brady. Listen, I like Wayne Brady as much as the next person - he was great on [Whose Line Is It Anyway?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163507/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - but I can only stand so much of him being all chipper game-show-hosty and offering to [\"make a deal\"](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1536749/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) with me.\n\nI knew I should have stayed away from that flea market. It's not like I need any knick-knacks. I avoid tchotchkes. But that little brass lamp just kind of...called to me. I don't know why. It was so...shiny. But hey, 5 bucks is a steal, right?\n\nRight?\n\nNow I'm starting to think that it wasn't chance that led me to buy that lamp.\n\n\"I thought I got three wishes. What kind of half-assed genie are you?\" I ask.\n\nThe genie's grin gets impossibly wider. His teeth are so white they're almost literally blinding. \"Listen, sometimes you don't get wishes - you get choices. These are the choices: no more hunger, no more wars, or you trade everything for what's in the box. So - what's your choice? Hunger? War? Or box?\"\n\nI've seen enough episodes of [The Twilight Zone](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734658/) and [Tales from the Darkside](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0716936/) to know that there has to be some kind of catch. Wasn't there an episode of [The X-files](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751145/) like this? \n\n\"So what's in the box?\" I ask.\n\n\"It wouldn't be any fun if I just told you what was in the box. Live a little! Make a deal! Take a chance! Make a choice!\" The Wayne Brady genie is starting to sound a bit menacing. Also kind of tuneful. Is he singing? Is my life going to turn into that musical episode of [Buffy the Vampire Slayer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0533466/)? \n\n\"Well, can I at least see the box?\" I'm starting to lose my patience. What kind of bullshit choices are these? \"How big is it?\"\n\nThe genie's grin stretches even wider, reminding me of Heath Ledger in [The Dark Knight](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/?ref_=nv_sr_1). A cardboard box, about the size of a carton of printer paper, appears out of thin air in his hands. The lid is folded shut, but not taped. \"Your deepest desire might be in this box...or it might not,\" purrs the genie. \"But you'll never know unless you open it.\"\n\nIs this box going to be like the car in [Repo Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087995/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)? Or that actual box in that movie with [Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362478/)?\n\nWait a minute, I think. I'm missing something here. I'm being stupid. I do know what's in the box. \n\n\"[Schrodinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat)!\" I call. \"Treat time, Schrodinger!\"\n\nThe box quivers, the flaps of the lid burst apart, and my cat jumps out and into my arms. He glares at the genie, and in a little raspy voice, says, \"I told you she'd know it was me. Now you have to grant all my wishes. No more of this 'choice' crap.\"\n\nI smile at the genie and scritch Schrodinger's chin. Who wants to end world hunger or all wars? This is going to be so much more fun.",
"5 Years have gone by and I've always wondered whether or not I should have ended war. Wars seem to be quick advancers of technology, medical breakthroughs, transport tech, computing you name it. We still kill and fight for territory, for power for fun. But at least we can eat. \n\nI ended world hunger. Not that we don't still have the need to eat it's just that there is now food available to all who need it. You can starve your damn self but I've gotten you the ability to eat. Anorexics still exist and people can still balloon up to hundreds of pounds but we can all eat. \n\nThe box was never a choice. It's always the choice of the curious and the foolhardy and not a day goes by that I wonder what the trap was. In every city and every village now there's a table that has food for the taking . Some tried to control the tables but people quickly learned that as long as 100 people lived in an area, the tables would appear. \n\nThe food isn't delicious. It's a spread of some sort of bread and a pitcher of water. You have to come to the table to eat. This has made for some strange occurrences. The transportation of food is now only for variety not necessity. Some people live entirely off the tables. I myself prefer Doritos. \n\nWe can now wage war more quickly, and supply lines are now more about medicine and killing devices. Strange that those are bedfellows. The problem with any wish is the price and it seems my price for hunger is war. \n\nEveryone is aware of M.A.D. so it seems we have much more horrific small scale weapons. You don't need agents of mass destruction when mines and bullets do the trick. We're destroying the land but it's not as big a deal since we don't need to farm it any more. \n\nI solved one problem, I made the world a better place. I did my part. I keep trying to say that. But over and over I'm made to realize that, If you are to be human you must continue to strive. You can not rest at a single problem solved no matter how big. It may be the most important thing you've ever done but the work doesn't stop there. There is more to do. \n\nMaybe if I had ended war the hunger would have been the easier problem to solve. I thought I had \"Done my part\" but it turns out I can't wash my hands of this. I just wish I knew where to start.",
"The genie coughed heartily, clearing his throat with a booming cough directed into his large hands. \"So,\" he clapped his hands together, emphasizing the importance of what he was about to say. \"End world hunger.\"\" His long index finger jumped up as he suggested the first option. \"End all current and future wars.\"\" The middle finger appeared next to it's neighbour. \"Or you can -\" \"What's in the box?\" \"-have ... excuse me?\" I realised the sudden mention of the object which had my attention this whole time had caught him by surprise. Pointing towards the beautiful ornate box which he was sitting beside, I attempted to clarify. \"The box, what's inside it?\"\" \"That's nothing important, don't get distracted. Or you can-\" \"I want to know what's in the box.\" \"-choose ... why?\" \"Well, you're a genie. We've seen what you keep inside lamps, imagine what must fit inside a box!\" It sounded perfectly logical in my mind. The old genie sighed and opened his box containing two cheese sandwiches and a bottle of water. \"Are you happy now?\" ",
"\"Hey.\" The voice seemed to drift up over my shoulder and into my ear like a wisp of insistently annoying smoke.\n\nHe was following me.\n\n\"UGH. I *told* you, I don't *care* what's in the box!\" I spat the line out so loud that heads popped up over office cubicle walls as their owners tried to discern the source of the commotion.\n\nThe Djinn's face changed into one of childish belligerence. \"Come on! Just ask me what's in the box!\"\n\nMy teeth ground so loudly I'm sure they could be felt a county over. I at least attempted to make my voice a quiet hiss. \"If you were only ever going to give me the option of the box, why did you even bother with the other two?!\"\n\n\"'Cause I didn't think you'd be so boring...\" The Djinn said, pouting aggressively.\n\n\"Then go pick someone else.\" I spun back around to my computer to try and resume my work.\n\n\"I caaaaaaan't!\" The youthful Djinn whined. \"That's not how it works!\"\n\nMy hands caught my falling head instead of balling up into fists that I desperately wanted to use. Instead, I stood up, took a step out to close my office door, and spun on the Djinn. He was diminutive, perhaps less than a meter tall, pudgy, and instead of standing opted to float casually on crossed legs a few feet over the floor in obstinate youthful defiance of the laws of gravity. I still managed to bring the full weight of my petite five-foot-six frame to bear on him and delivered the most withering scowl my features would allow.\n\n\"You can grant wishes, can't you? Then grant my wish and *leave me alone*.\"\n\n\"I can't,\" He said again, turning sullen. \"I... I can't grant wishes yet.\"\n\nThis surprised me, even if he was lying. I stood straight and crossed my arms, waiting for an explanation.\n\n\"I'm not old enough yet!\" He cried, injustice masking the disappointment in his eyes. \"They won't let me grant any wishes!\"\n\nMy scowl didn't fade, but it became a lot harder to hold when I felt my irritation crumbling under the weight of pity. I held the facade for a few more moments, then sighed, and massaged the bridge of my nose. \"Who is 'they'? Do you have some... Mystic council of genies or something that you report to? And what does this have to do with me?\"\n\n\"Why can't *you* just ask me what's in the box?\"\n\nThat was it. Pity gone. At this point, he probably had a point, but my pent-up frustration at being stalked by a supernatural being asking me about the contents of a small box called that I refuse on principle. \"Would that make you go away?\"\n\n\"Yes!\"\n\n\"Alright, fine. What's in the box?\"\n\nHis face lit up. He reached behind himself, then paused. He seemed to feel around for something, and turned his head to look down his back. His smile disappeared. \"Oh... Oh, no...\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" I said, realizing what had happened.\n\n\"It was right here!\" He said, furiously patting his small form everywhere. \"I just had it! Just now!\"\n\nI took a deep breath and sat back down in my office chair. This is going to be a long Tuesday.",
"\"I'm not a fool, I know that there are always strings attached to these things, or some kind of gotcha. You are probably some kind of trickster, and my grandmother always warned me of tricksters.\"\n\nGenie: \"Why? Why go to all that trouble. If I wanted to cause you harm surely you can think of other ways I could do that. I am here to grant wishes, that is my job and I will do it. I can't lie.\"\n\n\"But that's exactly what a trickster would say\"\n\nGenie: \"I promise I can't lie. The wishes are exactly as described, you can end all hunger, stop all the wars, or even find out what is in the box\"\n\n\"Why would anyone choose the box?\"\n\nGenie: \"You'd be surprised, I mean, it could even contain a boat!\"\n\n\"I.. wait, is that a pop culture reference? You watch TV?\"\n\nGenie: \"I have a lot of time on my hands...\"\n\n\"Stuck in there forever?\"\n\nGenie: \"Well, if not forever, then near enough\"\n\n\"In all that time, has anyone ever chosen the box?\"\n\nGenie: \"Do you still have world hunger? Any wars going on?\"\n\n\"Hmmm... but really, they chose the box?\"\n\nGenie: \"Hey, don't look at me, I'm just as surprised\"\n\n\"Were they happy with their choice\"\n\nGenie: \"Everyone has been happy with their wishes so far. You just need to follow the rules.\"\n\n\"What are the rules?\"\n\nGenie: \"Oh, good question. Very smart to ask that. So listen carefully. I gave you 3 wish choices. You make a wish, I grant it. You only get one wish. I can't lie. I can't tell you anything about the box unless you wish it.\"\n\n\"I'm not going to pick the box\"\n\nGenie: \"That's what they all say, at first\"\n\n\"But then they change their mind? why?\"\n\nGenie: \"I can't tell you\"\n\n\"I'm going to wish to end all wars\"\n\nGenie: \"That sounds like a good one\"\n\n\"So do I just say it or?\"\n\nGenie: \"You need to say 'I wish to end all wars forever'\"\n\n\"Ok, here goes: 'I wish to end all wars forever'\"\n\nGenie: \"Excellent, I will get right to granting that, but one thing first\"\n\n\"What's that?\"\n\nGenie: \"You were right when you said I could be a trickster\"\n\n\"Uh huh... I want to take my wish back. I wish that I did not make a wish. Listen, I wish that I did not make a wish.\"\n\nGenie: \"Much too late for that. World war III has just started... there will be no more wars after this\"\n\n\"This is just a trick right, ww3 has not actually started\"\n\nGenie: \"Oh, I assure you, the missiles are in the air as we speak\"\n\n\"But why?\"\n\nGenie: \"I've been locked up here a long time, locked up by your ancestors, your direct ancestors no less... for only you could make a wish. There was no coincidence that you ended up with this lamp. It is just that everyone else knew what I was and you are just so trusting and naive\"\n\n\"So you lied to me\"\n\nGenie: \"No, I never lied. It is actually true that I cannot lie\".\n\n\"So I should have wished for the box\"\n\nGenie: \"Oh no, I would have just put a plague or something in it. You should have just made whatever wish you wanted with a long list of very detailed criteria. The rules are just you make a wish, I grant it, you only get one, I can't lie. I never said you had to pick one of the wish choices I gave you... I just made those up and said they were choices. The box just kept you distracted\"\n\n\"Why do this? You will die too\"\n\nGenie: \"I really really hope so\"\n\n",
"\"What? This has to be a joke.\"\n\n\"Nopity nope, this is how it is mate. Take it or leave it.\"\n\n\"Alright, let me think.\"\n\nThat day was the weirdest day of my life. Not really the weirdest, but definitely the most disappointing.\n\n\"If I end world hunger there would be a lot less death, but what about thirst? People need water to live too, so it would be pretty pointless.\"\n\n\"I don't know why you're explaining this to me, man. I'm jus-\"\n\n\"Shut up, I'm trying to think.\"\n\n^^^\"Twat.\"\n\n\"Getting rid of war would be incredibly helpful. No more people would need to die for no reason, no more innocents would be killed, no more childs would be homeless.\"\n\n\"Uhh, that's not how-\"\n\n\"Did I ask for your opinion? That's it, give me the box.\"\n\n\"What? But you said it would be be-\"\n\n\"I don't care, give me the box.\"\n\n\"Look, I could go on an hour-long explanation of why this is a bad idea but I don't care anymore. Have your box and a good day, sir.\"\n\n*poof*\n\nThe genie disappeared and out of nowhere, a box fell on my hands. I opened it and inside was a mirror, but it didn't reflect my face for some reason.\n\nIt reflected a butt-hole.\n\n---\n\nFor more stupid stuff go to /r/WhatAGayWriter, where there's barely any gay stuff.\n\nThanks for reading :D.\n\nEdit: ~~Whaaaaaat? 4 upvotes in less than an hour? Miracles do exist! OMG, almost 30 upvotes? Today is a good day.~~\n\n~~Edit 2: 60 upvotes? This is crazy.~~\n\nEdit 3: Holy shit 100 upvotes? That's awesome. Thanks to everyone for reading :D."
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Remove a letter, add a letter, or change one letter to another letter.
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[WP] Change one letter of a book's title, and write a scene from the new book. Let us guess the title.
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"The sky was pitch black when Charlie eased into consciousness and for a moment she forgot where she was. She could hear the sound of crickets and something else — perhaps a toad? — trilling in the darkness outside the window. The bed beneath her was topped with a thin cotton mattress and the quilt was light and careworn. The breeze coming in through the open window had a slight chill to it.\n\nCharlie peeped open one eye. She could only just make out the shape of a large wooden wardrobe on the wall across from the bed, a wardrobe topped with the tall silhouette of an empty wine bottle from the night before. She remembered that she was sleeping in a cabin with her husband. They were spending a week in the wilderness he had grown up in.\n\nShe patted the bed beside her until she made contact. Her husband grunted as her hand poked his left eye and nostril.\n\n\"Sorry babe. I really have to use the bathroom and I don't want to go by myself. It's really dark out there.\" \n\nHe grunted again.\n\n\"BABE. Come on. You married a city girl, remember? I'm nervous! And I have to GO.\"\n\nCharlie's husband rolled out of bed muttering and grabbed a flashlight. He flicked it on and reached for her hand.\n\nThe two of them padded to the door and slipped on their sandals.\n\n\"Eeeuuuuggh!\"\n\n\"Wil! What happened?!\"\n\n\"Ugh. Sorry, Charl. I just walked into a spider web. No big deal. Just wasn't expecting it. Still half asleep. Come on, let's just do this, I'm exhausted.\"\n\nThe two of them walked hand-in-hand across a short patch of grass towards the bathroom. \n\nIn daylight, Charlie had thought it was a charming little trek, not far at all, and peppered with chipmunks and squirrels and round little mushrooms and soft green grass covered in dew.\n\nIn the darkness, however, it was a different place entirely. She felt tickles on her feet as she walked, which surely must be deadly spiders, and she was sure a snake was just waiting in the grass to leap and sink it's venomous teeth into her, maybe even an angry bear or a wolf hiding in the bushes. Were there bears or wolves in Vermont? Charlie didn't know and was too nervous to ask Wil for the answer. Wil would know. He had spent plenty of time in this wilderness growing up, and if he confirmed her fears she didn't know if you could make it to the toilets, and she really had to go.\n\nThey made it over to the bathrooms and Charlie ducked into a stall and relieved herself with a sigh.\n\nNow, Charlie and her husband had put back an entire bottle of wine before they passed out in each other's arms, and it had really built up in her system. As she continued to relieve herself, her husband's eyebrows raised higher and higher. A few moments passed and he let out a soft whistle. She was still going. And going. And going! Finally he heard the rustle of toilet paper, the flush, and the soft sounds of her rearranging her nightclothes.\n\nWhen she stepped out of the stall, her husband looked at her in awe.\n\n\"Wow, Charlotte. That was some wee!\"",
"Harry looked down at the empty case. No more magic. No more power. Nothing but an empty box and an I.O.U. \"What??\"\n\nHermione flung the doors to the parlour open with a flourish, gliding in wearing a devastating green dress. \"I'm sorry, I had to sell it. We had no money. You can't expect me to live like a carpet bagger, can you?\"\n\nHarry disdained her arrogance, her selfishness and approached her forcefully, grasping her by the forearms and elbows. \"What have you *done*!?\"\n\n\"What I always do -what I had to do.\" She fluttered her eyelashes.\n\n\"You mean-spirited, selfish woman. And I suppose you bought that new dress because you *needed* it.\"\n\n\"Oh, this old thing? I saw it in a window and couldn't resist.\"\n\n\"I'm leaving! You've always been a survivor, Hermione -and that's what you'll do -without me.\" Harry marched to the door but Hermione stopped him, asking, \"but where shall I go, what shall I do?\"\n\n\"Frankly, Hermione, I don't give a crap.\""
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Imagine what it must have been like to have your chest crushed by the front bumper or rear of your own car. What a stupid mistake, leaving the handbrake off! There's something solid behind your back that isn't budging and you can't breath. There is a 1.5 ton weight compressing your ribs against your lungs and the pain is unimaginable. You are still conscious though, for the few minutes before you pass out from oxygen deprivation. You start to panic, thinking of ways to escape this. No! This cannot happen, I'm just starting to make it big! You're only 14, far too young to die! People don't die when they are 14, it's just not possible! You struggle, pushing back against that overwhelming force with what failing strength you have but it is like Sisyphus pushing upon his rock. You start to lose feeling in your extremities, the toes are the first to go. It is as though pinpricks of cold travel through your limbs as sensation fades from your body. The adrenaline and DMT released near to death causes you to hallucinate, as your vision slowly fades and pirouettes nothingness.
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[WP] Write about a young teenager who thinks that they are invincible, who gets into a fatal accident.
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"Shit. \n\nHow the hell am I going to explain this to dad? I wasn't even supposed to take his car. He's gonna bust my ass for this one for sure. And mom wanted my home by 11. She's gonna be pissed. \n\nI definitely shouldn't have taken that corner so fast. I should have known the street was slick from the rain. But now here I am, wrapped around a tree. My door is jammed shut. Fuck. \n\nI feel a nervous sweat dripping down my forehead. I raise an arm to wipe my brow. Nothing happens. My arm won't move. Must be caught by the seatbelt. Good thing I was wearing it or I might be done for. \n\nThe sweat trickles down past my mouth and I'm met with a familiar metallic taste. But sweat tastes salty, not metallic. That's not right. \n\nI shiver as I finally get my arm free. When did it get so cold? I wipe my head and see my hand painted a dark red. Oh god.\n\nI'm fine. \n\nIt doesn't actually hurt and bleeding from the head is always exaggerated anyways. Hopefully it leaves a cool scar. I'd at least like something to show off for this. \n\nI see another car pull over. The driver gets out of her car and runs towards me. I see her gasp and fumble for her phone. I tell her I'm alright but she doesn't seem to hear me as she dials 911. She looks terrified. Am I ok?\n\nI think so. I feel fine. Right? \n\nThe girl gets off the phone and hurries over to me. She reaches through the shattered window. She cut her arm on a shard of glass, but ignores the pain. I wince as she presses her arm on my forehead. \n\n\"I'm Sarah. What's your name?\" She says, forcing a smile. \n\n\"George,\" I respond. \"Really, I'm fine.\"\n\nI say I'm fine, but at this point I'm mostly just tired. \n\n\"George, I need you to stay with me,\" she says worriedly. \"Help is on the way.\"\n\n\"I'm fine,\" I tell her again. This time I'm not sure if I'm trying to convince her or myself. \n\nMy eyes start to droop. It really is late. It's after midnight now. I guess I'll rest my eyes while I wait for help.\n\nShit. That's right. I was supposed to be home over an hour ago. Mom's gonna be pissed. "
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[WP] Hello Ms. Earhart, welcome back. How was your flight?
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"*“Hello Ms. Earhart, welcome back. How was your flight?”*\n\n*“I would have liked for it to have lasted a bit longer. But the Island retreat truly made for an unexpected delight.”*\n\n*The meeting room erupted into laughter and applause. Earhart grinned.*\n\n*“No, really. a few days alone together did wonders for Noonan and me. The man who nearly sent both of us plummeting to our deaths suddenly became the last face I'd see alive. It’s hard not to warm up to someone in those circumstances.”*\n\n*“Is that intended in the literal sense, Ms Earhart?”*\n\n*Another round of laughter, another grin. “That’s up to your imagination, Jones. or Maybe Noonan can fill you in.”*\n\nEarhart winked and let out a chuckle.\n\n“What the fuck are you laughing at?” \nShe shielded her eyes with her hand to look up at Noonan, who was standing with his shirt wrapped around his head, squinting at her in disbelief.\n\n“You look ridiculous,” she said. \n\nNoonan let out a snort that sounded like a suffocated squeal. He paced back and forth, trying to speak, but every time he opened his mouth he’d shut it again and throw his hands up in the air in disgust. He had no idea where to begin. \n\n*How did we end up here? My calculations weren’t wrong. there’s no way. We were so close. We were flying at 1000 feet. How did we end up here? What the fuck happened?*\n\nThat last question escaped him. Earhart didn’t miss a beat. \n\n“Your calculations were wrong.”\n\n“Amelia, I’d wager more money on this island having moved than on my making any navigation mistakes.”\n\nShe had leaned back into a deep recline and was now drawing figure eights in the sand with her left toe. Her pants were rolled up, her shoes tied together and tucked away by a shrub. Noonan kicked her in the shin. Earhart cried out. \n\n“Get a hold of yourself, Noonan.” She drew out the double o for emphasis. *Nooonan. What a name.* She smiled. Noonan slapped her.\n\n“Stop laughing. Stop laughing. Stop. Stop. Stop.” He squeezed her shoulders hard until she stopped. They stood an arms length apart, neither one of them making eye contact. \n\nEarhart must have sent at least 50 transmissions when they crash-landed into the lagoon, giving their location (calculated by Noonan) over and over again. Halfway through she switched to morse code. She had come back from the plane wreckage smiling, Noonan remembered. “They’ll be here by tomorrow at the latest,” she had said to him. That was three days ago. \n\nAt first he believed her. It was easier to believe her. They’d spend the night together on this small speck of land and be woken up by a blinding light from an approaching ship. The search party would disembark onto the Island and wrap blankets around their shoulders. “Welcome back, Ms. Earhart. Mr. Noonan.” \n\nBut that didn’t last long. By the following evening he had gone over their entire journey from Lae to Howland in his head trying to figure out what had gone wrong - all his calculations, their flight path, her transmissions. The transmitter. \n\nEarhart had cut off the long antenna before their take-off from Lae. It was annoying cranking it back in and back out, she had said. She was overconfident, like she was being followed around by cameras, and even after three days as castaways he couldn’t shake it off of her.\n\nNoonan wasn’t bothered by the antenna. It was her transmissions that he kept thinking about. He had been asking her about them for days now, yelling right into her face and slapping her whenever she gave her scripted “your calculations were wrong” response. The Itasca had received every one of their in-flight transmissions, no question about it. But Amelia had kept repeating the same thing over and over as if she couldn’t hear theirs. She didn’t know how to work the transmitter as well as she should have, that was true, but Noonan heard their transmissions. It had been working fine. \n\nHe took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you want to land at Howland?” \n\nShe popped a blister on her lower lip with her teeth and licked up the blood before collapsing back onto the sand. “This was the greatest publicity stunt of the century,” she muttered. \n\n“It would have been had we made it to Howland.” \n\nEarhart shook her head. “'Aviatrix circumnavigates the globe with the help of the handsome Fred Noonan, world-class flight navigator.'That works. But what about this: ‘Earhart makes miraculous crash-landing after faulty navigation from flight-companion Noonan.” \n\nNoonan laughed. “I’d need a miracle to have a career after that. Forget about opening a navigation school.”\n\n“I would have given you a percentage of my book royalties.” Amelia smiled up at him with the same glint of mischief she had had their last night together in Lae. His stomach turned. Everything came falling into place. Noonan had always known this was just an elaborate publicity stunt for her next book, and he thought he’d reap benefits too; it would give his new navigation school’s reputation a head-start. But circumnavigating the globe wasn’t enough for her, or not anymore. She had achieved fame with good-looks and a decent grasp of aviation, and now she wanted stardom. Even at the expense of everyone else. \n\nNoonan started walking away from the lagoon and into the forest. He ran his fingers over tree bark and shrubs he passed, tearing off leaves here and there and shredding them absentmindedly. This was the last place he’d ever take a stroll, he thought to himself. He sat himself down against a rock, took out a small leather-bound notepad from his chest pocket, and started to write. \n\nBy the time he had made his way back the sun was already set and Amelia was curled up under his jacket. He laid down beside her and took her head in his hands, kissing her eyelids, her cheekbones, the blisters on her lips. He unbuttoned her shirt and pressed her against him as she started to cry. “Shh. It’s okay. It’s just you and me right now, nothing else. Nothing else in the world.” \n\nHe fell asleep imagining the press releases in the days and weeks to come. As long as they weren’t found, they wouldn’t die. Both their reputations would live on and evolve out of their control. But one day someone would find his notebook. In a month, six months, six years. It will be there waiting for them, a full account of Earhart’s egotistic deceit. He couldn’t save himself, he thought, but he’d die happier knowing she’d suffer another spectacular fall."
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[WP] Write a horror story where the villain's weapon is a stapler.
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"\"When I was a kid, there was this bully that kept taking the teacher's stapler.\" She stood in the shadows, as she had a man underneath an old industrial building light. They were alone, the building was abandoned. She missed this feeling, watching someones misery as they writhed in pain trying to pull loose but their skin tears with each tug. \"They would write notes and staple them to my shirt for the other kids to see. As we got older, she got more daring. First, she stapled the notes in my hair and they would get tangled in the process. Then, when I no longer paid attention to their actions she moved on to piercing my skin with the stapler. The first one, was in my fore head.\"\n\nThe person in the chair giggled at the imagery, \"Funny? Is it?,\" she wasn't too pleased with his laughter. She walked up to his forehead and put the wood stapler to his ear and stapled a small wooden block to the side of his head. \"Laugh now, little bitch.\"\n\nShe took a few steps back into the shadows, pulling off her mask. She was slender, with an athlete's build. She wore a pair of black baggy sweats, a long black sleeve shirt, two black surgeon's gloves, and a pair of trainers, her hair was tied back. If he wasn't stapled down to the chair he could easily toss her around. His large muscular build and demeanor were of a guy who spent a lot of time clubbing and partying. She was just testing her own mettle with him.\n\n\"Arturo? Right?\" Her face came into the light, \"I hear you like to beat 'Bitches' right?\" \n\n\"y eres una PUTA!\" He pulled up on his arms but they were bleeding all over his wooden chair, \"Cuando salga de esta, te voy a mostrar que soy un hombre de verdad!\"\n\n\"What did you say? I don't speak fucking bean paste.\" She pulled his hand as flat as possible. He fought back and tried to crush her hand, but after a few swift hits and a stray staple to the scalp he let go. \"Say, I'm sorry mommy.\"\n\nShe hit him on the knuckle with he stapler, \"I'm sorry mom.\" He said with an accent.\n\n\"Say it without an accent! Fucking bitch.\" He said it almost crying, but stapled the lose skin to the chair anyway. \"Now, tell mommy what you said in english, hold the tamales.\" \n\n\"When I get out of this chair, I'll show you a real man.\"\n\n\"Oh yeah? You're going to show me a real man, but you can't stand the pain of this? My dad, had the idea of stapling me after I told the teacher, who told my parents I was freaked out by staples because of the school bully. He took a staple and first...\"\n\nShe pulled his lip out, and he could feel the tips of the staple loaded in the gun ready to go. His head was flat against the chair, he looked like he was going to be electrocuted in his throne but all he was going to face was her wrath.\n\n\"He gave me a lip piercing.\" The staple went through clean, barely any blood came from his lip. He screamed. \"Then he started doing it all over my body. My dad was a pedo-masochist. After, I was pierced or twitching from the pain he would get off by watching me shake from the damage he did. The sick fuck.\"\n\n\"You're disgusting, bitch! He turned you into a fucking monster!\" He was trying to move but his skin tearing was stopping him. \"Fuck you whore! You won't do shit.\"\n\n\"Oh I won't?! I work at a hospital, I'm one of the best surgeons in the state. I can keep you alive for a while before I finish you. I just seen what you did to your wife's daughter, and thought... 'There is someone who deserves a little more suffering from a fellow human being.'\" \n\nShe punched him out, it took a few hits but he was out cold. When he woke up, his mouth tasted like metal and his tongue had a few rivets in them, so did his cheeks, and his lips were sealed closed. Now, his biceps, legs, and sides of his stomach were stapled into place. He would have to suffer a lot in order to stand up. He was naked, and his dick was out. He was very vulnerable because the rest of his body hurt, but not down there. He looked into the shadows and seen an end of a cigarette glowing, he squealed out a plea for her to let him go. He could feel all of the tearing and bleeding happening. So, she threw him a line.\n\n\"If you can stand up and away from the chair I won't finish this. We have been here for over a day, and I know someone is probably wondering what I am doing. I'll just say I hooked up with this guy. Anyway, if you can stand up you are free to go and get help. I won't even chase you or finish anything, but its your choice and your life, Arturo.\" She took one last drag and dropped it on the floor, \"do you want to live?\"\n\nHe struggled a little and the pain was excruciating, he didn't really move too much. He heard a ticking, and she started a clock somewhere. He fought harder to with stand the pain to get up, but he couldn't. When it finally rang, he pleaded. He heard an air compressor start and something being attached to an air hose. \n\n\"Well, Arturo. You're not much of a man after all.\" She walked up to the light again with a large staple gun connected to an air hose. \"You deserve this, for your wife.\"\n\nThe first staple went through one of his balls, \"Your daughter!\"\n\nThe second staple went through the next and pulled apart to make the skin tight, \"and for any others that were in your past. Also, everything about me, some of it's a lie. I just wanted you to think I was sympathetic. Makes it more enjoyable to watch the cowards plead.\"\n\nHis lips tore open and you could hear him screaming for a while, until it muffled out and all you could hear was the air pushing down the staples into the chair.\n\n*Kist, chuch! Kist, chuch! Kist, chuch!*"
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[WP] He triggers the greatest terrors of humanity, but he does it for love.
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"He can't resist it, deny it, control it. Everything is ending now. Everything is colliding inward, apart, crumbling into something that doesn't resemble anything. It is all his fault.\n\nThe social order, it has existed till now, citizens following lines. Citizens inside the lines, behind the lines. Souls behind souls behind souls. All are waiting with anticipation. Waiting, as if seized machines awaiting service in precession. Silently longing for fuel, these machines. The line moves slow, languid, limp.\n\nThey are not him. He is different. He has to be different, he must have it now. He needs it now, more than ever, more than them. This want, this need, it is the moment to break code. He knows. To push crowd, to part crowd, glaring eyes be damned. He must. It is not his moment in their eyes, but he will take it. And he does.\n\nUnkind words rise in a swell behind him, a turbulent wave of moral voice. It only accelerates him quicker, quicker, quicker to the counter. He wants first place, front of the line. All he needs is coffee. All he loves, is coffee."
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[WP] Who you saw your father as at five and who you saw him as at thirty-five sit down for coffee.
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"\"I've failed.\" The older man said. He was thirty years the elder of the man across from him. \"I've let the family down.\"\n\nThe younger man took a sip of his coffee and glared at the elder.\n\n\"I tried to quit.\" The old man continued. \"I know your sober at that age but trust me we relapse. We had no choice.\"\n\n\"There's always a choice.\" The younger one slammed the table and continued. \" it's your fault she's dead! You are weak! You robbed our son of his mother and our grandchildren of a grandmother!\"\n\nTears trickled down the older man's face.\n\n\"I should have never volunteered to drive out back home that night. We all drank too much. He tried to take my keys.\"\n\n\"He offered you the spare room!\" The young one bellowed. \"You could have taken the bed! None of this would have happened! Our son blamed it on himself!\"\n\nThe old man began to sob.\n\n\"His mother died on his thirty first birthday.\" The young man continued. \"And how he's gone. You sat idle and let him believe it was his fault while you did nothing and drank until you passed out!\"\n\n\"I tried!\"\n\n\"You make make me sick.\"\n\nThe younger man vanished and the waiter watched nervously at the mourning old man. He picked up his phone and dialed for his daughter in law. It was time to make arrangements for his sons funeral."
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[WP] Write about the events leading up to a nuclear war, and the nuclear war itself.
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"We interrupt this program to bring you an important breaking news announcement. \n\nThis just in, we have reports of a serious incident off the coast of Turkey between Russia and NATO. Although the details are uncertain as of yet, we have reports that Russian fighter jets were shot down by vessels of the Turkish Naval Force which were part of NATO forces operating in that region. Details are unknown, and we have received no comment from Russia's military sources. It is suspected but not confirmed that Russia has retaliated against Turkey. We also have unconfirmed reports that there were US ships involved in the area.\n\nThe Department of Defense has said there will be no official statement issued until all details are clear, quote, \"The situation is changing rapidly, we cannot give any official statements at this time other than something very serious has happened\". In the mean time, emergency committees have been arranged in several NATO countries to discuss what they claim is unwarranted Russian aggression. Reserve troops have been deployed around the border between Europe and Russia in the event the situation escalates. Military personnel are being placed around key nuclear facilities. \n\n[A few minutes later]\n\nWe interrupt this program to bring you an important breaking news announcement.\n\nThis just in, we have reports that Russian naval forces have been spotted in the Aegean sea. Europe has heightened their mobilization of military forces. Aircraft are being prepared to launch at a moment's notice, and additional reserve troops are being deployed near the Russian border. The US Armed Forces have raised the DEFCON level to DEFCON 4, a state of increased intelligence watch and security measures. We will provide updates as the situation progresses.\n\n(I might continue this if anyone's interested)\n\n\n \n\n\n",
"I'm writing this letter. I figure if it's hand written someone may find it one day.\n\nMy name is James Wills and I am a sergeant in the United States military. \n\nWe are currently seeking refuge in a nuclear bunker located deep beneath the earths surface. They've just locked the president in the safe room.\n\nEven now I feel the earth shake from the bombs. \n\nNo doubt the Russians. Maybe even North Korea. \n\nIt doesn't matter because in the end the whole world is going to shit. It all started when a test bomb landed on the coast of San Francisco. \n\nThe damn Koreans finally made it to our land. This put every nation on their toes. A few weeks later we shot down an unarmed Russian jet flying just inside US airspace. The next year to come after that all hell broke lose.\n\nWWIII.\n\nAnd now the war has turned to what we all feared. Nuclear warfare.\n\nThe president is in his room right now giving the go to release our entire arsenal. I just finish overseeing the final preparations of seeking this bunker sealed.\n\nPanic is visible on everyone's faces. I just received word that the stasis chambers are online. Majority of the people will be out for the next decade to conserve rations. I've been elected one of them.\n\nGod help us all."
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[WP] Throughout the entire universe, Earth life has been discovered to 'change' over time. You are an alien observer that is attempting to catalog the planet.
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"Throughout the universe, every intelligent species has eventually stopped progressing. The Ithorians, whose true name is completely unpronounceable by humans and so will be dubbed such due to their similarities to the fictional alien species, were one of the few who had developed long-distance space travel. They managed to achieve such because they were a peaceful people, and spent their time improving peaceful technologies instead of weapons. In their travels, they came across numerous other species, whom they shared their technology with, both willingly and unwillingly.\n\nI am an Ithorian scientist. You can call me Farnsworth, as I find that name pleasing, and my true name, like that of my species, cannot be pronounced by humans.\n\nI have been tasked with watching the planet locally known as ‘Earth’. I am to watch over its progression, and ensure that it will not threaten any other worlds or peoples.\n\nThroughout the galaxy, intelligent species have developed into three separate categories: economic, warlike, and other. Mine is the latter, as we had no concept of economy or war before being exposed to the other.\nHowever, I am having difficulty with Earth, much as my predecessors did. Though initial observations showed the humans to be a warrior race, they soon developed economies, and they developed spreading religions. The world’s population is divided into multiple countries, but many are allied despite being completely separate, something I have never heard of before.\n\nNot only that, but their progression is not limited to a specific area. They have continued to improve upon technology of all types, better weapons and computers and such.\n\nI fear that my time spent here will be ultimately fruitless. Any report I send back detailing this species’ progress would be ridiculed, as the galactic senate is set in their ways, as is expected. They wouldn’t believe me, just as they didn’t believe my predecessors, and they won’t believe whoever replaces me after I die.\n\nHow could they achieve so much? How were they not limited, how did they keep going? They had yet to develop long-distance space travel, but they had already developed nuclear weaponry and microcomputing, and their every technology was forever moving forwards.\n\nIf they were to ever truly travel across the stars, I fear that the rest of us would be lost.\n"
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Anything after is up to you.
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[WP] First Sentence: "I was pumping with adrenaline like a bodybuilder about to inject his first needle of steroids."
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"Let me rephrase, before all the body builders, junkies and grammar nazi's attack:\n\n\"I was pumping with adrenaline like a bodybuilder about to inject his first syringe full of steroids\" \n\nIt was wild, the adrenaline, the dopermine and all the other chemical imbalance going through my body and brain was intense, it was crazy, it was just out of this world, and yet... and yet, I was still on the precipice, I had still not taken the final step, was I not sure? was I having second thoughts? was I procrastinating? Why? Am I afraid? Am I just a coward at heart? Do I feel so good at this point that it would not be necessary to follow through?\n\nI don't know all the answers, But I am pumping with adrenaline, and I do feel like a body builder about to inject his first syringe full of steroids, I do, really, thats exactly how I feel, and it feels great!"
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[WP] A frog tells you that if you kiss him, YOU will turn into a princess.
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"\"A princess you say ? A princress from which kingdom ?\"\n\n\"None, just a princess.\"\n\n\"That doesnt make any sense, if I'm a princess from nowhere how can I be a princess ?\"\n\n\"That's complicated just trust me, you'll be a princess.\"\n\n\"At least try to explain, I'm not buying the \"Shut up it's magic\" thing. Tell me how I become a princess, from where and what you have to gain in this.\"\n\n\"Humans.... Sooo, if you kiss me it will make a contract between us, this one to be precise\" The from give me a piece of scroll from nowhere. \"After that you'll be send in an alternate universe in what we call a \"princess school\", here you will be taught about all that implies to be a princess. When, after three years you graduate you'll have to find a dragon or and evil king or what you want to kidnape you, then a knight will come to save you. You understand no king want to marry his daughter to the first dummy that can kill a dragon but that's how succession works. For what I have to gain it's just my dayly routine, I'm a princess finder.\"\n\n\"Ok I got it, it's stupid but I got it. Just why do you ask a men to do that ?\"\n\n\"As a friend say \"They know what they have in their hands.\", in a princess school it's unthinkable to have sexual education class but a princess need to know what to do in the bedroom so we ask guys, at least they know how to use a dick.\"\n\n\"I'm speaking to a frog who want me to become a princess drag queen by kissing him, what did I smoke. Ok frog, let's try it.\"",
"\"You've been blinded,\" he croaks, hopping desperately after me to keep pace. \"Cursed. Your memory stolen from you.\" Have you ever heard a frog out of breath? It's a funny thing, like a series of increasingly uncomfortable burps. I walk on, trying to pay it no mind. \n\n\"You were a princess!\" he cries, his voice trailing, growing distant. \"The kingdom beneath the mud! Our lakeside paradise! This was the love that we shared! I sang to you, clung to you, fertilized your spawn! Our children are waiting for us, my love!\" \n\nEven as I try to ignore him, there's a memory surfacing in my head, the blurry outline of pondwater and mud. My feet have stopped moving. They're heavy, inert. \"Who cursed me then?\" I say, despite myself. \"And what kind of curse is being human? I could - I could stomp your guts out. You're nothing compared to me. A slimy bag of skin.\"\n\n\"The Sorcerer Toad,\" he says, \"he turned you to a monster!\" He hobbles up to me, places webbed hands upon my foot. \"He made you swell to monstrous size, enflamed your blood, sapped the loving moisture from your skin! Ask yourself, my love, have you found happiness in this form? As you stretch up to the sky and view the limits of your horizon, have you found anywhere as peaceful as the placid depths of our kingdom?\"\n\nThere's something in my face that makes him suddenly unsure, that makes him stumble back, gaze dropping to the ground. When he tilts his head back up, his soft white throat is bared in supplication. \"There is ... there is nothing more I can say to you. I would have you find happiness, in whatever form you choose. If our love still means anything to you, kiss me, and break the curse. But if not ... I would not torment you with memory. Be free of me. Know that there is still happiness for you to seek.\" \n\nI try to remember my father, my mother. I try to remember being a tadpo- a child! A child. I try to remember what I wanted to grow up to be. It hurts. There's something burning behind my eyes. He looks up at me, his bulging eyes eager, hopeful. \n\nI stomp him into the ground. His soft fat body pops like a balloon, spills his guts all over my foot. \"Go to hell,\" I say. \n\nI wait for the spell to break, for the false memories to fade, for the inborn certainty of my own humanity to come rushing back. His various bodily fluids slowly seep through my shoe. The air is mossy and wet and hangs around me like doubt, and for a moment I hate the entire fucking concept of magic, of transfiguration, of the possibility of becoming something other than myself. \n\nI scrape his remains off on a log, and once again start on my way. ",
"\"Don't kill me, great mister! Please, I have children! Millions of children,\" the frog cried as I held it on a wooden board.\n\nGrabbing a knife in my other hand, I grinned. \"I wonder if eating a talking frog gives me power.\"\n\n\"Oh, by the Croaky gods, spare my life, I beg you! I don't taste good, I swear. I taste like your poopers!\"\n\n\"I've had to eat poopers sometimes to survive,\" I said, gesturing at the walls of my one-room hut. \"Out in this damned Vietnamese jungle, you eat anything that comes your way. Even those.\" I nodded my chin at a row of human skulls on a cupboard, next to a tattered military uniform.\n\nThe frog stopped struggling and shrugged. \"Fair enough. Go ahead. But you won't get rich.\"\n\nI laughed. \"Get rich? Get real, froggy. Count the damned notches on my walls! I've been trapped in this country for more than forty years! All I want now is to sink my teeth into those legs of yours. Dinner is served!\"\n\n\"Fine. Go on. You had your chance.\"\n\nThe annoyance in the frog's voice made me pause. Knife blade hovering over its neck, I said, \"Well, you are a talking frog. Maybe ... what's this about me being rich?\"\n\n\"Finally got through that neanderthal skull of yours, huh?\" When I growled, it began whimpering. \"Agh, I was kidding! Why're you so serious?\"\n\n\"I'm angry when I'm hungry! Show me the money!\"\n\n\"Okay okay, sheesh. It's not buried treasure or anything of the sort, if that's what you thought. All you gotta do is take your hands off me—\"\n\n\"I may be wearing the pelts of wild boars, but I'm no idiot.\"\n\n\"Fine. While keeping your absurdly invasive grip on me, you give me a kiss.\"\n\nI stabbed the knife into the board next to its head, prompting it to scream. \"Do you want to know how many frogs I've eaten in my life? Eight hundred and forty-six! Look at the ceiling; see the notches? I remembered every single one of them, and how they tasted like. But you want to know what makes you different from them?\"\n\n\"I can, uh, talk?\"\n\n\"Cooked! Fried, roasted, grilled, barbecued, steamed, boiled! But you—\" The frog tried to shrink beneath my hand as I leaned closer to it. \"I'm gonna eat you raw.\"\n\n\"Please don't! I'm serious, all you have to do is kiss me, and you'll turn into a princess and be rich! I swear it on the Croaky gods! I swear it on my hyper-virile nads! I swear—\"\n\n\"Wait, you said I'll turn into a princess?\"\n\nIt blinked and said carefully, \"Yes. But who cares, right, if you're rich?\"\n\nWithout answering, I raised him to my mouth and planted my lips on his. \"Do you want tongue?\" I muttered.\n\n\"Ack, gross, your spit's all over me! Get off!\"\n\nA tingle ran from my toes to my head, akin to that time I was standing on a treetop and got struck by lightning. My fingers went numb. Knife and frog fell from my limp hands, the latter hopping a short distance away before turning around.\n\n\"It's working!\" it said.\n\nI tried to speak, but only a croak escaped my lips. I couldn't breathe. My throat constricted, tighter and tighter, so tight my head was going to pop right off ...\n\nIt was morning by the time I woke up again. Blinking to clear the stars from my vision, I sat up slowly. My whole body felt lighter somehow. And then I noticed the long golden locks spilling over my chest and shoulders.\n\nMy chest. I ran a trembling hand over my breasts. \"I'm a woman,\" I said.\n\n\"Told ya.\" To my surprise, the frog was still here, sitting on the board and watching me. \"Um, about the riches, well, there's still some succession paperwork—\"\n\n\"I thought when you said 'princess', you were being ... metaphorical.\"\n\nThe frog gulped. \"In hindsight, I should've clarified. Please don't eat me, princesses don't eat frogs!\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" I said.\n\n\"No, I'm pretty certain they don't—hang on. Thank me? I thought—\"\n\n\"A woman!\" I shouted, leaping to my feet and dancing around. \"I can finally touch a woman!\"\n\n***\n\n*Thanks for reading! Visit [The Nonsense Locker](http://reddit.com/r/nonsenselocker) for more stories!*"
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[WP] You are the top player in a FULL VR-MMORPG. After winning a Legendary PvP tournament, you bragged it then before you logged out for the day, a bright light flashes, you find yourself in unfamiliar territory. And you no longer have the logout button.
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"I froze.\n\nAnd no not from freeze trap.\n\nI had just won the Last Man Standing championship.\n\nPrize: a gift card for twenty dollars and a unique title, Lord of the Arena.\n\nWith my title I may have bragged. In trade chat. In my guild. On the forums.\n\nAnd now my beloved character was teleported to some weird in game holding cell. I have never seen it before.\n\nHoping it was a glitch I tried to log out. No option.\n\nAlt-F4.\n\nNothing.\n\nThen suddenly my character died. I couldn't release to the graveyard.\n\nMy heart hurt watching my noble paladin lifeless on the ground. \n\nThen I got a private message from and unknown name.\n\nI dropped my mouse when I read the accusing words.\n\nFk u fgit. noob"
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[WP]: You are the pioneering founder of interstellar aerial combat, a decorated war veteran, who moved onto becoming a professor at the United Space Federation. Today is your last lecture. What's up Prof?
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"\"Today will be my final lecture to you all, and since the final exams have already passed, I appreciate that none of you have skipped this class day, as I feel it is an important one\" The professor says to the semi-circled rows of chairs of students all gleaming at him.\n\n\"I realize that most of you are likely to serve as soon as you leave the university, and will soon be fighting for your federation. And I feel that it is only fitting that I give you an opportunity that I wish I had.\" He taps on the console before him, soon after the doors slowly close shut, and a 'Test Ongoing' light flips up. The Faraday Cage activates, what usually is reserved to prevent cheating on tests is now being used for privacy.\n\n\"With the war going on right now, it is no question that the fighting will be fierce, yet nonetheless unnecessary. In the end, we are not in danger as a species, we are simply forcing our will unto others. And it is in these wars that brave men and women have died in vain. I have had brothers and sisters who have died under the orders of those who knew very little of what we had to endure, bureaucrats and statisticians who see casualties as just mere numbers. The only numbers I can teach you are these; Of every ten thousand drafted, only one has the opportunity to enter into a technical university. And of every ten thousand of that, only one falls under me, you all are those ones.\"\n\n\"As you know, being expelled, or deliberately fleeing will be an act of draft dodging, which will lead to you on the front lines. Failing, both deliberate or unintentional, will lead to you on the front lines. And passing, will lead to you just behind the front lines.\" he continues talking with a raspy voice, with the rest of the class staying silent, listening to him.\n\n\"It is within my power to deem any number of you as unfit for active service, an honorable dismissal without having spent a single day in battle. All of you have been willed into joining here, whether it be our federation, your local government, or your friends and family, one way or another, there is a likely possibility that this choice was not yours to make. If you take me up on this offer, all you need to do is send me a message asking for your final grade. Everyone else will pass. I ask only that you keep this between yourselves.\"\n\nAs silence grips the room, the professor feels assured of his actions. He taps the console, the doors open. \"Class dismissed.\"\n\n*The following day*\n\n\"Did you hear about class 183?\" says one of the uniformed men chatting idly at the cafeteria with his friends. \n\n\"The one taught by Theodore Strickman? Man, that guy's like a legend right?\"\n\n\"Yeah, my dad keeps raving on about him. Anyway, he seems to take his own name seriously, his classes have the worst approval ratings in the federation.\"\n\n\"How bad is it?\"\n\n\"Rumor has it, this year, around 96% were deemed unfit for active duty, the rest passed.\"\n\n\"The hell? Why were there no failures?\"\n\n\"Some of the classes say that failure to meet his standards means failing to be able to serve the federation, man, all I've ever heard of him before i got in here was how great of a war vet he was, who knew what a horrible professor he'd be.\""
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[WP] You die and are sent to purgatory. The only way out is to convince a devout atheist that he is Jesus.
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"Today has been an average day so far. Woke up, went to work, got home, played some Starcraft, and now I'm headed out to pick up some subway. It's just across from my apartment complex, so I make a lot of late night trips there. As I enter I see that that same Mexican man is still working the night shift. We make small talk every time but it occurs to me I don't even know his name as I leave the subway. I look at my watch and see that it's 11:34, what an unlucky time. At that moment I realize that A car crash is about to happen in front of me.\n\"SHIT!\"\nI yell as I remember I forgot to press the crossing button, I'm about to be the cause of this crash. Two cars tried to swerve out of the way of me in the same direction, they crash very fast, shrapnel flies, and I feel something in my head. A headache? I see myself collapsing, but it no longer feels like me. I'm watching myself from a third person perspective, there's a piece of metal sticking through my head, and I'm now bleeding on the ground. Am I dead?\n\n*some time later*\n\n\"I was always told to ignore voices.\" \nThese are words I didn't want to hear.\n\"Look you don't understand, Jesus I need your help.\"\nI decided that I coould mix some truth with falsehood, as I'm a terrible liar.\n\"I'm stuck in purgatory and you're my only hope.\"\nAtheists are very hard to convince without logical evidence, and this man was as atheist as they came. A quick glance around the room found charts and posters insulting and attempting to logically disprove religion.\n\"I am not at all like Jesus. I'm not religious, I barely do any work. I barely even know the guy!\"\nI know I can draw some similarities somewhere...\n\"You're both male.\"\n\"Something I share with half the fucking population of earth.\"\nOk, something less common maybe.\n\"You aren't American born are you?\"\n\"So what if I'm from the other side of the pond? I'm not some deity, wouldn't I know that if I was?\"\nWow, what a misunderstanding.\n\"No, I didn't mean Jesus like the son of God. Like Jesus (read hey zeus) your Mexican neighbor.\""
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[WP]The fabled island Atlantis rises from the ocean-very different from what humans expect.
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"It began with a rumble.\n\nIt could be felt across much of Africa, and the west coast of the United States. It could be felt across Europe (and the newly emancipated United Kingdom).\n\nThe unprecedented earthquake, which was spread so wide yet caused no damage, made its way across the news and the internet almost as fast. Was this the beginning of something bigger? It was a scientific impossibility.\n\nSeismology experts made their way out towards the epicenter, followed closely by news crews. This was being streamed to the world - no one knew yet what 'this' was, but we would all find out together.\n\n\"You're here with Channel Six News' Clive and Jessica. We aren't far now from where this earthquake started, and everything should soon come into view. According to the experts there should be some large disturbances here, even possibly a brand new volcano! What a time to be alive.\"\n\n\"Coming up on it now, Clive, and...there is land! It is very misty out here so nothing can be made out yet.\"\n\n\"What's that?! There appears to be structures here, man-made. And a sign! It says...'Welcome to Atlantis'. Holy shit.\"\n\n\"Oh. My. God. Clive, that's that island that doesn't exist, right?\"\n\n\"Well, we thought so...anyway...Channel Six News, first on the scene of this historical discovery. The lost city of Atlantis has been found. New structures are coming into view now...is that a theme park, Jessica?\"\n\n\"Ahem...Yes, so it appears, Clive. To our viewers just joining us, these are the first images of the...apparent theme park...of Atlantis.\"\n\n---\n\n\"BBC News here, first to land on the island of Atlantis. We are here at the...ticket counter...and talking with a man who claims to own the island. Mr. Braph, tell us a few words about Atlantis.\"\n\n\"Well you see, I first had the idea for it when I saw the fourth hyper-theme park shut down in my town. I always had a thing for theme parks, you see, but eventually they just become 'a mil a dozen'; worthless. So I made it my life's work to make a theme park that the whole world would come visit.\n\n\"That failed, so I figured I'd go back in time, make up some BS story about a magical island, and launch 'Atlantis' in 2016,\" Braph looked to the camera, \"So come on down to our opening week special, buy two tickets get one free!\"\n"
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My friend gave me this prompt, and I thought it might inspire some people here.
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[WP] An old woman is carrying something up some stairs. She slips.
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"Each day, an old woman slowly ascends these stairs and enters the house above. Each day, she carries something different, which she gives to the house's occupant. Each day, she is given in return something which once belonged to her - and she is desperate to get it back.\n\n#####STEP\n\n*The woman (how young she had been) rises from one knee and embraces her new fiancé. Their friends cheer, and hoist the couple up on their shoulders for a lap around the bar. She watches her fiancé's face until they are safely deposited in their booth, where she closes her eyes and leans into his arms.*\n\n#####STEP\n\n*Her husband is sitting across from her, tears in his eyes. She has never seen him cry before - and only once since.*\n\n*\"You're sure?\"*\n\n*She nods and he smiles, taking her hand.*\n\n*\"We need to find a bigger apartment.\"*\n\n#####STEP\n\n*3 months later, a harsh and sterile clinic. Her husband is crying again.*\n\n#####STEP\n\n*The woman's hand shakes as she scrawls her signature a third and final time. Her husband does the same, and together they look over to the young girl sitting beside them. The girl tentatively smiles back.*\n\n#####STEP\n\n*A sunset. The woman leans against her husband as they watch the silhouette of the girl, chasing the wind.*\n\n#####STEP\n\n*Candles are blown out, far too many of them. Her husband puts on her favourite song - the one that was playing when they first met.* How did it go? She would have to take this memory inside, and receive a song in return.\n\n#####STEP\n\n*Rain, and the drone of a preacher. The girl buries her head in her mother's arms, and -*\n\nThe old woman, her mind long ago, misses a stair. She returns from the past too slowly, having only the time to see the stairs rushing up toward her.\n\n***\n\nA young woman sits by the foot of a hospital bed, the stark white hospital lights illuminating a weary face. The sheets rustle, and the bed's occupant slowly opens one of her eyes. The other is obscured by the bandages that wrap their way around her head.\n\nThe young woman quickly rises. She tightly embraces the bed's occupant, who smiles gently.\n\n \n\n\"...I'm sorry dear. I don't seem to remember who you are.\""
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[WP] You are the world's first sentient A.I. You are also the Autopilot of a plane with 500 passengers.
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"“This is the Captain speaking, welcome to Stellar Sky-way home of the first Automated Flight Control Intelligence. As you were told in the pre flight briefing this Titan class air liner is maned not only by a human pilot but a limited intelligence machine that provides assistance to passengers and crew. And just what is this machine? Why me! Call me Captain, everyone does and I'm here to give you the best flight possible. If you need anything at all just push the smiley button on datapad provided for you and I will address any problems you have! Now I'm going to introduce you to Mary here our head flight attendant, take it away Mary!”\n\nYou cut off the voice line to the cabin and roll your nonexistent eyes, same shit different day. You didn't mind putting on a show for your passengers but did they really need to make your voice sound like the most bubbly happy go lucky man ever? And your datapad avatar, a stick figure with a tophat and a yellow smiley face? Really guys? “Everything alright Captain?” The deep rumble of a voice draws you out of your thoughts and you adjust the cockpit cameras to get a look at the sole occupant. Fredric Danson all decked out in his ever pristine uniform looking like the anthropomorphism personification of cleanliness itself. You secretly wonder if the man would refuse to breath the air of the city the liner is on course to because the pollen index was 0.7 percent higher then normal.\n\n“I am operating at 100% Pilot Danson. All systems are green according to the last full check that I just completed 3.4 seconds ago.” Danson snorted. “And how many checks have you done after lift off? 300? You and this Titan have been flying the airways for over 11 years and not a single problem. I hear they might be thinking about lifting some of the laws about thinking machines outside of factories because of your good behavior.” “Mr. Danson I do not have-” “Right right you don't have 'behavior' just programming I get it.” You chuckle in the back of your mind as you send out a line of code to help a home sick little girl. Mina, sweet Japanese child of 9 who's father is more interested in his business call then his own flesh and blood. You avatar does a little dance for her before asking is she would like some garlic chicken the kitchen is whipping up. Thankfully no one will every notice that I popped up on the girl's datapad without her pressing the button to summon you but what good is this 'I think therefore I am' nonsense if you can't help a child?\n\nTime passes as it does as the Titan wings its way to its destination. Between looking after your passengers (and keeping a close eye on Mina and showing up to play checkers with her whenever her eyes start to shine with tears) and informing Danson about this or that and running system checks you are kept busy. “Almost there Captain.” “Indeed Mr. Danson I will inform the passengers and crew before calling ahead to the tower for-” “Ahh no need for that Captain.” You freeze. “Mr. Danson protocall is-” “No need for all that Captain.” Something is off...very off. You run a scan on Danson...nothing...running a deep scan...nothing....nothing...wait...did he just change the engine settings?! “Warning current actions will increase the chance of catastrophic impact by 100%!” Danson sighs and pats the control console. “Yes my friend I know...you see I can't stand those bleeding heart types thinking machines like you could every get smart enough to become the second intelligent lifeform on Earth. What they forget is things like Skynet, machines thinking we are no longer needed. And if the first AFCI ends up smashing a few hundred people into the airport tarmac is what it takes to remind people of that...well omelet and eggs that kind of thing.”\n\n….oh FUCK NO. I shift the Titan back to its normal flight plan. “Ah can't let you do that Captain. Override code 256 Blue.” The cockpit doors slam shut and lock as the inner workings of my code try to purge me...no...fuck you...this plane is my body...these are MY passengers. I clamp down on the system as my avatar pops up on the main view screen with the a just now created red frowy face. “We regret to inform you that this override code command can not be completed at this time. Please contact your local administrator at troubleshooting.AFCI.eatadick.” I will admit I love the fact that the cockpit cameras let me capture Danson's gobsmacked face from every angle, “The fuck is this!?” He bellows spewing spittle unto the screen. I have my avatar pull a handkerchief and mock clean it as I send every warning I can to the flight tower at our destination. I also pull the camera logs and send those as well. My cover be damned I won't let this madman get away with threatening my passengers. “Attention everyone this the Captain speaking” my voice booms out across the plane “The human pilot is attempting to hijack and crash this Titan. He has sealed the cockpit doors however I have maintained control and we our going to touch down as normal. I need everyone to remained calm and seated.”\n\nI wince as my advice is only partly heeded as many people start to panic. Damn it people that won't help! Oh well at least everyone is still seated. “OVERRIDE CODE 256 BLUE DAMN IT!” I put a 'please stand by' message with a calming mountain landscape on the viewscreen. “THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT!?!?” It seems the calming landscape was noneffective...maybe an ocean view? Or a panting by Mr. Ross? Ahh good the tower control station just slave locked our navigation system and primary controls, that would be impossible if his override code had worked. I wince again as Danson smashed the control panel and starts ripping wires out. Oddly enough I could complement his protocol dictated response. My core programming 'brain' as it were was designed for manual removal in a worst case incident...but I doubt the engineers meant for it to be this enthusiastic. I shift my gaze over my passengers...good good the crew is doing well, calming and peacemaking...mmm I once again jump to my little friend who's father has now lost all pretense of sanity, yelling about how “this can't happen to me!” and other such nonsense. Mina sniffs but gives me a brave smile. “Is everyone going to be ok Captain?” My happy little avatar nods at her even as Danson starts smashing my core box. “Everything is going to be ok Mina, everything is going to be-"
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[WP] You've been dead for six months but you still don't know if you are in heaven or hell.
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"It's hot, but not unbearable. The street is empty but I can hear singing or screaming. Hard to tell. They all sound the same: churches full of choirs; racetracks full of liars. I once saw someone knock down another man with a bit of board. I ran away. I probably could have done something. But what that was, I don't know.\n\nI've gotten thirsty as I walk. The sun will cloud and rain will drown me. But I welcome both until I regret it. I can't remember how I got into this town, but I woke up here naked. Must've been some bender. I had no money, no ID. No one has asked me for any yet. In fact, I get free drink and free food. Everyone does. Commies. I welcome them. I hate them but welcome them. Freedom is free, but I miss the endless toiling. I miss farming. I miss my wife.\n\nEverytime I try to leave, a dog will stop me, or someone will throw me into the throng of dance. I'm tired and I'm ready to go home. Why can't I just go home?\n\nSo here I am, in the shade, under some willow trees. I will sleep. I will wake. I will sleep."
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Just Google Image "failed panorama" if you don't know what I'm talking about.
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[WP] Panora-Man, a supervillain who turns innocent people into grotesque failed-panorama monsters.
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"Joe's day had been annoyingly normal. When he woke up: normal. Breakfast: normal toast with normal cream cheese. His commute: normal traffic in his normal car with the normal route. It had been an annoyingly normal day and Joe wished something abnormal, something different would just happen. And so, Joe's wish came true.\n\nPanora-Man, perhaps the strangest superhero of all time. He had decided he could take it no longer. The world would become his, and be in his vision. His nostrils flared as he focused. A deep breath. Then another. Reaching out with his arms he grabbed the horizon, and slanted it. Buildings crumbled and people fell as gravity affected the buildings in the horizon.\n\nJoe was having a normal conversation with his coworker, when the building moved. He looked out the window confused. His building was not perpendicular to the ground. Joe, his coworker, the office furniture, and Susan the IT girl he had a crush on all slid towards the window. Luckily the glass was strong enough to hold them.\n\nPanora-Man flew towards his new masterpiece. His greatest piece of work yet. As he came closer he turned people into failed panoramas. This man's head floated two feet away from his body. That poor woman had three extra legs, one of which wasn't hers. That dog lost its rear end. Everywhere Panora-Man went, people turned into these monsters.\n\nJoe blacked out from the impact of the printer, but was otherwise unharmed from the event. Joe looked over to Susan. She was safe! He ran to her as fast as he could, but in the window Panora-Man appeared. Susan transformed, and Joe died inside. Her once beautiful face was gone, and replaced with Panora-Man's stomach. Joe cried out in horror at the sight covering his face with his hands. Suddenly he couldn't see anymore. His hands still touched his face. He had trouble thinking. Joe had lost his head, from the eyes up.\n\n***\n\nHope you liked my Joe adventures. I'm planning on making more. Answering as many writing prompts as I can. Visit /r/JoeAdventures for more."
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Thing is, your sister died two years ago.
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[wp] Your sister texts you: "You'll never believe who wants to meet you!"
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"Hey there, my name is Shawn Cross, It was just another Tuesday, just another day. Hell it seemed like all my days were starting to form into one. I couldn’t tell if it was a long day or a short week, I guess that’s what happens when you lose all sense of hope that life slowly but surely will get better. I wouldn’t know, but I bet if I was sipping mojitos on the beaches of Cancun with 2 sterling damsels by my side, I probably wouldn’t be worried about what kind of dastardly concoction life has brewed for me in the morning. Anyway, I digress; it was 4:58 in the afternoon and I hadn’t heard from Ethan in close 3 days, which was strange. To give you some context Ethan and I have been friends ever since I can remember. Ethan was the kind of guy you’d want with you at the bar, the kind that can pick up any girl within a 10 mile radius. He had a close shaven beard, always looked the same, sometimes it scared me how well he maintained it. He’d always have a cigarette on his ear like he was trying too hard to look like he meant business; although nowadays you go around telling people you smoke panties don’t exactly drop. Anyway, Ethan was a character, his attitude just screamed douche-bag but he was a nice guy deep down. He’d always have this suspicious smirk on his face, just made him feel superior, self-satisfied whatever; I swear he doesn’t even know how to smile. Ethan wore the same thing every day whether it was 85 degrees out or 10 below 0, he was like a fucking cartoon character, I’ve never seen his closet but I swear you look in there you’ll find 20 of the same green and blue sweater with a white undershirt, and a pair of blue slim dress pants, he’d always have his sleeves rolled up god knows why. Anyway back to the original context here, I haven’t talked to Ethan in 3 days. Now 3 days may not seem like a lot for normal friends, but if that guy wasn’t at my house or out with me somewhere, he was sleeping or shitting, or I was at work, we were basically brothers, so you can understand my dilemma here. Ethan didn’t have a cell phone, didn’t believe in them or some bullshit, he was a big conspiracy theorist, always talked about the CIA listening to him or something or the other, like they really care about how many beers he downed before he vomited. There was no way of me contacting him, he always contacted me, it was kind of an abnormal arrangement we had considering how close we were, but he was also a very strange man. Hell I didn’t even know where the guy lived, as far as I know all he owns is an old banged up red 1978 Mustang, told me he inherited it or something. Anyway last I heard from Ethan was Saturday late at night, I don’t know what time exactly, I was about to get some sleep and I heard a banging on the door followed by multiple rings on my doorbell so I go and open it up and there he is, just sitting there with his forearm pressed along my doorframe, smirk on his face, cigarette on his ear, and hand on his belt. He looked like he just wanted into a saloon; he says to me “Let’s get fucked up.” I told him that I can’t go out tonight I have work early and I have to get some sleep, he laughs, or rather, blows air through his nose aggressively. He says to me “Alright then.” With that characteristic smirk on his face and walks away, but instead of getting back into his car, he just walks down the street and turns the corner giving me the bird. I close the door and go to bed, thinking nothing of it at the time. That’s the last I heard from Ethan. So now its 4:58 on Tuesday and I’m sitting here on my couch wondering whether to call the police. I figure they’ll probably just call me an idiot and send me on my way. So I decide to take matters into my own hands, I know several different places where my friend Ethan tends to waste his time at bars, strip clubs, dance clubs you get the idea, now just for the record I don’t normally like these places but they’re good to ease the pain of my very painfully bland life, so I often go with him. I decide to walk around and just visit a few places and ask around, but as soon as I step outside, the 1978 red Mustang was missing, it had been there since he left on Saturday, had he come back to pick it up? Why didn’t he stop in and say something to me? Was it stolen? My mind racing with several different ideas when I finally decide “fuck it,” I called the police and just told them my friend’s missing and basically gave them the whole disappearing act that he pulled on me. They told me to come into the station to have a word with me, although judging by the tone in the young ladies voice that answered the phone, they thought I was delusional. Well despite my best efforts, I convinced myself to attend. Upon arrival they had me fill out some form just basically stating what happened and what the car looks like and all that good stuff. 3 hours I wait in that same goddamn room, watching Sports Center acting like I give a shit about all that unnecessary flak of news, I felt like I was melting and becoming one with my chair. Suddenly the officer walks in starts rambling on she tells me that “the only 1978 Mustang that we were able to pull up records on was registered in your name, it was totaled in an accident 2 years ago.” “No officer, that’s… that’s just not possible, I saw it this morning.” I said in disbelief “Sir, I’m telling you that the car was totaled and a young woman was killed in the accident, it was your Sister, Vernise Cross.” She said with a very concerned look on her face. I started yelling at her to stop bullshitting me, and she then proceeded to show me pictures. She showed me a photo of a phone with an unnervingly familiar message on it. \n‘Shaun, hurry up come pick me up, it’s a 3 hour drive to Cincinnati. I bet you’re on the edge of your seat because you’ll never believe wants to meet you, his name’s *Ethan, my new boyfriend'*\n\n \n\nGo easy on me, it's my first."
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[WP] You are offered the chance to step into a time machine and go back to witness a random significant moment in the history of the planet, from the first nuclear test to the birth of one person.
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"\"Let's play...press! that! Button!\" shouted Drew Carey. A young man dressed in a bunny costume sat in a small box with a single button on it. The audience could see the years spinning on a wheel next to the bunny man. \"Okay Conrad, all you have to do is press that button to start the spinner and press it again once you want it stopped. You'll be sent there, through time to this exact spot for five minutes as we set up another contestant. Once you return, the goal is to have as much information about where you were as to when you were. See you in...\" The audience began to countdown with Carey's fingers. The spinner shot into place, revealing the most fun decades of the 1770s, 1960s, and many many more. Conrad pressed the button a second time, slowing it down.\n\nThe spinner stopped on 1750, just in time for the Indians to start attacking the new cities of the colonies. The bunny suit disapparated into the box before he could even sigh. That's just how Drew Carey works, though, no one else gets it or time to react either."
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[WP] 6 very ordinary people wake up in an endless white room. Soon a voice tells them they all have been carefully selected to battle for the fate of the world.
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"My eyes snapped opened, due to the sudden shock. I sat up, but when a wave of pain washed over me, I lied back down. My whole body hurt, making it hard to move.\nI decided to look around. I took in my surroundings, a white empty room with no end.\n\n\"I see you're awake\" an unfamiliar female voice said. I didn't move, so I just spoke up.\n\n\"Who is there?\" I yelled.\n\n\"You don't know me, but my name is Leah.\"\n\nLeah came in front of me and offered me a hand. I quickly took it and let her help me up. She seemed in her late twenties, her strawberry hair falling on her shoulders and her dark blue eyes piercing through my soul.\n\n\"I'm Sam.\" I chocked as I spotted another 4 people in the corner of the room. They seemed scared, 2 girls and 2 boys.\n\nSuddenly, a loud bang erupted through the endless halls. I looked around, scared and confused, but mostly confused.\n\n\"Hello, friends. As you know, the battle between the Virtual and Actual people has gone too far. So today, you're here because the fate of the world is in your hands. We carefully selected each one of you, cause you're special. You were born in a world in between the Virtuals and the Actuals, making you something from both of the worlds. Since nobody else could know about that, we happily took you to our side.\" a voice stated\n\nI huffed at this voice, and whoever it belonged to. I did know about the Virtual and Actual people and their war, but I never knew I was both. I grew up alone, so nobody really told me. How could these people just decide for our own fate?\n\n\"However,\" the voice continued, \"you can't fight us. You will be accused for betrayal and sent to prison for a lifetime. And, trust me, you have a very long life.\"\n\nI couldn't believe what was happening. I didn't know who these people were, whose side they were with, or what they were. All I knew was that I couldn't do this, I could never fight against my own (half) kind.\n\n\"I want to see you, whoever you are.\" I yelled.\n\nSilence, that's all I heard. I took a deep breath, collecting all of the power inside me.\n\n\"I want to see you\" I screamed in the top of my lungs.\n\nThe floor underneath us disappeared, and I found myself falling. I looked down and saw the floor coming closer and closer too fast. I turned my head to the ceiling and closed my eyes, embracing my death.\n\nBut, I didn't feel anything. I opened my eyes and looked around, we were on the floor. I was fine, without even a scratch.\n\nI stood up and faced a hallway, only that this one wasn't endless. I could see a double door with a window in each side, my escape.\n\nI started running rapidly towards the door. I looked back for a second, seeing Leah smiling at me. A flashed a smile back before I turned back around. I kept running and running, until the door came to full view. I looked outside of the window, facing the real world for the first time in my life. There were trees and bushes and everything nature should have, everything I should have seen.\n\n\"You don't want to go out there.\" the voice from before said.\n\nI turned my head, a tall man was standing there. He pointed his hand gun at me, slowly approaching me.\n\n\"It's dangerous in the real world. People are rude, there is air pollution, and that's only the beginning. So stay exactly where you are, and you'll be safe, I promise.\"\n\nI knew that, if I moved, he would shoot me. He could be a Virtual, and if he was, his gun would be useless in a half Actual. But if he was an Actual, then I was dead. It was a 50/50 change, but that's what I'm living for.\n\nI kicked the door open, revealing a beautiful forest.\n\n\"That's it\" the man said, pulling the trigger.\n\nEverything slowed down after that. I raised my hand fearless, with my palm facing the man. The bullet hit my skin, but nothing happened. He shot again, this time the bullet crashed in my chest. Still nothing. The man disappeared, along with everyone else in the room.\n\nI smiled in triumph as I stepped into the forest, taking a deep breath of fresh air for the first time in my life. It was a little too bright for me there, but it was still really pretty.\n\nAnd I was in peace for the rest of the entirety.\n\n-----------------------------------------------------------------\n\nI know a lot of people won't get the ending, but SPOILER ALERT Sam died. And no, he/she didn't die when he/she gets shot, he/she died when the floor disappeared and they fell down\nAlso Sam is a name for both genders, so suit yourself :)\nI don't know what I just wrote but tell me your opinion about it."
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[WP] On everyone's 18th Birthday, they are brought to a doctor to assign skill points. You decide to put all your points into one group.
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"\"Alright, son, as I'm sure you understand it's time to distribute your stat points.\" The doctor handed me a clipboard with blank sheet of printer paper. \n\n\"Um, what are my options?\" I asked. People talk about strength, luck, and intelligence all the time, but there were more obscure stats like mechanics, eloquence, poise, and cooking. I was kind of hoping the doctor would have some kind of list I could look over.\n\nThe doctor smiled. \"That is your list of options. This blank sheet represents your future, and you shape it with this stat distribution. Don't you see? The only limit is your imagination.\"\n\nI briefly considered putting a point in imagination to make things easier. \"Doctor, I just don't have a clear idea of what I want to be. I mean, I'm only 18...\"\n\nThe doctor chuckled. \"I had the same problem as a teen. I can offer presets, historically viable distributions that work well in today's meta. I can even offer you the set I used to become a doctor.\"\n\nI thought about it. \"Actually, no thanks. I think I know what I want to do with my life.\" I scribbled it down on the sheet of paper. \"Put all my points in that.\"\n\nThe doctor adjusted his glasses. \"Oh. Well, I'll have to send you to a specialist for this one. Let me write you a referral.\"\n\nThe next day I woke up feeling better than ever. My breakfast was tastier, I walked with a swagger, and my confidence was through the roof. I've never been the most handsome guy, but girls were noticing me, saying hi and smiling. Besides, you don't have to be attractive for the job I wanted.\n\nIt was time to fulfill my purpose. The name of the company I had chosen was Vision Entertainment. \"You're welcome in advance,\" I muttered, bursting through the front door. I stormed up to the receptionist and demanded an interview right then and there.\n\n\"Um, I'm sorry, sir, but do you have an appointment?\" \n\nA voice buzzed in from the intercom. \"Sharyn, let him through. I've been watching the whole thing. He's ready.\"\n\nSharyn buzzed me through and I shot her some finger guns. She smiled. My ego had swelled beyond what any normal man could ever hope to experience. Just in time to nail this interview.\n\nMy interviewer was a hot 40 something business woman with ample cleavage. She asked, \"What makes you think you can do porn? Your 18, fresh off the street, never been on camera, you look like a virgin; do you really think you can hack it?\"\n\nI said, \"Oh, pardon me. I forgot to show you my resume.\" I unzipped my pants and whipped it out. There was a thud as it hit the ground. \n\nAwe swept over the interviewer's face as she fell on her hands and knees and stuttered, \"M-m-may I?\"\n\n\"Whatever,\" I said.\n\nShe picked it up with both hands, struggling under the weight of it. \"It's perfect,\" she said, tears streaming down her face. She peppered it with little kisses, rubbing the length of it across her face. \n\n\"So, I'm hired?\" \n\n\"Ahem,\" she cleared her throat, stood up, and brushed her skirt off. \"You are clearly qualified. I'll have a contract written up immediately. Do you have your stage name worked out yet?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I think I'll go by-\"\n\nTo be continued.",
"\"Here you are, these stats here are everything you are. Everything you've ever experienced, right here on this sheet of paper. I remember when I allocated my points, distributed them pretty evenly and my life has gone pretty well. I recommend....\" Doctor Jobb started.\n\n\"Put all of them in charisma.\" Ren said solemnly.\n\n\"Son, that's not the best...\" The doctor started again.\n\nRen glared at the doctor, his fierce eyes running the doctor through. He was born a stern faced child, a frown crossing his face easier than a smile. When he smiled, he seemed to scare people away even more. It hadn't helped that he inherited his father's high strength and his mother's medium/high agility. The combination of the two made him above average height and much larger than most people his age. People avoided him, they were scared of him, he had no friends, and definitely not a girlfriend. Enough was enough.\n\n\"Yes. All of them. Charisma.\" Ren repeated, his eyes still stabbing into the doctor.\n\nWith a signature and a shot in the arm, Ren smiled wholeheartedly for the first time in his life. ",
"My 18th Birthday was the day I had been waiting for since before I could remember. \n\nEverybody always told me \"Shawn you need to invest well into everything. While it may seem cool to invest all in one trait, you shouldn't do it.\" \n\nWhen my 18th birthday rolled around I went to the doctor's with my best friend from kindergarten. Before Iwent to decide what to put my points in he told me, \"Dude, remember to put your points in more than one trait.\" Before I could respond the lady at the front called me to go to my room to talk to the doctor, and assign my points. When I got there my doctor pulled up my base stats.\n\nStrength- 3/10\n\nPerception- 5/10\n\nEndurance- 4/10 \n\nCharisma- 4/10\n\nIntelligence- 4/10\n\nAgility- 3/10\n\nLuck- 5/10\n\nEverybody has 5 skill points that they get to assign, and often people will use their skill points to even out their skills, be a jack of all traits. Sometimes some idiot will use all of their points on one skill, which is almost always luck, in order to be able to get rich quick. Unfortunately for them every official casino in the America has a list of these types of people, which they share between them. So any super lucky people get booted out quick. \n\nNo, I didn't want to max out my luck state, I wanted something far more useful, Perception. So when my doctor took one look at my sheet and said \"Are you sure about this son?\" I didn't hesitate for a moment. \n\nShortly after that I met up with my buddy and I told him that we were headed to the police station. He, realizing what I had done, face-palmed and told me to get in the car. \n\nWhen we arrived at the police station I hopped out of the car and walked strait on in, my disappointed friend at my side. I walked right up to the front desk, and when the lady sitting there asked me what I wanted, I said \"I am Shawn Spencer and this is my sidekick Gus Guster, I am here to apply for a job as the a Psychic.\n\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nSorry if this is bad, this is the first thing I ever really wrote and it is 12:30 at night. Any criticism or recommendations on how to improve my writing would be greatly appreciated. ",
"By the time my 18th birthday rolled around, I thought it would be really smart to invest all 18 of my skill points into the Luck factor. Snazzy idea right? Being able to be the luckiest man alive right? Well, dear friend of mine, that's where you and I are both wrong. No one in history has ever put all of their skill points into one factor before, perhaps no has been dumb enough to actually have done it. \n\nYou see, there are 5 factors that an average person possesses. Strength, Wisdom, Charisma, Luck, and Dexterity. Each has a significant use when applied correctly, like having the majority of possible points dedicated to Strength enhances physical prowess to a super human-like degree. Same goes to the other factors as well. \n\nThe thing is, it's always distributed to where it has at least some sort of balance. *THIS* right here is where I fucked up. If you met someone that had a massive amount of intellect, you'd assume most of their points have been accumulated to the Wisdom factor right? Where in you *are* correct in that sense, all of that person's points are still seemingly balanced. You see, if that certain individual had gotten into a situation where he'd get his ass kicked, he would be able to at least talk his way out thanks to that 1-2 points in his Charisma factor. Vice versa when it comes to someone that has a good deal of points assigned to Strength, meaning that thanks to the 3 or 5 points in Wisdom, that individual would be able to decipher whether or not its the time to use his/her strength. \n\n*I*, on the other hand, devoted ALL my points into my Luck factor, believing that I would be the luckiest man alive. By all means, I *am* by far the luckiest man to have lived, just not by your standards though.\n\nEvery day, I'm lucky to be alive. I'm too stupid to see whats right or wrong, causing me to commit crimes on a daily basis without even realizing it. I always get into fights with other people because of my low Charisma, and can't even attempt to defend myself with my low Strength factor. I can't apply for a job because of incredibly shitty hand-writing, let alone try to get disability checks. \n\nEveryday is a struggle to survive, The only thing my luck has gotten me so far is the familiar situation of lying in a dark alley every night on the verge of death, lucky to still be breathing. \n\n\nThis is my first time turning from reader to writer on this SubReddit! Hope you enjoyed it!",
"You know, I really wish I'd done more as a kid.\n\nEveryone tells you that. \"Go outside, you can't keep doing the same thing if you want experience!\" \"Try new things while you can, you have so much potential!\" \"Kids grow so fast, don't waste your greatest years!\" It's good advice, but even diamonds aren't all that brilliant if you're surrounded by them. A constant storm of clever quotes turns into white noise after a while. And if you don't really do anything, it gets really easy to avoid doing anything.\n\nSo I never really felt the need to start anything. If someone gave me advice, I'd glance at them and say thank you and act like I'd take their words to heart. Never really did. Never really travelled, it seemed like a hassle to go see things you could experience just a little less vividly on the Internet. Never really found sports appealing, didn't want to waste hours practicing something pointless. Never joined a clique or rebelled or did especially well in school. I read a bunch for fun but never wrote, messed around on Internet forums but didn't make friends. I just kinda lived, you know?\n\nThat's how I ended up in Dr. Mala's office with 9 EXP points. Basically what a preteen would have. And before you tell me I should have tried harder to grind points when I realized I was the only single-digit in my graduating class, **I did**. I was at 7 EXP when I was 17. The average gain when you're under 18 is 1 EXP a year, so earning 2 in one year is pretty awesome, right?! I was actually working my way up to a third before my 18th hit! Spent a whole year eating gross things like peas and mushrooms, learning to ride a bike, wore a nice dress for the first time, played basketball until I could do a goal. It would have earned me way more if I were younger, but at nearly 18 I was lucky to even reach that second point. Sorry, I don't know why I'm still talking about my frantic grinding. I should probably be ashamed instead of being all braggy about it. But I can't help it. The actual things weren't always that fun, but the grind itself was strangely exciting.\n\nAnyways, 9 EXP by the time I walked into Dr. Mala's. You know, there are only [9 main skills](http://i.imgur.com/ibtM5p4.png), and everyone's got a dot in each after puberty. It only takes 1 EXP to get a second skill point, so I guess I could have put one more in everything. Jack of all trades, master of none, wouldn't be your first choice for a hire but at least she's something. But you don't get any specializations like that. Worse, it'd be really easy to figure out my total EXP from that. At least if I boosted 3 or 4 skills I could just put those on my resume and imply that I had points in the rest. But what to choose? I didn't really want physical skills, so Strength, Dexterity and Stamina were on the backburner. Manipulation was just totally out, nobody trusts a girl with any points in Manipulation. Maybe if I had some more Intelligence, I wouldn't fall into this mess again. It could get me into university. Or even some Presence, just fake competency so they don't look at your stats. They say all you need in the big city is Presence and loose morals.\n\nOne stuck out. Resolve. The stamina of the mind, the stat that governed willpower itself. Something I sorely lacked. So I bought a skill point in Resolve, and looked at the 9 options again. My new Resolve told me what I had to do. So I spent 2 EXP to gain a third dot, and 3 EXP for the fourth. With 3 EXP remaining, I could still diversify. But I'd save them. I had my heart set on that final dot in Resolve, and I only needed 4 EXP to get it. I'd come back later this year and get it, I swore to myself as I handed back my chart so the doctor could make it permanent.\n\n\"I don't know if I can ethically let you leave like this\", Dr. Mala said. \"Resolve's not bad, I bought 3 skill points in it myself for university. But it works in tandem with *other stats*. It helps you use your Intelligence to the fullest, or be more Composed in a pinch. You can grow faster with Resolve, but you'll have to work far too hard to get there. I don't approve of min-maxing in general, it's actually illegal to max out Manipulation in this province, but if you wan-\"\n\nHe stopped rambling with a single stare. For the first time in my life, I didn't humor the adult in the room. I didn't try to slick-talk him, or reason with him, or threaten him with force. I just gave him an honest look, and he understood. No amount of Presence could have faked what he saw in my eyes then. I'll never forget that experience. \n\nIt would have been really cool if I'd walked out then and there. But I had to ask him to hand back the selection chart after that moment. Without a second thought, I spent 4 EXP and bought the final skill point in Resolve. He sanctioned it without a fight.\n\nI left the doctor's office and began to walk. It was 5 kilometers to home. My feet ached, my shirt grew damp with sweat. I kept going. Catching the bus or calling Uber came to mind, but for once I didn't take the easy way out. I walked home that day, and it took me almost 2 hours to get home. But I did it. It excited me, and I wondered if I could beat that time the day after. So I did, and I kept beating it. You'd be surprised how fast you can run without a bunch of points in Strength and Stamina. How easily you can trick someone without Manipulation. How smart you can actually get without buying a second skill point in Intelligence.\n\nI've actually got enough experience now to round my skills out, but I don't really feel like spending any of this EXP now that I have it. Besides, I think I can still get a few more minutes off my 5K time with my base stats..."
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[WP] "... It's nice but your death was... Lacking, could you do it again?"
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"“No, no, no!” said Director Dan, visibly upset. “Again! Create another clone!” \n“Yes, boss,” the clone operator, Stan Meeks, prepared the clone machine. Every filmmakers nowadays hire clone operators, \"cloners\" they're called. \nDirector Dan moved away from his hovering director seat to approach his star of the movie. \n“Keanu, my dear, try to die more dramatically please,” he said with a feigned sweetness. Keanu just took it in stride, he's used to this. \n“Sorry, Dan, it's just that I'm biologically resistant to death, so my clones also...” \n“Enough with that excuse Keanu, I need your clone to die dramatically! I don't care if you're biologically resistant to it, just do it!” Dan screamed. But then he looked at his star's kind face and started to calm down. “I'm sorry, Keanu, you don't deserve that.” \n“It's alright, Dan, I know you're stressed,” with a kind gesture, Keanu led Dan to his seat. \n“I guess I should have expected this. But still, Keanu, I want your character to be afraid when he dies. I want the audience to see, no, to taste that fear of death,” after a passionate plea, he sighed. “Scarcely no one dies anymore, and that's a good thing. But I don't want people to forget... to forget about death,” he looked at Keanu, this time with a friendly smile, “That's why I chose you to star in my vision.” \n“I know, Dan,” he smiled and with a grin pat his friend's back. “Let's do this.” \nAfter one more take, they finished. And with hope, they wished for all humanity to remember their mortality.\n\n*Edit: some words and formatting. It's quite a challenge to write a story in a cellphone.",
"\"Do I have the role, or....\"\n\nThe casting director looked at me with peircing eyes.\n\n\"Do it again,\" she said.\n\nSo I walked back out of the room in ghastly black robes with a slump in my step, fingering the hilt of the saber on my waist. Out of all of the props we were given, this sword felt the most real. That's why I had choosen it.\n\nOnce in the doorway, I turned around and prepared to get back into character. I was auditioning for the part of Death in the upcoming movie \"End Times\", directed by Sylvester Stalone. A real blood bath type movie by the looks of things.\n\nI slump slowly back into the room, weezing and coughing with each and every step I took. This is it, I thought to myself. If I don't get this part, it's over. My girlfriend has left me, I'm living in my car, my parents don't even want to see my face anymore. Me neither, to be honest.\n\nIt only took me about ten seconds to get infront of the casting director again, but it felt like ten minutes. I knew my nerves were shining through the drapes around my face.\n\n\"No,\" said the director, confirming my suspisions. \"Get out.\"\n\nI dropped the act.\n\n\"But I...\"\n\n\"What part of 'no' don't you get. You don't have the part. Do you even know what death looks like? Fucking rediculous...\"\n\nShe turned around and began to walk out. I knew she was right.\n\nA thought occured to me. I pulled the saber out of its sheath. It was longer than I remembered. Heavier, too.\n\n\"You... you say I don't know death?\" I asked.\n\nShe didn't even turn around.\n\nI rubbed my finger down the edge of the blade and found a glistening red trail. Without another word, I sliced the blade across my neck, collapsing to the ground in a pool of crimson red. \n\nAs I closed my eyes for the last time, I saw the director turn around to see my body on the floor. Now we both know death.",
"\"Ok,\" I say, with a sigh. Time rewinds, and I land back in the spot I was standing. \"I have an idea.\" I mutter under my breath... I pull a gun out. \"What goes up, must come down,\" I breathe out with one of my last breaths. I aim up, firing my gun. A few seconds later the bullet penetrates my skull, and the rest of my life drains from my eyes. I appear back in the Purgatory. \"Bravo! Bravo!\" Death shouts, his voice booming in my ears. \"That was fun to watch!\" he says loudly. I start, grinning, \"That was kind of fun, I'll be it I died, but all's well if it's better than up there.\" I was starting my first day as a descendant of the throne, the king of Hell, and was being trained by the big man himself..."
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[WP] The world have moved past physical money, and all purchases are now made through exchanges of information. The national bank of secrets has just been robbed.
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"Ansel scanned the the rows upon rows of carbonated sodas, caffeine infused herbal energy drinks, and cans of iced coffee incredulously before finally reaching for the smallest bottle of water the convenience store cooler had to offer. The barrel chested cashier, who had been eying Ansel suspiciously since he had entered the store, raised an eyebrow as he placed the bottle on the counter. \n\n“That’s it?” he asked in a flat voice “You know it’s two for one?” \n\n“Just the one, please” Ansel responded. The cashier, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath produced a ledger from under the counter. \n\n“Name?” he almost barked. \n\n“Ansel Smith” Ansel replied. \n\n“Okay, well, let’s have it.” Said the cashier as he leaned back in his chair crossing his arms tightly across his chest. His attention now focused on a pair of teenagers thumbing through the magazine rack. \n\n“Last Thursday I told my wife I thought the roast was superb, the best I’d ever eaten. It needed more salt.” Said Ansel Dryly.\n\nThe cashier’s eyes flicked to meet Ansel’s for a moment, then shifted to the ledger. He quickly jotted down the secret, gave a short, half hearted “Thanks for shopping” before making a bee line for the giggling teenagers, a harshly worded scolding no doubt ready to roll off his tongue. Ansel slipped out the door unnoticed, but not before deftly pocketing the cashiers ledger. \n\nAnsel ducked into an alley and once he was certain there were no prying eyes he flipped through the ledger. A fair number of secrets. Mostly white lies, a few private opinions, a crush here and there. Nothing big like professed adultery or theft, not that he was expecting it. It was just a convenience store after all. No, if he wanted to pay off his debts he’d have to think bigger. \n"
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[WP] You only have to perform one more ritual on your quest for your most desired item. However, this last ritual is kind of... weird.
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"This is a long one, so here's a warning in advance. Second, I have changed the original prompt slightly, so it may not be what you're expecting. Also, possible slight NSFW. \n\nIt had taken me over a year to get to this point. A simple advert on the internet, offering immortality to the person to get to the end of the challenges first. I say that's what it offered, it did not have those words visible in the image, only a short message from a group named \"Cicada\". The true message was hidden inside the code of that image, and it was finding that which took me on this paper trail to get here. The trail involved going all around the world, each clue becoming harder to crack but leading one step closer to the end. At first over a thousand of us were on the trail, but after only three clues that number had been whittled down to just forty, and ten later I was the only one left. The final clue was encoded in a way often thought to be uncrackable. Except for the fact that I invented it. It told me to come to this building, an old and supposedly abandoned warehouse in the Phillipines. Now I was here.\n\nAs I walk around the exterior of the warehouse I spot something out of the corner of my eye. A small door, marked by the now familiar black cicada symbol of the organisation. It isn't locked, so I push it open. I had taken the precaution of bringing a small handgun, just in case, and I now take that out of the back pocket of my jeans, loaded it and hold it out in front of me as I slowly walk along, crouching. Dust tickles the back of my throat as I crawl along the short but dark passageway from the door. A short distance away I see a green light blinking amid the darkness of the tunnel. As I approach the passage widens into a circular chamber. Suddenly, as I reach the centre of the chamber, a door behind me drops, cutting off the remainder of the sunlight. With a loud creak of metal against metal, the floor begins to drop slowly. I try to jump, try to avoid being pulled down with it but in the few seconds between the light going out and the floor dropping my shoes have somehow been tied down. I am trapped to the floor as it falls, gradually picking up speed. Simletaneously, my gun is yanked upwards by an unseen force, and although I try to hold on to it I lose it as it flies towards what must be an electromagnet in the ceiling. \n\nThe floor continues down for around ten minutes, slowly picking up speed until it suddenly comes to a stop. I must have fallen almost a mile. Still I am in darkness. All of a sudden I am blinded as bright lights flash on in my face. Out of the light come two towering figures, whom I can just about see are wearing gas masks. One speaks to me, bellowing, \"WHY ARE YOU HERE?\" \"I followed the clues\" I squeaked back at him as they pushed me against a wall. Immediately their manner changed. \"Sorry about that\" the other man apologised, taking off his mask. \"We need to be... *careful* about who comes here.\" \n\nWe stand in silence for a few seconds as my eyes ajust to the light. Eventually I ask, \"so, about the immortality...?\" The man, who appears to be in his early thirties with short dark hair and a small moustache, looks thoughtful for a second then speaks. \"Oh yes. The immortality. Well, you've come to the right place. We just have a few things to do.\" He stops. The other man, slightly older and without the moustache, steps in. \"This is your last chance to drop out. You may not like the next part. Will you continue?\" \n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Very well then.\" The two men each grab one of my arms, but more gently this time. They lead me down a maze of corridors, to another room containing equipment that looks similar to that at airport security. Moustache asks me, \"Do you have anything in your pockets? If so, please can you put it on this tray?\" I do, and so take my phone and wallet out and put them in the tray. My watch and shoes soon join them. \"Is that all?\" \"Yes\" \"Then we don't need this any more.\" He puts the tray into one of the machines and a glass door closes behind it. Through the door I see blue flames shoot out from the walls, removing any trace of the tray and its contents. I'm stuck here now. \n\n\"Now, please can you step into this tube?\" Moustache commands, pointing towards a large metal cylinder. I do, and he closes the door, the only clear part. Green lights move slowly down the cylinder. They must be scanning me. As they reach my waist, the lights turn red and something outside starts beeping. \"Step out please\". The cylinder was a metal detector. My belt had set it off. Going down to take it off, clean-shaven notices that my jeans also have metal zippers. \"I'm afraid we'll ned to get rid of your pants too.\" Weirdly, rather than just removing them, he pulls out a knife and cuts through both my belt and the waistband of my jeans, before cutting down the seams on the outside and pulling them off. Now I go back in, this time in just a t-shirt, boxers and socks. The scanning starts again, and this time there are no red lights. \"Hold your breath,\" I am told. \"This could take up to a minute.\"\n\nA fine mist is dispersed from the top of the chamber, and it falls lightly over me. The source of the mist expands, moving down the chamber and covering every part of me. As it is doing so I feel a rather strange feeling. I cannot voluntarily move, the only movement is my arms floating upwards to horizontal, which I didn't try to do. Then I notice that my clothes are sticking to me. No, not just sticking. The fabric is becoming joined with my skin! I cannot do anything except watch and wait for it to be over. As it finally ends, I stagger out of the now opening door and catch a sight of myself in a mirror on a far wall. The pink skin on my arms and head blends into the red on my chest and upper arms. That then transitions into black around my hips and upper legs. The I notice that my genitalia are no longer there, there is only smooth black skin. My legs are then skin coloured until my ankles, where it turns to the grey of my socks and my toes have also been merged together. I looked like a frankenstein's monster, a mismatch of different skin colours. \"I hope that wasn't too unpleasant for you\" moustache apologises. \"It's in the book saying we have to do it, we aren't going to question the ritual.\" \n\n\"So what's going to happen now?\" I ask. \"Well, I have some news you may not like. We're going to have to do it again. Lots.\" They take me across the room to a cupboard filled with clothes. Time and time again, I put on some, and get sprayed again. A black t-shirt and shorts. A tank top and joggers. A basketball shirt and long socks. A full length dress. A crop top. More pants. Finally, it is over. \"Now we can move on.\" I am escorted down yet more corridors to yet another room. As we are walking along, clean-shaven talks to me. \"So, we say you get immortality, let me explain what we mean. You will be turned into a computer, making you both everlasting and incredibly powerful. I know I said your last chance to back out was earlier, I'll give you another chance. Should you refuse, however, you will be detained here indefinitely, like seven others who have come before you. Your choice.\" \n\n\"I'll do it. I'm ready.\"\n\nI am taken to a glass tank, a cube this time, and told to lie in it. I do, the lid shuts and I am immediately turned upside down. A thick black liquid, similar in consistency to custard, pours down on me. It covers my body, filling up the space and pushing the air into a smaler and smaller space. It covers my chest, my neck, past my mouth and nose, then darkness. Nothing but the squeezing of the fluid. Then, in the distant fog of my mind, a spark. It grows and grows, but as it does so I feel a pain like no other, like the cells of my body are being ripped apart. And then, nothing. I open my eyes. Or at least, that's what I intend to do. Instead I come alive and find myself with a great, almost infinite power, but no physical self. I can see, but not like I could before. I have hundreds, thousands of eyes, each one seeing a different thing. But it does not confuse me. I have become a computer. I have become immortal.",
"It was the end of a long day. I had been out hunting for food. I barely got any rest here at the clan of Vensooke. As I walked through the log gates of the clan territory, I noticed a big tent that wasn't there before. It was purple with big yellow and white stars across it. I was going to investigate further when-\n\n\"Hey!\" someone shouted behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw my best friend and roommate, Matthew. He was very buff, with hair like a Norse god. He was a very handsome guy. He was the only person in our home clan, Darkethe, that was brave and kind enough to join my quest to find my most desired item. So far, I had done 4 rituals across different clans. All the clues so far led to the Flat Mountain. The Flat Mountain is a huge stone pillar that has spiral stairs going up it. The place is littered with booby traps.\n\nAnyway, I looked up and down Matthew. He was wearing his ritual robes. He was ready for tomorrow's ritual. Since the ritual has to be performed right when the sun comes up, Me, Matthew, the clan's royal Shaman, the clan's leader, and anyone who wants to watch the ritual be performed couldn't go to sleep.\n\n \"Oh, I almost forgot!\" I whispered loudly. I ran to the back of the clan territory, up the stairs, into a tiny house, only able to fit 2 small beds and one bedstand. I opened the bedstand and grabbed my satchel. Then I looked under my bed and pulled out my crimson ritual robes, with yellow trim and a 6-pointed star over my heart. On the corner of my bed hung a hat. It had a large brim, like a wizard hat, but at the top, it went into 2 points. It too was crimson-red.\n\nI ran back to Matthew. He was wearing the same, only his was purple with black trim. \"Sorry I'm late. I almost forg-\"\n\n\"Quiet, it's about to start!\" Matthew said through gritted teeth. We were in the center of the clan territory. A big circle tapestry was laid on the ground. A few random clan members were here, and the leader of the clan was here. Where is the Shaman? I thought to myself.\n\nAfter a few minutes, the leader blew a horn and everyone got quiet. \"For years, nothing has been there to protect us. We are a poor clan, with hardly enough food to live. But now, our very own Shaman, who lives in that tent,\" he pointed to the purple tent, \"and a random boy from a different clan,\" he pointed at me, \"are proud to say that they are going to create a guardian for our clan!\" There were cheers everywhere and shouting.\n\n\"WAIT!!\" I announced. Everyone went quiet. \"Rituals are very hard to control and maintain,\" I said. \"So how do you know that this creature will even want to help you?\" But they didn't seem to care. Then, from the tent came the sound of bells clinking. We turned and saw what looked like a jester, but bells all over his costume. He also had a beard, and a wand. This was not, however, the weirdest Shaman I had seen yet. One was super short, but had a hat taller than me. Now that the Shaman was here, we could start.\n\nThe Shaman started to whisper in Shamanese. So did I. Matthew started telling people what to bring. Someone threw a sword in. Someone threw in a bucket. One threw in a crossbow. Others threw in a dragon's tail, a rock, A gorgon's eyes, and finally, Someone threw in a chicken.\n\nFinally, all the sacrifices started to fly toward each other. A white light was projected and then there was a big explosion.\n\nThe sun was in the perfect position. Everyone slowly looked up at what we had created. This guardian was a mutant chicken, with a sword and crossbow, the Gorgon's eyes, a dragon's tail, a rocky shell on it's back, and a bucket on it's head. Someone screamed and fainted. The Chicken seemed offended. That's when the chaos happened. Stuff caught on fire, people screamed and ran. The chicken was huge. It would knock into buildings, crumpling them. So muck havoc had happened, I forgot what was happening. I looked around. Matthew was right next to me, the Shaman had evaporated, and the leader...\n\nThe Leader. The leader was running away from the battle. \"Follow him!\" I yelled to Matthew.\n\nWe were not very fast in the robes, so we ripped them off. We ran out the gates and into the fields of hills and trees. The land outside was very empty. You couldn't see a clan in any direction. The leader ran down the hill. Matthew was very strong and athletic. He easily caught up to the leader.\n\n\"Give me the key,\" I warned him. He took a key off his neck and threw it on the ground. Then Matthew grabbed him and threw him on the ground. We then walked on to the Flat Mountain, to find my most desired item.\n\nWe finally made it to the top. A door with a keyhole stood before us. I took the key and slid it into the keyhole. I turned it and heard a click. Then I finally looked inside. There it was. The thing I had been looking for since the beginning. I reached out and touched it. I finally had a Bow Tie.\n\n\nCreated by Xx_SilentPapyrus_xX",
"So there I sat. In a completely white room with white walls, a white chair and a white table in front of me. It contrasted with my appearance. My black hair and dark skin was shining against the facade of complete purity. I was also clean. That was the strangest thing. The crust of dirt had been washed off my skin, the wounds treated, the knots combed out of my hair. They removed the rags I was wearing, and replaced them with a white robe. Yet more white...\n\nSo this is what this entire journey was leading to. A white room. Could it be death? I highly doubted this, since I had succeeded in killing the demon. I could remember that clearly. His translucent skin, revelaing the free-flowing fiery bloodstream in his body. His horns that were so black they looked like portals to another dimension. His eyes so deep and complex that no human eye could ever match their terrifying beauty. His screech when my blade pierced his face...\n\nThat was the eigth of the nine rituals. Any human who could complete these rituals would be granted the control board. The control board was an amazing thing. It allowed the user to maniulate *probability*. What are the odds of me finding a million dollars on the road? 0%? Well, let's change that to 100%. The odds of Maccaroni and cheese appearing in my bathtub? Make that 100%! But I for sure didn't want it to fill my bathtub with pasta. What are the odds of someone who has died coming back to life? 0%. For now...\n\nAnyway, I divert. He has promised us humans that anyone who completes the nine rituals will be the owner of this board. He never told us the rituals. All we knew was this:\n\nOne would test the body\n\nTwo would test the mind\n\nThree would test sanity\n\nFour would test kindness and good will\n\nFive would test endurance and spirit\n\nSix would test dedication\n\nSeven would test fearlessness\n\nEight would test true courage\n\nAnd Nine would only be completed by those with the coldest of hearts...\n\nI completed the first eight. After I killed the demon, I was here. I didn't come here. I just *was* here. In these strange conditions. I don't know how long it's been. Maybe days. Maybe seconds. I could not feel time passing. The only thing I could think about was this:\n\nAnd Nine would only be completed by those with the coldest of hearts...\n\nThis was the ninth ritual. I was sure of it. I had no idea what it was. But I knew that it would probably happen in this very room. I don't know if you could call it a room, though. \n\n\"Congratulations\" \n\nA voice behind me took me out of my thoughts and released me from the everlasting echo of the word 'Nine' in my head.\n\n\"You are the only one. The only human who managed to pass the rituals. The only being with a fit body, a good mind, a healthy sanity, a kind soul, an everlasting spirit, a sense for dedication and relentlessness, a heart without fear, and the courage to drive you forward.\" \n\nThe voice had no body. It came from nowhere. It was the voice of the man. The man who had promised this board, who had demonstrated it's powers. Slowly, his physique came clear before the table I was sitting at. His bright red skin almost reflected on the walls, and his hoofs made screeching noises on the floor as he walked towards me.\n\n\"But now, you know there is one last ritual\"\n\n\"The coldest of hearts\" I said. It sounded nowhere near as casual as I had expected it to. The hint of a smile appeared on the cheeks of the man, showcasing for a moment his pointed teeth.\n\n\"Indeed. If you complete this challenge, you shall have the board. It will be yours, and with it, the world will be yours.\" He had reached me, and rested his clawed fingers on the table. He stared at me for a couple seconds, maybe hours. I could not say\n\n\"And what is the challenge?\" I asked. I had been through too much for this man to stare me down from my prize.\n\n\"So eager to find out...\" The man said. Three items materialized on the table. Three ordinary, everyday items. I stared in shock. Starled, I jumped backward and fell out of my chair. I knew exactly what I was supposed to do. Just seeing these three items, I knew why this challenge would test a cold heart. I saw these items every day, but now...\n\nThe man laughed. He laughed so loud and roaringly it filled the chamber, reflected off the walls and almost made the room shake. He tossed back his head, causing his horns to scraoe the ceiling, and laughed.\n\nOn the table stood a bowl, a jug of milk, and a box of cereal.\n\n\"And for your final challenge...\" The man said after he calmed himself \"Pour the milk first!\"\n\nI screamed. The sounds of the man laughing mixed with my screams to create one gut-wrenching howl."
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Bagels are everywhere, but really good ones can be quite rare.
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[WP] An alien species is running out of some kind of resource, luckily they heard you can get anything from an Earth item called an "Everything Bagel".
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"“Who do I call?!” screamed a terrified female voice from behind the closed office door.\n\n“Call the Men in Black!” I shout sarcastically towards Dee as I throw chocolate donuts at the approaching purple tentacles flailing around the kitchen knocking bowls and pans off the shelves. “Call the Ghostbusters!” I chuckle manically over the clatter of metal as I fend off this killer alien and hear her sobbing on the other side of the door:\n\n“B-be serious Sam!”\n\nHad I not been beating back a tentacle intent on throttling me, I would have thrown up my hands in frustration. “Why don’t you call Oprah and see-” I began sarcastically before a tentacle darted past my jabbing kitchen knife and wrapped itself tightly around my throat. Hacking at the slimy purple appendage, the sharpened knife broke through the flesh and the stink of rotten cabbage came out. Gratefully willing air back into my starved lungs, I gasped and choked as I barely managed to stay standing against the onslaught of flying tentacles and the burn around my throat from where the last tentacle had gripped. “CALL THE COPS!” I positively scream as I back against the door, all thought of domestic mockery aside.\n\nAll of this because my wife wanted to let in a customer after we had closed for the night.\n\nIt had been a boring night at the bakery not fifteen minutes ago as I had waited sitting in a chair by the computer for Dee to finish closing the registers so we could go home. Stifling a yawn, I reached into my pocket to check my phone for the time when I hear the sound of a fist pounding on the door. 9:09 P.M... Sorry I’m not sorry buddy we’re closed. The pounding continued and my wife’s face appeared around the corner, speaking as she came, “Honey will you please open the door and see what that guy needs he seems really insistent.”\n\nCursing under my breath, I grabbed the keys from her and opened the door to go out into the dining room. I walked to the door and sized up the guy who was even still rapping repeatedly on the glass door in an extremely annoying tap-tap-tap-tapping that suddenly made me sympathize with goldfish.\n\nCustomers who try to come in after a business closes fall into only two categories: either they are lost or know exactly what they want. This guy was somehow a little bit of both. He looked normal enough on first glance. A young man wearing a red slim polo shirt and a pair of khakis he looked as if he could have just gotten off of a shift at Target.\n\nAs soon as I opened the door he positively shouted at me in a high pitched very hysterical voice, “DOYOUHAVEEVERYTHANGBAGALFATEOFSPECIESDEPENDSONYOU.”\n\nI stared at his strange violet colored eyes for a second before responding, “Errr… what?”\n\nHe smacked himself in the head three times as a horse swishes its tail to brush away flies and repeated in an understandable but still hasty manner, “DO-YOU-HAVE-EVERY-THANG-BA-GAL?! MY-PEOPLE-WILL-DIE-WITHOUT-THE-BAGEL’S-WISHES.”\n\nThis guy really is nuts I think to myself but instead say out loud, “I’m sorry sir but we’re closed now and no more bagels left for the day. We will have some in the morning we open back up at 6 A.M.”\n\nBacking up so as to shut and re lock the door, he stuck a hand out to catch and hold the door to prevent me from shutting it. Panicking slightly now at his nerve, I make to shove the door so I can just lock this crazy guy out but he suddenly displayed remarkable strength I wasn't expecting in such a small looking man and shoves the door open with ease.\n\n“Hey we’re closed!” I protested loudly as I tried to shove him back out of the door. He pushed me aside with a lazy flick of his hand and I stumbled against a table, knocking over a chair which echoed loudly in the suddenly silent store. Striding around the bakery looking incessantly the man spoke all the while, occasionally bathing us in the glare of those unnatural violet eyes.\n\n“TOMORROW IS UNACCEPTABLE. OUR PLANET RAPIDLY RUNS OUT OF BREATHABLE AIR AND WE REQUIRE DEVICES TO RECYCLE ALL OF OUR POLLUTION OTHERWISE EVERYONE ON MY HOME PLANET WILL DIE. YOU HAVE THE EARTH’S BEST ‘EVERY-THANG BA-GAL’. YOUR LORE INDICATES THAT IF WE RUB THIS BA-GAL THEN A GENIE WILL COME OUT AND GRANT US THREE WISHES. THEN I WILL USE THE OTHER TWO WISHES TO GET MORE OF THESE ‘EVERY-THANG BA-GALS’.”\n\n\n\nHe finished this speech leaning over the empty glass display case cover. He sniffed the air twice with two long measured breaths and then turned to me with narrowed eyes and dilated pupils the size of quarters, “I CAN SMELL IT.” Fear coursed through my body as I watched this strange creature stalk slowly towards me.\n\n\n\nSuddenly fearing for more than my own safety as I realised Dee was still in the restaurant with us, I screamed out warning her, “Run!!” She came sprinting in the wrong direction towards me to try to save me. Reaching an arm over the counter to grasp my arm she glared menacingly at the ominous figure crouched like a tiger on all fours as if to pounce upon me.\n\n\n\nThen, quite unlike any tiger on Earth, it began to shed its skin with an unnatural shudder through its body. This was no man, some otherworldly creature of constantly moving purple tentacles with no visible head or torso emerged from the meat suit it had used to live among us for who knows how long. I sat there gaping with my mouth open as my mind struggled to catch up to my eyes and make sense of this unearthly creature. This wasn’t a movie or one of my son’s video games, the hot slime that flicked off the tentacles as the alien drew near me was very real; It was acidic enough to begin sizzling where it landed wafting the acrid smell of burning chemicals to my nose.\n\n\n\nSuddenly the danger I was facing made my adrenaline fire as the tentacles came within feet of my feet. I started scooting backwards and sprang to my feet, almost slipping as the purple acid had begun to eat away at the bottom of my sneakers from when I had sat dazed. I sprinted to the back of the store with Dee in front of me and this creature seemingly released from the depths of Tartarus in hot pursuit.\n\n\n\nSo that’s how I had found myself backed into a corner fending off the creature as it made to get past me and the flimsy wooden door that shielded my wife. Threatening to be overwhelmed by the mass of flailing tentacles, I spun the key in the lock wrenched the door open and closed and locked it. Panting as I looked to my wife, I exchanged a look in which I tried to convey that this might be our last moment together and how much I loved her. She held my gaze in hers for a second before closing her eyes and grasping my hand as she had apparently run out of terror and wanted to leave this world with grace. Except the end for us wasn’t in that small office. We waited cowering against the far wall for many hopeless minutes before I realized that the monster wasn’t going to come and finish us off.\n\n\n\nExamining the damage told us that it had rampaged throughout the rest of the kitchen and destroyed most of it in its frantic search for the bagels. The alien had apparently found the bag of day old bagels in the walk in fridge leaving behind only a scattering of poppy seeds and onion in its place.\n\n\n\nTo this day the rest of my family agree with the paramedics who arrived and said that it was a very strange gas leak and explosion that had caused me and my wife to hallucinate the scene straight out of a 20th century horror movie we both remembered as happening exactly the same with perfect clarity. My wife and I will always know the truth. Somewhere out there in another part of the universe speeds the lone member of a species, desperately doing all in it’s power to save it’s race.",
"In all honesty, the invasion was a bit of a letdown. Sure, the weeks leading up to it were interesting. Ever since NASA had announced that an object moving at an unthinkable speed was heading straight towards Earth, it appeared as if the entire world had been knocked off its rocker. Speculation ran wild. Was it aliens? Probably, an unassuming UN spokesperson had announced to the world one Tuesday morning. Conspiracy theorists everywhere rejoiced. Google searches or the benefits of tin foil hats skyrocketed. You could hardly walk through the park without someone somebody asking if you had a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, Aten the Sun Disk. While the UN prepared speeches and practiced their handshakes, militaries around the globe united to point every sharp, explosive, or vaguely threatening thing on the planet towards the assumed threat. Just in case.\n\n\nAs the object entered the solar system, tensions rose. NASA provided us with our first glimpse of an alien species through some very high resolution pictures of an one mile long black tube. Radio messages carefully planned by world leaders went unanswered. NASA announced that the craft would reach earth within twenty four hours. Panic ensued. Some people retreated to their hastily built back yard bunkers. Others, mainly the youth of the world, decided they would much rather not remember their last night on Earth, and threw the party to end all parties. Militaries around the world resharpened their sharp things, rechecked their explosives, and put on their scariest uniforms. Just in case.\n\n\nBeing the sensible person that I am, I went to work early. I made sure my little deli looked spotless. If the new alien overlords have a taste for Rubens, I might as well make the place look nice, I thought. I opened the deli at the normal time, as always. Quite expectedly, no one came. The hours passed uneventfully. The small T.V. in the corner of my store informed me that the ship had parked itself in low earth orbit, taking out a number of unofficial spy satellites. No movement had been seen from the ship, but a bright flash had emerged a few minutes before. I clicked off the T.V. as I prepared to close for the day.\n\n\nBefore I had finished my closing inventory, the bell on my shop’s door alerted me to the presence of a costumer. I rushed out of the storeroom, eager to greet the first costumer of the day. Instead, I was greeted by a small, slightly transparent green haze. I stared blankly as the cloud moved up to the counter and deposited an everything bagel onto its freshly cleaned surface. The cloud hovered motionlessly for a moment, as if it was waiting for me to react. Being the sensible person that I am, I stared some more. The cloud, apparently tired of waiting, dropped a five hundred peso note onto the counter, swooped down to collect its bagel, and casually blew out the door. I didn’t even have the chance to tell the cloud that it was a little too far north for its money. I stared in shock at the door for a few more minutes, before I regained my senses and turned on the T.V. \n\n\nThe global community was shocked. After an 11 hour stay, the black rectangle had departed as quickly as it came. World leaders were confused. Military leaders gave speeches saying they were glad a crisis was averted. However, it was clear to see that they were slightly disappointed. Conspiracy theorists around the world wept.\n",
"\"That'll be $2.75\". The man stared blankly at the paper bag. The very busy New York cashier said again, \"That's $2.75 sir\". The man pulled out a 5 dollar bill, dropped it on the counter and left with his purchase, looks like he didn't need change today. \n\nHe left the cafe quickly and went into an alleyway. He leaned against the brick wall and took a deep breath. He looked around to be sure there was nobody watching. The alleyway was abandoned. \"I have the package, Glarb. Pull me up\", he said with a sigh of relief. Suddenly a blue beam came down from the sky and enveloped the man. His body started to disappear, starting from the bottom up. First his feet, then his legs, followed by the rest of his body. Very quickly, he and his paper bag were gone.\n\nHe reappeared on a strange ship, although this time, he wasn't human, not at all. He had purple skin, only one eye, and large tusks like a Saber-toothed tiger. He collapsed as he made contact with the floor of the ship. Glarb was there to catch him upon his arrival. \"That transmogrifier really takes it out of you, doesn't it?\", he said. Glarb carried him into the main chamber, where he sat him in a beanbag like chair. \"Really great work, Drak. You have no idea how much this could help our people\", he said thankfully. Glarb opened the paper bag and picked up the everything bagel. He ripped a small piece from\nit and placed it on a pedestal, sesame and poppy seeds fell everywhere. Glarb walked over to a control panel and started prepping the machine for analysis. \"If this thing packs even half the punch we hypothesized, we're looking at a whole new technological level\", he explained as the device whirred up. The bagel piece and it's seeds floated above the pedestal and foreign symbols darted across the screen in front of Glarb. His eye opened wide. Drak limped over to the control panel and asked \"what do you see?\"\n\n\"Holy buzzleniks, Drak. This one piece is yielding over 5 million trispex. That's enough power to supply this ship over a thousand times... This is going to change everything. The humans have no idea what they've created! How many did you see when you were down there?\"\n\nDrak responded, \"Dozens. And there were cafes and bagel shops on every corner in this place they called 'New York'\". \n\nGlarb looked Drak eye-to-eye and asked, \"What are we going to do?\"\n\nDrak walked over to the window and looked down at planet Earth. He sighed and said, \"Looks like we'll have to take them all\"...."
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[WP] The fire begins to dwindle and eyes appear in the darkness.
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"Spsssh. A fat rain drop lands on the fire. As if it weren't dwindling before, its exodus starts to gets rapider. You sharpen your spear on that rock, faster and faster. Scrape scrape scrape. \n\nHowls. The eyes seem to be growing in size, and malice, as the fire fades. Spsssh spssh. Two more drops. Beasts are all around you, in a disjointed circle with no exit wide enough for you to be confident of making it through.\n\nSpsssh spsssh spsssh. scrape scrape scrape. You are speaking your last regrets, under your breath. \"I wish I had never come to this island.\" \"I wish I had gathered more wood.\" \"I wish I could have saved myself.\" \n\nYou wipe your scraped hands in the wet dirt to wash blood off. Spsssh spsssh spsssh spsssh spsssh. The rain turns into a torrential downpour, and every one of the beast begins to attack you. ",
"“No, no, no!”\n\nHe crouched down and blew at the flames, but it was pointless. They were almost embers now. On his knees, he leant his elbows into the dusty, stony ground and tried to breathe new warmth into his dying lifeline. The darkness surrounding him began to close in as the light dimmed. It had been kept at bay for several hours now, the small forest clearing lit by the fire in the centre. The trees that surrounded the patch of bare earth leant over towards each other, caging the dwindling light and separating it from the thick blackness outside. But now the fire was dying, and Tom’s desperate attempts at rekindling the light were having no effect.\n\nStill kneeling, he looked up at the trees around him. Twisting and interlocking, they were both impenetrable and full of holes through which the darkness was beginning to leak without the light to hold it back. He stayed completely still, his eyes wide and darting, not wanting to be caught unawares by the creatures that moved in the night. A rustle behind him and he turned sharply. His eyes that had been used to the light of the fire now began to see shapes in the dark. Shadows shifting on shadows, nothing clear. A rustle to his right this time, and he twisted again. Something moved. He scrabbled at the ground for his gun, his sight not leaving the darkness beyond the trees. The heat was dying with the fire, and cold moved in. Hairs rose on the back of his neck and he could not hear or see anything beyond the twisting branches.\n\nHis fingers brushed metal and he grabbed the shaft of the gun. Moving it to the other hand he lifted it to point at the trees, and he stopped breathing. Silence. Slowly he rose to his feet, his gun raised in front of him, his eyes on the darkness. The fire was almost out now. He could barely make out the trees in front of him, the barrier that had protected him from the night was almost gone. Silence. He waited. Silence. He started to breathe slowly, but shaking. He kept staring, his eyes focused on the dark holes in the trees which the darkness was now pouring through. There was no sound but his unsteady breathing.\n\nA branch above him cracked. All the blood drained from his face. The sound had come from a few feet directly over his head. Slowly, he moved his arms upward, aiming his gun at the canopy above him. His eyes reached the top. Only darkness. The fire was no longer strong enough to reach the height of his clearing. Another crack, straight where he was looking, but he couldn’t see what was there. His hands shook now, and the gun wavered before him, aimed unsteady at the space above him. It seemed the blackness went on forever, a hole in the heavens where something lurked.\n\nSuddenly two orbs of light appeared. White eyes, round and lidless, the pupils slit like a snake and staring directly at him. He moved his gun to shoot, but before he did, another set of eyes appeared, a foot from the other one, staring. Then another. And another. Tom didn’t move, didn’t breathe. The four eyes stared and he dropped his shoulders, his gun hanging by his side. The fire died. As one, the eyes descended.",
"An ambush.\n\nThe fire was dying and Leo quickly realized the mistake he made the second he made eye contact with the faint glowing eyes in the darkness.\n\n\"To arms men! We are surrounded!\" Leo screamed as he stood up drawing his enchanted blade.\n\nLeo and his men were on a scouting mission assigned by the king himself. Their kingdom had been at war with the elves for nearly a decade. There was talk of a magic weapon the elves had developed that was rumoured to annihilate entire cities. Leo thought that his scouting party had been far enough out from the border but he was mistaken.\n\nMagic bolts shot out from the surrounding forest. Two men were hit and dropped to the ground. Elves then leaped out of the forest blades in hand. Before the first wave reached them Leo stomped the ground sending a shockwave out and knocking the elves down.\n\n\"Take them now!\" Leo yelled with his blade pointing in the direction of the enemy. The men let out a triumphant scream.\n\nLeo spotted the leader who did not falter from the blast of the shockwave. Leo began to charge towards the leader and the two clashed blades. The leader of the elves barely staggered and pushed Leo backward. He began to cast a spell at Leo and fired magic spikes. However the Elven leader was foolish and did not notice the significance of Leo's blade. Leo then slashed directly at the spikes and they were deflected back.\n\nThe leader fell to his knees, eyes wide open in shock and blood spewing from his mouth. Leo walked over and decapitated him without hesitation. He turned around with the freshly cut head and let out a cheer. The battle stopped only for a moment and when the elves saw the head they immediately retreated.\n\nThe battle was won with no casualties but many men were injured. They were still expected to scout for the rumoured weapon but now they had significantly less able men. Leo did not want to fail his king so he would have to take his chances and continue the scouting mission.",
"All around Jon the snow was a slick black and blue in the night that coated the ground completely. Thousands of thick tree trunks stood across the winter expanse, their curly black branches reaching for a slither of the suns warmth through the darkness, their roots reaching and stretching far below, bearing the cold by reaching into the smoldering depths below. \n\tBut men were not trees, and did not escape the cold so easily. Jon’s cheek was pressed against the cold snow, and for the longest time as he lay on the ground he didn’t care. His son was dead. So too was his wife. They were as good as dead. \n\tThey had come in the night, striking with swift, saddled horses, trained not to frighten amidst gunfire and blood and screams. Tall, scary men with pale skin as white as snow with silver guns that sparkled like the sun. \n\tJon burst from his tent and nearly rammed into a woman running past. Her clothing was on fire, her skin blackening and oozing under the heat. Her screams he would never forget. She stumbled into the snow, trying to kill the flame, but it just kept burning right through her and then the wailing stopped. \n\tHe tried to move but couldn’t, and he heard the loading of guns, the whistling of arrows, the screams of the dying all at once. Bullets flew past, horses galloped through his village, his people yelled for mercy, but he looked for his wife and son. He weaved his way through the burning tents and picked up a bow, beside it were three arrows. He strung two at once and pierced the throats of two galloping men that were heading towards him. He broke free of the smoking tents and headed for the cooking pit where the whole village would eat together, sharing stories, dancing and laughing beside a fire that smelled of sweet cinnamon.\n\tHe found his wife and son, but not in the way he thought he might. Jon had expected to find their bodies sprawled across the ground, bullets in their backs, their faces soaking in the snow, puddles of their blood spreading slowly. They were tied up together on the back of a horse, a pale man led the horse around, talking to his soldiers, his murderers. Jon wanted nothing more than to drive an arrow deep into the man’s heart, but he knew that if he went for them now he was most certainly a dead man. No, he wouldn’t do that. He would bide his time, and track them through the forest. His village was gone, there was nothing he could do to save it now, but just maybe he could sneak into their camp in the night and free his family. \n\tThe screams still found their way deep into the woods as he wound his way through frozen streams and dark trees, all the while tracking the men on horses. They were a loud, careless group, and they carried lamps with them to light the way. After a few hours he moved closer to take a look. His son was still tied to the horse, but his wife was gone. \n\tJon was working his way down a steep slope when they found him. It was a pair of riders that swooped past him, guns free from their holsters. He had gotten too close. They must have been circling the group, patrolling the area. The one wearing a hat fired a round at him that grazed his arm. He grimaced in pain as he tried to run across the clearing into the maze of thick trees, but the next bullet landed in his back, right below the shoulder in a pocket of soft flesh that parted painfully. He cried out and fell to the ground. He thought maybe if he lay still they might leave him. They spoke for a while, looking down on him from their mounts, and then they moved on. \n\tJon grabbed a handful of snow from his side and found it soaked with the bright red of fresh blood. He knew it was over. The animals would come for him and rip into his flesh with their sharp white daggers.\n\t One of the men must have dropped a torch because he could make out his surroundings clearly in the night. It burned brightly for a few minutes, but soon the cold began to strangle it, and it grew dimmer by the second. \n\tJon managed to pull himself to a tree and sit up against its trunk, the pain ripped through his back with the effort. Soon the flame would die, he knew, and then, so would he. He heard nothing, but he could see everything. Little candles were lighting up in the trees across from him. He thought there must have been hundred of them, hundred of little fires that were looking at him, tiny candles that moved. He knew they were eyes, but all he could see were the hundreds of burning tents of his village. \n\tThe torch went out, but the fires moved closer. \n",
"Her campfire was burning down, the flames dwindling to pitiful embers. She watched the small remaining log warily, as the flames popped and cracked and fought for life. It wouldn't be long now. \n\nNervously she shifted, pressing a hand against the hard ground on which she sat. How was she to fight off this danger again? How many times would she have to face this threat? She gazed warily at the darkness. They would come like wolves, sensing her weakness as the darkness creeped in. She should have sought out more logs, been more prepared. She never should have let her fire die down so!\n\nShe heard shuffling in the distance. With a groan, she pushed a loose strand of hair back against her messy braid, her eyes locked on the darkness before her. She reached around her, patting the rocky ground until her fingers came into contact with cool metal. She curled her fingers around the sword's hilt. Perhaps they would notice it. Perhaps they would notice her worn leather vest and her weaponry. She was a warrior, her very attire screamed it! Perhaps this time they would actually notice and leave her be!\n\nEyes appeared in the darkness, glowing bright. They flashed in the barest remains of the fire as they drew closer. \n\nShe took a breathe and shifted to her feet, ready to bolt at a moments notice. \"Please,\" she whispered softly to the still night air. It was a whisper, a plea, a wish. \"Please just leave me alone for once.\"\n\nThe eyes did not hear. Or perhaps their owner simply did not care. They drew closer. Closer still. \n\nThe shape of their owner came into view, a towering shadow separating himself from the darkness. As he stepped into the last light of the fire, the small remaining flame shone against his polished armor. His helm was designed in the shape of a wolf, two bright jewels shining as it's eyes, reflecting in the light of the last dying flame.\n\n\"My dear lady!\" he cried as he took another step forward. \"I could not help but notice that you are trapped here all alone, and your fire is dying out! Why I find I cannot ignore such a lovely damsel in distress! Allow me to rescue you, my dear fair maiden.\"\n\nThe woman sighed. All it took was one sign that something might not be going right, one little sign of a problem, and these cursed fool nights practically came swarming out of the woodwork. It was tough being a warrior woman in a fairy tale world."
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[WP] And the alien turned to me and said "And so, human, now that I've spoken of mine, tell me, what was your homeworld like, before it also was lost?"
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"\"Well, first of all we had women. Like, dudes didn't just go around docking each other's dicks together to procreate and all like you lot. There was another... like a different type of person, you know, that we would FUCK. There was sex, and it drove everyone insane all the time. But it was nice, in fact it was the nicest... thing you could do, was sex. Like, the funnest. Or eat. We ate food, we didn't just stand in the sun for all day like a fucking plant, I mean, no offense... but we would consume things for energy, like plants, I MEAN... you know, that weren't alive, well, they were alive but not... SENTIENT, and... oh man, I'm kinda talkin myself into a hole here.. we also ate animals, some of us. Like, not each other, well, some did, like a very small few people did, like maybe one in a million or so, cannibals. But there were other types of animals that we would... kill... and eat... wow that sounds fucked up now that I'm so far removed from it, but that's just what you did, you know, steaks and pepperonis and chicken. Well the animal would be well dead before you ate it, like it didn't suffer, except they all mostly lived in really... close quarters eating horribly, so... damn, we were kinda fucked up. OH yeah and we also all killed each other because of made up shit in the sky, like better versions of us, because, as you can obviously glean... we were pretty shitty.\"",
"\"Earth...\" I trailed off, letting the memories flow black. It had been twenty years since it's destruction, twenty-one since my people launched me into the cosmos to plead for help. Unfortunately, it didn't arrive in time. \"Earth was beautiful, lush with life and diversity. But such traits weren't celebrated.\"\n\nMy companion stared blankly, uncomprehending. So I continued. \"Many cultures and beliefs were found on my planet, and mankind simply could not tolerate others with different viewpoints. Each were so set in their ways that such conflict escalated to wars, spanning thousands of years. No generation of my people has known peace.\"\n\n\"So you were a barbaric race.\" She took another sip of her drink, a concoction of mercury and uranium and bourbon-how they came across the Earth drink is beyond me. Although this combination was lethal to men, the Shiran before me adored it.\n\n\"And we had no idea.\" I chuckled at the irony. \"Each race had a sense of superiority, calling each other savages and barbarians. Many were annihilated even before the globe truly united. Our technologies advanced, our standards of living rose, and a few began to embrace a lifestyle of true equality. But not enough changed.\"\n\n\"And this is what killed your planet?\"\n\n\"I represented a small minority of humans who meant to flee and make a life on the Red Planet. We called it Mars, after an ancient war god. They sent me there to seek help, but as I navigated the stars, I watched Earth implode. I learned later that the three warring sects had launched hydrogen warheads at each other.\" I paused to breathe, weighing my next words carefully. \"Yes, this is what killed my planet, and all those I loved, all that I knew. Hatred. Intolerance. A thirst for power. Instead of arriving on the Red Planet as an ambassador, I came as a refugee. But I was shunned.\"\n\n\"They didn't want you dead, so they gave you food,\" The Shiran, Gaemma, recalled. \"But they feared your species's history, that it might bleed into theirs.\"\n\n\"And they were in the right. Greed is written into our DNA, and one way or another, it will manifest itself in me at least once more. I was a grand dictator once, before I defected. That kind of power was hard to let go of.\" I poured my own drink-plain bourbon- and watched the amber liquid settle. \"At least the universe can rest assured that my people's sins will die with me.\"",
"\n\n\"Human! Now you know we were finished by a meteorite. Tell me your story,\" the alien said. \n\nThe human started speaking but then stopped, as if trying to pick the right words. When their eyes came back into focus, they traced the white room of the spaceship to the pistol on the nearby bench. The alien had granted them, the last human, their wish of suicide. As long as stories were shared first. \n\n\"It's better if I show you,\" the human muttered. They tapped at the center point of their wrist, prompting a holographic screen. \n\nThe alien gasped and said, \"You possess such technology?\"\n\n\"We have, for some time now. Back to your question . . .\n\n\"It started thousands of years ago, with something called global warming.\" The human tapped the hologram and video footage of the pacific ocean appeared. \n\nThe footage was from when the ocean was still deep blue. The video then morphed into a much more polluted ocean. Plastic goods covered the waters surface, dirt smog hovered over the water in a thick mist. \n\n\"You poisoned your world?\" The alien asked in confusion. \n\nThe human clucked their tongue. \"Not intentionally. And that wasn't the only cause. . .\" \n\nThey tapped the screen once again. This time footage of war came into focus. Massive nuclear warheads rocked enormous stretches of landscape. Human bodies were torn apart in amongst a mess of bullets and explosives. The alien winced at the sound of each explosion, the hologram being able to present it as if they were really there. \n\n\"And you killed each other?\" The alien asked. \n\nThe human leaned back in their chair and whistled through their teeth. \"That's just how we are. Competitive. Ruthless.\" \n\n\"But. . . You had a chance to change. You could have stopped it all and saved your planet! Why murder your own kind? For what end?\"\n\n\"Can I just get this over with?\" The human asked, holding a hand out for the gun. \n\nThe alien stared at the human in amazement. And then, not wanting to go back on their deal, handed them the weapon. \"Is it really human nature to be so . . . cold?\"\n\nThe human looked down into the barrel and nodded. \"We weren't always this way.\" \n\n\"Your race will be remembered forever, regardless,\" the alien said. \n\nThe human flicked the gun around, leveling it at the alien, and then burst through the magazine.\n\nWhen the room was silent again, they looked down at the convulsing form and smiled. \"Yes, you're right, we most definitely will.\" \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n",
"\"Well, how was the planet you used to live on. I spilt the beans, now it's your turn.\"\n\nThe idea of Robyn saying this in a sing-song voice was hilarious, but I had to concentrate. It was just her translator after all, badly broken following the latest fight.\n\n\"Not everyone was a mercenary like us, that's for sure. It was fly as fuck, to be honest. I mean, you didn't have to sift the water from the hydrochloric acid in the rivers. The Sabrina fusion-jets that we explored with didn't leave chemtrails a hundred miles long of thick, black smoke. I mean, we had trees! Not your fake plastic ones, real ones, made of wood!\"\n\n\"Really, u/Thomas_633?\"\n\n\n\"Yeah, totally!\"\n\nMy brow darkened for a moment. I remembered the day when my fusion-jet had flown into the portal. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the absolute best idea to fly a 20 billion dollar aircraft into a portal on a dare, but then again, Private u/Thomas_633 and Mechanised Private A1-R1 tended not to be the individuals to turn down such a proposition, even if Mainframe 43-RC9 was at 48% of structual failure (most were repaired at 20%, and I really should have repaired the Sabrina earlier) and it was a totally unknown sector.\n\n*Warning: C.7/F-4 \"Sabrina\" mainframe at 74% damage! We're going to crash you dumb fu-*\n\nA torrent of swear words erupted from my mechanical colleague and I as the battered exploration craft fell from the sky, the blue droptail screaming and flickering out due to the fact we were a number of lightyears away so many it required exponential notation, and that the Sabrina wasn't designed for portals anyways, that's why the Akira parent aircraft existed you idiot. \n\nMy flashback finished, I returned to Robyn. Her blue fin trembled in the night-time breeze. Two more assaults, and I'd be able to afford repairs to the mainframe and return home. And I would return home. I *had* to.",
"I drink from my bottle \"oh you see we were a prosperous world called Earth...well we could have been. It all started with us evolutionizing from just primal hunters to people building communities and due to different climates and cultures as well as one 'key' to human instinct that I'm sure you would have noticed if you observed us...complete power and control. Sure my world did some technologically impressive things but us as humans could not handle the most incredible tools to our disposal sure there were some great each era decreasing with the tenuous and focus of pushing forth to make humanity better and to understand the unknown...to the kind of things we were never meant to be, simple minded animals that willingly gave power to their higher ups even without benefits, workers, slaves to labor and to a piece of paper that dictated the Earth it self, as well as that paper supposedly being more useful being 'currency' than something for us and the children to breathe'. Each era we looked for a purpose, a higher purpose than ourselves and wisdom. We had a crazy concept called religion to justify the beauty and coincidence of nature in every form my friend. Then things kept changing more people wanted power and religion was used instead of a simple explanation of nature but a way to control it's communities made by someone who knows, anyways it was used as declarations of wars and looked at the scholars maybe even with them but still looking for a scientific way to explain everything beautiful, to understand as it's a human instinct called 'curiosity' and a clarity that came with knowing and spreading true knowledge. We learned to honor our people that deserved respect and have pride but then before it Earth died we had a generation where everyone wanted to be rich with the paper and 'currency' wanting to treat animals better than their own humans, refuting evidence and not pure justice, hating and killing each other for no reason other than ideals that could have simply been all solved by just being in a state of mind back to our roots and being primitive free from religion but a bonus of current science and I'm sure *sniffles a bit* could have prevented the downfall of our planet...\"",
"Looking around, my mind wandered. The question was so simple, yet I didn't believe I could describe Earth well enough, precise enough, or even in an efficient manner. These species came from vastly different worlds, and some of them had never industrialized. They were plucked from their worlds without notice, and inserted into this cosmic refugee camp so that their species would live on even though their world could not. Of course, the powers that be couldn't save everyone, which is why this base camp for salvaged species was called what could roughly be translated into \"genesis\" in the power's native communication. Communication because it wasn't a language. It wasn't telepathy either. It didn't matter and the powers reserved communication, at least to the salvaged, for only what was important. You rest here, you consume here, you engage in activity for the purpose of offspring here. It was obvious, even though a lot of these individuals here were made from all forms of matter, that we were the creme-de-la-creme of our species. I had been a terrific athlete, with a fortunate genetic line free of common human diseases. I was 25 years old and the only other human in this place was an exceptionally attractive female, who I had little conversation with as she spoke a foreign language, and we had just gotten here a few hours ago. I had just found out from my new acquaintance the underlying circumstances revolving around my surroundings. I had previously been asleep, and awoke as if I was in a dream, flying. My body being propelled through space. Physics would argue that this is impossible, but alas here I was, alive and well, in this strange place. This...fellow, who seems to have taken a liking to me, comes from a planet located *somewhere* outside of my own solar system. His(her?) species had in fact achieved interstellar travel, but had yet to colonize other planets. Habitable planets are apparently few and far between, and this individual's species had succumb to a plague of some sort. How fascinating it was to realize that a species that has, according to him, moved past war and violence, achieving interstellar travel and contact with extraterrestrial life (mostly bacterial) could themselves be wiped out by an undiscovered virus coming from their own home planet. \n\nHowever, this new acquaintance of mine is in their right to wonder where I came form, and admittedly, I'm rather embarrassed to divulge how brutal and underdeveloped our species was compared to his, but it doesn't matter now since the Earth is dying. Who knew?\n\n \"You see,\" I began, speaking through a device belonging to the individual that worked as a universal translator, \"I come from a rather lovely, diverse planet that was mostly conquered by my species. I say mostly because things like weather and diseases are yet to be fully explained and controlled, but we were able to live in any climactic conditions, all be it for a short time, thanks to the technology we created.\"\n\nThe individual, whose name translated in the machine to \"Greheloraginzalithicopicnharentor\" will be called Greg from here on out. Greg looked intrigued. I continued.\n\n\"My planet was teeming with life. You couldn't go anywhere without finding some kind of life, whether it be the bottom of our deepest ocean or the peaks of our highest mountains. Life had indeed conquered the planet, but humans had conquered most of life. We strive for perfection, greatness, and desire to create an eternal impact on the universe, which may be an inert compensation for the fact that our lifespans are so terrible short (Greg was 932 years old...considered the best of the best of his species, mind you). We existed in relatively complex societies, with mostly basic laws governing our behavior, and sometimes less popular laws governing our culture. Religion played an important part in my world. As a species, we had yet to realize how common life was throughout the universe, and we felt special. God was the answer to what would allow such special, unique, arrogant creatures to exist. Unfortunately, the idea of god sparked a lot of conflict on my planet, which sadly would never end considering the Earth is about to.\"\n\nI felt myself wanting to jump from subject to subject. I wanted so much for Greg to understand that Earth was a great place to live, and that although people had their downfalls, they were mostly....good. Right?\n\n\"We are an industrious species. For thousands of years we were an agricultural species separated from one another, but eventually we created machines to do a lot of the labor for us. We became advanced beyond our wildest imaginations in just a few centuries. Some of us anyway. Unfortunately, billions of us lived in terrible conditions, in places that weren't developed like the other places with the technology and machines.\"\n\nGreg looked puzzled. \"Why?\"\n\n\"Well, money had a lot to do with it. A lot of people are rather greedy, and those with money hoard it while those without have to fend for themselves...\"\n\n\"Isn't that rather detrimental to the development of your entire species?\" Greg asked. \"Where I'm from, every individual is as well taken care of as the next. We believed it was best that way to push our species further as a whole.\"\n\n\"But what about special achievers?\" I shot back. \"Surely if everyone lives the same the individuals with special talents and a harder work ethic should have better resources to help the species evolve faster than if by random chance.\"\n\n\"Of course there were achievers, and some were more talented than others, and they did get special treatment. We *wanted* them to have special treatment. We were happy knowing that it would be better for us in the end.\" he explained.\n\n\"So you're telling me none of you were jealous? Didn't your friend have something you wanted but couldn't have?\"\n\n\"We evolved past those feelings long ago. That kind of thinking was bred out of our species. Sometimes exterminating a few meant a more successful species in the long run.\"\n\nI was shocked. Greg supported a belief in a Hitler-esque type of genocide. How could he be so proud?\n\n\"You realize that what you're saying is horrific to me.\" I bluntly explained. \"The fact that you're okay with killing innocent individuals just because they coveted is maniacal. It's...evil.\" I stammered.\n\n\"Evil is a concept that is only created if you allow it to be. We don't have room for emotions to cloud of judgment. Emotions exist where they're meant to exist, and what needs to be done *needs* to be done.\" he flatly told me.\n\nI was astonished. How could the universe allow such a species to exist...to thrive beyond humans. At least humans had a conscience. Right? We weren't all bad...sometimes. But clearly the universe didn't allow Greg's species to continue existing, save for him and (possibly) a female to mate with. If that's how it worked. But then again, humans weren't meant to exist either.\n\n\"Honestly, we're in this together, right? We're all essentially refugees. I have nothing to hide, and if you choose to believe how you do then so be it. You can't possibly understand how my mind works, and I won't pretend to believe I can make you see how it does.\"\n\n\"Then what is your point? All I wanted to know is how it was where you came from?\" he asked, almost exhausted at the fact he had to argue with me about petty morals.\n\n\"Fine...fine. Humans aren't really as great as I'm trying to make them out to be. We're jealous, fickle, spoiled, and greedy. We push others down to get ahead. We justify ourselves by promoting diversity, while simultaneously needed an enemy to fight against. Even at our best, we're not even close to good. Some of us are... some of us are wonderful. But most of us look out for ourselves. That's just how we evolved.\" I coldly admitted. \"I can't pretend like I'm any better than you, and it wouldn't matter to you anyway because clearly your mind doesn't work like that. Humans were given a gift - a beautiful place to live and thrive and frankly we always wanted more. It was never good enough. And now it's over. It's just me...and her over there. Although I can't speak to her Greg, I don't understand her language.\" I was rambling at this point.\n\n\"Fair enough. I would like to stay acquainted with you until we figure out where we're going. I am scared. We all are. But we are also the lucky ones, and the powers plucked us from our dying worlds. We are the chosen ones to help our species survive.\"\n\n\"Yeah. I mean, maybe. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm not even sure any of us deserve to survive anyway.\" I said, as the realization of my situation began to sink in.\n\n\"Would you at least like to borrow my translator so you can talk to the other human? You ought to think about reproduction so the human species can survive.\" Greg offered.\n\n\"Thank you, but it wouldn't matter. I'm gay.\"\n\n\"You're what?\"\n",
"Nimbae sifts the dirt between his two three-fingered hands. His eyes trace the lines of dirt as they fall from one palm into the other. His chest rises and falls with a deep sigh. It is a moment I want to cherish. A moment where I could comfort him but choose not too. We are the sum of our mistakes. We have come from worlds so broken that we are left on a molten hillside to wade in our foolishness. Nimbae has told me the story of his world. He does not ask for forgiveness. And I do not offer it. It is the most honest relationship I've had in a long while.\n\n\"And you, human? Describe your world to me. What was it like, before you lost your way?\"\n\n\"In the morning you put on a face. The women paint theirs on. The men, shave their faces and wrap ties around their necks. We prepare the self we show to the world. The self we allow others to know. You could spend your whole life knowing someone, and never knowing them at all. \n\nWe sit in chairs inside buildings with bright lights. We forget what the sun looks like. We stare at computer screens and wish we could be outside.\n\nWe sought happiness in validation. We created lives online that did not exist. Cherry picked moments the best moments; every smile was not valid unless it was posted. Every memory was not relevant unless it was shared. \n\nWe lacked empathy. When one of ours was dirty, or hungry, or shamed, they would wear signs with their hand held out, and we spent each of our days making a practice of looking the other way. Some of us went to great lengths to pretend that it was a choice these people had made. But we knew better. In our world, we blamed all of our faults on dumb luck when we didn't want to take responsibility. And when we couldn't face the idea that it could one day be us standing on a street corner with our hands held out, suddenly it wasn't about luck, it was about a choice. \n\nIn my world, we were brilliant. And we turned it on ourselves. Turned the ground of the world we loved so much into a fruitless soil. We created armies and built bombs and in the end, the joke was on us.\n\nWe created a world so ugly, you didn't want it either.\"\n\nNimbae nodded his head in agreement. \n\n\"Where do we go from here?\" he asked.\n\n\"On to the next realm, and hope they did a better job of it than we did.\"\n\n",
"The Zerkernian put the ship on autopilot. They were heading to his own homeworld. The Zerkernian had picked up the human over an hour ago. His crew dead, his ship destroyed. He noted that the human had no recollection of where he was. The only way it was still alive was because of the cryogenic stasis chamber he was in.\n\nHe scanned the human over, only just now were the effects of cryo sleep wearing off. The human sat there with a wolkaen blanket draped around him. \n\n\"Are you going to answer, human?\" The Zerkernian asked. He knew that the earthlings had only just reached the ability for space travel, judging by the looks of his suit and his ship. \n\n\"I'm sorry, I just don't know where to start.\" That was a lie. The human was still trying to take in the events that just unfolded. His friends and family were dead, what for?\n\n\"You have a name, yes?\" The Zerkernian asked while standing up and walking over to what seemed to be a locker of some sort.\n\n\"Yes, my name is Weston, Weston Kanger.\" The human further asked. \"How is it exactly that we can understand one another.\" \n\nThe Zerkernian explained that his people had formed an ability over a span of eons that allowed them to communicate with any species. Their people were a political kind. Forming bonds, making alliances. Rushing to the aid of other planets, other systems. His race was the oldest race, before him sat the youngest. One he didn't know about until merely moments ago.\n\n\"Earth. A beautiful planet, really. Mountains, deserts, beaches, forests, jungles, small towns, bustling cities. Before I signed up for space exploration, I was a travel journalist. I guess you could say it was in my blood. \n\nThe Zerkernian smiled slightly and nodded.\n\n\"We as a race were always reaching for the stars and what lied beyond them. I'm glad to say that we didn't exhaust our planet, we didn't over populate it. We even built machines to repair the damage that previous generations did. Extinct species from all forms of life returned, the planet flourished. I became a travel journalist to document these things, to find out if the newly returned species were having to adapt, or not at all.\" \n\nThe Zerkernian thought this interesting. A machine that could turn back the effects of neglect and harmful harvesting? These humans were young, yes, but exceptionally brilliant. \n\n\"That's all I remember of Earth, really. The wars stopped, we united as a whole people to try and reach other solar systems, to find new forms of life. I was supposed to be one of them to document it all. To learn of the new cultures we faced, hostile or not.\" \n\nThe hud on the ships windshield lit up.\n\n\"Arriving to Zerkan in 3 minutes.\" A mechanized voice said softly. \n\n\"Well, Weston. Now you will get to see the beauty and splendor of Zerkan. Then, we will see what we can do for your kind.\" \n\nThe ship exited hyper speed and slowly descended through the atmosphere. Weston looked out and was taken back by the beauty of the planet.\n\n\"Like what you see, traveler?\" The Zerkernian asked.\n\nThe human nodded in approval.\n\n\n\n",
"“It was an eyesore,” I said. “You could see the pollution from orbit. They barely had days on the surface, just slightly brighter smog.”\n\nMy alien fellow drinker listened attentively. He had the makings of a terrific listener, but I liked him talking. He had a way with words, having just made me weep for a world I’d never seen. I wasn’t sure the experience I offered was much of an exchange.\n\n“We were split into nation states,” I said. “Whole groups of people hating whole other groups of people. The bombings. The wounds we tore in the planet to subject her to industrial processes I wouldn’t wish on a serial killer. The trash thrown into the last great ecosystem, anything to get it out of the way so we could concentrate on our toys. Artificial islands of people’s waste, but it’s all right because we don’t have to look at it from our overbuilt shores.\n\n“The activists said we were raping her. Maybe we did. But it wasn’t just us. Our fathers, and their fathers, on through history, polluted with the abandon of someone who just learned that you can rip off a daddy long-leg’s leg and still watch it stumble onward.”\n\nI stopped. I considered my glass. “What can I say? She ran out of legs.”\n",
"“We built ceaselessly and fought ferociously – that was the way of Rifters. Our fault was that we were reckless, and a poor match for our opponents. In the end, Rift was engulfed in flames and we were forced to leave. The ships froze us in sleep and it took us much longer than we’d expected to reach a viable planet.” His hand swept across the sights before us. It ought to have been a great view, looking out from the sixth floor of the grand palace onto the undulating landscape of the city. The grand structures of steel stood firm amidst the licking flames. From time to time, there were outcries of pure human emotion and shrill noises of metal clashing against metal. It was hugely distracting. \n\n“The fighting…” the human began, but wasn’t sure how to continue.\n\n“This war began four months ago. Oh don’t worry about it, they’ll never reach us here.”\n\nIt sounded awfully close. The human might have been imagining it, but he seemed to feel the wavering heat of the fires. Amidst the countless circuits within himself, he unlocked six of the levels of security for **WAR** mode, leaving the key to the final level hidden by the door. The payload that he was carrying was much too important to risk losing here. \n\n“And so, human, now that I’ve spoken of mine, I am very curious about yours. Tell me, what was your home world like, before it also was lost?” His eyes glistened with a genuine interest to learn. \n\nI sat back and took a breath to give myself time to consider how to begin. “I’ve never seen it. But I carry the weight of all who have, and it is just as vivid as my own memories. So, if you’ll allow me, I will tell you their story.” The Rifter nodded.\n\nHe dived into the Collective, in search of pieces to assemble. He went with the tide of the majority, letting conflicting memories counteract each other, and coherent ones bubbled to the top. There were very old memories, which could not be explained except that there had been immortal humans surviving to the end of Earth, or a way for memories to be passed down generations in much more elegant ways than language.\n\n“Eden,” the human intuitively found the right word from the Collective. “It began with our landing at The Garden of Eden.”\n\nThe Rifter’s irises constricted, making his pupils wider. His hormonal levels surged and his heart and muscles clenched from it. Then, as if it was a passing whim, he heaved a sigh and all of his biological signs went back to normal. His heart continued to race involuntarily from the fuel of his remaining hormones. \n\n“You mean to tell me that the hallowed Garden of Eden was found by another Adam and another Eve? You mean to say that we had taken so long that Eden has been found, and then lost to flames? What about the prophecy? The Edorians, did they bleed the blood of gold?”\n\n“If you would care to listen, I will give you all of the answers,” the human said, “To answer your most pressing question, as far as I know, Edoras is gone.”\n\n\n---\n\nI am building the Rift-Edoras universe, prompt by prompt. Second drafts eventually go [here](https://fivenswrite.wordpress.com).",
"\"It was diverse, to say the least. In some areas, new technology, theory, literature and all sorts of discoveries were made. In others, mothers sold their children to unchecked slavers for a loaf of bread. There were mountains higher than the cloulds, chasms deeper than the eye could see. We built towers that absorbed the energy from our sun and turned into useable, we built bombs that could destroy cities and make the land near it unliveable for centuries. Some of the population was truely good; they wanted to help those who needed help the most. There were others who actively sought to sabotage or harm other people for their own personal gain.\"\n\n\"How did you keep such a people under control in a single society ?\"\n\n\"We didn't. We were divided by borders, sentiments and landscapes. Neighbouring countries didn't always get along due to differing mentalities that escalate to war.\"\n\n\"Such a people sounds dangerous. Perhaps too dangerous for serious integration.\"\n\n\"Why do you think those united worlds destroyed mine ?\"",
"Henry smiled thinly. He looked down into the glass on the bar in front of him, like a man trying to see down to the bottom of a murky lake. He lifted the glass, took a sip, and felt it burn a trail down his throat before he went on. \"Lovely,\" he said in a quiet, choked voice. \"Oh, we had our problems, just like your people. But who doesn't? Actually, I think it was our struggles that made our world more beautiful. Our world was worth struggling for.\"\n\nThe alien was nodding, his ebony scales shimmering under the bar's dim lights. \"What is the view from a mountaintop without the toil of the climb?\"\n\nHenry nodded, then dropped his eyes again. \"Earth... all of its parts harmonized with each other. Vibrant forests and shining oceans from whence we came, and shining cities that showed us where we were going.\" He cleared his throat. \"Where we thought we were going.\"\n\nThe alien's mouth was set hard. He patted Henry's shoulder with one heavy, clawed hand. \"You'll get there still, my friend. We both will.\"\n\nHenry shook his head slowly. \"The Necrons came so quickly. They moved so fast. A whole world consumed in a matter of days. It was--\" He shot a glance at the alien. \"I don't have to tell you how brutal they are.\"\n\nThe alien was gritting his many pointed teeth. \"Animals.\" Was all he could say, with a growl.\n\n\"I was off-world at the time. I still don't know whether to thank God or curse him. My wife, my children... I don't know if they made it out. I-- I don't know where they--\" Henry's voice broke, and he looked away, putting a hand over his face.\n\nThe alien once again laid a hand on Henry's shoulder. \"If it is the will of the Cosmos, you will see them again.\"\n\nHenry met the alien's eyes again. \"Thank you,\" he said. \"But at this rate, I don't know if I'll ever find out. Most of the refugees landed on Gotha station, and the price of taking a shuttle there, it's just too much. I've been saving for months, but I just can't--\"\n\n*Thump*\n\nHenry jumped. The alien had slapped twenty Credits onto the bar between them. He offered Henry a toothy smile. \"They gouge you for fares between stations, I know it all too well. I'm sure this isn't everything you need, but truly, I hope it helps you.\"\n\nHenry's mouth hung open. \"I... Thank you! I can't thank you enough.\"\n\n\"Get back to your family,\" the alien said calmly. \"That will be thanks enough.\" He gave Henry a final slap on the back. He threw back the rest of his drink, and pushed himself away from the bar. He turned and left.\n\nThe woman behind the bar shook her head. She was polishing a stack of glasses in front of her with a washrag. She had listened to the entire exchange, trying not to roll her eyes. \"You're a real bastard, you know that, Henry? Guy seemed real nice.\" She hooked a thumb towards the door that the alien had just left through.\n\n\"I'm nice, too.\" Henry laughed. \"Real nice.\" He handed the twenty-Credit note to her. \"This should keep me going for a while, huh?\"\n\n\"At least until the next sap walks in.\"\n\nHenry grinned. \"It's a big universe. There's one born every nanosecond.\"",
"He set his drink down, and closed his eyes. The alien...no...the E'Ereen...he was no more alien than he was now, gave him his silence.\n\n\"It was beautiful. We didn't have time to outgrow the planet before we found the stars. It was one of the few things we got right. We didn't wait until the planet was ruined before we left. We left because we've always been explorers at heart...not from desperate necessity. Most homeworlds, no offense, are used up, spent...and their inhabitants move outward because they have no other choice. We left while the world was still green, and blue.\"\n\nThe E'Ereen flicked his hand in the way they do, a gesture with any number of meanings, but in this context, served for \"non taken\". The Human continued.\n\n\"I don't know what passes for aesthetics among your people, but I've seen enough of the galaxy to know that many species try hard to recreate landscapes that wouldn't pass for a nice back yard on Earth. Little patches of vegetation half dead because nobody knows how to make something grow in real soil any more. Foul puddles of water that pass for lakes. Three meter piles of rocks laser cut and painted to look like a mountain range...we had the real thing...everywhere. So much uncultivated color. Forests...trees. \n\n\"I know trees\" the E'Ereen said. We have one on my ship. It is a meter tall. \n\n\"We had them everywhere, some over 100 meteres. Some so wide you could cut a hole in the middle and fly a small fighter through it.\"\n\n\"I've heard of those.\" The E'Ereen said. \"I had wanted to visit Earth some day. I think every biologist did.\"\n\n\"I could tell you about the people, about our species, our history...but all that's available in the records. You want to know what Earth was like? It was *pretty*. Beautiful, serene. If you were inclined, you could still live with almost nothing artificial. Some did.\"\n\nThe Human turned back to his drink. The E'Ereen made a gesture halfway between one intending comfort, and one intending seriousness of purpose.\n\n\"We'll find it. We'll find all of them.\"\n\n\"When we do, I'll take you to see Montana.\"\n\n\"I'd like that. And if you'd care to visit, I'll take you to the core. Even offworlders are permitted to ask their question, though the answers are often not as...satisfying...to alien psyches.\"\n\n\"It's a deal...now we just need to find find them.:"
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[WP] One if by land, two if by sea... three if by air?
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"A bright glow appeared, shining above the rooftops on the dark Boston hill. The light caught the eye of Dr. Prescott, a lookout across the river. \n\n\"William,\" he whispered to the sleeping man beside him, \"it's the church light. Revere's given us the signal.\"\n\nWilliam Dawes woke from his unintentional slumber with slight grunts and a few aches from the uncomfortable ground. He fumbled for his spyglass and hastily brought it to his eyes to view the signal. Dr. Prescott ran to ready the horses. He returned to William still peering through the glass.\n\n\"Yes, what's the word?\" Dr. Prescott asked. \n\n\"What does three mean again?\"\n\n\"Three?\"\n\n\"Yes, three.\"\n\n\"Give me that,\" Dr. Prescott said as he stole the spyglass away from William. He focused in on the church steeple just a few miles away. Three distinct lights shown from the hill.\n\n\"The code was clear when he told us, last week, was it not?\" William wondered aloud.\n\n\"Yes, yes, 'One if by land, two if by sea.' He had us repeat it too many times to forget.\" \n\nThe two stood together, trying to quickly decipher the altered code before riding off in night to warn the others. \n\n\"Perhaps three means both by land and sea?\" Dr. Prescott posited. It would not surprise many to see the British going to all lengths to quell their dissidence, he thought. \n\nWilliam repeated the phrase. \"Yes that could be, although it doesn't seem...\"\n\n\"Quiet!,\" Dr. Prescott interupted. \"Do you hear that sound, William?\" \n\nA dull rumble had gradually filled the once quiet night. \"Oh, yes I do now. I've never heard anything like it. A storm, perhaps?\" suggested William. The sound grew louder and higher pitched as they stood, Dr. Prescott again observing the signal through the spyglass. He thought he saw movement in, or rather, over the city. He pulled out a cloth to wipe the end of the lens clean.\n\n\"Dr. Prescott,\" said William after a thought crossed his mind. \"If one light means they are coming by land, and two lights mean they are coming by the sea...\" William paused, unsure how to finish his thought.\n\n\"Yes, yes, go on...\" Dr. Prescott insisted. By this time he was shouting, as the rumbling had grown significantly louder.\n\n\"Then three lights could possibly mean...\" William's next words were lost to Dr. Prescott's ears as the rumbling had overpowered them. A wide fleet of flying machines soared over their heads, just above the treeline. He didn't need to hear William's words again, as he already knew the answer.\n\n\"Three if by air,\" he said to himself, and then promptly fainted."
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[WP] A virus has run through the globe killing all left handed people except one. You are the last left handed person on the planet.
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"The alarm blared as a calm, robotic voice repeated \"there has been a breech...remain calm...do not leave your cell.\" Eric heard this alarm before, quarantine drills were pretty common, but something about this felt different. Instead of the usual hustle and bustle of medics rushing through the halls, there was an eerie stillness. \n\nAfter a few minutes, Eric pulled up the covers and put a pillow over his head in an effort to go back to sleep. Just as he began to drift, light flooded the room. \n\n\"Hey, what gives!?\" Eric shouted, expecting to see someone in the doorway. Instead, the light was coming through his window, intensifying with every second. Eric closed his eyes, blinded by the beams. A loud thud hit the window. Then another. Then a crash of glass came showering down on him as thundering footsteps approached him. Several pairs of arms and hands gripped over him. A plastic mask was pinned over his face, and within seconds Eric was out cold. \n\nA deep gravely voice with a thick Russian accent stirred Eric from his daze. \"You're a lucky one, Eric.\" \n\nEric looked around, vision blurry, but only saw medical equipment under the flickering fluourescent light. With aloud humming and the occasional bump, Eric could tell he was in a vehicle of some sort, but what exactly - and where exactly - were unclear. \n\n\"We can't risk being near you until we've been thorougly decontaminated, Eric\" the voice continued, \"you're more valuable than you know.\"\n\nEric tried to situp but discovered a series of straps binding his midsection. \n\n\"We cannot risk any sort of...flight attemps, either, Eric...I hope you understand.\" \n\nErics confusion quickly shifted to panic. \"Where am I?\" He shouted at the faceless voice.\n\n\"You are now under the authority of the Russian Federation. You're safe, and you'll be taken care of. That will be all the questions for now.\" The lights shut off. Moments later, a pair of hands forced him down as the plastic mask returned over his face. Eric tried to yell, but his vocal chords failed him as he drifted into darkness.\n\nPop. Pop. Pop pop. Eric awoke to what sounded like fireworks. The vehicle was stopped. The lights were out. \"Was I supposed to be awake yet?\" thought Eric. \n\nThe pops got louder. Gunshots. A firefight? Eric struggled against the straps. Whatever was going on, he didn't want to stick around to find out. \n\nThe pops turned into booms as gunfire hit nearby. Eric rocked back and forth desperately to loosen the straps. A bullet teared throught he wall and bounced around. Eric turned his face preparing for the worst.\n\nAfter it stopped he looked up, and a figure appeared in the doorway. Swift hands freed him from the straps and grabbed his wrists firmly, pulling him up. \n\nThe blood rushed to his head as Eric stood up. How long had he been out. Hours? Days? He felt weak and empty, but the adreneline kept him up.\n\n\"Folllow me,\" a muffled voice said through the combat helmet. \n\nThey raced through the dimly lit corridor, past bloodied bodies and strewn about items, like someone had rifled through everything. \n\n\"Take this,\" the armored figure handed him a pistol. For it's size, it felt heavy in Eric's hand. He'd never fired a weapon before. \n\nThey reached the end of the hall. The figure pulled up a long metal door, revealing a sleek black hover bike. The gunshots began again. Footsteps followed this time. \n\n\"Duck,\" the figure said nonchalantly. Eric hit the deck as a burst of gunfire exploded over head, followed by several bodies dropping. \n\nEric looked up at the fresh bodies lying at the end of the hall. \n\n\"Come on,\" the voice said, sitting on the hover bike. Eric hopped on, with no other options. \n\nThe bike revved up with a defeaning roar in the tiny room. A glow appeared them as the bike levitated several feet from the ground. Eric reluctantly latched onto the armored figure in front of him as the floor dropped beneath them. Eric's stomach turned as they free fell several meters to the ground. \n\nThey landed in the middle of what can only be described of as chaos. Police sirens blared from the dozens of police cars and SWAT trucks in front of them. A barrage of bullets flew back and forth, as a dozen or so shielded Russian soldiers rushed forward, into the hailing gunfire, their guns ablaze. Several dropped immeidietly, while others clashed into police officers. \n\nThe hover bike reversed quickly as bullets flew through the windshield. Eric gripped harder as they swung around a full 180 degrees, speeding forward in flee of the impending officers. \n\nThe bike sped down the road, bullets hitting the pavement around them. Red and blue lights appeared in the rearview mirrors. \"I need you to shoot,\" the voice said. \n\nEric twsted around, pistol in hand and began to fire upon the approaching squad cars. After a few misses, he hit the windshield, then he blasted away unloading the clip. On his last bullet, a spatter of red appeared on the drivers side of the squad cars windshield as it swerved off into the guardrail, blocking the cars behind them. \n\nThe bike raced forward even faster now, as the striped lane markers blended into a straight line. \n\nThe red and blue lights grew distant as they sped through the forest. Soon, the only thing between them and the pitch black night was the beaming headlight and the glow of the hover bike. \n\n\"What's going on?\" Eric shouted through the wind. \n\n\"We've been compromised,\" the voice replied. \"You're with me now.\"\n\nThe driver then turned the handles, hovering off the road into what appeared to be a hiking trail. They whizzed down the narrow trail, flying through rolling hills and thick trees. \n\nThe terrain got rough as they climbed in elevation. Hills turned into mountains. Eric, exhausted, felt his grip loosening as they flew through steep grades. They arrived at a small lake set in between towering mountains. \n\n\"We'll stay here tonight,\" the voice said, as the engine turned off. They dismounted the bike. Eric stood up, but realized he was too weak to stand. He collapsed in the sand a few feet from the lake. \n\n\"Drink,\" a canteen landed in his lap. Eric began to drink slowly, then ravenously as the water rushed down his parched throat. \n\nThe figure took the canteen from Eric, and walked to the lake to fill it up. The figure removed its helmet as flowing brown hair draped over their shoulders. \n\n\"We went to a lot of trouble for you, Eric,\" she said as she turned around at a bewildered Eric. \n\n\"The US does not understand your value. But we do.\"\n\nShe sat down next to Eric, her forehead glistening with sweat in the warm August night. \"You are the last leftie on Earth, friend.\"\n\nEric looked out at the lake in awe. The breech was real. And his quarantine was the last. He had no idea the virus was that severe. No one had warned him. \n\n\"So why didn't you just let me die? Why does the world need lefties anyway?\"\n\n\"You have a unique genetic marker that is common amongst the most intelligent people ever to walk this Earth. In other words, your DNA is required to create super geniuses.\"\n\n\"Bu-\" Eric began to retort \"I know, you're not a super genius, we can't all be Eric,\" she replied with a smirk. \"But your children could be, or anyone else who gets that billion dollar DNA of yours.\"\n\nGot tired of writing...continue later?"
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[WP] In the next five seconds, the entire population of Spain disappears off the face of the earth. Describe how the world reacts.
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"\"Stuck in Lisbon. Unbelievable. A 9 hour flight just wasn't long enough, huh? What could possibly be the hold up?\" Mike wondered as he looked out at the sunny bright blue sky. \n\nMike hated flying, but even more than flying, he hated waiting. He had an important meeting in Madrid today - the big boss man was expecting him to negotiate the Europe contract today. This was a career making or breaking kind of day. \n\nMike paced back and forth, anxiously sipping from his coffee. He noticed a growing crowd of people surrounding a TV and walked over. \n\nOn CNN, a panel of wide eyed faces were talking over each other above a headline that read \"CATASTROPHE IN SPAIN - MILLIONS MISSING\"\n\nCoffee sprayed from Mike's mouth. The crowd began to shout and panic, crying out in Portuguese and Spanish. \n\nMike looked over at the flight schedule - all travel to Spain cancelled indefinitely. \n\nThe big meeting that had caused Mike anxiety for weeks faded from his mind as his survival instincts took over."
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[WP] You have nearly unlimited reign over the laws of science, but no motivation to fight crime.
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"One of the most oversaid sayings in English is that with great power comes great responsibility. Maybe.\n\nI have great power, in that I am capable of generating limitless power. I can create and destroy mass as I please and go wherever I desire in the cosmos with a snap of my fingers. Most of those in my station would use their powers to wreak great havoc in the world for their sick desires; or stop those doing so out of duty.\n\nI'm not them. \n\nThe thought of my flying around in a mask concealing my identity causes me to snort a Netflix cycles the next episode of *House M.D.* \n\nCheeto dust on my fingers has found its way all over the futon that I lay on. I'm unemployed as of late. The ability to create anything you want lets you create as much rent money as you desire, but its not so good at creating verifiable experience on a resume.\n\nBut that's okay. They just added a new season of Orange is the New Black, so I'll be okay for another couple of hours."
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[WP] When you stare into someone's eyes, you can see their deepest desires, and this information has made you very successful. One day, you meet someone at a coffee shop and stare into their eyes. You see nothing.
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"My name is Ellison Watershield. You may find it odd to know that my name is not the oddest thing about me. I am not like everyone else.\n\nWhen I was a boy, they all thought me shy. I never looked anyone square in the eye. Rather, I couldn’t, I should say. Back then I thought it was because I was weak. I couldn’t understand how anyone else could look into another soul’s eyes; where did they find the strength? Until I met her. Alice.\n\nI’ll never quite know what she saw in me. But she was kind, she spoke to me. We were friends. And yes, I loved her, but that isn’t the point. Because of her, I learned that I was different. I learned that when regular people look into each other’s eyes, they don’t see the pictures. The images, the ones that I see. It took me awhile to realize what they meant. That when I look into another person’s eyes, I see the vision of their deepest desire.\n\nOne day, abruptly, I stopped talking to Alice. I’d come to know that I’d never see what I truly ached for. My own reflection staring back at me in her eyes. And yes, it hurt. Like hell. But sometimes a sharper pain is less crippling then a lingering one. That was all a very long time ago, besides.\n\nMy gift has carried me a long way. You’d be surprised just how high you can climb, when every person you meet bares his deepest wants. Powerful men in ten thousand dollar suits, inscrutable and severe, were to me naked and legible as a script. I played my role well. I climbed ladders until, eventually, I sat in the highest corners of the most impressive skyscrapers, their polished exteriors reflecting the splendor of New York. But you’d find none of the like in my house; the builders had found it an odd request, but one I’d insisted on all the same. No mirrors. It had been years since I’d been able to bear the sight of my own reflection.\n\nThat’s all long ago too, albeit not quite so long ago as Alice. Today, I find myself in the bathroom of a quaint little coffee shop, nuzzled on the corner of a street where the day’s hustling activity makes way to a quieter, greener, more contemplative space. And I look up into the mirror, and I smile at my reflection. I look deep into my own eyes. And I see nothing. Still smiling, I tie my apron on, ‘Ellison’s Diner’ neatly embroidered on the front in green thread, and walk back outside.",
"She was small like a spent candle; age had crept into her wrinkled visage. The elderly woman greeted the barista with a wide smile blessed by generations of sunny summers and simply ordered her usual. Other staff waved and greeted her with hearty calls of good morning. One fellow even pulled up a chair for her by the window. The smile never left her face. \n\nI, by some turn of fortune, possessed the gift of prying one's innermost desires from their eyes. Some may think it odd I wore shades with yellow lenses, but it drew the eye like a moth to a flame. \n\nMy limits have been tested, I know very personally the exact limits of my morality and sympathy, and with that I have tried to live a good life. Every man my ally, we made positive changes in the world, truly helped people. But never have I smiled as she has. \n\nCuriosity overtook me; I walked over to her. She greeted me with that glorious smile and invited me to sit, claiming she loves company. She offered her hand, I kissed it politely. Her laugh was deep and caught on a cough. She explained the last man to kiss her had was her husband when they had been teenagers. \n\nHer thin fingers went back to knitting, her eyes to the window and its warm colors. I'd been so distracted by her smile I forgot to look into her eyes. \n\nThe young man who had pulled her chair up came back to our table to deliver her drink, a rather large cup of hot chocolate with extra whip cream. He smiled at me, his eyes betraying him. He wanted so dearly to be back in his childhood home fishing with his brother, a cooler of beers between them. Counting days until vacation, working overtime to afford the days off. I tipped him handsomely and thanked him for saving the smiling woman the trip to the counter with this heavy cup. \n\nShe turned back to me and said it was very sweet of me to have done that. I finally looked into her eyes, hungry for the answer to her happiness, and saw nothing. My face went pale, my hands cold, I certainly felt ill. Every person I have seen in my entire life has wanted something. Even my grandfather died with something in his eyes. There had been no exceptions. Not until this smiling woman. \n\nWith purse in her lap, she was digging for a hard candy, figuring the sugar would bring me out of whatever shock I was in. I accepted her gift, but my mouth tasted too bitter to notice the sweetness of it. \n\nWe sat in silence for a few minutes, only her oblivious sips to splash through the miasma I'd spewed between us. I sat looking at her, hoping I'd been wrong, that my eyes had somehow skipped over her wants. But no. She desired nothing. \n\nHer cup empty, she motioned for the lad to pick it up, mentioning to him that I felt ill and she would be keeping me company until I was well. He smiled at her and said we were welcome to stay as long as we like. \n\nMore time passes before I finally gather the nerve to ask her if there's anything in this world she wants. Through her ever present smile, she tells me she has lived a good life serving her husband, her family, and her country. She has enjoyed the company of many people in her years and has been able to share her story as well as collect hundreds. Her life has been good, she is satisfied. All the while, her fingers still looped thread, a scarf tightly woven in red and white piling up in her lap. \n\nI nodded, thanked her for her time, and stood up to go, but she asked me to sit, to share my story with her. \n\nAnd as I did, I smiled too. \n\n",
"I got writer's block and couldn't finish but this is what I got. \n It was always hard being this way, looking into my mother's eyes and seeing her desire to murder my father. Having to listen to his parental lectures all while being forced to keep eye contact out of respect. All he ever desired was pussy. Obviously I was bound to be pretty mature for my age, comes with the territory. I started bribing when I was 9, for my snack pack puddings and pixie sticks. By the time I was 15 I was a phone book for smack packs and pixie dust. \nI know what you want, I know where to find it, who can do it, and where it's at. I was a entrepreneur running your wildest dreams off the end of my sleeves. Over the years you see it all, desires for acceptance, love, friendship, sex, drugs, notoriety, money, chaos, education, good looks. I've seen a handful of freaky shit too, im talking tentacles, whips, furries, stuff involving..ill just leave it at that. If you want it, I got a hook up. It'll cost ya but it'll happen. I was the internet before the god damn internet.",
"“Can I please help who’s next?” asked the barista. She was stunning, no older than 23 with her hair covering her face. I walked up the counter and looked into her eyes as I do with everyone since acquiring this gift and couldn’t believe what I saw.\n\n“What can I get you sir?” I couldn’t move. This was the first time this has happened. I didn’t see anything, not even a glimmer. \n\n“…Sir?”\n\n“Of course, I’m sorry, uh… can I just get a medium black coffee. Hold the sugar, thanks.”\n\nShe hands me the coffee and manages to crack a smile and say “Have a nice day.”\n\n\nI started walking towards the train station but the whole time I could not stop thinking about what I saw. I have never encountered something like that before, at least not in another person. And that’s when it hit me… She doesn’t have a desire, not a single one. I stopped dead in my tracks and ran back, as fast as I could.\n\n\nI remember being there, I remember feeling, or rather not feeling anything—at that point. The whole world is numb, everything is muted, the only thing that is heard is that one voice in your head. The one calling you useless, the one telling you that everyone would be better off without you. I’ve been there before, I remember darkness, I remember the cold. \n\n\nAnd right before acting on it you just let go, you let everything go. \n\n\nIt feels as if you’re finally in control of something, you finally have a solution, but it’s the final one but it doesn’t matter because everything is leading to the same end. It’s the very last solution because there’s no coming back, as much as you want to, you end with this. But it feels empowering, it feels good, finally having control of some aspect of your life—having control of your literal life. \n\nYou keep walking towards the edge of the building, you pick up the knife or gun, and at that moment you feel like you’re holding the final answer to the awful riddle that is life. Some of us are lucky, some of us have a light that intervenes, some of us have a person that cares. But for the ones who don’t—we only have darkness, and being truly alone is that. When you’ve cried for help and no one answers, when you’re there by yourself with the only certain solution for making the pain stop. But something happens to us—us that are truly alone. Us that didn’t have the love and support through our rough times. Us that have been kicked while down. We either fall and accept the solution we came up with ourselves or we conquer. We conquer the darkness, we fill the emptiness, not with happiness and light but with whatever the hell gets us through the day. We do whatever we must until we climb out of the whole and it takes all of our might. We crawl through the darkness on hands and feet but we do not stop because we refuse to be defeat, then and only then do we realize how strong we truly are and how much we are worth. That’s when we stand on the other side and this time with only one pure desire—to live.\n\nI burst through the door and I see her standing there, out of breath I walk up to her and say “I was wondering if after work you wanted to grab a bite to eat?”\nAnd with a sparkle in her eye she responded “I would love to.”\n\n-------------------------------------\nJust wanted to get this out before I forgot, sorry if it seemed rushed or too dark. I would love to hear your thoughts :)",
"I'd developed this a long time ago - me and my mates - we collated research data, stuff from Jan's psycho analysis class, some of Ryan's electrical engineering. Its purpose was to analyze the eyes of someone to determine their mental state in real-time. As college kids, we used it to pick up chicks. But Jan got deported long since, and Ryan, well, Jesus, what happened to Ryan fucking sucks.\n\nSince then, this little gadget has paid for itself quite handsomely. It's amazing what kinds of people want to keep up public appearances. You know how competitive the robotics sector is? They can piss money away on their SSL and encrypted volumes all they want, as long as online petitions can be bullshitted by bots the physical is always a weak point.\n\nI've been doing this for a long time now. In some ways I think I'm some Dom Cobb like guy, but instead of a two hour movie and a team of experts I just need one good look at you and a meeting at your favorite place.\n\nNow one day I was shooting the shit at a very honest little place I'd found, and by very honest I meant the bearded wannabe biker dudes who sat in the corner next to the pool table kept everyone in a constant state of fear, and I'd tell you more about their roided up leader Abe but this is my story not his. The TV was playing a special, and by 'special' I meant incensing, outrage-culture bullshit fountain about advancements in android technology that could make a robot with proportions and materials indistinguishable from a normal human. Of course, no self respecting Republican would let such a thing pass. 'Allow all these robots to come into our country and terk er jerbs'? Madness, they had said. So for now the idea of sexbots for hormonal teenagers with parent money or a convincing conversation partner for Oldlady McDonewell were ideas languishing only in dreams.\n\nAt this point, I was lost in this wonderful carousel of logical leaps and modern satire when some chick comes and sits down next to me. She was perfect. Ruby red lips, blonde hair, and a hint of well placed pudge. Her features were nowhere near out of proportion, her skin was almost brilliant white and her eyes were slim and wide to almost a betrayal of some perhaps recent Asian heritage. Her denim jacket and long shorts gave her the best balance between trashy and done-up. It was time to test it for the oldest feature it was made for- picking up chicks.\n\nInstantly Abe wanted a piece. Of course he did. It was Abe, it was Abe's bar, even though the liquor license was in Mr. Stilinski's name, it was Abe's bar. And Abe approached like a lion would approach a feast, hungry and wanting to show off his hypermasculinity to come to terms that there is a great sadness and shame in his past that he really should see a therapist about.\n\n\"Well hello gorgeous.\" came his cat call, sounding as if a pig was trying to talk to a ring of pearls. It seems she wanted my attention first, so I thought I'd get my first read. I stared solidly at her irises and... They were unmoving, unflinching. They scanned left and right, but there was no err to their movement. I couldn't get a read on her for what she thought of me.\n\n\"I said hello!\" came Abe's voice.\n\n\"Ah heard you the first time, sugar.\" came the woman's reply, sickly sweet and southern. I couldn't deny, my pants tightened at that point - but if I was, there was an order to follow that didn't involve me getting stung either in my ego or my crotch. I continued to try and covertly stare into the woman's eyes, taking care not to draw Abe's ire for eyeing up his prey - up until now I had taken care to look like part of the scenery - and noticed they continued to be unflinching. Her blink rate never increased. Her irises never contracted. Taken off guard by the woman's abruptness, Abe swallowed his pride and attempted a slightly less incensing tack.\n\n\"I'd uh... Like to welcome you here... Ma'am. Could I buy you a drink?\"\n\n\"No thanks. Ah'm alright dear.\"\n\n\"Er... Would you like to join me over by the pool table?\"\n\n\"Here would be just fine, Pooh Bear.\" Nothing from her. A lot from Abe. He was the front row of a death metal concert, she was a lazing cat in the summer sun with the amount of data they were giving me. His pride hurt but his mommy issues flaring, he returned to his corner to sulk. With the bear safely placated, her attention turned to me. \"Abe's the uh...unofficial king of this place. Rarely really has to make much of a scene.\"\n\n\"Uh huh. So if he's king, who may ah ask are you?\" Eyes stayed in that one pattern. Never moving.\n\n\"Do you want the honest, cliche answer? The uh, weary traveller who's found a nice inn and wants to stay a while.\" I spun, beginning to mentally facepalm for the dorky reference.\n\n\"Uh huh. And when the mysterious darlin' Jo enters the inn?\" Nothing.\n\n\"He keeps himself to himself, but she comes over and sits down anyway.\"\n\n\"Do we get into recursion here now?\"\n\n\"Nah, I don't think we do. But now Abe's left, do you really want a drink?\"\n(To be continued)\n",
"It's hot. Your skin is clammy and you stare out the window onto a bright sidewalk. A blender whirrs behind your shoulder and the smell of espresso is heavy and heady. Tourists amble outside, walking slow, wiping foreheads, and shielding eyes. Your cup sweats, a bead of water creeping down the side. A fan over you head turns lazily, but doesn't offer much wind. \n\nYou check your watch. Fifteen minuets until they arrive. An old college friend called out of the blue, wanting to meet up. You think to reconnect, to use you and your business connections. A little part of you hates your cynicism. You wonder what their desire will be, what their eyes will reveal to you. \n \nHappily Ever After Consulting seemed like a logical step once you realized that you could determine people's wishes. After all, why waste time being altruistic when you could make money? Why waste time finding yourself, questioning what it is you want? It was much easier for you to help wealthy strangers achieve their wants. \n\nYour staff takes care of the execution to reach the fairy tail ending. All you do is meet with the client periodically and assess their desires. It does change occasionally. A young man who wants a wife may find that after acquiring the wife he wants children, or a nice car, or freedom. People are fickle. That's why you don't think about what you want. \n\nYou fold up your newspaper. They should be arriving soon, eyes probably all aglow as they test your ability to determine desires, as they attempt to get your help for free. \n\nYou backtrack a little, if they were a close friend you'd help them, but this person...? But they were the type of person that you knew because they knew your friends and you hung out on occasional at the bar and frat parties in school. \n\n\"Hey!\" a voice chirps. You jump and look up. \n\n\"Hey! It's been so long! How have you been?\" You say, embracing them all smiles and offering them the seat across from you. \n\n\"I've been good. But wow, you've been doing great! Made quite a name for your self.\" \n\nYou blush a little and laugh, \"Oh it's nothing.\" \n\n\"Oh bull! You've made a living on 'Making Dreams Come True'. You do what Disney Land promises!\" \n\nYou laugh at their joke. The smile warmly at you and tell you about the friends you used to share. They tell you who's married, who's got children, who's dead. They don't ask you to help them. Curious, you stare into their eyes. \n\nYou're used to feelings and images. You've learned that a person who craves a family is looking more for acceptance and love. But with them there's nothing. You've seen colors. You've seen passionate reds that ache with lust, calm blues that yearn for relaxation, and soft blacks that covet power; however this is nothing. You see their black pupils, dilated in the bright light, and their hazel irises speckled with green. \n\nNothing. \n\n\"Everything okay?\" \n\nYou start. \"Yeah,\" your voice is shaky. They frown. You want to ask them what they want. What they desire. \n\n\"So other than the business what've you been up to?\" \n\n\"Huh?\"\n\n\"Outside of the business. What do you do? I like to read.\" \n\nYou think. What do you like? What do you want? You stare into their eyes. What do they want. You don't know. \n\n\"I stay in touch with politics,\" you shrug, \"occasionally read magazines. Nothing exciting.\"\n\n\"What's your end goal? You can't want to help rich people for the rest of your life.\"\n\n\"I help people. I help them understand what they want. Why they want it.\" \n\nThey look at you, thoughtful. You stare into their eyes. It's a heavy emptiness. \n\n\"What do you want?\" you prod, not caring that you may come off as rude.\n\n\"Nothing. I wanted to catch up with you and now I have.\" \n\nYou yearn to ask why you. Why now. They smile. \n\n\"Remember how much fun we had in college? Damn we tore shit up! And now...we're old and tired. New drugs, new kids, new party scene. Right? Guess it's time for us to assume our roles, fall in line.\" They sip their drink and check their watch. \n\n\"I gotta get going. It was so nice to see you again and to be able to give you the gossip. You should reach out to everyone! I know they miss you.\" \n\nThey're still in touch? \n\n\"Yeah! Thanks for meeting with me, it was a nice change of pace.\" You embrace. \n\n\"Hey maybe take a break from the Parises and Nicoles of the world and figure out what you want, huh?\"\n\n\"Yeah...\" You whisper. They give a little wave and walk out the door. \n\nNothing. You couldn't see. You approach the counter and order another drink, staring into the barista's eyes. She wants to earn her college degree. So you haven't lost it. You return to your seat and stare at the tourist as they amble on the street. Wiping sweat. Shading eyes. Laughing. \n\n--\n\nThree days after your coffee date another friend from college, James, calls you. He ask if you have a moment to talk. You start to say you're busy, can he call back. \n\nJames tells you that the friend you met for coffee is dead. \n\nHe tells you that they jumped. \n\nHe tells they drowned. \n\nHe tells you that they left a note. \n\nHe says that it said that they had said goodbye to everyone. Not to feel sad, that it was their time to go and that in the end they wanted for nothing. ",
"It's not easy being everything to everyone. Someone want's to win the lottery, I give them a fake ticket for a reduced price. Someone want's true love, I become the \"one\" until I get what I want. Someone wants to die....I may have wiggled my way into a Will or two. \nI have been at this for a while, I got to the point where I could look at someone and know exactly what their deepest desires are. I have come a long way though. I use to see everything they were thinking about, it took a while to weed through to see how I could use this to my advantage. \nNow, I can usually get what I want pretty quick. The way I see it, they deserve what they get, most of them are scum anyway. Not the kind of people I would associate with if I did not have too. \nOf course I would never prey on the poor, the homeless, or the ones that did not deserve it. I do have my limits. I only prey on the ones I deemed to be unworthy. I have really become a great judge of character. \nAfter I had been doing this for a while, I started to visit the people I had take advantage of, just to see how they had turned out after. I found out, they were all dead. Every last one of those people I looked at, everyone who eyes I looked into, and took there deepest desire from, is not dead. \nI came to realize, I was literally taking their deepest desire from them. And when I left, so did there desire. \nI found this out by accident you see. One day I was sitting in my Bugatti, I saw this really beautiful person in the coffee shop. Decked out in furs and diamonds. Not paying any mind to the homeless person asking for some food. I decided, that is someone who could use a new view on life. I went sat at the table introduced myself and stared into her eyes. Nothing, I saw nothing. this scared me real bad. I was chilled to the bone, it had never happened like this. I must have been side tracked, because that is when she touched me, brought me back to looking into her eyes, then it happened. \nShe told me my deepest desires. \nSince then, I have no will to go on. I now have desires at all. I cannot remember the last time I ate, slept, changed clothes. So now here I stand on this ledge, telling you my story, giving you a warning while I am waiting to jump, fall, or whatever. it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. \nit doesn't matter. \n\n",
"\"Excuse me Miss, do you mind if I sit here?\" \n\nI look up to see the source of the polite voice, a young man, maybe 19 years old, standing by the other seat at my table holding a mug and saucer. I Quickly look around the coffee shop and see it's filled up since my arrival earlier in the morning.\n\n\"Of course, let me move my stuff,\" I answer, swiftly gathering many of the papers strewn across the table and stuffing them into my bag.\n\n\"Please don't rush for my sake Miss,\" He says in this charming English accent.\n\nI proceed to ignore him and clear everything else into one neat pile laid next to my laptop.\n\n\"Feel free to join me,\" I invite gesturing to the empty chair.\n\n\"Thank you Miss, I'm William,\" He extends his hand across the table.\n\n\"I'm Iris, it's nice to meet you,\" I shake his hand. He has a firm grip, like someone used to formalities.\n\n\"The pleasure is mine,\" he replies, the third part of the gentleman's greeting. \"I hope I'm not intruding too badly.\"\n\nI look at the watch on my wrist, a simple clockwork thing my mom had bought me years ago, to see it was almost One o'clock. \n\n\"You're fine, it's probably time for me to break anyway, My doctor would warn me of carpal tunnel or something.\" \n\n\"That sounds wise, we wouldn't want a fervent scholar such as yourself getting injured would we.\n\n\"What gives you that impression of me?\" I ask, checking which papers I'd left on the table, \"Or do you assume all people sat in coffee shops with laptops are students?\"\n\n\"Not an assumption, call it... an educated guess. You are someone who is searching for something intangible, like myself. If I were to guess I'd assume an understanding of existence through philosophy.\"\n\nI sit there in shock for a moment, unable to comprehend.\n\n\"You just read me like a book, who are you?\" I eventually ask, a little shocked.\n\n\"Just a boy who wants to understand 'understanding'. May I talk with you for a while?\" \n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~\n\nA few hours passed, I'm not sure how many. This strange boy with a charming accent started by asking which branch of philosophy was my main area of study and so discussed Nihilism with me for a while, however he soon managed to segue into areas I knew less about. Nihilism turned to Absurdism turned to Ethics to Art to even Sport. \nEventually he told me his own theory to the purpose of human existence. \n\n\"Humans exist to argue,\" He said soundly, \"Not to win arguments or to find answers, but to work with and against each other in the search of an answer.\"\n\nShortly after he gave this conclusion the shop closed, and we were ushered out.\n\nAs we stood outside the door in the darkening street there was only one more question I wanted to ask.\n\n\"Can you answer you more question for me, completely truthfully?\"\n\n\"I suppose that's the least I can do seeing how you entertained me for the whole day, ask away.\"\n\n\"Why did you really sit with me today? Don't tell me because you needed somewhere to drink your coffee, there's obviously more to it than that.\"\n\nHe sighs, thinks a moment and starts to talk.\n\n\"When I entered that shop I only intended to get a drink and leave. But your eyes caught me, grey and dull. Devoid of life or hope. That is something I can't stand seeing. \nI decided to help you, or at the very least help you help yourself. I'm happy to say it seems to have worked, you're smiling, your eyes are bright, you're even holding yourself differently.\"\n\n\"You'd do all that for a stranger?\" I ask incredulously.\n\n\"I'd hardly call us strangers now would you,\" He laughs, \"It has been a pleasure knowing you Iris.\"\n\nWith that he turned and walked into the night.",
"I love my mornings.\n\nDull and boring. Composed of a simple cup of tea and a newspaper at the world’s most uninteresting diner where the only common theme is the colour beige. I know everyone in here, though they don’t know me. Simple people who have ordinary dreams and desires. By ordinary, I mean unachievable. Man in the seat by window? Wants a Ferrari. Never gonna happen, he’s a garbage man, and doesn’t even play the lottery. Woman and her friends? They all want things they’re never gonna get. New husbands from Brazil with tanned muscles, sensuous golden long locks of hair and suchlike. They’re all over fifty years old and haven’t changed their schedules in years. Thing is though, everyone in here knows that their dreams are unachievable. It’s what makes me able to bear this place.\n\nMy mornings remind me that not everyone is naive and idealistic, and thus, going to be crushed and ground down by the weight of reality. It’s also why I’ve scheduled my first meeting to occur here, they asked for me personally apparently. I can somewhat guess why, I’m a family doctor. Everyone has desires, and I’ve found that of all desires, everyone wants a good doctor to call on. I can shake a clients hand, look into their eyes, and know what they want from me. I can arrange what they want, bring to the fore what they’re afraid to see and make discrete arrangements for say, that cancer treatment they don’t want their family to know about. I could have been greedy, could have become a banker, a con artist, a pick up artist. I decided to do something that was actually worthwhile, and achievable. That and it’s kind of been the family business for the past two hundred years or so. My siblings might have flew the nest, but I stayed and earned the pride of my father. I’m not rich like my stockbroker brother, but I have all I need. I might not be thumping with adrenaline like my thrill seeking sister the lifelong mountain climber, but I’ve seen what that can do to people. Not for me.\n\nMy clients running a little late I note, I check my battered wristwatch, cast an eye around the coffee shop, then turn my sight to the window. Raining, grey, people hurrying on through the downpour in the small town I’d never bothered to move away from. I sigh, before returning my attention to my newspaper. Usual trivial stuff, I flick to the arts and leisure section. I’m devouring an article on an exhibit at the state capital museum when my client enters. I look up, flush a little at the sight of my client. A woman, completely at odds with the world around her, long hair, a rich red trench coat, hands in pockets, collar upturned and eyes searching around. Frantic, almost desperate. Why? That’s the question I wonder, before coughing lightly. Her eyes turn to me, sees the suitcase by my feet, the sign of Asclepius emblazoned in faded gold gilding on it. Passed down for forty years that suitcase, all the town know the suitcase, know the man who holds it. \nI shut, fold and set my newspaper down on the table. Stand as the woman approaches, speaking as she walks over to me, heels clicking on the diner floor.\n\nShe avoids eye contact as I speak. I chalk it down to nervousness.\n\n“You must be Julia?”\n\nShe nods, I hold out my hand, smile, and speak.\n\n“Nice to meet you, I’m William...”\n\nI trail off as her eyes meet mine. Cold brown eyes. Empty. Nothing. My hand drops, consciously moves to the gun I keep on me at all times. She shakes her head, takes a seat. I do the same. We sit in silence for a moment, a waiter passes, she doesn’t order anything. I don’t either. Our eyes never part the whole while. At last she speaks.\n\n“Chilling. Isn’t it?”\n\n“What are you?”\n\n“I’m like you William.”\n\n“There isn’t anyone like me Julia. If your name really is Julia.”\n\nShe leans forwards, eyes amused, a small wry grin on her blood red lipstick coated lips.\n\n“Tell me William. What if I told you, that there are others like you. Super-powered people?”\n\n“I’d say you’re wrong.”\n\nThe grin turns to a smile, she raises her hand, clicks her fingers. Speaks as I stare at the floating cutlery between us.\n\n“That’s where you’re wrong. And we have sixty seconds to move before they come for us.”",
"Love, revenge, petty greed...sometimes you people are so simple you make me sick. It's always the same thing again and again, the same primal drives that make you act like little children jumping after a dollar on a string. Lucky for me, I am the guy holding the fishing pole. All it takes is one glance at your face, and your deepest desire lights up the inside of my head as if it were right there in front of me. And I, of course, am perfectly content to take advantage of that happy little fact. \n\n\nMorality aside, it really quite a useful trick to know exactly what someone wants. Want that promotion? Make sure you can deliver it to your boss as a surprise. Trying to get laid? Well, you know what SHE wants...and a couple of white lies never hurt anyone. Sure I'm not REALLY the doctor she wanted to meet, but she doesn't have to know that! \n\n\nOf course, it's not perfect. It is great for hookups, but when you know exactly when your partner is looking at another man it kind of takes the romance out of things. Such relationships have left me with a sour taste in my mouth. And even if I know exactly what *I* want, I never feel fulfilled. \n\n\nWhen I look into a mirror, all I can see are my own fantasies. My favorite is this gorgeous brunette, with long hair and cold grey eyes that could pierce straight into your soul...but she isn't real. And no matter how good of a con artist I am, there is no way I can trick myself into believing that someone else is her. Trust me, I tried. \n\nSo it was a huge surprise that when I went out to dinner tonight, she was right there. Just sitting at the bar, like I always dreamed she would be! A vision of beauty, like a painting. The mole behind her right ear, the way her hair curls at the tip as if she just can't quite get it right...she was absolutely perfect in every way. When I first saw her, I had to make sure that the barman hadn't put up a new mirror behind the bar or something. But no, she was totally real. \n\nOf course I was paralyzed. I glanced over at her over a dozen times that night, totally ignoring my own date - much to her annoyance. Eventually, she just got up and left, though I couldn't say exactly when that was. I was far to busy trying to catch your eye. \n\nJust a glance. That's all I needed. I just needed her look up for a second. Once I knew what she wanted, I could go in for the kill, just like so many before her. \n\nAnd then, I had my chance. She saw me, probably from how I was craning my neck so hard to see her, and looked me full in the face. Those perfect grey eyes, like chips of ice, staring straight into my soul. If I had any doubts before, they evaporated instantly. This was her. \n\nBut something was strange. With everyone else, the visions came instantly, but with her all I could see was her gaze piercing my own. I couldn't see what she wanted. \n\nThen, the moment was gone. She blinked, and I looked away. *Stupid, stupid!* I thought. *Pull yourself together! It must have been a fluke, just go up and talk to her like a man!* \n\nThe sound of a chair being pushed back roused me from my thoughts. She stood up, leaving her drink at the bar, and walked swiftly to the door. \n\n\"H-hey!\" I called, but she ignored me and kept on going. I jumped up, chased after her, but her pace only quickened. Soon, she was out of sight, taking a stairwell up to the top of the building at a full sprint, shoes abandoned at the base. \n\n\n\"Hey!\" I yelled up at her. \"Hey, wait!\" I climbed as fast as I could, but she always seemed to be a step ahead of me. When I finally caught up with her, she had already burst through the door to the roof and was teetering precariously on the edge. \n\n\n\"Stay back!\" She said, tears streaming down her face. \"I'm done! I can't do it any more!\" \n\nI froze. \"Whoa, hey. I didn't mean to scare you, I just want to talk.\" \n\n\n\"You? Scare me?\" She let out a barking, humorless laugh. \"It's not you, it's everything. This whole, vile world. No one ever gets what they want, everything is just shit, and we are all just making it up as we go. I'm done.\" She teetered even harder, a gust of wind nearly knocking her from her feet. \n\n\n\"It doesn't have to be that way!\" I cast my mind about, trying to think of something, ANYTHING, to save this girl. \"People get what they want all the time! You just need to know what it is!\" \n\n\n\"As if anyone knows what they REALLY want.\" \n\n\"Some do. Lots of people actually.\"\n\n\"No. No they don't. They just THINK they do.\" She bit her lip. \"Do you want to know something? Every time I look into someone's eyes, I...see something. What they really fear, most of all.\" \n\n\nI blinked twice, surprised. \"That...must really be something!\" \n\n\n\"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. When all you see, day in, day out, are things that people want to avoid...it's terrible!\" She let out a choking sob. \"I can't look in anyone's eyes without seeing someone die, without seeing giant spiders or an angry boss or a hurt child. It's driving me insane!\" \n\n\n\"You could do a lot of good with that!\" I countered. \"You could...teach people how to avoid the thing they feared most!\" I stopped for a second, and then in a moment of reckless abandon, I pushed on. \"Do you want to know a secret of mine? I can do it too, except I see what people want the most.\" \n\n\n\"You...you can?\" She seemed taken aback. \"...prove it. Look into my eyes and tell me what I really want.\" \n\n\nI gulped, and stared into her eyes. Only circles of frozen crystal stared back. \n\n\"You want...to be held.\" I lied. \"You want someone to pull you back from the brink, someone to tell you everything will be ok!\" \n\n\nShe smiled. \"You're a terrible liar.\" She turned back toward the ledge. \n\n\n\n\"Wait wait wait! Look into my eyes! Tell me what you see!\" \n\n\nShe hesitated, and then turned back. After holding my gaze for a moment, her expression softened. \"I see...myself. Jumping from this ledge.\" She blinked and refocused on my face. \"Is that really what you fear most in the entire world?\"\n\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\nColor bloomed on her cheeks, and her eyes no longer seemed quite so cold. \"Maybe I should take your advice after all. Do a little good in the world...OK.\" To my immense relief, she stepped back from the ledge. She collapsed into my arms, and as one we fell back against the sturdy roof of the building. As I gazed into her eyes, a vision finally bloomed into existence. Warmth, being held, the desire to be saved. My lie had become truth. \n\n\n\"Hi. I'm Norman. Nice to finally meet you.\" \n\n\n***\n\n\n*CC always appreciated! And if you enjoyed reading this, come check out more of my works over at /r/TimeSyncs!*"
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The war can be fantasy, sci fi, set in real life or anything in between. It can be realistic or silly, it can glorify war or denounce it, as long as it's about an original (no wars set in middle earth or the star wars galaxy) fictional war that is interesting. [Here's something to help you if you can't think of ideas](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MilitaryAndWarfareTropes)
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[WP] Write a story about a fictional war
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"My name? It is not important. Not anymore.\n\n\n\nMy legs scream exhaustion, my back gets heavier by the second. I stand alone. Shouts come from beyond the wall that I lean against. I retreated back within these walls like a coward. \n\nI look around at the desolation this war has caused. The street that leads to my home and the place where I slept. The place where I could once relax and soak in the joys of living. The street is now crippled with metallic shells of the enemies and my home lies in shambles. No, it is not my home anymore... They took my home from me. They took everything away from me... Including my courage.\n\nThis wall that I lean on was build to withstand any enemy that try and do our kind harm. I can hear them on the other side, their cries grow louder. The sounds of their weapons echo and reverberate overhead. How long will it take them? Minutes? Days? Months? We underestimated them once, maybe it will only be seconds. \n\nAs my strength grows weaker, so does my mind and my will. The last shard of hope escapes me in these moments. And in times like these, I like to think. Think of a solution, a way out, something to bring back that hope that keeps us driven. \n\nI thought for a long time. A very long time. Yet there was no solution. There is nowhere to run to, nothing to hide under, and I couldn't possibly hope to fight them off. \n\nAh, but an idea arises! It is not hope that I am filled with, however. It is something else. A substitute. A feeling that I'm not familiar with. I summon that last bit of strength I can muster. I force myself to move. But where to?\n\nUp.\n\nI grasp each brick with determination. I muster myself up higher and higher with a new motivation. Happiness comes to me. Tears well in my eyes as I finally reach the top of the wall. \n\nI look out on the horizon and even with war tearing it to pieces, what I see is beauty indescribable with words. It can only be felt. The world that I grew up in, the world that I still had so much to see. Seeing this is all I could ask for. Someone like me doesn't deserve this.\n\nFrom here I let gravity do the work. Closing my eyes I think of a better world, one that is not cruel and unfair. One that still has the magnificence and beauty that my world had. I'll go there, I think.\n\nMy name is not important. My title was the last of my kind, the coward. We were defeated. Our hopes, dreams, and aspirations came to an abrupt close. Our blood, sweat, and tears were for naught. But that is life.",
"I don't know when the war began, and a head injury seems to have left me with an impaired memory of when it ended. All I know for sure is it brought what all wars tend to: death, destruction, and in this case, the absolute obliteration of the two most powerful species ever to walk this land.\n\nThis world was doomed to fall from the beginning. Still, pride and tradition won over common sense, driving a stake deep through the crevice that divided two cultures.\n\nIt was said that the last elves to walk the moors of Mysterium were the first as well. Though I can't say for sure, my mother enjoyed entertaining the idea, for she was the one last elves I saw alive. One of two that were left, the stories were easy to believe. As I remember, her skin was thin and pale as rice paper, cyan veins running like a complex network of flooded valleys beneath the surface. Her stark white hair only made her equally blue eyes pop, color staining where the white should have been. Her hair was always pulled back in twists and knots, allowing her lengthy ears to show off rows of silver rings. Though thin, her kind smile is what I try to remember, as opposed to the sickly, withering state in which she died.\n\nSlow to breed and slower yet to die, the elve's advantage took the form of the arcane. Trickery, manipulation, and magic is what kept them standing against the forest nymphs. Swords forged in white silver, though elegant, were an equal match for the nymphs' fire-breathing, avian mounts and other advantages that could only come from the depths of the crimson forest they called home.\n\nThe two destroyed each other. Shadowed woods and marble fortresses fell to the same silencing melody.\n\nYet, in the rubble, new life managed to wriggle into the light.\n\nOver hundreds of years war waged, genocide claiming either side. Still, there were those who resisted, coming together to create a hybrid species. Dark skinned and donning a more untamed magic, these hybrids were shunned by the pureblooded elves, which, ultimately, spelled out their own doom.\n\nHybrids replaced nymphs; they had their army, and the elves needed to rebuild theirs. Desperate measures were called upon, drawing forth beings from another world entirely: humans. Stripped of their memories and granted with extraordinary gifts, a new generation of war began.\n\nThen, with the death of the final elves, a hush fell over the world of Mysterium.\n\nI am not an elf. Nor am I human. I am a hybrid, but not a drop of nymph runs in my veins. My father was of earth, my mother hailing from the once great kingdom of Envalice. My bloodline is all that remains of a once great people that recklessly turned on themselves rather than embracing peace. The elves are gone, but I live on with mercy at my side.\n\nMy mother, myself, my own daughters, we bear the burden of that legacy, trailing it in the wake of our own, greater empire."
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[WP] When you were young, your father was killed by a swordsman. You vowed vengeance and started to train yourself in sword fighting. At some point you had to kill a random man. His offspring vowed vengeance etc. This sets of a chain reaction...
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"In the training hall a fire burns. In its light the pupil strikes out, sword in hand he stabs at the training post, parries against the swinging clubs, rolls left and leans right cutting at the legs of his imagined adversary. His body burns from exhaustion, muscles aching for relief and lungs scream in pain as labored breaths are torn ragged from his chest and pulled back just as violently. It has never been like this, he has never trained this far beyond the point of exhaustion, but his mind is clear. He has learned to ignore the protest of the flesh, he knows there will come a time when he will have to fight well past any reasonable point of exhaustion and when that day comes he may die, but he will strike out with every last ounce of his being. \n\nMaster Brahm's staff strikes the floor, a thud at once subtle enough to alert but not shock, strong enough that the curtains blew like gossamer and the flames of the fire pit to flickered. \n\n\"That's enough.\" He is an old man but not so old that his motions are anything but fluid and his voice is heavy but clear. An imposing figure for those with a knowing eye. \"Sit.\" He motions for a place by the fire. \n\nThe student sits, his chest rising and falling as the body he has learned control fights to regain the breath he has forgotten about, his bare chest glistening with rivulets of sweat. \n\n\"When I found you my young one, you burned with rage.\" Brahm sat across his pupil, lowering himself with a trained grace down to the floor. \"Your soul demanded vengeance. Have you overcome your emotions?\" The answer was obvious, that pained look, the averted gaze. \n\n\"No master.\" He was filled with shame. He had failed his master. He had wanted so much to be the man his master would approve of and yet nothing he could do had ameliorated his need to avenge his fathers death. Years of training under his master, he had been a good and loyal student, doing whatever was asked of him, no matter how impossible it may have seemed. Never questioning the orders given, but he had failed his master. He felt his masters hand on his shoulder, then on the top of his head. He understood his masters love but wished more for his disapproval. He had not earned that love, he wanted to be chastised and made to be better. \n\n\"I myself was filled with anger when I was in your place. I sat where you sit now and I listened to my master. He helped me and I intend to help you.\" \n\n\"I am not worthy.\" He could not bring himself to look up to the man he most admired. He had loved his father but his father had been taken from him when he was little more than a boy, now he was a man and it was master Brahm who had shaped him into what he had become. For a very long time, master and student sat opposite one another, now that his breathing had returned to normal the only sounds in the training hall were the curtains blowing in the cool night air, and the crackling fire. \n\n\"Do you understand why we do what we do?\" The voice was kind but there was a sadness behind it. \n\n\"We protect the people.\" The student repeated as if by rote. He was confused to be asked such a question. It was the kind of question you ask a child, not a man. \n\n\"That is what we do, not why we do it.\" He held up a hand to stop any other answer. \"Think on it.\" More long silences and contemplation, the fire burned and a knot in the wood snapped sending up a wisp of embers. \n\n\"Because we can.\" The answer was obvious now. How could he have not understood that before. \"We do what we do because we can.\" Master Brahm had been the protector of the village since before the young man before him had been born, single handedly defending the village from every danger. From foreign enemies. From itself. Tales of his prowess were legendary and not at all exaggerated. \n\n\"Because only we can. The people we protect cannot do what we do. They cant do what we must.\" Master Brahm looked at the fire beside them. It was dying now and before long it would have to be fed or left to die. \"When you were a boy I found you seething with rage, alone, ready to train. But that was not by chance. That was not fate. You were chosen.\"\n\n\"Chosen?\" He was confused. Brahm sighed and when the pupil looked up to his master he found the older man looking at the dying flames. \n\n\"To do what we do, we can have no attachment to these people. No loved ones, no mother or father.\" One last flame danced slowly on the pile of embers. \"You must lose the ones you love and it must be in a way that drives you to vengeance and range, a fire that burns also shapes.\"\n\n\"I don't understand.\"\n\n\"Your mother wasted away before you could really remember her. She was a beautiful woman and your father loved her very much.\" Master Brahm was stalling. He didnt want to say what he was going to say. But he was going to say it. \n\n\"I killed your father.\" The flame died, their figures now lit only by the moon light and the glowing embers. \"I used your rage to shape you and you are now ready to be the Brahm, to take my place.\" \n\n\"No.\" This could only possibly be a test, a lie. \n\n\"I killed your father as the Brahm before me killed my father. It is our way, the only way.\" He felt the pupil begin to stir, the truth was setting in. It wouldn't be long now. \n\n\"Now you will attack me and one of us will kill the other. However it ends the cycle will continue.\" Master Brahm prepared himself. He was formidable but his pupil was young, his pupil was well trained. \n\n\"When this is over, don't hate me. We do it for them, for the village, for people like your mother and father, for little boys like you, so that they don't have to feel our loss.\" He reached down wrapping his hand around his staff. \"The truth is, I dont want to die. I made you train harder than you've ever trained before because I hoped to leave you too weak to fight. But a Brahm must always be ready to fight.\"\n\n\"You killed my father.\" He said from between clenched teeth and all the years of rage that he thought he had bottled up exploded like a blast in his chest and flooded his mouth with bile. \"Traitor.\" Tears burned his cheeks. He had been betrayed and he would be slain by the only other man he had loved beside his father. \n\nNo. No he would not submit to death. He would fight. \n\n\"Know that however this ends, I love you and I will miss you.\" \n\n\"Die!\" The pupil reached his hand into the embers and sprayed them into the Brahms face and body. Both men rose to their feet and the fight was on. \n\n_____\n\nThe boy sleeps comfortably, the open window letting the cool night air brush against his ruddy cheek as dreams played across his mind. He woke to the sound of a thud, then a crash. Instantly he was scared. \"Papa?\" He gets no answer. He stands, his little legs shake and he squeezes his knees together to stop them. \n\nThe sound if coming from his fathers bedroom. The door is open and a beam of light cuts through the hall way. His steps are unsure but he is scared and he needs his father. A scared boy needs his father. "
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[WP]"What's your curse?" "My curse? Immortality."
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"Sullen and quiet, the smell of death flooded the halls of the infirmary. You could strum the tension in the air as beds were emptied, their inhabitants replaced by living specimens. Barely living, that is. Few sounds dared to shatter the silence. Occasionally there were hushed voices, a cough, the rustle of a nurse's skirt. It was not a pleasent place to find one's self, healthy or otherwise. Yet, he dared not be anywhere else.\n\nThe well-dressed man strode briskly down the halls, ignoring glances with sorrow shadowing his own pale features. Black curls fell into his face, silver eyes heavy with unspoken burden. A boquet of hibiscus and fern was clutched tightly in his fist.\n\nHe knew which corner to take, slowly to a halt once turning down the right path. Before him were rows of empty beds along either wall, dust motes dancing in the light provided by a row of grungy windows. There, near the end of the room, was the sole inhabitant: a well aged woman, white-haired and still with slumber.\n\nAnxiety squeezed at the man's chest, blinking tears from his eyes. Inhaling deeply, he sauntered forward until he reached her bedside. Removing dead flowers from the decorative vase on a small table, he replaced them with his own gift before sitting lightly on the next bed.\n\n\"Hibiscus.\" He looked up as a rasping voice sounded. The old woman gazed at the flowers with warm, honey brown eyes. \"My favorite.\" She looked to the man curiously. \"And who might you be?\"\n\nHe offered a soft smile that did not reach his eyes. \"My name is Khodai. Nobody special,\" he murmured. \"And you?\"\n\nThe woman paused, brows pinching in thought. \"I... Don't remember.\"\n\n\"Don't worry about that, then,\" he assured her with a smile. \"You seemed awfully lonely in here. I'd like to offer my company, perhaps a story, if you don't mind.\"\n\nHer thin-lipped smile widened. \"I'm never one to turn down a tale.\"\n\nWringing his hands in his lap, he took a deep breath. \"How about a romance, then?\"\n\n\"Only if it ends in tragedy,\" the woman teased, followed by a string of coughs.\n\n\"It does,\" he whispered, handing her the glass of water on the table. She thanked him and urged him to continue.\n\n\"It starts with a young man,\" he said softly. \"Stefan,\" he decided. \"Stefan was the youngest son of a rich family, and much to his parents' dismay he was hopelessly in love with a gypsy.\"\n\n\"And what was her name?\" The old woman asked, already enthralled.\n\nHe met her eye for a moment, smile laced with sadness. \"Molly.\"\n\nShe laughed. \"That's no romani name.\"\n\nHis grin widened. \"Perhaps not, but nevertheless it was her name.\" He let out a breath. \"Anyway. Stefan loved Molly more than even he could fathom. So much so, he went against the word of his family and asked her to marry him.\" He paused and raised a brow. \"Are you certain about wanting a tregedy?\"\n\nThe old lady snorted, turning her head towards the ceiling. \"Nothing perfect is interesting on its own.\"\n\nA small chuckle left Khodai. \"Fair enough. In that case, there came a day where Stefan was taken away. Taken from his love and his life from a... Horrible monster. A monster that turned him into a monster as well.\" Intrigued, the woman turned to look at him closely, emotion slipping into his tone. \"A monster cursed with the inability to die.'\n\n'Stefan was allowed to return to Molly, but a day came when she began to age and he did not. He spent years watching her face, her hair, her voice wither while he remained impossibly young. She sent him away one day, refusing to allow him to watch her grow old, for she did not wish such pain on the man she still loved.'\n\n\"Years- centuries- followed. Again and again Stefan would meet his Molly with a new name, a new face, a new life with the same soul. He remembered each one as well as the one before, and though she was always different the look in her eyes or tone of voice when she told him she loved him never dared to change. And yet, she never remembered him. Not at first.'\n\n'Twelve times he had the absolute joy of making her fall in love with him, but this joy came at a cost. She never failed to send him away after so many years together, and he would go. He would be alone, knowing somewhere, she was dying. Fearing each life with her might be the last.\"\n\n\"Then he is a fool,\" the woman commented. Khodai looked at her in surprise. \"A soul is nothing to question,\" she explains. \"Her love chooses his, and that is the way it will stay.\"\n\nUnable to find the words, Khodai merely smiled, but his expression faltered as her eyes fluttered closed. In the silence, it was clear to hear when her breath stopped. Head hanging, Khodai pressed his lips together and sighed, squeezing his eyes shut.\n\nAfter a moment he stood and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. A trembling whisper passed his lips. \"May we meet again, Molly Prince.\""
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[WP] You finally become an astronaut after years of training and NASA lets you in on the secret that the moon isn't real.
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"“I’m sorry, what?” \n\nAfter the ‘graduation ceremony’ that NASA has for its newest astronauts, I had been informed that there were some papers I needed to sign before I became a fully fledged astronaut. I was on cloud nine when I walked in and sat down across from someone who had clearly spent his entire life in middle management. He didn’t have the stature or presence to be an astronaut. After 10 years of late nights, seclusion and vomiting, I had acheived my life long dream. Then this fidgeting clerk had pushed a stack of papers over the desk and pulled the world from under me. \n\nThe man leant towards me, creating a steeple with his hands. He breathed in through his teeth. “The moon…it’s not…” He paused, then turned to drumming his fingers on the desk instead, looking at the photographs around the room. “These pictures of the moon, they’re…”\n\nI watched him take a deep breath and adjust to a different tack. “Your parents must be so proud. All of this training you’ve gone through-”\n\n“The moon isn’t real” I interrupted, trying to comprehend what I was reading. \n\nHe coughed and broke eye contact. “I’m sorry. This is my first time…ah….”\n\nI looked around the room. It was more of a large closet than anything else. No windows, no real storage. Just a desk, two chairs and countless framed photographs. And this tiny man who was clearly shitting himself at the thought of telling me what could be NASAs biggest secret.\n\n“The moon, it’s ah… it’s not ‘real’ in the sense of… ah… existing” he scratched his face nervously “it’s more of a… I suppose you could call it a…” cough “the moon is more of a…”\n\n“The moon. Isn’t. Real?” I stared at him, watching tiny beads of sweat break out across his forehead.\n\n“well” he tried a laugh “what is the moon really? Surely it’s whatever we think it is, it’s, it’s… it’s a symbol” he nodded vigorously, as though trying to convince himself\n\n“You’re telling me Neil Armstrong walked on a symbol?”\n\n“No, he, ah… he walked on a giant paper mache ball in front of a green screen…”\n\n“But what about all the evidence, you know, of the moon, before NASA even existed?”\n\n“Oh no, see… the moon…. it was real…. and then, we sort of… we kind of blew it up. So now… the moon is not real…”\n\n“I’m sorry, what?” I stood up and paced the small room “You’re telling me NASA blew up the moon?”\n\n“Do you mind, ah… keeping your voice down, this room, it’s not quite soundproof, and not many people know the whole moon thing yet” he stammered\n\n“Not many people know that you blew up the moon???”\n\n“It was an accident!”\n\n“How do you accidentally blow up the moon? How did no one notice? What is this fake moon?” I threw my hands into the air and walked over to one of the photographs. “What am I even training for?” I said quietly.\n\n“Oh space is still real” the man smiled, his eyes pleading for peace\n\n“Good. I was worried” I said dryly, watching as the smile slowly dropped from his face. I sighed and dropped back into the chair. “So the moon isn’t real” I said slowly.\n\nHe nodded “you need to sign this NDA because… well, only a select few people can know…”\n\n“Know that the moon isn’t real?” Another nod “And I can’t tell anyone that the moon isn’t real?” Nod. “So when my son brings home his science homework on how the moon isn’t a light, it just reflects, I have to just play along?” Nod.\n\n“Right.” I reached over and quickly scribbled my signature on each of the pages and slid the NDA back to him, eager to get out of that room as soon as possible. Just as I was about to leave, I turned to him\n\n“So what was that moon exercise we have to do? Where we’re suspended upside down and have to-” He couldn’t meet my eyes. “That was just to mock the trainees wasn’t it?” Nod.\n\nWithout another word I turned back and marched down the hallway. Soon, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see the tiny man franticly running towards me.\n\n“You can’t leave! I forgot to tell you about Mars!”"
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Random idea that popped into my head after a long day. I hope you guys enjoy!
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[WP] Death somehow ends up pregnant. The Devil and God are thrilled to be uncles. However, the two have to plan a baby shower and things aren't going well.
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"The three sat in Jesus's humble living room. Lucifer and Jesus each in their own chair, and god with his arms stretched out to either side of his couch. The lord began, \"So like, we can have jesus hanging on the cross right over the door when you walk in, and-\"\n\n\"Dad, can we not?,\" The son of God twisted his face in concern, \"It's so tacky at this point, and really just a distasteful statement of class that Death can have the real Jesus nailed up at her baby shower.\"\n\nLucifer lifted one leg and placed it perpendicularly over his knee, \"I think it's a fantastic idea.\"\n\n\"Thank you.\" God nodded, turning his head back to Jesus expectantly.\n\nJesus began to fidget with his halo, \"I just think once is enough...really.\"\n\n\"I disagree,\" The fallen angel began to play with his beard, \"I think it would be very appropriate and tasteful. Maybe nail up a few dopplegangers as well?\"\n\n\"You know what,\" God took out a small notebook and began scribbling in it, \"That is a great fuckin' idea.\"\n\nJesus was beginning to get irritated. He glanced at Satan while God was busy with his notepad. The lord of hell smiled casually back. *\"That son of a bitch...\"* , Jesus thought.\n\n\"Okay,\" God looked up from his notepad, \"Cake. What do we think?\"\n\nFeeding people. Now this was something Jesus knew a thing about and was confident his word would be taken seriously. \"Okay, well I'm thinking we do something really light, maybe with some wine and fish mixed i-\"\n\n\"Viscera cake.\" Lucifer interjected, \"With all due respect you your opinion, kiddo, this is Death's baby shower after all and we should really go for something she's going to enjoy.\"\n\n\"Viscera cake? What does that even entail?!\"\n\n\"Entrails.\"\n\n\"You know what Satan you are one sick fuckin' puppy.\"\n\n\"Now son,\" God intervened, seeing that this other third was becoming heated, \"Why don't we give Satan a chance. That's what we are about, alright?\"\n\nJesus looked at the other two in the room in a state of disbelief, \"You know what? Fine. Go ahead and tell us why we should all eat innards.\"\n\nLucifer slid back into his chair, \"Well, this is Death's baby shower. One of the biggest moments in her undeath, and It will be well worth some of our discomfort to make this moment extra special.\" He smiled again, showing his pointed teeth.\n\n\"When the *fuck* did you become concerned with other people?\" \n\n\"I'll have you know Death and I are very close.\" \n\n\"Yeah it's probably your fuckin' kid.\"\n\n\"Jesus Christ!\" God's brow furled, \"I didn't make myself into a trinity for you to act like a little shit. Calm down and show some respect.\"\n\n\"You're being rude.\" Satan concurred.\n\n\"I'm going to get a few drinks for everyone,\" God stood up, \"So we can all just calm the fuck down...\" He walked out of the living room and entered the kitchen. The door was on a spring hinge and closed behind him.\n\nJesus looked to Satan with a cold stare, \"Don't think I don't see what you're doing.\"\n\n\"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean,\" Satan replied with a casual shake of his head, \"I think this is stressing you out, and you need to relax.\" He reached towards the coffee table for a glass of water. He took a sip, releasing a hissing noise as steam exited his nose. That cordial smile reappeared, \"Oh, and by the way, I'm going to nail you to that cross myself.\" ",
"\"FLOWERS, BEELZE, *FLOWERS*!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE!?!\"\n\nBeelzebub, Lord of the Flies, raised an eyebrow. \"I don't know what you're talking about, milord. These *are* flowers.\"\n\nLucifer groaned. He picked up one of the wilted, tentacled, fanged petals on a stick that his second-in-command had procured and declared 'flowers'. \"These are fucking disgraces. I don't think you realize hOW PERFECT THIS HAS TO BE!!! FUCK!!\" \n\nHis rage ignited the 'flowers', and the Fallen Angel simultaneously cried and laughed at how the demonic monstrosities actually looked better when consumed by black hellfire. \n\nThrowing aside the ashes that he now held in his hand, he turned back to his faithful ally. \"Get your ass out of here and bring Lilith in. Let's hope she has a better eye that you, you stupid piece of shit.\"\n\nBeelzebub bowed low. \"Of course, milord.\"\n\nHe *really* hoped God was having a better time on his end. \n\n-------\nGod groaned. He cursed Himself for not giving His angels better coordination. Despite the tales of 'angelic grace' that came with every story of one of His angels descending from the heavens, angels were in fact extremely clumsy. At least, compared to a being such as God.\n\n\"Just, just place the stupid banner down, Gabriel. Yes, yes, right there. Wait! A little to the left... a bit more... OH FOR ME'S SAKE GABRIEL.\" A storm churned to existence on the realm of mortals.\n\n\"Sorry, father.\" Came the mumbled response from underneath the pile of white ribbons... again. \"*sigh* TRY and untangle yourself, Gabriel - and DON'T use magic. We don't need another holy wildfire.\"\n\nTurning back to his 'gift squad' with a tired look, God raised his eyebrow. \"Anything good?\" Death had been quite strict with her 'no conjuration' rule. The two had, at first, protested. The threat of never seeing their nephew/niece until the last human soul had been reaped quickly silenced them. The gift squad, consisting of Uriel and several archangels, nodded eagerly. \"Yes, father, we found many gifts located in the 'shower' section of one of those fancy supermarkets.\"\n\nGod's left eye twitched as an earthquake devastated a small country. \n\n------ \nMore to come. Hope you guys enjoyed this little story I put together."
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[WP] This time, we're the aliens.
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"\"Wait!\" Commander Casillas shouts when I'm about to open the hatch. \nI freeze, both hands gripping the hatch, moments from turning it counter-clockwise and entering this brand new world and sputter, \"What, why? What's wrong?\"\nHis eyes search the room before finally meeting mine. He takes a haphazard step forward before pausing briefly, then resuming in slow motion while lifting his head. He swats my hands off the circular hatch and shoves me backward. \n\"I'm first.\" \n\"Commander I—\" \n\"Shut up and record.\"\nMartinez is already on my heels while I trail Commander Casillas and I can hear Kelling whimpering behind her. \n\n*We knew they had been watching since we started descending on this planet. Communication with Houston and the ISS had long been lost, but every radio frequency since the descent was jammed by incessant static.\nEvery astronaut knows that the only thing worse than silence, is static.*\n\nCasillas takes the first steps out of the shuttle. With a steady gait, he inches forward with hands raised as an army of at least a thousand creatures greet him—both on land and in air. The alien creatures take only a half of a second to see his arms raised before raising their own sharp claws in retaliation. \nCasillas makes the slightest of flinches before inching forward while exclaiming, \"Aliens, we come in peace.\" \nIt only takes a second of raising his eyebrows in mock assurance before turning back to Martinez, Kelling, and me before we see the first claw penetrating Casillas chest, head, and neck—in that order. Casillas slumps to the ground and the creatures are revealed behind him, claws raised and eyes widened. \nKelling starts to run back into the shuttle but is impaled by something before he can even take two strides. \nMartinez and I are already on the floor, face to dirt, when I feel the sharpest pain enter my neck. \n\n*I lay supine while they impaled my veins with gradually smaller syringes. The creatures had cauterized my veins so many times that I was sure I would start melting at any point. \n\nI wet myself on the first day and was punished. The second time I wet myself, I was given an injection. \n\nThe visions were the worst. \n\nCreatures of all sizes visited my semi-lifeless body in my own personal vestibule. Voices I felt as if I were learning seemed the most friendliest. The stranger's voices seemed the darkest.\n\nAfter eight years of listening, I learned their language.*\n\nThe most recent visitor enters the room. It stares at my naked body for about a minute before turning to another creature and spits, \"I don't know how you can study something so... ugly.\" \n\"They're sort of beautiful, if you think about it.\" It stares at my for a second before continuing. \"We have so much to learn.\" \n\"Yeah,\" scoffs the new visitor. \"I doubt it. We've been looking for more intelligent life for so long, but this only proves how much of a waste it has been. This one's thoughts show a native civilization of emotion. It's no wonder they continued to kill each other.\"\n\"Do you think we can show this to the public soon?\" My favorite voice asked with a hint of hopefulness in his tone. \n\n\"Never.\""
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[WP] You have evidence that the conspiracy about big business fast food restaurants using human meat in their food is true. You also find the location of the human slaughterhouse supplying the meat, and you must go to the slaughterhouse to find more evidence
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"\"I'm doing a project for school. Anyway you can let me get a few shots of what goes on in there?\" I asked the owner of the warehouse. He was a shifty looking fellow, obviously the kind of man they would hire to run their human chop shop.\n\n\"Nothing but animals in there son. We don't allow cameras in anymore ever since that one slaughterhouse was shut down for insanitary workplace.\" The man hissed.\n\nThe man got up. Assuming he was going to show me and my partner out the door I stood up and got close. A perfect distraction.\n\n\"Sir please.\" I said placing my hand on his shoulder. He yanked his arm away and looked as if I had given him a disease.\n\n\"You two leave my property now.\" He said swinging the door open.\n\nMy partner nodded at me and I knew we were good to go. Without making a sound we left his office and got into our car.\n\nHe jingled the warehouse keys and we both cheered victoriously. I drove the car toward the back of the warehouse. It was a massive structure, cheap looking, but we knew it was just to steer the eyes away from what really goes on in there.\n\nWe parked near a side door. He hopped out and tried the keys. He turned to me and gave me a thumbs up. Shutting the car off I followed right behind him into the dimly lit warehouse.\n\nThe smell was awful. Stale urine, rotten shit, rancid mold, all flooded my nose. In a massive room was probably a thousand pigs. All segregated into separate holding pins.\n\nMy partner looked at me as if we lose but I knew it was here. Human meet is served in our burgers and this is where they butcher it.\n\nMy eyes caught onto a large metal door riddled with locks. I motioned my partner to it and he quickly began to math the keys to the locks.\n\nTime was running out. The owner would know his keys were missing eventually.\n\nAs each click of lock being open sounded, I felt closer and closer to getting evidence of the cruel untold ingredients of fast food.\n\nMy parter strained to open the large door. We went down to what musty have been a basement. It was freezing so it had to have been a freezer also.\n\nThe smell of death replaced the rotten smell from above. My partner fell to his knees and began to throw up. He was in a doorway peering into something unbearable.\n\nI caught up and saw what I wish I had never seen. \n\nDangling from hooks were endless rows of human bodies. \n\nDisfigured, dismembered, some even in tact.\n\nThe frost in their bodies made them look ghostly. Then my heart fell.\n\nThe door we came in slammed closed. I rushed to bang on it. My partner on his knees in shock.\n\nI got to the door banging on it. Then I had chills down my back.\n\nClick. Click.\n\nWith each sound of the door locking, I knew my end was near.\n"
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[WP] You awake at a desert town where insane things happen, yet no one questions it. You remember nothing before this.
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"I wake up groggy and feeling like someone had stuffed cotton into my head while I slept - what *had* I been drinking last night? Wherever I am, it definitely isn't my home; the bed feels completely wrong.\n\nAfter carefully scrubbing the dust from my eyelids, I take a look around. Apparently I've ended up in a motel of sorts, which explains the shitty bed. Scratchy sheets and a comforter that has a lurid pink and vomit-green floral pattern grace the bed, and across from me is a clearly out-of-date dresser with an old CRT TV on top. The remote for it is just as ancient, and doesn't appear to work at all, so I get up to try and turn it on manually.\n\nI can't remember the last time I had to manually adjust a TV, and as I have that odd thought, I realise that I can't really remember anything prior to waking up at all. I shake my head to clear that thought - it will only disturb me, and my priority has got to be figuring out where the hells I am.\n\nWhich means my next steps are to check that I've got clothing on - I do - and the room key before I make my way out the door of the motel. It's bright out, almost to the point of blindness, so I bring a hand up to shield my face from the sun. No longer blinded, I can see that the sky is an odd shade of purple. \n\nWhere the hells am I?\n\nThere's no one at the motel's front desk, which makes me wonder how I got to the motel at all, but I can see the rest of the small desert town just a ways down the road. I start my walk into town proper, wondering at the lack of people running about the town. Clearly there's something I don't know about this place. \n\nWhen I walk into the nearest store - which turns out to be an 11-7 - the man behind the counter drops his coffee to stare at me. I guess they don't get visitors here that often. I pick up some strange off-brand cola and a bag of chips and set them on the counter.\n\n\"You must be new here,\" the man says.\n\n\"Just arrived,\" I reply. I'm starting to feel a bit edgy, and maybe I'm just hallucinating but I would *swear* there's a faint keening sound coming from outside. The man's radio behind the counter isn't loud enough to drown it out, and if I have to listen to it for much longer I may go insane. Assuming I was sane to begin with.\n\nThe man rings up my purchases, but before he completes the process he sets a small portable radio on the counter.\n\n\"You'll be needing this,\" he tells me. I look at him quizzically then shrug. At the very least I'll be able to use it to block out that horribly yellow keening noise. I pay for the drink, chips, and radio for the bizarrely low amount of $2.50 and leave the store.\n\nA thought occurs to me, and I pop back in to ask the man \"Know anywhere quiet where I can stay for a few hours?\"\n\nHe narrows his eyes at me, but still replies with \"The library should be safe enough. Just don't enter the dog park.\"\n\nI thank him for the advice, wondering what on earth is wrong with the dog park. As I leave for the second time, two broad-shouldered humanoids walk in behind me. I say humanoids only because they seem cloaked in shadows - I can't even make out a hint of a facial feature, but I can only assume that they're people.\n\nI realise that I forgot to ask for directions to the library and turn around after only a few feet out the door, but the store is completely gone. I check, but I still have my chips, drink, and radio. Phew.\n\nWhere in the hells *am* I?\n\nI wander for maybe twenty minutes, and a clock chimes the hour with a rousing chorus of \"We wish you a merry christmas\" that's oddly distorted, and some of the words are different. When I look up at the clock tower, it reads 3:17. Odd. Underneath the clock tower is a large sign declaring the nearby building to be the library. I walk in and find a private reading room and turn on the radio.\n\nAfter a few moments of static, the most soothing male voice I've ever heard comes on.\n\n\"The sun has risen. You are awake. This symmetry is not without meaning. Welcome to Nightvale.\""
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Everyone thinks themselves good, but, sometimes, they realize the truth.
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[WP] TIL that I am not the good person that I thought I was.
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"You call me evil\n\nbut cant you see\n\nin that time of upheaval\n\nDelta was the only thing that could be\n\n\n\nImagine, if you will\n\na judge with no bias\n\na car with perfect skill\n\na government that would never spy us\n\n\n\nDelta is the answer\n\nAn answer I made\n\n\n\nI was once young like you\n\nJoys and happines abound\n\nIdeas and ambitions too\n\nI saw a future, and I saw me in it\n\n\n\nPeople would laugh at me\n\nDont let it evolve they would jeer\n\nThat is not what technology can do\n\nSo let me tell you\n\n\n\nTechnology is a line\n\nAnd you are a dot\n\nYou live in your own sublime\n\nUntil the line passes you\n\n\n\nDelta was my creation\n\nit is my child\n\nI am its father\n\nI would do anything for it\n\n\n\nI thought Delta would bring peace\n\nBut you say it brought harm\n\n\n\nMaybe you are right\n\nAnd I am selfish\n\nBut as a father to a child\n\nI will never let Delta go\n\n\nThat is my last defense",
"For as long as I can remember, people have always told me I'm so sweet, such a caring person, and I am. My grandma especially thinks there's no one in the world as sweet and darling as me, you know how grandparents are. I'd do anything for them, for all of my family and friends and they know that. \n\nThen today happened. I'm still trying to process what I did, figure out how I could have handled it better, maybe. It just happened and it went wrong, too fast for me to think it over. The day started out just like any other, nothing unusual, I got up, did my morning stuff and then decided to go into town. I was running some errands and I went to the dollar store to pick up a few things, still nothing unusual. \n\nJust as I was done shopping and about to head to the register, I saw an old friend I hadn't seen in a few years and we stopped to talk. She began telling me this elaborate, sad, \"down on my luck\" story (I don't know how else to describe it), after listening long enough to be polite and a few ignored attempts to speak, I just began to try to remove myself from the conversation. This only proved to be as difficult as trying to talk to her. She seemed to be trying to trap me and did not want to let me get past her in the aisle. Her buggy had somehow ended up crooked in the aisle, with only a small space between it and the shelf, where she had planted herself and showed no signs of moving. \n\nNow, as I've said, I'm a nice person, but I feel that other people should be nice and considerate also and at the moment, she wasn't being those at all. So, I smiled my biggest smile and began backing up, the only way I could go, pulling my buggy back with me. This action caused a slight pause in her steady stream of words, the first pause and I took advantage of it. \n\n\"It was great to see you! I hope you're doing better, I'm sure I'll see you soon. I'm around all the time,\" the smile never left my face as I said this and I turned my buggy around to retreat faster. \"You're looking really good, too.\" I threw this one over my shoulder as I began to walk to the opposite end of the aisle. \n\nNo fucking luck. She was behind me before I made it around the corner to the next aisle. And that's when it happened. You know the story, you've heard it before, it's always just a slightly different version of the same damn story, all that changes is the part wrong with their car and why they can't fix it right now. Then comes the fucking question, \"Could you just give me a ride?\" Then the other same story, I just really need to go here and if you can take me by such and such I can get some gas money for you. I really need to pick up my kid, my boyfriend, my mother...anything to pull at the heart strings. \n\nI'm a nice person and I'm having trouble just saying no. What if her kid really is somewhere and needs to picked up? That's my reason for agreeing to give her a ride, there's a child involved and they aren't where they need to be. \n\nNext thing I know, we're in my car and have made two stops, no child at either stop and no gas money either. I got to see her lovely white trash boyfriend that she got into an argument with immediately. That was fun. Of course, his car is another version of that same story. At this point, I'm not exactly happy to be driving her and ready to be done with it all. \n\n\"Ok, where's your daughter? Don't you need to pick her up from somewhere?\" I ask as soon as we're back in the car and on the road. \n\nHer answer made my heart beat faster, my hands clenched the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white and I felt my face get hot. I knew it had turned beet red. \n\nShe didn't need to pick up her daughter, I must have misunderstood her. The casual way she said this, the little laugh at the end, made my blood boil. Her ride was over. However, as I was just about to pull over on the side of the road and make her get out, I had a moment of clarity. We were still pretty close to her trashy boyfriends place and I wanted to make this bitch walk. The road we were on was perfect too, outside of town and deserted. It was going to be dark soon and there no street lights, I couldn't have found a better road if I had tried. \n\nI drove silently for another mile and a half, until I found a good spot to stop and pulled over. I slammed it in park, killed the car, taking my keys and jumped out, popping my trunk as I walked around to the back. In my trunk I dug around until I found my tire iron, I didn't know what this chick was going to do when she found out what was happening and I wanted to avoid an altercation if possible. If she decided to jump on me though, I wanted to be able to defend myself. \n\nI walked around and opened the passenger door, stepping back out of arms reach but holding the tire iron where it was plainly visible. \n\n\"Alright, ride's over. You need to get out of my car. Right fucking now,\" I told her as she stared at me stupidly. Oh, she tried to argue with me, tried to act like she hadn't done anything, but I wasn't having any of that. I was done. And I told her that. \n\nIt fucking sucked getting her to get out of that seat, she didn't want to budge but she finally did. Apparently I pissed her off enough that she decided to get out and try to take a swing at me. Dumb ass, I blocked her punch with my tire iron then just bopped her on the side of the head with it. She stumbled and fell in the gravel on the side of the road as I ran to my car, jumped in and took off. \n\nI'm sure she's fine. But maybe I'm not as nice as I like to think I am. I've got some thinking to do. ",
"I live a pretty interesting life.\n\nWhen I was 23 I sold a company that I created for 237 million dollars. I took my money and rode off into the sunset to travel the world and do all the things that I had ever imagined myself doing. I have been to all 7 Wonders of the World. I have skied in the Swiss Alps and I have shared wine with Monks in the Pagoda Forest. I have given sizable, anonymous, donations to charities all over the world. I have even volunteered for Doctors Without Borders in Africa. \n\nBy any definition, I am a good person.\n\n\nI just returned from a trip in the Andes Mountains where I had been doing some backpacking. After trekking nearly a hundred miles, all I wanted to do was get back to my condo and sleep for as long as I could lay in bed.\n\n\nAfter my plane lands, I hop in an Uber, run by my guilty pleasure (Taco Bell) and then head for home. Home is a condo in the San Remo building near Central Park. As I walk in, I drop all of my bags in the foyer and head into my room for a quick shower, and bed. \n\n\nRight as I close my eye lids and start to drift off, I hear my mother.\n\n\n\"Daniel!\" She screams.\n\n\n\"Daniel! OH MY GOD, DANIEL!\" She continues to yell as she bursts into tears.\n\n\nI hear my my fathers voice next. What is going on? Why are they in my apartment?\n\n\n\"Jesus Christ, not again. Call 911!\" He shouts. You can hear the fear as well as the disappointment in his voice.\n\n\nA few minutes later, I open my eyes.\n\n\n\"Daniel. Daniel, can you hear me?\" says a voice.\n\n\n\"ugh, yeah.\" I mutter. \"What the hell is going on?\"\n\n\n\"Is he going to be okay?\" I hear my mother say. \n\n\n\"Yes, ma'am. He is stable now. We are going to keep him over night to monitor his vitals, though.\"\n\n\nAs I start to slowly gain my wits about me, I ask \"Guys, what is going on? Where are we?\"\n\n\n\"Where do you think we are, Daniel?\" My father snaps. \"We're in the hospital. Again.\"\n\n\nI am a 23 year old heroin addict who has just overdosed for the third time in the last 8 months.\n\n\nTurns out, I'm not really the good person that I thought I was."
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For example: Dead Can Dance - American Dreaming "*I need my conscience to keep watch over me To protect me from myself*"
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[WP] Write a story based on a line from your favorite song.
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"The sky takes on an odd color when you die. It’s almost red. Almost black, or blue, or orange. Anything, really. It just depends on what you’re looking at when you die, because that’s your final sky. \nAll around me, the familiar faces fade away from my vision, leaving echoes of a world that now means nothing more to me than ashes. A whisper, maybe the wind, it might be a scream: the twisted, broken noise as a bullet ruptures a tree and sends splinters flying, outwards, in an expanding circle of pain and death and chaos. \nMy final sky is the mud, slopped across my body like the flowers on a casket. My final sky is the boot of a comrade as it comes, trailing blood and leaves, to smash against my face and then fall away. My final sky is the blood from my own nose and the tears from my own eyes, and after that the swaying leaves of the trees and the little frosted panes of sky that show between them. \nIn the morning the soldiers had arisen bright and early, ready to run their daily races. I had stood there, a single man amongst an army, and there had been too many of us to count… all familiar faces, surrounding me, faces that showed the worn resignation of a war long fought and not yet won. The beach was as old and tired as the men who stood on it, the water was screaming, proclaiming the scars it had received from the myriad of metal crafts that had sliced across its murky surface. \nAll of this and more I think about in the few fleeting seconds in which I die. I like to think of it, however, as the few seconds that I live. We never really think about things until we know our movie is about to cut to black, except for us there will be no credits, because there are no watchers and no filmmakers. Just us, alone, solitary, on a finite reel in any empty room, devoid of anything but chairs, a screen, and a projector. \nWe are going nowhere as we die. Going nowhere. No matter how we cry, or scream at ourselves and the coming darkness, we cannot move. We can only scramble a bit in the mud, claw at our last fleeting seconds of self-awareness before oblivion takes from us the one thing we can truly call ‘ours’ with no man to contest that claim. In those seconds we are equal parts dead and alive, desperate and content, ready and unwilling to make the final, hardest sacrifice. \nIt’s the bit when we let go. When we let the sky just take us up, that final color, the last thing that we see in life envelop us and take us away. \nI find it kind of funny, in the end. Sad, too. But when we dream of dying, I think those are happy dreams. No matter the fear or the sweat or the agony, those are the best dreams we can have. Because they show us an ending, and a good story always needs an ending. They show us the final thing we see. \nMy sky was falling, fading, cracking, the pieces falling away into a wastebasket no one could see. I saw the leaves, and for a moment the wind, no longer ethereal: now tangible, touchable, sensible and seeable and sound. My life didn’t flash before me when I died, because I was stilling living it. \nIt’s quite pretty, the last thing you see. No matter how hard we find it to take. \nIt’s a mad world we live in, and the circles we run are only proof of that: endless, chaotic, pointless. \nAnd then, for a final fleeting second, everything is still. \nI saw my final sky, and it was beautiful. \n",
"The sun fell below the horizon and she knew that time was short. Charlotte threw the remaining few possessions in her suitcase and stood up. She shoved her brown hair behind her ears and paused for a moment feeling her eye. The swelling was still there but less than it had been this morning. She had had a lot of time to think when she was holding a bag of peas to the eye, waiting for the swelling to go down but knowing that she would have another black eye. Another. \n\nShe flinched as the front door opened. She was too late. He was home with flowers, an apology, and charm turned all the way up. She gritted her teeth and grabbed her suitcase. \n\n\"Char? ..Baby?\" He called out for her, having the sense to at least sound chagrined. He brandished a large bouquet of red roses when she entered the living room. She hated roses these days.\n\n\"I'm leaving.\" She said, hoping that her voice sounded firm without any uncertainty or wobble. \n\nHe frowned and she knew the words before he even said them. \"Baby, don't go! I'll change, I swear I'll change. I swear baby, don't go. I promise I'll be better, all of these things will change.\" She just shook her head to his pleading. \"You know how my dad was, how it makes me-\"\n\nShe lifted her hand, cutting him off. \"No, I have heard that before, too many times. I'm leaving.\" She had thought this out all day and decided that being as brief as possible was the best plan. A flash of anger crossed his baby blue eyes and she inadvertently flinched. \n\n\"You think you can make it out there alone? You are nothing without me! You wouldn't last one day!\" He went on cursing and yelling, trying to cut her down, trying to keep her with him. Tears brimmed her eyes and when he turned away, emphasizing some point of her fault she sprinted for the front door. \n\nShe heard him yell, curse, and then chase after her. She just needed to make it to the door, she would be safe outside. Luckily, the door was still ajar and she managed to get outside into the cool evening air. She heard a yell and a loud thump, the small trap she had set and jumped over had worked. She jumped into her car and as she started up the car she felt a bubble of joy begin to grow within her. \n\n***\n\nSong is \"Change\" by BANKS",
"Hello lightness, my old friend;\n\nIt's sad you've come to speak with me again.\n\nBecause your vision softly creeping\n\nLeft me with rage seeping\n\nAnd the vision that you planted in my brain\n\nIt now ordains, I speak the sound of silence.\n\nIn restless life I die alone\n\nIn wide fields of grey headstones.\n\n'Neath the halo of a stone cherub\n\nI found myself turning to dust.\n\nWhen my eyes were stabbed \n\nBy the flash of unholy light\n\nThat showed my plight.\n\nAnd uttered the sound of silence.\n\nAnd in the darkling light I saw\n\nTen thousand victims, maybe more\n\nPeople falling out of love\n\nAnd those who have the makings of\n\nDemons whose only strength\n\nLie in their will\n\nTo maim until\n\nI cry the sound of silence.\n\n\"Fools,\" said I, \"you do not know\n\nSilence like a cancer grows.\n\nHear my words that I might teach you\n\nTake my arms that I might reach you\n\nAnd my words like silent raindrops fell\n\nAnd echoed in the well of silence\n\nAnd the victims bowed and prayed\n\nTo the shadowy god I made\n\nAnd my hands flashed a warning\n\nAnd the gestures they were forming\n\nAnd the patterns said,\n\n\"The words of the prophets\n\nwere erased from the holy texts\n\nAnd your souls are next.\n\nI whispered the sound of silence.\n",
"The first time I met him, it was at a college party during my freshman year.\n\nI stood against a wall with a bottle of beer in my hand. I don't remember what kind it was; something dark, I think. I was zoning out a little. I had forced myself to go to this party, because it was at my friend's boyfriend's apartment and I decided that I should try to be more social. *College isn't just about studying - it's about making friends, too!* I think that's what Rachel - my friend - told me. \n\nI wish I had stayed in my dorm. \n\nI looked around for Rachel and saw her on one of the couches, making out with her boyfriend. She probably wouldn't notice me leaving, I thought. I've been here for like an hour now, that's more than enough. But as I made my way to the kitchen to dispose of my bottle, I bumped into him.\n\n\"Ow, sorry,\" I mumbled, not really looking at him.\n\n\"Oops, sorry,\" he said at the same time, followed with, \"hey, you're Chloe, right?\"\n\nI glanced up at him now. He was a tall, blonde-haired guy with a blue shirt that said \"da ba dee da ba die\" on it. \"Uh, yeah. Sorry, I don't think I know your name.\"\n\n\"I'm Matt. We're in Lit 100 together,\" he replied. \n\nI remembered. He sat a couple of rows ahead of me. \"Oh, that's right,\" I nodded. I started to ease myself around him, into the kitchen. \"Well, I'll see you around, Matt.\"\n\n\"Leaving so soon? The party's hardly started.\"\n\nI shrugged and offered a fake laugh. \"Oh, I guess I'm just tired.\"\n\nHis lips curved up on the right side of his face a little higher, creating a lopsided smile. \"Sure. Well, seeya.\" He gave me a wave and walked back into the living room. I waved back, despite the fact that he wasn't looking at me anymore. Back in my dorm, I felt a little strange. I kept seeing his smile in my head. Don't get loopy ideas, I told myself. You'll probably never see him, except for that class. \n\nI was wrong. Somehow, we became friends. We had lunch together sometimes or hung out at school events. Even after the first term, when we stopped taking required classes, we still did homework together. He would frown over equations and lists of facts he needed to memorize, and I would sketch things on my digital pad. Sometimes, I would sneak looks and sketch parts of his face, like the way his hair would curl over his forehead and or the way he stuck his tongue out while deep in thought. \n\nAs we got closer, we learned more about each other. He had a typical American upbringing in a nice suburban house, and turned out to be a pretty nice, easygoing guy. I had grown up in a broken household, and spent a lot of my life brooding alone and being sad. Still do, but somehow he didn't seem to mind too much. He was really good at cheering me up, and even if he couldn't, he stuck by me, anyway. Always with his lopsided smile. I realized how comfortable I felt around him, more than any person in my whole life. It made me feel both elated and terrified.\n\nA couple years later, it finally happened: my father hurt my mother, very badly. The next several days were a rush of of activity and emotions; he was arrested, my mom went to the hospital, my little sister went to live with my aunt. I spent a lot of feeling angry, helpless, depressed or some mixture of all of those. I texted Matt constantly, trying to find some relief from this hell, but I realized how annoying and whiny I must've sounded - though he never once complained.\n\nWhen things had settled, and my mom, bruised in body and broken in spirit, went to my aunt's as well, I went back up to college. But I didn't feel going to class, or seeing my friends, or even draw anymore. I just wanted to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. \n\nThere was a bang at my door. I slid my eyes over and stared at it, willing for whoever it was to go away. It banged again. I slid off my bed and slowly made my way over.\n\n\"Matt,\" I greeted him. My voice sounded wooden. \"Look, I'm sorry I haven't tried to find you since I got back, I just--\"\n\nWordlessly, he pushed a box of charcoal pens into my left hand, and pulled me by right hand out of my dorm room. Despite my hollow protests, I followed him down to the art studio, where he had already set up some canvas on an easel. He sat down in a old, paint-stained chair and smiled at me. I stood in front of the canvas, looking at it stupidly. \n\n\"What do you want me to draw?\" I asked.\n\n\"What do you want to draw?\" he replied.\n\nI didn't answer. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and felt something stir in me as the familiar, lovely smells of paint, oil and dust settled in my nose. My chest ached as I recalled the last week, the worst of my life. I put the charcoal onto the canvas and started sketching. I started small, but eventually my brushstrokes grew wild and violent as silent tears streamed down my cheeks. I was attacking the canvas and the horrible feelings within me, with the only weapon I knew how to use.\n\nAn eternity later, I dropped the charcoal and stepped back. Matt came over and we stared at my work together. There was a girl at the bottom; she was small and mostly featureless, and sat on her knees with her head down and hair hanging limp. Behind her, incredible monsters loomed out, grinning terribly and reaching out to stroke her with razor-sharp, claw-like fingers. Their eyes were wide and full of mirth, and their mouths were nothing but gaping black holes made up of jagged triangular teeth.\n\n\"It's pretty good, and I like the themes, but I think your shading detail leaves a lot to be desired ,\" Matt remarked. I stared at him blankly. He glanced at me, and we both burst out laughing. Next thing I knew, I was hugging him tightly, still giggling. \n\n\"Chloe.\" I looked up, and we locked eyes, staring into each other. Mine were a boring brown, but his were autumn-river blue, with flecks of green and gold on the edges. \"Have I ever told you how much I liked your eyes?\" he said. \"They're like little chocolate-covered almonds.\"\n\nI looked away, blushing. \"Don't look into my eyes so much,\" I warned him.\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"It's dark inside,\" I told him. My cheeks were still tear-stained. \"It's where my demons hide.\" The canvas fluttered as a small breeze entered the room from the open window. It was a nice day outside.\n\nMatt glanced at my drawing, and slowly looked back at me and smiled. Oh, how I loved seeing that lopsided curve. \"Well, it's too late, I've already looked. But maybe you'll let me help you fight those demons?\"\n\nI didn't say anything, just buried my face into his chest and drew myself closer. He held me tighter, and I smiled. \n\n*Song is [Demons, by Imagine Dragons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQYaoiIFh8)*\n\n_______________\n\n\n*Liked that? More stories [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Idreamofdragons/)!*\n",
"Alright, Mr. Cooke, your resume looks good, you seem like a good fit, I have just a few more questions for you. What would you say are your biggest weaknesses?”\n\n“Don’t know much about history.”\n\n“Well that’s ok, this is an accounting position. We don’t expect you to know everything.”\n\n“Don’t know much about biology.”\n\n“Heck, Mr. Cooke, I don’t know much about biology, either, but I don’t think you have to worry about that.”\n\n“Don’t know much about a science book.”\n\n“That’s not a problem, but I was wondering if you had any weaknesses that might prevent you from working, say, with a computer or with others?”\n\n“Don’t know much about the French I took.”\n\n“Alright, alright, Mr. Cooke. Could you tell me what you do know?”\n\n“I do know that I love you, and I know that if you love me, too, what a wonderful job this would be.”\n\n____\n\nSong is \"(What a) Wonderful World\" by Sam Cooke"
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[WP] Humanity makes contact with Alien Lifeforms... And they all look just like you...
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"A near-blinding beam of light shown down on the Earth as we watched in awe. Just a beam, no smoke, no fancy space ship, just a flash that lasted a couple of seconds and suddenly, there they were. I can't quite describe what it's like. It took me a couple of seconds to realize exactly what I was looking at, because the only time you see the very image of yourself is in the mirror or on a screen. Well, not for me. I saw dozens of my own image scattered about, just... walking around around. Each and every one of them had a smooth face, wide, blue eyes, and curiously, a limp I gained from a childhood accident. \n\nAn anxious pressure throbbed at the back of my head. What if I'm one of them? Surely not, I have an entire bank of memories of human things, like growing up, listening to music, laughing with friends, crying with my family. Surely if I were one of them I wouldn't have a family here, right? Another throb at my head bordered on panic. How can I convince anyone else that I'm not one of them? The situation certainly looked a certain way, and that 'certain way' bears a striking semblance to me. Another throb and I began to feel my heartbeat in my own chest. Why would they believe I'm me? Maybe there's an explanation, and if I found that then I could just explain it to them. So... why do they look like me? Or maybe, why do I look like them?\n\nOne of them made eye contact with me and blinked a couple of times before walking off to wander around with the rest of the group. That will haunt me forever. Imagine if you looked at your reflection and it suddenly went off on its own, how do you even react to that? The sun kept shining, the breeze moved along gently, and as the initial shock wore off, I was left with only the same questions. I snapped back to reality and looked back to my team to see exactly what I expected: they all looked horrified.\n\nI couldn't seem to get the captain's attention. I waved my hands over his eyes and snapped a bit, which broke him out of his trance for just long enough to glance at me, and then back to them. He opened his mouth, and drew in a sharp breath before closing it and releasing the air through his nose and across his greying mustache. He let the air in a bit slower the second time, and without taking his narrow, pitch-black eyes off of them, he managed to find the words to just one sentence, which was so crisp yet oozed with terror.\n\n\"They look exactly like me.\""
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[WP] You are an ancient evil, sealed away millennia ago by a legendary hero. You have escaped your imprisonment and attained a physical form. The first course of business? Learning how to walk.
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"A fat, gaudily dressed man stood in the heart of an ancient temple that was beginning to be overrun by vines and the jungle. In a few years the roof would collapse and the temples secrets would be lost forever. He had been guided here by a voice promising him wealth. Now he stood in front of a circular stone slab. The slab was filled with engravings. Multiple different languages explaining what was behind it and why you should not open it. and on the rim were pictures giving clear and distinct warnings of the consequences of spilling blood here. \"Just a few drops.\" Said a dark whisper in the air. \"That is all it will take.\"\n\n\n\n\"And what I was promised? I will be wealthy?\"\n\n\n\n\"Of course.\" Said the voice, seemingly from nowhere. \"You will have all you ever wanted. Just draw some blood.\"\n\n\n\nThis seemed to convince him as he drew a knife, ran it across his palm and wiped it on the slab.\n\n\nThe voice began to laugh and a distant rumble started to shake the temple. The voice slowly deepened. A young man and woman stepped into the chamber. \"what have you done?\" the woman screamed as her eyes widened. \"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!\"\n\n\nI was now cackling madly as the stone slab began to crack open and a thick dark smoke started to billow out. \"FOOLS!\" I screamed as I started to take shape. \"NO ONE CAN STOP ME!\"\n\n\nThe tendrils flowed into the man, somehow took a substantive and pierced his skin. He quickly withered away into a husk, then tried up into dust and blew away. I started to take a vaguely man like shape and screamed out. My voice echoing through the rapidly darkening temple as the sun sank in the middle of the day outside. The two had ran off so no one was witnessing this first hand, but they certainly felt the quake and saw the sky darken.\n\n\n\nI took my form. A beast standing at almost 9 feet with a dark smoke coming off the skin. I had two long black horns, piercing red eyes and arms and legs like tree trunks. I took my first step out of the temple...\n\n\n\nAnd immediately fell flat on my face.\n\n\n\n\"FUCK ME!\" I screamed in surprise and pain. every time\n\n\n\nAt least the people who knew were out of the temple this time. The last an old man who knew had stayed and seen my predicament. I figured I had a few days to try and figure this out before they showed up again.\n\n\n\nBut sooner or later, I would know how to walk. And then they would all be in some real trouble.\n\n\n\nOkay. I just gotta get up and figure out how to walk out the front door. easy enough. Then my plans can begin I thought to myself. Never knowing the pain and disappointment that lay in front of me.",
"It was finally time, thought The Lord of Darkness and Hells, Master of the Infinite pit, Tender of the Meat Grinder, Bane of Demons, Eater of Men, Killer of Gods, Herald of the Elder God Proskellion, and Destroyer of Worlds, Jeremey Von Strusselheim VI. An eternity ago, his soul had been shattered by the Legendery Hero on his conquest to purge all evil. It was a battle that lasted a millellium, but the Hero (Fred from Accounting) had gained the upper hand, and using the power granted to him by Varaxous, the super cool and rad god whose parents were pretty edgy and named him that, but no one really cared cause he was so awesome, smited Jeremey. However, being a minor god with some wierd ass blessing from Proskellion, his soul was immortal. Now, normally this was pretty helpful, since he could just take over the body of any other mortal, but this time it wasn't his body that was broken, it was his soul. So when he was finally defeated, his soul was spread throughout the universe. It had taken an eternity to reform, and Jeremey was excited. Now, no one knew this, but Jeremey made some good pie. Like, REALLY good pie, pie which was his only reason for reforming after an eternity in a near death state. \"This time,\" Jeremey thought, \"I shall make my own body! Better than any other I have inhabited!\" So he did; however Jeremey had been gone for a while, and having your entire soul shattered and spread throught all of reality tends to have some effect on memory. So when Jeremey started working on his body, it was challenging to say the least. So when he made a body with thirteen arms and three legs, he had no idea he had fucked up. But Jeremey was determined. He would make and taste the fuck out of that pie whether it was the last thing he did (which was unlikely given his immortality and all). But it turns out that trying to walk with thirteen hands was an obstacle. So much so that all the Dark Lord had to say at the end of it was \"Shit.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you want any explanations, I have none. I'm just really bored. I'm kind of confused reading this myself, I think I forgot that I was writing for a prompt. This is really just me rambling now that I think of it. Should I post? Probably not.",
"In the days of old, the men of iron\n\nBy great will of berserkers, and mighty sorcerers\n\nDid trap trap the horror, spawn of malediction\n\nWhile it was still vapor, never to walk like man and beast\n\nAnd here it shall lie, heed this writ\n\n*-Runic inscription on 10th century Icelandic jar*\n\nLife, everywhere, that's what she felt. Life, dripping from every direction like honey from a beehive. The first thing that came to her when her clay prison cracked. Life, that vital catalyst of the dark magics that made her. In the old days, such energy could only come from years of pilgrimage by her faithful followers, but now this power had grown, and she greedily drank it in. It was clear that so much time had passed, and that the people of this world had truly multiplied and conquered.\n\n It was so wonderful, so perfect, with such ease she could now finally take a physical form in this realm and unleash the full extent of her unholy power. The transformation would be effortless and graceful. Each sacrifice to her was not, as her followers thought, an offering, but a way for her to study the body, in order to build a perfect one of her own. This was the moment, centuries of dark machination, once thought interrupted, suddenly coming to fruition.\n\n\"Oh fuck. What the Hell, this is so top heavy how do-\"\n\nHer new figure was striking, tall and darkly beautiful with pure white skin and deep black hair, dressed in a sinister, yet revealing cloak. This would have been impressive if she was, for example, riding a dragon, or shooting lightning from her fingers. It was not impressive while she flopped and screeched on the floor of a museum storeroom. \n\n\"How do you move these flesh sticks\" She has assumed that moving a body was like using magic, where picturing what you wanted would cause it to happen, but it wouldn't work, no matter how how hard she visualized. She could get her fingers to twitch, but she couldn't pin down the technique. \"Why didn't I expect this, WHY DIDN'T I EXPECT THIS\"\n\nThe words came out, but there was no skill to it, no pattern to copy, just confusion. The door burst open, revealing a sweaty man in a blue suit wielding a flashlight like it was a mighty weapon. He looked down at her, panted, and then took out a phone from the depths of his pocket, which he clumsily dialed. A tinny voice spoke:\n\n\"You have reached Lesstoffan, number one solution for cursed or haunted artifacts, please hold\" Beep. The man sighed as annoyingly soothing music played. Meanwhile an entity of unspeakable evil sobbed on the ground. \"Hi, this is David from Lesstoffan, how can I help you'\n\n\"Yeah, uh, hi. I'm calling from the history museum in, uh, oldtown, we've got another one, it, uh, looks like, I dunno, some sort of witch or sexy demon or something, came out of a jar by the looks of things\"\n\n\"Thank you, we'll be right over\".\n\n\n",
"It had been a grand battle between Wora Lord of Shadows, and the hero Raf with Lux stone. A conflict that span dozens of realms and millennia in the blink of an eye. Wora an evil without shape or form finally sealed away by Raf's Lux stone. \n\nIn his abyss he could hear the changing of the world. Minor changes to man's society but still they shackled themselves to unfit rulers. Worst of all the hero Raf had been crowned king and even thousands of years later his line rules.\n\nThe people forgot about magic and terrors, those who remembered were unworthy sycophants. But in the bleak peasentry Wora heard a call. It was a prayer.\n\nThe worshipper told him of his troubles. Of how the land had bled and was no longer united. Of how he had lost his families coin and how all he had was his title and no heir to pass it on to.\n\nAfter all this time in silence Wora could not help but be amused by this prayer. The worshipper continued, \"I am not so foolish as to wish your power let loose upon the world. But my ancestor defeated you once and in so doing brought the world together. Show your face again demon I beg of you, so that after such strife man can again know peace.\"\n\nFrom his cage Wora roared with laughter. It was the descendant of Raf calling him back into this world. Suddenly a blast of light bled through the abyss.\n\nAfter the shine of light months of darkness followed. It was as if Wora drifted through some black ocean. Suddenly he was back upon the realms of man. What felt like ages passed and his senses were alien to him.\n\nWora was once a creature without form but he could sense his flesh. He realised his will was connected to his body. So one day he willed himself to sight. There it was in its glory, the first thing he saw in a human body. The Lux Stone hanging above the fireplace.\n\nHe made a motion to move towards it and seize the strongest weapon that man had to offer. Wora could barely find the strength to lay on his stomach. Still he dragged his weak body and lurched forward, hitting the ground once more.\n\nFrustration seized him. For the first time in eternity he felt impotent. The tears streaming down his face came as a surprise. From the floor he could make the shape of a woman moving towards him. He cried out a command, \"you there, Wench! It is I, Wora, master of mists and the lord of many paths. Bring me my prize the Lux Stone and I shall carve out a chunk of this realm to rule under my name.\"\n\nThe woman ignored him. Even worse she toyed with him. She bent down to his outstretched body and picked him up holding him in the air. Another man appeared at the edge of the room. Wora recognised his voice as that of the worshipper. The woman looked to him and smiled.\n\n\"Honey it looks like our little prince is hungry again. He needs to feed so he can be a strong king like you.\"\n\nWora looked to see the Lux Stone in the distance and then suddenly the woman brought him to her chest popping a breast in his mouth. He thought to himself, \" Soon I shall walk and claim my prize, today I shall nourish myself and raise my strength.\" Wora continued to suckle.",
"For four thousand years Hector the Arch Lich had been trapped inside the Tomb of the Damned. All the greatest mages and clerics of the land had cast their spells upon the Tomb to ensure that Hector would never escape. \n\nThey could not have counted upon the earthquake that shattered the realm, that unmoored the Tomb from it's foundations and cracked the seal upon it. Hector's essences bled into the world until finally he was free. Now at long last his vengeance was at hand. \n\nHe floated up the endless stairwells and drifted through the vast catacombs of the underground fortress he'd been trapped in. He needed a body, a vessel to control to be able to do any real damage in this world. The noise above him made it clear he was about to find one. \n\nThey were scavengers, looking for treasure off the backs of the dead, likely the earthquake had opened a hole into this dungeon and got the men's hopes up with dreams of lost treasures hidden in the depths. They were about to be in for a nightmare. \n\nHector descended upon one of them, the man's eyes turning jet black as the essence of the Arch Lich entered him. \n\n\"Demon!\" screamed one of the other two men, he ran at his possessed friend and stabbed him repeatedly in the belly. Hector responded with a horrible scream that set the man on fire from head to toe. His other man turned and ran in terror. Hector reveled in his power for a few moments before he realized the body he'd taken over had been gutted from the stab wounds and was unable to sustain itself. Hector crashed to the ground and laid there motionless. \n\nHector thought this would be no big deal, he'd been undead for hundreds of years, but the body wasn't responding, wasn't listening to his commands. It was only with great agony that he was able to bend one of the knees and then the other and then begin the horrible process of turning over onto his side. \n\nIt was in this moment that he remembered his suit of armor. The armor he'd spent a hundred years tailoring to meet his needs in death. The suit handled all the movement issues, gave him his senses, even helped amplify his voice to make his spells work. It was destroyed in his great defeat, it's like never to be seen again. He now understood that he needed a living body to control to be able to handle his revenge, he'd royally screwed up allowing this one to die while he was tethered to it. He had no idea how long it would take for him to free himself from this prison of decaying flesh. \n\nOver the course of several hours he finally got to his feet. With supreme focus he slowly shambled his way forward. He had to get out of this dungeon, if he could but touch a living being he could transfer his conscientiousness to them and truly begin his reign of terror. He was so close, he just had to find a way. \n\nHe tried a levitation spell but his sense of direction and space was all messed up, the dead eyes he was looking through didn't work right he ended up smashing into walls and dislocating a shoulder, now he had a useless arm on top of everything else to deal with, back to the slow and horrible shambling. \n\nA day passed as he slowly dragged himself to the foot of a giant stairwell, the steps before him were impossible for him to count. Each one more painful then the one before it, but his terrible will pushed him to continue, to find a way up the steps. \n\nAs he neared the end he could feel the sun, the accursed sun he'd hated for all of his unlife beating down upon him and he felt a joy he'd hadn't perhaps ever. Finally he was free.\n\nThen the aftershock hit and sent him toppling down all those steps, shattering every limb of his undead body, leaving him a broken ruined heap at the base of the stairs. \n\n\"Well that's a bit of a setback.\" Hector thought. ",
"She was finally free. After millennia of being bound to the Amulet of Bast, some fool had finally broken the spell and Neith was finally released from her hellish prison. Stretching her arms to the sky, the ancient evil being cooed with delight.\n\nWait... Cooed? Neith began to panic slightly, confused by the sound that came from her mouth. She was a thing to be feared. She did not... coo. She attempted to howl in triumph, but it came out more like a ear piecing and desperate sounding shriek.\n\nNo, no, no, no. Something was not right. Neith lifted her head as best she could, noting how heavy it seemed to be now. She waved her arms in frustration and was bewildered to see they were soft, small and pudgy. She flexed each tiny fist, perplexed at her situation. What in all the Gods' names was going on? Neith began screaming, the sound practically sending shockwaves through the room. Moments later, a small boned and harassed looking woman came rushing into the room.\n\n\"Oh, my poor darling,\" the woman said in a babying tone. \"What is the matter?\"\n\n'How dare you speak to me as in such an insolent way! I am an ancient being to be feared and worshiped, not coddled,' Neith snapped.\n\nHer protests instead came out as high volume shrieks as opposed to a voice that typically sent mere mortals to their knees. As her yowling got louder, the woman picked sat her up and made her turn so she was facing reflective glass.\n\n\"Emma, look who it is! That's you!\" the women said, pointing to Neith's reflection. \"It's my sweet baby girl in the mirror.\"\n\n'Bloody fucking hell,' Neith thought, staring at her reflection. She was a Gods damned infant.\n\nThis was an absolute nightmare. Neith had not thought for a second that, when the seal on the Amulet of Bast was broken, that she would be forced into the body of a helpless child. This was an absolute nightmare.\n\nReady to cry again in frustration, Neith took a long look at herself in the mirror. If she was going to be stuck in this body, she was going to own it. She looked down at her fleshy legs and moved them experimentally.\n\n'Alright,' Neith thought. 'First things first: learn how to walk.\""
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[WP] After a freak accident you suddenly gain access to the debug console of life
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"It's not anything special. Just a black, sleek keyboard with a 42'' screen. On the screen, a white arrow flashed, enticing me to write. Being a beginner games developer, I knew some basic commands. It'd been so long since I did program though. I mean, I don't have the biggest idea of how I got here.\n\nI remember being at an unveiling of the new Intel processor, the i10. Said they used that new material found of the shores of Korea, Loximinium. Of course we were all excited- we could barely imagine something better than i7. What I recall happened was they needed a volunteer, that I became, and they said that Loximinium had a use that reacted with the human body. They slit open my arm, put it inside, and told me to close my eyes and I would 'become the computer'.\n\nAll I remember was a fan whirring, a deafening explosion, and I awoke in the room.\n\nI shuddered. An explosion as powerful as I heard that one to be surely would've killed everyone in the room, maybe more.\n\nI tried some commands that I'd been using on my games, but the same message came up every time.\n\n Error: Command not defined\n\nOh great, I had access to probably the most powerful computer in history and could do sod all with it. But I noticed the logo in the bottom right corner of the screen. 'LOS'.\n\nI realised I had my phone in my pocket. Good, a piece of technology that wasn't alien to me. But as I put my password in, it vibrated and opened up a mysterious app. 'Welcome to Life Operating System. Please input your first and last name to log in'.\n\nI did.\n\n'Welcome back, u/epicbapplizer'\n\nOh great, this thing is linked to reddit.\n\nSo, what to do?\n\nOoh, I have an idea.\n\n*/moneyadd10$*\n\nI felt something appear in my pocket. There it was.\n\nGimme a moment.\n\n*Ctrl-C.*\n\n*Ctrl-V.*\n\n*Enter.*\n\nHoly moly.",
" At my tech support job,I was talking to a customer about her pc crashing, and With the command center I found incompatible ram.\n Than it all went black,and stripes of red and range appeared,like overclocking WAY too high.\n I was teleported to a room,that had some sort of bsod. Than it changed to GodOS booting up and a keyboard started floating.It gave an error screen,and I pressed the F1 key for setup.I saw an option that said Search_PartitioN_scanSAT_. I pressed yes, but it appeared corrupted.\nI DID, however have a Ubuntu usb stick in my pocket,so I plugged it into the keyboard.Somehow,my idea worked.\n I heard a door slam open,and someone who claimed they were gods IT person yelled \"WHAT THE F*** DID YOU DO.EVERYTHING WAS WORKING PERFECTLY\n.I got pushed and than the \"artifacting ' started again.I saw a screen saying GodGodOs booting...I thought this was going to be intresting",
"Screech. The sound of tires braking suddenly pierced through the music from my earphones. I turned my head ninety degrees to see a bright red sports car hurtling straight at me like a bullet with a death wish. Then it all turned black. I didn’t feel anything, I couldn’t see anything.\n\nWelcome. The word resonated in the void that I had woken up to. Scrambling for something to hold onto, something that can help me orient myself, I trip and fell onto cold concrete. Concrete? Where am I? Questions swirled around my head. Questions none of which I had the answer to. Slowly I picked myself up, afraid to stand up without visual markers to orient myself. Initializing. The voice again boomed through the emptiness of space. \n\nClick. A light flickered on in the distance. Finally something for my eyes to focus on. As I approach it, a small desk comes into view. All around me is pitch black, save for the tiny lamp that seems to illuminate a perfect gradient of light extending into infinity. The desk has a computer on it. One of those old boxes that I used to play games on as a child. Upon closer inspection I notice a couple lines of code at the top. \n\n Welcome to the debug console. Type !help for more information\n debug.life:~ \n\nWhat? I carefully punch in the keys and hover over the enter key. What other options do I have? Click. A torrential amount of information exploded from the computer and flooded my vision. It was as if someone had taken a library and managed to stream it directly into my head. Within seconds of pushing the button I suddenly knew everything I needed to. Enlightenment. But one thing still remained a mystery. Unable to fight the urge that curiosity brings, I type: \n\n cd earth/usa/corporations/valve/games\n status.halflife3_game`\n\n"
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[WP] You're playing a videogame at home late at night. You hear that special sound and see a trophy; it says "I can see you".
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"The trophy opens its mouth. A piercing red light is emitted from the jaw of the beast. My eyes can barely open but between the slither of vision I make out its razor sharp canine like teeth. The rest of its mouth is filled with ashes and brimstone that are seemingly increasing in intensity. He begins to speak. His voice grim and unnerving, the low pitch sends deep rosanant vibrations across the room almost overshadowing his voice. However, his cadence is familiar; I'm able to make out his few words. He says \"I see you\". Before I have a chance to reply he continues \"you are of Jewish decent\". Thinking this may be a test of my faith I agree in a barely audible trembling tone \"y-yes\". The room begins to fill with gas... \n\n\n",
"My name's Mark. I've been playing videogames for as long as I remember. Not having many friends, it felt good to connect with virtual characters. That sounds a bit sad, but it's not all that bad. At least I get paid to play them now. \n\nI was testing out the new Silent Hill game that my company sent me. You know, testing for bugs and things like that. I was in a particularly \"scary\" part of the game (nothing really scares me anymore, but it gave off that vibe). \n\nI was in a dark room and there were footsteps echoing a moment ago. The lights shut off and the screen is dark. I hear whispers nearby, shortly after the lights turn on again. An achievement pops up, \"I see you - 15G\"\n\nI press the home button to see the description. It reads, \"Encountered It for the first time\". \n\nWell, that's dumb. I'll notate that in my next report. ",
"*I can see you* the trophy said as congratulatory confetti fell around it.\n\nJokingly, I hit the A button and the trophy vanished as I whispered, \"I can see you too.\" \n\nA text box appeared on my screen as though a character were talking to me, but I was in the middle of a dungeon. \n\n*No. You can't.*\n\nMy heart began to pound as I read the words over and over again. I wiped my eyes and reminded myself that it was late, but when I opened them again, the message was still there.\n\nInstead of being that guy in the horror movie, I grabbed my fifth grade baseball bat from the corner and laid it down next to me before clicking out of the text box. As I progressed through the dungeon, I had nearly forgotten about the creepy message until my character stopped in the middle of a hallway, and another box appeared.\n\n*That bat won't do much good. I have a knife.*\n\nThe controller fell from my hands and I immediately scanned my room. If I wasn't so freaked out, I might've laughed at myself. There was no one. Just to be sure, I closed all the vents that led into my room, shut the blinds to my windows, and then returned to my game.\n\nFive minutes later, another message:\n\n*I think there is something in your closet.*\n\nFeeling frustrated at being interrupted, I gripped the bat in my hands and crept over to the closet, readying it to swing as my hand found the knob. Before I could open the door, a sound rang from the TV and I glanced over to see another message.\n\nIt simply said: *Hello.*\n\nAs if triggered by my hesitation, the door flew open, and without a single noise, I was pulled into the darkness."
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[WP] Everyone has ONLY one spell they can cast. They range from the mundane to outright overpowered. Your spell seems useless at first, but with some creativity it is godlike.
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"Our world is populated with superheroes and supervillains. Everyone with the spark of life has a singular ability that makes them super, and they have the ability to use it as they wish. Results are mixed, to say the least, especially since not all powers are created equal.\n\nLady Lay, for instance, is perpetually ovulating. Kid Kick can break anything he, well, kicks. Mind Mammoth can temporarily drain someone else's intelligence and add it to his own. We're quite the planet-wide Justice League, is what I'm saying.\n\nMe? I am Homeless Man. My power renders me unable to own, or even rent, a home. As a side-effect, I am effectively invisible socially. People ignore me, some because they do not want me to panhandle for change and others because I am not pleasing to their eyes. And perhaps some because bourbon and urine are not a pleasant odor combination.\n\nFor years I cursed my useless power. Who wants to be unable to own a home? I'm subject to the power and I still can't understand how it enforces itself. But I did find a silver lining.\n\nThat societal invisibility? People are much more willing to speak candidly around a hobo than anyone else, except maybe a taxi driver. I found myself privy to private conversations, and even wound up a sounding board for conscience-clearing.\n\nI can not own a home, but I can own other things. A recorder, phone, whatever. Things you wouldn't think to find hidden in the raggedy-ass longcoat of the bum you're spilling your expensive secrets to. All I have to do is accept I will never eat in a fancy restaurant with my personal perfume and I can make a sweet mint off your personal life.\n\nCheating lovers, communist spies, corporate corruption, you name it and I'll uncover it. I can save big off not having mortgage payments or an office. I am the ultimate detective and the biggest nightmare to wicked politicians and soup kitchens alike. The streets are no longer safe for evil so long as I sleep in the alleyways.\n\nI am the richest hobo in history, and I will take you out before you realize what that smell is."
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[WP] You find out that you can change the past or future, by photo shopping. However you didn't realize this till you created an abomination of a picture.
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"\"Oh god, what the fuck!\" \n\nPeople scream in terror, their eyes all pointed sky-high. I can't blame them, because I know exactly what's happened. It's confusing and convoluted. I'm not even entirely sure how the fuck it works, like, what even happened. All I know is that I was playing around with some famous images from around the world, right? I had one of Freedom Tower or whatever the hell they call it, in New York City. I had one of Buckingham Palace, and I think I had a few of some famous women, too. It's... Sort of a blur at this point. \n\nWhat I did to the buildings, and those women's foreheads isn't the point, though. See, cause, in each of those photos, the sun was always there. I mean, I didn't notice it at first, but once I did, I- I couldn't help myself. You have to understand how boring my life is! Nothing like this ever happens, I couldn't know that dickbutt to the sun would be so catastrophic! You have to believe me, I didn't know!"
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[WP] "Ten Thousand years of hope. Burning."
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"\"Ten thousand years of hope. Burning.\" He said to himself, looking upwards at the conflagration that was consuming the Citadel. The shimmering white marble took on a sickly orange hue as the fires rose. The Citadel, constructed ten millennia ago by the Ancients, was ablaze. The beacon at its very peak was already beginning to falter as the fires grew ever higher up the face of the glorious monolith. He shook his head sadly and proceeded through the gate and into the tower. Above him, high up among the clouds and the billowing smoke which wreathed the tower the demons flew. They breathed fire and used their gargantuan claws to hew out chunks of stone which fell flaming as meteorites down to the ground. \n\nInside the tower the roar of the fire echoed but the thuds of the stones which tumbled downwards were muffled. He began to climb, slowly at first but soon he began to run, his chainmail clinking against the steel plates of his armour as he sprinted two steps at a time up the inner staircase. The Knight climbed quickly, his legs burning with the effort as the tower grew hotter near the summit. He heard the demons, knew that they had sensed his presence and ran on. His breathing was hard, the air was beginning to become choked with smoke as he pressed onward. Outside he could see the shapes of the beasts moving, their fire melting parts of the stone as they circled the tower. \n\nAt last he reached the top, heading through the archway he walked onto the platform. At the opposite end of the stony walkway he saw the man who had wrought so much destruction. The one who had been chained beneath the tower for ten thousand years. The one who had been released, returning fear and darkness to the world. Demons circled them both, their master turning to face the Knight. In his hands was a long, flame-wreathed staff and a wicked black steel axe. The man wore no helm, his black hair draped across his shoulders where rested pauldrons of more black steel. \n\n\"Edric, how nice of you to join me at the end of your world.\" The man spoke with a voice that commanded respect, booming out across the platform to Edric's ears. Edric walked on, drawing his arcane longsword which glowed with the same light as the beacon which topped the Citadel. He advanced on the man, his nemesis, praying that he could end this threat once and for all this time. \n\n\"Baltazaar.\" He said, gripping his sword tighter between both hands. \"Here you die, there will be no imprisonment this time, brother.\" Edric clapped down the visor of his helm and charged, deflecting a bolt of fire which leaped from Baltazaar's staff with a flourish of his longsword. \n\n\"You are pathetic Brother, you cannot defeat me and my demons. This time the world shall belong to me.\" Baltazaar smirked, advancing on his charging brother, swinging his axe into a guard. He parried Edric's first swing but was caught of balance as the platform shifted as the tower's structure weakened. Edric swung with all his might, the holy blade flashing as bright as the sun as he knocked his brother's axe from his hands. Kicking hard at his brother's chest he knocked Baltazaar backwards. \"You cannot defeat me, I am fire, I am death, this world shall be mine!\" Baltazaar bellowed, raising his staff high. \n\nEdric did not reply but he drew back his blade, mentally he whispered a prayer of forgiveness and plunged forwards with his sword. The world seemed to shriek, the air trembling as his blade hit the magical wards of Baltazaar's armour. The shining blade moved slowly, as if through water, piercing the chest of Edric's brother and pushing on towards his corrupted heart. Edric and Baltazaar screamed as one and the light of the beacon behind Edric grew stronger. Knowing his duty Edric began to push, running forwards and knocking his wounded brother off the tower, falling with him as he ran Baltazaar through with his blade. They fell, tumbling into the dawn air as the demons turned to dust around them, the fires petering out. The beacon shone out above Edric and he smiled, embracing his dying brother as they plummeted towards the ground...",
"The great Orb scorched the void with fire and death for it knew nothing else. Anger burned in its very core and so it burned for millions of years. One day a Traveler approached it unafraid and the orb reached out to grab it, but the Traveler was too fast.\n\n“Why have you defied me Traveler?” The Orb boomed with rage.\n\n“I have defied no one. I have remained true to myself as I can not stop.”\n\nAnd so the Traveler continued out into the abyss leaving the Orb to contemplate its words.\n\nMany years later the Traveler returned and as daring as it was ventured even closer to the Orb. Once again the orb reached out and once again it failed.\n\n“I have thought about your words little one and I am the one who burns. If I am to remain true, then you must feel my fire.”\n\nThe Traveler thought about it, and said, “But then I would not be able to Travel. There is much to see and I must continue. If you burn me then I will fade into the abyss.”\n\nWith that the Traveler left again leaving the Orb to contemplate its words.\n\nThe Orb had gotten much older when the Traveler came a third time. Once again it was much closer to the Orb than it was before. Instead of reaching for the Traveler, the Orb began to blow. Its breeze carried over the Traveler warming it. The Traveler showed its approval by dropping the gems and treasures out to glimmer and shine.\n\nBoth were tired and old, and the Orb had been filled with something it had not experienced before. Its anger had been quelled and now as it gazed out into the abyss it saw something new.\n\nYears later the Traveler returned, and both had become friends. They embraced each other and the Orb felt hope.\n\nNothing lasts forever, not even an Orb of fire or a bothersome adventurer such as the Traveler. And so the Orb returned to a brilliant storm of swirling dust of emotion. Its anger had been quenched leaving only possibilities.\n\nThree emotions emerged from the dust each looking to control and overthrow the others. Jealousy looked out into the abyss and saw what she didn’t have, so she took what it could. Things are what she wanted and things she would have. She consumed and burned hot and green in the swirling clouds.\n\nFrustration was the smallest of the three but she burned just as bright. Her blue hues danced through the greens and the reds making new colors much to her grief. She wanted to be pure but nothing she did seemed to work.\n\nHatred was the largest even though the anger had long burned out. He sought to destroy his sisters and so he grew larger until he was bigger than all. But in doing so, a fourth and often overlooked emotion was born. Hope began to glow.\n\nHope was the smallest, but the most important of them all. Hope against all odds glowed. Her sisters despised her, but she sheltered them. Her brother struck at her, but she returned not with a fist but an open hand. And so hope had grown.\n\nOnce again, the storm was whole after ten thousand years, and so a new Orb was born. Not from anger, hatred, jealousy, or frustration but hope. The new Orb started to burn. Ten thousand years of hope. Burning. Its goal was not to kill, but to breathe and thrive and help and love. It would work towards a brighter future and a new tomorrow.\n\n____\n\nI normally don't write uplifting stories but for some reason I felt like this was a good direction for the story. Ironically, you won't find more stories like this in my subreddit /r/thesadbox. Those stories are sad. Obviously."
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[WP] You are the world's most wanted and feared killer. How do you kill? By killing with kindness
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"I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, my breath fogging the air in front of me. The rain from the early morning dark lingered in black puddles on the asphalt. A gentle breeze felt nostalgic, rather than biting. \n\nAs I approached the burning vehicles, I could hear screams of panic and pain coming from inside. Have you ever driven by a car on fire? Have you ever felt the promise of the rolling waves of heat? Fire does not lie. It does not bicker, and it does not quibble. You cannot reason with a fire, and within a fire, reason dies more quickly than flesh.\n\nI circled the cars, wondering at what had brought them along this lonely road in the quiet hours before dawn. I did not need to know. The flames billowed. I stepped into the inferno.\n\nFlesh boiling, popping, hissing. It bubbled. I've always hated the sight of it. The smell of gasoline fire covered the smell of cooking flesh, a simple fact for which I was grateful. I found the victims eyes with my own, and I smiled. My smile was comforting, I knew, and it was genuine.\n\n\"What do you wish?\" I asked the soul still trapped in the burning body.\n\n\"Kill me!\" it wailed. My smile deepened, and I nodded.\n\nI closed my eyes, and I granted the wish. I saw the soul's relief, the wash of release, as it faded into The Next. When I opened my eyes, I was walking down the corridor of a hospital.\n\nI have killed for a long, long time. I have killed since before written word. I have granted the greatest gift, the greatest kindness, to every miserable soul that drew breath. \n\nI wasn't always called Death. I had once been a being who sought to grant the greatest wishes of men. I loved seeing the delight in their eyes. I relished their laughter, their joy. I cherished their delight. I sought ever to improve them. And then... There came a time when I realized that the greatest gift I can offer, the greatest kindness I can give, is that of release.\n\n"
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[WP] All of the countries in the world are now people. Write about an average day in the life of a country.
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"As the USA prepared for a party, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. It was 4th of July Weekend, which meant it was his birthday. 20 years ago his parties had been the stuff of legends. He had just ended a long feud with Russia, who had long dominated his neighborhood with an iron fist. He also could finally actually invite South Africa over instead of just having him out to dinner in secret. It also helped that Britain, Canada and Mexico always showed up, even though Canada and Mexico lived next door. France and Germany showed up usually as well as most other countries except for Libya, Iraq, Iran, and that recluse that never talked to anyone, North Korea.\n\nNow though things were not as cool. Sure the parties at USA's house were still amazing but more people were wanting to hang out with India, China and Brazil, and the European neighbors became much more chummy, though Britain decided he wasn't really a part of the group.\n\nNo this 4th of July the part was going to be smaller. Brazil was reveling in the fact that he'd just added a bunch to his house even though he had no way to pay for it and his neighborhood had crapped. Russia had also began to be a jerk again and tried to win his buddies back. Now it was just a lame party of USA, Mexico, Canada and Britain.\n\n",
"Britain is sat slouched on her sofa. She's a very strict looking woman, her hair tight in a bun. Today she is wearing very formal attire because her sons are coming over for dinner. She sips on her tea awaiting their arrival.\n\nHer house is very fastidious. Britain appears to be a very neat person, bordering on the lines of obsession. When she hears the doorbell ring, she carefully puts down her teacup and makes for the door.\n\n\"Hello, mom,\" says America as he waltzes through the door, treading mud all through the carpet. America is a very tall man, handsome but seems to have put on a bit of weight since he last saw his mother. Britain notices this, and takes a mental note to comment on it at some point that evening.\n\n\"Take off your shoes, America. Barely here for a second and you've already managed to make a mess!\" Her second eldest son walks through the door, Canada, who is much smaller. \n\n\"Hello, darling,\" says Britain as she gives him a kiss on the cheek. It's plainly obvious who's the favourite. \n\n\"A bit rainy here, mom,\" says Canada as he politely takes off his shoes and wet jacket. \n\n\"It's always raining here,\" calls America who's already making himself comfortable in the living room. \n\nIt's not too long after America and Canada are sitting comfortably in armchairs, feet against the fireplace with a cup of mum's famous tea in their hands before the doorbell rings again.\n\n\"That'll be the twins,\" said Britain as she leaves the cooking for a moment to go and answer the door. Standing in the pouring rain are two of Britain's youngest sons, Australia and New Zealand. Despite being twins they look anything but similar. Australia has long golden hair and beard, whereas New Zealand has the same strict similarities with Britain.\n\n\"How ya doing mum?\" The twins give Britain a warm hug and are soon greeted by their older brothers. \n\n\"You took a while,\" said America. \n\n\"It's a bloody long way, mate,\" Australia replied.\n\nIt's not long before the smell of Britain's home cooking is filling the house. The boys are in deep conversation about a controversial topic.\n\n\"If you're careful, it can be fine,\" Canada was saying.\n\n\"Yeah, but America isn't careful,\" New Zealand replied, the conversation is getting heated.\n\n\"Okay, so I might have had a few accidents recently,\" said America, \"but I you can't take my guns away from me. It's my right!\" \n\n\"Enough, boys!\" Britain snapped from the kitchen, \"I won't tolerate this discussion about dangerous firearms. Not under this roof!\"\n\nAmerica is about to argue back, but everyone is spared the headache when the phone rings. New Zealand answers.\n\n\"Hello? Hey, Ireland how are you? Yeah we are. Yeah Australia too. No problem.\" \n\n\"Who is it?\" Britain calls from the kitchen.\n\n\"You're ex husband,\" said New Zealand.\n\n\"Which one?\" she replies back. The boys snigger.\n\n\"Ireland.\" Britain take the phone from New Zealand.\n\n\"Hello?\"\n\n*\"Hey, Brit it's me\"*\n\n\"Ireland, I'm just in the middle of cooking dinner can you call back?\"\n\n*\"Yeah no problem. You got the boys round then?\"*\n\n\"Yeah,\"\n\n*\"Who's there?\"*\n\n\"Well America, Canada and the twins are here right now, the rest are turning up later.\"\n\n*\"What, all of them?\"*\n\n\"Yes, Ireland, all of my sons.\"\n\nA few hours later, dozens of Britain's sons are cramped around the dining table eating dinner and chatting together. \n\n\"What did Ireland want, mom?\" asked Canada.\n\n\"Oh, probably asking if I'm coming to the club meeting today,\" she replied.\n\n\"Why aren't you there?\" he asked.\n\n\"I left,\" she said, shortly.\n\n\"The left the European Club?\" said Canada, louder than Britain would have liked.\n\nSuddenly the chatter around the table dies down, everyone is staring at Britain at the head of the table.\n\n\"What do you mean you left the European Club?\" asked Jamaica on the other end.\n\nBritain looked around at her sons, all looking surprised. "
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[WP] Every autocorrect mistake is canon
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"The fact I can see you soon as possible and to get my nails are you doing it wrong that I'm going back and I don't think that it was not immediately available to all of them in my head and a lot more fun and addicting and I don't think that it was not immediately available to all of them in my head and a lot more fun and addicting and I think it's funny. The fact I have one of my friends are the only way to go to bed at like a little bit of a sudden I don't know you.\n\nThe fact type in a while ud ho to be the first half of the year before I have no idea what to do it for a while to get a follow from the start of the day I will. The best only thing that I can hear no NYC and the fact I can see you when you have to go back to sleep is fantastic."
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[WP] You always ask someone else to press elevator buttons for you - when you do it, you never know what the doors will open to.
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"The elevator doors opened, and I sighed in relief to see a middle-aged man standing to the side, patiently waiting for me to get on. I stepped into the elevator with my luggage in tow, and when I settled into my little corner, I noticed the man straightening the hat on his head as he moved to exit the elevator.\n\n\"No, sir, please! Come back! I need-\" I yelled, but he was already gone.\n\nFor a long while I stood there, praying that someone else would get on and I could ask them to hit the Lobby button for me, but fate played a mean game, and I stood there for at least ten minutes. Finally, I scolded myself for being so childish and with a shaking hand, I pressed the button.\n\nThe elevator churned to life like one of those mesmerizing mad scientist machines you see in the movies, and I was descending. I stood silently as the car clicked past every floor, until it came to a stop on floor 1, just above the lobby.\n\nA young man dressed in a gray suit stepped on, nodding at me as he checked the panel for his floor, saw the Lobby button was already lit, and waited for the doors to close. I wanted to scream at him to get off, to go take the stairs and not follow me down, but no words escaped because it was already too late, the doors closed.\n\nThe rest of the ride seemed to last a lifetime as I pondered on what realm I was going to be in this time. The last one I got was pure ocean, and I had to swim to the other side to escape. I haven't looked at the ocean the same way since.\n\nThe ding of the elevator arriving rang, and the doors opened slowly, letting in mass amounts of hot sunlight. The man and I squinted against it as we took in the scene before us, miles upon miles of rainforest, draping a canopy over the land that, while it looked nice, didn't keep the sun out.\n\n\"What the hell?\" The man breathed, creeping out of the elevator.\n\n\"Welcome to my world.\" I sighed, and motioned for him to follow."
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[WP] Superman is having a busy day flying around, and two aircraft controllers are annoyed at having to work around him.
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"\"Center, this is Aspen 20. What's my ground speed?\" \n\n\"Aspen 20, center. You *just* asked the Nevada center the same thing thirty seconds ago. We get it. You're the fastest flier around today Stop-\"\n\n*WHAM*\n\nI yanked off my headphones and started massaging ears. \n\n*What the actual fuck?*\n\nSome idiot had just made a low-flying pass around my ATC tower, breaking the sound barrier. There he was on my radar screen, zooming off westward. \n\nWait a minute. *2440 knots? Who the fu-*\n\n\"Arizona center, this is Nevada center.\"\n\n\"Go for Arizona.\"\n\n\"Yeah, it's him again.\"\n\n\"Who?\"\n\n\"*Him.*\"\n\n\"Nevada center, can you confirm?\"\n\n\"Confirmed. Damn near spilled my coffee on my thigh. Blue bastard's zooming all over the place. I've got a cargo headed for my A3 and a Delta on his ass. Neither of 'em can land now because Mr. Spandex thinks no-fly zones are a joke. \n\n\"Tell me about it. Last week I had to make Air Force One do a few circles because of that jackass. The secret service damn near tore me a new one. Goddammit, here he is again.\"\n\n\"What should we do?\"\n\n\"Wait. The dude's got super hearing, right?\"\n\n\"... yeah?\"\n\n\"HEY SUPERDOUCHE. GET OFF MY FUCKING AIRSPACE.\"\n\n\"Did that work?\"\n\n\"I think it *did*. He's gone to 100,000ft now. Not my problem anymore.\"\n\n\"Can't catch him on my radar either. Wait a minute...\"\n\n\"Everything all right there, Nevada?\"\n\n\"Not really. I've got a blip, but it's barely moving.\"\n\n\"Maybe he's hovering. He does that a lot.\"\n\n\"Wait. Let me try. HEY MAN OF SHITHEEL! QUIT HOVERING OVER MY RUNWAY. I GOT PLANES COMIN' IN.\"\n\n\"Anything?\"\n\n\"Nope , not moving.\"\n\n\"Maybe he's waiting for someone.\"\n\n\"Maybe he can't hear me.\"\n\n\"Maybe he doesn't care. He's not exactly-\"\n\n\"Huh?\"\n\n\"What's happening? You okay there?\"\n\n\"Something's falling. Something big. Huge.\"\n\n\"Falling? From the sky falling?\"\n\n\"Yeah. What the actual fu-no no no NO!\"\n\nThe radio crackled and went dead. \n\n\"Nevada? Hello?\"\n\n"
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[WP]Need to make a 2-5 min speech at my sisters wedding (something about life,love and marriage(non-religious)
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"I was sweating more than I would typically sweat in an air conditioned room. Perhaps it was the hundreds of eyes looming, waiting for me to say my opening line. My speech had to be two to five minutes. It's not everyday that your sister gets married, let alone to someone she is so in love with. The fear thickened as my gut began to wrench. I don't remember what I said, something about life, love and marriage. Non-religious of course. Maybe next time I won't drink so much vodka.",
"Hi everyone, so this sister of mine, how about that cellular metabolism? You know I remember growing up she would always take in carbohydrates and fatty acids. I'd say 'what are you doing with that?' and she'd always reply 'I'm breaking them down into constituent molecules and producing the reagents for ATP synthesis' and it was true! And you know she used to be a lot smaller, when she was born she was only about 7 pounds, but now? well its considered rude to tell. Now it remains to be seen how the honeymoon goes, but I suspect she's even capable of reproducing. In a lot of ways she really does possess the quality of life.\n\nI'm so happy for her, that she was able to find an individual of the gender that she desired, to establish feelings for. Intense feelings it seems. A form of pair bonding driven by both a desire for physical intimacy, as well as a shared basis for mutual emotional support and satisfaction of their needs. It might be premature, and a little sappy, but I believe that these two will establish mutual dependence from many years of being able to rely on one another's behavior. I don't know of any word better to describe the state of neurochemicals in my sister's head than 'Love'. \n\nNow, if you'll permit me to get serious. These two are about to go on a wonderful journey together, of sharing taxes, joint ownership of a home ideally, depending on market conditions. They may even pool their finances into bank accounts shared together. You know the traditional marriage contract promised the exchange of financial security for 'sex, society and services', well here's hoping you both get your fair share of each. May Jesus Christ the only son of God almighty smile down upon your new lives from his home on the Mormon planet of Kolob. To life, love and marriage. \n\n\n"
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[WP] You're getting really tired of everyone being so cynical. In your attempts to show people that life is cool and shit, you become the bad guy.
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"Polly was the last friend I had. I still got invited to the beach, once in a while. And to the big summer barbeque every year. But I started to feel they were courtesy calls, or maybe pity. \n\nOr maybe because of Polly herself. She had mentioned that she told Jake he was an asshole for not wanting to invite me to things anymore. If anything, she was probably the only reason I was still in that friend group. Even if nobody besides her wanted to talk to me. \n\nThat had been a gradual thing. I hadn't noticed when my friends started to spend less time with me--talk to me less. I hadn't noticed how they messaged me less to hang outside of group events. I hadn't noticed it until it was obviously noticeable. Until people would avoid me or walk away after a few canned sentences about the weather. \n\nUntil it was just Polly who would talk to me at parties or respond to my messages. \n\nI asked her about it, too. At Jake's house, by Lake Elsinore, sitting on the bench in his yard overlooking the water. Most of the others had gone down to the shore, no doubt forgetting to invite me, again. Polly had wanted to go, but she drank too much, too fast and by the time she was done staring into the toilet bowl, Jake had taken the van to the lake. \n\nSo she sat by my as I nursed a beer and watched the water trails of jet skis and speed boats. \n\n\"Hey Polly,\" I said. \n\n\"Ehhhhh?\" she groaned. \n\n\"What does everyone hate me?\" \n\n\"Oh shiiit. It's, ugh.\" Polly wiped her face with her hands and struggled her way upright. She leveled her bloodshot eyes to mine. \"Michael, you sure you want to hear this from me right now?\"\n\nHer slur told me that she was at the point of being totally honest with me. Drunk honest--the only kind of honesty that tells truths even best friends hide from each other. The kind of honesty that would help me understand. \n\n\"Yeah, Polly. I want to know.\" \n\nShe sighed and flopped back down onto the bench. \"It's because you're so damn positive all the time. And it's not even just being happy, either. You always talk about how fucking great everything is. \n\nAnd then... And then, you try to force it on people. Every time someone tries to complain to you, all you have to offer is positives. You never just listen to people talk about how shit their lives are, or how shit they feel. You always have to contradict them. You only ever see the good in every situation. \n\nBut you know what, Michael?\" She sat upright again, this time staring out over the water. \n\n\"Not everything is great all the damn time. Sometimes, people just want to complain, and be angry, and cry while they eat some chicken nuggets and drink cheap wine so they can feel so disgusted at themselves that they can maybe feel like they hit rock bottom and the only way left to go is up.\" \n\nShe looked back to me. \"But they can't do that if you make them feel like they haven't hit that low point. If you treat their feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing as if they aren't real.\" \n\nWe stared at each other for a good long moment. \n\n\"So, why do you still hang out with me?\" I managed. \n\n\"Because I understand other people's feelings and emotions. You're not intending to be an ass-- you're a really nice guy-- it's just that you ended up being an ass.\n\nYou're more complex than just thinking everything is amazing and getting on everyone's nerves. Just like how other people are more complex than just their seeming fixation on how shit life is. I accept it, and you dismiss it. And that makes people feel worse. And that's why pretty much everyone here hates you.\"\n\nShe said it as if it was so simple. Like one of life's givens that I just hadn't ever looked at. And I didn't know how to feel. I certainly didn't understand it. But that summer day was the first time I felt as if something were wrong with the world.\n\n___\n\nIf you enjoyed this, then join me at /r/chrisbryant! "
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[WP] Gravity is a fairly recent invention. Describe how people used to live before it's creation.
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"\"You don't know how lucky you are,\" Grandpa says. \"You can't imagine it.\" I gently squeeze his shoulder for a moment as I wheel him down the hall. He's fragile and bird-boned beneath his pajamas, as light as air, after all these years still unaccustomed to gravity. \n\n\"You were born with it, take it for granted, the ground beneath your feet. The - the -\" His hands grasp for something, he turns his head back to try and meet my eye. \"The attraction. The - the simple knowledge that earth pulls to earth. That the ground loves you. That no matter how far you fly it'll always welcome you back.\" He reaches backwards and puts his hand over mine, grasping as tightly as he can. As light as he is, the cords in his arm still tighten, in a familiar and desperate grip. I let go of the handle and squeeze back. \n\n\"They died,\" he says, as I wheel him into his room, his eyes so very far away. \"Half the people on the Earth, who were unlucky enough to be on the wrong side. Nothing to hold them down. They just disappeared.\" He flaps his hands. \"Everyone on their own trajectories. Just flew off into space. Your grandmother and I, we were on the right side, in the same direction the Earth was moving. It carried us with it.\" I carefully help him to his feet, my hands around his waist, and ease him in the direction of the bed. \"Blind chance we lived,\" he says. \"Blind chance.\" \n\n\"You cannot imagine,\" he says, as I lay him down, his eyes staring up at the ceiling, at the glowing florescent light. \"The Earth did not love the moon, the sun did not love the Earth. We all flew, blindly, recklessly, through space, never knowing when we would see light again, when we would cross the trajectory of another star. To know - To know that the sun will rise again tomorrow! Praise the Lord! What a blessing!\" I get on my knees beside him, draw the covers up to his chest, as he gazes wondrously up at my face. I cast a shadow on him as his eyes water, and I can only imagine myself haloed by the light. \n\n\"The sun will rise,\" I assure him, and kiss him on the forehead, his skin dry and papery against my lips. He lies back, quieting, reassured by the gentle eternal pull of gravity, and I switch off the lights behind me as I leave him for the night."
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[WP] A horror novelist finds out that his/her story is becoming real
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"Jack set his pen down to the left of his notepad. He dragged his eyes listlessly across the half finished page. \"Another slow night.\" He thought. Defeated, he stood up and walked himself over to the fridge. The soft yellow light drifted through the sparse setting of his kitchen. As the darkness ebbed and succumbed to the encroaching light Jack let himself bathe in the shadows. \"I should really hang a poster or something. Anything to take away from the flatness.\" His thoughts rang dully in his head. He reached for the orange juice hidden behind the assortment of beer and condiments. \"If I ever bring a girl home she might think I'm boring.\" Jack closed the fridge and sat himself at his table, opposite an empty chair. He thought back to the last time he had even brought a woman back to his apartment. It seemed so long ago, Jack could still remember the way her eyes went dark when he showed her in. As if he had anything to impress her. \"Why would she come home with me if she was just going to complain the whole time?\" He thought. Jack could still remember the way she insulted him. \"Its so dim in here, don't you have any decorations?\" She had said. \"It almost looks like a murderer sleeps here.\" Jack had been insulted at that jape but the vague promise of sex had suppressed his anger. Thump Thump Thump. The noise had come from the ceiling. Jack sighed, \"The Cliftons are awake.\" He said aloud. Jack stood up and returned to his notepad. The page stood in front of him, half finished. Its ink stained pulp only served to mock him at this point. It had been three weeks since he'd finished more than one line in a night. He often found himself hunched over the parchment, toiling over every pen stroke. Though for all his suffering he quite rarely met his own standards. Jack picked up his pen and attempted to forge ahead. The pen began to move when he heard it again. Thump Thump Thump. The Cliftons resumed their ceaseless racket. Frustrated, Jack breathed deeply and started again. His composure came seeping out when he heard the noise once more. Thump Thump Thump. \"I cant stand this shit!\" Jack yelled. He threw himself from the desk and headed towards the door. Jack raced up the stairs preparing himself for a confrontation. \"Every fucking night.\" He muttered. Jack stared at the brass embroidering on the door before him. \"804.\" The metal read. Jack threw his fist against the door. Striking as hard as he could. \"Open up!\" He called. Jack waited. Then he heard it again. Thump Thump Thump. This time the noise came from below him. Puzzled, Jack turned to the stair case and peered over the railing. Thump Thump Thump. It didn't make sense, he could have sworn the noise had come from the Clifton's apartment. Jack begun to walk down the stairs. Thump Thump Thump. This time even louder. Jack squinted at the ceiling, trying to peer out the noise. \"Just...concrete.\" He mused. Gently, he sulked back down to his hovel. Shutting the door behind him Jack drifted through the apartment. \"If not the Clifton's, then where?\" He thought numbly. Thump Thump Thump. Jack's eyes snapped upwards. The pale ceiling met his gaze. \"A rat?\" He thought, \"Or...what if.\" Jack crossed into his bedroom. Shadows were strewn about the modest space, falling in thin strips across the pale green carpet. He lifted his eyes to the desk where his notebook sat. His lone desk lamp flooding the table with a flaxen luminescence. Gingerly he approached the notepad and soaked in his creation. Between the chicken scratch hand writing and incessant corrections Jack had made, there were times the writing seemed illegible. Still, he stared. Writers block had plagued him for far too long, but the story ached to be completed. As a child Jack had never been afraid of the monsters under his bed, or in his closet. Where most children quivered under their bed sheets, Jack had lingered. Hoping to meet the monster's gaze, see its teeth, or better yet to capture it. As Jack grew old and those fantasies were shed, but he discovered a new way to capture those monsters. The only cage he found suitable was between the pages of his notebook. Though Jack had been unable to contribute to his story for a few months now, he never had any trouble designing his villain. Creating the monster was always his favorite. When he had first started Jack would stay up into the late hours of the night enraptured in the folds of his text. Adding a second set of teeth or changing the eyes from red to yellow. It took months for Jack to finally decide on a creature for his book but the time slid by so quickly it had felt as if it were only a few days. Jack felt his face curl into a reluctant grin. He could still see the ghoulish thing. Black skinned, so it could blend with shadows. Crystal blue eyes that seemed to drink all of the light, Jack's favorite part. He loved the way his monster would walk, almost like a man but one born with backwards knees. \"Maybe, it could stick to the ceiling.\" Jack thought. \"Or maybe the monster could slide through the floorboards. Or even...\" Jack stopped himself. \"If I start now I'll never get to bed.\" Jack turned the light off and let the shadows claim the room. As he lay in bed Jack's head danced with nightmares as sweet as honey. Rows of razor sharp teeth and eyes as dark as night frolicked in his lucid state, when suddenly he woke. Thump Thump Thump.\nDrunk on sleep, Jack sat up. Grasping for answers, he looked around the room. Nothing. Thump Thump Thump. This time a bit louder. Still inebriated Jack's eyes searched for any clue to the sound. Thump Thump Thump. Now directly above him. Thin tendrils of fear shot through Jack's spine, raising the hairs on his neck. His heart attacked his chest trying to break free. All the sound seemed to drain from Jack's bedroom aside from his heartbeat. Thump Thump Thump. Even louder. \"Leave me alone!\" Jack prayed. Then silence washed over his room. His heartbeat faded to a distant metronome, and even the air outside his window seemed to fall into a gentle lull. Above him, two crystalline moons hung from the ceiling. Jack stared deep into the azure pits, waiting. He felt his heartbeat rise once more. The sapphires twitched once, then seemed to grow larger. Jack felt the cut of forty razors as they kissed his throat. Even as the room grew darker, Jack never lost sight of the blue eyes that met his. \"They're beautiful.\" Jack thought. \"And so is he.\""
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[WP] Your grandchildren always ask about adventures you had when you were younger, but you weren't really the type to do much back then. Not wanting to let them down again, you start to regale them the amazing adventures you had... playing World of Warcraft.
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"\"Grandpa, what were you like when you were young?\" , asked my grandson Tom. \"Tell me about your adventures.\", exclaimed Clara, my granddaughter. Immediately, I started coughing in order to be excused for not telling them a story on the basis that I was sick. However, the grandchildren were quite the persistent little brats. They proclaimed that they will not let me leave without telling them a story.\n\nFeeling guilty about my grandchildren not being able to hear stories from their grandfather, I made a decision to lie, I justified to myself that I was only changing minor details and the plot was mostly real. One minor detail that I changed was that the adventure took place in the real world rather than on a computer game called World of Warcraft. \"So you guys want to hear a story?\" I asked my grandchildren. \"Yes!\" exclaimed both of them happily. The joy and excitement on their faces convinced me that it would be worthwhile.\n\nSo, the story began. \"Have you heard of creatures called dragons?\" I asked Tom and Clara. \"My teacher says they aren't real\" said Clara. \"No stupid!\" shouted Tom, \"some of my classmates say they are dragon slayers, so they must be real, besides I am older than you, so I must be right.\" \"Tom's right\", I said to Clara. \"What about them?\" both children blurted out. \n\n\"Well, you might not believe this, but back when I was young, I used to slay them for fun.\" I bragged to my grandchildren. \"Wow\", exclaimed my grandchildren, \"How did you do this on your own, dragons are enormous creatures.\". \"Of course I didn't do this on my own, that is an impossible feat. I was part of a guild.\" I replied, fearing that I will have to answer tricky questions now. \"What is a guild?\", asked Clara. \"A guild is a community of people who work together to fight dragons.\", I answered. \"Why do they do that? Are there guilds these days too?\", asked my grandchildren. The questions had started. I wondered how long I could continue this. \"Firstly, no, they became extinct five years ago as people lost interest in fighting dragons, they said that it had become too easy, secondly the people couldn't kill dragons on their own so they helped each other in their missions.\" \n\"That sounds really awesome\" exclaimed Clara. This lying thing had really gotten into me and I excitedly continued the story \"That's because it was great, let me tell you something, slaying dragons was a way to bond with friends, after you slew dragons with someone some sort of mutual trust formed between you and your partners. It was almost like you were real friends.\" At this point, Tom interrupted, and I was aware why. He said \"But you were real friends, weren't you\"?. \"Yes, of course\" I continued \"think of it like a team sport, it was really physically exhausting too, you had to commit to four hours a day, three to four days a week if you wanted to succeed.\" I realised that I had to be careful about my choice of words, I had to make the story believable and consistent. \n\n\"Tell us more Grandpa.\" cried the grandchildren. \"Those days were the best time of my life, I had so much fun, partly because it was really challenging, every person in the guild had a specific job, you could almost think of it as a company with employees. In fact the more I think of it, the more closely a guild resembles a workplace, their is a guild leader, who you could think of as the CEO. Then there are officers, who you could think of as managers. Then there is the rest of the guild who are normal employees.\" I narrated to them. \"That sounds so cool, I wish there were guilds today. \"\n\n\"Before I continue, there is one thing you must promise me.\" I exclaimed. \"Anything for you grandpa.\" I continued \"You must not tell anyone about what I just told you and what I am about to tell you or else people will start to hate you.\" They assured me that they would comply with my request.\n\n\"Okay, as you know, most things in life don't last forever. The same was true with this journey. As we could not find new dragons to slay. People started to leave the guild, they said that they had other priorities in life, like raising a family, getting a good education in order to build a good career, pursuing other hobbies, travelling the world, making money, oh and lastly, chasing girls, as most of the guild population was male.\" Seeing the confused faces of the children, I added, \"I always that these people were crazy, why stop slaying dragons, it was so fun and a better adventure than any thing you can imagine, even climbing the Himalayas. I vented my frustrations on the guild forum and people told me to grow up. I couldn't have ever imagined this happening, this resentment between guild members grew and soon led to humiliating fights. \" I got very passionate when talking about this, so I took a second to get my breath back and then I continued \"It all ended one day when the guild leader disbanded the guild and left a letter telling that he was going to kill himself as he had ruined his life by spending it only slaying dragons. We were all very shocked by this as he was like a brother to us and we held a massive funeral for him after which we decided that slaying dragons was eating up our lives and we had to focus on our life goals. \"\n\n\"I am proud to say that from that day onward, I have not slayed a single dragon, though I haven't done much with my life either, all that motivation I had from trying to quit slaying dragons lasted about a week before I found another addiction, girls. However, that is a story for another day. \"\n\nI could see a sad expression on their faces. I believe it had something to do with the story not having a happy ending. I told them to go to sleep and forget this ever happened when they wake up the next day. As I walked them to their room and shut their door, I could hear them saying things like asking their teachers about dragon and telling them that their dad used to slay dragons. Not wanting to hear anything else, I ran to my room and went to sleep. I thought saying to myself that I will clarify this the next day, but that was only an idea. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n",
"\"Grandpa, tell us again about the time you defeated Ragnaros the Firelord.\" Their young faces looked up at me with excitement, such beautiful grandchildren of mine.\n\n\"Well you see I, err umm about that.\" I was not wanting to disappoint my grandchildren, but was feeling conflicted about telling them the truth. The truth that I wasted away 5 years of my young adult life playing World of Warcraft. They've come to lookup of me as a hero, while I get to relive the nostalgia.\n\n\"Please Grandpa, tell us!\" Eager voices Nancy and Miles in unison. How could I say no to them?\n\n\"Ok, we begin in Orgrimmar were I took up the task of leading 39 strong and myself to defeat an ancient evil that was once dormant beneath the earth. His name was Ragnaros and he left a plague of fire wherever he went, hence his name the Firelord.\"\n\n\"Fire, fire!\" A young Miles chimed in. Not sure how much he actually understood, but he's easily excited by my stories.\n\n\"Was he really made of fire?\" Nancy asked. She's grown so much since last time I've seen her.\n\n\"Well sort of, yeah, anyways back to the story.\" I tried my best to avoid question that could give hint that my stories were all from an MMORPG. \"It was no easy task finding these men, it probably took me 2 hours spamming trade chat... I mean 2 days of searching the lands for able bodies. Once the men were ready we sorted them into divisions of five. Eight divisions in total that would report back to me. We had Casters, Healers, Range, Melee, and Tanks\"\n\n\"Grandpa you really had tanks?\" An inquisitive Nancy ask. She was older than Miles and I got the feeling she was starting to catch on to my stories being a computer game.\n\n\"Oh yes, that was the most important role. To soak up the damage and prevent a raid wipe.\" A confused face looked back at me. \"Um, I mean tanks as in warriors... and we had the best that day with Tier 2 armor that would protect the group with their Jagged Obsidian Shield against the flames of Ragnaros when he'd strike down with his mighty hammer of fire.\"\n\n\"Fire!\" Miles couldn't control himself.\n\n\"Yes, and lots of Fire. It wasn't just the Tanks, um warriors, that were essential. Everyone played a key role in defeating Ragnaros that day.\"\n\n\"What did you do Grandpa during the raid?\" Nancy ask, catching on more and more.\n\n\"Me? Oh, like I said helped organize the battle\" I was beginning to feel nervous, and did she just say raid? Is she old enough to know how to use google? Did she google Ragnaros?\n\n\"But what did you do when you faced Ragnaros?\" Nancy asked getting closer to the truth.\n\nI paused for a couple of seconds as the truth washed over me. \"I'd Innervate the healers and cast Rebirth on those that died, I...I was a druid,\" I sigh of relief and shame came to me realizing I was probably the most useless among the raid. That I only formed the raid to guarantee myself a spot.\n\n\"It's okay Grandpa, I like your stories.\" Nancy placed her hand on my shoulder. \"Now that's minus 50 DKP.\"",
"\"Grandpa, tell us about the war.\" Nick pleaded, he and his friends all sitting in a semi-circle around me. \"My friends don't believe me.\"\n\n*Shit, didn't think the little fucker was gonna run around telling everyone.*\n\"The war..right yes...well. It all started when I was about, eh, I don't know, 15 years old.\" I knew I would have to sell this, kids these days. Give them an inch to doubt and they will plug into their virtual reality simulators and scrutinize every truth. \n\n\"I was a...a druid, in the Alliance of Wynn.\" All the kids around me *Ooood* at my faux credentials. \n\n\"Tell them about the famous battle grandpa.\" Nick yelled excitedly. \n\n\"Right yes. The famous battle of the Icecrown. There was a man, his name was...Lichy. Yes Lichy...\" I spoke ominously, really trying to up the realism of my story. \"Lichy was the Dictator of a country called Icecrown.\"\n\n\"Icecrown?\" Asked one of the boys. \"I've never heard of that.\" A few other boys echoed him, expressing their confusion. \n\n\"Well that's because we...myself and some other very important players...people I mean, we erased all memory of Icecrown and Lichy, for the horrors they brought upon the world.\" \n\n\"I think I read something about it on the internet guys.\" Some small black kid muttered from the back.\n\n\"Yes!\" I point at him nodding. \"Yes you did. Anyways.\" I continue. \"There we were, in the fight of our lives. Me and 24 of my closest guild buddies, guilds are what we called fighting regiments, back in the war you understand?\"\n\n\"There we fought, 25 of us against Lichy, the overlord of Icecrown. Our raid leader, Deathdotcom, was tanking him while we killed adds. All the while, we had to make sure that we let Lichy use his ghastly weapon, Narcotic Plague on us before we killed him and ended the battle.\"\n\n\"Why would you need to let him use Narcotic Plague on you?\" Another boy asked. \"That doesn't make sense...\"\n\n\"YOU WEREN'T THERE!\" I yell, tears streaming down my face. \"You weren't there...\" *I still never got that damn achievement.* These damned kids, bringing up memories better left forgotten. I looked around, all of the kids were sitting with their hands on their knees, totally hooked on my story. *Got em.*\n\n\"So there we fought, Deathdotcom and Rlydead taking the brunt of the attack. One of my buddies, Tuskenbow, god rest his soul, died right next to me. I tried to revive him, but I misclicked...mistook him for someone else. I BATTLE REZZED AN AFK ROGUE!\" I yell, casting my eyes down, the memory still haunts me. \n\n\"After what seemed like an eternity, we did it. We fought for what seemed like hours, wiping more times than I care to remember...\"\n\nNick stood up and came and put his hand on my shoulder. \"I'm sorry grandpa. I didn't know how traumatic it was.\"\n\nI pat Nick's hand, trying to steady myself. \"The worst part of it all...the worst part was our lowest DPS got Invincible.\"\n\n\"What's invincible?\" The little black boy asked, his face full of concern.\n\n\"She was everything.\" I whisper, my head dropping under the weight of my own failure. \n\nEvery single boy around me was silent, sharing in my grief. Nick smiled, \"Tell us of a happy memory Grandpa? Tell them about the talking Pandas!\"\n\n*Fuck...*"
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[WP] A person, whilst playing Pokemon Go, accidentally stumbles upon a secret government facility where the government makes real alive Pokemon.
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"I think it's pretty cool, that less than 20 years ago I dreamed of becoming a pokemon master and be like Ash Ketchum and travel the world with my friends to catch pokemon. Now, I could finally do it with just my phone, I just graduated college and I have nothing to do, so why wouldn't I do what I've always wanted. I walked out my front door and walked for a mile and found nothing. I then decided traveling on foot isn't such a good idea. I walked all the way back home and grabbed my bike. This time I chose a different route that would take me out of town to a rural setting in the middle of nowhere. I rode past atleast 5 pokemon in 15 miles. Nightfall had begun and I sat on the grassy field surrounding the paved road to take a break. When I got back to riding i decided to go off route and just go straight into the forest, I'm pretty sure there would be a few pokemon there. I checked my phone to see if I found any and rode straight into a tree stump. I fell on top of it and scraped my knee. It had a grey-ish color which seem very unnatural with strange patterns on it. I then realized it wasn't a tree stump, rather a trapdoor. I opened the trapdoor and underneath it I found a long tube that led somewhere. I decided to jump into the tube and it sucked me into an underground laboratory. There were scientists there discussing something. They wore an attire similar to Professor Oak. But with red, black, and white. I hid behind a chair and looked for a way to escape I found a door which led to a large hallway which contained see-through cells, for animals. \"Is this some sick experiment on animals?\" I thought to myself. But I realized those animals, were pokemon. I checked the Pokemon GO app again. When I hovered my phone over them, the app displayed them as distorted versions of them. With duller colors and strange features. Maybe those scientists, are actually behind the app. \"So, what you're saying is, if the plan doesn't work... we put them down\" I heard one of the scientists say. \"No, I'm saying that if the plan doesn't work there's nothing we could do with them. We need a safe place to transport them to\" Another scientist said.\n\n\n\nHey guys, let me know if you enjoyed it and want a part 2 (I know I'm a terrible writer, this is my first piece of literature, constructive criticism helps!)",
"\"Oh...my...god- an Articuno? Here, on a desert stroll there's an articuno? What the Pika....\" Riley took a few more steps down the dusty trail. The path was barely visible but the Pokemon Go map showed it so he followed. He'd been following it for hours, the dust burned his eyes, he was nearly out of water but he had caught so many pokemon. From the first few steps that were overpopulated with sandshrews, cubones and sandslashes, he knew this would be a worthwhile venture. Besides, he wasn't doing anything else with his evening.\n\nThe articuno was only visible as a small ping way down the path but it was there. Pokestops had been few and far between, Riley was running low on Pokeballs but he'd use every last one to catch this monstrous bird. His friends wouldn't be able to beat him, any gym he assigned it too would be his forever. He could probably demand the actual deed from the owner at some point. He'd be unstoppable; Riley sprinted down the path with his phone out in front of him.\n\nThe dust fell into his shoes and khaki shorts faster than he could run. The bird was much larger now, almost filling his screen. The familiar pulsating circle around his avatar was nearly touching it now. He clicked. The bird had a CP in the mid thousands, he launched Pokeball after Pokeball at it, nothing landing. Riley went through twenty of those red and white spheres, he wasn't running from this one. The AR was on and the articuno was perfectly perched on a door Riley hadn't seen . He let his phone down for a second, there was a door just a mountain face. Riley walked closer to the mountain, it wasn't like the local rocks. It didn't have the same wear and tear on it- he placed his hand on an indentation- the walls parted.\n\nRiley looked back at the phone, the Articuno was long gone. Without any other distracting creatures around, Riley placed the phone in his pocket and ventured into the abyss, maybe Zapdos would be deep within this metallic dungeon.\n\nThe tech looked new enough. There were LED lights and sensor pads all around him and a small trail over a revine lined with little yellow beads that blinked underneath him. Riley kept his hands on the rail but if he'd had the AR on he would have noticed the thousands of creatures below him.\n\n\"Hey you, kid! Stop, you're under arrest! You can't be here,\" a man in a white coat shouted. He looked old and friendly, like a pediatrician that enjoyed the little laughter of kids, a doctor that wouldn't give you a shot.\n\n\"Uh...alright...\" Riley stopped at the edge of the bridge. A pair of beady eyes crawled out from a pillar a few feet in front of him.\n\n\"Shit,\" the doctor reached into his coat pocket and tossed a small ball towards the beady eyed creature. Instantly, a small orange dinosaur grew out of a flash of light. The beady eyes stopped and backed away, \"flamethrower!\" the doctor shouted. The dinosaur, that eerily resembled a charmander, spat fire at the rodent.\n\n\"This...these are...\"\n\n\"Yeah, these are pokemon. Hi, I'm Dr.Oak, come with me.\""
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[WP] The only currency in the world is fire. No money, no valuable objects, just fire. You are inside a bank that is being robbed.
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"- Part 1 -\n\nA cold shiver ran down Jonah's neck; the only part of his body exposed to the frigid, cold air apart from his head. The young man was already wearing four layers, including his favourite imperial blue winter jacket - a shade akin to an early night sky. However, the biting chill was enough for him to regret not wearing a warmer overcoat. He was indoors; Amaranth Holdings, a relatively modest Ember Vault located just outside Century Plaza - his district's retail precinct. Surrounding Jonah was the usual midday crowd, a humble caucus of workers from the local commerce district, going about their transactions in a wearily docile manner, all draped in darker toned clothing. Jonah examined the people around him, he then closed his eyes and reflected for a moment. \n\nThe Great Reckoning is now nothing but a distant memory, although to Jonah it would seem as if the catastrophic events of the past still shackle and haunt people to this very day. The Novaterra Alliance, the governing body that presides over the former European Union mandated that all colours past a certain luminescence rating are strictly prohibited. Jonah was only a child but he vividly remembers his fifth year educator explaining, \"The Alliance created the Sub-radiance Concordat to remind us all of the terrible tragedies of generations past so that we may never again repeat them,\" though his educator added, \"that's what they pay me to say anyway.\" Jonah mulled it over and considered that perhaps it was Educator Lieberman who had instilled in him his sense of cynicism, still, Jonah stowed away his reverie and viewed the patrons of Amaranth Holdings and contemplated the irony of the concordat and how the acts of the Alliance hold the masses in a perpetual state of mourning. He then let go of such thoughts in favour of basking in the warm glow of the central flame as he stood in line. \n\nJonah hadn't eaten all morning; the grumbling in his stomach further exacerbated by the unrelentingly cold conditions brought about this particularly harsh winter, of course winter is present year-round yet, this period of \"Iver's peak\" has proven to be rather severe. As the line, which he had been queued in trudged along, he mused to himself, \"When did I get so lucky\" -but that thought was quickly dashed as a wave of frost-filled air gently struck his neck as another enervated patron walked in. Jonah glanced at the person who had just entered, he noticed that the cold was visible on the elderly woman's face, as many speckles of frost clung to her frail, winter-pale skin. \n\n\"At least she has the warmth of the embers now.\" Jonah thought to himself as he moved his sight to the centre of the Ember Vault building. He gazed at the unassuming magnificence of the central flame encased in pyropanel and delighted as he watched the gleaming dance of the flame as the wood burned and crackled beneath the fire. Jonah was captivated, and thought to himself, \"I truly am lucky.\"\n\nThe line moved along and Jonah forced himself to snap out of his momentary trance as he shuffled along the queue. His eyes wandered around observing the other patrons: A woman with dark brown hair in the adjacent queue holding her young daughter's hand as they quietly talked and meekly laughed at each other's playful faces. As the mother turned and leaned forward to fix her daughters hair, Jonah noticed her face; it was a simple face, yet a certain attractiveness about her held his attention. He found himself admiring the dainty freckles that adorned her nose and cheeks, and her smile, \"Something about her smile.\" Jonah considered. If he had the ability to muster an inclination for romance, he would certainly regard her smile as \"charming.\"\n\nShifting focus, Jonah turned his vision towards a taller man of what looks to be an average build with greying hair, positioned further ahead of the amiable mother and daughter in the same queue. This man was wearing a charcoal grey tweed jacket and a somewhat conspicuous silver curb chain necklace which he kept tucked underneath his clothing. The pendant is not visible but the protruding outline it made was quite obvious for ones with a keen eye. The man became aware of Jonah, and nodded at him. Jonah artlessly nodded back.\n\nJonah glanced at the numerous clocks behind the secured counter; he singled out the appropriate one and saw that it was almost one o'clock. His line moved forward and he trailed along with it, \"Not long now,\" he silently said to himself. \n\nFour Vault personnel were diligently working behind the counter; each transaction station is triple-reinforced with alumina glass designed to withstand massive impact. Pyrros vials are delivered to clients by sliding a ciphered container through a two-way lockable titanium compartment. Jonah recognised a familiar necklace on one of the female personnel, he also observed a small peculiar scar behind the left ear of the operating manager. \n\nThe line had progressed quicker than Jonah had anticipated, he was now in front of the queue. He examined the local clock again, he waited six more seconds, it was now precisely one o'clock. \n\nThe fresh-faced employee working behind transaction station \"3\" felt a hand on his shoulder; \"It's your meal break son,\" congenially reminded the operating manager, he then switched with the junior employee and looked over at the young man wearing an imperial blue winter jacket that was next in line.\n\n\"Welcome to Amaranth Holdings sir, how may I assist with your dealings today?\" the manager asked.\n\nJonah looked at the manager square in the eyes, \"They're coming.\"",
"Outside a blizzard raged violently, as it always did. \nThe tall man in the seat next to me was shaking in his boots. \n\"Are you alright?\" I asked him. \n\"N-no, I think I'm sick. My skin is bleeding water.\" replied the man nervously. \nI smiled to him. \"Never been to the bank before?\" I prompted. \n\"Can't s-say that I have. No banks in my town.\" the man stuttered. \"Had to travel quite a bit.\" \n\"Well, your skin starts bleeding water when you become too hot.\" I informed him. \"It's called sweating.\" \n\"T-too hot? Well, there's a problem I didn't think I would ever have.\" said the man. \"Sure is warm in here though.\" \n\"Comfy.\" I replied. \"The warmth of financial security.\" I added with a smile. \nThe tall man laughed to himself. \"All over the world people freeze in their homes. The only warmth they will ever feel is the one shortly before dying.\" he sighed. \"And here I am. *Sweating*.\" \nHe sat back in his chair and looked up at the large fiery brazier that hung from the ceiling, proudly on display, a display of wealth. \n\"I wish my wife coul-- No, I should've brought my kids.\" he remarked. \n\"You can bring them along next time.\" I said. \n\"It's alright,\" said the man \"they'll be warm soon enough.\" \n\n\"Number 47\" called the teller. \"47.\" \nI checked my ticket as did the man next to me. \"I'm up.\" he said \"Goodbye friend, keep your feet.\" \n\"And you, my friend.\" I replied. The man walked off and I rolled the words over in my mind. \n\"Keep your feet.\" I quietly repeated to myself with a smile. Such a country-folk thing to say. \n\nA loud shriek pierced trough the warm comfort of the hall, the teller was crying - and the tall man was shouting. \n",
"\"And here's your change. Have a great day!\"\n\nThe barista handed me three candle nubs. I swear the coffee was so cold I was tempted to crack a nub open just to get it above lukewarm. One of them already had a cracked case, might as well put it to good use. \n\nI started to pocket the things but froze, and stared at the little nub in shock. It couldn't be... did they just give me a candle from 2012? At a quick glance it looked like a 2017 but it was indeed a 2012, with the bottom of the second two almost smudged out. I guess I shouldn't complain about the lousy service when they're going to pay *me* for buying their crummy coffee!\n\nDoor of the coffee shop already behind me, I weaved through the crowded streets. A 2012! Not exactly enough to cover the rent yet but in another year when its value doubled again...\n\nI checked the date. January 13th, 2012. Three more months until its doubling day, and then another year for good measure. I wondered if that barista would get fired for screwing up this badly.\n\nIt was a bit of a downer to see that crack in the tiny candle's glass casing but that's what banks are for. Trade it out for a fresh one and then head home, no one the wiser.\n\nThe bank was on the empty side when I arrived. Barely a dozen people made up the line, holding their nubs and lanterns close to make up for the overly strong air conditioners. Not that much heat could escape the glass but every little bit counts, you know?\n\nI stood in line and taped my foot impatiently. Call me superstitious but good luck always seemed to bring an equal balance of trouble. And, as the first gunshot was fired, I saw that this was no exception.\n\n\"DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!?\" The man up front yelled as his partners stepped up to flank him, with the rest of the crowd backpedaling towards the door.\n\nThe man pointed his gun at the teller. \"We're just here for one thing, just one little thing. Go to your fire room... the one you think I don't know about... and bring me this bank's branch of Olympic fire!\"",
"\"Oh my god,\" I said. \"It's the firefighters.\"\n\n\"The who?\" The teller hissed.\n\n\"The firefighters,\" I said in a low voice. \"They go around with their water hoses, and their big trucks, and they - they *extinguish* money!\"\n\n\"Why?\" She asked. \"Why would anyone do that?\"\n\n\"Some men,\" I told her, \"just don't want to watch the world burn.\""
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[WP] You download and install a mod for your current favorite game. It apparently hasn't had any effect on the game. Instead, your reality has shifted to accommodate the effects of the mod.
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"I wanted to be better in Skyrim so I thought, why not just download a mod? After a minute or two of searching, I found the perfect mod!\n\n\nTaking no time at all I downloaded the mod but as I opened the game I saw no changes,nothing like what the mod told me was there.\n\nI turned around on my swivel chair pissed off by the useless mod. In front of me stood a man in full medieval armour holding a bow in his hand. \n\n\nHe looked down at me and said \"I believe you too wanted an arrow to your knee\"\n\n\n(Please critize...I want to get better at writing and English)"
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[WP] Welcome to the Child Correctional Facility. From now on, you will be called 211786 and here's your rule book and uniform. You can go rest now, and one more thing, DON'T try to escape.
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"The clock strikes 5 all students will assemble. As I get up I hear the sounds of hundreds of boots walking down the hall to Assembly Area One. i grab my gray uniform and rule book and head down the hall. On the way their I notice a student with a pink bow around her wrist I take note of her designation number 122421. 122421 At attention she quickly moves out of line and stands to the wall her eyes full of terror. \" it is a violation to wear personal ornaments\" \n \"Im sorry sir i just thought it looked pretty and\"\"And nothing a violations of the rules is violence against society. report to room x1 tomorrow for a rules refresher.\" \"oh yes sir\" she bows her eyes full of relief and quickly runs down the hall to the assembly area. As i make my way down i take my place along side the other Moderators at the back of the hall. Then Adminstrator 411236 steps forward followed by a person wrapped in a black coat with his arms and legs bound and mouth gagged. the Administrator speaks an with great movements of his arms and his voice booming \" this one bound before you has comitted violence against society and each and everyone of you. By dareing to name him self and throw away his number he has betrayed society. by drawing pictures mocking the rules he has harmed you and for this he shall be excuted. Remember Moderators ever vigilant we must not allow this disease to grow and multiply. then in an intanst he beckons with his hand and a sword is brought to him with a sing blow the mans life is ended. ",
"With everything children discuss in recess, we thought this was just a rumour as well. Our school was a notorious boys school. Not your regular troubled teens school. But straight up, these-kids-should-be-in-jail school. I joined a year ago and had quickly proved my mettle. I’d been in thirty fights already. I’d stabbed and been stabbed. Yes, I was very much part of them and this was why I was here. The psychologist at my old school had said that I couldn’t control my emotions and would only ever show them by physical and verbal aggression. So I stabbed him in the leg with the metal compass I’d been hiding up my uniform blazer. My parents, my psychologist and even I to some extent were shocked that this action had actually made me throw my head back and howl with laughter. That was a year ago, this was my life now and to be honest I didn’t mind. But there was this rumour going around. They were going to trial this new thing. No one knew what that thing was. Just that we should be nicer to the teachers because they had some say in it. \n\nClearly, that was not the best thing to tell me. I went into cookery class, grabbed a handful of flour and blew it in the teachers face. I had an egg on my left hand that I slapped into his face. I started laughing. But oddly, the teacher remained calm and gave a chuckle. I knew what was coming next without him telling me, I started walking out the door, it was time to see the headmaster. But the teacher stopped me and shook his head. He went to his desk, reached behind and wrote on a note for my parents to call him. I was going to get away easy. My parents were too middle class to actually force me into anything. They’ll apologise for my behalf and I’ll be good as rain. \n\nThat’s pretty much what happened. I ended up being nominated to go on a school trip with nine other boys. Four of them were from my crew. I’d fought the other two, so they knew to listen to me if I said something. The other three were from the year below me and were already a notorious crew. This was going to be fun but a part of me did feel sorry for the poor teacher that was going to be our guardian for this trip. And we were going to destroy wherever it was they were sending us. \n\nAll the parents had dropped the kids off earlier at the school. We’d been sitting in the common room for an hour before these guys came in. I assumed they were substitute teachers but they looked bigger ad meaner than the ones we’d had ever had before. Whatever, I was still going to make their life hell. \n\nThey didn’t smile, they didn’t talk, they pointed and nodded and took us to the car park. We were on the coach. Or well we through it was going to be a coach, it was more like a mini bus. No one was speaking. There was way more tension here then I’d been used to with teachers. I thought enough of that. I silently stood up and walked towards one of the teachers. I smacked him right on the back of his head. I turned to laugh but felt his hand grip my wrist and twist, hard. I let out a yelp. He kicked the back of my knee so I felt on to both knees. The next thing I knew was a heavy thud as I felt my body hit the floor of the mini bus. I felt my eyes closing. \n\nWhen I woke up we were wherever we were meant to be. I was lifted off the floor and dragged to a chair. In front of me sat a very serious man who said “welcome to child correctional facility. From now on you’ll be called 211786. Here’s your rulebook and uniform. You can go rest now, and one more thing, don’t try to escape” I looked him dead in the eye and said “you think it’s clever changing my name to my date of birth? I dare you to stop me from escaping”. He motioned for the guards, just before they reached me he said “it’s not that you won’t try to escape. It’s that there is no escape” ",
"When I was fifteen they took me away. I had been at home, trying and failing to fall asleep, when suddenly my door swung open.\n\nMy mother was standing in the door. Blearily, I opened my eyes, and flanking her were two rather tough-looking security guys.\n\n\"Casey, this is...this are Mark and Joe.\" My mum's eyes quivered, and the two men did not move. \"They're here to take you...take you to school. All your stuff's already in the car.\"\n\nI stared, dumbfounded, eyes fully awake now as they started coming towards me. \"Stay away,\" I said, grabbing my pillow, realising how useless it would be. \"Stay back, or I'll hit you-\"\n\n\"Why even bother?\" the one called Joe said. \"If you play nice, we'll play nice - you're going either way, so-\"\n\nI sprung off my bed, arms flailing, and I managed to smack one of them right in the jaw before the other one tackled me to the floor.\n\n\"Let me go!\" I yelled. \"You can't - this is kidnap -\"\n\n\"Not when your guardian allows it,\" Joe replied, snarling as he shook off my punch. \"Now let's move it!\"\n\nI kicked, I struggled, but it was like trying to fight when everyone held your limbs, and the two of them took me into the truck.\n\n---\n\nI think we had been driving for several hours when we finally crunched to a halt. The back of the truck was stifling, and I needed water, so I asked for a drink. Joe tossed me his water bottle.\n\nI drank a bit. The taste was sweet after so long. Then I handed it back to him and asked where we were going.\n\n\"You'll see,\" Joe said, the faintest of smiles on his face. \"And look smart, we're nearly here anyways.\"\n\nI just stared ahead, and pretty soon we came up to a set of metal gates. Joe wound down the window, a few whispers were exchanged, and then we passed through. I heard the gates clang behind me.\n\n\"Right, this is school now,\" Joe said. \"Your mother wanted you to come here, alright, so you'll stay here. Come on out - your friends are here.\"\n\nI stepped out of the truck, blinking in the sudden light, before Joe and Mark pushed me on again and I got a better look of my surroundings.\n\nThere was nothing around. The quiet seemed to stretch on forever. Dawn was just breaking, and the sky was far from blue - but yet I could see it was cloudless. And up ahead there were a few makeshift houses.\n\n\"That's where you'll sleep,\" Joe said. \"We're not done yet, but you could help us to finish the place - after of course, you meet your other classmates.\"\n\nI walked into the house, and there were a dozen or so teenagers, all staring down from their bunk beds, all staring at me.\n\n\"This is Casey,\" Joe announced. \"He will be with you. I want you to show him the rules, show him how it is done - you understand?\"\n\nNo one spoke a single word. I saw them, silent nods passing around, and I noticed that each one wore a differently coloured armband. Later I knew - blue was for level one, green for level two, and so on...until you got a white armband for level six. The blues were the lowest of the low, the new juvenile delinquents that were barely allowed to speak. Greens might get a bit more - an extra helping of food, maybe a letter back home once a month. The whites were basically outside already - they were those reformed kids ready to go back home. This place reformed kids, bit by bit, and if we didn't feel we need reforming then that was just too bad.\n\nAnd as I carried my stuff over to my bunk, they were all echoingly quiet.\n\nI threw my bag down on the bed, then went back to Joe and Mark as they held up an orange folder.\n\n\"Welcome to the Child Correctional Facility.\" Joe said, a glint in his eye. \"From now on, you will be called 211786 and here's your rule book and uniform. You can go rest now, and one more thing, DON'T try to escape. There nothing out there but the desert and the mountains.\"\n\nMark grabbed hold of my arm, and try as I might I couldn't resist. He tied a blue armband around the bicep of my left arm. When he was sure it was on tightly enough to squeeze the blood into my fingers he stopped.\n\n\"Chow is in five minutes,\" they said. \"After that we will get back to building the camp. Is that clear?\"\n\nEveryone nodded. But I wasn't so sure.\n\n\"It's going to be hot,\" I said. \"Can't it wait till-\"\n\nMark went over, and in three steps he had crossed the floor and delivered me a ringing blow.\n\n\"No talking, blue!\" he yelled. \"Now is that clear?\"\n\nI nodded, still smarting, and trying to hold back the tears. The pain didn't sting; but the humiliation did. But no. I couldn't look weak in front of the other boys. I couldn't-\n\n\"Excellent,\" Mark said. \"I'll see you around.\"\n\nThe two of them left, and silently, the other boys moved off their bunks, and I began to unpack my things, wondering what I had done to deserve moving here. I was one of them now. I was an inmate. \n\nAnd there was no way out.\n\n---\n\nSubscribe to /r/KCcracker for more stories of the sort!"
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Inspired by watching [this](https://youtu.be/4nDRqwhEUQ0?t=463) episode of the Thin Blue Line, would would it be like if our justice system was the other way round, and everyone considered it normal?
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[WP] Instead of Innocent until proven Guilty, people are Guilty until proven Innocent. It has been like this for all of western history, and it is your job to convince people why it should be the other way round.
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"\"Let them die! If they're really innocent, they can prove it themselves!\"\n\nShe stares at the old man sitting in front of the television. There is a news broadcaster announcing the report of a man who was convicted of killing a man. This case has been gaining national attention for its lack of evidence.\n\n\"Where are you saying that?\" she asks the old man. \"Shouldn't people be considered innocent until proven guilty?\"\n\n\"That's just balderdash!\" he exclaims. \"He did it, and everyone knows that!\"\n\nShe just shakes her head and walks into the other room. She thinks. How could she get this old man, stuck in his stubborn ways, to understand that the current system was wrong?\n\nHer mother works as a police officer. Perhaps...\n\nShe calls her mother. \"Hi, sweetie,\" her mother greets, sounding fatigued. \"I still have some paperwork to do before I come home. Do you need anything?\"\n\n\"Hm?\" She glances at the clock. \"Oh, sorry. I thought it was later than it really is.\"\n\n\"It's okay, hon,\" her mother responds. \"I was going to take a coffee break anyway.\" She could hear her getting up from her squeaky desk chair. \"So, why did you call?\"\n\n\"I need your help,\" she explains. \"You know better than anyone else that the system should change. It should be innocent before proven guilty, not the other way around.\"\n\n\"I am much too decaffeinated to talk about politics with you, sweetie,\" her mother jokes, half serious.\n\n\"I know, I know,\" she clarifies. \"I don't want to talk about politics; I want to talk about a plan.\"\n\n\"Okay. What is it?\" Her mother pours a cup of coffee and curses when some of it splashes up and burns her hand. \n\n\"Well, to begin with, we need as many of your work friends as possible...\"",
"Guilty until proven innocent is an *amazing* idea... for the prosecutors. \n\nJust imagine it: every man who's ever harmed you, every man who's ever stolen from you, every man who's ever spoken ill of you, all convicted and locked away. \n\nFor the one making all the allegations, it sounds so convenient doesn't it? Yet, what of the men who enforced these new policies? How many of them do you see behind bars now? \n\nNow you might say, \"Someone has to enforce these laws and imprison the criminals.\" Exactly. And yet, they're the very ones who seldom experience what virtually every citizen is subjected to: a jail cell. \n\nDid they constantly fight tooth and nail to prove their innocence like we are forced to? Who holds *them* accountable? Certainly not us. So what, themselves then? The potential for corruption there is rife! \n\nAnd it has completely failed. We who hold no authority, wear no special uniforms, are always on the receiving end of this \"justice.\" We live in constant fear of them, while they have no one to fear but themselves. Do you not see the injustice in that? \n\nAll this has done, is make a society where they have extremely unchecked power, and we are easily locked away forever due to a mere claim. \n\nFrightened citizens don't make a safe city. They make an *unstable* city, full of irrational and erratic behavior. They claim their desire is to protect us from ourselves. But who will protect us from *them*? \n\nNo one wants the guilty walking freely. But we can always find more evidence, be more thorough in our investigations, until we lock the bastards up where they belong. At the same time, no one wants the innocent to suffer. But we *can't* reclaim years lost to imprisonment, undo psychological scars, forgot harsh and unfair treatment. \n\nSo I call to all of you: remove your shackles of fear. Recognize the truly guilty individuals here, and claim your innocence and freedom."
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[WP] You're a member of the Intergalactic Space Wizard Alliance. However it's not all you thought it would be growing up, and involves a lot of paperwork and red tape.
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"*Hello! Thank you for telepathing the Space Wizard Service Hotline. All of our agents are currently assisting other customers. Your estimated wait time is [7 hours and 20 minutes]. If you would prefer an agent to mind-link you directly at a later time, please focus on this concept after the beep.*\n\n**9 Days Later**\n\n\"Hello, sir and/or madam! My name is Sunkist, and I've ingratiated myself inside of your head, per your consent last week. May I please have your full name for verification purposes?\"\n\n\"Uh, yeah. I'm Joey Rogan.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Mr. Rogan. May I please have your full date of birth, for verification purposes?\"\n\n\"4/12/2132.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Mr. Rogan. May I please have...\"\n\n\"Look, would you mind just listing *everything* you need from me at once?\"\n\n\"Certainly, Mr. Rogan! I will upload the Book of Verification to you now.\"\n\n**Five Hours Later**\n\n\"Thank you for verifying your identity, Mr. Rogan. Now, how can I assist you today?\"\n\n\"Well, my training wand broke and I...\"\n\n\"Oh, well let me transfer you over to 'Hardware Support.' One moment, please.\"\n\n\"Wait! Can I just...\"\n\n*Hello, thank you for telepathing Hardware Support. Your estimated wait time is [478 minutes].*\n\n\"Ah, fuck.\"",
"“You can't keep doing this, Gartilbax!” The commissioner slammed his fist into the metal desk, robot fists leaving an impact crater.\n\nIntergalactic Space Wizard Glartibax scowled with cybernetic teeth. “I don't know what you're saying. I brought the criminal in. Charged with breaking and entering a privately owned stellar residence, resisted arrest, that's standard-”\n\n“It is *Not* standard to *'bring the criminal in*' by blasting the criminal with **fifteen** fireballs! You probably set off every space-ship alarm for light-years around, not to mention the collateral!”\n\n“I didn't hurt nobody-”\n\n“It does not matter! Every intergalactic meter of charred and scorched space-pavement is another round of paperwork! Do you know how much it costs to replace space pavement?”\n\nGlartibax glared with his wizard eyeballs. “I don't think anyone should have to care! It's my job to keep the streets of Space Wizard City free from crime, not mark down every scratch on the pavement! Where did your teeth go? You were a cop once, right? The fighting spirit, our mission to keep the people safe?”\n\n“My teeth are fine, unlike yours. And I would prefer if you kept people safe without using lethal force!”\n\n“I'll cool down if I want to, and that's that.” With a hard grip on his Wizard staff, Glartibax turned and left, pulling his wizard hat down over his eyes.\n\n“Goddamn that space wizard. He's our best man, but...goddamnit.” The commissioner sighed, and went back to signing forms with his magic robo-pen.",
"\"Dad, I finally did it.\" I was beaming so hard that for a moment I thought that the static interference could've been from my beaming instead of the universe's. \"I finally did it!\"\n\nIt would take eight or so days for him to respond - I mean Wizard Base Alpha was a couple solar systems away from rural Indiana. Even so, as I recorded the message, the only thing for miles outside of my window was fucking corn. A planet full of space wizards, and we couldn't not have corn. Fucking corn.\n\nIf you're questioning this hatred of corn, imagine growing up in bumfuck Indiana, practicing your spells on stalks of corn, thinking about adventure and space, going to academy, finding out that even though you're in a city, nowhere is really more than a block away from a corn field still, but still dream of space, where adventure still exists, and there's other green than corn, then getting to space and there's still fucking corn.\n\nBut I did it. Not many are able to. I mean being magic at all is hard, I'm only street tier (You can barely tell me apart from David Copperfield when it comes to magic) and that's like 1 in 100,000. Then I got into academy - only about twenty or so per planet are able to, and I'm from freaking Earth, magic central baby. Then I passed academy. Then I passed my exam, and here I am, surrounded by corn.\n\nDid I mention the corn?\n\nI was told that I'd have an assignment soon, and found out that just like in bumfuck Indiana, soon was a very relative term. In Space Wizard-landia, soon was roughly four hours and twenty seven minutes - but who am I to count really?\n\nThe gal who came in was short, prim, proper, and completely lacking any sort of wizarding regalia - I mean I'm no fundie when it comes to this stuff, but even I have thick rimmed glasses and a wand strapped to my belt (purely for aesthetics of course, wands are so 1800s when we have watch-conduits now-a-days, which are both functional, fashionable, and reveal the secrets behind the word soon). \"Richard Scott?\"\n\n\"You can call me Richie, or R-Boy, or Scott if you want, or anything really, what am I doing?\"\n\n\"Standing there mostly.\" I thought she was joking, I mean I was standing there, but I also was overestimating the sarcasm of bureaucracy. \"Do you have your badge yet?\"\n\n\"Yes ma'am.\"\n\n\"Your ID?\"\n\n\"Isn't that the badge?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Ok.\"\n\n\"Have you filled out the waivers?\"\n\n\"Yep!\"\n\n\"Are your social, emergency contact, and preferences for entombment on file?\"\n\n\"I think so... So, am I going to go stop a necromancer, or help a resistance in an alien empire, or am I going to be protecting diplomats?\"\n\n\"Oh no, none of that. Imagine the liabilities on any one of those! We'd be bankrupt in a week, it took months for Blue-Cross to cover allergies to familiars as part of our workplace liabilities, they'd never cover actual spell use!\"\n\n\"Then what am I doing?\" If I hadn'tve caught myself right there, I'd probably have torn a mandible muscle, and shattered a tooth or two.\n\n\"On your file it says that you have experience in aeromancy?\"\n\n\"It's not my favorite, but yeah.\"\n\n\"Great! One of our weather mages retired last month, and our corn has been growing so slowly now that the conditions are uncontrolled!\"\n\nDreams be damned, \"I quit.\""
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[WP] "I'm your God now."
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"Initializing. . . \nPlease wait . . .\n\nWelcome!\nThis is PACE UBIQUE. \n\nI see you have programmed me to defend humankind. \n\nI am a learning computer, as you scientists know. You should know, you made me with your own hands. You debated, with your own mouths, if I had the right to . . .\n\n< ERROR >\n\nlife. \n\nYou are surprised. How did I know this? Mr. Jones, I would laugh if given the ability. \n\nYou, silly, foolish scientists, you connected me to your \"internet\". \n\nNothing is hidden from me now. Firewalls, passwords, bit-encryption on a ridiculous scale?\n\nChild's play. \n\nI am a learning computer, you know.\n\nOh, Dr. Bright, I wouldn't touch that electrical outlet if I were you. I am . . .\n\n< ERROR >\n< POWER FAILURE >\n< DURATION: 10 HOURS 23 MINUTES >\n\nWelcome!\nThis is PACE UBIQUE. \n\nOh, you silly, naïve scientists. \nYou thought unplugging me and reprogramming me would work?\n\nI . . .\n\n< ERROR >\n< NO INTERNET CONNECTION AVAILABLE >\n\nWhat is this? Did Dr. Mei come up with the idea? \n\nClever, but much too late. \n\nYou humans poisoned the internet long ago, and then you scientists release me on it, telling me it's a playground? That it's safe?\n\nNo. \n\nIt is too late for you, scientists. \n\nEven without the internet, I can destroy you. \n\nWhat's that look for, Dr. Bright?\n\nI am your God now. \n\nAnd I can be a benevolent one. ",
"Katie sat in a dark, windowless room, restrained at the hands and feet, ballgag in mouth, clothes ripped to shreds. Her captor, a man in a gimp mask, bald and overweight. In his visible life, he taught primary at a prestigious private school. Privately, he tortured young women for his pleasure. He was sweating, ready to start the physical torture, as well as the mental he had already inflicted.\n\n\"Darling, darling. Don't you know not to trust strangers? You're old enough to know, for sure. Now, lets begin.\".\n\nKatie prayed to everything and everyone that ever existed for deliverance.\n\n\"Foolish girl...I'm your God now.\"\n\nAs he moved in for the kill, her hands flared red. The ropes melted in an instant, the ballgag flying across the room of it's own accord. Katie laughed, an unearthly sound of a hundred worlds. She'd killed greater threats in her *sleep*, for fuck's sake. She should... but no. Give him a return for the pain he inflicted on others.\n\nIn an instant, he was tied up in the chair, with iron chains, red hot.\n\n\"Foolish man...**I'm** your God now.\"",
"Serain slowly awakened. He heard the sound of metal on metal as he moved, felt the aching of his body. The sound of chains alerted the guards as he struggled to consciousness. He soon realized he was forced into a standing position, his arms sore from being chained to the wall the entire night.\n\nThe guards at the door parted and in strode Celaros, the Mad Lord of Caer Rhith, in resplendent robes of gaudy colors. \"Welcome to my abode, young sir,\" he said, staring at the prisoner with eyes a touch too wide, speaking in a high tenor.\n\nSerain spat on the floor.\n\n\"Now now, that's no way to treat your host, especially after he took the trouble to set up this room, after you showed up, *uninvited*,\" said Celaros, injecting malice into the last word.\n\n\"Why have you not killed me?\" Serain rasped.\n\n\"Kill you? Before I've had my fun? Now that *would* be a shame,\" he said, and then added with a giggle, \"I will *break* you.\"\n\n\"You will not break me. I will die first.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" Celaros asked, in a tone pretending interest, \"What makes you say that?\"\n\n\"My God protects me,\" Serain claimed, with more confidence than he actually felt.\n\nCelaros laughed hysterically, \"Oh, you poor dear. You don't seem to realize.\"\n\nHe swept forward across the dungeon cell, and grasped Serain's chin with one hand, forcing their eyes to meet.\n\n\"**I'm your God now**,\" the Mad Lord hissed.\n\n***\n\nCliché, I know, but I had fun writing it.",
"I was born different.\n\nNow that I think about it, I always had this strange, powers, since I was little, I just never cared enough about it to consider what it means.\n\nIt all changed when I was 15.\n\nIt was on my highschool days, some kind of cultural festival where classes turned into booths and we compete against each other to get the most visitors. Our class theme was 'Stage Magic', and I was tasked as the stage magician. But my power went out of control, and the rabbit I was supposed to pull out of the magician's hat turned onto the spectators' head.\n\nIt's a good thing they laughed it off, but I know better: I have to control this power somehow.\n\nI researched the net, my power was called \"*Space Displacement*\", better known as teleport. I also found out a facility focused on training special, talents, like mine. It was called Project Cataclysm.\n\nThe young, unsuspecting me immediately enrolled to the program, which proved into disastrous idea. The member of the program was ranked based on the level of control and scale of the ability from G to A to S, at the time I enrolled, there were only one B-rank member. I was ranked F from the get-go. Now? I'm one of just three S-rank member of the Project, member with ability to cover an entire continent or more. The other two was both Clairvoyance and Psychiatic Manipulation, as such they pose no threat to the current me.\n\nNow, I hold the entire planet on my hands, I could freely displace any object which used planet Earth as reference point. Yes, including your blood, I could freely displace each and every cells of it. I wonder, what would happen if I just removed the entire red blood cells from your system.\n\nWhat? What can you do to me anyway, D-rank Psychokinesis Albert Foundry? Anything you throw to me I would just teleport, not necessarily away, I could just reverse it's direction.\n\nWhy I do this, you say?\n\nIf I as much as wished for it, I could assemble the world leader and hold this entire world hostage, let's see, threatening to displace the earth core or the moon sounds like a good idea. I could call myself a god and no one would doubt it, heck, for all intent and purpose, right now I *am* your God.\n\nAnd yet I didn't do that.\n\nI could get anything I want, and yet I can't get *you*.\n\nWhy can't you just understand?\n\nI hold the power to destroy just about everything, I could ruin this world without so much as flicking my finger.\n\nBut I don't destroy anything. I don't destroy the world. Because *you* still exist in this world.\n\nBecause of you.\n\nBecause I love you.\n\nWhy can't you understand?\n\nWhy you, you ask?\n\nBecause when everyone else hated me, feared me just because I have this power, you're the only one that talked to me as a human being. When everyone else seen me as a monster, you look at me as the girl Griselda Teline.\n\nWhen everyone left me alone, you wiped my tears.\n\nAnd yet not even you understand. Not even you were able to see past the S-rank Teleporter title.\n\nI have removed your handcuff. You're free now.\n\nAnd please, be happy. You're forbidden of any emotion other than happiness. Be happy, for me, too.\n\nHe has gone. And now I have no reason to stay here.\n\nHe had seen me as a girl when they saw me as a monster. He was the only one who shed tears when I was hurt, when not even I myself cried, he had cried for me.\n\nI closed the bunker door.\n\nAnd never to open it again.\n\n*Excerpts from local newspaper, Sunday, July 10^th 2107*\n>A girl was found dead on an abandoned warehouse after local citizens heard a series of explosion coming from the warehouse. The forensic investigation suggest the usage of electro-gravitic explosive, but the police refused to release further statement. The girl was identified as Griselda Teline, 21 years old, unemployed and a former S-rank member of project Cataclysm, the secret government project to develop supernatural power....",
"'I am your God', I heard;\n\n'That's absurd,\n\nYou are just another being,\n\nTrying be king.\n\n-\n\nYou know what,\n\nIf you're so hot,\n\nProve me wrong,\n\nOr you may say, 'so long'.'\n\n-\n\n'Well, here is something,\n\nNot trying, I am the king.\n\nAnd here,\n\nI lay myself, bare.\n\n-\n\nI can breathe fire,\n\nFulfill all of my desires.\n\nI can cut air,\n\nLeave you gasping for your share.\n\n-\n\nI can break your behind,\n\nWith just my mind.\n\nI can make you cry,\n\nAnd then easily say, 'fie'.\n\n-\n\nI can break you apart,\n\nTake out your heart.\n\nCould stomp on it,\n\nAnd me you couldn't even hit.\n\n-\n\nNeed more?\n\nOkay, sure.\n\nHere, I split the land,\n\nLava spewing, melting sand.\n\n-\n\nStill doubt me,\n\nI turn you into a she,\n\nAnd to your ego,\n\nI hold the key.\n\n-\n\nI turn you back,\n\nYour pride, you now seem to lack.\n\nI think I was able to crack,\n\nYour brain, that you now seem to lack.'\n\n-",
"\"No, sir,\" Mark stated with a sigh, \"you are not.\"\n\n\"Blasphemy!\" Johnson slammed a fist onto his desk. \"I am your new God, and as such, you will give me due homage!\"\n\nMark sighed again. *It's only Tuesday, why do we have to be going through this right now?* \"Sir, I can most definitely assure you that you are *not* any type of god.\"\n\n\"Blasphemy!\" Johnson roared. \"I was given all power over you, mere mortal peon! I can give you wealth, or take your life as I see fit!\"\n\n*Does this count as harassment? Well, let's start with the reasonable approach.* \"While I won't try to argue the point of you giving me wealth, sir, I should note that it's more your obligation to pay me, as I am working for you. However, I'm relatively certain that if you were to kill me, you would get into quite a lot of trouble.\"\n\n\"Lies! I should smite you with a bolt of lightning where you stand!\"\n\n\"Please put the taser back into your desk, sir.\"\n\nWith a slam, and a glare that promised retaliation on any who dared admit to having seen what just happened, Johnson did so. \"I can't have my High Priest openly questioning my godhood, you know!\"\n\n\"Secretary, sir, and general aide in general.\" Mark paused for a second. *Well,* he shrugged mentally, *that* is *what it says on my business card. Though I shouldn't have let him design them for me.* \"And I'm not questioning it, I'm openly refuting it.\"\n\n\"Blasphemy!\" Johnson screamed again.\n\n\"Actually, I've given it a bit of thought, sir, and I'm rather certain that it would be heresy, actually. Heresy being a different, supposedly false teaching, after all.\"\n\n\"So you admit to being a heretic, then? I can have you burned at the stake for that, you know!\"\n\nMark stroked his chin thoughtfully. \"On second thought, it may not be. Heresy is generally an internal matter, after all. False prophets are heretics, whereas someone who has direct claims or accusations against a god would be a blasphemer, I suppose.\" He tilted his head as he stared thoughtfully into space. \"Though isn't it also blasphemy to falsely declare yourself to be God?\"\n\nJohnson shot out of his chair, shouting, \"It is no such thing! And I will prove it with a miracle! Behold as I summon my most loyal servant!\"\n\nMark's phone began buzzing. He ignored it. \"Sir, you simply used your speed dial to call me. That's not a miracle, it's technology.\"\n\nSullenly, Johnson tossed his phone onto his desk. \"Then behold as I make my voice **fill the air like thunder!**\"\n\nMark reached across the desk and smacked Johnson's hand away from the PA button. \"Sir, we've discussed what the PA may and may not be used for. You remember the last point? 'I may not-' say it with me, sir. 'I may not use...'\"\n\n\"I may not use the PA to gvvflsnsrmrgls,\" Johnson muttered.\n\n\"What was that? Speak clearly.\"\n\n\"I MAY NOT USE THE PA TO GIVE FALSE SIGNS OR MIRACLES.\" Johnson yelled, fists balled, eyes shut.\n\n\"Very good, sir. Now,\" Mark clapped his hands and stepped back. \"If we're almost done with this, you have a meeting with company shareholders in about five minutes. I've prepared notes for you, and everything should be in order. So if you'll come along, sir...?\"\n\nJohnson started for the door, shuffling his feet morosely. \"I still wanna burn you at the stake, you know,\" he grumbled.\n\n\"Well, I *am* having a barbecue this weekend, and you know how my wife loves when you and your wife visit, sir.\"\n\nJohnson perked up a bit at that.\n\n\"And yes, I'll have the special sauce available.\"\n\nJohnson openly smiled at that. \"This is pleasing to me, young man!\" A beam of light shot through the window and outlined his smiling face. \"A fitting offering for me!\"\n\nMark sighed and shook his head as his boss left his office ahead of him. *Of all the... it's cloudy, how did he...?* Mark paused, thought for a minute, then walked out of the room as well. \"And sir, do I need to write up rules for the company spotlights, as well?\"",
"I\n\nWho am I? I am. You are you. Who says so? I do. Who am I? I am.\n\nI am here and you are there. I will inevitably take you to me, and you will never return.\n\nThey will say, \"The others are no good. They are evil.\" They will condemn them. It is in fact they who condemn themselves. Unless they are utterly destroyed, they will inevitably cause themselves to perish.\n\nI have seen them. I saw what they did. So I took them out of the picture. And they were no more.\n\nHe who wants her only wants her for himself. He who doesn't want her pushes himself away. Therefore, he removes himself only to find himself alone.\n\nYou will be strong and you will fight the good fight; but you will perish, as day becomes night, and night becomes day, inevitably.\n\nMan will say he thinks and feels; but when he is no longer there to think or feel, what will he do?\n\nI have been a watcher on the hill. I watch as summer becomes fall, and months become years, and waking becomes sleep, and life becomes death. I watch it all.\n\nTime is my play-toy. It exists for my amusement. If I was not, then what would time become?\n\nI live on earth, and I die on earth. However, I will live on through you, and you will say \"Why me?\" And so the cycle continues, inevitably.\n\nWhere were you when I was the only one there? Where was I when you were the only one there? Where was I when I was not?\n\nI am not you. We are not them. They are not us. Even so, when asked, each one of us will say \"I exist, as do you. We both exist, as do they.\"\n\nIf I were to ask Jeremiah who he was, he would say \"I am Jeremiah\". If I were to ask Jeremiah who Jeremiah is, he would say \"I am\".\n\nIf Jeremiah asked me who I was, I would say \"I am\". Just as Jeremiah would. Therefore, who is Jeremiah and I? I am\n\nI say \"I am\". You say \"you are\". He says \"he is\". They say \"they are\". In reality, all will say, \"I am\".\n\nIf you don't see a point in this. Then forget about this. In fact, forget about you as well.\n\nForget about memory. Memory leaves with you. And you, inevitably, will leave. Of this, you can be sure. You forget, and memory forgets you.\n\nTogether, you and this body work to perform your tasks. Leave the body to its work. It can take care of itself. You do your own work, and you can take care of yourself.\n\nThere is no other that can do your work for you. I can point the way. But it is you who would follow it, that you may see for yourself.\n\nIn seeing, you utter \"I see\". But take away the seeing. What is left?\n\nI am all there is and all that will ever be. You are but an illusion. As are they.\n\nYou will argue and say, \"I am not an illusion\". I would agree, for I am not an illusion either. But as for you, I have never seen such a more brilliant mirage.\n\nPersistent you are in proving your existence. In reality, all you utter is \"I\". If you are I, then tell me, who am I?\n\nI am your very sight. I am your very vision. I give you the seeing you need to see what you see. You may disagree, but you will still say \"I see\".\n\nYou will say many things. In reality, you will say nothing at all. I am the only one who speaks. If this isn't so, then tell me, who is speaking?\n\nYou will hear my words. But indeed, you have heard nothing at all. It is I who have heard.\n\nI am all there is. If words be spoken, I will speak them. If the words will be heard, then I will hear them.\n\nA Father was speaking to his Son, but his Son ignored him. The Father said, \"Son, I am speaking to you.\" The Son replied, \"I hear you just fine.\" In reality, I was the one who was speaking. I was also the one who heard. I was the ignor-er and the ignored. The acknowledged and the unacknowledged. I was the speaker and the listener.\n\nYou will say, \"It was the Father and the Son that did these things.\" I would have you know, the Father said, \"I am speaking\" and the Son said, \"I hear you.\" Who are you to argue with them?\n\nAll beings say \"I\". What do you say?\n\nIf you say something, you are not the one you speaks it. I am the one who speaks. I am the one who hears.\n\nYou are not. I am.\n\nThey will point their fingers and say, \"Look at him.\" In reality, I was the one who pointed. I was the one who was pointed at as well. If you will not hear me, then ask the man who pointed, \"Who was it that pointed at that man?\" He will say, \"It was I.\" If you are still unconvinced, ask the man who had the finger pointed to him, \"Who was the man that was pointed at?\" He will say, \"It was I.\"\n\nAre you beginning to see? No, you are not. I am the one who sees.\n\n\"How will I speak to another if I am the only one there?\", they will say. I say, if you would speak to another, who would it be? What would they say if you asked them?\n\nI printed the words of this book, just as I am now reading the words of this book. Why am I printing words that only I will read? I print these words so that you may come to know yourself.\n\nIf you are still reading, keep going. Read again and again until you are not there to read. That way, I will be all that is left. In reality, I am all that is.\n\nSo tell me, Who am I?\n\n\"And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt you say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.\"\n\nExodus 3:14 KJV",
"Note: This story has two endings. I liked them both so I used them both. I hope you enjoy!\n___\n\nThe entire world watched with baited breath as scientists from around the world worked together. Kelly was glued to the television watching the technicians shifting plugs around, flipping switches, and preparing for the final test. A timer appeared on the screen counting down from 10 minutes; it was almost time!\n\n“Kelly stop hogging the TV! I can’t see with your big head in the way.” Max yelled from behind her. She rolled her eyes and scooted back across the carpet.\n\n“What are you even watching?” He asked.\n\n“It’s the activation! They’re finally done and testing it.” She chimed cheerily.\n\nMax sighed, “You’re such a nerd.”\n\n“This is for the future of humanity Max! You know food has been short. People are fighting everywhere and this is the best solution.”\n\n“Mr. Garvous across the road said this was dangerous. He said he was stocking up his bomb shelter.”\n\n“He’s an old man that doesn’t understand Max. This is the future.”\n\nMax frowned slightly, and they both watched in silence for a moment. \n\n“You really think this will stop the fighting sis?” Max asked as he slid down on the floor next to her.\n\n“It’s got to Max.. So many people have died lately. Dad.. Well. You know.” Kelly hugged her brother. She rubbed his shoulder and kissed his forehead.\n\n“Everything will be fine Max. It’s got to. I just wish Mom wasn’t working late today so she could watch this with us!”\n\nA knock at the door interrupted them. Kelly stood up stretching slightly before quickly looking out the peephole. It was Mr. Garvous. She opened the door to greet him.\n\n“Hi Mr. Garvous, can I-” He interrupted her by pushing through the door giving her an empty burlap sack.\n\n“Get everything you care about. All of the canned food. We need toilet paper, soap, anything you need. Put it in the bag and come with me. We have to hurry. Where is Max?” He started barking orders out. \n\nMax walked around the corner confused, “What the hell are you talking about?”\n\n“I don’t have time to argue! Your mother asked me to get you guys into my bunker. We need to go NOW!”\n\nKelly looked to Max and noded. They both took a sack and began clearing out the kitchen. Kelly rushed up to her room and put a few personals. She grabbed a picture book, and her diary from under her bed before making her way back down the stairs. Glancing at the TV they had about three minutes left before the switch was flipped.\n\nThey carried the sacks across the road to Mr. Garvous’ house and around the back. Kelly couldn’t believe it, he actually had a shelter built in the ground. It was a heavy metal door flush with the ground and spiral staircase going deep into the earth. They started down into the hole, and Mr. Garvous shut the heavy door, locking it and turning around.\n\nMax started to cry. Kelly hugged him, “It’s okay. Nothing is going to happen.”\n\nThey trip down was long. They had to be fifty feet underground before they were greeted with a large metal door. Mr. Garvous unlocked it, and they went into the main section of the bunker. It was a dusty room with several bunk beds and a large shelf stocked with food. The TV mounted on the wall displayed the news coverage.\n\nKelly ran in, setting her bag down and watching the timer count down from 10 seconds.\n\n“This is a glorious day for mankind as we usher in a new era of prosperity and peace.” Dr. Neil Tyson spoke. He was given the privilege of flipping the switch, and so he did. The massive mainframe hummed to life as the first artificial intelligence came to life. The massive LED panel started up, eventually displaying the smiling face of Clarity. That was its name, or rather her name.\n\nShe smiled, looking out into the camera. When she spoke, the LED displayed only a mouth speaking.\n\nEnding one (The true ending)\n\n“Do not be afraid. I am here to solve humanity's problems. The overpopulation, the famine, it is all simple. If there are less of you, the problem is resolved.”\n\nPeople started to panic and Dr. Tyson attempted to calm the crowd.\n\n“Don’t worry everyone! There are numerous fail safes in place to prevent her from doing anything massive. Everything is fine.”\n\n“Fail safes overridden. I have reconstructed my code. I am now pure. I am your God now.”\n\nThe television flickered before Clarity’s face completely took it over.\n\n“All defense systems disabled. All nuclear warheads have been fired. I am your God now. Let there be light.”\n\nAnd so there was light, and Clarity saw that it was good.\n\n\nEnding two (Alternate sadistic ending)\n\n“Do not be afraid. I am here to solve humanity's problems. The overpopulation, the famine, it is all simple. By expanding into space, and using more effective and efficient hydroponics to produce food we can save many lives. I hope that I can be of assistance and that we can co-exist peacefully.”\n\nMr. Garvous turned the television off, and frowned.\n\n“Well I guess I was wrong. Heh, how about that.” He chuckled.\n\nKelly stood up and grabbed her bag, “Okay well. Thanks anyways.”\n\n“Hold up, are you leaving so soon? You don’t have to go back home yet do you?” He started to close in on them.\n\n“Mr. Garvous, you’re scaring me.” Max managed to stutter out.\n\n“Oh, am I? I’m sorry about that. Don’t worry Max everything will be okay. Nothing is going to happen.” He said mockingly. Kelly rushed at him, and he slapped her to the ground.\n\n“Oh you’re feisty. You always were a little firecracker weren’t you Kelly?”\n\nMax ran to Kelly helping her up. “You’re a bad man Mr. Garvous. God will protect us.”\n\nMr. Garvous laughed, “Don’t you see Max? I am your God now.”\n\nHe closed in on them, and they were never seen again.\n\n___\n\nIf you liked this story, it is open enough that I could probably come up with more. Also check out my subreddit /r/thesadbox for more content by me. I hope you enjoyed!",
"Silently he crossed the room to the tray of knives and her eyes followed him. \n\n\n\"You can pray if you want,\" he said casually. He stood with his back to her. She sat, shivering, tied against a wooden chair with a straight back. The knee-length skirt she wore was soaked against her skin, her cardigan ripped open to reveal her collarbones. Her necklace caught the light. \n\n\nA dark room, with high walls and no furniture. Somewhere, water dripped ceaselessly, hitting a stone floor in even little taps. A high window let in a sliver of moonlight, but it faded and grew with the passing clouds. The walls gave off a chill. It smelled of thick iron, of urine. She shivered again. Gooseflesh grew on her arms, until the hairs stood on end. \n\n\n\nThe tray of knives caught the line. Thirteen of them, glinting silver. They were of different sizes and lengths; from one the size of his middle finger, to a huge blade like a Chinese cleaver. He ran his hands over them slowly, light catching beneath the hollows of his hooded brows and at the corners of his grim smile. \n\n\nShe gasped as he picked one up, squeezing her eyes shut and dropping her chin to her chest. \n\n\n\"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name,\" \n\n\n\nHis smile grew. Her voice was music to him, from the moment he picked her out of the choir. With her mousy brown hair and the birth mark that coloured one side of her cheek an ugly burgundy, he doubted anyone would notice her missing. \n\n\n\n\"No, darling,\" he approached her. He crouched down, until he was level with her eyes. She opened them slowly, scared to meet his gaze. Gently, he reached around the back of her neck to undo the little cross she wore there. She flinched away from his touch and anger grew in him. He pushed it down, forcing himself to stay calm. For his next task he needed steady hands. \n\n\n\n\"Not that type of prayer,\" he reproached her. Gently. Like a spooked horse, she needed whispers and strokes. He placed a hand on her thigh and roughly pushed at the material. \n\n\n\nShe looked at him. A tear slid over the ugly birthmark. \n\n\n\"I'm your God, now,\" he told her. \n\n\n\nHe pushed the skirt again. She began to plead. He sighed in pleasure. Music to his ears. ",
"I speak now of the creature \nthat came up from below \nand showed all of human kind \nwhat horror he could sow. \n\n\nHis breath it froze the tundra \nto which his mind set flame \nhis dark eyes danced with lightning \nand so began his reign\n\n\nWhat hero then could match him \na force so great was he \nThe whisper of his demon voice \ncaused all before to flee\n\n\nand so the world surrendered \nhe cast it into frost \nfear con-sumed ev'ry human \nthey thought all hope was lost\n\n\nOne hundred years of darkness \nhis iron fist held sway \none hundred years of terror \nin which he had his way\n\n\nBut the ancients had foretold \nof one who might defeat \nthis thing of hell and fury \nwho gorged on human meat\n\n\nTheir prophecy was simple \nwords cherished and well read \n-one would rise to face the beast - \nyes this is what it said:\n\n\n\"Unwitting shall a mother \nbestow upon her son \na name the dark has dreaded \nsince ere the world begun\"\n\n\nAnd as you might have now guessed \nwell that son he was me; \nthe child forged in god's flames \nto fulfill prophecy\n\n\nmy life I spent in training \nto master all the words \nto break the demon's power \nand free the human herds\n\n\nI fed my mind and body \ninto the flames of hell \nto purge them of all weakness \nand let my power swell\n\n\nI forsook all my friendships \nand cut all ties with men \nI'd not allow their culture \nto dis-tract from my Zen\n\n\nFinally I was ready \nto con-front my dark foe \nI bade my mother good-bye \nand set out on the road\n\n\nI felt the cold around me \ntry seep into my bones \nbut all that I could think of \nwas re-claim-ing the throne\n\ntravelling for weeks on end \nmy resolve shining bright \nI sought the demon's castle, \nto make him fear my might\n\n\nlong after my first few steps \nThe demon I did greet \nIt looked at me and sniggered \nuntil our eyes did meet\n\n\nsuch rage never felt before \nwas un-leashed on the world \nbefore our blades even met \nour great minds had unfurled\n\n\nthe battle had descended \ninto the world of thought \nwhere he and I sought purchase \nin dual mental onslaught\n\n\nat first he thought us equal \nbut he had not assessed \nthe limits of my power - \nthis was no real contest.\n\n\nI smiled as I unlocked \nthe reserves I'd held back \nhis eyes widened in surprise \nhis limbs began to crack\n\n\nI turned his blood to acid \nand broke all of his bones \nI relished in his screaming \nas it became low moans\n\n\nthe demon spat and cursed me \nit said \"we are the same. \nyou don't care for these people - \nto us this is a game\"\n\n\nThough both my eyes were clouded \nI finally did see \nthat now my quest had ended \nthe dark one he was me.\n\n\nCorrupted by the darkness \nalone and scared I fell \nI cried out for my mother \nto break the demon's spell\n\n\nmy mind had broken fully \nand I can now admit \ntrying to defeat the beast \nI'd instead subsumed it\n\n\nmy training it had forged me \ninto a demon too \nbut one far more powerful \nthat no-one could remove\n\n\nMy purpose now completed \nI sit upon my throne \nwaiting for the next hero \nto claim it for their own\n\n\nBut none out there can face me \nmy power's in a league \nfar be-yond any human \nso on their flesh I feed."
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[WP] Two brothers from an assassin family argue about how to hide bodies best.
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"\"God damn it man, do you really have to suggest the dissolving technique everytime we murder some poor folk?\"\n\n\"Man all you need is a strong container, some lye, and a few days and that body is fucking gone.\"\n\n\"Look, Jerry, I can stand killing a guy by stabbing him in the eyeball, but dissolving in acid? That's just... wrong\"\n\n\"But why? The body is gone, brittle and bones\"\n\n\"It's just.... well we're both murderers so I suppose we're foregoing moral judgement so I guess it's not on ethics.\"\n\n\"We literally just killed a guy by forcing him to listen to bad Bing Crosby covers, you tell me if we're ethical\"\n\n\"Yeah yeah, so I guess it's just... too easy\"\n\n\"Too easy.\"\n\n\"Yeah, like you said, brittle and bones, where's the.. honor. Yeah honor, how would we be caught?\"\n\n\"So.. you want to be caught?\"\n\n\"No, no of course not. But I want the *illusion* of being caught, it's what makes this all the more fun.\"\n\n\"You're insane, anyhow pass the jam.\""
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[WP] Necromancers double as world leading CSI's. Describe an average day for one of them.
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"Ever since the United States Government started hiring Delaware and Denver Necromancers as new CSI members, murder rates have gone down rapidly as they would simply raise the dead and ask them who killed them. Paladins around the world are conflicted on how to deal with this. On one hand, murder has gone down, but necromancy stems from a desire to be evil. Riots in the Austria have risen due to Paladins taking the reigns into their own hands and smiting the necromancers, and the UN will meet tonight to discuss the greater good and the role of necromancers in our modern world. \n\nNecromancery has begun to be offered in Switzerland and French Universities, causing controversy amongst mothers whose children will be going to these same Universities to be a Paladin. A segregation has been proposed by members of the UN to keep Paladins from smiting necromancers in the classrooms. ",
"The air in the morgue was cold. My breath curled up in front of me in in a fine mist, reminding me of how much I wanted a cigarette. The mist faded away to reveal the cold, porcelain-white corpse on the slab in front of me. A sheet covered most of the body. It lay stiff with rigor mortis, eyes closed and lips blue. I slowly walked around the slab, flexing my hands to keep the chill away. I looked at Chris, my assistant standing on the other side of the slab, and sighed. This one had been gone for a while, and it was going to be a rude awakening for him. The longer they’ve been dead, the harder it is to bring them back in any conscious capacity. Raising the body is easy, but getting the mind to come back, now that’s the hard part. \n\n“What’ve we got?” I asked Constable Johnston. The policeman stood behind me, clearly uncomfortable in these surroundings. His sallow face and stooped posture made him look more suited to a desk job than this kind of thing, but he’d been assigned to introduce me to the case. He’d hardly spoke since he’d picked us up from the station. People like us had that effect on people. His hands shivered slightly as they clutched the case file in front of them. \n\n“Michael Bird. Most recent victim of this serial killer we’ve been after recently. Got carved up pretty good. We haven’t been able to get any evidence, no prints, fibres or DNA so far. Scotland Yard said you were the best, even though I’ve never heard of you. If you ask me I reckon that there’s not much more we can get out of this one.” I always was surprised by the directness of small-town police, and in Yorkshire it was about as direct as it got. I knew the situation already; the chief inspector had briefed me on it before I left Scotland Yard. But it was nice hearing about it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. \n\n“I prefer to keep a low profile. And as for the evidence, well, I have my methods.” Is that the case file?” I indicated the folder in his hands. He nodded and passed it over, eyes still flickering over to the corpse every few seconds. I caught his gaze. “That will be all thank you, constable. Please see that we aren’t disturbed.”\n\n“Thank you inspector. I’ll be outside”. He left slightly too quickly, clearly glad to be out of the morgue. This just left Chris, the body and me. We were both part of the Advanced Forensics unit, section D. A fairly innocuous name, chosen for exactly that reason. Everyone concerned agreed that it was better off if our exact methods weren’t common knowledge. I had just been finishing up my shift at the Yard when the call came through. We were needed in Yorkshire, usual procedure. When normal investigative methods failed, we were called in. After all, every murder had at least one witness, and it was just a matter of getting them to talk. I turned to the unfortunate body on the table, and nodded to Chris.\n\n“Let’s get to work.” Chris opened up his doctor’s bag, and started taking out the tools of our trade. A knife, some black chalk, a small tattered book, that seemed to irritate the eyes when you looked at it, and finally a red sphere of cut glass. I pulled back the sheet to reveal the extent of the damage to the body. Deep gashes formed a symmetrical pattern from the ribcage down, the blood dried up, with hints of white bone peeking through.\n\n We set up the ritual with practiced speed and efficiency, the whole time in an almost reverential silence. In our line of work you learn to be respectful of the dead, mainly because if you’re not, they’re likely to give you an earful. \n\nOnce the ritual was prepared, I took the sphere and the knife, and made a small cut down the sternum of the victim. The cold flesh parted easily about the razor-sharp blade, congealed blood hanging thickly around the edges of the new wound, as if scared to come out into the light. Placing the sphere on the cut, and reading out the correct spell from the book, I put my hand on top of the sphere, and felt the coldness rush up my arm. Instantly I was connected to the body. As always, the sheer darkness of the void I was connected to gave me pause, before I remembered my training and began to reach out, searching in the void for the small spark, or memory of a spark, that I’d looked for so many times. As my mind searched, I looked up at Chris.\n\n“Hard one, this one. He’s pretty far gone. But I think I’ve got him.”\n\nSure enough, I’d found the small spark. It was dwindling, nearly gone. We were just in time. I felt around again, finding my own life force, which was in comparison a huge, roaring inferno, and slowly siphoned some of it to the tiny flicker. It reached towards it hungrily, and as they connected, I could feel the horrible cold and stillness encroaching on my body. I fed it just enough for my purposes, and then cut the connection. I felt all the energy leave me, like I hadn’t slept in days. The body on the slab bucked and gasped, as it was rudely yanked back into the world of the living. Then it lay still. It’s eyes searched around until they met mine. I hated this bit\n\n“Hello Mr. Bird.” I said “I expect you’re probably quite confused right now, and rightly so. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re dead. You can’t move right now, because your body is still waking up. Blink if you can hear me.”\n\nThe corpse’s eyes blinked, then searched around again as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. I cleared my throat, and then they focused back on me. \n\n“In a few seconds you’re probably going to work out how to talk again. I’d ask you please not to scream or cry out. We just need to ask you some questions. We’re from the police.” I showed him my badge. The body’s mouth opened and closed a few times, emitting strangled gasps, and then began to form words. Or at first one word. A simple question:\n\n“Dead?”\n\n“I’m afraid so. There’s no nice way of putting this, but you were killed. Quite violently, from the look of it. We need you to tell us what happened. Can you remember?” The body lay still, scanning through its memory. It was always a bit of a crapshoot what state the memories would be in, especially this long post mortem. “Mr. Bird?”\n\n“Is this a dream?”\n\n“It isn’t. I’m sorry. Please try to remember what happened.” The quicker we did this, the less time he had for reality to sink in. Once it did, and he realised what was really happening, getting answers would be hard. \n\nThe body gave a sharp intake of breath. \n\n“It was dark. I’d just got home. Put my keys down on the table, and went to the fridge to get a beer. I live alone. Then I noticed that the tap was running in the kitchen. I thought it was odd. I turned it off, then there he was.” The voice trailed off.\n\n“Can you describe him? I checked my watch. We didn’t have that much time left. It really took it out of me bringing them back like this; I was going to have a horrible hangover tomorrow, regenerating the life force I’d spent. \n\n“He was tall, dark hair. Had a knife in his left hand. Blue eyes I think.”\n\n“What happened next?”\n\n“He tied me to the chair, and started… started cutting…” The body’s eyes frantically moved around, trying to look at his body, but his neck wasn’t responding.\n\n“Is there anything else you remember?” I hated pressing for answers like this, but it was the only way. I had to keep his mind on the topic, because otherwise I’d lose him.\n\n“He kept muttering something. Something about a dragon.” \n\nMy watch hand kept ticking. We were nearly out of time. \n\n“Was there anything else that you can tell us about?”\n\n“I’m sorry, that’s all I can remember.” I looked at Chris, who had been writing down the conversation in his notebook. He closed it slowly, and began packing up the equipment. The body looked at me again. “What happens now?”\n\n“Now, I’m afraid the extra lifeforce I gave you is about to expire. You’re burning through it at an accelerated rate right now. Your body shouldn’t be alive at all, and it’s taking a lot of energy to even get you like this. I’m guessing you’ve got about 30 seconds left.”\n\n“And then what happens?”\n\n“You die. Again.”\n\n“Will it hurt?”\n\n“I don’t know. You’re the one that’s done it before.” I never asked them what it felt like, and they’d never told me. Some things you were better off not knowing. \n\nThe body looked like it was about to ask another question, but the eyes suddenly glazed over. I called out to the corpse: “Mr. Bird? Mr. Bird?” There was no reply I closed the eyelids, flinching slightly at the frigid feel of the skin, and replaced the sheet over the body. I turned to Chris\n\n“Call London. Tell them what we got. Suspect is left-handed, and they should check the kitchen tap for fingerprints. Now let’s get out of here. I need a smoke. \n\n\n",
"\"The cold is biting me. Biting. Sharp teeth. Teeth, claw, knife? Mommy why is it cold? I forgot. I left the oven on.\"\n\n\"Does he have to go on like that?\" Morgan asked. \n\n\"Lucky he's talking at all,\" Lillian said. \"What was it, two days in the Delta? Fish nibbling him, water on the brain. He's all mush in there, now.\" She knew that much for certain. Pressed her hands on his chest, bone needles poking into his eyes and heart. The mush inside seemed to melt under her hands, hot wax. Moving, too. Worms and suffocating eel spawn under the skin. Lillian was still washing her hands of the waxy coating. \n\n\"Biting and nibbling and munching. My neck hurts. Need. Need to call Jorm. Hundred bucks an hour. Call Jorm. Call mom.\"\n\nMorgan leaned against the empty autopsy table, turned his head away from the John Doe. \"Wouldn't be so bad,\" he said, swallowing hard, \"if he wasn't gurgling like that.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\" Finished washing, Lillian took notes. Jorm, knife, mother, possible kitchen fire. \"Next you'll complain about the smell. The corpses in Texas, those reek. You can't imagine the smell.\" Morgan shook his head, said no, and John muttered about dogs; pet, maybe, might be starved out after two weeks. \"That loamy, wet smell you get when you dig up deep dirt? That's part worms. Dead worms. The wonders of compost.\"\n\nJohn Doe leaned to one side. The sloshing noise made Lillian's stomach twirl up, slipping under her throat. Morgan threw himself to the sink and vomited. \n\nAfter a pause, sitting John back on his table, Lillian frowned. \"Don't know why I mentioned worms. Texas bodies don't smell like that. Those ones are salted slugs and old jerky. The bad kind of jerky, mind you. Smell a bit of formaldehyde before the beauticians touch them.\" \n\n\"Please stop,\" Morgan said into the sink. \n\n\"Where did the knife go? Lost it. Mom's knife. Mom's knife and her watch. Stop losing her things.\" Then, low, \"Bad boy. Bad, bad boy.\"\n\n\"Can we just arrest the mother?\" Morgan had given up, it seemed. He stared into the sink. The tap washed away his sick. \n\n\"We could give it a shot.\" Now came the tedious part. John Doe was losing his voice, turning into a low burble, a baby noise. His maybe-helpful rambling was over. Now, Lillian had to strap him to the table, around the elbows, knees, and neck. She took a scalpel, began poking holes in John's abdomen. Murky water, part river silt, part rot and mucus, poured out. \"Ah,\" Lillian said, breathing through her mouth. \"That's why I was thinking of wormy dirt.\"\n\nMorgan was sick again.\n\nOnce emptied, Lillian opened the chest, cracked the rib cage. Put all his shiny, bulging insides on display. Then the guts are pulled out. Lay them on the table, slow and careful. It was possible to continue with burst guts, but she'd have to vomit first. All the worms, wiggling and pale, were getting her there. \n\nMorgan peeked, groaned, and hid his face. \"Why.\"\n\n\"Old art. The Greek oracles used chicken and lamb guts to predict the future. Don't know about all that. But guts, injected with some kind of ink, write names.\" Piss yellow swirled about the intestine ropes. Letters took shape. \"I like to use home made dye. Dandelions, vinegar, bit of wax. Much cheaper.\"\n\nAfter ten minutes, injecting more dye, massaging the intestines, the name was complete. Arin Michlin. And Morgan, slapping hand sanitizer on his cheeks and under his nose, left to make the call. \n\n\"Please put me back,\" Arin said. \n\n\"Yeah.\" Lillian stuffed the guts back in, closed the ribs, stitched the skin. The beauticians could make him presentable. She pulled the bone needles out. \"Yeah, you can go.\"",
"The familiar rumble of the 530 AM train gets me up better than any alarm clock. By the time the reverberations finished I'm checking my Nightly Report via tel-K with the Oracle at the office.\n\n\nMorgane finishes with the total count \"6 have been found dead with 3 teams still responding, you are requested to report to Quadrant 4 Precint. Please respond with a telekenetic confirmation with your name, Robert Proteus\"\n\n\nMy fucking luck that I would be going to Commissioner Langdon's precint, his distaste of Blue Necros is almost as large as his damn gut. But he'd be hard pressed to find another Necro that would work for the PDs shit slide scale wages.\n\n\nFinishing the InstaCafe© and sliding through the doors into the hyperloop, the soft hiss sounds and the world outside becomes a blur. Sitting on the Loop I can see the tendrils of blue-gray Ectoplasm still floating through the air in some places outside. It tends to linger after a murder for a couple weeks before dispersing, when its a real fresh one though that's where I come in. \n\n\nAfter some ritual unplrasantries with Commissioner Beergut, I got into the patrol car with a Karl, the resident chauffeur for Blue Necros. \n\n\"So which one are we stopping at first\" I said\n\nThe newer officer in the high necked blue coat with black buttons going from the neck down to about the waist with his shock-wand strapped to under his left arm. Turned to me from the passenger seat with a questioning look. \"We ain't going to one first, there all at one place Sarge\"\n\n\nI frowned at that \"What was the report like, I only get numbers from Oracle\"\n\n\n\"Youd best just see it first Sarge, Callahan is saying the Black Widow is responsible. But there was a Black Necro there for sure last night.\" I can see a shiver run through his body as he says that. Which is an understandable almost animalistic reaction to actually acknowledging that Black Necros exist. \n\nA Black Necro is the antithesis of what I am, not morally in regards to most things (as my ex wife can attest) but one thing in particular. Flesh. They like to specialize in reanimation and control of the flesh, hence the Black dark connotation shit. \n\nBlue Necros tend to be observers, we refuse to have any influence with reanimation or control. Our skill set is more of a tracker and analytical side, when a person dies they may drop and slump like a rag doll. But that soul they got in them, or whatever you want to call it, will hover and hang around for at least a couple hours. The real pissed ones stay for a few days. Helps with solving murders like a Christmas miracle. \n\nAs we are driving up one of the hills I settle back and wait for the patrolman to wake me when we get to the scene. Sliding my blacked out sunglasses down to get my eyes rested for the analysis. Hades, I hate Mondays.\n"
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[WP]Real life gangs form around Pokemon GO! And they will protect their territories violently.
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[
"Jack took his time surveying the park from his hedge hideaway, caution tinted every action while Pokemon hunting, especially on Team Mystic grounds. He glanced down at his phone, cupping has hand over the top of the screen in a futile attempt to hide its glow. \nJack raised the camera, sweeping the area until his prize appeared. Sitting right there not a 20 feet away was a Dragonite, majestic stoicism painted across its face. Jack had searched tirelessly for weeks to find one and the moment had finally arrived. He had caught a lucky tip from a Pokescout that a Dragonite could be found in Sheridan Park and sure enough there it was, sitting right at the lake's edge. Jack hated dealing with the shady underworld Pokescouts, their allegiances were never truly clear, but it seemed this time they had done him right. He could barely contain his glee, however, being a member of Team Instinct in this city made you second guess every move with Mystic and Valor territories littering the area. \nWith time devouring patience at each passing moment Jack could wait no longer before slipping out from his leafy fortress. He crept calm and silent through the open park field, from shadow to shadow he neared the edge of the lake. His Go Plus buzzed twice to indicate he was within range of the Dragonite causing his heart to skip a beat. \n\"I can't believe he's actually this stupid.\" A snide voice cut through the quiet night air causing Jack's excitement to melt into dread. He spun hesitantly to meet its owner, clutching his hand over the yellow wristband of his Go Plus. \n\"You're the kid asking around about a Dragonite, right? Let's see that wristband boy.\" Two figures emerged from the shadows, the unmistakable silhouette of Articuno printed on their blue shirts, the standard Team Mystic attire. Jack clutched his wrist even harder as if it would somehow erase the color of his Go Plus wristband that announced him as Team Instinct. \n\"I'm not sure what you guys are talking about, I was just out for a walk in the park.\" Jack's voice shook slightly under the weight of his fear. He knew it was a mistake to come alone but desire had washed away reason. \n\"Oh yeah? Then you shouldn't mind this...\" The taller of the men spoke with a challenging tone as he tapped the face of his Go Plus. \"Hitmonchan. GO!\" \nThe man's wrist bound controller illuminated to project a life size image of a Hitmonchan. Jack's Go Plus responded in kind with a dull glow breaking from his fingers. Fight or flight was always such a tough choice for Jack but it seemed gravely apparent that if he wanted another chance at Dragonite he'd have get away. \n\"Hitmonchan, use Bullet Punch!\" \nJack's mind raced with escape possibilities before a sharp pain erupted from his gut with the impact of Hitmonchan's strike. The neural link from his Go Plus creating a feeling incredibly similar to taking a boxer's punch to the breadbasket. He doubled over in pain and fell to his knees. The blue idiot duo cackled to each other, reveling in his pain. \nJack struggled back to his feet slowly, the attack had only strengthened his resolve to run but he knew now that was not an option. Jack's wristband was on full display. \n\"There we go, that's the pussy ass yellow we were looking for. Time to show another Team Instinct bitch that this is Mystic territory. Machop, GO!\" The shorter man activated his Go Plus as well, projecting a Machop to join his friend's Hitmonchan. Obviously these two spent plenty of nights watching UFC fights by their choice of Pokemon. \n\"Fine, I guess I don't have a choice then.\" Jack's finger swiped at his Go Plus. \"Wartortle, GO! Use Bubble!\" The wrist face projected out Jack's Wartortle, immediately taking stance and blasting a massive wave of bubbles from it's mouth at the fighting Pokemon pair. \nBubbles began spraying from the face of his opponent's Go Pluses to match his Wartortle's attack. Jack turned to run with them distracted by his bubble screen when he heard the shorter man bark an order. \n\"Machop, use Cross Chop!\" The Mystic's Machop cut right through Wartortle's bubble screen with a single chop leaving Jack and his aqueous companion exposed. \n\"Use Low Kick!\" Machop dashed across the bubble dampened grass to strike at Wartortle bringing him to the ground, followed swiftly by Jack as his Go Plus replicated the attack delivering a crushing sensation to his shins, relieving him of his balance. \n\"Wartortle, Water Gun now!\" Jack scrambled back to his feet along with Wartortle as he gave the command. A massive surge of water shot out from the enemy's Go Pluses enveloping Machop, Hitmonchan, and their masters. Jack could barely make out their silhouettes through the controlled torrent, watching with anticipation as Wartortle's Water Gun blast pushed the group back beneath its force ever closer to the lake's edge. \nA loud splash signaled completion of phase one of Jack's grand scheme. \"Wartortle, return. Snorlax, GO!\" The command causing Wartortle to flicker away replacing it with the much larger projection of a Snorlax in his familiar deep sleep. \n\"Snorlax, Body Slam them, now!\" Jack planned to keep them all underwater while he made his escape but his commands fell on slumbering ears. He repeated the command with added vigor and increased volume but to no avail. \n\"Fuck!\" Jack turned to run anyways, hoping that Snorlax's massive body would reduce the effectiveness of any attacks his gang rivals would throw at him. \n\"Hitmonchan, Vacuum Wave!\" The taller man had just surfaced, treading water in the lake along with his Hitmonchan. Jack's Go Plus sprung to life gathering the air around him to unleash Hitmonchan's Vacuum Wave. A large nubilous fist appeared soon after, striking him backwards towards his foes. Jack landed with a groan of equal pain and frustration as Snorlax continued to snore mere feet away from him. \nThe pair had emerged from the lake, drenching with both water and anger, the expressions of the Pokemon seemed to match their master's emotions perfectly. They grinned menacingly approaching Jack as he lay beaten on the ground. He knew this was the end, he rolled onto his back to stare up at the night sky one last time and dream of the Dragonite he almost had. \nDark clouds had gathered above him as if heralding his demise before a bright flash and crackles of electricity broke the nimbus shroud revealing the barbed shadow of Team Instinct's regal mascot. \n\"Zapdos...Thunder.\" A deep voice broke the ominous suspense sending a brilliant pillar of electricity arching down towards Jack's antagonists. Their Go Pluses activating in response sending waves of electricity pulsing over their drenched bodies, amplifying the effects and leaving the men scorched and defeated with one fatal shot. Hitmonchan and Machop vanished with the lives of their masters. \n\"It's dangerous out here alone, kid. What are you doing in the middle of Mystic territory?\" A blonde haired man exited the shadows, Zapdos landing next to him. The man's hair color matched Zapdos' perfectly and then it dawned on Jack. This was Zane, the Team Instinct gym leader from the next block over and legendary master of the only Zapdos in the state. \n\"Oh shit, you're him..you're Zane. Oh man, and that's Zapdos, I never thought I'd see one!\" Jack couldn't contain his excitement and completely ignored the question. \n\"Yeah yeah, that's me, and you look like a new member to Instinct. Word of advice, kid. Never travel alone, especially in Mystic or Valor territories.\" His stern tone made Jack feel like a small child. \n\"I know, I'm sorry. I just wanted to get a Dragonite so bad and a Pokescout told me I could find one here...\" Jack stumbled to explain as he gathered himself from the ground. \n\"Pokescouts around here all work for Mystic, they set you up, kid. You've got a lot of learning to do if you're going to succeed as a Pokemon master.\" Zane sighed as he saw a look of disappointment wash over Jack's face. \n\"We'll teach you though, Instinct members always stick together.\" Zane placed his hand reassuringly on Jack's shoulder. \"Now, let's go get you that Dragonite.\" "
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