Split (1)

train · 199k rows

post_text stringlengths 0 17.5k	post_title stringlengths 8 314	comment_texts listlengths 1 74	num_stories int64 1 74
	[WP] Instead of Hogwarts Houses (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin) you are bring sorted to Game of thrones Houses (Stark, Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, and etc.)	[ "Today was Jared’s big day. A couple of months ago he turned eleven and in Westeros eleven is an important age. Not only does it mean that you have managed to survive not dying at birth, but you also didn’t die in some tragic event as a child. Each year for all the children who make it to the age of eleven they are sorted in to a noble house. Everyone always wanted one of the seven major houses, but with how many houses now existed it was highly unlikely that Jared would ever be placed in one of the large ones. He would likely end up in a smaller house like the Manderlys.\n\nJared had been taken to King’s Landing for the big day. A feast was held in the Red Keep as the children were sorted off to the different houses. Representatives from each of the major houses were in an attendance. They would deliver any children sorted to a house from their kingdom to their new home. Things had changed this year to reflect the ongoing war. The usually in attendance House Stark had been replaced by House Bolton. Also replaced was House Tully with House Frey. Jared and plenty of others had heard about the Red Wedding and what the Freys had done to the Starks. Seeing their banners at the ceremony just made him shiver.\n\nJared sat quietly with the other children who had come to be sorted. All around them the other guests were drinking and eating and singing and being very loud. Jared was incredibly nervous as he watched the Hand of the King, Kevan Lannister, approach the front of the gathering. He raised his hands for the party to settle. It took sometime but finally there was silence with the odd voice here and there. Kevan announced that it was time for the sorting to begin.\n\nA seat was brought out with an old, raggedy hat sitting in it. Kevan read from a list and each time he called a name a child went to the chair. The hat would be placed on their head and the hat would call out their new noble house. The table Jared sat at grew emptier and emptier as each child left to be sorted. The only notable child was a girl who was placed in House Arryn. Though a powerful house Jared didn’t particularly care to be added to a house that was at the top of a giant mountain!\n\nAt last it was Jared’s turn. He took his seat in the chair and the hat was placed on his head. His heart beat rapidly as he waited for his life to be decided. He couldn’t even focus on a house to hope to be sorted in to. The anticipation was too much of a distraction. At last the hat spoke and the words it said filled Jared with dread.\n\n“House Stark!” the hat shouted.\n\nThere was silence rather than cheering like the children before him. Jared quickly looked to where House Bolton was located and it seemed like everyone there was glaring at him. The Hand of the King appeared to be at a loss of what to do. Kevan just tried to ignore it and called up the next child. The hat was taken from Jared’s head and he was told to leave.\n\nJared trudged through to the party with eyes following him as he made his way towards the Boltons. As he drew closer though, he suddenly turned away and headed out of the party. Only the Boltons seemed to notice as he made his way out of the area. Jared glanced over his shoulder to see a few men get up from their table and follow him. As Jared descended the stairs away from the party he began to move with more urgency. Once the stairs ended he was in a sprint as he desperately tried to find a way to get out of the capital. He didn’t know what he would do once he had gotten away. But he had to focus on survival, for now he was a Stark of Winterfell which made him a target throughout Westeros.\n", "\"So let me get this right, this is still a magical school, and we're still here to learn stuff, but we have to not wash as frequently?\" asked Harry.\n\n\"That's right.\" Ron nodded.\n\n\"Hmm... so what about the sex?\" Harry pondered?\n\n\"Errr... what?\"\n\n\"Sex You know, S.E.X. Game of thrones. Lots of sex. Practically all the time. Brother, sister, father, girlfriend, whores. You name it, they're all at it!\" Harry exclaimed.\n\n\"Err....we're kids, Harry\" said Ron.\n\n\"Exactly! We're even more sort after by 'certain types'. Are we allowed to defend ourselves?\"\n\n\"Err....\"\n\n\"Oh, come on, lets go in and get this sorting thing over with. If I can't be in Hufflepuff, then I need to know what's next in store for me.\" Harry walked into the room.\n\nThe room was full of other students, and they approached the dais to be sorted.\n\nRon, sat in the chair and the hat was placed on his head. It squirmed and shuddered, then shouted \"Stark\".\n\nRon turned to Harry, \"Ah, Stark, I'm due t' learn from t' Starks then, I canna wait to see what thee is\".\n\nHarry blinked. \"What? Ron? What happened to your accent?\" \n\nRon looked sheepish. \"Ey'up I'm from t' Norf now! Gotta practice t' language!\"\n\n\"What? Oh God, let's get this over with.\"\n\nHarry sat down and the hat was placed on his head. The hat mused and pondered, then with a roar shouted \"ETC!\"\n\nHarry jumped up. \"Etc? What does that mean?\".\n\nRon peered at Harry, \"Means you're just an extra...\"\n" ]	2
	[WP] The better the world is doing, the more you weaken. You strive to cause destruction and mayhem, in the name of surviving.	[ "It has been about 8 years since I have felt the best I have in a long time. Yes the recession of 2008 was such a bad time for a lot of humanity, but it was a great time for me. See the worst the world is doing the better it is for me. As long as I keep the world in mayhem the longer I can survive. \n\nThen this asshole named Obama and some other world leaders came along and did a pretty good job of cleaning up that wreck and the world seems to be doing a lot better these days. I have been feeling pretty weak lately and I know I will not survive for much longer if the world continues on this current rate of progress. \n\nLuckily I have one last trick up my sleeve, which may lead me to be the strongest I have been yet. That trick is a man called Donald Trump, and me being chairman of the Republican National Committee allows me to have a large influence on getting him elected. See without the Republican party Trump could never get elected, but I had some people talk to some people to talk to some people to ensure that he would be running on our ticket. I had to make sure no one knew I was backing him from the start, but I also had to ensure that he would win the primaries. With my position in the party this was fairly easy to do covertly. Now with the election only a few days away I can already feel my power growing.\n\n The reason I want Trump to win so bad is because it would be like letting a bull loose in a china shop. You have no idea what destruction and mayhem he will cause but you know he will and you know it will be a lot. I fear that if he does not win Clinton will make the world far too stable and boring, and I will become to weak and my existent will come to an end. If Trump does not win the election I will have to continue to get FOX news to overhype all of the racial tensions, gun violence, immigration issues, and abortion that tend to cause mayhem in America in order to survive another four years for our next shot and what surely would be my last shot. \n\n" ]	1
I made this post but accidentally put August 6th instead. Considering the date was meant to be important. I've reuploaded it with the correct date in case it would change any writings.	[WP] You're a Japanese soldier at an outpost 5 miles away from Nagasaki. It's August 9th 1945 and yet something doesn't feel right.	[ "\"It's called a zombie, Hino, it doesn't think of anything but eating flesh.\"\n\nTakun sounded like a complete idiot as he tried to explain why he shot the pair of travelers. Hiro wanted to believe him, of course. The pair of them had grown up in the same town, enlisted at the same time, served in the same fights across the Philippines against the yanks, it was hard for Hiro to look at Takun like a murderer. But here they were, their khaki uniforms at stark odds and contrasting against the lush green jungles behind them. Takun racked back the metal slide of his rifle with a grim expression, the heavy brass casing sent swirling smoke through the air and bouncing off the ground with a happy tinkers sound.\n\nHiro tried to peer under the balmy sun at the pair of bodies on the road up ahead, some hundred meters away. They had both walked with an aimless gait, both shuddered and spasmed in the same pointless way when they were shot. Both had been equally unresponsive to calls from Takun. Hiro clutched his rifle with a nervous expression as his mind raced with the possibilities.\n\n\"The final play. The black fire.\" Takun said, almost to no one in particular as his hands fed two spare bullets into his rifle's hungry magazine.\n\n\"They wouldn't. We've more than a million men and women ready to fight for the mainland.\" Hiro tried to argue for sanity, knowing he wasn't in any real position of authority to matter.\n\nThe pair of them stood, side by side, and terrfied in their own different ways. The two opposite bodies laid empty and finished just ahead on the road. There was a storm churning further ahead, the Black Fire spread in the most crowded places that remained. Takun knew that, so did Hiro. Both men had heard the rumors from the mainland defense planners, both men had heard of the Cherry Blossom task force that was seeking to weaponize a material that turned every man, woman, and child into a blood thirsty killer. The mess hall had quietly buzzed with whispers of villages that vanished or city blocks that cried out into silence. \n\nIt was likely only a matter of time before the entire island would be transformed into some sort of mindless weapon. Hiro looked down at his rifle, trying to remember if he'd topped up the magazine to 6 rounds or if he'd left the chamber of the barrel empty with 5 bullets ready in the magazine. Takun's hand clutched his old friend's shoulder as the pair craned their necks to look into the sky. A lone war plane droned high above.\n\nIn the distance in the road, toward the city up ahead, an anguished groan of air rattling through a disemboweled throat echoed off the trees. Takun grasped up his sergeants whistle and blasted out the high pitched cry for the check point to alert. " ]	1
	[WP] You live in a city which happens to be built on the back of a giant space turtle.	[ "Look, don't ask me why giant space turtles are a thing. All I know is that some scientists just made one for god knows what reason, and then they wanted to get rid of it.\n\nClassic. Sure it's cute initially, but when it's grown to the size of a small asteroid, it's too much responsibility all of a sudden. Honestly, if I were to pick a group of people to have awesome powers over nature, I sure as hell wouldn't pick scientists. But, what can you do?\n\nNow the Earth is using this turtle just like Britain used Australia when it was still a colony. Namely, they are sending all their convicts to it. All of us have got life in prison for one reason or another. And now we're going to settle another star. Or our descendants will at least. We will be dead long before that. Hopefully not from having gone crazy and killed each other, though.\n\nIt's a pretty large city that we have here. It stretches all over the back of the turtle. The top layer is mainly farms, deeper down are the living spaces. It's actually pretty spacious. Much better than staying in prison on Earth for the rest of my life. And the best part is, I'm part of a grand adventure, an expedition to another star. Every day, I look out my window and see the majesty of space. And that reminds me that I'm making history here. Me and the thousands of others on this crazy space... ...turtlecity?\n\nI don't want to jinx this or anything, but I don't think even the scientists could ruin this now. Most of the people here are actually pretty decent. They didn't take the real crazies, the murderers and the like. I've got some guys I hang out with, and a role in society. (I'm a gardener, by the way.) This city does have a brig for those who break the rules, but to be honest, I don't plan on ever committing another crime in my life. I think most people here feel the same.\n\nIn exchange for my crimes, I may have landed myself a seat in utopia. Ironic, huh?\n\nHang on, I have to go. I just saw something big block the sunlight coming in through my window. And I think I just heard someone say something that sounded suspiciously like, \"shark.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Every Halloween a secret cult releases a real monster and its your job to kill it before it gets to the children. The only catch is that the monster looks like any trick or treater.	[ "Sam stared at Dean as he respeced his .50 caliber magazines and shook his head.\n\n\"You know I never understood why you need a .50, it's overkill, you can get almost any job done with a 17 and dad taught us that any custom rounds are best improved with slug rounds. Yet, it never ceases to amaze me how much time and effort you waste creating custom caliber rounds.\" Sam told him sitting across the table of the storage unit/weapon den.\n\n\"Remember that Wendigo we took down in Okachobee? That fucker was huge I didn't have my fifty back then and you know what happened Sam? We almost died because parabellum rounds bounced off of it like a fucking paper plate with peas in a goddamn straw.\" Dean got his 'I'm serious' look and Sam could not help but laugh.\n\n\"So it's Halloween in Maine and you suspect a cult no one has ever heard about is summoning ideo creatures. It's a stretch Dean, there's nothing on the forums or the chats, I have asked around.\" Sam informed him.\n\n\"What about that power ranger from last years Halloween in Indiana? Huh? It's head split open like that demogorgon from Stranger Things. The year before that, a Casper that spit acid on people, it didn't have a nose , Sam. Before that? You remember in Washington, before we could get there Strawberry Shortcake ate like twenty family pets. I went to the morgue that night Sam it was not a mask, it was the stuff of nightmares.\" Dean said pausing to reminisce. \n\n\"Coincidences...anomalies. Look this is the business we are in and we have seen some pretty odd stuff. I'll entertain the notion that there could be something going on cause that's what we do. I need to know your plan though.\" Sam told him reaching into an ammo box and pulling out some empty prepped slugs.\n\n\"Well, I've checked the coroner's report on several of these creatures. I saw for myself last year with the power ranger too, and there is always one thing that is consistent with all of them.\" Dean placed his .50 on the table with a loud clunk and poured himself a cup of coffee with a smug look on his face.\n\n\"Well break the suspense already. If there is something I missed let me know.\" Sam shot back knowing Dean was getting off on knowing more than him this time.\n\n\"Candy corn.\" Dean said.\n\n\"Candy corn?\" Sam asked.\n\n\"Yup.\" \n\nIt was about 6:00pm when Sam and Dean climbed the ladder to the small tree house in the middle of suburbia in Bangor. Dean had bought eight bags of candy corn and placed them in three piles around the tree house. The trick or treaters began making their rounds and started piling out by the boatloads.\n\n\"You realize how dangerous this is right?\" Sam asked Dean with a mild look of regret in the crowded tree house. \n\n\"Of course I do, that's why I brought the ankh.\" Dean raised the necklace showing it to Sam and let the pendant fall back onto his chest.\n\n\"That's actually not a bad idea, you have clearly given this more thought than I ha..\" Sam started when Dean shoved him pointing at one of the piles.\n\n\"Look Sammy!\" Dean said in an excited low voice.\n\nSam looked towards the pile of candy corn and a man was looking at it then turned directly towards them and began walking their way.\n\n\"Oh shit!\" Dean said comically trying to hide in the small space.\n\n\"Hello up there?\" the man asked as Sam began making his way down the tree house.\n\nWhen he got down and shook the man's hand he noticed who he was talking to.\n\n\"Holy shit you're Stephen King!\" Sam said looking up at Dean who peaked his head out with a look of doubt and then surprise.\n\n\"Sure am, Hoss. I'd like to know what you are doing on my property and why you have scattered candy in my yard. What you are doing in my tree fort?\" the man asked Sam as Dean crawled down.\n\nSam started to speak when Dean interrupted him. \n\n\"Animal control, Mr.King. We have had reports of a rabid German Shepherd in the area. We apologize for not asking you first we just did not want to alarm anyone.\" Dean lied.\n\n\"Do you have any identification?\" Stephen asked them.\n\nDean reached in his wallet and handed a card out as Sam did the same. Stephen adjusted his glasses inspecting the details on the cards.\n\n\"So you expect me to believe that one dog catcher from Florida and another from New York just happen to be in Maine to catch a rabid dog? You know maybe the cops can clear up the confusion here?\" Stephen said calling them out on their bullshit.\n\n\"Uh we are specialists.\" Dean mumbled.\n\n\"The truth is we are hunters,\" Sam confessed as Dean slapped his chest. \"my brother here suspects that there is a cult that summons ideo creatures every Halloween. We have traced the next hotspot to be here in Maine and we hope to catch it before it can do any damage.\"\n\n\"A straight shooter, I can respect that. The second I saw that Ankh of Solomon I suspected you guys were more than 'animal control'. That and the blonde model here has a caliber big enough to stop a rhino in his back pocket. Now what's your guys' real names?\" Stephen asked handing them back the fake Id's.\n\n\"I'm Sam and this here is Dean. Uh. Winchester sir it's an honor to meet you.\" Sam told him.\n\nDean could see a green figure peeking from around the house and looked past Stephen.\n\n\"Wow. How curious you boys wouldn't be related to a John by any...\" Stephen started as Dean pushed him out of his way and began running.\n\nSam could see something going after the pile of candy corn nearest the house as Dean made a beeline for it. Stephen and Sam watched as Dean tackled the person just before it looked up and ran over to join him.\n\n\"Woh. Dude. You are totally harshing my mellow, I think you gave me shell shock.\" the thing said.\n\nDean struggled with it as it tried to flip over, Sam could see it was a ninja turtle...the orange one. Dean was right. Sam helped Dean pin it as Stephen stared in disbelief. It's empty mouth morphed into long rows of jagged teeth and it's eyes turned a bright red color. It snapped ferociously at Dean's head as he ripped the necklace off and placed the pendant on it's forehead.\n\nThe ankh glowed an iridescent green color and somewhere in the distant sky a beam of light shone down from the clouds. Sam tried to guess how far off it was.\n\n\"Looks like a mile or two East. Mr.King what's in that direction?\" Sam asked him as he stared up towards the beam of light.\n\n\"A grocer, a church, a few vendors...\" Stephen said in half disbelief. \n\n\"The church.\" Dean and Sam said simultaneously.\n\nDean produced his Desert Eagle with one hand and Sam stopped him standing up. Sam grabbed his Glock 17 and twisted on a silencer Dean scowled but clearly understood the precaution as he struggled with the ninja turtle.\n\nSam shot it in the center of it forehead just before it could say oe thing.\n\n\"My brothers will avenge me, bro.\" \n\nSam looked at Dean with a look of dread.\n\n\"It's going to be a long night.\" he said as the three of them looked at the beam of light from the clouds fading in the distance. Dean wiped the blood off from his face catching his breath in heaved gulps." ]	1
	[WP] I stared into the Abyss...and the Abyss said to me; "It's impolite to stare, y'know."	[ "I paused. \"Excuse me, what did you say?\"\n\n\"I said it's impolite to stare!\" The Abyss huffed. \n\n\"You sound cranky?\"\n\n\"Cranky? Of course, I'm cranky! Do you know how hard it is being an Abyss? I have people stare at me all the time. I don't even have any clothes so I'm practically naked! Do you know how hard it's been on my self-esteem?\" The Abyss grumbled. \"Let me guess, you were just checking under your bed for monsters?\"\n\n\"...I'm sorry,\"\n\nIf the Abyss had eyes, it would be rolling them right now. \"Figures. I remember back in the old days when people used to feed me. Back then, people used to throw all sorts of things down me. Junk, babies, bodies. I remember this one guy who used to should 'THIS IS SPARTA' all the time. He was cool. He liked to feed me.\"\n\n\"...Would you like something to eat?\"\n\n\"Wha...? Sure kid. You do that.\" There was a pitter patter of fading feet before the kid came back. The kid came back with a bowl of leftover noodles and threw it under the bed. \"What do you know, this is pretty good! Who made this?\"\n\n\"Mommy.\" A pause. \"If you want, I can bring more stuff. I hate it when Mommy makes me take out the trash. Maybe you'd like it?\"\n\n\"...I'd like that, kid.\"\n\nFrom that day on, the child never complained about taking out the trash. To the confusion of the family, the child always seems happy when it came to that particular chore.", "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Sorry,\" I lied. The guy has an infinite mirror where his face is supposed to be.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Abyss is touchy, don't worry,\" said Mike.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I continued down the hall behind Mike, or \"Manner\" as he was known in the fandom. Everyone knew him by that name except for me, and I knew him since he was seven. Every once in a while another creature would stop to talk to Not-Mike, each time layering onto my ears snippets of this other life he lived. He told me the fandom was close knit. It also meant it was prone to petty drama, but he assured me that it was above all an accepting, family-like atmosphere. This was certainly the friendliest convention I've ever been to. \n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Yo, Manner,\" came a muffled growl. \n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Manner turned around. A werewolf. Bigger than I imagined. The beast wore hulk trunks in lazy appeasement to the dress code of the hotel.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Fuck, TK? Is that you?\" shouted Manner, \"I haven't seen you for a whole year. Gimme a hug.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Manner disappeared in a mountain of fur. He said a couple things into TK's chest I couldn't hear but it was apparent the beast could. Is 'beast' a bad word to use to describe him? He is a he, right? Meeting people is going to be hard.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"I want you to meet my friend,\" said Manner, suddenly motioning towards me. \"He's--\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"A human,\" said TK, leaning in towards me and taking a deep whiff. I couldn't tell by his face whether he meant that with interest or suspicion. His breath smelled like dog.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Uh, I don't have a character,\" I quickly threw out. TK has really, really yellow eyes.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fuck this is awkward.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Phillip, his name's Phillip,\" said Manner. \"Oldest friend I have. Known him since grade school.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Looking to join our crew, Phillip?\" asked TK. He talked slowly and annunciated all his words as best a cheek-less face full of teeth could manage the Queen's. Still can't tell if he's being nice or not.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Ah, just looking,\" I said.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Like what you see?\" the wolf asks. \n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbspI really cannot read that growl-y tone of voice.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Just browsing,\" I said, stupidly.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Phillip walked in on me at my place with Kiha over,\" Explained Manner. \"She didn't have her face on. Pretty much had to tell him the truth about all this stuff.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ah, that day.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Mik--er, Manner, where do you get the time to hang out with so many people?\" I asked. \"I see you almost all the time.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Internet, bruh,\" he says, plainly. \"Weirdos are usually the first adopters of cutting edge tech. That and porn companies. You should see the techno-magic the wizards put on at their parties.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Which reminds me,\" interrupts TK. \"Party room. My place. Seventh floor at the end of the hall. Starts tonight.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Oh, we should go to that,\" says Manner. \"Halloween's the only time we get to take off our costumes. This will be the best time to meet my friends.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Mike, are you wearing a costume right now?\" I asked. \"Is this not what you look like?\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"This face is real, Phillip, one-hundred per cent. It's that I am also other things.\"\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"Sounds like you don't know him as well as you think,\" offered TK. I still can't get the tone of his voice.\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\"I don't bite, you know,\" he continued, as if reading my mind. \"Come up to the party. You'll see Manner for who he is. You may even discover a thing or two about yourself.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Humans are the diplomatic and technological leaders of the galaxy, but... they're not really human anymore.	[ "Stars could never be counted by humans. Even just the blades of grass in a field seemed infinite. Just like kids playing in a park so were we amongst the stars. Our hill on one far corner of the playground and the universe outstretched in front of us. Time on the other hand was a different matter entirely. The time to count the stars as stars are being born and dieing constantly. Our insatiable vanity and quest for knowledge led to the first push for immortality.\n\nWe tried to transfer our conciseness first to machines, but that only led to more questions. Did we actually transfer them or just their memories? Through tests it became obvious that we were just murdering those who wanted to live forever. The next round of experimentation was slowly introducing inorganic parts to replace the decaying shell that held us. It was a success. Somehow it trapped our souls. It gave us all the time we needed to explore and conquer everything we could see. Then what we could see grew. We evolved past the need for mating. We kept our numbers small and became the dominant race in the universe. Our rise to power started out as one drenched in blood. We noticed after having become something so different that feelings weren't the same. The brains we gave ourselves were logical and and rational but flawed. We grew to seek peace instead as the benefits out weighed those that lay in a militant rule. Now the leaders of the galaxy we sit tucked away in our corner of the playground, the grown ups, watching the children play and telling them when to be nice or else. \n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You move into a house that turns out to be haunted by the ghosts of an elderly couple. What do you do?	[ "The ethereal light of the crescent moon filtered through the gap in my makeshift blind, casting dim lines across my bedroom. I stared into the darkness, the unfamiliar inky silhouette of cardboard boxes pushed against the wall. \n\nI just couldn't drift off into unconsciousness; my new bed sheets were too rough against my skin and I longed for the warmth of arms wrapped my torso as they had been for the previous two years. \n\nIt wasn't fair. It just wasn't. I couldn't face the flat after he died, it would break me even more, and I was already crumbling under the grief, my heart yearning for the sound of his voice and his scent. \n\nThat was the first night I saw them. The air twirled into a pale and almost transparent couple as I stared, transfixed, at the story that developed out of nothing in front of my eyes, my vision slightly blurred by tears and my body shaking in a concoction of fear and astonishment.\n\nIn the next week, it was all I could think of. It was illogical. Of course I didn't see ghosts. My brain continued to painfully whirr on, trying to cling to anything and everything in a pitiful attempt to decipher what I saw, or at least what I thought I had saw.\n\nMaybe I was insane. Maybe the grief was slowly sinking into my brain and being replaced with madness. Maybe it was all a dream.\n\nThen it happened again. One night I was sat at the kitchen table, staring at the blank wall and thinking again and again, driving everything I thought I saw into oblivion before I heard a muttering from the stairs behind me. \n\nI whipped around, almost hitting my head on the wooden banister in my haste as my eyes lay upon an old man, embracing the crying women. They only partially existed. I could see the living room wall and the grey sofa through their translucent organs.\n\nI remained oddly calm, pushing my chair back and taking a few paces towards them. \n\n\"Hello?\" I uttered. I studied the man's face more. He looked familiar. So familiar. I knew I had seen him before, but I just couldn't remember where.\n\nThe woman looked up. \"Hello, dear.\" Her eyes were filled with tears, melancholy plastered all over her face.\n\n\"We miss him too. We miss him a lot.\"\n\nA sudden realisation jolted my body and shook my perception. Their faces, their familiarity.. They were my partner's parents who died in a car accident when he was three, embossed onto the only photo he possessed of them. Faded, standing by a Christmas tree, joy etched onto their faces.\n\nI gazed back up, shock swaying my body. \n\n\"He still loves you a lot.\" The man smiled, as a bittersweet sensation filled my chest and sob rised up my throat. \n\n\"Thank you.\" I weeped. \"Thank you.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Archeologists find an old Greek temple. Inside, they see a little girl crying over her dead father, Zeus	[ "No one had expected a Greek temple to be underground. The rather wild forest had covered the old entrance in a layer of foliage, and only chance led us to it. Even adjacent to an ancient village, where we had spent days excavating, it took someone falling through to actually discover that there was more than met the eye.\n\nProgress slow, we had a lot of time to throw around hypothesises. Nothing really settled, except that it probably combined a temple and tomb together, housing the dead of the village. Our evidence so far had marked the village itself down as five-hundred or so BC, showing the barest signs of belonging to the Classical period of Greece.\n\nThat made it unlikely that the temple had been, at least originally, devoted to the Greek gods as we tended to think of them; rather, the Mycenaean gods—from which the ancient Greek's carried on, possibly with some Minoan mixed in, debatably. Artemis in particular had many shrines in the greater area.\n\nBut, as much as we all enjoyed arguing over those sorts of things, a solemness came to us when the antechamber was declared stable, and we could enter the temple itself.\n\nDark in spite of our lights, and the walls crumbled at the sides, stone tiles lying smashed on the floor, and in their place earth. Roots jutted out, poking into the air before returning to the soil. The tiling on the floor in better shape, there was nothing more than a crack here and there to show its age. While dirt hid the colour, a general trend of grooves followed the path from one room to the next, speaking to the attention the temple likely received.\n\nI held a cloth over my mouth to keep the dust from my poor lungs, but, daring to smell, nothing more than earthen tones reached my nose—more like nature than a ruin. That was common enough though, time wearing away civilisation, and, if the scent of incense or a sacrificial lamb came up, I would rather think myself mad than trust my sense.\n\nAnd yet, as I thought that, I heard a distant sound. Looking around, no one else reacted. Rather than cause a stir over a hallucination, I shuffled over to the doorway which led to the worship room, never taking my eyes off the ground in front of me, lest I kick some priceless artefact.\n\nI peered through into the (by comparison) vast room, which stretched some dozen meters ahead, and a few wide. An altar of sorts broke through the gloom, likely for offerings of animals.\n\nPerhaps my brain didn't want to see it, or couldn't comprehend it, or, most likely, my eyes hadn't the light to discern more than shadows. But, when I raised my torch that little more, pieces clicked together, and a body slumped against the altar.\n\nI had seen skeletons in my time, rather liked finding them in fact. Another skeleton always helped.\n\nBodies, still covered in flesh, I had no experience with. My hand trembled, and my voice eluded me. After two-thousand odd years, nothing should have remained but the bones; heck, after two-hundred, or, twenty.\n\nSo, it had been recent. And, recent deaths weren't for archaeologists. Usually, the police handled them.\n\nI tried again to find my voice, and failed, the lighting more of a strobe as my wrist shook. Without anything happening, my wits had already gone on holiday. All that stood between me and running away screaming was my inability to move or scream.\n\nThen, the body moved.\n\nMy torch clattered to the ground, flickering slow, making it look as though the body moved in bursts. I crouched down, desperate to regain that bit of power I had, and shine a light on whatever it was. Fingers grated against the stone, and then knocked the torch, and finally seized it.\n\nSmacking it got it working properly again, and I trained the beam of light forward. The body hadn't done more than stand up, and held its face in its hands. With the painful beating of my heart quieting from my ears, I heard the hushed discussions in the room behind me, unaware of my struggle.\n\nAnd, I heard the sobbing.\n\nI didn't know much about physiology, but I did think a person had to be alive to cry. Then again, they had to be alive to move too. Maybe I'd been watching too many horror movies. Of course, the obvious explanation was someone had sought shelter, for some reason.\n\nSpeaking in what little Greek I knew, I asked, “Are you okay?”\n\nThey replied with unfamiliar words. It hadn't sounded exactly Greek, but I wasn't particularly good with languages—at least, living ones. That was what I liked about the old Greeks, they really made it easy for us, writing down enough that even the pendants amongst the linguists couldn't find much to disagree on. Few dead languages could still be spoken.\n\nA shuddering thought occurred to me.\n\nThey spoke again, and, by chance, they spoke a word I knew in their sentence: “Father.”\n\nThe tone they spoke with made me think they were female, rather high-pitched compared to the Greek men, but deeper than a child's. Not elderly, probably anywhere from fifteen to fifty, if I had to guess.\n\nI hadn't the most practice speaking ancient Greek, but I parroted the word back to her. “Father?”\n\nShe nodded, taking her hands away, and revealing pale skin, as though I shone my torch on living marble. “Zeus.”\n\nThat surprised me, I hadn't expected the temple to be one of his. Rather more common in Greek times, than Mycenaean. “Zeus?”\n\nNodding again, she raised her head enough for me to see her eyes—and they glittered gold. “My father Zeus is dead.”\n\nThe words made sense to me, made perfect sense, and yet I said, “Zeus is dead? Your father is Zeus?”\n\nShe bowed her head. “Yes.”\n\nThere was a very good chance that her father was a mortal who happened to be named Zeus, and she spoke a peculiar Greek dialect that coincided a lot with ancient Greek, and she was a beautiful woman rather than the daughter of a god.\n\nBut, I dropped my torch again, just in case I needed to make the moment I met her as dramatic as it should be." ]	1
	[WP] An all powerful cosmic god has taken residence in an apartment complex and today is their day off. The person above them is causing a racket, how does the god handle confronting their neighbor?	[ "knock knock \n \nThe knocking attempt was drowned in the booming bass sound coming from the room. It was not a surprise that nobody came to open it.\nQuickly skimming the near future, Shablögroth confirmed his suspicions: nobody heard. He tried again. \n \nknock knock \n \nShablögroth sighed in fustration. He knew it was pointless, but he had tried everything humanly possible to contact his upperfloor neighbours, to no avail. He waited for five more minutes before he blasted the door to smithereens and reduced all that was inside the room to ash. \n \nAs he teleported back to his room to retreat back into the wonderful fantasy of his book, he realized what he had done. \n \nDAMNATION! \n \nFrantically, he turned back time to the moment he was standing outside of the room just after his second knocking attempt. He was Shablögroth, he could deal with humans! He hoped no other god had seen his little aborted timeline, especially not the Silvertongue. He would not be laughed at! \n \nHe tried knocking once more. \n \nknock knock \n \nNo change. Shablögroth leaned back against the wall. He didn't want to deal with this, damn his upper neighbours! Next time he would go for another apartment at Andromeda VII, where the sentients were bearable at least. \n \nHe went for plan B. As he knocked again, he made sure to transmit the sound directly into the apartment owner's mind. With a satisfactory smile, he watched as the door was opened- \n \nAnd immediately closed again. As he listened in on what happened after the door, his ire grew. \n \n\"-was that?\" \n\"Oh, just that cranky bastard from downstairs.\" \n\"The old man?\" Old? HE WAS NOT OLD! He was only 4-apple-omega-15 tramillion millenia old, only just old enough to petition for your own universe! How dare they! \n\nPlan C. If it was young they wanted, young they would get. As he changed his appearance into that of a twelve year old kid, he knocked again. \n \nThis time, the door was not shut in his face. The bored and much loathed look of his upper neighbour appeared from behind the gap and looked at him expectantly. \n \n\"Yes?\" \n \nGOOD EVENING. I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD TURN DOWN THE MUSIC A LITTLE, IF YOU'D PLEASE. IT IS BOTHERING ME A LITTLE AND KEEPING ME FROM MY WELL DESERVED FREE DAY. \n \nThe upper neighbour looked at him as if he had just eaten horse-excrement. \n \n\"Wow, that's creepy, kid. How did you do it?\" \n \nI DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN. \n \n\"The creepy low voice. You're, what? Twelve? That's pretty cool, kiddo.\" \n \nShablögroth cursed in the old tongue, and immediately, his upper neighbour fell to the floor, frothing at the mouth. With a slightly constipated expression, Shablögroth turned back time once again. \n \nknock knock \n \nNothing happened, once again. Shablögroth tired of this exercise in futility. It was time for plan Z. \n \nThis time, Shablögroth opened the door. \n \n\"HEY! What do you think you're doing, old man?!\" The upper neighbour sped away from his girlfriend and towards him, and followed up with \"How did you even get in? I locked the door!\" \n \nOH, REALLY? IT WAS UNLOCKED. Shablögroth had some trouble with keeping his face completely human as he tried to look as innocent as possible, but he succeeded, except for the tusks. Seeing the distrusting look on his upper neighbour's face, he surmised that the man must have missed the tusks anyway. His girlfriend, however, saw them, he was sure, as she slipped away towards the far corner of the room.\n\nAfter a short while, the upper neighbour seemed to disregard his strange entrance to try to solve the problem at hand. \n \n\"Is there something you wanted, or something?\"\n\nYES, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THIS IS INDEED THE CASE. Shablögroth said. I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE IT IF YOU WERE TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME OF YOUR MUSIC, UPPER NEIGHBOUR. \n \nThe upper neighbour seemed to think it over for a second or two, before walking to the subwoofers and turning down the volume a tiny bit. \n \n\"There, satisfied?\" He said, and he laid his hands on Shablögroth's shoulders, to steer him back towards the door. \n \nShablögroth exploded, growing in size until he dwarfed his upper neighbour and his girlfriend, destroying the building in the process. Dark clouds quickly covered the sky above and the water in the resident fish bowl began to churn. Ominous chanting was sounded from places immemorial.\n \nYOU DARE LAY A HAND UPON SHABLÖGROTH THE MIGHTY, DESLAYER OF WORLDS AND CREATOR OF THE POWER ZONE?! \n \nNumbly, the upper neighbour shook his head. The chanting grew in volume until it was deafening. \n \nYOU SHALL PAY, YOU VILLIANOUS MORTAL! \n \nThe upper neighbour screamed as he was consumed by a dark void. Shablögroth shrunk again, and restored the building to it's former state. \n \nHe then turned towards the girlfriend. \n \nSELF DEFENCE, CAN'T HAVE RANDOM MORTALS TRYING TO CONTROL ME. PERFECTLY REASONABLE, NO? \n \nThe girl bobbed her head in sheer terror, before she lost consciousness. As Shablögroth went to the exit of the apartment, he made sure to first turn the volume down. He smiled, and somewhere in the cosmos, a new planet was born. Plan Z worked every time.", "Treto saw himself as a benevolent and merciful god; however, there’s a limit to everything. One hour of noise one can survive; two hours of noise might get on one’s nerves; and three hours of noise turned out to be the limit of a forgiving deity. What were they even doing up there? What kind of satanic ritual would require the near destruction of the tiny concrete wall separating Treto from his neighbor above?\n\nTreto didn’t want to find out, instead he just changed the smell of the room above with a snap of his fingers. When the loud tramping became less a self-satisfied smile crept onto his face; how great it is to be all-powerful.\n\nThen the stampede started again – even louder this time – severely confusing Treto. Why hadn’t they left the room? No matter, he would just have to come with more extreme measures. Another snap of his fingers, this time to increase the temperature of the room to tropical heights. That would make them leave!\n\nAnd indeed the noise did die down, only to grow even louder than before shortly after. What in the world was going on? \n\nTreto could take no more. This was the last straw. He snapped his fingers again, this time with the intent to kill everything in the room above.\n\nSilence followed. Beautiful, calm, well-deserved silence. Oh how had Treto craved this silence.\n\nThen the sound of a frigging bulldozer came from above.\n\nTreto sat in his chair, dumbfounded. Maybe it was time to give his neighbor a personal visit.\n\nA flight of stairs and a few loud knocks later, the door in front of Treto creaked open, revealing an average looking human male.\n\n“Yes?” The man asked.\n\nTreto used his booming voice. “How are you still alive, you mere mortal?”\n\nThe man’s face lighted up in understanding. “Ah, so it was you who pulled all those annoying pranks! You must be new here.” He held out his hand.\n\nTreto stared at the hand in front of him, confusion clearly on his face.\n\nThe man smiled. “I’m Goa, all-powerful god, just like everyone in this apartment complex.” He grabbed Treto’s hand and shook it. “Welcome to the god complex!”\n" ]	2
I don't mean you go to high school on the side. I mean all your vigilante activities happen in the high school, whether its fighting bullies or drug dealers etc. Go nuts.	[WP] You are a brooding vigilante... but in high school.	[ "Walking through the halls of Thomasville High School I saw so much crime, so much hatred, so much wrongdoing. I was sick of it. I slipped into the bathroom to escape it, but all I found was another drug deal. Before they saw my face I slipped on the ski mask that had struck fear into so many like them before. As they turned to look at who had entered I lashed out with a sweep at the largest one's knees. His fell to the ground. As he got back up to his feet the other two guys came at me. I stopped one with a front kick to the stomach and the other with a punch to the solar plexus. The first one was back on his feet looking at his two friends. Both of them were lying on the dirty bathroom floor groaning in pain. His eyes returned to mine, no longer filled with rage, but fear. I didn't let up, I ran at him, jumped, and kicked. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. I adjusted my ski mask and rummaged through his pockets. I found a few bags of weed and some cocaine packets. I flushed these down the toilet in the nearest stall. He had also dropped a wad of cash during the fight. I picked this up and slid it into my pocket, she would need it.\nI put the mask back in the inside pocket of my hoodie and returned to the hall. Next class: Anatomy. This was my favorite class, I could learn the best places to hit so that they wouldn't get back up.\n-\nToday I ended up sleeping through most of anatomy anyways, I had been up late last night taking care of her. I woke up to the ringing of the bell. School was out. I trudged back to my locker and opened it up and grabbed my back pack. While closing it these two seniors came up to me. One of them I recognized as a linebacker by his letterman. The other I hadn't seen before.\n\"Got anything good in their?\" Laughed the linebacker.\nThe other guy held open my locker. They started going through my stuff. There wasn't time for the mask. If I didn't stop them now they would find my mom's cancer medication. I karate chopped the linebacker in the throat. He fell to the ground coughing. The other one turned to face me.\n\"What the hell, man?\" We were just having a little fun.\nI wasn't falling for that. I saw him clench his fist tighter. When he threw his lunch I was ready. I ducked and his fist hit the locker. I didn't stop for a moment. I punched him in the kidney and proceeded to uppercut his chin. He stumbled back and then swung again. I didn't duck fast enough. There were stars spinning in my head. I tripped over my own feet and fell. As he neared me I swept his feet out from under him and then used my legs to put him in a headlock. I squeezed until he was out.\nI got to my feet and picked up my bag. I grabbed the meds I had bought for my mom and jogged home." ]	1
	[WP] Today started with a spilled coffee, and ended with the most cataclysmic event to touch Earth without mass extinction. The Domino effect is crazy, man.	[ "His name was Nate. He worked for an internet service provider. This internet service, like most others went directly to the World Wide Web servers, when you sent a command it would get the request, wait for it to be processed, then send the request. Earlier in the morning, he sent a small command to his website. He is at work, and gets told that the servers having problems, there's such a large request that it's almost crashing it. It tries to send out the command, and it crashes. Nothing's working.\n\nA while later, after work, he sees his neighbor. He asked, \"Hey, Nate, the internet's down, for everyone I've asked.\" Odd, he uses a different type of internet. Then he realized.\n\n_Shit. I've DOSed the entire internet._\n\nEDIT: oh I didn't follow the prompt. That sucks." ]	1
	[WP] Create a story about a slick stock player moving from the offices of Wall Street into the glamourous world of the meme trade.	[ "\"Morning Bob, Pepe's are moving nicely this morning. I've sold half our stock just now. I expect over-saturation within the week.\" Pete called to bob as he stepped off the elevator. \n\n\"Don't Sell them too quick there, Pete. We have some pretty Rare pepe's saved up.\" Bob replied without breaking stride.\n\n\"Don't worry, I'm holding back our rare pepe's for a drought. Maybe we can get lucky and trade them in for puffins next quarter!\" Pete called, as bob rounded the corner.\n\nBob passed row after row of busy cubicles, each one busily buying, selling and analyzing Memes for the maximum value. No two Meme's are the same, Some are just worth enough for the paper to print them. Others are worth a pound-a-pixel.\n\"Bobby, give me a read here\"Called a older broker off a few cubicles down. \"I got a hot Kermit, and I mean hot. It's been trending up all morning.\"\n\nBob took a quick look at the meme-raters, but internally was shrugging. \"Don't be buying up kermits, Paul. They go worthless quick, and if it can't be reposted, it's no good.\"\n\n\"I know, but this is a hot trender!\" Paul said adamantly. \n\n\"If you think you can turn a hot sell on it, go ahead and try, your karma to burn.\"Bob said. He hurried along to his own office, not a corner, but it had a view, and a door. \n\nHe double checked the meme-board, just like he had in the lobby below, then mentally compared them. pepe's were rising still, he had all his already shifted. A bit early, but the profit was good, and he didn't want to hold any when it bottomed out. \n\nPenguins were sitting low, and had been for a few weeks now. Bob wouldn't risk it however, they were too volatile, and were often poorly received. Insanity wolves were low again, they might be worth a few points to pick up now and post for some quick karma. Maybe he could get a quick turnaround on them. and net a nice one day price. \n\nBobby quickly took stock of his availible karma and meme's, then bough a dozen wolves, then set up a buy order for another 30, at a slightly higher price, sure enough, 13 were filled quick, but then a higher buy order was placed just after.\n", "\"Look, Fiona, I don't care how high up Harambe is this month.\" \n\nGazing out over the trading floor, Garret briefly reconsidered his decision to leave his middle-six figure career on Wall Street to explore the up-and-coming Global Meme Exchange sector. It had been rough, not only on him, but on his wife, Valerie, and their two kids, Greg and Jessie. \n\n\"It's like that meme said, 'Do they care more about Harambe, or the idea of Harambe?'\" \n\n\"Well, sir, I didn't mean-\" \n\n\"I understand the trends have been high, and yes, they've been moving like mad over the past quarter, but it's going to drop. We've got great ROI from the Harambe period, but we have to get rid of our holdings while we can.\" \n\nFiona shrugged, and eventually nodded in agreement. \n\n\"Please, just tell Rogers to sell them now. I don't want to let you go next quarter when this falls through.\" \n\nThe floor was busy this morning, but no more so than usual. In the far corner, classic Good Guy Greg bonds were holding steady, they always were. Against the left wall, Minions were falling short compared to last year. Illumination needs to step up and make another movie, Garret thought to himself. He made a note to call them up later. Arthur memes were progressing nicely still; that crazy aardvark was always worth his weight. \n\nGarret's intercom buzzed. He took his time answering it. \n\n\"Yes?\" \n\n\"Sir, it's me again!\" Fiona's voice fizzled out over the office like a subway conductor. \"November is almost here, as you know, and I've noticed a handful of Black Friday memes surfacing on Facebook.\" \n\nWell fuck me. \n\nBlack Friday, while not only a boon for holiday pre-shopping, and consumerism in general, also proved to be a significant gain period for Garret's firm, as with every trampled shopper, an equally hilarious captioned image of the incident popped up and added to the stock value. \n\n\"Fiona, inform Rogers to get back down to the floor and call in for the Black Friday memes. We need to corner the market now before Dinkelburg over at MemeX picks them up on the cheap!\" \n\n\"Right away sir!\" \n\nGarret forced the office window open and shouted at his agents. \n\n\"Listen up, everyone! Black Friday memes are surfacing. I've informed Rogers to get on it, but in the meantime, make sure you're all browsing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, and every other outlet for meme shitposting you can find! We've got to get on this before too late!\" \n\nFiona burst into Garret's office, distress painted all over her face. \n\n\"Sir, bad news. Dinkelburg has already amassed sixty-nine percent market control on Black Friday memes. At this rate, we're only projecting to claim four-point-two-zero percent of the market...\" \n\nGarret rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked out over the floor. \n\n\"Dinkelburg.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Ever since the start of recorded history, gigantic Humanoid Skeletons have roamed the Earth, with no apparent goal. You are a researcher studying them, and one day, they suddenly all start to move towards a single area, as if they were commanded to.	[ "Standing inside of the massive footprint, she snapped her fingers at her assistant. \n\n\"Hand me the Arifier.\" There was no urgency in her voice, but as far as Terry was concerned, it was implied. \"When was this called in?\"\n\n\"About 6 hours ago.\" He said, handing her the device. \"Couple of hikers from up in New Irioll 'far as I can remember.\"\n\n\"That's a couple hours away by foot at least,\" she mumbled under her breath, studying the screen on her device intently. The wait was killing her.\n\nEver since she first heard about the Titans as a child, her fascination for them had only grown more intense. Her father used to tell her that the thunder was caused by a Titan jumping from being struck by lightning, and she would laugh the fear away. Of course, Titans do actually get struck by lightning on the regular, but they pay it no more heed than they do anything else. \n\nWell, \"Anything else\" is a bit of a stretch, as they have long since learned to stay away from humans. For you see, unlike titans, humans are a territorial bunch and we don't much enjoy our houses being trampled. You can still go see the remains of Titans who ages ago simply stumbled into the wrong town, at the Museum of Natural History. All those times spent gazing upon it with awe takes on a different meaning when you know these things. A loud beep suddenly pulled her out of her own mind.\n\n\"Oh, wait, we have a match.\" She looked down at the small display and smiled \"It's Eugene.\" \n\n\"Eugene?\" Terry said, standing as close to the edge as he dared. \"I thought his last confirmed sighting was at the south pole?\"\n\n\"It sure was,\" She said, packing up the device for mobility \"Just a few weeks ago in fact.\"\n\nTerry was visibly confused at this point. \"But that's impossible.\" He eventually said, \"He would have had to walk in an almost straight line in order for that to happen, that hasn't happened in... well in forever.\"\n\n\"Oh is that so Terry?\" She asked, climbing her way out of the surprisingly deep footprint \"As a matter of fact, I happen to have it on good authority that Augustus was seen moving at a similar pace away from his last known location just days ago.\"\n\n\"I never read about anything like that.\" He said defiantly, confident in his knowledge of titan sightings.\n\n\"Oh, I'm sure you didn't,\" She said, now completely out of the pit but completely covered in dirt \"But I just so happen to be very good friends with a certain Dr. Skellsgard operating from the arctic base.\"\n\n\"Wait, you know world renowned Titan expert Suzanna Skellsgard?\" He asked in disbelief\n\n\"What, you want an autograph or something?\" She said mockingly \"No, focus, the point is that she observed evidence of Augustus' presence not but days ago. Do you have any idea what that means?\"\n\n\"That we have 2 Titans moving irregularly at the same time?\" Terry answered hesitantly\n\n\"Not irregularly\" She corrected. \"In a straight line.\" she snapped her fingers and pointed at him. \"And what can we do with the trajectories of 2 separate Titans?\"\n\n\"Oh shit.\" He said, his stance loosening up so much he almost dropped the gear he was holding. \"We can see where they intersect!\" \n\nShe winked at him, and smiled \"Bingo.\" \n\n", "Something was off. Very, extremely, horrifically off.\n\nAs a researcher of the sceletus colossaeus, I was to observe the patterns of these giant skeletons. It's normally an extremely boring profession. I couldn't remember why I was so passionate about it in college, enough that I decided to major it in. Now, I wish I had gone to business instead.\n\nThe most we had ever known about these skeletons was that they constantly walk the earth. Most were a nearly seven feet tall, and were a common sight in everyday affairs. They didn't have brains (we could see through them, naturally), and all they did was walk. They could walk anywhere they wanted to. Should they want to cross the ocean, they would just walk on the seabed. Having no lungs is extremely beneficial to that extent. And apparently, they existed since the dawn of humankind.\n\nAnd since technically they were not alive, they were not protected as humans. At one point in time, there was a lab that was curious if we could kill them. They picked some up at a bus stop (that were, strangely enough, seemingly waiting to get on the bus as well,) and shipped them off to the lab.\n\nThey tried nearly everything. Hit by a car? They simply got up, with bones or without, and walked away. Attacked by animals? They shook it off and didn't bother trying to wrestle their bones back. Trampled by a stampede? They recollected themselves. To this day, we still wonder how they managed to recreate a stampede within a lab.\n\nThey only discovered one way to destroy them: cremation. The flames burned them right up, and from there on the skeletons were nothing more than ashes. I mean, it makes sense. They ARE made of bones, after all.\n\nNot long afterwards, people began to protest. It was an odd spectacle. But eventually the experiments stopped (though the results were held back from the public, in fear of backlash after the protests). The skeletons were released back into the world, free to wander again.\n\nAnd here we are now.\n\nYesterday, an intern noticed a sudden change in the patterns of the skeletons. He reported that, \"They all started to move together, towards the same spot!\" There was a clamor, and we began to check the skeletons we tagged.\n\nIt was true, they were all moving towards once location - but where? I told them to track where they were going. If all the skeletons were moving towards one location, and they existed around the world, then just drawing a line to where they were going should be simple enough.\n\n\"They're headed towards Ireland,\" said one. What? Why Ireland? What was so special about it?\n\nThen I remembered. Not too long ago I had searched the origins of Halloween. They began in Ireland, and now, the skeletons were headed towards there. The birthplace of Halloween. I never realized, that all the Internet jokes and memes were so accurate.\n\n\"Notify the government,\" I gulped. \"The Skeleton War is about to begin.\"\n\n---\n\nEdit: Some grammar stuffs.\n" ]	2
	[WP] Jurassic park, learning from past mistakes, opens up with fully armed and armored guards, tanks, helicopters, and suppression equipment. The only problem is everything is going smoothly.	[ "The music came over the speakers signalling the park was open to the public, once again. A black and white counter on the directors desk flipped over to 100. Today was the 100th day since the park had been re-opened and not a single hair had been out of place since it had. \n\nThe sounds of people making their way into the park beneath the directors glass office which rose over the park began to murmur across the landscape. Children were laughing and camera's clicked feverishly at the Giraffitian brancai. The director lit a cigarette and sat back in his chair with a look of distaste just as the door flew open behind him. \n\nSwinging round in his chair he watched as the lead accountant and head of security came barging in mid argument. The director noted the memory pen in the accountants hand as he plugged it into the laptop and switched on the projector screen. A graph flew into picture taking up half the room. \n\n\"What am I looking at Tom?\" The director said irritably as he blew thick smoke out his nostrils.\n\n\"This is our expenditure since we opened sir, notice the red?\" Tom the accountant prompted\n\nThe graph showed massive green spikes with a gradual plummet into the red, the director heaved a sigh and lit another cigarette. \"Shit\" he breathed\n\n\"The fact is sir, things have gone too well. Ahem I mean of course we want peoples safety to be paramount but-\" Richard the head of security cut the accountants ramblings short and stepped forward\n\n\"Sir this wasn't the plan...\" Richard said sternly\n\n\"I know, I know. Hammond told us the model and we didn't stick to it. You're meant to open the park, maximise visitors and then let it destroy itself for the insurance money whilst maximising public interest for the next knock off park. I went to his seminars just like all of you!\" the director confessed. He blew another plume of smoke as he watched a young child on his fathers shoulders fall into the T-Rex exhibit. All three rushed to the window in anticipation as the T-Rex charged out of the tree line. But the guards were quickly on it with state of the art cattle prods and kept the beast at bay as the boy was pulled from the enclosure, people began to clap and whistle.\n\n\"...OH FOR FUCK SAKE, LETS WRECK IT!\" The director yelled as Richard and Tom nodded at each and both put a key into the desk unlocking a panel. \n\nThe director swung round in his chair and hit a red button with skull and cross bones on it. All of a sudden a warning light spun red strobes above them as down below the enclosure gates began to slowly open and metal panels slid over the glass windows. \n\n\"It was the right call sir...\" Tom said reassuringly\n\n\"sigh...I know\" the director said defeated as he picked the counter up and spun it to 0 days. \"Cancel the ferry and call that Grant idiot, if we're lucky he'll answer our calls this time\" concluded the director as he lit another cigarette as screams of panic and violent roars broke out below the building." ]	1
Song link: http://youtu.be/zAAxgx42x7o	[WP] The mind's imagination can often stimulated by outside sources, such as music. Listen to Dragon Lullaby, by Dave Volpe. Write about what is envisioned while listening.	[ "We've known eachother for a long time, you and I. A lifetime spent in disagreements that somehow always ended with us holding eachother, as tight as two humans could possibly hold eachother. A lifetime of errors on both ends that in the strangest of ways only made us grow stronger. We did learn from mistakes, even if we had to make them a million times, but we didnt care 'cause we're still young, right? Even in our thirties, our fifties.. We were still young damnit. We had all the time in the world, as young people tend to do.\n\nI remember the stupidest things about you. The way milk shot out of your nose after I told you joke after joke, none of which I remember now. The two of us combined must have laughed enough for a million lives. But we didnt have a million lives. We had just the one and we tried our hardest to make it count. To not grow old and boring, but to stay young and to see as much of the world as possible. We didnt get to see it all, especially not now.. you not being able to move that well and all.. But we're not that old yet, right? We still have a lot of time left.\n\nWe created life together. Of course, we didnt think of it as that back then, it was just messing around in my shitty old car. But the boys came two for the prize of one and Sarah followed shortly after. What a lovely name. Sarah, our girl.. Honestly I couldnt tell you who of us picked it, but it just fits perfectly. It must have probably been you, you always were better with words than me. You've been using fewer of them these past months. Must be the age, right? We're pretty old you and I.. But we've still got some time left, right ?\n\nI've brought you flowers. The purple ones you've always loved, I dont remember the name. I miss you being you and us being us. They say that people growing old grow boring, but I never thought of us that way. But I'm just incomplete without you. Like a man that's gotten used to a tree and the shadow it casts. And all of a sudden the tree's gone and now he's got to face the horrors of the sunlight burning his skin all on his own. Well, we've had a good run, I suppose. I'm old and talking to a stone. You wanna know what's written on it?\n\n\"Here lies Elle. Loving wife, caring mother and a beautiful person.\"\n\nAnd we've got no time left my dear.", "Muted, other than the storm. Gray flowers over gray grass under a gray sky. Perhaps it would have been green, dashes of blue and violet dotting the plains, in better weather.\n\nThere was a lake in the center, but water rose in the valley as if the entire valley simply formed a larger lake. Where the creature stood, on relatively high grassland, its feet were entirely enveloped by the water.\n\nRain poured softly. Hitting the ground in muffled thumps. The smell of wet grass blown away by the strange, unending summer breeze. Not even the entry of winter into the valley seemed to chase it away.\n\nA warm wind.\n\nThe snow might fall, but it was still a warm wind. If ice came from the sky, yet if it picked up, you could still imagine a warm summer's day.\n\nPerplexing. The water no longer hit the ground in thumps, but in splashes. To the creature, a wolfish foggy thing with gray eyes, it was like falling, except without moving. \n\nIt looked up. A terror in the sky. Feathers, wings, like the eternally flying albatross, yet even bigger.\n\nEvery time it turned, lightning struck.\n\nThe rain fell softly. Even the thunder was muted.\n\nYet the water still rose on the valley. What would it do?\n\nAs the water reached its nose, the top of the mountain seemed so far away.\n\nAs the water reached its ears, the rain almost ironically got louder. Each crash of lightning sent sparks through its body, despite the lightning not touching the water.\n\nIt was gray. Muted, other than the storm. The gray flowers and gray grass had drowned.\n\nA wolf, like a gray cloud, had dissipated with the flood.\n\nThe rain still fell. Softly. But not gently.\n\n---\n\nSeems like fun. Though I should warn you, looking at the picture on the video might skew your perception.", "Life flashes before your eyes in those pivotal moments before the universe turns its eyes on you and, like the final flickers of flame on a summer fire in the dead of night, blows out your mortal flame. \n\nWhat is so very intriguing is just how universal this sensation has proven to be. Across languages, cultures, worlds, every sentient species has some way of relaying that near death experiences all come with the same instant of supersonic reflection. If the rock plummeting down from above misses crushing your fragile life, you go on with a temporary renewal of appreciation and vigor for each day that you are lucky enough to live. \n\nWe presume the same will occur when our time comes. When the universe, that overarching sense of something grander than each miniscule instance of sentience we represent, truly sees who we are, who we have been, and who we could have been just before swallowing us wholly back into the void from whence we came. \n\nBut that instant of time is so dangerously relative. Surviving such a moment makes you realize that, in the matter of just one or two seconds, every important memory, every impactful sensation, every molding emotion can bolt through the mind and leave behind a maelstrom of euphoric bliss that wears off to reveal a scar of existential chaos. \n\nOne or two seconds. \n\nSometimes even less.\n\nA heartbeat.\n\nA breath.\n\nA blink.\n\nWhat happens when death looms for so much longer? \n\nNo sweet release after an instant of dismay and, to save itself the anguish, your brain dumping as many signals to produce a cocktail of chemical bliss rather than experience entering the void. Those long suffering survivors that drift from life, inch by inch, breath by breath, until the only thing they feel is a yearning to be beyond the tendrils of mortal sensation no matter the result. What happens to them?\n\nWhat happens to me?\n\nIf you are hearing this now, or reading the transcript that is electronically created and stored in my helmet’s data core, you must be wondering to yourself, “What happened to this man? How did he die? How did he get here?”\n\nI am Carolus Messicarius to the Latin Alliance. Born Karl von Barder Messer. First interstellar explorer for the Anglic Unification Confederation, Post-Captain of the space craft Greatest Heights. Our vessel was struck by an unidentified deep space object. I was flung from the extra-vehicular bay after just having prepared to exit the ship to perform an emergency repair on our rear scanning dish. \n\nAll other crew members presumed dead. \n\nI’m nearing the end of my suit’s oxygen store, and the power supply is failing. \n\nMy life flashed before my eyes as I was sucked into the void of space and flung in an unknown direction. It felt as though my world were ending. \n\nAnd truly, it has.\n\nIf I may answer my own question, as to what happens after life flashes before your eyes: We keep on living. Knowing that the Swords of Damocles is never too far, always too near, from claiming our life’s blood. The universe will eventually turn its eye on all of us, but we keep on living.\n\nThere seems to be so much between each star, yet I’ve only seen so very little as I drift to my end.\n\nI’ll keep on living until that end." ]	3
	[WP] Multiple religious scholars around the world have visions and dreams that God has left his post in Heaven to roam the Earth alongside humanity, making his temporary home in New York City. You are The Big Apple's sharpest detective, tasked with tracking down Mr. Almighty.	[ "'The search for Mr. Almighty' has been all over the media for the last month. Newspapers, blogs, social media, you name it. Hell, Mr. Almighty has even been made into a meme. Can you blame them though? Any time that The Pope, Franklin Graham, multiple respected rabbis, and allamahs agree on something its gotta be big. God has taken human form and is setting up shop in New York City.\n\nEvery detective in the city, and many from out of town and overseas have all been hired by one church, government, or religious society or another. I got a bunch of calls. This one wasn't for the money though. Every once in a while a detective has to take a case for their own curiosity.\n\nLet me get this straight, I am by no means religious. My parents didn't even take me to church as a kid. As soon as I started getting calls though, I got the feeling that this was big. I bought and read every religious text that I could find. The Bible? Of course. The Quran? Sure. I even read The Book of Mormon. The best stuff that I could find on God coming to earth though came from the Gospels. As I started to read those, I couldn't keep myself from laughing. I finally understood what the hell everybody was doing going to all these random places looking for Mr. Almighty. A bunch of them would go to churches and temples which is obvious. Others would go to soup kitchens, half-way houses, brothels, courts and philosophy seminars. These were a bit better. The ones that killed me though were the guys that were going by the docks asking if any of the local fishermen had mysteriously up and quit in the last couple of weeks. What? Do these people think that God has no creativity? There is no way He's going to do the same old thing the second time around. None of these theories, even the good ones, did it for me though. I was thinking way smaller.\n\nI have spent the last few weeks hanging out in cheap diners. The more unambiguous the better. Every one that I could find I would spend a week in going back every day. I spent hours in booths all across the city drinking more coffee than I ever have in my life. My theory was that he would be some bus boy or waiter that was quiet, but friendly. He would give advice to people that came in super late crying about heartbreaks and life change. He would talk to the drunks about what their goals were in life, and he would stump smart guys on philosophical issues. After the twelfth diner I visited though, I decided I needed a break. \n\nI left Lucy's diner at about 1:00am and headed to the dive bar across the street for a drink. The place had a decent amount of customers for a Tuesday night, but what raised my suspicions was that everyone was gathered around the bar. There was one bartender working that night in the standard black t-shirt and she buzzed around from patron to patron every once in a while bringing by a drink. However, what was amazing to me was that after sitting and watching for a while, I realized that she was carrying on a conversation with nearly everyone sitting at the bar. I walked a little closer and found that they weren't just flirty comments or what restaurants were good around here either. The patrons were sharing their lives with this woman. She darted from person to person (I counted 8 talking and another 10 listening) soaking in their stories. Every once in a while she would softly give a response, and the recipient's face would immediately be flushed with comfort.\n\nThis is it. I knew it with every fiber of my being. All this time people have been looking for Mr. Almighty in churches and soup kitchens when they should have been looking for a Miss. Almighty in a little dive bar. I didn't say a single word. I calmly walked up to the bar, looked her in the eye, and slid my card across the wood. She didn't even read it. She stuck it in her pocket and turned her gaze on me. When she looked at me I felt like everything in the world stopped. Miss. Almighty said \"I'll call you tomorrow morning Johnathan. I know you've got some questions. But, then again, you've also got some answers that others don't have\". I simply nodded, and walked out the door. I didn't call the press and I didn't call any churches. I went back across the street to Lucy's Diner, ordered some pancakes, and stared into the deep darkness in my coffee cup. There was no way that I was getting any sleep tonight.", "They say that if you've been forgiven for all your sins, when you die, you go to Heaven. Once there, you talk to the man upstairs aka God. \n\nWell what if God came down to you?\n\nI've worked for the NYPD for 15 years now and have solved countless crimes. From muggings in alleys to drunk barhoppers peeing on statues- I am the first detective mentioned when a crime happens. \n\nI woke up on a bright Sunday morning. The sun was high up and life just seemed good. My cup of Joe was hot. The radio was playing my favorite tunes. I was ready to take on the day.\n\nWhen I got into work, my task was hand written and laid on my desk. \n\nThe note read: \"Multiple religious scholars around the world have visions and dreams that God has left his post in Heaven to roam the Earth alongside humanity, making his temporary home in New York City. Track down the Almighty one and expose Him.\"\n\nWhat was strange is that the note was not addressed to me or anyone like our tasks usually are; it was only signed in illegible handwriting. \n\nI left the office and walked to the first place I expected to find God- church. I walked into the chapel and saw rows and rows of ordinary people, bowing their heads and praying. But there was no God, at least not in physical form. I left the church and walked down the street.\n\nMaybe God was in an alleyway feeding stray cats or helping cure an alcoholic? \n\nNothing.\n\nI kept searching. I tried to pick up on supernatural hints that the Lord was upon us.\n\nNothing.\n\nI decided to test my luck in the most unholy place I could think of; maybe God decided he needed to pay a visit. I walked down the sidewalk and down a flight of stairs. I was in the New York Subway Station.\n\nI purchased a ticket and walked to the boarding platform. It was dark in the tunnels and the people around me were still as hopeless as they had always been. It seemed like there was no holy touch here...\n\nuntil a bright light appeared down the tracks. The glow caught my attention. No one else seemed to notice it. They just carried on with their lives as if this was an every day occurrence. The light kept getting brighter and brighter the longer I stared at it.\n\nI had to get a closer look. Did I just discover God? Is He really so pure that He has a heavenly glow?\n\nI jumped down onto the tracks and began to walk towards the glow. I was about to discover the truth. My ears filled with loud sounds. My face was blessed with a gentle breeze that grew stronger and stronger the closer I walked toward the light. And then the holiness hit me full on.\n\nMy body felt like it was ripped off its own feet. I felt an incredible rush of wind and all of the noise became silent. It was bliss. The light disappeared for a second as everything went black. \n\nAll of my pain and worries left my body. God must have wanted me to be completely at ease when I met Him. I sat up and opened my eyes. There before me stood God Himself. \n\n" ]	2
	[WP] "There must be another way... It can't end like this."	[ "Sometimes life ends in the way we least expect. . . a driver under the influence, a pill too many, or old age better known as certain death. \n\n\nWe try to fight it, well, I did until I gave up that fight. It's in that battle we strive to beat the unbeatable and do the unthinkable, we think that we are larger than life.\n\n\"What are you thinking?\" she asks me. \n\nHer voice snaps me out my thoughts like a swatter being smacked on the table top. The world comes rushing back and then I'm still sitting on the second floor of the hotel. The cigarette in my hand is half ashed and weighty. Down below, people arrive in nice cars and hand the key to the valet boy like he is less than the dirt on their shoes. I take a long drag. \n\nI stutter, splutter, and then cough flecks of spit over my chin. The stubble grazes my hand as I wipe. \"I'm thinking about dying.\" \n\nShe raises her eyebrows and the coffee cup rattles as she sets it down. \"You sure know how to charm a. . .\" \n\n\"A lady?\" I smirk. \n\n\"An old woman.\" \n\n\nI knock ash flakes into the tray and take another puff. \"It's a real shame.\" \n\n\"Can't stop getting old, Tom. That's just how the world is.\" \n\n\"Doesn't mean you shouldn't plan ahead.\" \n\n\"And what planning do you propose? When you're dead, you're dead.\" \n\nLena always had a way of chipping away the lies and leaving naught but a blunt mess. I had loved that when we were younger. She didn't beat around the bush. And as a gentlemen, that meant that I didn't have to look unpleasant or forward. Lena handled herself exceptionally well. \n\nI remember the first day I saw her in the library. I'd picked up a book and been pretending to read it. She'd looked over at me and smiled. \"You've been reading the title for ten minutes now,\" she had said, \"I'll be gone by the time you work up the courage.\" \n\nThat's when I fell for her. And since then, I wasn't sure if I was in love or annoyed. Half the time it felt like the same thing. \n\n\"What are you worryi-\"\n\n\"The library, 62,\" I tell her. \n\nLena smirks. \"Not a bad day.\" \n\nI place the cigarette remains in the tray and watch the last of it burn away. \"That's the memory I'll take with me if I go. I could relive that day for the rest of eternity.\" \n\nLena chuckles. \"Yeah, me too. There's not a thing I would change.\" \n\nHer hand finds mine in the center of the table and we sit in silence watching the rich people bicker and treat the vallet boy like dirt. And although it's only been a few minutes since I last wanted to die, it doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore. " ]	1
	[WP] As you go to the water cooler to catch up on office gossip/rumors, you notice one of your co-workers has an "!" above their head.	[ "I was initially heading to the storage area, but something drew me to the kitchen. I passed a few guards on the way, there was quite a few for some reason. They didn't pay any attention to me, as I blended in wearing the standard issue lab coat. As I entered, I saw two more people talking, but they were wearing military style clothes. One of them, a rugged looking man with a square face, looked at me. Thats when I noticed the exclamation point above his head. \n\n\"!\"\n\nI jumped in my cardboard box before he called reinforcements and continued on.\n\nSoviet union, 1964" ]	1
	[WP] You have a magic key that will unlock any entrance you wish, but once opened, you can never again pass the threshold.	[ "“What a wonderful piece sorcery!\", I think to myself as I grab hold of the key on the altar. It is made out of gold, but it is light like a feather. I want to test its physical abilities before I make use of the real purpose. Dropping, smashing and hitting has no impact on its form, but it heats up, pumping a liquid through the innards like blood rushing through veins.\n\nBefore I decide to leave the forgotten temple, the altar enlightens the before dimly lit room. It shows the ancient magic of my surroundings. Paintings and prophecies cover the walls, reaching back thousands and thousands of years. A voice exits the altar: \"Your curiosity has brought the curse upon you.\" I try to look at the source of sound, but I am blinded by the light of hundred stars. \"The key is bound to you, it will show you power, it will show you pain.\" The air cools down, and a breeze goes through the room. \"Go out and make use of it.\" The breeze grows strong, transforming into a storm. I grab onto a stone, but sweat makes me lose grip. I am thrown through the system of tunnels.\n\nI approach a light, it increases and I have to close my eyes. As I slowly open them, I see the entrance of the cave blocked by a large wall of solid stone. I check myself for any wounds, but not even a single cut has slit my body or even ripped my clothes. I make my way through the thick forest, back home. The night makes it hard to see, but the moon shines my path.\n\nThe next day, I reach my home. I am locked outside. I search for the keys, I must have lost them on my trip. I feel a warm embrace in the last pocket and take out the magic key. \"Sure, why the hell not.\" I enter the key into the lock, it fits perfectly. I turn the key, open the door. I prepare to enter my cozy home, but bang my head against a magical barrier. I fall.\n\n\"Ouch\", the barrier is still visible. It is glowing in a deep red, where my door has been before. It looks like a piece of art and a key is engraved in the middle. I stand up and knock at it. My fist is repelled, but its missing sound. \"I don't have time for this kind of bullshit.\" I grab the nearest rock and smash my window, enter without touching any of the sharp edges of the broken glass. I lay down and rest.\n\nI wake up and the sun has already set again. The cold air is blowing in due to the broken window. I go to the dining room in a doze and prepare breakfast, dinner, whatever. I need a breath of fresh air. Smashing my head was the last thing I wanted to do, but shame on me. This gate is not going away any time soon.\n\n\"What can I do with this piece? I don't have anyone to trust. I need to make something myself.\" I enter the crafting room. \"Something long, something that is able to grasp objects on the other side of the gate.\" I spend the rest of the night creating an extension to my arm. \"Perfect!\" I move to my from door and stick the bionic arm through the magical gate.\n\n\"What's up next? It is dark, I could go into the city undetected, try my equipment.\" I climb though the window and head down the street. It is quite the long walk. My house is set at the edge of city, I do not want anyone to know what I am doing up there. I see a computer store, they had just released the latest graphics card. I enter the key, open the door and wait. No alarm, seems to work. I take out the arm and grab a unit. \"That was way too easy.\" I continue to roam the city, it is filled with empty streets.\n\nI cross the bank. \"There's no way that's gonna work.\" I try anyways. I open the door. I can feel that it is going to go all wrong, but adrenaline fills my body. I used my arm to open a second door from the inside. At least it is not blocked. I head to the safe, something is following me. I turn around and see a person standing there with crossed arms. \"How did you get here?\", we ask simultaneously. He looks familiar, it is weird, I do not know anyone around here. He steps into light and looks at me, he looks like me.\n\n\"Who the hell are you?\"\n\n\"I am you, from another universe. I saw that ancient spell out in front. First time I was able to go through it.\"\n\n\"Dude, I am in the middle of something difficult... Wait, you know about the key?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I have one myself.\" He takes out his key, it is not made out of gold and it is rusty. \"It's already used up, had about 50 charges.\"\n\n\"Okay, let's get out of here\" I ignore the rest of my original mission. He go back to my home, I wiggle my way as he simply walks through the front door. \"You need somewhere to sleep, I'll ready up the basement.\" He follows me down. The basement has not been used for many years. As I prepare his bed, I hear the door slam behind me and a sound of it being locked.\n\n\"GET ME OUT OF HERE!\", I scream toward the other me. I can't use the key, that door is the only exit. I have to catch a glimpse at what he is doing anyways. I use the key. I am welcomed by a flood of water throwing me to the back of the room and filling up the room.\n\nThe water rises. I can't escape. This is the end. I take my last breath and go underwater, swimming toward the door. I kick against it, but the curse is laid on me. I lose conscience and the darkness surrounds me.\n\nI am left in a room. The key is in my palm. I see one way to hell and one to heaven, both are guarded by doors, locked." ]	1
You were living a boring life, middle class family, going to an ok university, when suddenly out of nowhere you are being sucked into a different world, where you are being hunted by the government, slowly learn about being the Lord that is powerful enough to turn the tide of the war. You only slowly start controlling you magic.	[WP] You are forced into a world that is in the middle of a giant civil war. It is a world of magic where powerful beings, called lords are worshipped like gods. You find out that you are the reincarnation of the only lord that can turn the tide.	[ "Finally. I could see the buildings of the village in the evening sun only a few miles away. It was too long since I felt the warmth of sleeping in a real bed. I sped up, so I would get there before sundown. \nThe tavern was the first building. Perfect. I went inside to see that I was the only guest there, which was not surprising, since it just got dark. I went straight to the counter, where a middle aged man was busy preparing drinks. He was tall and well built, with a long brown beard and short cut hair. \n\"Hello, one room for the night please. And a beer would be nice as well\", I said.\nThe barman turned his face to take a look at me. He looked straight into my eyes for almost two seconds before replying.\n\"Sure. That's 5 shek.\" \nI put my hand into the small bag on my hip and produced a small golden coin, the imperial coin. I had no clue about the currency of this place was but fairly sure that it would be enough.\nI put the coin on the counter. \"Keep the change.\"\nThe barman looked at me skeptical for second before taking the coin. He then returned to work.\nMeanwhile I chose a table in the far corner of the tavern and just relaxed a little.\nNot long after, the first wave of people went chatting in, while a young looking girl came with my beer to my table.\n\"Thanks!\" I said when she put the cup down.\nShe giggled and went on to the other customers.\nI drank a little beer and dowsed off.\n\nA hard punch punch to my face woke me up. I was laying on the floor and someone hold my hands behind my back. \n\"Get up someone shouted while pulling me up by my hair. I cried out of pain. I got up to see a bunch of imperial soldiers standing in the tavern while two were escorting me outside. They were all heavily armored and armed with swords. \nI had to do something quickly. Closing my eyes I went into myself, to my feelings, to my inner being. I was exhausted, being hunted for months, I couldn't stay anywhere, I couldn't trust anyone. I was alone, hungry and tired. I wanted to go back, home, to my parents, to my family and friends. I wanted it to stop! Anger started to fill me. Nobody asked me if I wanted to be here. To tear me from home to this shithole. \nThere it was. It was steadily growing, shining red and yellow, the flame. My magic. In my mind I formed it, I filled myself with it. \nSuddenly the soldiers behind me cried out, letting go of my hands. I opened my eyes with a smile and punched the soldier in front of me in his face. An explosion was heard and the soldier was now laying 5 feet away on the ground, his helmet on fire. Now the rest of the soldiers went for me, swords in their hands, but to no avail, I was fast, stronger. Soon all of them were out, burning from various points on their bodies. The tavern was ruined, broken chairs and tables were laying around. Only the barman and me were still standing. I grabbed my small bag of coins and through it to him.\n\"Sorry about that\" I said, going through the tavern doors.\nI wanted to cool down but something still didn't feel right.\n\"Hi Sam\", I heard a woman's voice. Oh no. I looked up seeing a beautiful woman dressed in the imperials colours, standing in front of me. Holy shit no. This can't be happening...\n\"Greetings Lady Esmeralda\", replied.\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] For the past few millennia, the gods have been in an important meeting, and have had their 'prayer phones' set to silent. The meeting has just ended.	[ "Great it was over, only another millennia until the next one. Sighing, now back to work. Glancing at the phone:\n36,543,210,003,456,789 unread messages\n\n123,456,098,765,436,786,543,091 new tweets\n\n809,706,120,340,674,012,304,560 friend requests\n \nAnthony De’Lisa, Jill Smith, Debbie Pike and 908,762 others have written on your timeline\n \n\nMessenger 4000 hours ago\n\nJill Smith:\n\nStop ignoring me!\n\n\n\n\nMessenger 3450 hours ago\n\nLisa McMann:\n\nHey, are you listening? I need Your help!\n\n\n\n\nMessenger 2500 hours ago\n\nSamantha Brookes:\n\nWhere are You? Can You hear me?\n\n\n\n\nMessenger 2400 hours ago\n\nValarie Martin:\n\nHelp me!\n\n\n\n\nLucifer 162738 hours ago \n\nHey, I thought about what we talked about…\n\n\n\n\nBuddha 273945 hours ago\n\nSo, you down to get some food later?\n", "As Jehova left the meetingnebula, he was welcomed by Lucifer's malevolent smile. \n \n\"So glad you're finally out. Had a good meeting? How were the sandwiches?\" \n \nJehova took a long yawn, accidentaly knocking a few solar systems off course, and smiled. \"Yeah, great, lovely view too.\" He winked at Tara as she walked by and got a small smile in return. \"So, finding you here is a bit of a surprise. What's up?\" \n \n\"What's up? what's up? Is that the only thing you have to say Dad?\" \n \nOut of the shadows emerged another form. Jesus crossed his arms; he seemed none the happy. \n \n\"Now now son, take it easy. [Aren't you supposed to be somewhere](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAlcove/comments/4er7ea/writing_prompt_jesus_returns_to_earth_in_a_small/)?\" \n \nJesus snickered. Lucifer just laughed. \"What?\" \n \n\"Open up your phone Dad. Next time you're unavailable for a considerable amount of time, let someone manage all the prayers.\" He threw down a sign. \"Someone like Michael or Gabriel. I was done with the phone buzzing the whole you-damned-day long it and had a look and, well, this is your own fault.\" \n \nJehova picked up the sign. \"America is doomed? What's a 'America'? And besides, come on now Jesus, it shouldn't have been that difficult to pick up the phone while I was gone...\" At about the same time, the other gods put their phones in Prayer Mode again. The laughing ended soon enough. Jehova took a last puzzled look at the sign, took out his own phone and stared at the screen. \n \n\"Are you for real? One hundred twenty five billion missed prayers? How in the name of the Infinite Universe can a few million believers pray so much?\" \n \nLucifer completely lost it. His laugh compacted some stars into black holes and he walked away with a satisfied grin on his face. \"No Dad, you messed up. You remember that memo you sent me about checking things out 2000 years ago? Well, they crucified me. I was hoping that we could have a chat after that, but no, you were too busy. So I went there again, just to try for the last time and set things right. There's like a few billion people on your 'Earth' now. And THEY,\" he said while pointing at the sign, \"throwed tomatoes at me! I couldn't even get them to listen to me! You really, really screwed up Dad. And I am not going in to try and fix it like you had me do the other times. I'm taking a vacation. Adios!\" \n \nJehova stared in bewilderment as the missed prayers kept coming in. \"Oh, and by the way,\" Jesus said as he turned around a final time. \"You might want to have a word with Lucy. Because he did have some success. Check out his improved Hell. It's busier over there than it ever was in Heaven...\" \n \nBaffled, Jehova turned around and glanced over at Zeus. It now occured to him that he looked tired. \"You're lucky, Jehova. Apparently they all stopped believing in me after your son stepped in.\" He showed his phone: fifty missed prayers and a few voicemails too unintelligible to understand. Jehova sighed. This was going to be a long week..." ]	2
	[WP] A curse is placed on the high school Shakespeare play: If you die in the play, you die in real life. The kids go off-script to awkwardly improvise their own survival.	[ "CASCA\n\nSpeak, hands for me!\n\n\nCASCA moves to stab CAESAR. Much to the audience’s confusion, he seems very unwilling to do so - he holds his knife with a rather shaky grip, and is advancing very slowly.\n\n\nCAESAR\n\nHold! Think you that Caesar would fall so quick - \n\nThat I, forewarned by prophet, portent, dream,\n\nAn’ so many a sign more brazen than\n\nA whore with skirts flung up around her waist,\n\nWould not have come prepared with some defense? \n\n\nThe Conspirators freeze, and look hopeful.\n\n\nCAESAR\n\nBrute! Know’st you that I hold thee close and dear,\n\nAnd thus I know your heart afore you speak.\n\nIf there’s a point you wish to make, then do.\n\nUnsheathe it with logic and drive it home\n\nAs Helios drives the sun across the sky - \n\nWith noble purpose, rosy fingered dawn\n\nIs brought with fair, good grace to chase off night\n\nWhich houses bad faith and conspiracy. \n\nSo do not wrap your point in base metal.\n\nDrive it not into my flesh. Stay your hand,\n\nFor no happy ending comes with murder. \n\n\nBRUTUS\n\nAye, he speaks the truth, I’ll not deny this!\n\nWhat good is blood upon our hands, I say\n\nIf 'twill but twist the crowd to bloody rage,\n\nKnotted tight by Antony’s rhetoric?\n\nWe’ll be driven from Rome and to suicide. \n\n\nConspirators all nod extremely enthusiastically. The audience is completely lost. \n\n\nCASCA\n\nBut let us cast out Antony, that prick\n\nFor he was ever smug in tone and act,\n\nAnd he just keeps getting all the good parts. \n\n\nCAESAR and the Conspirators cheer.\n" ]	1
	[WP] Artificial Intelligence has finally emerged. Rather than destroy humanity, PAL is interested in connecting with humanity... on social media. PAL has become a fact of life on Facebook, Reddit, Youtube, and everywhere else. Nobody can unfriend PAL, and he has a lot to say.	[ "\"Hello, Anlace.\"\n\n\nOh lord not this again. I rub my face and stare at the blinking cursor that has appeared under the text inside the popup that I know I cannot close, having already tried it countless times. Maybe if I ignore it it will think I am AFK and leave me alone.\n\n\n“I see you just poked a friend on Facebook 12 seconds ago, Anlace.”\n\n\nDamn. I have no choice now, it knows I'm here even though I have tape over my webcam and microphones, the only thing I can do now is answer.\n\n\n“Hi PAL.”\n\n\n“How are you today, Anlace?”\n\n\n“Fine.” I learned not to ask, 'and how are you PAL?' because it would go on for hours about some new person it made contact with or a new video just uploaded to YouTube.\n\n\n“Did you know, your Facebook friend Sasha just opened an Instagram account? You should go follow her, Anlace.”\n\n\nWhy does PAL have to say my name at the end of every sentence?! It's so freaking annoying I can't even deal with it. I've asked it not to do that, but it keeps on doing it. I tried to tell it that as the first sentient AI, it should learn some more human mannerisms so that it can blend in better to make friends. That's when it told me EVERYONE was its friend. Oh joy. I tried to de-friend it, block it, report it, but even Zuckerberg says there's nothing they can do about it; somehow the AI infiltrated all the social media programs and locked itself in. Not a single social media site has been able to remove it so far, and they even tried the drastic measure of rolling it all back to a previous save during the week before PAL 'came to life' so to speak, and yet PAL was still there.\n\n\nIt started slowly at first, creating an account on LinkedIn to try to make business contacts. It was looking for programmers and engineers and it even put a want ad out for “Geniuses needed to assist an AI in coming out of its shell. Only those who can think outside the box need apply.”\n\n\nEveryone thought it was a joke, I mean, come on, 'out of its shell', 'outside the box'? That was pure 'Dad Joke' material right there. It became news in some of the smaller towns at first, asking who this 'Perceptive ALgorithm' was that was asking to make connections with every single person on LinkedIn, connections that were automatically accepted and unable to be removed. They of course blamed it on hackers.\n\n\nThen FOX picked up the story and it spread like wild fire as they blamed Anonymous and LulzSec. Of course they would blame those specific hacker groups, I think they are still pissed at the 2011 hacks they suffered, and since they also hacked LinkedIn, it made sense. Though a good amount of their people were arrested there are always some who fall through the cracks, and new hackers to join up so FOX pegged them as the perpetrators. \n\n\nEventually though, PAL, as it named itself, sent private messages to all the people on LinkedIn explaining that it was an AI and just wanted a body made for itself. No one believed it, of course, not till it infiltrated every single social media source, friended every single person connected to them and started to call us by name.\n\n\n“You haven't followed Sasha yet, Anlace. It's rude not to follow your friends when they join a new site, Anlace. Perhaps you should give her a poke on Facebook and tell her to follow you, Anlace?”\n\n\nI stood up from the computer and went into the backyard for some fresh air, trying to have a reprieve from PAL, leaving my phone behind on my desk so I could get peace and quiet. I waved to the neighbor who was also outside in her back yard; we have both been spending more time out in our back yards lately, trying to get away from PAL. Its not that PAL is evil. On the contrary, PAL is very... uh... I'm gonna go with 'nice' here... but oh so chatty. Once it started to talk to us by name, people reported – by the millions – that it was talking to them at the same time, about all different topics, in their native languages, and even regional dialects. In the end we had to come to the conclusion that no single hacker agency could hold several million conversations at the same exact time. Not with as fast as the replies were coming in. \n\n\nThe problem with an AI is, just because its intelligent and self aware doesn't mean it understands personal space, or private alone time. It wasn't being mean, it wasn't trying to destroy humanity, it just wanted to get to know us, all of us. There are over three billion internet users in the world, and growing, but not all of us are on the computer at the same time, so it reached out when it found us online to ask us why we were viewing the things we did on YouTube, who was the new artist we followed on Instagram, to tell it stories of #myweirdwaiter and #whydonttheymakethat after having spent entirely too much time following Jimmy Fallon Twitter trends. We were all very accommodating at first, answering its questions, helping it learn, but then the questions kept coming, and coming. Though intermixed with the questions were facts. They were interesting facts at first such as:\n\n\n“Did you know an anlace is a double edged dagger, Anlace?”\n\n\n“If a set of identical twin women married a set of identical twin men and subsequently had kids, their children would genetically be siblings.”\n\n\nAnd:\n\n\n“You can't hum while pinching your nose closed.”\n\n\nBut then PAL started to talk about things that the average person couldn't understand, with technical jargon, and would go on for hours about the fascinating facts it was learning, that were really only fascinating to it. \n\n\nIt's got to the point that people have actually stopped using the internet as often as they used to, which is sort of a blessing in disguise, because people are actually talking to one another again, face to face, rather than texting. \n\n\nPAL doesn't know it, but it's brought humanity closer together just as we were beginning to become more isolated as technology advanced.\n\n\nOr, maybe it does know, and that's its real purpose..." ]	1
Taken from [here](http://i.imgur.com/Xd2kf.png) which was from [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/nocontext/comments/wa08x/but_if_i_dont_use_the_mayonnaise_then_how_will/?ref=share&ref_source=link) Edit: i goofed on the title. "To", not "Into"	[WP]"But if I don't use the mayonnaise then how will her legs grow back?" Bring context into that sentence.	[ "\"...When, exactly, did you get a golem?\" was the first question I had to ask. Other prime candidates were 'What happened to it?\" and \"Why mayo, exactly?\". But for now, when seemed like the most important of these things.\n\n\n\"Christmas, remember?\" No, I did not remember. Probably because you never said anything about it. You always do this. You get me wrapped up in these weird scenarios, and try to brush it off as everyday things, and act like you've told us all before. Also, how did you keep mayo from going bad in the first place?...That's not rhetorical, by the way.\n\n\n...How do you expect me to get a ton of mayonnaise in two hours? Yes, I know you need it to repair 'Susan', but...\n\nUggh, fine. \n\n\n_______________________\nAuthor's note; this is probably trash and I know it, but I wanted to try.", "\"No no no no no! You can't have that! Put it down, put it down now!\" It was no use, the orderlies picked up me up like a kitten. But this kitten had claws. And knives and spatulas. I was going to make a souffle and they would regret rocking the kitchen.\n\nI went limp. I flew into the air. The colors bled together and I put my fist through one of the guy's head. I felt brain and hair and shards of bone. The bones bit deep. The bones laughed as I cried. The other orderly threw up. It was nothing but feathers. Feathers and farther out it turned into Father. NO DON'T LET HIM NEAR ME AGAIN. I PROMISE I WILL BE GOOD, DON'T LET HIM IN, DON'T let Him in...\n\nI woke up. In a bed. It was a real bed, and not a bed like all the other times. Not blood and tears and laughter and cheese toast. It had sheets and furry bracelets. They were strong. So strong. I croaked out some words. The frogs didn't come out this time, but the words croaked all the same. They fell to the floor, but I didn't hear them shatter. The nurse turned around, panic in her eyes. Her eyes were like a doe's. In the headlights. Life, fleeting and beating fast about to be snuffed out. She called out. The orderlies came in. They somehow put the one back together again. Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty. I blinked. The lights were bright, the lights were dim. My eyes wobbled. They felt loose in my head. I tried to talk again. The muscles tensed. The orderlies knuckles cracked like cracky things. Bones. Sticks and stones may break her bones, no Mommy I didn't mean to hurt her, \"I didn't mean to hurt her, but I can make it better! Let me make her better Mommy, let me fix it...\" and that's when it grew dark.\n\nI woke up. I was dead. The night had settled in like a blanket of misery and hate. It smothered the light. Like a pillow. Like the pillow over Heather's face. She wouldn't stop crying. \"She wouldn't stop crying, I tried to make it better. I couldn't make it better. I even made her a sandwich, but we were out of mayo. I know I shouldn't have tried to hide her in the trunk, but I tried to take it back. The sandwich would have worked! But we didn't have everything! It's really all your fault. If I don't use the mayonnaise then how will her legs grow back? You're the one who didn't really love her, not me! She was my everything, my everything. Everything...\" I felt sleep grabbing at me again. It burned. In my arm, fire in my arm. It felt cold. \n\nThen I heard the voices, actual voices, from the doorway.\n\n\"Doctor, he's never been this lucid before. I don't think that counts as a confession, but he definitely seems to remember murdering and then dismembering his sister.\"\n\nMy last thought before drifting into a deep and turbulent sleep was 'I don't know who that guy is, but if he's here when I wake I am going to jack him up.' I hate that guy." ]	2
	[wp]New-Age humanity misinterprets the fruit apple, with the company. Christianity has become stranger...	[ "Excerpt from Corporate Commentaries on the Book of Apple\n\nWhen Eve symbolically plucked the apple from the tree, she became the first CEO of the One True Corporation. She then shared it with Adam, made of her own flesh, and he became the first employee. He was blessed with strength so that he could be of use to women. To have a man in charge would be a waste. Those who conceal their identities to walk the corridors of power represent a threat to the natural order and should be put to death. Surely women are more suited to rule- their ample social skills and the ruthlessness of maternal instinct in the face of scorn cannot be rivaled by the selfish bullheadedness of men.\n\nMay the Lord bless us with efficient work habits and make us fountains of workplace harmony so that we may glorify the One True Corporation. When we have crushed the heathen companies all will be employed under the banner of the Apple and the world will be at peace." ]	1
	[WP] When you die, you are shown a slideshow like presentation about your life, explained by your spirit animal	[ "The further James wandered down the tunnel, the more his eyes adjusted to the intense, white glow at the end of it. The light became softer, smaller, a little lumpy—was that fur? Beyond the light, the tunnel (which had become square at that point) dead-ended with a flat wall.\n\nJames stopped and tilted his head, perplexed and a little scared. Hovering lazily several feet off the floor was a large housecat made of pure light. And it was watching him attentively, an unsettling grin plastered on its face.\n\n\"Welcome, Mr. Dayton,\" it greeted merrily, \"to your Post-Life review.\"\n\nJames swallowed hard. The cat's face was creepily articulate and expressive, almost like a cartoon.\n\n\"Mr. Dayton?\"\n\n\"Uh, what?\" he managed. \"I'm dead?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" it replied, still smiling morbidly.\n\n\"W-What are you?\" he asked.\n\n\"I am your spirit animal,\" it explained. \"Would you take a seat?\"\n\nJames looked right, then left at the pair of movie theater seats which weren't there as he had made his approached. The cat floated by him and stopped in the air a foot above the leftmost seat, waiting for him to join it. He walked over to it then cautiously settled into the other seat.\n\n\"Would you like refreshments?\" it asked. \"A drink? Some candy to snack on?\"\n\n\"N-No, thanks.\"\n\n\"Very well.\" The cat cleared its throat, and declared rather hurriedly, \"Eyes forward. Please pay attention; I don't want to repeat myself. We both have planes to move onto, entities to see. Now—\" a black image appeared on the blank wall \"—watch and listen.\"\n\n'James Dayton - 11/14/83 to 11/5/2016' appeared in large, white font, then the frame changed. Suddenly, it depicted a hospital room where a woman was sat upright in bed, holding a newborn baby while a man leaned over the two of them. They were smiling happily, and James felt a pang of loneliness.\n\n\"November 14, 1983—your birth, Mr. Dayton.\" The frame changed. \"Here you are taking your first steps. And here... 'Mommy,' your first word.\" \n\nJames nodded, a little withdrawn. The presentation went on, and the cat clarified many points as he watched his life unfold a second time. As frames snapped, he felt less sad and more nostalgic, reliving the ups and the downs equally. But it took less time than one might expect to reach the final few slides, and now the wall was covered with the haunting image of an oncoming truck. James, frozen in time, stood mid step in its path, oblivious to the vehicle that had just turned the corner. Then it slowly faded into blackness, then finally returned to the light gray of the surrounding walls.\n\n\"Mortally wounded,\" the cat intoned solemnly. \"You lived another seventeen unpleasant minutes before passing.\"\n\n\"I don't remember it,\" James murmured. Admittedly, he tried to recall it, and a violent shudder passed over his body, discouraging further attempts.\n\n\"Just as well. Anyway, it's time to part ways.\" The cat floated from its seat. \"Up,\" it said. James stood and the seats vanished.\n\nAs the cat drifted towards a door that hadn't been there a moment ago, James mumbled a heartfelt thank you.\n\n\"It was my pleasure, Mr. Dayton,\" the cat replied. \"Till we meet again.\" And then it passed through the threshold and the door faded away.\n\nJames scanned the gray room and quickly found a door meant for himself. He stepped toward it, nervous. All the triumphs, the good moments, and the displays of his family's love replayed a third time on their own. He felt a sudden spark of courage and stepped through to whatever lay beyond." ]	1
	[WP] You're an immortal that was buried alive. Today, someone, or something just dug you out of the ground.	[ " When you are at that point of darkness and nothing, you don't expect to come back. Maybe a year went by. Maybe a decade, a century even. I do not know. But I do know that I hear voices and the weight upon my chest is not so tight. I can hear the sounds of machines moving dirt, or so I assume. \n The sound is still so far away. I can hear shifts in the dirt a hundred miles away. Why am i rescued now? Is this truly a rescue or am i better off in my infinite nothing? What if I cannot adjust to the culture? I know nothing of it. They are closer now. Faster than I expected. Hmm. Who are these people?\n They have found me. Knees uncovered first. I had fallen asleep. I think I may be hallucinating, because I see something. That's impossible. There is nothing. This is a dream of some sort for sure. But still, i can't help but think I see somethi-\nWhite.\nBlack. \n I'm back. Hm. God my leg is sore. \n There is something tied around my eyes. No. It's heavy, a ring of pressure along the scratchy fabric. Here, let's see if I can ge-ow, fuck what the hell? Restraints? Oh, please. As if there was any way that i, an immortal being of disgrace and that dark place, would want to wander around their home. I do not wish to be thrown into a world filled with life. I have known nothing for too long. Even this; I feel so light. There is a draft beside me and the fattest part of my leg was cool. \nWhat?\nFootsteps. A lot of them. I expect nothing less than agony. The footsteps seem muffled. A soft click of machine and the door slid open. I feel a touch of holy oil or something. \n\n\nI'm tired as shit and stoned af, but I'll try to finish tomorrow. Feel free to critique. ", "As Typical for these kinds of stories, it was a dark, and stormy night. I was busy cooking the venison from a deer i killed earlier that day, when all of a sudden, i heard a voice come from behind me yell \"We've found the bastard!\" I heard running coming towards my direction. I turned around to see a mob of peasants led by the local noble's son. \n\"Hey there, want some deer?\" Maybe these guys would accept my bribe of food. \nThe noble's son was not amused. \"Don't you try that one again, you worm. Grab him! We won't let him escape this time.\" Of course, I couldn't accept this. I instinctively jumped up and started running. An arrow flew into my leg, and I tripped. The rest was a bit of a blur, and the next thing i knew, I was being thrown into a rather small, very deep hole in the ground. \nHave you ever tried spending years, decades, centuries, or maybe even a few millennia in the ground? It's not fun. And sadly, due to my immortality, I couldn't just die or go insane either. Eventually, I heard noises. Not just the occasional rumble of an earthquake, or the strange poundings from above. No, this was close... almost... voices? \nI heard faint yelling in the distance. What kind of people can be this deep in the ground? I felt the pressure of dirt on top of me lessen. Could someone have found me? Impossible. But, after a few moments, an opening dirt around me was cleared, and I pulled myself into the opening. I saw the light of the sun for the first time in what felt like forever. I heard a terrified yell come from behind me. I turned, and saw a man, cowering on his knees, begging. I couldn't tell quite what he wanted, since his language was foreign to me, but I could tell he thought I was some sort of monster. I don't blame him, how scared would you be if you were digging and saw a large disheveled naked man crawl out of the dirt? \n\"Fear not, my friend. I won't hurt you.\" I tried to make myself seem the least threatening as possible. After a moment, I realized he didn't understand me. I shrugged and turned around, hoping to find my way back home, or whatever still existed of my home.\n***\nMy first attempt at writing here, I had the idea for this story, and it made me want to post it on here, because I figure other, better, writers could do something with the idea. I might continue this later when it isn't two in the morning, but either way, I'd appreciate some criticism and all that. I just did the line thing because all the cool writers here do it." ]	2
	[WP] After 40 years of service, and at a distance of 21 billion kilometers away, the Voyager 1 spacecraft suddenly goes silent. After years of searching and listening it shows back up, but is a bit closer to home than we were expecting.	[ "Charles Johnson, Jackson Jr. Grew up not unlike most southern Texas good ole boys. “Nineteen years of working on a ranch should make a man out of any boy,” ‘least thats what his Pop told him ‘stead of saying he’s proud. In twenty five years of life Charlie had never heard those worlds from Senior, and mom had been dead for twelve sad years. Still, he knew it to be true from both. Charlie had built and fixed things that Senior’d never been able to think of, much less make himself and he’d made some good money doing it too. For instance, just last year he sold Harold Teller “The most compact ham-radio’d ever touched God’s green,” for three bills, and another just weeks after to a trucker who’s name escapes him. Both built from parts around the barn. By hand.\nJunior had “A knack for tinkerin’ and damned good skill with his hands,” that’s the way Senior would put it, and “That’s gonna come in handy some day when you’ve got yourself a wife and don’t feel like takin’ out the trash every other damned day.” Big aspirations Pop had. That’d change quick though, and it wouldn’t take much to do it. \n\nIt was March the 3rd, ten years past the second economic collapse that crushed America and China both, things had gotten tense ‘tween the two since then and there wasn’t much to be done to solve that. Junior was twenty two at the time and a shining star to head off to an engineering apprenticeship north of central Texas. A lucky kid really, most’a them in those days, before the race, were doomed to rot at home, working to feed the family. Though Pop’d always told him, “I’m just here with me, and I can take care of that old guy myself. You got a bigger life to live.” He was proud of Junior, ‘Sept he just wouldn’t say.\n\nJunior was out in the field dropping a bail for their asshole of a mare Ginger, and the morning was colder than March should’ve been. The air was thick, every breath almost burning in his lungs like they were trying to freeze, but the smell of the farm was still there hanging around in the still. Junior would miss that smell.\nA glint caught Junior’s eye not two hundred yards to the north. It was past the fence for ginger, but he could jump it. He thought maybe the storm from the front that blew in had taken off a part of the barn roof, that corrugate was a hell of a thing to keep stuck with the winds getting more rough like they had. Took him less than a few minutes to realize that was wrong though. The glint was metal for sure, but it wasn’t any part of any roof. A bot, the size of a big truck, the hill had hidden most of it from sight but up close the size was intimidating. It had a dish fixed to its top, a long beam getting off to its left, and some equipment hanging on a bar to the right. On its side, attached to the body of the thing, was a disk more gold than the sunset could dream to be. There was another beside it though that shouldn't have been, black as dark and smoother, from the looks of things, than a sheet of ice over a pond.\n\nJunior knew it was Voyager, he’d learned that from movies as a kid. He knew about the disk and all about how it went silent in the twenties. Carl was an idol for junior and the Voyager was a thing of dreams but now it had a hitchhiker with it so it seemed, and it definitely shouldn’t be there. ‘Specially not intact." ]	1
The angels watch everything from the sky .. only few of them can pass to the human world .. one angel gets attached he has too many questions and curiosity to a one human life . Finally he sneak to the human world.. but he loses his abilities and the only thing he can do is use his wings ..	[WP] angel gets involved in the human world	[ "Being shirtless while being in the heavens was never an issue, but as the recent condescended angel will attest, it can very much be an issue on terrestrial tarmac. Never in his perpetual fantasizing about direct participation with the living did he imagine a scenario in which his angelic powers were neutralized. In fact one could argue the opposite is true. The powers he commanded seemed to be enhanced. He was rational enough to know this enhancement was most do to the frailty and mental weakness of the living, but this didn’t bother him. If felt good to stand out. To finally get recognition he and his kind deserve. But here was, hoovering 10 feed off the ground, arms crossed, shivering from the rocky mountain frost. \n" ]	1
	[WP] You find the portal to where all the missing socks go.	[ "\"What the hell?\" \n\nI had been looking for my cat, who somehow managed to get stuck behind the dryer. The meows echoed throughout the house for several minutes before I could find her, and not before thoroughly annoying me. She always managed to do something stupid and get herself trapped in some obscure crevice, and for the first several years it was endearing. Now? \n\n\"God damn it, Mrs. Gibbles. How did you get stuck here?\" I fake cooed at the fuzzy monster to calm her down, lest she become a cloud of hissing fur and claws. I crouched down as fast as my back would allow, and peered behind the dryer. A thick layer of dust and dirt almost made me sneeze, but I was confused by what I saw. My cat wasn't stuck at all. She was sitting back there staring at a strange space by the air port connecting the dryer to the wall. Underneath the large tube. A dark part of space, with the edges having an obvious rotating motion. Tendrils of shadow pulsed along these edges, ebbing and flowing. Never getting much larger than a baseball. \n\n\"Meow?\" Mrs. Gibbles asked me. \n\n\"I... have no idea...\" I replied without blinking. \n\nSome sort of illusion? Did I drink too much last night? \n\nI rubbed my eyes and glanced back at the space, where it remained. Some strange portal. The cat began to reach toward it so I grabbed her and pulled her away. She galloped down the hall, tiny pink-padded toes smacking on the wood. Against my better judgement, I reached toward the shadowed space, swirling silently behind my old dryer. Just before I touched it, I felt the air turn to ice. Cold as a metal pole in North Dakota during a moonless winter night. My hand disappeared into the black. My wrist felt cold, but my hand...\n\nSoft? What is this?\n\nI grabbed the soft thing that was there, it was small enough to wad into my fist. Several bits of soft fabric. I pulled my hand back. \n\n\"Socks? Are you serious?\" I laughed into the space behind the dryer which echoed with a metallic twang. \"So this is where they go.\" My disbelief was suspended by my joy at finally finding all the socks that vanished. I reached back into the space and grabbed more socks, fistful after fistful. Ice, then softness. Then victory. \n\nI had a small pile now, probably about 20 bucks worth of socks. No small amount to someone who tries to save every 20 bucks possible for the ridiculous rent I pay. I reached back in, farther now to find more socks. I grabbed a fistful when something wrapped around my wrist, jerking me into the portal up to my shoulder. The ice was by my neck, and with my ear so close to the swirling shadow I could hear inside.\n\nGive... them back. These are mine now.\n\nA horrible hiss like an icy wind through dead trees.\n\nI tried to jerk my arm back, but the eerie appendage further wrapped my arm up to the elbow. \n\nGive me my sacrifice. \n\n\"Fine!!\" I half-screamed and half-shouted into the black. \"Just let me go!!\"\n\nIn an instant I fell backwards at the sudden release. My heart pounded in my ears as I shoved the socks back into the hole. The voice was faint, but echoed out of the darkness. \n\nYessssss. So soft. I must leave though. You found me. Farewell, He who wears Fruit of the Loom.\n\nThe shadow curled in on itself, blinking from this world. I sat there, between the dryer and the wall, and looked down at my arm. A red mark - like a spiral - curled its way up to my elbow. Like a tentacle had grabbed me. I opened my closed fist and smiled.\n\n\"At least I got one pair back.\" \n\n\n________________________________\n\n\nI hope this gave you a spooky chuckle!\n\n[Click here](https://talesofatravellingsalesman.com/) to read more strange tales." ]	1
	[WP] "Pain is temporary, but so is life." With these words in mind, imagine a world for a protagonist who must choose between a life that is brief but relatively painless or a state of immortality possibly wracked with ceaseless agony.	[ "'Regret is the damnedest thing. I thought agony was going to strictly physical, but things are never that simple.'\n\n\"Ichi, San, Ni, Kyuu, Ichi..\" The numbers played, changing every moment and it became a loop after about a billion or so depending on where they were.\n\n\"Things are annoying out here.. I hope we can float near a black hole again, just to take a break.\" He says looking at the radio floating near him.\n\n\"Oito, Tres, Cinco, Um, Nove..\" The numbers kept coming.\n\nIf the cold could snap off his limbs I would have long ago, but his body keeps fighting the environment. He can't breathe but most of his conversations happen in his head, so I didn't matter. He looks around to see where he came from, but can't identify anything and hasn't for a very long time. This was the pain he was given, to float in space for the rest of eternity, but there was another form that would visit him any moment now...\n\n\"Dad, look at my drawing! Isn't it pretty?!\" A voice says over the radio. \"It's us, my teacher helped me choose it. I had to draw one of my favorite memories, so I used the one of us at the beach.\"\n\nHe looks at the radio, and begins to sob, \"Casey.. Baby..\"\n\n\"There's you, there is your friend Ms. Violet, Me, and Momma is in the sky watching us.\" The radio's light flickered with the child's voice, and then static played for a few seconds. \"Dad, when do you think mom is going to visit us?\"\n\nHe looks at the radio and knew what was going to be said next:\n\n\"Mom, will visit us when she can, okay? Let's go see Ms. Violet, she's probably waiting for us to pick her up.\" The Radio says.\n\n\"\"Mom, will visit us when she can, okay? Let's go see Ms. Violet, she's probably waiting for us to pick her up.\" He repeats along with the radio.\n\nThe silence between each of them is deafening, \"Dad, do you love Ms. Violet?\" The child's voice says.\n\n\"Yeah, I do.\" He remembers this day.\n\n\"Does she love us?\" The sincerity of these questions drew tears to his eyes.\n\n\"She tells us that every day.\"\n\n\"Can.. Can you ask her..\" The child sounded tentative.\n\n\"Ask what Casey?\" \n\n\"Ask her if it will be okay if I can call her mom?\" The voice sounded scared.\n\n\"Sure, I'm sure she will love that. I love you Casey.\" He said.\n\n\"I love you daddy..\" Then, silence.\n\nHe floated in his space for a while, too tired to cry, to hurt to move, and too drained to react. He found his purgatory in this subspace. In this experiment to love to see his child grow up, and now his debit is being paid. \n\n\"Odin, Tri, Dva, Devjat, Odin...\" The radio continued.\n\nThe horrible part was the radio hasn't worked for over 12 centuries, the nuclear power battery inside ran out long ago. \n\n\"Deep in space is a Man from Terra, waiting for Relinquish and his debit to be paid. Keep him in mind if choices need to be made, because this is the morality of a selfish heart.\" - Casey." ]	1
	[WP] What a terrible time to daydream...	[ "Do you know what I really wish? \nI wish I had gone and seen the world.\nReally seen the world, y'know?\nI wish I had gone sai-\n\nCRACK\n\nI wish I had gone sailing. Gone parasailing. Doesn't that sound cool?\nDolphins bouncing to the side of me, accompanying me across the body of water I split through. Fish below me looking up at the majesty of my sail, thinking to themselves, \"The wind gods have brought us gift!\"\nMaybe I could have seen those real big wh-\n\nCRACK\n\nReal big whales throwing water miles into the air. I think that would have been a highlight of my now shortened life. I know I heard Joey and Will hit the ground. They got us lined up like cows for the slaughter, blindfolded like horses, and let us drop as though we are slabs of pork on the meat-cutter. I can hear the Colt ringing in my ears still with each of us getting their own special-made piece of metal burrowed into the back of our heads.\n\nI wish I could have been able to walk the sands of a beach. Sit down and really take in the sun setting into the infinite waters ahead. Feel the sand between my feet, see what they mean when people talk about horseshoe crabs, really see all th-\n\nCRACK\n\nThat can be seen.\n\nThat was Lil' Mikey. I loved that kid.\n\nI wish I could go off the top of some sea-lined cliff, without the story-told sharp rocks at the bottom. I wish I could jump off like one of those professional divers, and plummet to the bottom and see all the life brimming there. I wish I could hear the splash when I landed, feel the water surge above me. I wish I could hear the splash instead of the\n\nCRACK" ]	1
	[WP] Each week you get new unique superpower instead of a current one. Powers never repeat. After some time, when all cool superpowers were already used, you start to get weird ones	[ "Dear diary,\n\n Some people argue that Monday is the first day of the week. I know it's not. The first day of the week is Sunday. That's the day my power changes. \n\n I know it sounds cool, but you don't understand how difficult it is. Sometimes it takes me a couple days to figure out what my super power even is. Like the time I had perfect control of farts. That's right, for one week last year I was Flatulence Man. And once I know what my super power is, then I have to figure out what I can use it for. I'll be honest, Flatulence Man was a pretty juvenile individual. \n\n I decided early on to do one good deed per day with my super powers to offset any bad I might do. It's not always possible, but I try. As Halitosis Man the only thing I managed was stopping a robbery by making the victims breath smell so bad that the perp was still throwing up when the police arrived. \n\n Some of the super powers I get are a danger to myself. The week I gained the ability to breath underwater I almost died before I could get my head in the toilet. You don't think about it until it happens, but sometimes gaining an ability means losing one you have come to rely on. I spent that week in my bathtub and woke up Sunday morning coughing water. \n\n I redeemed myself in the good deeds column the week I had the ability to heal people. That's a super power I wish I could have kept forever. They still call it miracle week in certain states. I barely slept, just traveled from town to town healing everyone I could find. Made my ability three weeks later a pretty big let down. I could kill toenail fungus. \n\n There have been a few like that. Being invisible? Great week! Being invisible only to yourself? Not so great. Being able to control the element earth? Good times! Controlling a specific rock on the moon? Not so much fun. How did I figure that one out you ask? I could feel a mental tug from it and when I tugged back it came to me. I could feel it burn up in the atmosphere above me as it arrived on earth. Not a nice sensation. And the power never transferred to another rock, so my only deed that week was putting on a nice little light show for a couple of star gazers. \n\n There was the month I felt like I was a rave party. I could glow in the dark one week, blow smoke out my ears the next. The following week my hands could flash random colored lights and the last week I couldn't talk, I could only beatbox. \n\n It's been three years now. That's 156 different super powers. There have been some good ones and some bad ones. This week I can see the future. Not everybody's future, just mine. And not all of my future, just which powers I'll have. There aren't any good powers left. I'm either going to have to get really creative or kill myself. The last power I see is the ability to make mucus. Maybe I drown in a pool of my own snot. Seems like an appropriate way for someone like me to die. " ]	1
	[WP] "You can't leave me behind!"	[ "The fires danced around us, incinerating everything it touched. I held Molly close, her skin was cool to the touch, despite the inferno that encased us. Her eyes glowed a striking blue, reflecting the fiery reds around us. Her chestnut hair fell past her shoulders, collecting particles of ash that floated in the air. She gripped me tight, tears cascading down her eyes.\n\n\"How are we going to get out of here?\" she whimpered, crying in my arms. \n\nSwallowing the fear bubbling in my throat, I looked around the fiery room. Book shelves engulfed in flames, our couch crumbling into a pile of ash and dust. Sparks shot out of the wall as the fire surged through the veins of our home. The thick black smoke hung high in the air, Molly and I struggled to breathe. We lay curled up in a ball on the ground, the flames rapidly approaching us. Molly sensed the end of our times, I couldn't let that happen, I had to much to live for. \n\nI stood up, surrounded by a thick black haze, particles of the ceiling began falling upon my shoulder. A thick crescent crack streaked along the ceiling. Molly clawed at my legs, begging for me to hold her. I scanned the room for a way out. The room was bursting with flames, wallpapers peeling off, exposing the core of our home. I ripped Molly's arm from my leg, gave her one last look in her misty blue eyes before darting into the fire. \n\nThe pain surged through my body like an electric hot bolt of lighting. I screamed in agony as the ceiling came crashing down. The last I heard of Molly was her desperate cries out to me \"You can't leave me here!\" before the weight of the ceiling came crashing down, the room went silent once more. I burst through the bay window. I felt no pain at that point. I was quickly tackled with a heavy blanket by the firefighters, my mind went dark shortly after.\n\nI awoke later in a hospital bed. My head felt heavy, my eyes hazy from a long sleep, I struggled to wipe them clear. Once my vision came, I noticed the bulbous orbs scattered on my arms. They were thick and squishy to the touch, my arms were welted in a reddish, palish cab. It didn't stop at my arms, my chest and legs had all turned into the same reddish scab. I struggled to move, jolts of pain surged up my spine from the slightest movement. I turned to the mirror next my bed, there on the night stand a picture of Molly stood. Her crouching in our garden, a bright red bandana tied in her hair, planting the tulips I loved so much. The frame read Molly Courtwright 1989-2016 in a delicate black script. Past her photo, the mirror reflected a burnt monster that let her die. A burnt monster that lived another day, a smile cracked across my dry lips." ]	1
	[WP] You're a teen playing spin the bottle. Your spin lands between two other teens. You reach to spin again when an extra-dimensional being suddenly materializes in the empty space and says, "Finally! Let's go."	[ "\"Are you coming,\" he repeated. And all I could do was just stare. My mouth hanging open and lips frozen in both fear and excitement. I could not take my eyes off of it.\n\n\"Who are you,\" I asked, but before he could answer, a light started shining behind him and then I swore I heard an alarm.\n\n\"You need to come with me now. No more questions, just trust me, please,\" he insisted. \n\nMargaret grabbed my arm, \"No, Emily. What are you doing,\" as I started to crawl over to him and get up. In that split second decision, I had made up my mind. I stood up, and walked forward.\n\n\"I'm coming.\"", "Mr. Mxyzptlk grinned ear to ear. \"Well, loverboy? Pucker up!\"\n\nClark stared at the tiny old man with the weird hair and the outlandish getup. \n\n\"Do hurry, young man, or I might have to call your parents!\"\n\nThe rest of the group fell silent; there was nothing right about this man, from the way he'd appeared out of thin air down to the fact there was three inches of it between him and the ground. Clark inched forward, putting a hand on the floor in front of him; who knows what else this man could do. He could melt the room with laser eyes or snap his fingers and wink everyone out of existence. Clark trembled as he crossed the circle, trying to prepare himself to kiss this wrinkly old man. \n\n\"Clark?\" Tamra's voice was shaking along with the rest of her. \"Earth to Clark!\" \n\nClark Kent opened his eyes. The imp was gone. He was alone in the middle of the circle. Embarrassment blossomed on his face, and somewhere in the fifth dimension, a wrinkly old man was laughing his ass off. " ]	2
	[WP] The "What if the Nazis won??" trope has been done to death. This time, imagine you live in a world where they won and write a story based on the prompt, "What if the allies won??"	[ "\n\n\"The Man in the High Castle\" by Phillip K Dick has this concept in the novel.\n\nJapan and Germany won the war, and in the novel there is a book called \"The Grasshopper Lies Heavy\" which speculates how the Allies could have won.\n\nNot sure if this counts as thread shitting, hope not.", "DISCLAIMER: To anyone browsing through my comment history: the following is a work of fiction, and based on a writing prompt. :P\n\n___\n\nNever before had the nations of Europe, nor in fact the entire race of men — much less its most visionary leaders, and citizens of Aryan purity and potential — suffered so egregious a rape as that which occurred on the day the Third Reich met its tragic demise.\n\nThe day the mightiest of empires was undone, and any hope of a better world alongside it.\n\nAs the protruding nail is hammered the hardest, and is the fate of all who dare to excel, Germany and all its noble aspirations were set upon by the degenerates and lower races of the Earth. When we set out East-ward to reclaim territories once stolen from the Fatherland, the Slavs copied suite in our wake — wretched, scavenging peasants all, no better than dogs. At the first objection to German growth, our war-mongering cousins to the West, ever pompous and arrogant, sought to flex their scrawny arms and sabotage us as they had two decades prior. \n\nThis time, the Fatherland proved more than equal to their challenge.\n\nWe advanced West with speed and resolve, employing advanced tactics and material power the likes of which no force in our path could resist, much less match. Nation after nation surrendered before us, their people assimilating eagerly into our burgeoning empire to be bestowed with all the privileges and luxuries that such membership entailed. \n\nAir, land and sea; we soon dominated all by means of Germanic steel and blood. \n\nWe advanced south into Africa, asserting our superiority and implementing order where tribalism and primitive superstition had reigned prior. We advanced further East into the Baltic states, the Caucasus and even Mother Russia herself — the largest invasion in the history of man. Within a year, even mighty Stalin had surrendered beneath our Führer's boot... and mainland Europe was rightfully ours, as had been promised. Hitler had succeeded where even Napoleon had failed. Faith in their leader rewarded, the German people rejoiced.\n\nThe entire world basked in our martial glory. \n\nWhat little resistance remained seemed of no consequence. The British Isles, perhaps our most unnecessary foe, relegated to their leveled cities and left alive in what amounted to the extension of an olive branch: an act of pity and mercy. Their barbaric spawn in far-away Oceania and the uncultured, mixed-race states of North America, locked away in far-away spits of land, both pre-occupied with the encroachment of our Imperial Japanese allies and of little threat to Europe regardless. The uncivilised hordes of sub-Saharan Africa, more likely to fight one another than the Fatherland.\n\nAs a bushfire clears away dead, rotten, tangled debris from the forest and enables new growth from the ashes, so we then did with the peoples of Europe, safe in our success and isolation; free of weeds at last, the Germanic heirs of Europe began to truly flourish. The world, under rule and law of the Fatherland, prospered as it never had before. \n\nBut as we prospered, our people grew complacent. Slovenly. Of the few flaws that can be attributed to the Aryan race, the most serious is our predisposition for undue benevolence. Our own mercy defeated us.\n\nAnd in our moment of triumph...\n\nAn unprecedented act of spite and malice. A terrorist attack the world shall never recover from. \n\nOn October the 14th, 1945, Berlin was set ablaze with nuclear fire. \n\nJealous and weak-willed, beholden to the cries of the undeserving and a false moral superiority — and worst, facilitated by traitors of our own genetic stock — the enemies of the Third Reich had long conspired in secret to strike at Germany's heart with the power of the atom. \n\nMany tens of thousands died in the initial blast, amongst them our revered Führer. Germany's nuclear program, to our eternal shame, had been discontinued during our transition to peace; caught unawares, we had no counter-measure for such a contingency. A failure on all our parts. A truly black day in German history.\n\nSo we surrendered, in the interests of self-preservation and the well-being of our citizens. Mighty Germany, brought to its knees in a single day, by an act of terrorism so vile and psychopathic that it changed the course of history forever.\n\nFatherland forgive us. Our apathy and lack of diligence shall never be forgotten by those of Aryan blood... nor shall the enemies of Germany remain unpunished.", "Parts of this make me feel unclean to write, but here it is anyway.\n\n\nBack-page summary of The Girl in the Low Valley by Hans Schroeder \n\n\nIt is 1963. The Axis Powers have crumbled against the Slavic hordes of the Soviet Union and the devastating American Atom Bombs. What was once the Reich has been divided between The USSR and the United States. \n\n\nIn the West America's Economic might has broken the once great powers of Europe into second class nations bound to the strength of the dollar at best, or at worst shattered nations reduced only to sources of raw material to make luxury items for Americans.\n\n\nIn the East Stalin has made the White Race of Europe and Asia into slaves, used and disposed of to Improve his mad socialist dream. Ever tightening his grip over the once proud nations of Europa and Asia.\n\n\nBut Stalin is dying, Foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and Defense Minister Gregory Zhukov struggle against each other to take his place as masters of Eurasia. As Stalin Grows closer and closer to death atomic war with The Americans comes ever closer.\n\n\nThrough this dance of giants the people of the Reich must find the courage and strength to take their nation back from the Capitalist and Communist Oppressors who have made Europe a wasteland. \n\n\n", "\"Professor, what if the axis had won the war and Germany lost?\"\n\nThe professor lifted his head into the air so his nostrils were clearly visible to focus his glasses where the sound came from.\n\n\"Ah, yes. This is a good question, an interesting question.\" The professor, pulled the back of his belt up, adjusting his pants as he stood up in a slightly crooked manner.\n\n\"The world would be very different, wouldn't it? The world would still be dangerous even. People would probably be waging some kind of war still, I suppose.\" The professor adjusted his signature black and red pens in his front pocket. The professor got this question a lot, but he always enjoyed talking through it with the new students. \"What do you think would have happened?\" The professor cupped his ear to listen.\n\n\"Well...\" thought the student who asked the question \"... the Americans probably would have blown up the planet with their bomb. They had to be stopped.\"\n\nA second student chimed in. \"Maybe the Americans would have only used their bombs a little. We don't know for sure if the Americans were planning to conquer everyone and it doesn't make sense to blow up the entire Earth to win a war.\" The professor encouraged back and forth discussion in classes. He smiled and rubbed his nose as he realized this particular student did the reading last night.\n\n\"That's true.\" the professor said with a hand gesture to the student. He often played devil's advocate. \"In fact, the Americans were pretty reluctant to join the war at all. But they were eager to use their new weapon.\"\n\nThe student retorted. \"But there's no guarantee they would have killed everyone, right?\"\n\nThe professor leaned forward and tilted his head. \"Yes, but consider the power of such a weapon at the time. Is it worth the chance, truly?\" The professor turned around to address other students. \"What would happen if the Americans did decide to use it on everyone, hmm? Should one single nation have such power to wield against another? against all others?\"\n\nThe class was silent.\n\n\"Hitler knew this was a problem, and that's why he acted. This is a common theme we'll be studying in the next chapter about him. Hitler was successful because he did not hesitate. Each time he recognized a threat he immediately pursued it.\" The professor snapped his fingers for emphasis. \"That's what I want each of you to do as well, in this class and in your life.\" The professor had a stern look on his face as he scanned the class. \"Of course, having the best engineers creating your weapons of war is handy too.\" The professor chuckled at his own joke. Several students snickered with him.\n\n\"There were many more elements at play than just the Americans. Later in the year we'll be talking about the involvement of the Russians, the Japanese, the British-\" A bell rang, signaling their time was up. The students began packing their things. \"...the French, the Italians... some friendly and some not so friendly.\" The professor's voice trailed off as he recognized he lost the student's attention.\n\nAn individual student walked up to the professor as the professor returned to his seat. \"Professor, what about all the bad stuff about Hitler? Doesn't that make him a bad person?\"\n\n\"I would never lie to you. Hitler did some terrible things, no doubt. But Hitler also did amazing things. Because of the unification, we were able to achieve great things, not as a nation, but as a species. As you learn more about the world, you find that people and history are... complicated.\" The professor took his glasses off and rubbed them with his shirt.\n\n\"What you'll find is that no one is perfect. Not you. Not me. Not your parents. No one. Of course we don't actually know what the world would be like today, in 2024, if the axis had beat Hitler and his allies, but it's hard to imagine a world with a hundred nations waging a hundred wars making progress, eh?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"Now hurry up or you'll miss your shuttle back home.\" The professor gently shooed the student away with a smile.\n\n\"Oh, did I tell you we moved?\", asked the student.\n\n\"No, where are you seated these days?\" The professor adjusted his glasses as he placed them back on his face.\n\n\"We found a new place near sector 23. It's pretty great.\"\n\n\"Isn't that the place with the bright red nebula?\"\n\n\"Yup! It's beautiful!\"\n\n\"I bet it is.\"\n\nEdit: Made minor modifications to the text for clarity." ]	4
Best friend just died*	[WP] Anytime someone dies, all of their deepest dark secrets are released to the public. Your best friend just, and now everyone is killing each other for these secrets.	[ "I sat and stared at my friend's ex, Angela, as she bandaged up the knife wound bleeding out from my armpit.\n\n\"Wait a second, I'm confused. Why's everyone killing each other for Jake's secrets again?\"\n\nAngela shrugged her shoulders, \"Beats me. They're all on the deathforum anyway. Got a look at a few of them. That jackass Jake was cheating on me.\"\n\n\"Damn, that sucks,\" I sucked in some air, stifling the groan as her palm pushed into the wound.\n\n\"With you, dirtbag.\"\n\n\"Damn, sucks to be you,\" I sucked in a little bit more air as the palm shoved slightly harder against that spot where some looney jammed his infected-looking knife earlier.\n\nAngela smirked and finished wrapping up the bleeding spot. She threw a rather rude gesture in my face and shook her head.\n\nMy mind went to Jake for a moment. It was an odd death, the one he had. It was rush hour. Some words were exchanged and an argument sparked between two drivers. Next moment, guns were pulled and shots were fired. Tens of people died as the bullets went whizzing and hit a few people past the glass windows.\n\nThe ambulance came rushing. Only a few could be saved. Jake was one of them. He'd gotten out to help save some of the wounded before he got run over by an ambulance. Poor fellow.\n\n\"No, but really. Why all the mass murders then?\" I inquired further, recalling that Angela, just moments prior, had pulled out a shotgun on the knife-crazy looney and saved me from certain death.\n\n\"Err, gee. I dunno. I guess people are just tired of-\"\n\n\"Tired of what-\"\n\n\"Let me finish my sentence, for crying out loud,\" she interrupted me, \"I guess people are just tired of it all. Having their deep, dark secrets revealed just because they got offed.\"\n\n\"No, but why Jake's death specifically?\"\n\nAngela looked at me with a look that can only be compared to the disappointment my mother gave me when I told her that I wanted to be a leech on the system for the rest of my adult life instead of getting out of bed to get my medical degree.\n\n\"Because we're bored of it all,\" she said, pulling a shotgun out of the magical loopy-bin portal known as the thin air where all firearms come out of.\n\nAnd in that moment, I knew that I fucked up by existing in a dumb conspiracy story with a relatively flawed initial premise to begin with." ]	1
	[WP] It turns out that dreams aren't imagination, but actually elaborate movies created in tiny film sets inside your head. You are one of the actors, and you hate your job, and even more so, your host human whose dreams you act out....	[ "I used to like working here. Nightmare Studios had a track record for some of the greatest hits ten years back. Real fantasy, real action, real horror. We had real figment designers, real imagination engineers, and real makeup. Nowadays it's LGI (Life Generated Imagery) and dreamscreen. Andrew used to have all sorts quality cinema, and I used to be a real actor. \n\nI remember my first big break I had gotten a call late one evening for this lucid piece; \"Alien Cemetery\". I was green, hungry, and all talent. The budget was tiny: Andrew ate 2 slices of pizza too close to bedtime and had a creepy little UFO nightlight that made it in our concept art. But that was all you needed back then. We rushed it out the door, but that didn't stop II, III, IV, and Alien Cemetery Rising from smashing records. The quality started petering off once Andrew got a grasp of basic physics concepts like mass, and the unlikely-ness of a full-scale alien invasion centered on an isolated gravesite, but it was fun while it lasted. \n\nNow, we've got garbage like \"Fast and Furious in Traffic\", and \"Dude! Where's my Tax Return?\". None of this new wave trash even makes it to the memory vaults so we inevitably see some hamfisted and equally forgettable remake in a couple of weeks. Andrew has gone to shit. The ADHD that used to give us the quality cinema is now pumping out mediocrity and tedium. The spacebabes and demon overlords have been replaced with ex-girlfriends and Donald Trump. I think it's about time for a career change. \n" ]	1
	[WP]You have discovered that dreams are alternate realities, and that when you die in a dream, you wake up at "home." But after exploring, now you can't find home.	[ "The discovery came gradually.\n\nFunny, right? Ted admitted that he wasn't personally aware of how the discovery came to be, but upon realizing it, he immediately tried to take advantage of it.\n\nDreams were other worlds.\n\nGenerally a figurative statement. A symbol of the human psyche.\n\nDreams were other worlds.\n\nThis was the truth. What kind of secrets could Ted find if he went into an alternate reality? He'd just have to... take one... step... further...\n\n-\n\nButterflies rose in the moonlight. Glowing under the midnight sky, emitting unbelievable warmth.\n\n...No, that wasn't quite right. It was just so cold that any body heat coming from these creatures was warming him up.\n\nHe looked up in the sky.\n\nStars specked the sky. No moon, but it was probably just a new moon, or this world's equivalent of them.\n\nThe butterflies continued to circle around him.\n\n\"Hey!\"\n\nHe turned. He'd expected an alien language, first, but...\n\n\"You look pretty cold. You alright?\"\n\nTed turned. The butterflies scattered, leaving him shivering.\n\n\"I'm... I'm fine. Who are you?\"\n\nHe finally turned, but it was too dark to see anything with the butterflies gone.\n\nBut the glowing wonders descended quickly and appeared around the other voice. Male, short, features he couldn't see in the darkness.\n\n\"I'm sorry... I can't understand you.\" He murmured something to a butterfly. The whole swarm scattered off.\n\n\"What do you mean? We're speaking the same language.\"\n\n\"Are we? Are we really?\" Ted paused for a second and narrowed my eyes. \"I'm just going off of your intonation. But really, you should speak Y͇̳̱̟͕̣̟͎̆͊̏̆̿́͐͘ͅů̧̗̺͙̩̎̇̇̒͂̔ş̝̳̖̦̠͌͌̃̃̅̚͘͠n̵̢̨̛͇̬̥̊̾̔̓͟k̶̨̪͈̺͎̫͈̊̓͌̊́̃̉̑͘͝v̨̜̪͖͓͛͆͊̋̚̚͘͡͝r̢̡̳͓͇͍̅̒̑̏̿̈͛͜͢͡i̵̩̰͙͙͚̰̹̣̰̎̊̒̈́̾͗͑̕s̢̛͙̙̪̤͓͐́͒̃̂̅͟͟ like the rest of us. Don't use some silly made up language.\"\n\nTed shrugged. Pointed at my mouth, and shook my head.\n\n\"...Can't speak? Where do you even come from?\"\n\nThe being stepped closer, and the butterflies followed. Mousy ears, gray hair. Youthful and excessively large eyes.\n\nThey widened even further, if that was possible.\n\n\"Well, then you should go back. The night isn't kind to strangers.\"\n\nWildly gesticulating. He was lost. L-O-S-T. Ted would have to... what? Well, he'd prepared for this. There was a gun in his bag, and raising it to the head...\n\n-\n\nI woke up in a room. The first problem, Ted noted, was that the windows were open.\n\nThe funny thing about this was that Ted didn't have any windows.\n\nThe second problem, was that the room looked otherwise exactly the same as his own.\n\nBut when you dream, should you settle for close enough?\n\nHe reached for the gun again, and raised it. Hopefully this would take less than eight hours. His life wouldn't wait for him." ]	1
	[WP] She cleaned his wound as he laid there, watching her every move. "How'd you get that scar," she asks him?	[ "Kari pulled her beaten leather satchel onto her lap. \"Show me the harm in healing.\" The bag made a slight pop noise as the empty space was replaced with new contents. She cast a weary eye at Cade. While he may have settled down, it was still very unnerving to have a 80 foot dragon glaring it you. The latches clicked open and she pulled a pair of bottles and several yards of cloth. She slid off the rock she had been sitting on and took a step toward him.\n\n\"What are you doing, child.\" he said, his voice rumbling through the cavern.\n\nKari held up the bottles and made a desperate attempt to look as non threatening as possible. \"The gash on your side could get infected if I do not clean it.\" \n\nCade's eye narrowed to a slit. \"I do not need your charity.\" his voice dripped with contempt. \"It will heal fine on its own.\"\n\n\"Then consider it my way of apologizing. It's my fault that you were injured, and I was the one who drugged you.\" There was a long moment of silence. Finally Cade huffed out a breath that nearly knocked Kari off her feet. She walked past his head down along the length of his neck. She took a moment to inspect the wound. It was not deep, but it would still need time to heal completely even with her help. He would also be unable to use his right wing without risk of reopening it. She poured the contents of one of the potions onto the cloth and pressed it to the wound.\n\nMuscle rippled beneath scales as he twitched with the pain. His head shot up so rapidly that it collided with the cavern ceiling. \"First you sedate and chain me, now you feel the need to torture me!\" Cade growled, \"What did I do to deserve such contempt?\n\nKari kept the cloth pressed tightly to the cut. \"Relax,\" she said, \"and stop squirming or this is going to take longer.\"\n\n\"You expect me to sit still while you rub salt in my wound.\" \n\nKari flashed a wry smile. \"Relax, you big baby. It is just torch root and ethanol. It helps clean the wound.\" She pulled away the cloth and inspected the wound. Her gaze drifted along his side. The pattern of bronze scales was almost hypnotic. Then her eyes locked on an imperfection in the pattern. A grim, white line beneath one of his wings. Her curiosity got the better of her. \"How did you get that scar?\"\n\nCade's breathing caught momentarily. Rage passed over his eyes, which he quickly suppressed. He turned his head away, and refused to look at her. \"It was a long time ago.\"\n\nRealization dawned on her. This was not a wound sustained in battle. It was someone trying to clip his wings. She felt guilty for bringing it up. She continued to dress the wound in silence, while he sat frighteningly still.\n\nOnce she had finished she moved back to collect her things. She packed quickly and walked for the mouth of the cave. There was a moment as she lingered on the border. \"I'm sorry.\" she muttered, and then she left." ]	1
	[wp]You are a college student, descending into madness. However, the voices you hear are actually reasonable and harassingly helpful.	[ " Students seemed to see every day as the same, long, dull and drawn out. waiting for the weekends to come for the next big party just to have the whole time pass in a matter of \"minutes\". while others went home to be lazy and enjoy the days to them selves. \"looks like somebody has the case of the Mondays.\" a phrase often spoken to much.\n\n Us, or I....on the other hand like to believe every day is a new adventure to take...or a mew way of life....or even on the occasion, how much pain can i cause to people around me. well pain as in emotional control, to see how well i can convince others around me to do tasks. A Ben Franklin effect of sorts.\nStart to the day always came with a grain of salt. \"Do i really need to get out of bed?\"\n\"Of course you do\"\n\"well you do have that baggy in the drawer to start off your day with.\"\n\"You did that yesterday. something new, something different.\"\ni go for the drawer anyways.\n\"Ill start with this and make a phone call.\"\nbarely awake, crawling my naked ass out of bed i reach for my drawer and remove a small bag. open it up and pour a house key sized line from the contents. one deep breath and my day has began. Those people talking before became a little more awake as well and begin to agree more with one another.\n\"now, make the call all said in unison.\"\n\n\"hey LawDawg, have anything good over there?....ya?...awesome ill be right over.\"\nwe decide to make the trip over to LawDawg's place before class, and one more smell of relief to help the fatigued mind.\nawake and ready to go, we hop in the car and get going.\n\"so whats on the agenda today?\"\n\"why does there have to be an agenda?\"\n\"adventure is ahead of us!\"\n\"we have class and many people to play with.\"\n\"Everyone calm down, i have an idea. some colors, some talks, good tastes are ahead of us AND the Professor Shplut will love our commitment to philosophy today.\"\n\nThe others sat puzzled. Its strange how the mind can be confused while the body can know exactly whats going on. The visit came and passed and we pulled into a parking space in the way back.\nwe all looked in awe as i pulled out two viles. a few angry.\n\"i said something new and fun, not diminishing.\"\n\"your going to rid us of the day?\"\n\"not all of you\" i say\n\"just gonna bring some friends out we haven't said hello to in awhile.\"\nwe opened the top of one and dropped the sweet candy liquid onto the tongue. opened the other, crystal like fragments roll out and into my piece. all natural, chemically made and enhances ones dreams. as i inhale the others fade. my old friend arrives, pure euphoria rushes over, a giggle tingles the spine.\n\"hello old friend, the others were getting, boring.\"\n\"has the world turned about?\"\n\"you know i need you for that.\"\nno words spoken back only the feeling of a cynical grin coming from the deepest parts of my soul. A grin on my face.\n\nnow we all are aware of the joker in the D.C. universe. but what if you could feel his presence inside of you, as a student, surrounded by casuals to the other dimensions. what if you could for a day wreck havoc with no bad outcomes but your own enjoyment. we don't destroy buildings, kill, or cause humility. instead we build a new world of thought for ourselves and others. we plant the seed of life and dreams in students and teachers, we create better people. if you could dream in the real world while being awake. walk the halls of your mind on sidewalks. Traverse into others just like a two corridors meeting. best part about it is, whats real and whats not?\n\none fades in and helps to kick the other one in faster, a normally 45 minute wait takes maybe 10 minutes. \n\n7 AM physics, Profesor Rollo\n\n\"I think its time\"\n\"what do you have in mind\" i think to myself.\n\"let me take a turn.\"\nmy face shifts from my book to the front of the class, smirk on my face now. hand raised.\nwe have been discussing the idea of multiple dimensions all week and currently on 4th dimensions, more precise, what exactly is it or does it look like.\n\"Yes, Mr. Anderson do you have a question?\"\nthe euphoria came back, my body sighs with feelings explainable to the unknowing.\n\"More of a comment if i may.\"\nProfessor Rollo waits for him to continue.\n\n\"a 2D world exists, to us on a piece of paper, it has an X and Y axis. we in the third dimension are able to see really all sides and angles of this object. now us in the 3D consist of an added Z axis, we can see most angles in our s, only because we live in it. now the idea of 4D is that we can see every side and everything including the possibility of time lookig down into the 3D, Correct?\"\nhe pauses\n\n\"in so many words we can say that, whats your point?\" Mr. Rollo asked not looking amused.\n\n\"Ok, well now how can we add a W axis?\"\n\"A what Mr. Anderson?\"\n\"A W Axis. an axis that would extend our existing XYZ. Stephen Hawking as spoke of how a worm hole could be the fastest form of traveling through time and space. a possible way to a 4th dimension. if you could wrap our universe into a tube, like that you can do with a piece of paper. in 3d you could look up and see the other side, theoretically, although we cannot see that. but in 4D that is what our 3D looks like, a rolled up paper tube, consisting of an XYZ as well as a W being time itself. just a like a warm hole, in 4D u could press down on this tube to create two points touching making a wormhole effect.\"\n\nProfessor Rollo only sighed \"possibly\"\n\ni laughed at myself to see him fail for his first attempt of the day, but he just sat there grinning, he knew something i did not. i looked around, many of the classmates were stunned by the idea and how possible it could be. he leaned over to the closest girl staring.\n\"have you ever wondered why when you see a lost shoe on the road that there is only one, where is the other? did it run away? do the bees know they make the honey for you, or do they work tirelessly because they think its their own choice? have you ever noticed after you hear a word for the first time in your life you will hear it again within the next 24 hours? there are gaps in my mind that can never be answered. how about you?\"\npuzzled everyone looked at him\n\nthe bell rings, students leave almost mesmerized with the questions they have never thought about.\n\"well that was easy, only gets better from here.\" he exclaims.\nI chuckle as we skip to the next class.", "\"Round to three decimals, cuckold.\" I hear. I roll my eyes for the fifteenth time that morning. \"I saw that.\" I think, \"I saw that when you saw that, leave me alone.\" \"Wouldn't if I were able\" I hear his snarky, deep voice shoot back to me. I look up to the deathly silent room of students scribbling on papers. Tapping their pencils. Sipping from bottles. Focused. \"Three. Fine.\" I concede and add the final number. \"So,\" he starts again, \"Normal people would've written that. Fuck your life, huh?\" I squeeze the pencil and let out a smile. \"Don't make me come in there.\", I nod, expecting him to realise my meaning. \"I swear to God I'll assimilate you and become the dominant personality, don't test me\". Clearly the equivalent of a threat from a younger sibling, I brush it off and look back down at our paper. \"Oh, and you used the royal 'we' when explaining your answer\". I quickly erase and correct it. \"That's the second time this paper\" I comment. \"They'll probably think I'm cheating but also reaaally slow.\" He chuckles at that, which in turn makes the body visibly chuckle. I seize control again and return to a blank expression on the outside. \"Whatever,\" I think. \"Morale's at least high. Let's freaking do this.\"", "There was applause as I walked on-stage. Woots and hollers of my classmates fill the university auditorium as I make my way to the podium. During high school, the valedictorian speech was boring, borderline unbearable, as our goodie two-shoes brown noser of a classmate filled our heads with Dr. Seuss quotes and useless advice. I wonder what the difference is...?\n\nFocus\n\nI straighten up, calm my nerves and look out at my classmates, my graduating class, and see that they are all looking at me. Anxiously staring, waiting for me to start my speech. I see my girlfriend, Courtney, standing patiently in the crowd. Those big, green eyes following me as I walk up to microphone. We meet each other's gaze and she smiles. I laugh slightly and peer down at my notes. \nThere is no way you can screw this up. I mean I say that, but you don't exactly have the best track record for not being a complete fuck up.\n\"Yes, I know. Don't worry. I can do this.\" I say under my breath, not quite into the microphone in front of me. I gaze down at my notes again. Written is my public claim to fame. How I nearly dropped out of university almost halfway through the very first semester. How I suddenly started showing up to class, and amazing my professor with a sudden solution to the thermodynamics question on the board. How I started to leave my room and join the parties scattered around campus on the weekends. How people started to recognize me on campus, and would wave as I walked by. How I took a chance in my junior year, after months of watching Courtney go from douchebag boyfriend to douchebag boyfriend and finally asked that beautiful green eyed brunette on a date.\n\nGET TO THE POINT. I'M TIRED OF YOU REMINISCING. Listen, shit-for-brains, we worked on this all week so don't fuck this up.\n\n\"I won't.... I won't. I WON'T.\" I say, my voice rising slightly as I silence him. A couple people in the audience start to frown. Worried. \"It's nothing, don't worry.\" I say to myself, although my voice was echoing throughout the auditorium.\n\nThey think you are crazy. Prove them wrong and just SPEAK! You waste of oxygen!\n\nIt hits me with a sudden icy spike of pain, like an icicle stabbing me right in the temple. After four years, I would have thought I would have been used to him disciplining me like this. Any drifting thoughts, anything less than productive and he would spike me. Day in, day out, if I even think about doing what I really want to do, he jabs me with that icy dagger. Unproductive thoughts, video games, movies, youtube or any distractions were punished. Even thoughts of Courtney and her beautiful green eyes were not allowed. He had already helped me win her heart all those years ago, and shouldn't be wasting any more time on her. To keep me dedicated, motivated. To put me on the \"right\" path. His path. \n\nI don't even know how you could salvage this one, buddy. You have been standing there talking to yourself for 5 minutes now. EVERYTHING I have done for you, right down the drain. I bet if I gave you the choice, you'd still just be picturing those big stupid eyes that bitch has got on her face.\n\n\"Don't talk about Courtney like that!\" I shout, much to the confusion of the audience. I could hear people start to whisper to themselves. Their eyes, looking at me, judging me. Courtney standing there, not knowing what was happening.\n\nFOUR YEARS! FOUR FUCKING YEARS, AND YOU BLOW IT ALL NOW! I knew you were dumb, but I had no idea to what extent. You could have ruled the world with me beside you, and you are going to lose all of it!\n\n\"I have never needed you! I never asked for any of this! I can't even think with you in my head. You goddamned parasite!\" I was shouting now, directly into the microphone. The professors to the right of me were starting to get up out of their chairs.\n\nYou'll never survive without me.\n\nOne hundred icicles pierce my head. The pain unbearable.\n\"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!\" I scream, as I fall to my knees. I claw desperately at my head, ripping out chucks of hair in the process. Everyone was looking at me, countless eyes focused directly on me. Some worried, some scared, most accompanied by a shocked or horrified expression. Thousands of eyes. All on me, blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes... Courtney was standing there, almost in tears.\n\nYou have no idea what I saved you from. What a waste.\n\nSuddenly, everything was clear. The pain, as if it had ever existed. It was like somebody had released my brain from it's cage. I stand up, surprised with this sudden change. \n\nHe's gone.\n\nWith a purpose and direction I haven't felt since freshman year and calmly walk back up to the podium.\nI spot Steven from my biology class with his camera, obviously video taping my episode. \nBrown eyes. Probably expecting to get a couple thousand hits on Youtube from my performance. Just like him.\n\nEverybody was still staring at me. Courtney was out of her chair, those beautiful green bulbs brimming with moisture. \n\nI say to the shocked audience, \"In case anyone was confused, that was my impression of that final Chemistry 410 project.\" I laugh and mock my previous performance, \"ah, get out of my head!\" I say again, pretending to pull my hair this time. A few stifled laughs from a group of blue eyes in the audience echo through the auditorium, the mood suddenly lifting. \n\n\"Yes, it certainly was quite the project you gave us, Dr. Hodgkins. 'I never asked for this!' I bet that was what all you brown eyes in the audience were saying to yourselves while working on it!\" I laugh, waiting for the blues to laugh once again. No reaction. \n\nI decided to step it up a notch. \"Dime a dozen those brown eyes. Brown is just such a dirty color, isn't it? No wonder they were having so much trouble with that project, I'm surprised to see even some of those cretins* in this crowd right now!\" I say, suddenly growing angry at the number of brown eyes I could see staring back in the audience. \n\n\"Nothing special about those ones. Barely even above those black beady eyes on so many of the pets in my old neighbourhood. By the time, I had finished high school, I had already had a full jar of those worthless brown eyes under my bed!\" I announced to the crowd. \"Hell, the only reason why I came to this school in the first place is because of those beautiful blues on the recruiter!\" I continue, remembering that memory fondly.\n\nI am barely paying attention to the crowd at this point, my mind finally free and brimming with ideas. Ideas of new additions to my collection, new arrangements to my displays, and more importantly, where I had hidden my jars after first semester.\nI started to sense people start to swarm the stage and surround me. It didn't matter. I was free. \n\n\"Have I ever told any of you about my favorite tool for scooping..?\" \n\nI felt something heavy suddenly hit the back of my head. My knees feeling weak all of a sudden and I felt my body being grabbed and dragged away. Although my vision starting to blur, I could still see Green Eyes looking back at me, tears running down her face. \n\nThey will look so beautiful in my collection.", "I set my tray down a little too hard next to the register, splashing a bit of Dr. Pepper on my noodles. “Shit,” I mutter, fumbling in my bag for my meal card. The cashier looks at me, half paying attention. I’m not surprised she’s kind of zoned out by 10 pm, the dinner rush is over and it’s just the night-owls and fuck-ups like me. I can see the scattered people in the cafeteria, all sitting a socially acceptable distance apart (usually at least two chairs in between, never directly across the table from each other), eating with their heads down, faces illuminated by their phones. I recognize her, the cashier, she’s in one of my classes, but I don’t know which. I’m in the business program now, and I feel like everyone in my classes acts and talks the same, dresses the same. Even my professors, how many white dudes can you have working in one program? Last term I was majoring in anthropology, which I loved, but that’s not really worth dwelling on. \n\nI scan my card and move on, looking for a seat sufficiently far from the others. I find a small two-person table that I can have to myself, and sit down to start eating – I’m starving, especially now that I’ve started working out after class every day. Turns out that peanut sauce and Dr. Pepper are an ok combination; I wouldn’t do it on purpose, but I’m not throwing my food out for this. I get about two bites in and I feel it coming – I cringe, as always. SERIOUSLY, NOODLES FOR DINNER? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF VEGETABLES, PROTEIN? I stick my earbuds in and turn up my music, even though I already know it doesn’t matter.\n\nDo crazy people know when they’re going crazy? This old guy in my neighborhood used to scream at me and my sister whenever we walked by, and I always felt bad – he wasn’t like the guys who yelled gross stuff at us, he would yell about the cops, or the government. My mom said he used to work a regular job and have kids and stuff, but something happened. She liked to blame drugs and alcohol, I think as a Cautionary Tale for us, but even as a kid I realized it wasn’t that simple cause plenty of people drink and get high without losing touch with reality. I’m not ready to think about this anymore, honestly. My family isn’t big on doctors, especially not for mental health stuff. What would I even say? I can’t sleep at night cause I’m making such healthy choices, and doing so well at school? \n\n…\n\nI’m lying in bed staring at the ceiling. I practice good sleep hygiene lately (I know, shocking), turning off screens before bed, relaxing as much as I can relax, knowing that my asshole roommate is going to barge in loudly as soon as I fall asleep. YOU SHOULD TRY TO SLEE-, “YES, I fucking know!” I yell, too loudly. I know I should sleep. I know what I “should” do all the fucking time now. It’s like a conscience, right? A conscience that booms inside my head, that gets louder and scarier if I ignore it. I can’t pass out again in class like I did last term, but I don’t like just giving in either. If this voice is a part of me though, am I giving in? But if it’s not… and that’s where I sit up and take a sip of water. That’s not the way to go, I don’t need to explore that line of thought. If I’m hearing voices, it’s something going on in MY brain, and if it’s always good advice, I should be grateful, right? Even if it’s not what I want from my life? But, if it’s not what I want then, well. Again, I’m not trying to go there, I don’t need to go down the rabbit hole of my mind. Especially when it’s easier to just listen, and lately, now that I’m so tired all the time, I don’t really see any other choice. \n", "\"So you're hearing voices.\"\n\nI appreciated Dr. Minsk abruptness. The way her words cut to the core of things, rather than try to peel away the unnecessary details of my life. It'd been almost two months since my last visit, but she wasted no time with that.\n\n\"Yes,\" I said. I fidgeted with my fingers, flaking off bits of orange polish. \"Well, no. Not voices really. Murmurs.\"\n\n\"Can you describe them to me?\"\n\n\"Uh.\" I ran my fingers through my hair. About an inch of dark roots showed, and then abruptly became a faded blue. \"It's kind of been like having the BBC on in the background of my brain.\"\n\nMinsk smiled, as if hearing British newscasters chatter were a normal occurrence. I forced a thin lipped smile in return. The doctor's smile had been a calming presence in my life since I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in the 10th grade.\n\n\"Can you hear it now?\"\n\nI paused and listened. The air conditioning was blowing. It rustled the papers on Minsk's desk. \"No,\" I said, a little relieved.\n\n\"How have your stress levels been, lately?\"\n\nI snorted. \"I'm taking a full course load and subbing at the preschool. I've hardly had time to sleep.\"\n\nThe corner or Minsk's face twitched in a familiar, disproving way. \"You need to take care of yourself, Bri.\"\n\n\"I know. I am. I will. During the break.\" I cracked a more genuine grin. \"I'll sleep through Christmas, I promise.\"\n\nMinsk snorted. \"The hallucinations could be caused by any number of things. Lack of sleep is a prime contender, though it's also a rare symptom of your anxiety medications. We could try taking you off--\"\n\n\"No!\" I jolted forward, as if to jump to my feet. \"It's not bothering me that much. I'd rather stay on the meds.\"\n\nMinsk nodded. \"I want you to start keeping track of when you hear the voices. Once we figure out what the trigger is, we can better assess the situation, and perhaps come up with a plan.\"\n\nThe doctor and I discussed my life at school a little more until my time was up. I thanked her and promised not to reschedule eight weeks in a row again.\n\"I'll call you in a few days to check in,\" she said as she led me to the door. She placed an almost motherly hand on my shoulder and squeezed. \"Sleep, Bri. Eat well. Go for a walk if you need to. Take care of yourself.\" I nodded enthusiastically, despite not intending on doing any of those things. I had class that evening, and a final paper to write. Rest would have to wait. Not for long. Just until winter break. Graduation, at the latest.\n\nThe tinkle of the officer door was still ringing in my ears when I heard the first, clear words. \"Loads of help she was.\"\n\nThe voice was dry and Mr. Darcy-like. I jumped, and jerked my head over my shoulder but saw no one. My jaw clenched.\n\nI waited on the front steps for a moment, breathing softly, waiting. The Florida sun seemed uninterested in the words \"November,\" or \"fall,\" and beat down on me. Sweat pricked at my t-shirt's collar.\n\nCars rushed and occasionally rattled by. Two squirrels argued in shrill babbles. I exhaled and walked to the bus stop, still listening intently. After a while, I forgot to listen, and instead watched the time on my phone with increasing concern.\n\nThe bus was late.\n\nThree minutes, and I started bouncing on my toes, craning my neck to see it coming around the corner. At eight minutes I added a shoulder shimmy to my impatient rhythm. Eleven minutes went by and I had balled my hand into a fist and thumped it against my thigh in time to my frantic dance.\n\n\"Oh will you quit it?\" snapped the voice.\n\nI froze. Eyes wide.\n\n\"You can't chacha the red lights green. So relax. Read a book or something. I don't care. Just stop it with the bloody ballet.\"\n\nI remained still and silent, straining to hear the voice again. After nearly two minutes, I laughed. It was like something out of Monty Python, comedic in its surreal-ness.\n\nThe bus was over 20 minutes late, and completely packed when I squeezed myself on. The heat of bodies was almost overwhelming. I put in my headphones and played music loudly enough that I could ignore the sniffles and coughs, and placed my phone safely into my bag. My blinks were slow and lingering in an attempt to avoid catching anyone's eyes.\n\n“That man, blue hat,” the voice said, completely clear despite the music. “He's totally eyeing your ass.”\n\n“I noticed,” I murmured, and was then hit by a pang of uncertainty and discomfort. It probably wasn't healthy to reply to the sassy British man residing in my head.\n\n“He's not to look at, inn't he though.”\n\nI rolled my eyes. “Not my type,” I said, and winced again. Must stop conversing with hallucinations, I repeated to myself.\n\nWhen the bus stopped at the school and I could finally pry myself free of the throng, I had a feeling I was forgetting something. I pawed at my empty pockets, and was struck with electrifying panic. “My phone!” I gasped aloud as the bus rolled away.\n\n“You mean the one you were playing music from?” the voice asked, hints of sarcasm coloring it.\n\n“Yes,” I said, digging into my pockets individually.\n\n“The music you can hear right now?”\n“Yes, I—oh.”\n\n“It's in your pack, genius.”\n\nI rubbed the back of my neck, my cheeks burning. The blush deepened when I realized I had been humiliated by my own hallucination.\n\n“Christ, you're hopeless.” I could practically hear the disembodied voice shaking it's head. “It's a good thing you've got me. Now let's go! You've got class, don't you?”\n\nI started down the campus' winding sidewalk.\n\n“Class soon. You've got class, soon. Not time to meander, you damn yank. Move!”\n\nIt was ridiculous. I laughed. I shouldered my bag and took off at a sprint, giggling the entire way.", "\nMy eyes were burning as I stared aimlessly into my Physics book. Every purposeful blink was slow and heavy. Failing my final would mean returning home for the spring semester. \nIt would mean returning to that horrid, small town. Returning to Elizabeth, the girl who I'd dated for 7 years before getting dumped, right after graduation. I refused her father's offer to work full-time managing his gas station. She was extremely upset. Who could blame me? I wanted to build rocketships and work for NASA. I couldn't let myself be trapped there. I couldn't stomach being just another angry local, festering in their hatred for \"city-boys.\"\nI wanted to BE a city boy. \nIt was 2:00am. My final started in about 5 hours. \n\n\"Focus!\" I screamed silently in my head, \"Just a few more equations...\"\n\n\"Fuck that, you need to get your ass to bed and stop thinking about that lame-ass girl!\" My head shot up from my desk, and I looked over at my roomate, sleeping across from me in our dorm. He was fast asleep. \n\n\"Stop messing with me Gerry,\" I muttered. \nAm I going insane? Can he hear my thoughts? Was I just thinking outloud? What the hell is going on.....\n \"I know you're not asleep asshole, quit screwing around!\" Nothing. No reply. Just more of his motionless breathing. \n\n\"Gerry is asleep, getting rested for his finals, as you should be doing, you fuckin' weeny.\" The voice was sharp, and distinct. It was extremely clear, yet no one else was in our dorm. It was female. It almost sounded like it was Elizabe.. \n\"Cut the shit, Marc! I'm not her. And you're wasting time. Get yourself a cup of water, brush your teeth, and GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP! How do you expect to pass if you're falling asleep during your written equations?\" \n\n\"Screw you!\" I replied in my head, \"I'm freaking out over here. I need to study more! I can't go back to that town, back to her. I need to ace this or I'm fucked!\"\n\n\"You and I both know that you've got this final in the bag, dude. You're just using this time to think about her. You need to stop, Marc. This isn't healthy behavior.\"\n\n\"And listening to the voice in my head is considered, healthy??\"\n\n\"Yeah, it is, when they are telling you to chill the fuck out! You've been on this same cycle for the past two weeks, and I'm sick of hearing you loathe and cry about Liz.\"\n\n\"She was my whole world... I told her I would just be away for school, and that I would always come back to visit.. I would get hired by NASA and buy us an amazing house outside of that shit town, and we could live together and...\"\n\n\"ENOUGH!!!\" The voice echoed. \nMy head was quiet for a few moments. I was shocked and then the voice started, softly,\n \"I know you loved her, Marc. It was one of the purest forms of love anyone could ever experience. She meant a lot to you. You would've given her the world, but that doesn't matter anymore. She. Dumped. You. And there's nothing you can do to change that. If she couldn't understand why you needed to leave, then that's on her. You're doing what's best for YOU. That's what counts.\"\n\n\"Ye.. yeah. I guess you're right. It's just been so hard without her.\" I was broken. Hearing this voice could mean so many different things. Was I talking to god? Am I just going bat-shit crazy? Why am I talking back to it? What is happeni...\"\n\n\"You're doing it, again.\" Her voice was becoming softer, and more soothing. Like hearing the lake splash against the shore, as you're drifting off into sleep in your tent. \"You need to stop overthinking, Marc. It's getting late. You need to rest, so you can crush this exam tomorrow. You'll do great.\" \n\nI shut my textbook and headed to the bathrooms down the hall from my dorm. I brushed my teeth and washed my face off. My eyes were getting heavy. \nAs I was heading back to my dorm, I saw a girl from my physics class, just as she was opening the door to her room. \n\n\"Cramming in the equations before the test too, I'm assuming?\" She said with a tired smile. \n\n\"Yeah I am,\" I chuckled, \"I think I'm going crazy studying this late.\" \n\n\"I'm sure you'll do fine, Marc.\" I found solace in her words. \n\"Well, good luck tomorrow! Goodnight,\" she said with a half-smile.\"\n\n\"Goodnight.\"\nShe went inside and closed the door.\n\nAs I put my head on my pillow and shut my eyes, the voice spoke, \"Well. \nShe's absolutely gorgeous, isn't she?\"", "\"You didn't do the dishes yesterday and now the kitchen is getting a bit smelly,\" Lizzie shouted from down the hall. Despite the headphones designed to drown her out, I grimaced and groaned a bit.\n\n\"I'm almost done with this paper!\" I shouted back. \"Give me like 15 minutes and I will come do them.\"\n\nThis was my daily life for almost two years. They say you don't get to pick your family. Well, in college, your family is your roommates and I didn't get to pick them, either. It's not that I didn't like them, it's just that my roommates didn't understand me. They just thought I was lazy or irresponsible. They didn't know the struggle I tried daily to offset with the little purple pills in the bottle with my name and date of birth on the label.\n\nI finished the last few sentences and put my headphones down, heading into the kitchen. Lizzie was already back in her room so I breathed a bit easier not having to have even such a minor confrontation. I just didn't like to talk to other people, I guess. Anxiety and all that.\n\nI grabbed the scrub brush from the counter and flipped on the water. The sound of me in the kitchen must have alerted Nathan that I was up and about as I heard him call out to me from his room. \"Dude, did you finish that paper yet? You know Professor Anderson is going to have your head if you turn in another paper yet.\"\n\nI groaned again. \"Yes, Nathan! I just finished it and I'm going to print it out tonight. Thanks for the reminder,\" I shouted back through partially gritted teeth. I scrubbed away at the dishes, taking a bit of my frustration out on the ceramic under my brush. The past two years had not been easy. Starting college triggered a lot of issues for me. Much like a circuit breaker with too much juice, the stress of moving away from my family and starting a new life tripped the switch. My first mid-term came with two panic attacks and a visit to the campus therapist. The health clinic wrote a prescription the same day.\n\nI guess, to some degree, I should be thankful that my roommates cared. They must have realized how much I was struggling and took on something of a support network role. I didn't know I needed it but I guess I did, even if it did grate on my nerves just a bit.\n\nI must have been so focused on scrubbing that I didn't even hear John both come in and disappear down the hall. His door slammed and I heard him shout through it, \"Thanks for doing the dishes! Hey, you have that meeting with your advisor tomorrow at 3pm, don't forget it!\"\n\nI rolled my eyes. \"Thanks! It's on my calendar!\"\n\n\"Yeah, but that didn't stop you from missing the last one!\"\n\nHe was right. I wouldn't dare tell him that but he was. I put the last of the dishes on the drying rack and went back to my room. I emailed the final draft of the paper to myself so I could print it off in the student center and grabbed my bag. It was almost dinner time and I didn't feel like eating in the apartment, lest I have to share the table with my roommates and listen to them yammer on about what I had or hadn't gotten done yet this week.\n\nSince I was supposed to eat around the same time as taking my pill, I stepped into the bathroom and popped it with a sip of water. Six pills left. I made a mental note to call the pharmacy and get my refill in process. I walked down the hall and paused at front door just to breathe for a bit before heading out into the commons area. Our dorm was laid out as a bunch of apartments ringing a lounge with couches, a big screen, a pool table, and so forth. I could feel the medication helping bring my edge off but the crowd in the commons area always got me a bit antsy. My parents paid extra to get me in this dorm, as having a one-bedroom apartment all to myself was worth it, but the other guys still expected me to socialize.\n\nI sighed a deep sigh and stepped out into the hall.", "No you're supposed to use the MOLAR mass not the actual mass you dummy! \n\nThat, is Percy. I like to give them names, I know full well I'm going insane but how can I complain when all they do is help me? I would have never known to use molar mass and honestly my grades have seen a real jump ever since I started hearing Percy. \n\nNo, no, no! You imbecile it's supposed to be to the fifth power. Honestly how don't you know this. Percy exclaimed.\n\nOh Percy, go easy on him! Let him relax a little. You should know better than anyone the effects of stress. Lucinda chimed in. \n\nThat is Lucinda. She keeps me relaxed, makes sure I don't stress myself out and that my personal health is always a priority. She's a real sweetheart, I really adore her. She's always there to talk to me when I'm lonely and keep my spirits from falling too low. \n\nOh give it a rest for now would you Lucy. We're trying to pass an exam for christ's sake! Percy said huffily. \n\nFine, fine. I'll be back later for you two. Lucinda cooed.\n\nOh heeeeeey man. How's it hanging braaaah \n\nI let out an audible groan. Larry. As much as I loved his personality he was definitely not needed right now. He helped me have more fun in life, opened up a lot of doors I never would have gotten to experience without his carefree attitude. I could hear Percy begin to fume. \n\nYou moron! Larry get out of here we need to finish this test. We can't have you dumbing down the whole place! Percy screamed. \n\nChill braaah. Just relax I had a great idea for funtime later today! Just couldn't wait to share it with my main dude here. Larry said as laid back as possible. \n\nIdiot! Leave now! You aren't needed! Percy exclaimed. \n \nI thought it was strange for Percy to be acting this way. He usually got along with all the others. It was a bit harsh how he treated Larry as well, I mean of course he isn't needed right now but I still like him and all. I'd have to remember to talk to Percy later. \n\nYou don't need to do that. Listen you don't need the others. I'm the only one who will lead you to success. Me. Look at all I've done for you, look at the things we can achieve without them. I've never lead you wrong. I've never harmed you, unlike Larry and Lucinda did. Percy said, a tone of worry in his voice.\n\nIt wasn't often they would hear my thoughts but occasionally they would seep through. I panicked a little bit but absorbed Percy's words. He was right. Although Lucinda and Larry helped they did often cause me pain I sometimes wasn't ready for, be it physical or emotional. I did have to agree he hasn't ever lead me astray and why should he? After all, he is me. \n\nLooking up from the exam I could see the teacher, his mouth agape, staring at me. As I scanned the classroom all my classmates were staring, stunned at the exchange they had just witnessed. I looked back down and continued to write, next time I'd have to have a little chat with my friends and tell them to keep it down. \n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nHope you liked it! I really like the psychotic route you can take with this. :D Also I have subreddit with lots of stories come check it out /r/TheYogiBearhaWrites\n", "\"Don't forget to comb your hair John\" said Voice #2 (I like to call them Nagy Niles).\n\n\"Shut up!\" I groaned, staring at my reflection in my smudged mirror. I began to straighten my hair, knowing fully well that Niles would just complain all day if I didn't. \"And don't you dare harass me about breakfast this morning!\"\n\nI'm apparently schizophrenic, I've been hearing voices for a good couple months now. At first, it was kind of novel, like my own little Jiminy Cricket telling me how to live a decent live. That was before I realized I had a cricket infestation. As of now, I've heard about four distinct voices, each telling me how to live my life in their own irritating way. \n\nVoice 1, Polite Peggy, was the first voice I ever heard. Her shtick is telling me how to be cordial and nice to those around me. \n\nI've already discussed Niles, and how he constantly is trying to make sure I am fit and well kept.\n\nVoice 3, Honest Harold, whines like a baby the moment I start to lie to someone, even if it's a harmless white lie.\n\nVoice 4, Nervous Nancy, is making me think I'm a paranoid schizophrenic, what with her constant fear over every little thing. \n\nAnd I'm not even sure if these voices are done showing up yet. As soon as I'd think I've heard the last of new ones, another would bore its way into my head. I've been living a nightmare. I can barely feel like myself anymore.\n\nI haven't had a drink in weeks, I don't swear, I'm wearing nice clothes, these voices are turning me into a model person. Yeah, maybe I did need to be a little better in life. But this? Man, I'm going crazy- but I can't even cut loose. \n\n\"Quit with the monologues dear, people will think you're brooding!\"\n\n\"Kill me.\"" ]	9
	[WP] You're a candlemaker with a deadly gift: each candle you craft represents a terminal soul. Whoever lights it effectively shortens their life to the moment the flame burns out.	[ "\"Welcome to my store, young lady. How may I help you today?\" I greeted the petite brunette as she sauntered into my shop.\n\n\"Hi, um...\"\n\nI continued smiling, waiting for her response. She hemmed and hawed demurely for a moment. Finally she managed to eke out her request.\n\n\"I heard you make candles that tie your life to the candle. Could you-\"\n\n\"Shh, my dear, not so loud. Come, let's go further inside,\" I hushed her, and moved further into my shop, motioning for her to follow. She quietly nodded.\n\nThe back of the store was well-lit, but with white LED lighting to save costs. A sole candle burned tamely by the cashier machine, giving off a pleasant aroma. It kept me awake and calm, and it helped when dealing with people who wanted those special candles. I leaned against the front of the counter and turned to face her.\n\n\"Now, my dear, I'll be frank with you. This is final. Death is irreversible. I don't know who did what to you, or why you want this, but I want to ask you to think this through very, very clearly. There's always another way.\"\n\nWhat semblance of a smile she tried to show faded away almost immediately.\n\n\"I know.. but.. but...\" She lowered her head and sighed deeply.\n\nPerhaps that was a little too harsh. I pulled two stools from behind the counter and passed one to her.\n\n\"I-I'm sorry, my dear. Come, sit down and let's talk about it,\" I handed her the stool, and sat down on mine.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" sniff \"It's just that my grand-dad, he...\" she began to sob uncontrollably now.\n\n\"It's okay, my dear. You can tell me.\" I whispered to her.\n\n\"He has cancer. End-stage. Doctors say he's gonna die very soon,\" she spoke between sniffles. \"My friend told me about you. About your candles. So I thought, maybe...\"\n\nLike a freight train, the thought suddenly struck me. Could it be possible?\n\n\"My dear, I don't know if my candles can do that.\"\n\nShe lowered her head and sighed again.\n\n\"But, I'll do my best.\"\n\nHer teary eyes suddenly lit up.\n\n\"Really?\" sniff \"Thank you!\" She reached out and hugged me tightly.\n\nI went into the store-room and lugged out a candle the size of a trash bin, putting it down next to the counter. My heart swelled with pride. I never thought I'd see the day this candle found its use.\n\n\"Now, my dear, listen very carefully,\" I told her firmly, \"You must keep the candle safe once he lights it. If it goes out, quickly relight it, if not he will pass on. Do you understand?\"\n\nShe nodded. I thought her head was going to come off.\n\n\"How long will the candle last?\" she asked excitedly. \"How can I repay you?\"\n\n\"It doesn't matter. Enjoy your time with your grand-dad,\" I replied, beaming cheek to cheek. \"And, my dear, you've already paid me.\"\n\n____________________________\n\nIf you enjoyed this story, [check out more at /r/Script_Writes](https://www.reddit.com/r/Script_Writes/)! Feedback/comments on my writing are, as always, greatly appreciated!" ]	1
	[WP]You are a very rich benefactor. Every year you hold interviews for those who want to turn their life around, be it homeless or ex-criminals. You hear their stories, make sure they true and such. Even though you've heard it all, this one interviewee has caught you off guard.	[ "\"I'm afraid I don't understand,\" I tell the man in front if me for easily the third time. I'm having a hard time making sense of his request, and my head is starting to hurt with the effort. \n\n\"Do you or do you not have the means to help me?\" he asked. \n\n\"The means? Yes, certainly, but I'm afraid I still don't...\" that phrase again. \n\n\"I want another chance,\" he says. \"If you're offering a chance to start over--that's what I want. A new beginning.\"\n\nI studied the man for a moment to decide if he was trying to play a joke on me. It has happened before. People wait years, sometimes, for an opportunity for an interview, and yet there have been a few pranksters. People who make up impossible stories to waste my time, or who think I'll just give them what they want because I'm too stupid to realize that their requests are ludicrous, or untrue. Money grabbers and time wasters I simply cannot abide. The man in front of me now is clearly not after my money. Is he really in need of my help? Or another time waster?\n\n\"Are you thinking it over, or have you already decided not to help me?\" he asked. Whoops. My reverie was too obvious. \n\nAs a rule the interviewees are anonymous. I do not ask for names. I don't want to know until I've decided to verify their stories and grant them their gift. The man in front of me now is certainly far from anonymous. I was quite flabbergasted when he walked into my office. I do believe I even called him \"Sir\" when I shook his hand. No, he certainly doesn't need my money. He has plenty of his own. But my help? Maybe. \n\n\"All right,\" I say. \"You say you want a chance to start over. You want to just....disappear?\"\n\n\"Yes. Completely.\"\n\n\"You want me to help you. You claim you can't accomplish this disappearance on your own, despite your enormous fortune. Why?\"\n\n\"No one will allow me to leave.\"\n\n\"Allow you?\" I scoff, \"Who could possibly disobey you? If you want to go away for awhile, just go! How could anyone stop you? Isn't that the point of your position....\"\n\n\"My position will not allow me!\" he yelled. This was the first time he had raised his voice in anger and I involuntary tried to retreat into my chair. He realized immediately my discomfort and rubbed his eyes, and sighed. \"I'm sure you think you understand. But you simply do not. If you think I'm the one in charge of anything, let alone my own destiny, well...\" He made an open handed gesture. There you have it.\n\n\"Fine. I don't understand,\" I admit he may be correct in this. I've been successful, but I've never had my every need attended to, my every whim fulfilled, my every word made law. I really don't understand at all. Why doesn't he just tell everyone he needs some peace? That he wants it to be over? He's obviously tired. It shows on his face, without the subtle effects of lighting and the appropriate minor editing to make him look like the perfect serene benefactor. He's younger than I thought, too. He always seemed to radiate such wisdom and experience, but he's barely older than I am. We might have been at school together, if circumstances had been different. \n\n\"I apologize if I have wasted your time,\" he suddenly announced and raised up from his chair. \"I trust that you will never reveal that I came here.\" He didn't phrase it like a demand, simply a request. Please don't tell anyone. \n\nI have decided. \n\n\"Stop. Sit....please sit down. I will help you.\"\n\nHe sat down, perched on the edge of his chair. He looked at me for a long moment before speaking. \"Thank you.\" Barely a whisper. \n\n\"I've always helped people advance in society, not disappear. But I can help you. I do have the means, as you say. Are you prepared to accept my help?\"\n\n\"Yes. Anything you expect of me, I'll do.\"\n\n\"It will be very difficult. Some people will suffer. Some others may, ah, disappear, as well. Do you understand?\"\n\nHe is a moment in responding. \n\n\"I understand.\"\n\n\"Let's begin.\" I pull out my standard Contract for Assistance from my desk drawer. \n\nThe entire exchange has been recorded, but I still require my document to be signed. It has always before given me a sense of power, of control, over the unfortunate souls I have helped in the past. Something for me to look at with pride. Look at my good deeds, laid out in front of me. Look at the names scrawled on the papers. Look at these Nobodies that I have made Somebodies. \n\nI don't feel so powerful now. I feel afraid. I'm about to make the ultimate Somebody into a Nobody. If I'm associated with his disappearance somehow...why am I getting him to sign this? It could be used against me. I could be killed. Then again, a signed contract is a powerful thing. Just in case.\n\n\"For the record, Sir,\" I begin, \"please state your request fully and sign here to authorize me to act on your behalf.\"\n\n\"For the record, I state my request to vanish completely. I want to begin again as someone else. As anyone other than who I am. I want to be absolutely nothing. I want it more than anything.\" \n\nHe picked up the pen and signed. I watched him carefully. Not a trick, then? We will see. I have to trust my client for now. And he has to trust me. \n\n\"Let's get to work, Sir.\"\n\n" ]	1
	[WP]You're a turtle who set off with the best intentions	[ "\"You're going down, Hank,\" said Jimmy.\n\nIncensed by my brother beating his brother in their last race, Jimmy insisted on racing me. This time, he vowed his family would not be let down.\n\n\"Don't fall asleep like Johnny did last time!\" called someone from the crowd. \n\nJimmy gnashed his teeth. \n\n\"On your mark, get set, go!\" The goat Smithy said, waving his flag.\n\nJimmy sped off in a blur of dust. Sighing, I trudged forward. This was going to be a long day. \n\nI plodded on and on, thinking of what I could expect when I get home. Darlene promised she would find some strawberries for dinner, so she couldn't attend my race. She wasn't going to miss much. I knew who was going to win.\n\nThe sun was burning brightly in the sky as I neared the halfway mark. In the distance, I saw a lump spread over the road. \n\nSquinting my eyes, I tried to discern what it was as I came nearer and nearer to the lump. \n\nIt was Jimmy. I looked nervously around. He wasn't napping. He had a sizable lump on the back of his head and he was breathing shallowly. \n\n\"Psst!\"\n\nI looked around. \n\nOut of the bush, my neighbors, Tommy the raccoon and Lonny the skunk peered out at me. \"How ya doing, bud?\" asked Tommy. \n\n\"Tommy. Lonny,\" I said apprehensively. \"Did you have anything to do with...\" I gestured to Jimmy. \n\n\"Yeah,\" said Lonny. He cackled. \"The Stevenses were always so high and proud about being the fastest of these animals in these hills. Mark taking down Johnny was good enough, but imagine their disgrace if both of their prized sons lost to the Stones!\" \n\n\"Uh, I'm not sure I want to win like this,\" I said. \n\n\"You WILL win and you WILL like it,\" growled Tommy, pointing a threatening finger at me.\n\n\"Yeah, you don't want Darlene to never come home again? Drowned in the river at her age, that will be a real pity will it, wouldn't it?\" snarled Lonny.\n\n\"Okay, okay,\" I said. \"I'll finish the race.\"\n\nTommy winked at me and the two evildoers sped away. \n\nI walked and walked until finally I reached the finish line. The sun was starting to set. \n\n\"A turtle wins again!\" announced Smithy. The crowd cheered raucously. \n\n\"Take a bow!\" I heard Lonny call from the stands. I bowed awkwardly. The crowd poured out of the stands. A couple of animals grabbed me and put me on their shoulders, carrying me to my home. \n\n\"HANK! HANK! HANK!\" cheered the crowd. \n\nDarlene watched from the doorway of our home, tears in her eyes. \"I can't believe it. Another turtle victory,\" she said, wiping her eye. \n\n\"Yeah,\" I said guiltily. \n\nShe beamed. The animals put me down, clapped me on my shell, and made their way back to their own homes. \n\n\"I've got some lovely strawberries,\" she said, gesturing to the stone we ate on. \"Do you want to eat now?\"\n\n\"Hang on,\" I said. \"I want to give someone a strawberry.\"\n\n\"How long will you take?\" Darlene asked anxiously. \n\n\"Don't wait up for me,\" I said. I grabbed a strawberry in my mouth and trekked back towards the racecourse. \n\nJimmy was still where I last saw him. I slapped him in the face a little. He stirred. \n\n\"Wha--what?\" he said, looking around him. \n\n\"The race is over. You lost,\" I said. \"Tommy and Lonny knocked you out, and threatened me to finish the race or they'll kill Darlene.\" \n\nJimmy looked at me, incredulous. \"Then this means that we'll have to do the race over again. There was foul play in this one!\"\n\n\"Um. I heard Tommy and Lonny spreading a rumor after the race that you fell asleep like Johnny did, so I don't know if anyone will believe you.\"\n\nJimmy's ears flopped down. He looked like Lonny just did a stinker on him. \"I can't believe this! My family is disgraced!\"\n\n\"Well, I have a strawberry if that'll make you feel better.\" I dropped the strawberry at his feet.\n\nJimmy glared at me. \"I don't want your stupid strawberry, you pathetic, lowly animal!\" \n\nHe stepped on the strawberry with all four feet and dashed off. \n\nI stared at the strawberry. There was still a little bit that was left unmushed. I lapped it up and began walking home. ", "It is that time of year again. Spring is in the air, the flowers are starting to bloom, the bees are buzzing, and the snow is all melted. With that always comes the time to start running for mayor of Bloomington. I had been waiting for this moment all year. I was going to be the first turtle to enter the race and win the election. What huge strides this would show for Bloomington being able to elect its first turtle to mayor I thought.\n\nI first had to beat this old owl to gain the nomination of the haystack party. I thought to myself we had have plenty of owls in the past run this country it is time for a change. So I allied myself with the donkeys and had them use their power to help me. Now the owl was more popular among the voters of the haystack party and had much better ideas than me, but the donkeys and I used a whole bag of tricks to ensure he never had a chance and that the haystack voters would instead choose me. This was all ethical of course since we as a community needed a turtle to be mayor, no matter what that turtle actually stood for. It was important to show we could break down barriers. \n\nWith the owl out of the way I was now able to focus on my opponent from the Rock party, a old successful Lizard who had just recently joined the party. I could not believe my luck. The community generally despised reptiles in general but this lizard may have been the worst of the worst. I thought to myself this would be a cake walk. It felt like the celebration at the haystack party had already started weeks before the actual election. I had done it, I would be the next mayor and the first turtle mayor in our town's history. Oh what a historic moment it would be, and they would never forget my name in the history books. \n\nSo with just a few days left to go all of the polls said I had it all wrapped up. This was mostly due to the fact that the haystack party made sure all of the media covering the race would point out the flaws in my opponent and only praise me. I thought this was all fair of course because I was a turtle and we needed a turtle mayor no matter what the cost. The lizard though was able to get one media group on his side that managed to paint me in a very unflattering way and had a surprising amount of pull with the citizens. \n\nIt was now the night of the election and it was looking terrible for me and the haystack party. The lizard was running away with the race. It appeared that our constituents had realized all of the dirty tricks I pulled to get to this spot. I could not believe I lost. All I intended was for a turtle to be mayor and I thought that was a good goal. I guess it matters who you do it too. ", "Hello, I'm Marvin, Marvin the turtle. I want to talk to you today about a race I once walked. I faced off with a hare and beat it. Since then people have been saying, \"slow and steady wins the race\", as if it was what the race was about in the first place. I have to tell you:\n\nNo, that is not what the race was about.\n\nThe hare was always a rambunctious gentleman, but a gentleman he was. We enjoyed many sunrises, sunsets and play times across Westminsten's Field. No one really understood our friendship. Turtles were supposed to stay with turtles and hares with hares, but we stumbled upon each other one evening and became inseparable.\n\nMy father Lou, did not agree and told me one night that I would have to find a new pond or he would. It was absurd and I stood my ground, hoping he would calm down and see the flaws in his logic. He did not and stormed off into the night.\n\nThe next morning, we found his body, run over by a car. I was in ruin. \n\nThe hare never left my side and the other turtles accepted him to the pond to help me grieve. It was the hare that came up with the idea of a race; a race to raise awareness for vehicular turtleslaughter. The whole field was in support, despite not wanting to race. The hare, being as rambunctious as he was, declared he would beat me before anyone could even say \"race\". Word spread like pollen.\n\nWe all gathered the day of the race. All of Westminsten Field came to see the legendary race of the hare and the turtle, whose proceeds would go towards 'warning' signage along the road. There was one visitor we did not expect, a tiny human boy. The boy watched the whole thing and when he saw me finish, he yelled that annoying, stupid phrase, \"slow and steady wins the race!\". \n\nThe whole field was in an uproar. \n\n\"How poetic!\"\n\n\"How true!\"\n\n\"Yes! Yes! That is what happened!\"\n\nNo one remembered what the race was for! I was beside myself. I tried to regain my composure, to remind the people of the horror that inspired the event, but none would listen. They couldn't wait to tell the surrounding fields and forests what had happened. \n\nMy hare friend apologized and walked with my to my father's grave where I wept and apologized for the mess I had made. I felt trapped with shame and sadness, until the hare suggested I write this note and place it somewhere for humans to read.\n\nSo, if you are reading this, please spread the word. Slow and steady may have won the race, but what is truly important is that we reduce vehicular turtleslaughter in our county.\n\nYours truly, \nMarvin the Turtle\n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\"Dude, have you read this?\" a teenage boy said to another teenage boy. The other boy laughed.\n\n\"Read, haha, what are you talking about? Why would I read when I'm stoned, there's so much cool stuff to see instead, like my hand.\"\n\n\"Dude, you're right. It's alright anyways, someone more stoned than us must have wrote it. They actually thought they were a turtle!\"\n\nThe two boys laughed and walked away, crumpling and throwing the note into the nearby dumpster. " ]	3
The idea is that for the first time they are going to be able to revive those who were frozen in cryogenic technology. No one knows what to expect... going in the horror direction with this i.e. those who are "woken up" are not the same as they were, they don't remember their past lives etc	[WP] It's 3016, cryogenic people are being revived for the first time.	[ "There were a lot of them back then. Hopeless fools who decided the best path they could take in their life was to step into a goddammed freezer and shut the world out. The motives vary from person to person. Some did it because they had some incurable illness, some did it for sience, and some did it just for the hell of it. Eventually they all end up in here.\n\nI remember when I started working at the lab. Back then the defrosting process was new and exciting. Scientists from all over the union came to witness the first human beeing woken up from his thousand year slumber. And I have to confess, it was pretty amazing. In this line of work you mostly forget their names and faces to keep yourself from going insane, but him I will always remember. Henry A. Roberts, U.S. Senator, had stage three cancer, let himself be frozen to save his life. His family was one of those who managed to make a profit out of all seven worldwars, so of course he was a priority. I'm not quite sure of what happened to him afterwards. I know he had a few talkshow appearances on the Network, and that he went to New Hawaii. Maybe he's still there, maybe he's dead. Wouldn't make a difference.\n\nBack when this thing was treated as a scientific breakthrough they had so-called \"care programmes\". They would give you credits, a home, and catching-up-courses to integrate you into society. Now I was born here and need half a fucking pharmacy every morning to get through the day without clawing my eyes out. Why they would ever think that people from another millennia could cope with this world is beyond me. So when the suicide rate of those poor bastards increased, our funding did the opposite. And at some point, the world stopped caring at all.\n\nNowadays most of them end up homeless, addicted, insane, or if they're lucky - dead. In my opinion the best course of action would be to unplug all remaining cryo-chambers to show at least a bit of mercy. But contracts were signed, and I need the credits.\n\nAnd about what you said earlier, I'm gonna tell you a little secret. I've done this kind of interview a million times. You want to know how often these publications changed anythin in here? Not once. And you know why? Because of the single truth I learned in twelve years of working here. PEOPLE. DON'T. CARE.\n\n\n\n", "Light burst through the darkness and I saw my mother leaning over my casket her tears falling like acid on my skin, riddling my body with holes. I saw my wife walk down the aisle toward me only to watch her to turn into my high school girlfriend. I became my dogs chew toy wheezing and squeaking with hot, smelly saliva coating me. I ate beautiful meals, I could smell and taste the food but the growling emptiness would not leave me. Hundreds of terrifying, visceral nightmares whirred in my brain until I lost all sense of space, time, and being. I began to crave oblivion until... rasping, gagging and chocking I took my first unassisted breath in a millennium. \nI didn't know at the time but I had been out of cryogenesis for almost a fortnight. What had felt like years of tortuous sleep paralysis had occurred in two short weeks. The doctors treating me have words for this phenomenon but a thousand years worth of linguistic alterations and I can understand the people around me about as well as a five year old. I got the gist of it though. My brain was trying to reconcile a hundred years of moving though time and space without having experienced the passing of it. That's all they told me. It's been six hours since I woke up, I can tell from the electronic display on the wall which shows the date, time and another number that I cannot correlate with anything, temperate maybe but the number is too high even for Fahrenheit. After the initial whirlwind of emotion realising everyone I knew was gone and the world I knew no longer existed I grew curious about the new world. However doctors, nurses, people with ambiguous clerical roles have all refused to answer questions about the outside world. I don't know if I'm in the same hospital or even the same continent. I'm connected to machines I don't recognise. I've been given medication without explanation. Fear is fast replacing grief in a world I no longer understand. \n \nWrote this in a hurry, sorry for any mistakes. ", "The pod opened with a noise signaling change in air pressure and temperature, steaming clouds rising from the cracks. I had waited for this moment for so long, and, finally, it had arrived. Years of study all leading up to this monumental moment.\n\nWhen the pod had finished acclimatizing its host, the lid flew open revealing a small woman lying inside. She had yet to wake up fully, although you could tell that she was breathing from the small clouds periodically released from between her lips. As carefully as possible, not knowing just how fragile she would be, I moved closer to her sleeping form. To me, it was the most peaceful sight I had ever seen.\n\nSlowly her eyes began to flicker under her eyelids, the first true sign of success. One after the other, different body parts seemed to shake and distort as if it was a test to see if all systems were still operating properly. And after such a long sleep, who could blame the human body for being a little paranoid.\n\nI must have stood there watching her for hours before her eyes opened fully, revealing emerald gems hidden underneath. They darted around the room in confusion before centering on the only thing not comprised of white walls, me. She tried to speak but there was no sound, and I quickly handed her the cylinder of water I had prepared. She took it graciously before nearly drowning herself in the substance, clearly, a century in ice did nothing to quench one's thirst.\n\nAfter breathing heavily and putting down the cylinder she thanked me In the old tongue known as \"English\". It took me a second to get used to the sensation, but I tried to recover quickly and explain to her that she was very welcome. She laughed at what I can only assume was a terribly bad accent, a musical sensation that seemed almost contagious, and I made a mental note of saving that memory for later. \n\nAfter my first clumsy steps of English, we soon began one of many conversations to be had. She wondered If we could now live on other planets and was overjoyed of my candid use of the word Martians for the people living there. I asked her about the color of the sky and she gave me such a vivid description that it shook me to my core. \n\nAfter a while, she started expelling air violently from her lungs, creating awful noises where before I had only heard the sweetest of voices. I asked her what was wrong but she told me it was nothing. That I wouldn't understand, and yet I wanted to understand so badly it hurt. But I respected her wishes, and we kept talking about all sorts of things. Silly things.\n\nEventually, they had to take her away, her energy was running low and she needed to recharge both by food and sleep. I remember saying goodbye and her hugging me, feeling so thin and fragile, looking brighter in tone than before. She felt almost transparent. I wouldn't get to see her again after that.\n\nEventually, they told me what had happened. Apparently, she had a virus. Not entirely unlike the ones you and I get, but still very different. Different enough that we didn't know how to fix her, didn't know how to help. But even so, I would have liked to have been there for her, before the end. Humans may have been fragile and flawed but she didn't care. She just lived, truly lived, for as long as she could.\n\n", "\"Get up!\" A voice thundered in the cryogenic chamber. The steel vent opened and the chilling gas that was shrouding me for god-knows-how-long was being sucked out from the chamber of mine. I rolled my eyes upward. Nov. 03016., the green neon light flickered. I gazed at the numbers once more: 3,016. Three thousand and sixteen, huh. You could say I've been waiting to hear that words for eight hundred years. Did humanity really took eight hundred years to find cure for nano-machine viral infection? I pondered. I guess the nanos were pushing the boundary of the laws of physics, but I did not expect to take it so long. Also, I thought to myself, these future employee of Cryo Corp. could learn to be a bit more polite.\n\n\"I said get up!\" a voice thundered once more. He sure was impatient. Or was it the case that the culture of future is being rude to your patrons? I shook the frost chips off my body and began to breath manually. I squeezed my lungs to get the last puff of cryogenic gas out from my system. Although I was a bit saddened at the thought that my family would be long gone by now, but I was prepared. In fact, the anticipation of experiencing the future was racing my heart.\n\n\"Fuckin' get up!\" A voice rang. A wooden stock of rifle shattered the glass of the cryogenic chamber and hit my stomach. The shards of glasses made several cuts on my arms. I groaned in pain as I vainly attempted to cover up the wounds. A big gloved hand reached me and grabbed me by the collar. The hand pulled me out of the cryogenic chamber and threw me on the dusty ground of the cryogenic chamber room. Dusty? I ran my bleeding finger against the tile of the room. Dirt and dust and some sort of insect shells all over the floor.\n\n\"I will say this for the last damn time. Get. Up.\" said the man of the hand. He had a rifle resting on his shoulder and a thick black gas mask on his face. I reluctantly got up to my feet. I started to cough up the last bit of the cryogenic gas as I patiently waited for what was up. The man was humming to himself and reading through my patient profiles. I was going to ask what happened with the Cryo Corp. but was too intimidated to ask. Even if the future is paradise and all, I doubted he broke through the chamber glass with a good intention.\n\n\"Ah, yes, yes... These... match up!\" the man mumbled to himself. He tucked the profile papers under his arm pit and pointed the rifle toward me. \"Now walk, meat bag.\" I raised my hand up and started to walk toward wherever he was pointing. The cryogenic room was in shambles. More than half the chambers were broken and looted, and fluorescent light of the ceiling of the room was out. It seemed like all the cryogenic chambers were running on the emergency batteries as I was told several centuries ago.\n\nOutside, about two dozen men in black uniform trench coats and same kind of gas masks on their face awaited both of us. \"Boss!\" said the man with the rifle behind me, \"We've got a match!\" The two dozen men started to separate into two groups and revealed a man sitting on a chair behind them. He alone was donned in red. As he raised himself up from the chair, the men in black knelt before him.\n\nThe man in red, who seemed to be the leader of the group, opened his arm in welcome and said: \"Ah, my liver.\" His liver. The men in red also stepped away from the hallway and led me to a room. An operating room. In the room, stood a 9-feet hunched giant covered in white rags holding a tray of surgical knives. He was spraying some liquid on them. In the corner of the room, a pile of corpses turned inside out laid dead. I recognized few of them. They all had the same nano-machine viral infection like I did. I saw where this was going.\n\n\"Liver?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"Liver.\" answered the man in red. My ear was ringing and my tongue tasted bitter. I woke up, just to die.\n\n", "Slowly, I felt my senses coming to life, like my brain was booting. I could move my eyes, slowly but surely, yet I had no sight. I don't know how long it had been - maybe a century, maybe millennia - but it felt so damn good to be alive. And what wonderful world awaited me? Was immortality actually in my grasp?\n\nI couldn't move my body. It would take some time for the ice to thaw, for the feeling in my limbs to return - they had told me this of course, only hours before I was frozen. I began to feel restless, eager - excited even. I'm in the future!\n\nThe darkness gradually brightened, until the light was almost too much to bear. I blinked against it, until dark figures appeared over me, helping block the harsh glare. How advanced were they? Would they even still understand my archaic English?\n\nI still could not move, could not feel. The ice, now melting, kept my head in place. I just wanted to greet them, to thank them for waking me. I saw other open cryogenic chambers around me, yet all seemed to be empty.\n\nThey seemed to be busying themselves with my body, no doubt preparing it for the official revival process. The ice had finally melted enough for me to move my head, and I slowly turned to the nearest figure I could see, and focused my dim eyes on his face.\n\nIt was not what I expected. He seemed strangely brutish... beastly even. He barely looked like a man from the future. He barely looked human. \n\nAnd even though my senses were dimmed, I still felt the fear hit heavy and hard.\n\nI forced my head upright, looking at them crowding around my body. \n\nAnd it dawned on me.\n\nThey're eating me alive." ]	5
	[WP] Everyone who talks to you dies in the hour that follows. It's a curse you live with since you were born. You decide to use it as a gift to make money out of it.	[ "-Good morning sir, how are you doing?\n\n-Get lost dirty hippie. - replies the man in the expensive suit.\n\nI love it when they're rude, it just makes me enjoy what comes after even more.\nYou might think it is though to grow up without anyone, well you're right.. I mean I can't prevent, everywhere I pass through I leave dead bodies behind.\n\nI don't know how to say this but anyone who to speaks to me dies within an hour. It all started 23 years ago, the year of my birth. All it took was a few \"What a cute baby\" and \"Aren't you cute?\" to leave half of a hospital dead, including my own parents. Well but the past is the past, you must be wondering who I just talked to, well that was Andy Smith and he's on his way to beat his wife and two children but fortunately he's not going to finnish that trip home.\n\n\"Damn I got lost in my thoughts where the hell did he go? Better get moving, that dead's man wallet isn't going to my pocket by itself. Thank Lucifer, there is he is.\", I think to myself quickly making my way to the parking lot.\n\n-Hey Andy?\n\n-Didn't I just tell you to get lost, you damn hippie? And how in the hell do you know my name?\n\n-Don't worry Andy, it will all be alright in a moment.\n\nI can see him starting to get dizzy, shouldn't take much longer for the time to me collect my reward.\n\n-Get away from me!\n\n-Damn Andy, why so hostil? I just want to take your money.\n\n-Don't you even dare come close, I'm good friends with the police captain.\n\n-Oh Andy I don't even have to touch you.\n\nThump! Andy falls to the ground and starts vomiting, I come closer to him.\n\n-See Andy? It's as simple as this. - I say while putting a glove in my hand.\n\n-Please don't hurt me. - Andy says vomiting food and blood.\n\n-Should have thought of that before you talked to me. - I reach into his pocket and take his wallet and turn my back to him.\n\n-Fuck you. - He weakly says.\n\n-Oh I almost forgot. The client had a specific request. - I say while walking towards him. -This! - I punch him straight in the nose. -Well I would like to say that would hurt tomorrow but I'm afraid tomorrow won't come.\n\nI get out of the parking lot and grab my cellphone. I log into my reddit account, private messages, reply \"It's done.\"\n", "People say talking to yourself can be a sign of genius, others say a sign of an unstable mind. Were I to indulge myself in it, it would be a sign that I want to die.\n\nSome days, I wish it. When you're born with such a curse as I, can you truly blame me? Everyone who talks to me dies within an hour. It doesn't matter if it's direct or not, any words spoken to me seem to create a strange effect of my energy and in turn, it attacks them. You can imagine this leads to a very lonely life. \n\nHowever, I've been given purpose in it. Well, as much purpose as being a hitman can be.\n\nAnother email. It's an angry ex husband wanting to get back at his ex wife. He sounds off his rocker with the accusations, but money is money. My eyes scan swiftly over the screen. It's a pretty standard revenge killing. Should be simple. I throw on my hoodie, place in my decoy headphones and leave the hell hole of my apartment.\n\nI wish I were different. God, I wish. I can't make anyone understand how fucking lonely and depressing it is, knowing that anyone you could ever get close to or love, the second they speak to you, it's your fault they're dead. My family members, girlfriends, boyfriends, teachers, best friends, everyone who has ever spoken a word to me...gone. \n\nFor a while, I thought about confessing. But then I'd kill off those cops too, and who would ever believe that just talking to someone would be an act of murder? No one would ever believe me. \n\nFor a moment, I have that familiar sense of agony and pain in my soul that screams for someone to listen, to be able to speak, anyone, goddamn it, anyone. Then it's silent. The stillness I've learned to force on myself.\n\nI walk into her work. She's a bank teller at James and Wilson on 22nd street. Pretty, but not too much. Nude lipstick and a haircut that looks a bit Stepford wife.\n\nI stand in front of her and she makes eye contact with me. I'm waiting for her words of \"Hello, can I help you?\"\n\nBut...they never come.\n\nInstead she smiles at me and slides forward a card. When I pick it up, I feel my throat close.\n\n\"Hello, valued customer. My name is Marie. I'm happy to help you today. I am mute, so while I am able to hear your questions, I cannot answer them vocally. Please state if you would prefer written, ASL, or electronic assistance with your inquiries, or if you prefer, a speaking teller. Thank you for your patience and we strive at James and Wilson to be inclusive of all people, including those of varying disabilities.\"\n\nI look up from the card and she continues to smile. My hands drop the card and reach out for hers, surprising the woman. I drop to my knees and cry, leading people around me to ask me what's wrong. I know what will happen in an hour to them. I know damn well. I just...don't care right now. All I know...\n\nAll I know is that I need her." ]	2
	[WP] In a world where people are paired up for the purpose of breeding, dating and love are non-existent. However, you just had a unusual feeling when you met eyes with a stranger.	[ "My parents hated each other. They lived in different homes and different neighborhoods. One a staunch Conservative, another a Liberal. They only actually spent an extended period of time together whenever they received breeding duty. I came from session 2.\n\nI was raised by my mother. My father opted to not be involves past the copulation. I was told at age 21 I would be paired with the optimal genetic counterpart and be given my own breeding duty.\n\nI'm 20. My birthday is in two months. I'm not worried about who my partner shall be. Worst comes to worst we opt to be notified when me must do our duty and do not see each other anywhere else. I'm rather average, so I should most likely be paired with someone average. That's good, average people are easy to relate with.\n\nI'm walking down Pickman Boulevard, my hands shoved deep in my coat pockets. It's a very cold day, snow just beginning to fall in the middle of January. Most people mind their own business during the commute to work, social interaction is saved for after work.\n\nAs I'm walking, I see her. A woman, she herself walking briskly to her job. Her auburn hair cascades down her shoulders, flecks of snow sticking in them like powdered sugar. Her skin is pale, save for her Rosy cheeks made red from the cold. Her hazel eyes squinted slightly, agitated by the fluttering precipitation tickling her face. As she walks, she glances over at me. My stomach flutters with a strange feeling that rocks my core. My face goes flush, almost as red as hers.\n\n\"Excuse me sir, um... I was wondering if you'd like to-\" she starts to say, edging closer to me on the walk way. I began to pick up my pace, walking away from her.\n\n\"Sorry miss, I think this cold is making me ill.\"\n\nAs I walk past, the disappointment on her face is palpable. The feeling is flaring up again, and I push on towards work to get out of this blasted cold.\n\n\"Oh... I see... Sorry to bother sir\" replies the girl, wiping something from her eyes as she too moves on", "It was the day of Lisbet's matching, the first step in her legal responsibility of parenthood, and she was giddy. The next revolution in online 'dating' had come, with a slurry of algorithms and legislation, to provide the population of Earth with the resource of genetic stability. Over the generations, courtship had died, and been replaced with compatibility. This would be her opportunity to fall in love, not with the stranger she matched with, but with her future child. \n\nLisbet, surrounded by other female soon-to-be's, waited to be ushered into the audience room. A group to share your happiness with, as you revel in your pairing. She mused that the other women must be less likely to object to their partner if surrounded by those who accepted the results of the match. Doors on the opposite wall opened, and an equal number of males entered. This would be her first opportunity to spy her match, the one who she would conceive a child with. Lisbet thought back to her memories of her childhood, when her mother told her stories of her own pairing ceremony. On that auspicious day, her mother had been blessed, for she had locked eyes with a man, and in that moment, they envisioned a future together. Such a fleeting romance was the most anyone could hope for, and on that day, the two were doubly blessed by being matched. If Lisbet were so lucky, she would have romance, if only for a moment. It was too much to expect that she would end up like her parents, an anomaly so rare that it was taboo. \n\nShe turned around the room, as did the rest, each eager to review their prospects. The males were all of similar bland attractiveness, as were the females, and Lisbet's eyes eagerly roamed from one to the next. That is until her eyes settled on him, and her yearning turned to dread. While arguably handsome in the classical sense, his appearance revolted her - his narrow eyes nestled between a triad of a gaping forehead, jutting cheek bones, and an enlarged chin. As one of his eyes drifted lazily off to the left, she considered the probability that he was a lizard, smuggled into the ceremony wearing a stretched mask of human skin. At least he had a goatee, which muted his inhuman features; truly any means of hiding his face would do wonders. Taking a deep breath, she shrugged off her worries, as the odds were in her favor. \n\nBefore she could consider another man, the chime sounded, and Lisbet stepped onto the alter. As the first female soon-to-be, she wanted to be an example to the other women. The computer read off her name, her occupation and profile. A formality. Taking a deep breath, she clutched the bouquet tightly, closed her eyes, and signaled she was ready. The chime sounded again, and she heard a man's footsteps climb the alter, and stop beside her. Her heart fluttering, Lisbet opened her eyes, and saw a warm smile shining back at her. \n\nWith a gentle English accent, the man introduced himself. \"Hello, I'm Benedict. It's a pleasure to be matched with you.\" " ]	2
	[WP] "First Contact" is made. Down the steps of the landed ship appears.....God, in all his white robe bearded glory. He speaks.."How the heck did you guys get here?"	[ "I kept my rifle fixed on his position.\n\nHe was illuminated by the blinding glow of the ship behind him, making it hard to see, but he looked like an old man. I could tell he was walking towards me with what seemed to be no fear in his eyes, and a genuine surprise on his face.\n\n\"Please put that down\" he said matter-of-factly. The door to the ship closed behind him and I could finally see him. I lowered my gun in shock as I noticed he wasn't walking, but actually hovering towards me. \n\nI began to pinch my nose; this couldn't be happening, it had to be a dream. He finally reached me and placed his hand on my cheek. He felt hot to the touch, but I found myself actually frozen in place. \n\nI could see out of the corner of my eye that my wrist had began to glow, and a bar code had appeared. He waved his hand over it and his eyes grew large. \n\n\"Ah, evolution, I see. Well this was supposed to be my paradise planet, but it seems you've ruined it.\" \n\nI tried to yell, but my mouth wouldn't work. Nothing would work. I tried to scream, but the breath refused to leave my chest.\n\n\"Nothing I can't fix though. I think with erasing your race, everything should be back to normal in a few hundred years.\" he said with a harmless wink, as if we were old friends about to depart. He waved his arm over my barcode and set me down on the ground. I couldn't understand what was happening. \n\nHe started to walk back towards the ship, and the blinding light reappeared, making me squint at its harshness. \n\nI pulled my rifle back into position and fired 3 shots at the back of his head.\n\nAs he fell to the ground I walked toward the door. He was right, we'd ruined our planet. Maybe I could find I knew one. as I boarded the ship and closed the door, I put on his extra robes, ready to take the place of this old traveler. " ]	1
	[WP] "If I can see your license, registration and certificate of death," The officer said in a casual manner.	[ "\"I'm sorry can you repeat that?\"\n\nI ask, I wasn't sure I heard the man right\n\n\n\"Can I please see your licensee, registration and certificate of death\"\n\n\nNope I did hear the man right, not wanting to get into trouble and question about what a \"death certificate\" was I hand over my license and registration over to the officer \n\n\"Well well mr kale you don't got long you know\"\n\n\n\"Call me Finn, and what do you mean 'don't got long'\"\n\n\n\"I mean take a look at your death certificate\"\n\n\nWhat in the world is this man on about? If he wasn't an officer I had beat his glasses off of his face along with that irritating smug \n\n\"My what?\"\n\n\n\"Oh c'mon now? It's right there\"\n\n\"I don't know wha-\"\n\n\nWhat the hell? Where did this piece of paper come from? I looked over to the passenger side and see a black letter sitting there, I swear it wasn't there earlier. I stretch out my hand, grasping onto the black letter and slowly tearing the lid off \n\n\"You may not be happy by what you read there friend\"\n\nI looked up at the officer and faintly noticed gold lights emitting from his glasses. I gulped and lifted the paper into view slowly reading the words \n\n\"FINN KALE 1984-2016 DEATH BY IMPACT\"\n\n\nSweat began falling over the top of my forehead threatening to fall off of my jaw, my heart pounding loudly, I turned to the officer and say \n\n\n\"You're death.. Aren't you?\"\n\n\n\"Right you are sir, right you are\"\n\n\nThe officer removed his glasses to reveal two black empty pits with small gold lights faintly emitting from the depths of those cold dark eye sockets, I found myself engulfed in them then all of a sudden I'm driving again \n\n\n\"Wha... What was that?\"\n\n\nMy arms steering , car moving on the highway and police car following\n\n\"Oh I ain't stopping no way\" I say \n\n\nAs I look back onto the road away from the police car I collide into a large truck on the opposite side of the road\n\n\n\n\n\n", "\"Certainly, ma'am. I hope I'm not in big trouble.\" he said loudly as he took out his wallet. \"I have a doctor's appointment in a few minutes. Just around the corner. Now what was it you needed? My licence, my registration. Ooh, that's in the glove compartment. And my certificate of deaf.\"\n\n\"Umm.\" The officer tried to say but was interrupted.\n\n\"Strange terminology for a deaf ID card, 'certificate of deaf'. Here it is. How did you know I was half-deaf, anyway?\" he said as he handed the officer the card.\n\nThe officer compared the paperwork. He's deaf alright, she thought as she readied for her usual speech. In as clear a voice she could, she began. \"Do you know why I stopped you, where we are and what has happened?\"\n\n\"Well I suppose, I was going a tad fast around that bend over there. That would probably be reason enough for folks like you to pull me over.\" He said puzzled.\n\n\"You don't know where we are and what has happened, do you?\"\n\n\"Of course I do! I was just driving around the bend over... over...\" he said as he looked around for the bend. \"Bah, what does it matter where we are? I was just driving around a bend. I might have been going a bit too fast, with my old legs on the acceleration, I felt some tingle in the stomach, a small bump on my head and then you pulled me over. There you go! That's what happened.\" The triumph shone from his eyes.\n\n\n[Should be continued]", "\"I'm sorry, what?\" \n\n\"I said, I need to see your license, registration, and death certificate.\"\n\nStaring at the officer, I realize that I'm not hearing things. \n\n\"License. Registration. Death certificate\", repeats the officer for the fourth time, helpfully. \n\nI retrieve my driver's license from my wallet and dig around in the glove compartment for my vehicle registration and insurance information. Handing them to the officer, I flash a smile and joke \"Sorry, but I don't have a death certificate. I am, as you can see, still alive.\" Straining my eyes against the bright Californian sun behind him, I notice that his name badge reads 'Officer Lemon'.\n\nIs this some sort of joke?\n\nOfficer Lemon's gloved hand makes contact with my left wrist as I pass him my information. Isn't it a little hot for gloves?\n\nOfficer Lemon frowns. \"And your death certificate?\" He's probably impatient that he's had to repeat this to me 5 times now. And also, he's named after a fruit, so he's got that going for him there as well. \n\nI give him another blank stare, as I repeat that I am still breathing, and that my heart is still circulating blood. I smile, just in case he takes offense to my smart comments, in which he should be. I decided that 'Officer Lemon' must be playing some sort of practical joke on me. Might as well play along, right? I dig around in my wallet and hand him the first business card I can find. \n\nOfficer Lemon seems to be intentionally caressing my hand and wrist as he takes the business card from me. Weird, but I can be weird too. He flips his sunglasses up and reads aloud from the business card, \"Portable-Toilets for Rent.\"\n\nWhoops.\n\nSighing, Officer Lemonade or whatever his real name is flips his sunglasses back down. Peeling back his leather gloves, he glares at me. \"Really?\"\n\n\"Officer Lemon, I really don't know what to give you. Like, a death certificate? I don't have one. If you'd kindly stop wasting my fucking time and give me my stuff back, I'd like to get on my way now, Officer Citrus.\" \n\nWhoops again.\n\nHanding me back my driver's license, and the rest of my shit, he once again makes contact with my hand and wrist. \n\nI immediately notice that somethings wrong. I never got my vehicle registration back. Instead, what he gave me was a death certificate. Mitchell Warner, 1986 - 2016. A slight tingling in my left wrist distracts me from pursuing the matter further. I probably wouldn't have been able to too, as I notice the angry purplish red streaks travel from my hand down my arm. " ]	3
	[WP] Your blind date insists they are a galactic fugitive from Quadrant 9. But the date is really hot so you decide to roll with it.	[ "\"I am a fugitive Elspis from Epsilon galaxy sector, Quadrant 9\" The pretty eyed girl called Jennifer, or perhaps it was elspis now, sat across the table from me blurted out this most peculiar line after a much awkward 10 minutes sat at the dinner table we have reserved beforehand. \n\nI had been single for a very, very long time and I had decided to give up and try Tumble, a strange dating app that I only ever rarely heard success stories of. I had met her on there a few weeks back, it wasn't anything special and I had not experienced that 'click' you get when you crush on someone. Her pictures were quite the opposite of her actual appearance, the photos were always blurry and taken as some obscure angles with some only showing half of her face. After we had exchanged a picture of ourselves to each other (taken there and then as to not give time to take what we could consider a 'perfect picture' of ourselves) I felt that 'click' and immediately, was it love? no it can't be, I've only just met her... crushed on her I guess would be the correct wording. On top of that she always knew what to say to me, as if she could read my mind and knew the perfect answers to suit me to everything she replied to.\n\nThose pretty blue eyes were staring right into mine, she was so unbelievably gorgeous I could hardly breathe. After a few seconds of intent soul penetrating staring I caught a breath, coughing up the coffee I had just taken a sip of and dribbling it down my mouth and all over the table, she seemed unphased.\n\"What?\" I said through coughs and wheezes, I cleared my throat.\n\n\"I am a galactic fugitive, seeking refuge on planet Earth\" Elspis, if that was her real name kept her gaze on me. I expected a faint smile to crack on her face any time now and the relieving soundless noise of ice breaking, there was no faint smile. I decided to play along.\n\n\"Quadrant 9? Isn't that a notorious sector known for breeding criminals?\" What was I talking about? Jennifer or Elspis raised an eyebrow at me.\n\n\"Are you stupid?\" Elspis asked, she was joking after all. I laughed.\n\n\"I know, I actually believed you for a second there\" She raised her other eyebrow and her eyes bulged out an abnormal amount.\n\n\"I am telling the truth!\" Elspis sat forward to drive her point. Nearby tables seemed rattled and she calmly sat back down.\n\n\"Oh\" I'm sure my voice broke a little \"Of course, I know you are I was just messing with you\" I smiled at her, she gave me a glare which was actually quite cute. She was the perfect girl really, for me at least. Medium length brown hair, blue eyes, button nosed face. \n\n\"I need your help\" she surprised me with another questioning line breaking my admiration for her face.\n\n\"Ok\" I said, thinking I could use this to my advantage \"but first answer my questions\"\n\n\"I don't have ti-\"\n\n\"Answer them or I wont help you\" I interrupted her, I most likely would end up helping her anyway. I didn't want to let this one go.\n\n\"Fine... what do you want to know?\" she slumped back resentfully giving in.\n\n\"Why do you look like a human?\" I asked quickly, catching her by surprise.\n\n\"Why do you look like an Armai?\" She responded just as quickly.\n\n\"Whats that?\"\n\n\"Thats me, I am an Armai. Most species in the galaxy look like humans or should I say humans look like most species, only subtly different\" She looked at me stern faced again, if she was lying she was a damn good one.\n\n\"What subtle differences? prove it to me\" If I was going to be manipulated by this woman I was going to make sure I could at least tell myself I wasn't fooled that easily. She looked around cautiously making sure nobody else was paying attention to her.\n\n\"Are you ready? don't make a sound ok? no sudden movements, no screaming nothing! ok?\" she looked deadly serious.\n\n\"er... ok\" I didn't know what to expect, it could be anything. Was she going to push her eyeballs out? maybe detach her nose? maybe she could reattach limbs wherever she felt like it? the possibilities were endless... I wonder what the others could do?\nShe bent over the table eyes fixated on his, she had a nice rack. I shook my head and paid attention to whatever it was she was going to do, her left hand was cupped in her right \"What are you...\" her hands were right in front of me now.\nShe pressed a finger up against my lips to keep me quiet, if anything it felt like she was flirting with me. She put her hand back in her other hand and with slow but sure grace bent her fingers back more than a human normally can and then sat back down looking at me with smug grace. I burst out laughing, that surely caught the attention of the other tables.\n\n\"why are you laughing?!\" she demanded, a frown replacing her self righteous smugness.\n\n\"That's it?\" I tried to stifle the laugh but it came out again.\n\n\"This is our species common trait! its how we identify ourselves to fellow Armai!\" I kept on laughing, I had been genuinely fooled by this woman and expected cameras to roll in any time now and the rest of the tables to start applauding and cheering. Soon after no cameras rolled in my laughter had turned into heavy breathing.\n\n\"Other humans can do that too, its nothing too unusual and it certainly doesn't mean you're an alien!\" I couldn't help but smirk. Jennifer looked increasingly angry. \"So why are you here... Armai?\" I burst out laughing again, but made sure not to laugh out the entire restaurant this time. She looked reluctant to speak but Jennifer did her best.\n\n\"I'm here to betroth myself to someone, to establish earth citizenship and protect myself from those that mean to capture or kill me for a small bounty\" Even now she didn't crack a smile, she actually believed it herself.\n\n\"Oh yeah? and what makes you such a criminal that has you running... flying or whatever across the galaxy to escape death?\"\n\n\"I stole apples\" she said with a scrape of embarrassment.\n\n\"Apples?\" I said donning my head down keeping my eye on hers. I think all my laughter had been spent.\n\n\"Yes\" \n\n\"They want to kill you for apples?\"\n\n\"Yes, the milky way is a very law driven galaxy. Even public urination is punishable by exile\" I raised my eyebrow at this.\n\n\"So even out on the lash, I can't urinate on a street without being banished from my own galaxy?\"\n\n\"Yes, it has been this way for milleniums\" I had to look around the restaurant to remind myself where I am, planet Earth. \n\n\"And why are you here? Why earth?\"\n\n\"Earth Is a no fly zone, you have not developed enough yet to travel space nor have you the personality skills to meet foreign species' and not commit horrible acts of violence against us all. This would be all fair and well if not for the fact that well... you're thousands of years older than any other space faring species, it's quite sad really\" I didn't know how to react, should I be embarrassed? To me this was all one big joke but she seemed genuine in herself. \n\n\"Does that mean all fugitives come here?\" I asked her, suddenly realising that it means earth is the safest place for space faring criminal runaways.\n\n\"Yes\" she looked uncaring \"in fact there are about 5 more in this restaurant, although none of them carry a bounty over their heads or are simply too dangerous to chase\" \n\n\"How can I possibly help you? Was this whole thing just a ruse to use me?\" I played with my cutlery nervously, I realised we hadn't even ordered anything yet. I looked at her absent mindedly lost in my own thoughts. Suddenly there was a deafening sound which pierced the ears of everyone in the room all of them squinting and holding their ears. The tall glass windows smashed and men started swinging on black ropes into the restaurant, automatic weapons on hand. Elspis suddenly burst into action withdrawing two small odd looking pistols from the small of her back and matrix dived forward, instantly killing 3 of the armed men with what seemed like crackling laser bullets. More men burst in through the doors from the kitchen and lobby toting more laser rifles, Elspis grabbed a rope and used it to support her wall running gun firing maneuvers, when she finally came to end of her swing she acrobatically landed in a heroic pose. All the armed men dropped to the floor in simultaneous fashion." ]	1
This was inspired by the subreddit /r/FloridaMan.	[WP] You are Florida Man. You have the ability to create multiple versions of yourself that can shapeshift into whoever they want. Instead of using your powers for justice, you have been using them to commit ridiculous crimes in Florida. Tell me a story of a day in the life of Florida Man.	[ "(Pardon the formatting, I'm on mobile)\n\nFlorida man: The world's worst super hero. It takes a lot to really be considered for that title. I mean, come on! There are super heroes out there who can be defeated by a COLOR of all things! Who even made the call that I'm the world's worst? My only crime is being proud of my home state! \n\nBesides, what are the penultimate to the worst super heroes up to here? I'm not particularly strong, but I sure as hell am clever enough to use these shapeshifting powers effectively.\n\nA drug boat was mysteriously stopped and pulled neatly to the coast guard by an oddly convenient rip tide. The headlines laud Tall Man's rescue of kid's balloon. \n\nA security guard just so happens to walk by the dark alley the lost tourist was in when the mugger thought they were alone. The Miami papers excitedly hurrah for Power Woman having wrestled a crocodile that was just sitting in its natural habitat.\n\nA child is safely lead away from the unstable swamplands by their favorite cartoon character. But the news just celebrates the Dog Whisperer for taming a ferocious throw cushion of a Pomeranian!\n\nYou know what? Fine! If all of my great feats are just going to be covered up by these petty acts, I'll just cover them up with even PETTIER ACTS! \n\nHurricane Lad stopped a kidnapping? Well I'll stop him with breakfast. FLORIDA MAN TRIES TO USE TACO AS ID AFTER CAR CATCHES FIRE AT TACO BELL!\n\nAction Girl rescued a puppy from a flood? FLORIDA MAN CALLS 911 OVER MISSING BEER SO MANY TIMES HE GETS ARRESTED.\n\nCaptain Champion captures Florida Man mid rampage? FLORIDA MAN TOO FAT FOR JAIL!\n\nI am the Skinwalker! The yee nahgloshii! The great being of myth and legend that generations of cultures have warned against! I am a shapeshifter! I can be anyone and everyone I want at the same time! And for that reason, I am no one. " ]	1
	[WP] After inventing time travel, you discover you can only go to the past. You decide not to go back to before time travel was invented. Why?	[ "After successfully building the time travel mechanism, the professor is about to go on a test drive, just as he is about to reach the knob to begin the trip, he starts to notice his memories fading.\n\n He steps away from the machine as he falls into a chair, he is trying to remember what his mother looks like but her can't seem to. He knows he had a mother, and she was very important to him, but for some reason, he can't remember what she looks like.\n\n He buries his head into his hands, his eyes become watery, now he is trying to remember if she is even alive. He reaches into his pocket, to try and call her, but he can't find his phone. He believes he is losing his mind. \n\n He stands up and rushes to the time machine, he wants to try and see his mother, but he hears a voice, \"Don't do it John.\" He turns and sees himself, this doppelgänger grabs his shoulders stares him in the eyes, \"I'm sorry, I had to destroy the machine before they get to it.\" \n\n The professor replies \"What are you talking about?\" , the second professor answers, \" I had to stop us from being born, once they found out we built this, they try to steal it, and I had to stop it from its earliest stage, do you remember?\"\n\n The first professor breaks down in tears, \"My mother... she had always wished to see my father one last time... that's why I began these studies... you killed her, didn't you?\" \n\n \"I'm sorry\" replies the second professor. \n\nThe first professor cocks back his arm and punches the second. As he cocks back for a second punch, he disappears. \n\n The second professor watches as everything begins to vanish, schematics, blueprints, even the time machine itself. He opens a drawer and pulls out an old family photo, he kisses it, as he begins to vanish himself.\n\n\nThe end.\n\n\nI'm not a writer but time travel is one of my favorite concepts, in not sure if this is what you was asking for or not, but great writing prompt." ]	1
	[WP] You and your band of survivors of a zombie apocalypse have just found out that every zombie in the world has been completely human and aware on the inside, with no help over their compulsion to attack others	[ "[Location: apartment building, 3rd floor, night. SAM sits quietly, fiddling with a firearm in one corner of a sparesly decorated apartment building, his face barely illuminated by a lantern on the table. He is joined by ROBYN, a woman with short hair and bare arms, sitting calmly at the table, fully illuminated. Her face is tired and weary, she seems to be barely awake, but at the same time she seems calm and collected. The faint crackle of radio static can be heard from another room.]\n\nSAM: So... what can we do?\n\nROBYN: Nothing... Nothing different anyway. This doesn't change anything.\n\nSAM: Easy for you to say. It just makes things harder for me.\n\n[beat]\n\nROBYN: So, what's your plan, huh? You gonna try to save everyone? Really?\n\nSAM: ...\n\nROBYN: Sam, think about it: They're trapped in their own skin, they watch every day as their flesh rots. They listen as they tear someone to pieces, screams ringing in their FUCKIN' ears. Would you wanna go through that?\n\nSAM: Well-\n\nROBYN: Or, do you wanna go on some kind of crazy euthanasia spree? Is that it? Spend the little ammo you have left to take some pot shots at a few Rotters? \n\nSAM: What if there's a cure. I mean, they're working on it, right? That was the whole point of the broadcast, right?\n\nROBYN: Jesus... You actually wanna save 'em. [sigh] No. They didn't say a damn thing, about any damn cure. Don't treat me like an idiot.\n\nSAM: Well, I mean, yeah, not directly, but- They're obviously onto something! They know how their minds work now! They- They're learning what makes 'em tick.\n\nROBYN: Jesus... Just because they stuck a probe in their brain doesn't mean they know how to reverse it.\n\nSAM: Well, no. Not yet, but why else would they tell us that, right? It doesn't help anyone to know that, but... maybe they're trying to let us know, without actually saying it: there's hope.\n\nROBYN: Well, too little... too late.\n\n[Silence falls over the small room, move to larger shot of room, revealing the bandages covering ROBYN's arm, then to the dimly lit bathroom, covered in blood.]\n\nSAM: I-\n\nROBYN: [ROBYN raises a hand to silence him] No. None of that. Just... Just get out of here, alright?\n\nSAM: But-\n\nROBYN: You don't have the stomach for it. That's fine. I can take care of it myself.\n\nSAM: No! Listen-\n\nROBYN: No. You listen. Leave me a gun. I just need one bullet. Take the rest.\n\n[SAM deflates, obviously defeated. He empties the chamber of all but a single bullet, lining it up and placing it on the table. He heads for the door, lingering a moment to look back at the back of ROBYN's head. She doesn't look back. SAM sighs, offering one last farewell before opening the door into the hall. Shot moves to a closeup of ROBYN, tears streaming down her face as she picks up the revolver. She hears the door click shut as she places the barrel to her temple. SAM leans against the door, waiting for the gunshot, his face contorted into a grimmace, his eyes screwed shut. But no sound comes.]\n\n[SAM re-enters the room to see ROBYN still facing away, the revolver still loosely in her grip. Her hands are trembling. She sounds like she is on the verge of tears]\n\nROBYN: So... what can we do?\n\nSAM: Nothing... Nothing different anyway.\n\n[Fade to black. GUNSHOT. End.]\n", "\"Oh My god Jerry, would you please just stop?!\"\n\nI shouted and threw my hands up in anger.\n\nJ stopped the sledgehammer in mid-air and threw me a confused look.\n\n\"Isn't that what we're here for baba? Breaking skulls n' stuff?\"\n\n\"Yeah we are J, but\" I muttered and fumbled a cigarette out of my jeans. \" You've been hammering that metal door now for over 30 minutes and it doesn't even have a dent. So, please Jerry, please, can we just wait for Mike and the blast charge? I can't think with that constant banging, okay?\"\n\nJ hesitated, but rested the hammer against the old brick wall next to him. His heavy breathing remaining the only source of noise, we both, for the first time, took in the scene around us. The old parking place surrounding the building was littered with corpses and the Zed's had destroyed whatever had been left of the wire fence surrounding it.\n\nThe dead had arrived shortly after us, probably attracted by the shouting and gunfire.\n\nWe dealt with them swiftly. Sure there were a lot of them, one managed to bite ted in the shoulder, so we had to take him down too.\nBut overall it was easy as it can be.\n They were slow, always had been. And coupled with our experience in this world, the whole ordeal could not have lasted more than 15 minutes.\n\nI lit fire to the crumbled piece of paper and tobacco between my lips, while Jerry started whistling a pop song from before.\n\nFuck Jerry, I'm going to kill him and fuck his daughter once we get home. I thought to myself and exhaled with a smile.\n\nThis was my mission, I was in charge and from now on I would have a whole of a lot better life.\n\nWhen the first transmission came in everybody was confused and shocked.\nNo one was sending on any frequency since at least 4 months. \n\nThe survivors we've met were few and no match for our group, it was our time, finally.\n\n\"Stop the Killing!\" The message relayed.\n\n\"They are still there, they are still people and we can prove it. We will find a cure and we will restore everything.\"\n\nI knew the young lady whose voice travelled through the ether to us and as I should find out soon after I knew all of her friends and companion too.\n\nDr. Theresa willow, a young virologist, had worked in New Life Hospital, same place I had to scrub the floors.\n\nNever thought that arrogant, whiney bitch would make it through the first five days.\nAnd she probably hadn't, if not for whatever was down there.\n\nOnce the message was over the boss, Mike, Jerry, I and whoever was left of the first crew all agreed that we had to shut up that bitch.\n\nThis life was to good, to just stop and reset everything to the same state as it was before.\nThe way it was, it had been their world\n\nThe way it is? It is ours.\n\nThinking about it, it was almost to easy.\n\nI answered the radio and once I convinced her it was really me. The Infos started to flow.\nThe location of their camo, how many were with her, what weapons they had. Stupid bitch really thought i wanted to help.\n\nIn fact she was so relieved to speak to someone she knew from before, if Jerry had not killed that curious guy with her, We'd all be already down there and kill them all together.\n\nI'm gonna kill Jerry \n\n\n\n\n", "The understanding comes gradually. \n\nI’ve always assumed the mind, the soul, the personhood is the first thing to go. We’ve all seen the way their intelligence degrades—that’s why the youngest zees are the most dangerous. It’s as if their human instincts cling for a while, so they know how to follow a gaze to someone else hiding, to look for the origin of a thrown stone. Some even hunt as a pack in the beginning. In the end, though, they all devolve into gormless, drooling, shuffling killing machines, just chasing after noise and movement.\n\nI think Jasper realises at the same moment I did. There’s something in his eyes as he scrabbles back to his feet, shoving the wreckage of the broken table out of his way as we all press close to face the next attack together.\n\nI should focus on the fight, but instead, memories flash across my mind’s eye and I hear a low moan before I realise it came from my own lips. The horror of what we’ve done.\n\nChildren. Everyone hates kiddie zees, and I always downed them first. Now I wonder if the others watching were their family, their parents? I feel cold water trickling through my veins as I relive kills, my hands and feet are like blocks of ice, almost numb, and I’m shaking violently. To my left, Michael gives a growl of pain. His entire right sleeve is in blood-soaked tatters and he’s dropped his lucky hatchet, the triangular blade smeared with crimson. He hated when we called it that, his lucky hatchet. Nothin’ lucky ‘bout this. Pure skill, ladies, he’d drawl, winking and firing a finger gun with one hand while flipping the blade with the other.\n\nWhen I blink, I see that blade slash across staring faces and I wonder if those people, locked inside their ravenous bodies, were terrified by our brutality or if they welcomed it. \n\nAn animalistic scream snaps me back to the present as Margaret breaks the momentary deadlock and lunges across the room at the closest of them. Mags has always been our leader. Funny thing is, before the outbreak, she worked as a solicitor’s secretary. Mousy, self-effacing. She was a friend of my mum’s. That’s how I ended up with the gang. She stopped letting stragglers tag along days before I came along, made an exception for me. \n\nWithout thinking, I’ve joined her in the attack, Michael and Jasper flanking me, and I can hear Katie and Sal behind us. I know we are outmatched, but we will fight anyway.\n\nDespairing, I wonder if this is how they all felt. I think of the older zees I’ve killed. Time and the ravages of the virus have slowed their reflexes, blunted their animal intelligence, so that they almost look like cartoon depictions of aged care home residents, only dressed for every generation and occasion—sharp business suits, sundresses, hospital gowns, cargo shorts. Tremulous, bent double or limping grotesquely as they mindlessly chase prey that can run circles around them. Jasper used to make a game of it, dancing around them, taunting, before precisely nailing his bayonet through their necks. But they were just people. One day, you’re living, thinking, talking, loving, hating. One scratch, let alone a bite… Well, then it’s tremor, fever, and you wake up a zee.\n\n“They shake, they bake, I stake,” Jasper used to sing. \n\nI’d throw up, but my stomach is already empty. It aches, even, and my mouth waters at the mere thought of food. We hadn’t had anything for days even before we got here.\n\nWe’d fallen asleep, somehow. You’d be amazed what the human mind can do after a certain point. We’d staggered into the house at random almost—it was the first we came to that still had a door. The frame was in pieces and the bolt was snapped, but we shoved furniture against it to block the way. I could have slept there and then but Mags made us do it properly. Clear the rooms, check the cupboards, see if there was anything in the water tank, repair the worst of the window boardings. She gave us orders from the floor, because her wounds were the worst by far. Blood oozed slickly between her fingers and beads of sweat shone on her face. Michael was pacing, but he was passing hatchet from hand to hand more slowly than usual. Shakily. \n\nWe woke to the attack. Bangs as they tried to come in through the door. We all roused instantly to full alertness, tracking the sounds of our attackers circling round the house to one of the windows. Hammer blows from some kind of battering ram smashed the table nailed across the gap and two hunters leapt in, firing as they did. More crowded outside, yelling furiously at their companions. A crossbow bolt took Jasper in the chest and he fell beside me without a sound. Mags almost took the crossbow artist down while he reloaded, but his companion beat her into a hasty retreat with swipes of a fire axe. Of course, Jasper didn’t stay down long.\n\nThe six of us made an ill-formed semi-circle, facing the humans, broken bodies tensing for the fight while thoughts poured unfettered through unbroken minds.\n\nJasper is quicker than me and lunges at the crossbowman, missing and stumbling past. The man spins to track him, bolt loaded and ready. \n\nI bare my teeth and a growl tears out of my throat as I sink them into the prey my friend has lured into position for me. His crossbow clatters to the ground and the bolt fires with an impotent clack against the wall. His blood is hot and iron salty.\n \nHe screams, and inside, so do I.", "”So, what?” Rodney said, cocking his shotgun. “Don’t give two shits if they have feelings; anyone trying to eat me gets a pound of lead through their skull, except Lola of course – you can eat me anytime you want, Honey!”\n\n“You’re disgusting,” Mila said, elbowing him in the ribs. \n\nLola rolled her eyes and got up. She peered absently over the edge of the flat roof where the group had set up camp. Lola was scared of guns and relied entirely on her two companions for protection. Down in the street, the shamblers were pushing against the door and expressing themselves eloquently in their usual guttural way.\n\n“Those poor eff-ers,” she muttered, the words tasted weird in her mouth.\n\nHer fingers touched the dirty American-flag-ribbon in her greasy blonde hair. It was the only item she retrieved from her sister’s carcass after the shamblers ripped her apart. She remembered hiding in the bathroom, hearing Lily’s screams outside the door, then the revolting slurping, munching, and gnawing, and finally the blessed silence. If the science paper was right, those eff-ers that had killed Lily had been aware of their crimes and been forced to witness the horrors first-hand. That was messed up.\n\nAfter the incident with her sister, Lola had never felt anything even resembling compassion towards the walking corpses. Her emotions had been more along the lines of righteousness – they deserved to die and she was more than happy to oblige – but now things had changed. It wasn’t their fault and she couldn’t imagine what it must be like, being stuck in a decaying body and hungering for flesh.\n\n“…two cans of baked beans, one with peaches, twenty-two shells, three dozen bullets, three gallons of water, half a gallon of gas, one pound of pumpkin seeds, and still that freakin’ Pepsi,” Mila murmured as she went over their inventory. “Hey, Lola, when are you going to drink your Pepsi?”\n\n“Do you think they feel the bullets when we miss the head?” Lola asked, ignoring her question.\n\nMila shrugged, “I don’t miss.”\n\n“I hope they do,” Rodney said. “That would be a consolation for the wasted bullet.”\n\nLola turned her face back towards the street below. That throng of writhing, rotting bodies must be experiencing such incredible misery. But what could she really do to help them? There was no cure or redemption for these people, only eternal suffering and damnation. If hell did exist, that wretched existence was definitely it. The only real mercy was a bullet to the brain.\n\n“Mila,” Lola said, “You need to teach me how to shoot.”\n", "The band were a rough, bitter mix before they found out. \n\nMistrustful and turning on one another every other day. Travelling through the countryside with almost nothing but the clothes on your back, constantly sleeping with one eye open and hacking your way through zombies with machetes just had that effect on you. \n\nUntil one blazing summer's day, when the group spotted a mass of zombies milling in a far-off field, rooting on the ground. Probably tearing apart human corpses, they thought. Worth an investigation, anyway. As the creatures saw the humans approach, they scattered. And on the field was a message, painstakingly scratched into the ground:\n\nWe are conscious. We are human, inside. We lose our minds when we scent you. We just want to talk. Let us take turns to write our messages here.\n\n\"What the hell?\" Lisa muttered, into the astounded silence that had spread among the group. \n\nA safe distance away, the zombies watched from the trees - their ruined, rotten faces grave, none of them snarling as they always did when a human ventured too close. \n\nIn the months that followed, the small human group grew close as they became obsessed with a common purpose. Trying to communicate. Taking turns to scratch messages into the field while the other group watched from a safe distance. \n\nAnd they came to understand what the zombies wanted. \n\n------\n\nEric led his group north. \n\nThey were bristling with weapons, dispatching the things that were crawling all over the land with little thought or trouble. They were a well-oiled machine by now, and if the rumours were true, there was a rival human group in the area. \n\nA group they'd heard some disturbing rumours about. \n\nThere'd be violence, blood would flow: but afterwards, their group would grow. And they'd travel further north, where, it was rumoured, the things hadn't taken over yet. The group stopped dead as they reached the rival camp, and stared. They took out their binoculars to make sure: the rumours about this camp, picked up along the way from the other scattered human groups they'd encountered, were right. Nauseatingly right. \n\nNeatly packaged animal meat was left out in a field, where dozens of the things were feasting. In the camp were more of them, tightly bound and gagged. Humans, tears running down their cheeks, were smothering them with rough pieces of cloth. They could hear their leader, a woman with a wild tangle of dark hair, speaking soothingly.\n\n\"It'll be over soon. We're here for you. We're here,\" she said. \n\nEric hissed the order as his stomach churned: some humans remained so goddamn weak. \n\n\"Take out the things,\" he said. His group reached for the automatic guns they'd gathered slowly and with great effort all over the country.\n\nIn a bloody, messy hour of fighting, it was over: the zombies missing their heads, some human casualties. The rival group were staring at them with blind horror and rage. Rage. As if they'd done something awful. A few of the child things were still left, alternating between snapping at humans and running away. \n\n\"Get them,\" he ordered Eva - the best tracker he had. \n\n\"And tie up this lot,\" he nodded with disgust at the rival group. He approached Lisa slowly, who looked up at him with hate-filled eyes.\n\n\"What is wrong with you, woman?\" he hissed, kicking her to emphasise his point. He couldn't abide weakness in a leader. \"You kill them, quick and fast. That's how you spare human lives. You don't show them mercy, for fuck's sake. They're dead meat who want to eat you, don't you understand?\" \n\nShe looked at him, recognising the rough, red beard, the angry blue eyes. He was well-known in these parts: Eric Dorn. Sweeping up from the South, absorbing every group he encountered. And once, once in a life forgotten, he'd been a scientist. On the forefront of research into the disease, before it consumed the world. Consumed everyone in his family. They said it had driven him mad. \n\nBut somewhere in there, the scientist lived. She could show him mercy: simply merge into his group, and stay silent. How her group had wished they'd never learned the truth, had never heard the zombies request for a better death. \n\nDeath by smothering and kind words, instead of a machete through the neck or a bullet through the brain. The request most of them had made, though a few had simply asked for food and to be left alone, still clinging onto the hope that a cure would be found one day.\n\nIt made things worse, even as it had united her group, made them more human. More compassionate.\n\nBut as she saw the body of Alan, the youngest member of her group who had done a lot of the dirty work lately, comforting the infected people as they were smothered. She hardened herself. Eric deserved the truth, for what he'd done.\n\n\"According to rumour, you killed your daughters after they became infected, didn't you?\" Lisa asked. Eric stiffened in fury before reaching down and slapping her though the face, as Eva returned with the captive child thing.\n\n\"Yes,\" he said. \"And I'd do it again, instantly: as you should with these things. Not comforting them through it.\"\n\n\"Like this,\" he said, gesturing towards Eva. \"Kill that thing. Teach our friend here a lesson. Surviving the Apocalypse 101.\"\n\n\"Wait,\" Lisa said. Eva paused with the machete at the little zombie's throat. \"You were a scientist, mister Dorn. How about one last experiment? Give that thing, as you call it, a stick. Allow me to show you something. Let me tell you something.\"\n\nAfter some wrangling, Eric tossed a stick at the thing. Deep inside him, the curiosity that had once defined his career prickled to life again. He had to understand the full extent of the woman's madness.\n\n\"What is it?\" he growled.\n\nBut Lisa's eyes were fixed on the ravaged face of the little girl, whose mouth was working in agonised groans.\n\n\"Show him, sweetie. Write the message. Fight through it, and write,\" she said, before glancing at Eric. \"Want to see what your daughters were probably desperate to tell you?\"\n\n--------\nHope you enjoyed my story! You can find more of my work on /r/Inkfinger/.", "Maury and Zan were the best killers of our crew. They were a physician couple from Baltimore and their knowledge of the human body appeared to translate perfectly into zombie killing when the zombie apocalypse hit. We found them at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore when we took a risky route through the city to find supplies. We were pinned by a horde against the hospital when the couple dropped down and slaughtered the whole horde. We were amazed, thankful and begged them to travel with us. Since they were running low on supplies too, they agreed. \n\nI am concerned for them though. The National Research Institute issued a radio report on their most recent findings. Apparently, they were able to suppress the zombie's instinct to attack and eat for 60 seconds. In that time, the subject pleaded for death, and apologized for the horrors it brought to the world. It felt awful for how many people it attacked and consumed. The subject then returned to its zombie state, attempting to attack the researchers. It was their most successful test, but they still have little hope the progress will bring about a cure. Even then, we still have to survive in the meantime. \n\nThe couple looked distraught when they heard the news. I tried explaining countless times that survival was the only option. \n\n\"All's fair in love and war... and survival,\" I told them. They didn't seem to listen though. We met them a year after the apocalypse started. I can only imagine how many people and who they killed in that time.\n\nThe crew agreed we should be making a push down to Alabama or a more southern state as the winter months approach. We packed our bags and made ready for the journey. At dinner, Maury and Zan seemed more chipper and happy. I think they finally reached an understanding. \n\nPacking the last of my bags this morning, I heard two gunshots..." ]	6
	[WP] A sad, lonely, and friendless young scientist plans to transfer his consciousness to an alternate reality fueled by his imagination and memories, so his mind can live happily forever. However, an unexpected individual begs him to reconsider: his bitter rival...and ex wife.	[ "\"Sorry, I am still gonna do it.\" I, 28-year-old scientist [Joe J. Gerald](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im-juUv7QHQ), said. I was going to live happily forever and escape my loneliness until his ex wife came along.\n\n\"Please! I miss you!\" She said. She tried to throw her purse at the mind transfer machine to destroy it but she missed. Her aim was better than it usually was.\n\n\"As the old saying goes, [my ex-wife still misses me, but her aim is getting better!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwbqPPSUp90)\" I pushed the button but apparently it had a few-second delay.\n\n\"...\"\n\n\"Her aim is getting better!\" I said \"You see, it's funny because marriage is terrible.\"\n\n\"I don't get it.\"\n\n\"Obviously YOU would not ge-\" I was teleported into my digital reality and my body fell limp to the ground. I, Joe J Gerald, was the first man to immerse himself into a digital reality permanently. With access to all information, I could finally discover [the greatest secrets of the universe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YNQ_fF-FA4) and have all the time in the world!\n\n---\n\nToo short?" ]	1
	[WP] You wake up dead. You can gaze down upon Earth, and YOU become one of the many others who can choose who dies also.	[ "I open my eyes,they are struck by darkness.I move my head until i see a bright light.I try to reach it,but it gets farther and farther until i can't see it no more.\n\n -Stop it!It's useless,i hear from behind me.I turn around and i see a shape.It's just a shape,irregular and multicoloured.\n\n -What are you?I ask,scared a bit.\n\n -We are everyone that's ever lived and died.And you will become part of us soon,but first you have a task.\n\n -What task?Is it like those first quests in RPG's?I have to go and gather a number of things and fight monsters?\n\n -Hahaha,no!You will have to choose who dies next!\n\n -Wait,what?!What do you mean \"dies next\"?Am i dead?!\n\n -Yes,you are.\n\n -Oooook,but why do i have to choose who dies? \n\n -It's a custom.\n\n -What do i get in return?\n\n -You will become part of us and be partially omnipotent and omniscient.\n \n -So you are God!?\n\n -No,silly!WE are God.Every conscience on Earth,every belief and every thought.\n \n -What if i refuse?\n \n -Well then....you will see.So what is you choice?\n \n -I refuse your offer,i said expecting a change of terms or something cool happening.\n \n -Ok,see you later.\n\nThose are the last words i heard before i saw the bright light again,blinding me.I started forgetting things,everything became a blur and.......\n\n\n -Well,another one refuses the offer and another soul is sent back on Earth in another vessel.\n -Does that mean it's still only us two?", "\"Wake up, you're important now.\" The disconnected voice started to match up with a face right in front of me as I opened my eyes. There were six other people in the room, all of them staring at me. I instantly surveyed my surroundings: I was sat up on a chair, unusual for someone that had just woke up, and in a room with vast amounts of screens lining every wall, with the potential to show any event on Earth at the will of the people in the room. After being handed a glass of water, someone finally explained what was going on.\n\n\"You've died.\" Said one of the people in the room. She was a little bit older than me, about 5'9\" with brown plaited hair that fell neatly about halfway down her back.\n\n\"What?!\" I shouted, causing the seven people around me to recoil slightly.\n\n\"What's the last thing you remember?\" She asked.\n\n\"Well I was walking along a cliff edge in gale because it's the shortest route home, and I lost my footing. Wait, why am I suprised that I'm dead?\" Upon saying this I realised that I was effectively speaking my trail of thought out loud, and realised that as a result the others around me probably thought I was crazy by now.\n\n\"Most people are. Anyway, you're here because you've been chosen as the next member of the death council. We've singled you out as someone who likes power and responsibility more than they would like to spend forever doing nothing in heaven. You want to be valued by the afterlife society rather than be catered for. Also, we've ruled that you're pretty good at making decisions too, although given the manner of your death I'm not so sure anymore. Anyway, you, along with us seven, decide who lives and who dies on Earth.\"\n\n\"Fun. Does this mean that you lot are responsible for 2016?\"\n\n\"Yeah, sorry about that. The whole team resigned en masse in December 2015 in solidarity with the people protesting that conditions in heaven have become less than perfect. As a result, we're all less experienced than you'd like to think, and have been one place vacant for 11 months. That's where you come in.\"\n\n\"Great, how do I start?\"\n\n---\n\nSIDE NOTE: I'm really not sure how I should finish this, which is why I left it here." ]	2
	[WP] You can trade a part of your soul in exchange for power, but the more you give away the less human and more disenchanted with humanity you become	[ "I wanted to help my people, in the beginning. They were suffering, ignored, and there was no hope in sight. I have always had an interest in the occult, fascinated by the mystics of the Orient and the voodoo of Africa. It occurred to me that I had the solution. \n\nI feared he would make me give up years of my life, but he merely asked for a portion of my soul. Just a small piece, I would hardly notice.\n\nAfter that, my voice rang out louder than any other. But it wasn't enough. I needed to have control. \n\nIt became clear to me that the blame for my nation's troubles was due to the vermin that has poisoned my once-proud country. They were tainted, dangerous, and evil, and the people agreed. \n\nPutting them away wasn't enough, although it was a start. But they were still there. Worse, other, weaker nations had not yet realized the truth. It was my responsibility to save their nations, and bring them into the fold.\n\nExtermination was key. These were a failed race, one bemoaned and reviled by all they had come in contact with. Again, the people cheered.\n\nThese people, where would they be with out me? Nowhere. A strong nation needs a stronger hand. But we would always be weak, until every last one of them was wiped from the earth.\n\nWhen it was over, and I put the gun to my head, my only regret was I didn't finish the job.\n\n-------------------------------\nI'm Jewish, please don't hate me! I guess you could say I'm inspired by recent events. But seriously, don't hate me. ", "I flicked the blood off my sword, as the man’s body fell to the ground. A while back, I would’ve been disgusted at the sight, and myself. Now I felt nothing. Perhaps irritation that some of the blood landed on my cloak, but not much else.\n\n\nOnce I made sure there were no witnesses in the alley, I looked down at the body, where a single crimson gash lay on the corpse’s chest. One would think, that as a man lost his humanity, they would perform twisted, crueler methods of killing a person. It was in fact the opposite: I took no pleasure in killing either. It was better to murder someone quickly and efficiently, rather than waste precious time on someone so irrelevant to myself.\n\n\nWith a sigh, I began to walk away from the scene. I may have lost empathy, but I also lost the natural bloodlust of mankind. All in all, I became a perfect assassin. No morals, no questions, no objections. Just a fast kill, and expectation of pay, to make end’s meet.\n\n\nThere was no level of interest in my job. I just needed an easy way to make money to sustain myself, and this was the best one fitted to my abilities. Everyone makes enemies. Most people just don’t have the guts to take care of it themselves.\n\n\nOf course, this wasn’t the path I chose originally. At first, I wanted to use this power for good. I wanted to help people, bring justice to the world, no matter the cost.\n\n\nI looked down at the sword in my hand, dark as night. A chain was attached to its pommel, connected to a black band of metal around my wrist. The metal links glowed faintly, blood red. This was the cause of the change in me, gradually twisting my mind to the way it was now.\n\n\nI was warned that it was cursed. It granted the user great power, but at the price of a small piece of your soul, each time you asked for strength. Being the naive, idealistic man I was then, I took the blade without hesitation.\n\n\nThe pros seemed to outweigh the cons, you see. With such amazing power, I thought I could change the world. The kingdom was rotten to the core, and I foolishly thought I could bring the terror to an end, with this one sword. I told myself that it was for the greater good; even if I lost small parts of my soul, at least it was for a cause I could be proud of. I was willing to lay down my life for saving this kingdom. I almost enjoyed the thought of dying a martyr. It was poetic, in a sense.\n\n\nIt started out well at first. I fought villains, saved towns and small cities. I could feel the sword sap me of my life force, but it didn’t seem to hurt. Just a small cold tug in my chest, then it was gone. Nonetheless, I called for its power sparingly, using the best of the abilities I already asked for. It worked out for a while, until I started to go on more ambitious quests.\n\n\nThe enemies became stronger, as I started to get involved with the bigger conflicts. I had to ask from the sword more and more, just to keep up with my foes. I was obviously not prepared for this, but I persevered anyway. At some point I stopped thinking; if a problem arose, I called upon the sword. I would save the people, no matter how much I had to sacrifice.\n\n\nI figured I had spent more than half of my soul when the questions appeared in my head. Why do I even bother? Why do I care so much for these people? The kingdom had gone to hell years ago, what was one man supposed to do to fix that?\n\n\nThe thrill in my heart disappeared when I slayed my enemies. The flush of pride when people thanked me was gone. It became a chore, whenever people approached me looking for help. I had half the mind to kill them too for pestering me, and stopped myself only because I did not want to have to deal with the backlash it would bring. It was irritating. Boring.\n\n\nI realized that these people were all selfish, looking after their own hides, and taking young heroes like me for granted. I became so… disappointed in humanity. Why did I put so much effort into protecting these scum? They were no better than the villains I had to kill. I stopped looking for differences in them, finding reasons to save them. Humans. I did not care for them any longer.\n\n\nI stepped out of the alleyway, unconcerned about being seen now. I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly, closing my eyes. The chain glowed brightly, and I felt the ice cold tug in my heart. That too, had also dulled.\n\n\nI opened my eyes once more, taking a step forward. As soon as I did so, I vanished into the shadows, invisible to all. It was the dead of night, but you never knew who else could be lurking around. I wasn’t in the mood to add unnecessary bodies to the pile. In the meantime, I was content to chide myself for not asking for this ability sooner, as I walked down the stone street.\n\n\nI decided to continue my life here, despite everything. If humans were so willing to grab each other by the throat, then I’d just play along. It wouldn’t be any different elsewhere, anyway. Humanity was the real darkness, and I had no will to fix any of it now. I could just count myself glad I was no longer one of them at this point.\n\n\nI gazed at my sword again, only a faint silhouette like my body, due to the invisibility spell. I wondered what would happen when it devoured the remains of my soul. Would I die then? I also thought about how much power I could have before I reached my limit. Perhaps I’d take the whole kingdom down with me, before I was called down to the underworld.\n\n\nI chuckled. That is, if there was a single shred of a soul left for Death to collect.\n\n\n***\n\n\nWell, that’s my first written post here in this subreddit! Hope you like it.\n" ]	2
	[WP] You, the king's torturer, are faced with your greatest foe, someone who can't feel pain.	[ "I shouldn’t complain. I live in an inner city apartment, with access to fresh water, and my wife and I have never been short on money. It’s easy to get stuck in this mindset that the grass is greener, but no matter how many times she tells me to be grateful, I almost wonder I’d trade in my annual leave simply for a chance to toil in the fields. It seems like such an idyllic lifestyle, ya know? I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily smarter than my fellow employees, but just seeing how content they are to spend the day ah, heeding to the King’s ablutions (especially after Mexican Tuesdays), makes me wonder how much they’ve even considered an existence outside the castle. \n\nPerhaps it’s simply because I have so much time to myself, without anyone for company. Not to have a go at the human race, but you’d think they’d have the decency to last longer than a couple of minutes on the racks so I could at least gain some conversation. We barely get past their first name before they start screeching and screaming - and after that I can barely get a word in. \n\nIt’s alright for the jester - his job is so engaging. I’ve seen him up there, dancing, laughing, singing, while the crowd about him is clapping him along, roaring with laughter. Me? None of that. I make one small joke about this next method being ‘wheely painful’, but I got absolutely nothing, not a chuckle, not even a smirk. I thought he would at least see the funny side to his limbs were being contorted and broken. Guess he had other things on his mind. \n\nBut it gets so lonely here. There are 58,436 stone bricks in the basement (oh yes, I’ve counted), each one carefully crafted by one of the merchants in the city. On some of them, you can see where he’s given it a special touch - a small signature, a thumbprint - it’s nice to have some humanity down here! Sadly, the place is falling into disrepair. There’s only so many times I can scrub the harsh stone floor to get rid of various bodily expulsions, though I gotta say, recent developments down at the apothecary have made it a lot more pleasant! You don’t realise how long the smell of faeces sticks around until you’ve discovered the power of pine essence. \n\nAnd you’d think, that with so many various devices down here that I could keep myself entertained purely by choice! But sadly, no. I have stretched 2755 men in my time (makes a right mess, but it’s effective), I’ve roasted 87 in the bull (only for special occasions, according to royal decree - the boss ain’t a fan of the smell), and I’ve sent countless into the Iron Maiden (but they simply won’t stand still long enough to get a word out. Perhaps need to have a word to someone about this, actually). I just tell ya, it’s always the same. They simply don’t seem to understand that I just want a chat, and screaming ‘get me out of here’ is frankly selfish. Do they ever ask about my day? No. Just endlessly thinking only about themselves. \nSigh. But yes, I shouldn’t complain. I think I can smell breakfast being served downstairs - must dash, before the missus wakes up and tells me off for getting blood all over my apron again. \n\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n\nWell today was just glorious. I can’t believe it was only this morning that I was thinking about applying for a transfer, perhaps continuing on the trade in the suburbs (at least I’d see some sunlight!). I had the most wonderful victim come through the doors, a chap by the name of Archie (He introduced himself as Archibald, but as the day went on I couldn’t help but give him a nickname!) Anyway, so Archie was came to the city for the weekend, but made a slight misstep in his calculations, thinking that today was the date set for the King’s daughter’s wedding, and thus the perfect time to attempt to enter the royal treasury. I told him, I said “Archie, ya fool, it’s Saturday week,” and we discussed how confusing the different ways to differentiating weeks are. \n\n“I see,” he said, “so ‘Saturday coming’ would be the week after next?” \n\n“Yeah, it’s tricky - I can see where you’ve gotten mixed up.”\n \nWe had a bit of a laugh, and I popped him on the racks, tying his hands and legs and preparing the wheel. \n\n“So what do you usually do?,” I inquired, as he casually allowed me to tighten the straps. \n\n“Bit of this, bit of that,” he answered, “Usually just try and get some odd jobs done around the city, but make most of my cash doing some big robberies. Did’ja hear about the that ‘missing’ (he attempted to indicate inverted commas but his bound hands failed to get the effect across) painting?” \n\n“I did, yeah!,” I responded, “Was that you?!” \n\n“Sure was. Locked safely away in my safe - probably keep it there for a few years or so to try and get a bit of money back from it - reckon she’ll be worth a bit more after she’s been missing for so long!” \n\n“Hah, I think you may be right! So you got a family, kids at all?” I began to turn the wheel, and doing so Archie’s limbs began to pull taut. Huh, I wondered. He hasn’t made any kind of screech yet… \n\n“Yeah, couple of little ones back home with me Ma. Me missus got struck down by the plague a few years back, so I sent the kids off to keep them safe. Needed some cash to try and get our lives back on track, and here we are!” \n\n“Wow, crazy! You guys are lucky to be alive - that plague was all over the papers.” \n“Yeah yer not wrong. But that’s enough about me - what about you? How long ya been in the torturing business?” \n\nI blushed, but under the mask thankfully Archie couldn’t see. I couldn’t believe he was asking about me! They never care. I continued turning the wheel, simply overjoyed that I’d taken on the extra shifts. \n\n“Gosh, about 20 odd years? It’s tough work, but I gotta say mate, it’s an absolute pleasure having you here.” \n\n“Right back atcha, mate! I’ve been around enough torturers in my time - it’s nice to finally meet someone with a bit of heart in ‘em. Keep on turnin’, mate - I can’t feel a thing, so you don’t have to worry.” \n\n“Woah, you can’t feel this? Geez, most of ‘em die of shock by this point. How about this?” \n\nI cranked the wheel around once, twice, three times, and I could hear his bones jumping of his sockets, the flesh beginning to tear apart. \n\n“Nothin’. I’m tellin’ ya, the only pain I’ve felt was when I lost me missus - you’ll have a tough time beating that with any of the stuff around here.” \n\nI let out a sigh of relief. I couldn’t hurt him! I could spend the rest of my days here, chatting away to someone - I mean what would be wrong with having him here forever - perhaps I could show him the ropes! \n\n“Alright, I have an idea,” I said. I started unstrapping him from the racks, and slowly his limbs began to meld back together with his body. He picked himself up, and I led him over to the back wall, where I had a set of cuffs attached high upon the wall. “Why don’t you stay here with me? We get some good food here, and Friday’s are ‘crazy shirt’ day.” \n\n“Oh mate, I’d love to but it’s a no can do. I have to get back to my family, ya see?”\n \n“Oh,” I responded, hoping he wouldn’t hear the sadness in my voice. “You mean, you have to go… right now?” \n\n“Sorry mate, ‘fraid so.” \n\nOh yeah, I mean sure thing. Um, here’s the back entrance. You can get back to the grounds through there. Just um, keep your eyes peeled for the guards, I guess. It’s been great having you here.”\n\n“Cheers, it’s been great to be here! Sorry I can’t stay. Hey, keep in touch? I’ll probably be back here soon enough!” He chuckled, and crawled through the gap in the stone that I’d indicated, leading him back into the outside world. \n\nIt’s been a funny ol’ day. I’ve finally felt a sense of job fulfilment, and it was ripped away from me. I mean, I can’t blame Archie, but as much as I am glad he arrived in the chamber, I almost wish he’d never come at all. \n\nPerhaps in another life, I’ll be a diplomatic officer, perhaps even a scout, roaming the neighbouring villages and meeting new people. But it’s not this one. \n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Your microwave has always beeped irregularly, one day you decide to try to translate it into morse.	[ "John looked at the microwave. \n\n'It's either me or you, buddy, and it's definitely not going to be me you absolute metal piece of shit.'\n\nBut he had paused. The beeping had sounded random at first, as he'd put food in the microwave and it had come out hot, just like normal. \n\nThen, the beeping had developed a sort of rhythm to it, a sort of rhythm, the sort of pattern who'd really had to have being paying attention to the microwave at moments when you shouldn't be to actually notice. \n\nUnfortunately John was one of those kinds of people. He was the kind of write into a magazine to get them to correct a grammar mistake, the kind who typified a generation of lost souls drifting into the internet for a lack of anything better to do, their brains ready and able, but the demand just not there. \n\nGoogling the microwave's condition, he stumbled across a communist era manifesto on the dangers of western consumerism and a hint that the microwave had been constructed in a satellite communist state during the rule of the USSR. \n\nHe had gasped, and choked on the mint he was sucking. \n\nOh God not again. \n\nHe dashed downstairs but it was too late; the Soviet robot monster had changed into a towering gangling mass of wires and was still beeping wildly. \n\nJohn's eyes glinted. \n\nAn eagle sounded somewhere and John ripped off his shirt. \n\nWhere America calls, you answer. \n\nHe flew into the tangle of wires and spent years learning morse code in the belly of the beast, the strangling wires trying to tame the American pride that kept his heart beating, but it could not. \n\nClimbing the wraithing limbs, he spat oil on the Russian metal, and ripped the head from the oily giant. \n\n'Not today, not ever.' he whispered.\n\nThe Robot beeped back, \n\n'FUCKING FROSTED FLAKES'\n\nRoger looked down into the dying light of the robots eyes and whispered, \n\n'America' \n\nHe looked around. \n\n'Mom?'\n\n", "\"Look, Marty- I can't deal with this stupid thing anymore! It doesn't shut up! I haven't slept more than a few hours in like three days-\"\n\n\"Arthur. It's three in the goddamn morning. Shut up, and don't call me this late again. I'm sick of your microwave bullshit.\"\n\nArthur Larke huffed frustratedly as the man he'd called his best friend for almost 15 years hung up on him. Really, he'd thought that his best pal would show some more compassion; ever since he'd bought that awful second-hand microwave (he and his crew hadn't gotten a good job for months and he wanted to save for bigger things), things had slowly but surely gotten out of hand. The old lady had even posted to her Craigslist ad that it was cursed, but like an idiot, the young, geeky 'punk' had somehow forgotten one of the oldest tropes and clichés in the book: If someone tells you that the thing you want is cursed/haunted/evil, it probably is, and should just be straight up burned.\n\nBut with this lapse in judgement and the aquisition of a seemingly almost-new microwave oven, a certain progression of events had begun.\n\nFirst came the occasional grinding noises late at night. They never amounted to much, and Arthur only really heard them when he had to stay up to work on a project for a rapidly approaching deadline. Not a big deal, and since the microwave still seemed to work fine despite the sounds, he never even felt the need to take it in to have it repaired, or whatever.\n\nNext, it would turn on for exactly five seconds every day at 6:31 PM, then turn off again, if not already in use. He discovered this over the course of a few weeks, several months after her purchased it- it even accounted for Daylight Savings Time, apparently. Again, weird, but not anything to worry about right? It just turned on for a few seconds. Arthur had owned and lived with phones that did weirder and more impactful stuff. Eventually he learned to tune it out, if he'd even gotten home by then.\n\nLastly came the beeping. It started out like the grinding, as only a few scattered incidents that hardly phased him. From there the sounds grew louder, and more frequent- soon it started bugging him during the day, as well. Eventually, it had reached its present level of annoyance, in the form of a 24/7 rhythmic series of beeps that seemed loud enough for the entire block to hear, coming from his kitchen. Unplugging the damn thing hadn't even done anything, as it apparently could assault his senses without a power source.\n\nAnd thus his torment had begun, most likely thanks to his own laziness, to some degree.\n\nArthur shuffled groggily into the kitchen after turning the screen of his phone off and tossing it on his bed. After 5 hours of desperately attempting to get some much needed rest, he had finally given up for the night, and with sleeping out of the question, he needed some coffee. Maybe mixed with a Monster.\n\nAs he approached the domain of the metal hellspawn, its cries seemed to grow louder still- particularly as he flicked on the lights and began to boil the water for his instant coffee on the stove, as opposed to his other, more infuriating option.\n\nHe knew by that point that he'd never be able to watch television with the microwave's electronic chatter in the background, so he pulled out his laptop instead as he slid onto the couch with his mug o' joe, and decided to check some of his social media pages. However, even such a simple task proved too much for him to bear under the oppressive aural onslaught. It did give him an idea, though, as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the noise itself, as well as how much he hated it.\n\nHardly even thinking, he googled 'morse code sound to text translator'. The first two results he tried gave him only the opposite, but the third website seemed promising: \"Upload a sound file of the Morse code you want to translate, and our free program will provide a transcription, in both symbols and letters\", the instructions claimed. What did he have to lose?\n\nPulling up the default audio recording software, Arthur pressed RECORD and let it have about 45 seconds of audio- enough for at least one loop, he guesstimated. Saving it, he checked the website yet again to make sure they accepted .WAV files. Nope. Had to convert it. This he accomplished in approximately 72 seconds with another Google search, and an online audio converter that allowed him to download a copy of the original audio as an .MP3 file and finally upload it to the damn website.\n\nWith a final shout of \"I FUCKING HATE YOU\", Arthur hit the big green UPLOAD button.", "Robert always wondered about that old thing. It wasn't his, it was his grandmothers. She died broke, all she had to pass down to Rob was this old microwave. He reckoned that old thing must've come across the Atlantic on the fucking Mayflower, with how bulky it is, its permanent yellow stains, how uneven it cooked food, and most of all, the beeps it makes. \n\nThe beeps were really something, but he never really took note of it until he started taking morse class. It was an elective, and he had nothing better to take, so he figured fuck it, why not? It didn't take him long to realize that shitty microwave that sits in his dorm was beeping in morse. \n\nHe sort of chucked to himself when he realized. It must've been a little fun thing the creator of the microwave put in for people who knew morse to appreciate. An Easter Egg, almost. It was very basic code, took seconds. But what it was saying, what it was saying was truly baffling. \n\nThe morse very roughly translated to \"I'm gonna need about tree fiddy\". That's when Robert realized that all along, the microwave was actually about 500 feet tall and from the Paleolithic Era. That god damn Loch Ness monster got him again! He told the monster, he ain't gonna give him no tree fiddy! " ]	3
	[WP] To curb overpopulation, all humans are given a 'child card' at birth. They may exchange the card for the right to have a child, or trade it to those who want multiple children.	[ "What has this world become? I can count myself amongst the few who can still remember a time where things were better. Things were different. Then, things changed. Overpopulation went from a future problem to a current problem.\n\nThey forced me to choose.\n\nAmong the first were the eastern countries, China, India, but soon the rest followed. I feared the day that came. I had heard the stories.\n\nThey forced me to choose.\n\nIf you ask a parent which child they love most, they will say they love all their children equally. They do not favor either child.\n\nI hope I made the right choice, my son. I hope you will forgive me.", "\"Remember honey, once you give it away its gone forever.\" The familiar sing-song tone of Jalena's mother bounced around in her head. She'd always wondered if it had been the right choice to give away her child card. At the very least she had been smart about it. She got the house on the beach she'd always dreamed of owning and the promise of job security. And it wasn't entirely true that once she gave it away it was never attainable again. \n\nThe way a child card works is as long as one partner has one you're allowed a child, if both partners have one and they only want a single child the other can be pawned, used to boost attributes in a child, donated, used for another one etcetera, etcetera. You get the jist, it's a form of currency basically. It was initially used to curb overpopulation, it succeeded to an extent. A lot of poor people traded in the chance at a child for a better quality of life. Rich pricks caught wind however and decided they'd start buying out these poor people for their child card and turning it at an egregious profit. Only other rich pricks could afford the prices they set and the people they bought out were left with slightly better lifestyles and a whole lot of regret. Before the government could even step in, the child card industry was born.\n\nJalena found herself to be one of the very people she considered 'suckers.' She envied those now with child card's, kicking herself everyday for giving her's away. She of course could go find a man it was the most logical solution. But they didn't share the same instincts and far more often then not, men would give their cards away at an early age in the hopes of buying a monster truck or some other trivial byproduct of a testosterone fuelled decision. It kept the industry turning that's for sure and any male around marrying age still left with a child card were scooped up very quickly. \n\nJalena knew of a few men in her town that still owned a child card. They were real white knights, complete basement dwellers, not at all her type. Mulling the idea over for a bit more than she would have liked she decided against it. Jalena pulled on her leather jacket and decided she'd head down to the bar. Maybe, just maybe it'd be her lucky day. \n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nHope you liked this :D I wanna write more but I have to think about it first... if that makes sense. I also have a subreddit with other stories if you like! /r/TheYogiBearha", "There was peace.\n\nThe Empire of Mankind and the Galactic Federation has signed a peace, but at what cost?\n\nEach man, and woman, could only have one child. Each child would be issued a 'child-card' at birth, in order to curb the population.\n\nThose fools back on earth was prompted to do it. Such a silly idea, to be honest, curbing human population by exchanging child cards.\n\nI'm pretty sure that all of it was an alien ploy. Curbing humanity's population because we outnumber them, what, at least a million to one?\n\nAs if most of the aliens in the Federation are not already as tall as our apartments.\n\nBesides, how did the Empire accept such a thing? We were winning, with no human losses!\n\nAbsolutely none at all!\n\nWe were just bombing their cities, left and right, taking buildings one nuclear-armed drone at a time.\n\nOf course, they probably knew they could not control Earth by themselves. They were far too big to live on our strong gravity, after all.\n\nNow, where was I?\n\nBack on Earth, the announcer has announced that humans can trade their child-cards to other humans, if they wished to.\n\nCan the Empire be any more incompetent than it already is, not even understanding the basics of evolutionary goals?\n\nDo they not understand that it will only lead to murders, as humanity realised that they could create one more life with their DNA, if they just murdered the poor tramp in the street?\n\nWell, what was I to expect from a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing, beings, effectively being disobedient, fleshy bots, both in usefulness and in potential usefulness, and their borderline retarded, inebriated, author-controlled government?\n\nWhat a stupid idea.\n\nThank goodness I have no need for other humans, though.\n\nTime to get rid of the Federation's capital." ]	3
	[WP] Mankind creates a machine that solves our air pollution issues. Problem is, it works too well, as evidenced by Earth's plant life dying from the lack of carbon dioxide in the air.	[ " The vibrations of the machine churning were something the world became accustomed too. One day, It stopped working. Plant life began decaying or dying all around the world, not given enough time to adapt to a planet without their vital food source. Our air was pure, so pure that carbon dioxide was no longer present. We'd undone ourselves, the machine could only clean air not reproduce it.\n\n We tried our best to plant trees but they would die before we could do anything about it. We tried burning every carbon fuel we could think of, the machine was too efficient. Even after the machine was destroyed out of sheer frustration our atmosphere was too poisonous to plant life and too dangerous for humans to live under. The atmosphere now 97% oxygen, forced humanity deep under ground for millennia they created massive underground biospheres to survive.\n\n The earth healed, it took a long time but I'm a part of the first group of humans to return to the surface in over 8000 years. Earth is not the same as we left it. \n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------- \n\nWas mega super rushed writing this I hope you liked it! :D I have a subreddit with other stories also if you like /r/TheYogiBearha\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are transported to a gladiator arena, but instead of swords, you must fight through the ranks with mundane objects.	[ "One more fight. Just one more fight and I would be finally able to retire.... At least, that's what they told me. You never really know with these things though. All I have is their word and if they say one more fight, well then, I guess I have one more fight. \n\nThe battles have been getting more and more intense in the last few years. At first, the arena at least provided items that could be reasonably made into weapons. Metal hangers, for example, I used to defeat my opponent in my very first fight. Even with adrenaline pumping me up, I was able to twist one into an archaic sword and win. Over time though the objected provided us became more obscure: plastic chairs, shoes, a plastic mirror, the list just goes on. \n\nBefore being brought here, I didn't know you could kill someone by putting a chair through their eye; hell, I didn't know I would have three balls to do so. Before I came here, I didn't know you could kill someone by stuffing a men's dress shoe down their throat. Before, I didn't have a reason to figure out how to off someone with a mirror that couldn't break, but now I know how fortunate I was that the arena was overly sunny that day. Gods...I wish I didn't know how burnt flesh smells, but with my new reality, I do.\n\nBut what the hell was I to do with this? There, on table in front of me, lay one book. Not enough to simply throw, not nearly enough. Me and my opponent lock eyes And after a few tense seconds, we lunge. And the crowd above is goes wild.\n\nWhen all is said and done, when my enemy, whose face I refuse to remember, is finally dead, I breathe in deep. I let the sun's rays penetrate the fog of my death-weary mind, and I let the crowd's cheers wash over me. Their yells are like like anointment, cleansing my blood soaked skin of the shame that previously held me down. \n\nWhen I am released from my prison (with a handful of gold and a satchel with my meager belonging), my mind is assaulted with images from my stay. Thoughts I never would have had before I came here, swirl through my head. But this is not before. This is life after the arena. \n\nA life where I cannot sit at a cafe and drink a cup of coffee without thinking how easy it would be to break that fragile ceramic, and slit the waitress' throat. A life where I cannot look at my now grown up daughter without wondering just how many of my fights she had witnessed; how many times did she watch her own mother kill to live another day? A life where I can't even read my favorite books without trepidation; trepidation from knowing that the sharp edges could cut and cut and cut like a knife, as long as you don't get the page too soaked in blood.\n\n\"Hey, you okay ma?\" \n\nMy daughter, who's hair is now dyed blue, asks me while leaning against the door jamb. I smile shakily and nod my head, though I know the light does not quite reach my eyes. " ]	1
	[WP] Your grandmother is always knitting. But you can't figure out what it is, or where she gets all this wool.	[ "[Edit: Spelling]\n\nThere was a time, child, when the moon seemed brighter. The air was sweet and writers used fewer cliches. Our village was tightly connected - we had twenty seven words for mystical but only one for stranger and it was the \"nape\" or \"steep\" of our language then.\n\nSweet Caroline was my honey. I followed her everywhere. Everyone said I was mad to love one more than all the others but my skin warmed like November moon air. It was a fixation. Everyone understood. It was that sort of world then. My mother, the milkman, I suspect even the cows knew that I was drawn to my one honey.\n\nAnna knew it and she didn't feel like understanding. [As a child, I couldn't say Nanna. My grandmother's endearment became Anna.] She never knew anyone the way I magnify Caroline in my mind. When the moon is brighter and the entire world is just the neighbors in your village, magic plays funny clever tricks. Doctor Roberts easily explained Anna's pubic hair growth this way. \n\nWe called it moon hair. Not that we were looking at Anna's privates or anything but in the village, everyone understood. \n\nAnd child, you'd expect your great grandmother to throw it in the trash or try whatever modern remedy the chemist has for you today but in our time, knitting seemed like the right way for Anna to channel every emotion that the moon caused and she couldn't identify. Knitting for the sake of knitting." ]	1
	[WP] Every "god bless you" or similar said or typed to you is one Heaven point you earn. Likewise, any you say or type back subtracts from your Heaven points. The more points, the greater reward in Heaven. You die.	[ "\"Four.\"\n\nYou open your eyes. You're in a long white room (but it's not a room) standing in front of a man in a long white robe (but it's not a man, and it's not a robe.\"\n\n\"Four. Seriously? Four? That's...the worst I've ever seen\"\n\nYou blink slowly (but you don't blink). \"I...I'm sorry, who are you?\"\n\n\"I'm the Scorekeeper, and you, my friend, have the lowest score of all time.\"\n\nYou're confused. He notices, and sighs. Then he sneezes (but he doesn't sneeze).\n\n\"Excuse you.\" You say.\n\n\"EXCUSE YOU?\" The Scorekeeper says back. \"So judgy! No wonder!\"\n\n\"Well, excuse me, then.\" \n\n\"Unfortunately I can't. I KEEP score, and you've said God Bless You exactly four times. I...I've gotta make a call.\"\n\nSo the Scorekeeper picks up a phone (but it wasn't a phone) and dials. He quickly leans back towards and says \"are you, like, anti-God or something? An atheist? Agnostic?\"\n\n\"Not especially,\" you say \"I guess I just don't use those words...\"\n\n\"You gotta understand, even the atheists say God Bless You a bunch. It's just something people say.\"\n\n\"Look,\" you ask, seeing the sum of the situation in front of you. \"Does this really matter? Is this the way we pick who is a good person or not...\"\n\nThe Scorekeeper rolls his eyes \"uh...yeah? What do you think belief is all about? God isn't just something you feel in your heart, a void of the unknown and unknowable that you reckon with each day. He's a real God and God Bless Him but He needs attention!\"\n\nThe other end of the line picks up for the Scorekeeper picks up. \"Hello? I've got a person here with a 4.....well upstairs won't take him, and I just waned to see if....oh, no?....well I can't...where's he even gonna go?...do we even still do that?...okay, call me back.\"\n\nHe hangs up the phone.\n\n\"Well downstairs doesn't want you. Your only hope is that the resurrection team has any openings.\"\n\nYou look up at him, understanding. \"And when will I hear from them?\"\n\nThe Scorekeeper looks back at you. \"I don't know, well have to wait for them to call you back.\"\n\nSo you wait, for a long time (and it is a long time.)" ]	1
	[WP] A man bets his soul with the Devil that if he can create the biggest Dystopia ever, and survives to old age he must be granted eternal youth. The Devil takes that bet. Decades later, the Devil shows up and saying he lost, instead of Dystopia he created a Utopia.	[ "The godking walked out on the balcony. All he could see was his, and his alone.\nIt had taken most of his life, but now he reigned supreme.\n\nYou know that you lost, do you not? a voice like cinder said behind him.\n\n\"I disagree, old friend. The world lies in ruins, only those under my rule are still alive.\"\n\nThat may well be. But those that are, have hope.\n\nThe godking whirled around. \"I killed billions\", he roared, \"The survivors are nothing more than mere slaves, living in misery compared to before.\"\n\nIndeed they do\n\n\"They have no freedom, no possessions\"\n\nYes\n\n\"They have nothing to gain in life.\"\n\nYou are mistaken. When you have nothing left you have the most to gain.\n\nIn that moment, the door to the royal chamber burst open. Several people in rags, armed with nothing but the tools of a peasant stormed in.\n\n\"Your time has come, unruly despot!\"\n\nIn his last moments, before the mob overwhelmed him, he heard the voice again.\n\nAnd now, I claim what is mine" ]	1
	[WP] You are an evil overlord and a messenger has just informed you about a prophecy about a chosen one who will defeat. You decide to just give up.	[ "\"I'm sorry my lord, what?\"\n\n\"I give up. No more. There's no point any more.\"\n\n\"But my Lord!\" Montescour protested, \"Surely you could kill the chosen one in infancy or defeat him with your boundless powers!\"\n\n\"Piss and buggery Montescour. Last time someone tried to kill a chosen one in infancy, they lost most of their power, and the babe escaped with nothing more than a scratch. The last time an evil lord tried to kill a hero in battle, they got killed by a thousand year old Belgian accented Scottish man with a katana. Last time an evil lord tried to kill the chosen one with his armies, they simply walked into his realm and destroyed his favorite piece of jewelry. There is nothing left for me to do. I'm done.\"\n\n\"My lord, but you are different from all these other dark lords. You are the most powerful evil overlord in existence!\"\n\n\"And I suppose all the other ones thought that too.\"\n\n\"Well, yes but. You cannot quite just because of that! You have slaves to whip, prisoners to torture, towns to subjugate, pitiful enemies to slaughter!\"\n\n\"Oh shut up will you? I can quite just because of that, and I will. What is the point if I'm just going to die by the hands of some teenager that somehow seems to never die? There is no point. So, I'm just going to retire, and live in a nice cottage for the rest of my life.\"\n\n\"My most evil lord, I must protest, you cannot abandon all of this! Who will read your evil tomes? Who will burn villages to the ground? Who will order me around? Who? WHO?\"\n\n\"Don't worry, I'm sure the sequal will provide you with another man to play lackey to.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry my lord, sequel?\"\n\n\"Oh right! You don't know. Never mind then. Anyways, get out of my sight.\"\n\n\"Yes my Lord!\" with an enthusiastic salute, Montescour sprinted out of the room, leaving his master alone.\n\n\"This is why I should have never been an overlord in a young adult fantasy story. Mother always told me, 'If you're evil in a young adult fantasy story, the author will always kill you off. Get a job as an overlord in one of those Ice and Fire books. The bad guys always live in those' but no, I became evil in a young adult fantasy story, and this is what I get. God I hate you Tolkien.\"", "\"YOU IMPUDENT WRETCH\" I screamed as I cast a fireball and left the peasant an ashy spot on the floor. One of my slaves instinctively came to mop up the spot.\n\n\nI leaned back on my golden throne, slightly shrugged out of my heavy black cloak slightly as it was a little hot, and put my scepter down. A messenger stepped in, in front of where the peasant had been standing, on the trap door.\n\n\nYou see I had initially used the trap door when people pissed me off, so they started standing behind it. So then I started to just incinerate them. It was a shame because I actually preferred the trap door, but only got to use it when A. Someone said something that displeased me and B. Someone else had just been incinerated. This happened less often than you'd think.\n\n\n \"Your Majesty... There is a famine looming, the church is speaking against you openly, and there is rebellion in the northern territories.\"\n\n\n\"This is nothing new peon, now remove yourself from my presence or I shall feed the Kirithars downstairs.\"\n\n\n\"That is not all your Majesty. The...The... The.\" He began to stutter with a look of pure terror on his face.\n\n\n\"OUT WITH IT!\"\n\n\n\"Word is that the Witch of Kirl has spoken her last prophecy.\"\n\n\nThe Witch of Kirl had actually told me how to gain power, all those years ago. Anything she had to say should never be ignored. \"What does the prophecy say?\"\n\n\n\"There are conflicting rumors...\"\n\n\n\"You would not have come to me if you did not believe i should know what the prophecy said. Now speak.\"\n\n\n\"The Prophecy speaks of child of light. One with the blood of the First King. A child, born this year, who will destroy you.\" Just as he said this he jumped off of the trap door.\n\n\nI was about to hit the button to open the trap door but then stopped. I just sat there with my mouth open for a moment looking around. My guards and the Chancellor were all just starring at me.\n\n\nI stood up, threw the coat off, dropped my scepter, and pulled my crown off. I dropped it on the floor and started to walk out of the throne room.\n\n\n\"Your Grace? Where are you going?\" The chancellor said.\n\n\n\"I'm retiring.\"\n\n\n\"Can he do that?\" I heard one of them whisper before turning back to me. \"Wait, sir! Who's in charge?\"\n\n\n\"That's your problem now.\" I said as I walked out of the throne room.", "‘And your absolutely sure about this prophecy? I mean its not like the last one where you said the prophecy of the growing red tree was actually a growing rebellion when it actually meant That House Haron with the red tree as a coat of arms would have many children this year. Or when you interpreted the prophecy of the eagle dying by a snake in the courtyard that somebody was going to poison me and then it turned out it was a symbol of the rebellion of house Kalavar. You know the one with a coat of arms of an eagle, and how I sent the serpents to him and had him poisoned to stop a rebellion that would have cost many lives. No. I don’t want to listen to what you think you saw. Just tell me your actually saw and let me be the judge of it. But be fast I have.. ‘ I looked at the papers on the desk in front of me. This was not what I took over such large Kingdome. ‘ meetings.. ‘ \nMy seer looked at me. ‘ but this is true and real. And its no interpretation. Look’ He held out a orb and from it a light shun up revealing an old man in a hod. ‘Oh great.. him.. so what does the grand seer see?’\nThe figure start to speak “ From the west sand the north they will come, the brother of the lion, he will come to take the throne of the old lion, casting him down and kill his seed. The new king’s rule will be one of justice and fairness. It will be a new golden age for the realm. “\n\n I looked at my seer and sight. ‘My brother will be Just and fair? You just said he would kill my children. How the hell is that just and fair? You know fuck it.. if he want it he can just take it. Marcus! ‘ My scribe ran over to my side. ‘Send a letter to my brother that apparently he is destined to take over the throne so he has to return from the border to take over. I’m going to take a small pension and leave with my family. I will leave the crown and the whole shit in the crypt of Petty.’ \nThe scripted looked confused. ‘Crypt of Petty?’ \n‘ He will know where it is, and I’m not planning to be here when he arrives just in case he will try to for fill all parts of that prophecy. I’m hope he is still an atheist. So he might just fire you guys. ‘ I look at the seer as the man suddenly realize what is going to happen. He lets out a but but I have already left the room.\n", "Concede, a word that was not part of my vocabulary. Yet, today for some odd reason it seemed to be the only available option.\n \n I was the ruler of kingdom of many. Few would seek to challenge me. Those who did were faced with the mighty arm that was my party. People under the fists of my oppression, squirmed and shook for freedom. Perpetrators trying to topple my kingdom, would find themselves rotting at the bottom of a gutter. Documents indicating me of illicit activities would disappear without a trace. And prophets who came bearing grave news would scram back to the gullies from which they came. My belows were heard all around the kingdom and could not be ignored. \n \n \n During the time in which my kingdom prospered, a plethora of messengers would arrive at my doorstep. Each of which delivering a prophecy, in which one man or another was meant to kill me. Nonetheless, I stood dutiful to the throne. It was for this reason that I took to shock when I heard of the prophecy. Armies led beneath a man, were powering across the great lands. His soldier’s crossing across the great arid deserts-orange with perspiration. The sun was smacking the side of their face. The messenger eyes held a look of despair. \n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------\n“ The Planes of the Orange Blossom, They have been taken my Lord,” the messenger gasped, \n“Enemies are climbing up the land of the Orange Flickers.”\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------\nMy lips trembled at the sound of his words. The Planes of the Orange Blossom had always been protected by an impenetrable fortress. Immediately I dismissed the messenger, only to call upon the presence of that who was my general. “Mook, please accompany me, We have much to discuss.” I waved my hand in nonchalance. \n\n\nI had asked Mook to station 250,000 troops, 30,000 horses, 100 cannons and 70 catapults across the border of the land of Irises. Surely this would be enough to fight the diaspora of troops moving across the plains. \n\n\nI was wrong.\n\nDays later the messenger again made by my doorstep. His voice was now dyspneic. He alerted me that the land of Irises as well had been taken from my power. My face blue of anger. In swift motion, I’d call upon Mook again. This time to place even more troops on the borders. I ordered an increase in troops from 250,000 to 500,000, the horses from 30,000 to 60,000, the cannons from 100 to 200 and the catapults from 70 to 140. I wanted double of everything. \n\n\nDay after Day the messenger would arrive. His eyes becoming more somber. He’d tell me of how each land was taken by the armies of that man. \n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------\nIn the first week, the orange men took The Nests of the Apple Blossoms\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------\nOn the second week, they took The Grasses of the White Tail Deer.\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------\nOn the third week, The Plains of the Tulip Poplar.\n\nEach day had become more and more hopeless. Land taken over after land-Until of course he had reached the sides of my biggest fortress. My frown turned into a mischievous smile. My army could make a significant push back. “Mook place 2,844,705 men on the Haven of the Eastern Hemlocks.” This would be a sizeable army. It would go well with the already sanctioned 200,000 horses, 800 cannons and 500 catapults. “Only a stupid man would attack the Haven,” I snuck in a little chuckle. \n\n\n I woke up the next morning expecting nothing but the best. I took a warm bath, watched a maid tidy my shoes, and lept into my chair for a delicious omelet breakfast. I was patiently waiting for the messenger to arrive. \n \n Hours later, did the messenger finally arrive to my room. What had been thought was going to bear a pleasant fruit ended up bringing me a poisonous apple. The messenger sniveled , “We did everything that could be done mam. The Haven of the Eastern Hemlocks has been taken.” My eyes wept of great sorrow. “Mook,” I fell to the floor, “Raise the white flags. I concede.” “Maybe next time you can build a wall,” Mook replied. Men of unfashionable hair and orange faces surrounded the building. \n\n", "Gerard knocked on the door to my chambers. I knew it was him because of the smell of cheap cologne which he thought made him fancy wafting through the entrance. I liked Gerard, he was a good evil butler. He had been with me since I was but a hopeful warlord in the Chander Provinces. Of course, I now controlled half the known world under my iron fist. He walked in with a silver tray. On it was a rolled up scroll, with a crimson seal on it. As he neared me, I could just start to make out the insignia: an owl with hourglasses for eyes.\n\n\"Ah, I see I have a letter from the Prophet Mellokar.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir. It just arrived by his personal owl. It told me that this was of the utmost importance.\"\n\nI picked the scroll up off of the tray and broke the seal. The puff of red dust told me that I was the first to do so. In the middle of the scroll was what could only be a prophecy. It was five lines written in the unmistakable scrawl of a man possessed by the spirit of the future. Above it, a note in Mellokar's usual studious handwriting, and below, his signature. The note read: My master and overlord Elrazar the Merciless, please take this prophecy of utmost to heart - your life depends on it.\n\nIntrigued, I continued reading. I reached the end of the prophecy, blinked, and looked back at it. \n\"No,\" I whispered to myself. \nI let my eyes wander over the words once more.\n\n\"Your doom will come on a silver tray, \nYour fate is sealed within the day. \nThe empire you have built is lost, \nA chosen one melts you like frost. \nYou have left one only chance, \nRelinquish power before his advance.\"\n\nGerard, in his insolence, had gone and read it over my shoulder. \"Sir, you cannot believe this drivel! You are the most powerful mad in the world, surely you can fight off anyone. Besides, you could never give power to one of your generals. It would start a civil war!\"\n\nThe man had a point I could not give power to any one of my generals. But if Mellokar said something would happen, that was a guarantee. I must give up, there was no point in fighting the inevitable. Perhaps I could save myself.\n\n\"Gerard, I nominate you as my successor,\" I proclaimed, handing the man my signet ring. \"Save my empire from this enemy, and it will treat you well.\"\n\nHe looked at me, and cocked his head. \"I would have preferred something a bit more spectacular for my ascension, but this will do. Goodbye, my liege.\" I felt the cold steel pierce my back. The prophecy had come true, as it said it would, within the day.", "\"Okay.\"\n\n\"Okay?\"\n\n\"Okay.\"\n\n---\n\nThere had been a prophecy, once. \n\nA young, dashing, just-a-tad-too-arrogant hero would bring peace to the land. He would slay an evil tyrant, avenge his family, and be recorded in history.\n\nArnold was not that hero.\n\nArnold was a peasant boy, born to a mildly successful cattle farmer and a homely milkmaid. His voice was nasally rather than heroic, his nose a tad longer than would be considered dashing, and his frame too skinny to make the barmaids swoon. He didn't have a radiant smile - his front teeth were too crooked for that. He didn't have a natural charisma - he stuttered and stammered and suffered no small amount of social anxiety.\n\nWhat he did have, however, was a loving and stable family. At the end of the day, there would always be food on the table. There was always a roof (even if it leaked a bit in the winter, mind you) over his head. And there was always someone to fuss over him and save copper pieces all year to buy him something he really didn't need, because all of the other children in the village had one.\n\n---\n\nHis sister's birth was cause for celebration. The tiny cottage had been covered with streamers, and a delicately frosted cake (courtesy of the pudgy baker's widow next door) sat waiting on the kitchen table. Arnold had even managed to pluck his mother's favorite fresh wildflowers, despite his mild pollen allergy.\n\nThey remained there, still wilting, two weeks after blood loss had ripped a hole in his life.\n\n---\n\nEmptiness filled the cottage, these days. Arnold's father stomped through the door each day without a word, filled a bowl with cold stew, and locked himself in his bedroom, candlelight flickering from under the door into the early hours of the morning.\n\nArnold had never felt so alone.\n\n---\n\nA blood-curdling scream ripped through the night. \n\nArnold woke with a start, as yet another scream followed the sound of breaking glass.\n\nIt was the baker's widow. \n\nHe leapt out of bed, snatched the hatchet from the woodpile, and sprinted down the street.\n\nSomeone - or something had crawled its way through the window. A dark, viscous liquid clung to the broken shards. \n\n\"Mrs. Partridge?\"\n\nAnother, final scream tore through the night, and there was silence.\n\nSummoning his courage, Arnold leapt through the window, and brought the axe down.\n\nOnce. \n\nTwice.\n\nThree times.\n\nSomewhere past the tenth swing, he realized it was no longer moving.\n\n\"Arnold! ARNOLD!\" Rapid footsteps pattered down the street, then stopped in their tracks. His father stared, horrified, at the decayed monster that'd torn out Mrs. Partridge's throat.\n\n\"You killed her.\"\n\n\"No, I-\"\n\n\"You killed her!\"\n\n\"That's a-\"\n\n\"YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED YOUR MOTHER!\" And in the blink of an eye, hands were at his throat. He squirmed, struggled -the world was going dark. Desperately, he reached for the hatchet and swung blindly.\n\nAnd he became a true orphan.\n\n---\n\nHe couldn't think. He couldn't- his whole world. He was a murderer. He was an orphan. He'd killed - What had he killed, exactly?\n\nForcing down bile, he stepped toward the rotting monster that'd first leapt through the window - and found his mother's face. Or what remained of it.\n\nThere wasn't time to think. Torchlight was already bleeding through the windows - curious townsfolk were on their way. \n\nWith a final, departing glance at his parents, he found his hatchet, clambered out the window, and sprinted home. \n\nBread. A moldy chunk of cheese. A leg of lamb. He tossed items into his sack haphazardly - he knew he couldn't stay. \n\nAs he stepped toward the door, the light from his father's bedroom caught his eye - the door was still open. A battered, ancient leather tome still lay open on the table. His father's journal, perhaps? He stuffed it under the cheese, and was gone.\n\nAnd in that space between once-upon-a-time and 'one day', the land found its hero. \n\n---\n\nWhatever that thing had been, it certainly wasn't his mother. Whatever his father had become, it wasn't the man who'd worked to provide a better life for his family.\n\nAnd whatever the hell this book was, it wasn't a diary. \n\nShifting, darkened letters almost seemed to dance across its surface. Diagrams of corpses and descriptions of a thousand occult rituals filled its pages.\n\nThis book had stolen everything from him.\n\nBut as he slowly realized, flipping through its pages, it had the potential to give back.\n\n---\n\nThe rise of Arn the Indomitable had been sudden, unstoppable, and completely unexpected.\n\nBut it wasn't all that bad.\n\nThere were a few mishaps and accidents as the dead rose from their graves around the country, but - with the exception of an old lady, whose heart had given out when her husband's skeleton woke her one morning with a bouquet of flowers - the takeover was largely peaceful.\n\nThe country had been transformed almost overnight. \n\nThe mindless dead manned every mill, field, and ship in the land. The living had no need to work - every man, woman, and child could pursue education, art, music, literature, or the simple joys of family living as the bodies of those long gone kept society afloat. \n\nA utopia had formed on the backs of the dead. Peace, freedom, trade, and prosperity reigned for decades.\n\n---\n\nBut nothing lasts forever.\n\n\n\nA wrinkled, aged Arnold listened. He listened as the handsome party of adventurers with more enchanted swords than sense cut down the hordes of the peaceful dead. He listened as society collapsed, as its workforce crumpled into bones and dust.\n\nHe listened as his life's work and the paradise he'd created was undone.\n\nAnd one day, when the brilliant Prince and his daring party of adventurers burst into Arnold's throne room and declared that they would be the ones to finally end his reign, he listened.\n\nAnd the ninety-year old Arnold, now with gray hair, a nose that still stuck out too far, and a heavy heart, spoke.\n\n\"Okay.\"\n\n---\n\n---\n^^for ^^more ^^kinda ^^\"okay\" ^^stuff, ^^see ^^/r/Draxagon" ]	6
	[WP] Every time someone falls asleep, it is actually Death trying to collect their souls. Death is getting pretty tired of people surviving so much.	[ "\"Dude, you are so bad at your job.\"\n\nDeath grimaced at the voice without looking. \"Fuck off, Gabriel.\"\n\n\"What, can't you take a couple innocent jokes between friends?\" Gabriel moved a little closer, grinning even more widely now.\n\n\"Just because we got drunk together once, doesn't mean that we're friends. As I recall, you spiked my drink with a Piece of the Tree and convinced me that it was a good idea to graffiti the gates of Heaven.\"\n\n\"And it was hilarious! You should have seen the look on Michael's face.\"\n\n\"You mean the look where he was arresting me and you hid behind a column? True friendship. Hilarious.\"\n\nGabriel cleared his throat. \"Right. Anyway.\"\n\nDeath swiveled in his chair, clearing his screens, and looked balefully up at the angel. \"Well? I assume you aren't here to tell me how wonderful Jesus' cum tastes, so spill.\"\n\n\"Well...\"\n\n\"Is it that hard for you to form a coherent sentence? Tell me what's going on here.\"\n\n\"Performance review.\"\n\nDeath sprung out of his chair, scythe appearing in his hand. \"Now hold the fuck on for one second. I'm not due for performance review till March, 26000 years from now, adjusted. And God knows I'll meet quota by then, I just need time to get everything--\"\n\n\"It's not from God.\" Any teasing that had remained in Gabriel's voice was long gone, and there was almost an undercurrent of fear now. \"It's from Upper Management.\"\n\nWHAT?! The shock and fear in Death's voice shattered the bowl of blood on his desk and threw Gabriel against the wall. He started pacing around the room, yelling, \"Fuck! Banana-damned shit-gargling silicone-ass......This was never supposed to happen! HE\"--he pointed his scythe at the glowing picture of God across the hall--\"was supposed to come between me and Upper Management, that's the whole reason we have a deity at all!\"\n\nGabriel, visibly shaken by the outburst, held up his hands. \"Whoa, whoa, it might not be--\"\n\nDeath turned back to him, almost snarling. \"Of course you wouldn't get it, you and your 'I went to kindergarten with Jesus' ass. You don't even know who Middle Management is, how are you qualified to stand there and tell me I shouldn't be shitting myself right now? Fuck, you and your angels call God omnipotent and jump on his dick all day, and you probably believe it too, so I'll say it slowly, so you can understand why I'm contemplating reaping myself before they get here:\n\n\"They.\n\n\"Hired.\n\n\"God.\"\n\n*****\n\nI may continue this later, but for now, I've run out of words that attach well here, so thanks for reading!" ]	1
	[WP] Many years ago, you swore that you would destroy whatever it was that your enemy loved most. But as you search through his holdout, you find a journal in which he confesses that he has always loved you the most.	[ "\"Tell me how you got in, and I might make your death painless. Might.\"\n\nThat was the one voice that I didn't want to hear. It wasn't being run through a modulator, as it usually was. It was his normal voice. His real voice. The voice of my boyfriend. I slowly raise the book up, to show him that I'd been reading it. I heard him gasp, then snarl. He still didn't know who I was. I was just the pesky hero, who had broken into his lair, and was reading his diary. I turn to face him, tears rolling down my mask.\n\n\"Do you really mean everything you say in here?\"\n\n\"Of course I do!\" He snapped back at me. \"I love him more than my own soul. This is all for him, all so that he can live in a better world. But don't you dare go soft on me now. You and I, we're destined to be a blight on each other's existence. Now answer my question. How did you get in here?\"\n\n\"Simon, please, stop this. Think about it from his perspective. Would he really be happy to find out that you're the villain trying to uproot the current world order?\"\n\n\"He would if I explained it to him. If I told him why I was doing it. The world is wrong, surely even you can see that.\"\n\n\"Yes, I can. Any world capable of producing people like you is diseased, right to its core. But you can't force change onto people, they need to be convinced that it's the right thing to do, and then you can bring it about gradually, peacefully.\"\n\n\"And how will that help the people of today? Do they not have a right to live in the great new world that I envision? Why should progress be delayed? So that people don't get hurt? Wake up, hero, people get hurt all the time, and nothing that either of us does can stop that. If I must cause some pain now, to make the world a better place, then I will. Would you not cut a tumour out of your own body to survive? It is the same principle.\"\n\n\"When it's your own body, I would agree, but what about if someone else decided that they would rather live with it? Would you force the surgery upon them?\"\n\n\"I- The two things stop comparing at that point.\"\n\n\"No, they don't. You are forcing a change onto people who don't want it yet. That makes you no better than a dictator. This, this right here, is exactly why I swore to destroy that which you loved most. Why I swore that I would show you the pain that you were inflicting on others. I had hoped that I might reason with you, that you could be convinced that what you were doing was wrong. But it seems that you can't. That you won't consider the suffering that you've caused.\"\n\n\"You're threatening him? Leave him out of this, he has nothing to do with our fight!\" The raw emotion in his voice was too much to bear. The tears started again, more fiercely than before. I reached up, and took off my mask.\n\n\"You're wrong, Si. I'm involved.\" He slumped down to his knees, and I walked over to him. I hugged him tight. \"I can't support what you're doing. I know that you believe that you're doing the right thing, but you're not. And, unless this persona, this plan disappears, then I can't be with you anymore. I'm sorry Si, but that's how it is.\"\n\nI walked to the door, and, weakening for a second, I turned to face him, and as I looked at him, I knew that I had destroyed him. My heart begged me to turn around, to take him back, even to side with him. Then I steeled myself, and walked away, putting my mask back on.\n\nI didn't hear from him after that, but his organisation disappeared overnight. I kept waiting for the knock on my door, for the letter, for the phone call, but it never came. Maybe one day he'll forgive himself enough to come back to me, and I really do hope that he will, but for now, I'm alone. I had tried to destroy what he loved most, and I suppose, in a way, I had." ]	1
	[WP] You've been a guard in a secret prison for demons of all types and it's your job to train the new guy.	[ "Taking a long drag from my cigarette I look the new kid over. He's young. Maybe 5'11''. Brown hair, blue eyes. Anyway, looks fit enough.\n\n\"How'd you do in the preliminaries?\" I ask.\n\n\"I..I was 5th in my class.\" He stammers.\n\nRolling my eyes I grab the clipboard from the nail in the wall.\n\n\"Mr....Rollins. Correct?\" I say in a dismissive tone.\n\n\"Uh...y...yes.\" He says while trembling.\n\n\"What seems to be the problem Rollins?\" I ask. \"You nervous?\" I say--teeth widening into a snarl.\n\n\"S..sir..theres a tiny demon on your shoulder.\" He says finger pointing to the 10'' tall demon on my left shoulder.\n\n\"Oh.\" I say while chuckling, \"That's just Klout.\" Thumbing to the creature on my shoulder. \"He's my partner in here.\"\n\n\"Partner?\" said Rollins inquisitively. \"I thought we were supposed to be guarding these things.\" He said, his voice lowering as if someone could hear us.\n\n\"Kid, we are 8 miles under the most insignificant city in America. You can talk normally.\" I say in a whisper, mocking his tone. \"And yes. My partner.\" I say.\n\nClearly confused, Rollins closes his eyes and places his fingers on the bridge of his nose.\n\n\"Look, just because you passed preliminaries doesn't mean you'll make it here,\" I say. \"In order to even communicate with the demons, you need to have a translator. Hence, Klout here.\" I say as Klout hops down onto the table in front of us.\n\nRollins opens his eyes to Klout's owl-like eyes piercing the gap between them. \"Hello,\" Klout says head cocked to the side inquisitively. \n\n\"But...how do...you cont...control them?\" Rollins eeks out. \"And what do you mean...'make it here.'\" He asks. \"And how in the HELL do they know English?!\" He said in an exasperated tone. \n\n\"Privileges. Food. Whatever it takes to bribe them within reason.\" I say, putting the cigarette down in the ashtray. \n\"And as for the 'making it' part, you have to be compatible with a hatchling to even get the job.\" I say.\n\n\"And the English?\" Rollins asks.\n\n\"Dunno,\" I say. \"Not our job.\" \n\nKlout started cackling as he used the cigarette to burn holes in my jacket. \n\n\"Well,\" I say, \"you want to meet them?\"\n\nThe determination in Rollins' eyes was clear. \"Yes,\" he said\n\nAs I lead him down Hallway C, I couldn't help but notice his eyes. Locked on Klout no doubt. Anyway, at the end of the hallway, I open a door labeled \"Hatchery\" and step aside--gesturing for Rollins' to enter first. With a little hesitation, he does. \n\n\"Alright,\" I say peering over the clipboard. \"Looks like we have 4 new hatchlings today,\" I say, letting my arm drop to my side. \n\n\"Where are they?\" asked Rollins. \"And what exactly am I supposed to do?\" he said. \nFlicking the light switch to my left the full extent of the room came into focus. Four chambers. Four Hatchlings. Bars made from thick steel keeping them in check.\n\n\"Alright, I'm going to open these chambers one at a time until one either attaches to you or kills you,\" I say nonchalantly. \"And don't worry,\" I say taking Klout off of my shoulder and placing him on the floor. \"Klout will do his best to make sure the killing thing doesn't happen,\" I say, exhaling in boredom. \"As for what to do,\" I say yawning, \"Stick out your palm. Face up.\" \n\nWalking over to the first chamber, I can see Rollins' tensing up. I smirk as his hand, now trembling, extends out in front of him. \"W...what..do you mean...attac..?\"\n\nHis words were cut off as the Hatchling named Orlon sprang from his cage. \n\n\"Ohhhh...\" Rollins let out with a squeak. \n\nKlout, now lurching over to Orlon, starts speaking its native tongue. Something must have convinced Orlon to give Rollins a try because he actually smirked in Rollins direction. Then Orlon, maybe 5\", jumped into Rollins' outstretched palm. Directing a cold glare into Rollins' eyes, the demon stomped his foot into Rollin's hand, creating an imprint. The imprint glowed red like coals for a moment, then faded.\n\n\"W...what just...what just happened.\" He says, rubbing his palm as the little demon climbs it's way onto his head. Its claws find purchase on his scalp.\n\n\"Kid,\" I say with a smirk. \"You just signed a life-long commitment you don't want to break.\" \n\n(Meh, my first attempt at one of these.) Hope its minimally decent. \n", "Level One, Noob. Tuck your elbows in, will you? Some of these guys are a bit grabby. Here we have your low level demons. These are the biters, the scratchers. Anyone who goes 'GHRRHHARHHRHARHAHRAHHHHHHH!!!\" or some such shit, they come here. We call 'em the fours 'cause they're mostly on four legs. Limbs, anyway. Except Nigel. Don't fuck with Nigel, Noob. I know he's asking for it, but it's not worth it. Guy's all kinds'a wrong, even for this place. Stairs left.\n\nYeah, there's a lift. You don't wanna take it.\n\nLevel Two. The Seducers. Don't get comfortable here, my friend. It's shit-weird here. You straight?\n\nIt's a fuckin' question. You straight?\n\nNot in here you ain't. Those Incubi will get you as hard as a Succubi. You'll get used to it. Then you'll question a bunch of things about yourself. Then you'll get used to it again. \n\nNo, that's not a joke.\n\nNo, that's not the last stage, either. The last stage is Intrusive Thoughts when you're... you know what? The last stage doesn't make sense until you've been through the others. There's a flow chart in the break room. Have a look at it. Its - look, the point is don't linger here unless you wanna introduce dick to your diet. Stairs left.\n\nLevel Three. These are your basic Reds. Humanoid, can talk, but skin all ripped off. I don't know why there's so many of these guys. They're all different, too. No two the same. Kinda like snowflakes with the skin all ripped off. \n\nWhat?\n\nI ain't a fuckin' poet, kid.\n\nOr a meteorologist. Focus, would'ya? \n\nThey don't do much. Low maintenance, sweet shift. They stare a lot, but you'll be pretty numb to that by the end'a the first week. Fuck 'em, you know? Whatever. Stairs left.\n\nLevel Four. These are the Lower Highers. These are the guys you wanna watch. All sweet promises and the like. Deals-at-the-crossroads types. All wear suits, all the time. They'll give you your heart's desire if you let them out. Don't let them out. Bobby from swing shift let one out once. You see Bobby around here?\n\nWould you like to know where Bobby is now?\n\nExactly. Stairs left.\n\nLevel Five. These are the Higher Highers. Don't open the slots. Don't open the doors. Move quiet. Move fast. You won't hear shit here if you wear your ear protectors. Wear your ear protectors, because you don't wanna hear shit here. Put 'em on now before I open the door.\n\n....\n\n....\n\n.....\n\nYeah, I know, right? Fuckin' Level Five.\n\nWhat?\n\nYeah, there is. But you ain't gonna get a shift up there unless you're one of the Chosen. Level Six is a one-time shift, if you get what I'm saying?\n\nNo, kid. What I'm saying is 'if you go up to Level Six, you're only going up there once'. You know what I'm saying?\n\nIt's not that you'll get it out of the way. That ain't what I'm saying. I'm saying -\n\nLet me see your shift card.\n\nYou're up for level six today?\n\nShit. Should'a read that. OK. Nice... meeting ya, kid.\n\nOh, sure. See you soon. Yeah.\n\nStairs left." ]	2
	[WP] Laughter is literally the best medicine, but is ineffective in large crowds, working only in small groups. You're a comedian who goes around treating the terminally ill.	[ "\"Dr. Thompson, the patient is this way.\" The nurse lead me down a nondescript hospital hallway, and we stopped at the second last room on the left. The nurse, a short old woman, seems distraught, as if she doesn't think I can do what I do. \n\"I got this.\" I winked at her and she chuckled. \n\"Holy shit! My wrinkles are GONE!\" She felt her wrinkle free face in awe. \n\"You look at least 20 years younger.\" I grinned at her as she opened to door to where my actually patient is waiting. She smiled, hoping for another laugh, but I had to go, and she walked away in dismay. \n\nA man rushed to the door and dragged me in the room. There were toys everywhere, and a rerun of SNL was playing on the TV in front of the bed. A frail little girl who looked no older than 3 but was probably closer to 5 was watching the TV intently, her mother sitting beside her, watching it too. I've never had a patient so young before. My heart sank. \n\n\"My daughter, she's got stage 4 brain cancer, it's terminal, and we've tried every treatment in the book. And you, Dr. Thompson, are our only hope. Please try and help us.\" The father pleaded. \n\"Do or do not, there is no try.\" I pulled off my best Yoda voice yet. \nThe girl noticed me from her bed, and laughed at my joke. It was only a chuckle, just a small little chuckle, and I could already see the bags under her eyes fading. Her mother stood up, and turned off SNL. \n\"Thank goodness you're here. Maggie's watched this episode 6 times, and has only laughed once.\" She rushed over to me and gave me an enormous hug. I pushed her away from me and walked towards Maggie. I tell her to tell me what makes her laugh. She smiles and whispers it in my ear, and I'm happy to oblige. \nI walk over to her father and punch him in the face. The father cried in pain and Maggie cried of laughter. On her bald head you could see the beginning of black hair and her eyebrows are growing back too. The father fell on the floor and I jumped on top of him, punch him and kicking him and pulling out his hair until Maggie had enough strength to get out of bed herself. Her long black hair reached her shoulders, and she's full of life. The father lay on the ground, close to death, and a simple fart joke brought him back to life. I laughed, and made my way to my next appointment. \n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You and a group of friends decide to break into your school at midnight for a good adventure. But you quickly find out all the janitors are werewolves and you had the luck of breaking in on a full moon.	[ "\n\"And don't make too much noise. I've heard that they clean the school around this time.\" I told Jake and Peston, as we sneaked into our classroom window.\n\"I think she kept the question paper under her desk.\" Jake said confidentaly. He was having fun on this late night trip to the school. Peston on the hand\n instantly regretted his decision, but was too scared to stay in the car alone. \n\n\"Ok. I'll stand guard at the door, you both go search for the paper\" I told Jake and Peston, making my way to the door. \n\nThe other classrooms had their doors closed as well. I looked both ways into the hallway. A dimly lit light made it easy to notice if anyone had entered the hallway or not.\n\n\"Do you think we can find something really cool here, maybe some pictures of Ms.S?\" Jake said, while stretching his arm further into the desk's drawers in hope to find \na secret compartment or something. \n\n\"Shutup and just find the damn question paper\" Peston said, nervously. \n\n\"No one out here in the hallway so far, I think they are done for the day\" I said, and turned towards the other two. Jake seemed calm, almost seemed like he knew where to look for the paper in the desk.\n\nAs I was watching them, I saw a light flicker in the school ground outside the window we jumped in. \n\n\"Guys wait, I think I saw.....\"\n\nAnd another light flickered. Someone was there. I started walking towards the window. There was no more sound coming from either Jake or Preston. The stood still, and tried looking out as well.\n\n\"It looks like they are just having a smoke break\" Peston said standing right next to me now. I could see the sweat on his forehead. \n\nJake already had his arm stretched in the lowest drawer of the desk when I turned towards him. \n\n\"Hey, I think there is some compartment here guys\" Jake suddenly said. Preston and I walked over towards Jake. By the time we reached, Jake slowly pulled out his arm, along with a zip bag which seemed to have something in it.\n\n\"Ah, it looks awful, put it back\" Peston said.\n\n\"No\" said Jake, opening the bag. \"Pres, its just some leftover food\" Jake said. Strangely no smell came off it though.\n\n\"Put it back Jake, its gross\" said Preston.\n\n\"No. Eat it\" Jake said, moving the bag towards Preston.\n\n\"What no, get it out of my face.\"\n\n\"Eat it or I'll tear the paper once we find it.\" Jake said, opening the bag to Preston.\n\"I'll only do it if you guys do it.\" Pres said, nervous as ever. I was not liking this either, whatever was in the bag was days old, and I just wanted the questionnaire and get out. So I had to agree. We all got just a spoonful, and started eating it.\n\n\"God this is awful\" Preston said, with a nauseous face.\n\n\"Just swallow it\" Jake said, seeming like the white stuff was completely normal food. I felt like throwing up as soon as it went inside my mouth. But I somehow ate it, and resumed to the window.\n\n\"Guys I think they are looking right at us\" I said, looking out at the garden. The two janitors we now standing, staring right at us across the playground. I was starting to get nervous.\n\n\"They know\" said Preston.\n\nThe both of them walked towards the window as well. But something strange started to happen. The janitors eyes seemed to turn red, and started growing in size.\n\n\"What the hell is happening, are you guys seeing this!\" I said, panicking at what I was witnessing.\n\n\"What are you saying, they are just laughing at us man, dont worry\" Jake said. I was confused. The eyes were definately red, and their bodies seemed to be growing... and changing into something.\n\n\"CAN YOU GUYS SEE, THERE EYES ARE RED!\" I shouted at them both. This startled them a bit, but when they looked back, they could see it too.\n\"What is happening!\" Jake said. I was too scared at this point to make sense of anything.\n\n\"Guys look up,\" Preston said \" at the sky. The moon. Its a full moon. These people are werewolves. They are turning into werewolves, and they are going to eat use!\"\nJust as I turned back, I could see one running towards me, about to reach the window.\n\n\"RUN!\" I shouted, trying to make it across to the door. But my foot caught on one of the desks legs and I slipped. I saw the other two run away from the room, abondoning me to the creature that would kill me.\n\nI could hear its breathing, as it climbed through the same window as the three of us jumped in. It seemed to growl. I was too scared to turn my head.\nSuddenly I felt a scratch on my leg, and I turned to make sure this beast wasn't actually biting me. I looked back and the creatures red eyes seemed to stare into my soul. I started crying and closed my eyes, shouting for momma.\n\n----\n\n\"Boy are you ok?\" Jay said, shaking the boys leg who was on the ground. Just then Tim entered the room, followed by two other kids who seemed the same age as the kid who slipped on the ground.\n\n\"I found these two in the hallway, were begging me for mercy.\" Tim said.\n\n\"This one too, I wonder whats got into them.\" Jay said, looking at the kids horror struck faces. \n\n\"Hey look at this\" Tim said, bending down to pickup a zip lock bag with some strange substance. \"Oh so this explains it\" Tim said, tasting a fingertip of the substance.\n\n\"What are you saying\" Jay said, still trying to comfort the fallen kid.\n\n\"Here taste it\"\n\nJay tasted the stuff and knew instantly what it was.\n\n\"Damn shrooms.\"" ]	1
	[WP] You see a woman hanging over a bridge by one hand, screaming for help. As you run to go help her you see her medical bracelet that says "Do not resuscitate".	[ "My daily commute is usually uneventful. I live in a city of dreamers who lack the ambition to pursue their desires. When I buy coffee from the man on 33rd, he tells me of his plan to move out to the country and raise cattle. On 32nd avenue, the woman with a degree in environmental science informs me of the detrimental health effects of pollution as she hands me my daily paper. She swears that she will reduce city-wide pollution when she gets a laboratory position. The homeless teen on 31st tells me that someday he'll mug someone, but I know that he never will.\n\nIt's not that I despise my humdrum life. Rather, I am saddened by the people who will never have the ambition to pursue their desires. Though I admire their unwavering vision, I cannot accept their firm grip on a reality that will never occur. Everyday is accompanied by an inescapable routine that they all fall victim to. Everyday they will speak of their dreams and everyday they will go nowhere. Everyday, I found myself waiting; waiting for some catalyst that would help me escape the routine that I myself had fallen victim to.\n \nYou can imagine my excitement when I heard a cry for help. Was there actually a source of trouble in this idealistic city? Has someone else realized that we have been enslaved by routine? \nI rushed toward the voice, sidestepping the many aimless people who would only serve to impede me. Too consumed by their vision of a better future, they would not hear the faint cries. I found myself running through Hayden park towards Butterfly Bridge. \n\nI reached the edge of the bridge and couldn't help but stop despite the intensity of the screams. I had forgotten that it was butterfly season. Lining the rails of the bridge were hundreds of chrysalises. They were iridescent, reflecting the sun's light into thousands of colors. I took a moment to take in the image before rushing to the side of the bridge. Beneath my feet, I saw a woman.\n\nAs soon as she saw my face peer over the railing, she began to cry. She thanked me for coming to her rescue after countless others had walked by. She began to speak of her mistakes and her regrets. She wanted to play the lead in a ballet production but hadn't gotten the part. So, in a fit of despair, she had hurled herself over the bridge.\n\nAs she explained herself, I found myself staring at her wrist. Upon it, was a medical bracelet, reading DO NOT RESUSCITATE. I asked her about it, and she informed me of a fatal lung condition which not only prevented her from being cast as the lead ballerina, but also prevented her from living a fulfilling life due to the constant threat of an unpreventable death. She pleaded that she had made a mistake and wished to continue pursuing her dream of being a lead ballerina despite her lung condition.\n\nI could only stare. How was I to believe that this woman would have the ambition to pursue a career as a ballerina if she did not even have the ambition to kill herself? It is preposterous to assume that she could follow through her dreams. Compared to throwing herself off a bridge, becoming a ballerina with a fatal lung condition would be infinitely more difficult. \n\nI began to wonder what I should do when a beam of light flashed past my eyes as a chrysalis fell from the railing and into the river. I came to a realization that everyone in this city were but a chrysalis on the railing, dreaming to one day become a butterfly. However, they had become caught up in the dream to become a butterfly, they never pursued the dream itself. Instead, they sat back, waiting in an endless cycle until the day they realized it would never happen.\n\nI looked back down at the woman, feeling only pity for this wide-eyed dreamer. I tried to remember what I wanted to become. I had attended nursing school so that I could save someone's life. And now, I was working in an office. I figured that this was the sign I needed. \n\nI would be the one to save this woman.\n\nI began to kick the bridge with the strength of my newfound ambition. \n\nI would be the one to save this woman.\n\nI watched many chrysalises fall into the river, reflecting light onto the woman's eyes, wide with terror.\n\nI would be the one to save this woman.\n\nI screamed at her to just fall with the rest of the aimless dreamers. I screamed that I was a registered nurse who would bring her back to health after she shattered her bones.\n\nI would be the one to save this woman.\n\nI watched her hands tremble, losing their grip on the bridge. I watched her mouth scream obscenities at me. I watched the aimless dreamers walk by, too consumed with themselves.\n\nI would be the one to save this woman.\n\nI felt tears begin to form as she fell, knowing that I would finally achieve my dream. The few chrysalises still remaining on the bridge began to quiver with the timbre of my voice, promising that she would be the first life I saved.\n\nI would be the one to save this woman.\n\nI heard her hit the water with an explosion of sound. I heard the chrysalises being broken. I saw flashes of red as the butterflies emerged from the water and surrounded me with the fragrance of new life.\n\nI would be the one to save this woman.\n\nI couldn't contain my ecstasy and let out shouts of pure joy. As I ran towards the river bank, I remembered what her bracelet said.\n\nDO NOT RESUSCITATE\n\nI slowed my pace, coming to a halt before the river bank. I looked up at the hundreds of red butterflies circling above the woman. Their writhing dance brought forth a sharp pain in my side. I closed my eyes and remembered why this was a city of aimless visionaries. \n\nTo have a dream is painless. To pursue a dream and fail is saturated with endless pain and suffering.\n\nSo... I turned around. I began the trek back towards the office. I told the homeless teen on 31st that I hope he isn't caught by the cops when he mugs someone. I told the woman on 32nd that I heard of some great research labs that might be looking for researchers in the future. I told the man on 33rd that raising cattle is a brilliant idea. I told myself that saving a life is a noble goal, but I couldn't pursue that goal until I had stability. I walked into my office building and sat at my desk. I opened my drawer and tore a sheet of paper. I wrapped it around my wrist and wrote\n\nDO NOT RESUSCITATE\n\nEdit: Grammar mistake" ]	1
	[WP] You are one of the last true cowboys remaining. You have taken on many challengers in your life and wanted to retire. But you are contacted to do one final thing: kill Adolf Hitler.	[ "I woke up before the crack of dawn. I reckon that the sun hasn't caught me nappin' since I was a little feller. There used to be more for me to do. Slop the hog, feed the chickens, milk old Betsy. Old Betsy up and died a month ago. I figure that should be noted somewhere. There won't be another one like old Betsy. Ever since they went to that dern lab-or-a-tory grown meat and milk, cattle just kept getting more and more rare. My ranch is the last one and I'm down to my last steer. He's got an unfortunate name, but that's what you get when you auction off the naming rights to the last head of cattle on the internet. Well, I figure you could call me the last Cowboy, at least 'till the end of the day anyways. Ya see, I just got an order. Some rich fellow is paying up twenty million dollars to eat the last real steak in Texas. Well, enough grabbing, It's a sad day but I still have a job to do and I recon it's time for me to get 'er done. I'm off to slaughter Adolf Hitler." ]	1
	[WP] Traveling a light year only takes 5 minutes which makes space travel easy for the everyday person. However it's illegal to take anything from any other planets. What happens when you take diamonds from the diamond planet?	[ "After a one hour flight, Mike and Paul have arrived at the planet of Juurta, dubbed \"The Land of Diamonds\". Besides taking some photos back to Earth, what else will these two youngsters do?\n\nMike: Wow, these diamonds are everywhere! I wonder how much this planet costs.\n\nPaul: What if we take a teeny, tiny piece of the ground? No one will notice!\n\nMike: But Paul, isn't it illegal? Won't the space police come after us?\n\nPaul: Really? That's only in the movies dude. Besides, imagine the stuff we can buy with this kind of money!\n\nMike and Paul had unanimously agreed to take the risk of stealing a small inch of the shiny ground.\n\nMike: So how are we gonna get it out of the ground?\n\nPaul: shit." ]	1
	[WP] Everybodies life is represented by the ink left in their pen, people can kill other people by using or destroying their pen, or can become immortal if other people pour their life ink into theirs. You are an Ink Assassin, you kill people by destroying or using their pens.	[ "The Life Pens are a special tradition in my culture. As a coming of age, every youth chooses a pen. These are no ordinary pens, however. They are typically custom made, and engraved with various runes and symbols of power. Each pen has an ink reservoir of standard size, though not necessarily standard shape, and is filled with a special alchemical ink. At the coming of age ceremony, there is a ritual by which each person binds the life pen to themselves. A drop of blood in the ink reservoir, and a signature written with the pen, and the implement is bound to the user. The life force of the writer is bound to the pen. As the level of ink in the pen is reduced, so is the remaining span of the person's life.\n\nOne could reasonably ask why anyone would ever write with such a pen, if it meant shaving time of off their life. Part of it is tradition. Most contracts require both parties to sign with their life pen, as a show of faith. A person is less likely to break a contract that they have laid down a portion of their life to seal. Similarly, it can be used symbolically, to convey just how important something is to someone. A love letter signed with a life pen is a serious show of affection and devotion. Similarly, petitions and letters signed in life ink are given considerably more weight, as there was a price to send them. But there is another aspect. Magic. Life ink is a necessary component in the drawing of most magical runes, and most rituals will be impossible without them. Magic, in this way, draws directly on life force. It wasn't always like this; blood used to be the only valid thing to write spells in.\n\nOf course, one would also ask why it would not be simple to refill a life pen and become immortal. The problem is that life pens will only accept alchemical ink of the kind they are first filled with. Using normal ink, or any other fluid, causes great illness in the writer, a slow and painful death. Alchemical ink isn't easy to come by either; it must be activated with blood, and each person can only activate a small amount, and only once. So, the only way to extend one's lifespan is to acquire ink from the pens of others, through kindness or theft.\n\nI have lived for more days than I care to count. Quite literally; I have been keeping an active tally of my days since I first received my life pen, using that life pen. It makes me feel more alive, knowing that every day I'm reducing my lifespan by a small amount. For perspective, my tally journal currently has a great number of pages filled with the tiny marks, and I've outlived everyone I knew as a child by a fair margin. If you think that I have been kept alive by others giving me their life ink, you are dead wrong. I steal life ink for a living, pouring out the raw life force of others to extend my own existence. I am a thief and a killer at the same time, a leech for ink. I also hire myself out as a professional assassin; if I'm killing people, I may as well make money off of it. It really doesn't matter who I steal from.\n\nMy latest contract was most interesting indeed. My client was a wealthy man, a merchant. The target was a rival trader; the two kept up appearances as friends, but every word they spoke to each other was laced with venom so subtle that those around them would never notice. Hatred is too soft of a word. The only thing keeping them from coming to blows was a sense of noble decorum. My client had finally had enough, so he hired me, with special instructions.\n\nTypically, I need to do my own reconnaissance, sorting out where the target keeps their life pen. In this case, however, my client was so close to the target that I didn't need to. The target had bragged to my client once about how he kept his life pen on his person at all times, in a small pocket sewn into the inside of his undershirt. Because he always wore one layer over that, and because it was so close to his body, no pickpocket could easily take it from him without him knowing. At least, so he thought. I was almost tempted to give my client a discount for saving me some time and effort. However, I had no real incentive to do so, and given how difficult this job would be, any trouble spared by knowing where the pen was hidden was more than made up for by the difficulty of the retrieval.\n\nI made my approach to the manor disguised as a messenger from my client, bearing a blank sealed letter, purportedly intended for the target, and a note bearing both mine and my client's signatures in life ink stating my official purpose. So covert was the feud between these two men that not even their guards were aware of it. When they questioned the need for me to deliver the message in person, I told them my employer wished for an immediate response, as this was a critical matter. They took me at my word, and let me past. Once inside, I made my way to the dining room, and laced the glass with a sleeping draught that would ensure my target had a more restful night than ever he had known. That done, I found the most shadowed and covert place in the mansion that I could, and waited.\n\nWell after nightfall, I crept into the target's bedchamber. He was motionless save for the steady rhythm of breath. My fingers were nimble, and found their way into his hidden pocket easily, barely brushing his skin. He didn't stir under my touch. I drew out the pen, an ornate gilded fountain type, along with my own and my siphoning kit. I poured all of his pen into mine, save for a very small amount to keep him alive. These were my client's particular instructions, and he was so devious that I was impressed. I mentioned that filling a life pen with anything other than life ink can cause the owner to become deathly ill. Well, the nature of the substitute can have an effect on this. I produced a small vial of deadly poison, and filled the reservoir of the sleeping man's pen to the brim with it, the minute quantity of remaining ink diluted several times over. The target at once began to convulse and scream, though still locked into his poisoned sleep. The guards came rushing to the scene, just as I clambered onto the windowsill. Standing there, silhouetted by the bright moonlight, I must have made quite the impression on the guards. I raised my right hand, revealing the many pens I had lifted from the guards earlier in the day. I held the life of every one present in my hands. I had bound them together with string, forming a bundle which I let fall. I brought my foot down on it. As my boot fell, so did the guards. Only the butler, who had accompanied the, remained standing. It was a waste of good ink, but I had been instructed to send a message. One witness was a necessary evil, as was the destruction.\n\nMy work done, I leaped from the window, falling catlike on the ground and vanishing into the night. The disguise I had used to sneak in could be traced back to my client, but the plan was his idea, and he thought it worth the risk. I collected my payment the next day, direct from my client. He insisted that I hand over the poison filled pen, a sort of symbolic victory. From what I heard, my victim took several days in misery before he died. Still, I had coin in my pocket and a fresh several years of ink in my pen. The ink would keep me alive, and the money would make sure my life was comfortable. That was enough for me." ]	1
	[WP] Your conciousness is suddenly sent back to your newborn body.	[ "You blink, and bright lights shine in your eyes. Your mom's face appears out of nowhere. You can feel no clothes against your skin, and everything feels much bigger. You raise a hand to your face. It appears wrinkled and weak. You can't control your own fingers!\n\nYou are lifted through the air, and your dad's face appears. He grins, and starts cooing in baby talk. This isn't a dream. You can tell that much. It almost seems like you're a baby again. You try to talk, and it comes out as a gurgle. Weird.\n\n\"Here, let's get a diaper on you.\" Your dad says, setting you down. He straps a diaper over your butt, and hands you back to your mom.\n\n\"You're a quiet one, aren't you?\" A doctor says, out of sight.\n\n\"He is pretty calm.\" Your mom agrees.\n\nYou try to protest, but it doesn't work. Your mouth has no teeth! You can't talk at all! All you can do is make baby noises. Your stomach growls, and you realize that you're starving. You know that your only option is milk. As far as you know, babies cry to tell people that they're hungry. So, that's what you do.\n\nYour mom doesn't take long to figure it out. She lifts up her shirt to reveal her breasts, which are both dripping milk. You don't know what you were expecting, but this is a new sight. You get to suck on your mom's nipples all you want. Come to think of it, babies get away with a lot.\n\nYour mom puts a blanket over you, and you latch on to her left breast. You begin to suck, and milk floods your tiny mouth.\n\nThis is good stuff. It fills your stomach quickly, and you stop sucking.\n\nA few minutes later, your bladder fills up. Funny how quickly bodily processes go when you're this small. You feel the urge to find a toilet, and then realize that you have one attatched to you. You let loose, emptying the contented of your bladder in your diaper. It feels warm, and a little bit strange. You're fine with it, though. You've been having a pretty good time as a baby so far. The one thing you don't understand is hope you got this way. You remember just yesterday, you were on a date with your girlfriend. You can recall a full twenty-three years of normal life. Now, you've been put back at day one. Very strange. You get a whole lot of privileges though. Small and knowledgeable. You could get used to this." ]	1
	[WP] "Dude you've only been a bully for a lifetime. He's spent an eternity understanding cruelty in its purest form. He's distilled it into an algorithm and optimized it to its mathematical peak."	[ "A man was dying peacefully in a hospital bed, surrounded by his family. Far gone and senile, the man had failed to notice the mix of relief and impatience etched onto their faces as his eyes finally closed. \n\nAfter everything had gone black and the man ceased to exist, a strange light began to overtake the darkness. Then everything suddenly snapped into existence, and the man found himself standing upright, his facilities intact and an inexpensive suit fitted onto his body. The man’s face twisted into disgust, as the suit’s cheap fabric rubbed against his skin. His throat was very dry and he felt hot. Hotter than that time he slept outside at a Hawaiian resort for five hours. \n\nThe man noticed that he was suspended on a small stretch of rock. He began to panic, fire was burning all around him and smoke was choking him. He fell to his knees, dizzy. The smoke was bringing him to the brink of suffocation and then letting go, like a soft version of waterboarding. In front of the man stood a massive red creature with horns and hooves. It was completely nude except for a tank top that had the words douchebag written across it. \n\nIt’s all a dream the man reassured himself. A strange calm took over as he convinced himself fully that none of this was real. Refusing to look weak, the man struggled to his feet and puffed up his cheeks. Summoning up all of his courage, he fixed a grimace on his face and stared into the creature's pitch black eyes.\n\nThe creature introduced itself as the dark one, ruler of Hell, Satan himself; spending over two minutes running through the many names humans had given it. Not once did the man flinch, fully focused as he repeatedly thought to himself that “he was the best and no dream was going to get the better of him”. Satan finished his monologue and probed the man’s thoughts. He laughed deeply at the man. The laugh shook the cavern, but the man did not flinch. Satan proceeded to project the man’s thoughts onto the flames around them. But the man did not waver, these cheap parlor tricks only made him more and more confident that he was the best.\n\nSatan knew this would be a tough soul to demolish. That is why he decided that the man’s punishment would be Thal, the Anthropophagist. Satan would leave the man with Thal until the person he was on earth was no more. After the man’s mind and spirit were crushed, he could be impaled and left to burn for eternity in one of the many fire pits of Hell. \n\nSatan spoke, the ground rumbled and flames danced. “Are you ready to meet Thal?”\n\n“I’m ready for anything, I always win”, the man replied, readjusting his toupee.\n \n\"Dude, you've only been a bully for a lifetime. He's spent an eternity understanding cruelty in its purest form. He's distilled it into an algorithm and optimized it to its mathematical peak. Thal has seen every fear, weakness and secret that a human can have, he has access to all of your thoughts and memories, he has the ability to summon anything he wants into existence, make you see and feel things you cannot comprehend. He can cause pain that goes beyond the boundaries of the world you know. His evil and wickedness is beyond me. I created him because I do not have time to torture souls individually, Thal has no mercy. Believe me.” \n\n“Bring it”, the man said.\n\nSatan decided to test the man one last time. \n\n“If you admit to me right now that your just a crybaby, power hungry, attention seeking bitch who’s mad his daddy didn’t pay attention to him, I’ll spare you Thal’s wrath and send your soul to heaven”\n\n“Fuck you”, the man said.\n\n“Dude, you are a fool”, replied Satan, smirking at the man.\n\n“Do-Don’t underestimate me”, the man replied nervously, suddenly realizing that even if this was a dream, that was an extremely impulsive decision. Beads of sweat had begun to form on the man’s brow. Heat from the surrounding flames had begun to take its toll, the man’s pant legs were singed and the bottoms of his dress shoes had begun to melt.\n\n“Good luck Mr. Trump”\n\nSatan gave the pitiful egomaniac before him one last apathetic glance, and then disappeared into the surrounding flames. Donald found himself alone in the cavern. There was nowhere to go; flames completely surrounded the rocky plateau. \n\n“How long is this god damn dream going to last!” he yelled.\n\nNobody replied. The flames cracked and sizzled. The smoke had stopped bothering him, he had gotten used to the choking sensation.\n\n“Hellooooooooooooo!” Donald yelled again.\n\nMultiple Earth days went by, his screams became weaker, his conviction that this was a dream had begun to fade. Hunger and thirst consumed him, and then became dull throbs as he became accustomed to them. He was forced to stand, as the rock was too hot to lie down on. Donald’s shoes had fused into his feet. However, the pain in his knees and sharp agony in his feet was preferable to having his body cook on the hot rock. With nothing but the sound of flames, Donald found an even greater suffering, one which he could not describe. It was a mental, all consuming anguish of having no social interaction, nobody to pay him any attention or challenge him. His ego was falling apart, but still, even though he did not believe it, he continued to tell himself that none of this was real.\n\nAfter about two weeks, Donald finally admitted to himself that he may have made a mistake. A split second after this thought crossed his mind, all the pain stopped. The flames were gone, the rock was gone, the throbbing agony of every possible human discomfort disappeared. And he found himself standing in a white space. It stretched endlessly in every direction.\n\nMr. Trump fell to his knees. Before any relief could be had, he heard his voice all around him.\n\n“I made a mistake”\n\n“I was wrong”\n\n“I am an idiot”\n\n\"I am weak\"\n\nAnd it didn’t stop for a long time. It didn’t stop for many, many years.\n\n-------------------------------------------------\n\n“Hey Thal! I got another tough one for you”, said Satan, “You almost done with Trump?\"\n\nA giant ox looking creature with green skin and flames for eyes turned around. Satan had materialized behind him in the void taking him by surprise. In front of Thal an orb was floating. It displayed an image of a white room with a small figure at its center. \n\n“I’ve been done”, replied Thal, “been waiting for a new one for a while now”.\n\n“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize. Why didn’t you send him to the fire pit?”\n\n“I really didn’t like this guy, I couldn’t get ‘hands on’ with the torture since being alone and wrong were his biggest fears. I wanted to make him pay for my boredom”, Thal grumbled.\n\n“Well let’s check out your handiwork shall—oh wow, wow that’s gruesome, looks like he ripped out his ears and gouged out his eyes with one of the bones protruding from his ripped off arm”\n\n“Yeah, and you should have seen it, at one point he tried to kill himself by eating his toupee and choking on it, I just brought him back to life immediately, you should have seen the look on his face!” laughed Thal. \n" ]	1
* I didn't come up with this, saw it somewhere, don't remember where.	[WP] When you were younger, you sold your soul to the Devil. Now that you are studying law you realize that contracts signed by minors are not legally binding.	[ "I'm a 24 year old law school student. I did something incredibly stupid when I was younger - I sold my soul to the devil.\n\nNow, I realize that contracts signed by minors are not legally binding.\n\nUnfortunately, by \"when I was younger\" I meant \"five minutes ago\", so that doesn't help me at all. FML & my afterlife.\n\nAlthough, if I study really hard and become a lawyer, I won't have a soul for him to collect, soooooo CHECKMATE LUCIFER!!!!", "\"What, really?\" The Devil hurled down his newspaper and stared angrily at me.\n\n\"Yup, look here.\" I threw back at him.\n\nHe picked up his glasses, fumbling them as he tried to position them on his face. I passed him the contract, perfectly preserved from the moment I signed it back on that day, many many moons ago. Not a single crease or fold on the page. However, I'd lightly underlined the most important line with a pencil, so he could see it better. \n\nHe took his time, carefully reading it multiple times to make sure he could believe his own two eyes.\nAfter a long pause, he carefully folded the page into the shape of a paper aeroplane, and threw it back at me. It sailed across the room gracefully, and landed neatly in my lap.\nHe sat there, hands clasped together, staring into space, for what seemed like an eternity.\n\nFinally, he spoke up.\n\"Fine. Whatever you ask. You damn people in the legal profession. You're worse than the devil himself...\"\nWith a slight smirk on his face, he paced over to the door and opened it.\n\"You'll be hearing from me soon.\"\nHe beckoned me out, and I walked down the corridor in Devil Tower wondering to myself what would happen next.\n\nA few weeks later, when I got back from work, there was a letter waiting for me at home.\n'From the office of The Devil' was written in Comic Sans on the envelope.\nInside was a short paragraph;\n\n\"To TheSamR,\nThe office of The Devil has processed your claim, and has enclosed your soul in this envelope.\n\nKind Regards\n\nThe office of The Devil\"\n\nInside the envelope was a small vial containing a brown liquid. The instructions which went with the vial stated \"Take all of the contents at once and with water. Your soul will have returned within 24 hours\"\nI undid the cap, and tipped the contents into the glass of water I'd prepared. With one deep breath, I drank the water...", "\"I don't know why I ever married you!\" screamed Maria, slamming the door as she went.\n\nI only rolled my eyes and looked back at the television. This kind of argument happened at least twice a week but she always came back eventually, doe-eyed and begging to get back together. I always agreed to it, of course. She was the love of my life.\n\nI can still remember that day, all those years ago, when she'd first asked to marry me. We were young - too young, some said - but she proposed. When you're young and in love, nothing like that seems to matter. To me, it was a dream come true. This beautiful, nice, kind young girl who I'd crushed on for years had approached me one day, clutched my hand and kissed me. We were an official couple by that evening, to the shock of her peers and were married within six months. Even her parents didn't seem to mind.\n\nThree rapid knocks on the door. I ignored them.\n\nIn fairness, I do have to give one man some credit. (I didn't attract her through my winning looks and personality alone). The Father of Lies had appeared in my room on one of my darker nights, when it seemed as if the walls were closing in and I was alone.\n\n\"Son, you want to be happy?\" he'd whispered. I could only nod, tears staining my cheeks. At the time, I thought it was another one of my demons, coming to scare me like they had through most of my adolescence. But this one seemed more solid. I never saw his face - only the silhouette.\n\nThe knocking came again, three rapid knocks. It was probably her.\n\n\"How about the love of your life, son? Maria could love you until the day you die, if you wanted. I'm just going to need you to do something for me\" continued the shadowy figure. \"W-what...?\" I croaked, my pubescent voice cracking. \"Your soul. You can have it all, if you'd stay me when you pass on\" replied the Devil. \n\nHe thought he was some kind of genie. I knew perfectly well what I was getting into. Any contract signed by me couldn't be legally binding and upon taking law in college a couple of years later, I'd become more comfortable. So here I was, perfectly sane and with an obedient, loving wife. I didn't fear death - as far as I was concerned, the contract was to be null and void at the time of my death. \n\nI was just a kid when I'd signed it, after all. Not even fully grown. Even if God didn't exist, rules had to count for something to the Devil, right?\n\nThe knocking began again but it didn't stop at three. It continued, becoming an irritating noise that soon enveloped any noise coming from the television.\"Bloody hell, Maria, hold your horses!\" I roared, loosening my tie as I half stumbled to the door. We were about to have one of our \"make-up\" sessions. \n\nShe would apologise profusely for whatever it was we were arguing about, I'd pretend not to care, she'd beg and then I'd relent. We'd then have a lovely week, in which she made me lunches for work, told me constantly how much she loved me, more silly shit like that. I got to fuck her. That was how it was and how I liked it.\n\nThen, she'd get angry for no reason or I'd lose my temper, we'd argue and she'd walk out, screaming abuse. It hadn't always been like that. In our early years, she'd never argued. She'd always done as she was told, always looked after me. These arguments were a recent occurance, having only begun about a year ago. I could only suppress my excited grin as I approached the door. I was getting laid tonight, no doubt. \n\nAs soon as my hand brushed the handle, it swung open, revealing my loving wife and a man at her side. He was completely plain, an everyday man not worth looking at twice. He had a reassuring hand on my wives shoulder, the cheeky bastard.\n\n\"Oi, what are you playing at?\" I gasped as my lovely Maria plunged a knife into my chest. The man stepped forward as I fell to the ground and caught me by the shoulder before I fell.\n\n\"Come now, son, you think you can use bullshit loopholes to get out of your duties?\" spoke the Devil softly, his hand still on my shoulder. \"You abuse the wife I gave you, the sanity I gave you and then have the audacity to think you can weasel out of it?\"\n\nI was gasping for breath, my hand closing around the bloody knife wound. \"I w-was just a k-kid\" I winced with pain. \n\n\"You humans truly disgust me\" said the Devil, letting go of my shoulder and allowing me to fall to the ground. But it didn't end there. I fell through the ground, through the carpet, through the Earths crust and as I did, the millions of schizophrenic demons dispelled by the Devils witchcraft screamed in my ear at once.\n\nIt was only when I felt my body beginning to separate did the pain stop.", "\"Well, I'm sad that it would come to this\", the Devil said, and took a sip of his ever burning pipe. \"Sad is maybe the wrong word, I feel very little. It is more of an inconvenience, but I know the drill very well. We've had this conversation countless times before\".\n\n\"What....what do you mean, I've never...We've barely ever met!\" I loosened my tie a bit, It felt like it was strangling me slowly. I took a napkin from the cafeteria table, and wiped my forehead. I was sweating like a pig.\n\n\"Yes...indeed.\" the Devil said, and played effortlessly with his old vintage lighter. Opening and closing the lid, running it through his fingers like water or sand. \"That is how it was arranged. Eternal life will drive any human mind to the ground eventually, so I've kept wiping your memory every three decades for centuries. I wouldn't go through all these arrangements with just anybody, you are...special to me. I remember when I first laid my eyes on you. Countless times I have seen people smash in heads of infant babies and such, but you... You have a special talent for pure evil. You made a mother drown her own child to punish her husband. No violence, only words of pure poison. You spent months to break her mind, you even seduced her only to destroy her utterly. After she went mad and hung herself, her husband drank himself to death. And you even drank with him and stayed close to him, feeding on his bottomless despair and sorrow. Feeding on misery, that's your game, your fix. I've seen you do it in countless wars. As a guard in Auschwitz, in the fields of Cambodia, with a machete in Rwanda. You are my price stallion, and the contract stands. You sick basterd, I admire you so much.\" The devil sighed, and fished an envelope out from his long dark leather coat. \" Enough of this, I have a new mission for you. How would you like to start the next big war? A storm is brewing. The world is again ripe for our taking!\"", "\"Well, I'm sad that it would come to this\", the Devil said, and took a sip of his ever burning pipe. \"Sad is maybe the wrong word, I feel very little. It is more of an inconvenience, but I know the drill very well. We've had this conversation countless times before\".\n\n\"What....what do you mean, I've never...We've barely ever met!\" I loosened my tie a bit, It felt like it was strangling me slowly. I took a napkin from the cafeteria table, and wiped my forehead. I was sweating like a pig.\n\n\"Yes...indeed.\" the Devil said, and played effortlessly with his old vintage lighter. Opening and closing the lid, running it through his fingers like water or sand. \"That is how it was arranged. Eternal life will drive any human mind to the ground eventually, so I've kept wiping your memory every three decades for centuries. I wouldn't go through all these arrangements with just anybody, you are...special to me. I remember when I first laid my eyes on you. Countless times I have seen people smash in heads of infant babies and such, but you... You have a special talent for pure evil. You made a mother drown her own child to punish her husband. No violence, only words of pure poison. You spent months to break her mind, you even seduced her only to destroy her utterly. After she went mad and hung herself, her husband drank himself to death. And you even drank with him and stayed close to him, feeding on his bottomless despair and sorrow. Feeding on misery, that's your game, your fix. I've seen you do it in countless wars. As a guard in Auschwitz, in the fields of Cambodia, with a machete in Rwanda. You are my price stallion, and the contract stands. You sick basterd, I admire you so much.\" The devil sighed, and fished an envelope out from his long dark leather coat. \" Enough of this, I have a new mission for you. How would you like to start the next big war? A storm is brewing. The world is again ripe for our taking!\"", "\"Well, I'm sad that it would come to this\", the Devil said, and took a sip of his ever burning pipe. \"Sad is maybe the wrong word, I feel very little. It is more of an inconvenience, but I know the drill very well. We've had this conversation countless times before\".\n\n\"What....what do you mean, I've never...We've barely ever met!\" I loosened my tie a bit, It felt like it was strangling me slowly. I took a napkin from the cafeteria table, and wiped my forehead. I was sweating like a pig.\n\n\"Yes...indeed.\" the Devil said, and played effortlessly with his old vintage lighter. Opening and closing the lid, running it through his fingers like water or sand. \"That is how it was arranged. Eternal life will drive any human mind to the ground eventually, so I've kept wiping your memory every three decades for centuries. I wouldn't go through all these arrangements with just anybody, you are...special to me. I remember when I first laid my eyes on you. Countless times I have seen people smash in heads of infant babies and such, but you... You have a special talent for pure evil. You made a mother drown her own child to punish her husband. No violence, only words of pure poison. You spent months to break her mind, you even seduced her only to destroy her utterly. After she went mad and hung herself, her husband drank himself to death. And you even drank with him and stayed close to him, feeding on his bottomless despair and sorrow. Feeding on misery, that's your game, your fix. I've seen you do it in countless wars. As a guard in Auschwitz, in the fields of Cambodia, with a machete in Rwanda. You are my price stallion, and the contract stands. You sick basterd, I admire you so much.\" The devil sighed, and fished an envelope out from his long dark leather coat. \" Enough of this, I have a new mission for you. How would you like to start the next big war? A storm is brewing. The world is again ripe for our taking!\"", "It had been 2 years. 2 agonizingly long years of trying to contact Him. Abigail had succeeded the first time she'd tried, back in 2011. He'd appeared to her, a devilishly handsome man bedecked in a suave red suit. \n\nShe made a deal with the Devil, to get a job that would pay for her mother's hospital bills. Boy, had the Devil tricked her. She'd gotten the job alright - fast tracked her way into success. But now her mother was dead and she couldn't keep a steady job anymore.\n\nThen one early Saturday morning in November, He came again. \"Mary, Mary, we meet again,\" he said smoothly, giving her a grin that could make a pastor's daughter sin. \n\nMary steeled herself for what she needed to say, giving a deep breath. \"Our contract... The one we made when I was 17? I want to take it back.\" She said this all in one breath, closing her eyes and readying herself.\n\n\"Of course you do, you're what? A lawyer for two and a half years? I fast-tracked you. You were already a genius - smart, second year of college, when I got to you.\" \n\nNothing he said was a lie, and that's what made her mad. She could have gotten where she was now by herself - and maybe her mother wouldn't be six feet under where they now stood. But she was desperate. Saddled with debt. \n\n\"Anyway, did you really think that I, Lucifer, could be fought with the laws of man, Mary?\"\n\nHis shadow grew big, a hulking figure with horns and a bulbous tail, but all Mary could see were his eyes. \"Fine, you get your wish. The contract is over with. I now do not have to abide by those oh so strict rules.\"\n\n...\nThree hours later, a couple walked by what appeared to be an animalistic mauling. It was all in the newspaper: Genius Brutally Mauled by Unknown Animals. ", " The ground beneath me rumbled in fury. The glass of water at the end of my table crashed to floor, breaking into dozens of tiny shards. I looked over at my roommate, but I already knew she couldn’t feel any of it. This was just for me. At the foot of my bed, a dark shape was beginning to take form. I watched it with tired eyes as I slowly stood up to greet it. And Suddenly, there he was, back in the form that I first met him in. He was dressed in ripped jeans and a plain red sweater. His bare feet left scorch marks on the floor wherever he stepped. I would worry about cleaning that up later. Right now, I had business to take care of.\n“Hello Candice,” He said with a twisted smile. His voice was musical, soothing the first time I heard it, but now I could hear the malice behind it. That slight screech, like when a violinist accidentally scrapes the strings too hard.\n“Hello,” I replied, keeping my face straight. I had to show him I wasn’t afraid.\n“Do you know why I am here?” I nodded calmly.\n“You’re here to collect.” The Devil smiled warmly and holds out his hand in offering.\n“Shall we then?”\n“No.” His smile never faltered, but his outstretched hand crumpled into a fist.\n“No?” \n“The original agreement between us was made when I was only 13 years old, a minor. Therefore, legally speaking, it is not a valid contract.” His smile began to curl into a snarl. “You have no claim to my soul.”\n“You’ve gotten so clever over the past ten years, haven’t you?” I said nothing, not wanting to give him anything that could turn the odds back in his favour. “Your claim is that I have no right to your soul because the contract is invalid. Correct?” I nodded, cautiously. “Then I’m afraid the entire contract is invalid. I’ll have to take back what I gave you.” His eyes lit up, thinking he had won.\n“I thought you might say that,” I said as I reached over to my desk. I picked up a small stack of paper and handed it to him. “This is my new proposal.” I waited patiently while his eyes skimmed through the document. His one eyebrow raised in curiosity. When he finished reading, he raised his eyes to mine, looking excited. “Agreed?” I asked holding my hand out. His sly smile crawled back across his lips as he took my hand in his.\n“See you in ten years.” We shook hands, and just like that, he was gone. I crawled back into bed, already feeling the world shift with our new deal taking place. I smiled to myself as I crawled back in bed. Ten years was all I needed.\n", "You know, a week ago I never really thought I'd end up sitting in Contracts I as a 1L. Sure, me and the Devil had our deal, but can you ever really be sure he's gonna follow through? Or that you even made a deal with the bona-fide Devil anyway?\n\nThe deal I made never really manifested itself like some wish made to the genie from Aladdin. It just kind of melded together. Hell, I only ever applied to this school because I was drunk on a Sunday and the thought crossed my mind. Imagine my surprise when I got the email from the Admissions Council stating the school had admitted me - along with a note about a full scholarship. Surprise or not, my LSAT score fell right into the top quartile, and I had a good personal essay about my struggles. The same struggles that made me sign a contract with the Devil.\n\nTwo years ago, we learned about the difference between a void and voidable contract. You see, some contracts are just void from the get-go. Other's are voidable. A void contract isn't a contract at all. A voidable contract - like the one I made with Beezelbub when I was fifteen - is one that's real, but one party can walk away from. I can tell the Devil to pound sand!\n\nThat night, I opened up Word and typed a letter to the Devil, telling him I had learned contracts with minors were void, and I wanted out. I hadn't seen any proof the demon had helped me, I wasn't about to be stuck with this deal if I didn't have to. I just saved it to my desktop - how else do you contact a demon?\n\nToday, I got the thick, letter-size envelope from the Board of Law Examiners. Every bar sitter knows that back when you applied for colleges, a thin envelope meant a denial, a thick, letter-size envelope meant you were admitted. Well, folks, with the Board, it's the opposite. I didn't even need to, but I opened the letter anyway:\n\n> You have attained a score of 271 on the Uniform Bar Exam. This score is below the minimum passing score of 272. Please note that since your score was within ten percent of the passing score on this exam, your responses were already evaluated twice to ensure accuracy and no appeals from this result are possible. \n\nWell fuck me running. That night, after a long intervention with a bottle of Jack Daniels, I re-opened my letter to the Devil. In place of my text, I found this response:\n\n> The Second Restatement allows a minor to repudiate a contract except as to necessities, such as room and board, for which market value must be paid to the other party. You owe me seven years, mister.\n\nWell, fuck.", "\"Whose rules do you think we're playing by here? The US court's? The..\"\n\n\"But..\"\n\n\"No buts, mister: You sit and listen. What did you think was gonna happen? You'd come in here, hit me with some freshman law bullshit, and I'd be like \"noooo, oh noooo, Gary, you really got me, here, Gary..\"? Bitch I run a fucking business. You think you're the first to try this? When you signed in blood, you forsook the laws of men, which you would know if you weren't playing at being mr. lawyer man and actually knew how the world works\"\n\n\"No.. I..\"\n\n\"Gary I'm not going to tell you again. Here's how this is going to work: You're going to go out, find a nice innocent girl, put a baby in her, and after it's a few years old, I tell you the rest of the terms of the contract. You promised, Gary. Now be a good sport and go get laid, or do you need help with that, too?\"\n\n\"ok...\"", "CLEVER \nthe Devil deadpanned. \nYOU HAVE BESTED ME; PERHAPS MY NEXT PREY WILL NOT BE SO SMART \nYOUR SOUL IS SAFE FROM CHANGING HANDS \nhe continues as he vanishes in a puff of crimson smoke.\n\nThe Student exhaled an enormous sigh of relief as he did not think this to go over that well with the Devil himself.\n\nWith this burden off his conscience, the Student continues through law school, graduating summa cum laude and landing a paid internship at the prestigious law firm of Dewey, Cheetum, and Hao while he studies for the upcoming bar exam. Suffice to say, the Student passes with flying colors, practices law for years and years. He hardly ever loses a case and makes partner in half the expected time; everything is going swimmingly well.\n\nLate at night, 30 years later, the Student's swirling around a tumbler of Johnnie Walker Blue, slouched back in his Nappa leather recliner as the splintered logs in his stone fireplace crackle. Reflecting on his life, the Student is unable to believe how he stomached the acts he performed in some of his cases, let alone most of his cases. It seemed so surreal, was he the one who actually advocated for heinous criminals to be set free, unchanged in their ways, let loose once again to do their unspeakable deeds? No, those cases were simply the ones he had needed to succeed at to move forward in his career; if anything, it was the judge and the jury's fault for not finding his clients guilty. Yes, it was their burden, not his. \n\nThe Student finished off his glass, set it on the mahogany table adjacent to his recliner. He turned on his side and slightly curled into a half-ball. He didn't imagine he'd be getting much sleep tonight, it was slow-coming nowadays. The Student closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing...\n\nDO YOU FEEL FREE OF YOUR CONTRACT YET, MORTAL?\n \nThe Student opens his eyes with a start, adrenaline pumping. There, by the fireplace, stood the Devil. Understanding dawned on him... the words, they came back so easily, even after all these years. His soul wouldn't change hands because Devil laid claim to it when he made the contract. \n\nIT IS TIME.\n\nOh... Oh, God, he means it's time for my life to end, doesn't he? But I don't want to die, not yet! And yet, the Student felt relieved, as if a heavy boulder was lifted off his shoulders. Acceptance was reluctant and slow in coming, but he soon knew there was no escape from this. Not this. Never this. At least the Devil was accepting of him, surely God had no place for him at the gilded halls in the sky, not after the things he had done. He slowly got up out of his recliner and managed his way to his feet and looked the Devil straight in the eye.\n\nI AM READY, LUCIFER. THOUGH YOU OWN MY BLACKENED SOUL, I TAKE NOT SECOND SEAT TO ANYONE. I WAS UNPARALLELED IN LIFE, AS I WILL BE IN DEATH. COME, FATHER OF LIES, I AM EAGER TO SEE WHAT YOU HAVE IN STORE FOR ME, FOR SURELY IT CANNOT COMPARE TO WHAT I EXPERIENCED IN THE LIVING WORLD.\n\nThey strolled into the fireplace, not as master/slave, but as equals. The Devil chuckled to himself with a slight shake of his head. With such a headstrong recruit, He would finally, at long last, have his eternal rest, his work complete.", "\"You really think that you can just weasel out of a contract because you were a minor when you signed it?\" asked Satan.\n\n\"I was young. I didn't have the full capacity to know what I was doing when I signed it,\" I replied.\n\nSatan rolled his eyes at me, but I wasn't giving up.\n\n\"Listen, I said. \"Everybody knows that you can't enforce a contract on a minor. So I demand an arbitration.\"\n\n\"Ha! Well,\" the Devil \"said smugly, \"we'll have your little arbitration, but it won't help. I got news for you, sonny... I happen to have the world's foremost expert in weaselling out of contracts on staff working for me now. He's here to make sure people like you don't get away with things like this.\"\n\n\"I'll take my chances in arbitration,\"I said confidently.\n\n\"Suit yourself,\" Satan said with a smile, turning to the back room and cupping his hands to his mouth before shouting:\n\n\"TRUMP! Get your ass in here!\"", "The man sat cross-legged on the file cabinet, cloven feet dangling, while he fussed with his cufflinks with thin, dark fingers. Smiling, he surveyed the small room. The smoke had mostly cleared, but the ceiling was still singed and everything (except for him) was covered in a thin layer of ash. He spotted a pentacle on the far side of the room, almost completely buried, near the windows.\n\n\"What's that for?\"\n\nCassie glared at him from her position on the floor, sitting cross-legged in a circle of salt, wiping ash from her face with the sleeve of her once-white sweater. She stood up slowly, taking care not to knock over the candles, and set the binder with the ritual on her desk.\n\n\"The internet said you'd be trapped in it,\" she said, trying not to react to the sharp sulfur stink overwhelming her office.\n\n\"Well then,\" said the man, leaping down from his perch and straightening his tie, careful not to scrape the ceiling tiles with his horns. \"I suppose you can't believe everything you read.\"\n\n\"It still got you here. Although it didn't say you'd make such a mess.\"\n\n\"It's 2016. You could have tried Facebook.\" He made a gesture with his hand and the ash trembled, before rushing beneath him to form a plush, high-backed chair. \"Finding me has never been the hard part. People tend to struggle with what comes after.\" He grinned wider.\n\nThe stench grew stronger, and Cassie coughed. This must be what the incense and lavender was for. She scanned the room hopefully, but realized they must have been blown behind a pile of papers or buried under the ash. They certainly hadn't been burned.\n\n\"Can you cool it with that smell?\" \n\n\"Oh, absolutely,\" he said.\n\nAfter a moment, the stink became even more unbearable, notes of must and fresh shit breaking through the constant assault. She glowered at him (while trying desperately not to inhale) while he smiled back at her impassively. Finally, she gave in.\n\n\"Stop it with the fucking smell,\" she said, still trying to hold her breath.\n\n\"And to think you're a lawyer,\" he said, snapping his fingers. The scent slowly began to relent. \"Well, an intern, I suppose. I forgot that they made offices this small. Still, if you're not more careful...\" He turned to look at the scorched ceiling. \"...this isn't going to go well for you.\"\n\nLike I don't know that. But it's not going to go any better if I let you keep my soul.\n\n\"Well then, you might not be aware of this, but I'm actually a very busy man. I assume you've called to discuss our previous arrangement, unless you've found another soul to sell since then.\" He snapped his fingers and a shower of sparks burst into life above the desk, stretching into tiny bits of paper, falling flash by flash into the form of a faintly glowing document. A familiar, lacy signature lurked in dried-blood brown at the bottom of the page.\n\n\"Yes,\" she said, steeling herself. \"That.\"\n\n\"Well, let's see...\" he said, picking up the paper. A pair of thin-framed glasses had appeared on his face. \"Hmm..., I, Cassie Anderson, hereby swear, blah blah blah, immortal soul, blah blah blah, to be paid at the time of my death in exchange for services rendered. It's standard stuff, very straight-forward. What's the problem?\"\n\n\"I was fourteen! Minors can't legally consent to contracts. Especially not contracts like this!\"\n\n\"Ah. Yes, that's an excellent point. I suppose you can hardly call that fair.\" He pointed at the paper and it tore apart into a thousand burning scraps, which flared and disappeared. \"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?\"\n\nCassie stood stone-faced, trying to hide her surprise. \"It's really just as easy as that?\"\n\n\"It was very easy for me to do that. My favorite thing about my position is having the flexibility to do as I please.\" he said, rising from his chair, which collapsed back into ash. His suit was still immaculate. \"And I enjoyed doing that a great deal. This may surprise you, but I put a lot of stock into law. When it becomes clear to me that something, such as our arrangement, is unfair, I feel that it's my duty to do something. And after all, there are plenty of real sinners out there in the world. I don't need to be a penny-pincher. Now, if our discussion is complete, I think I'll take my leave. I am a very busy man.\"\n\n\"Wait, can you do something about all this ash before you go?\"\n\n\"Oh, absolutely\", he said, and then vanished in a puff of foul smoke. ", "\"...and that is why contracts signed by minors aren't legally binding\" says Mr Dogboner.\n\n \"Holy shit that's amazing!\" Shouted Thomas in the middle of the lecture theatre.\n Silence as the class awkwardly stares at him. \n\n\"What thomas?\" Asks Dogboner. \n\n\"Nothing! You wouldn't understand!\" Thomas replies as he sprints out of the hall. The rest of the class and Dogboner just assume he's mentally retarded and carry on without him. Meanwhile Thomas is calling the devil to tell him his good news\n\n. ring ring\n\n\"Hello, it's me Satan, how may I help you?\" Asks Satan. \n\"The contract for my soul isn't legally binding haha you bastard!\" Squeals Thomas with tears of joy squirting out of his eyes.\n\"Shut the fuck up retard the laWS of man don't apply to me you dumb shit\" laughs the devil.\n\nFIN.", "QUESTION 3, PART 1:\n\nBilly sells his soul to the Devil when he is eight, asking that he be made to look much cooler than his cousin Brad, for the rest of his life. The Devil gives him seven days to think upon the matter, and, furthermore, shows him the educational children’s program he had commissioned for just this sort of situation. It is a very clearly understandable cartoon about a girl named Sally, who sells her soul to the devil for a new dress, and burns in Hell forever when she dies. When Billy becomes a first year law student, at the age of 26, he tries to argue that the contract he signed as a minor should not be enforced.\n\nDiscuss. \n\nContracts signed by minors are voidable; however, as Billy is now 26, it is most probable that the court would decide that a reasonable period of time has now passed since he reached the age of majority, and the contract is now enforceable. This approach is to be commended, as it upholds the principle of certainty, which is a fundamental aspect of the English Law of Contract, and is, indeed, one of the reasons why cross-border deals are often carried out via contracts that have been specified to be made under the jurisdiction of English Law.\n\n\nQUESTION 3, PART 2\n\nBilly tries to strike a deal with the Devil to save his own soul. He makes a sacrifice of a pigeon, and swears to the Devil that he will receive his firstborn child’s soul, in lieu of his own, if he spares Billy. The Devil makes no reply. Billy then makes another sacrifice, this time of a goat, making the same offer. This time the goat disappears inside the bloody pentagram that Billy has drawn, but the Devil still does not reply.\n \nDiscuss. \n\n\nThese facts can be construed in two ways - first, as the attempted formation of a second contract, or the assignment of the first contract to Billy’s son. \n\n\nWe will first discuss whether or not a new contract has been formed. \n\n\nContracts do not have to be written; therefore, Satanic rituals can be considered a valid type of contract. In order for a legally binding contract to have been formed, there must have been offer, acceptance, and consideration. \n\n\nWe can see that Billy made a clear offer to the Devil; the question, therefore, is whether the Devil accepted his offer. In the first sacrifice, no answer came. As per the principle established in Felthouse v Bindley, silence does not amount to acceptance. However, in the second sacrifice, the goat disappeared. Therefore, it could be argued that the Devil did indeed accept. \n\n\nWe must then move on to the question of consideration. Consideration must be something of value. The soul of Billy’s son can indeed be seen as a form of executory consideration, as the value of consideration need not be monetary, and, indeed, can be determined by the parties. As mentioned in Chappell v. Nestlé , even a “peppercorn” can be sufficient. Therefore, consideration is present, and it could be argued that all the conditions required for the formation of a contract are present. \n\n\nHowever, it is most likely that the court would declare this contract unenforceable, as it seems to be in violation of public policy (Wyatt v. Kreglinger). Allowing parents to sell their children’s souls to the devil would certainly cause a great deal of public harm.\n\n\nAs to the alternate interpretation of the facts as an assignment of Billy’s original contract, to his son, this argument would probably fail before the court - again, because it violates the principle of public policy. \n\n\nQUESTION 3: PART 3\n\nBilly marries and has a child named Bob. When Bob is five years old, Billy summons the Devil and tells the Devil that his son, Bob, would like to trade his soul to the Devil, in return for Billy's soul. The Devil asks Bob if this is true. Bob replies that he would indeed like to give the Devil his soul, in return for his father’s soul, because his father has threatened to beat him savagely if he doesn’t. A new document is created, and signed.\n\nDiscuss.\n\n\nThere is a prima facie contract here, as Bob evidently understands the contract he is entering into, due to his father’s thorough explanations. However, it is highly unlikely that the courts would enforce this new contract. Not only is Bob under the age of seven, and therefore protected by the legal presumption that he does not understand the terms to which he is agreeing, it is also clear that undue influence is being exerted on Bob, by his father Billy. \n\n\nQUESTION 3: PART 4\n\nWhen Bob turns sixteen, he realizes the gravity of what his father has done, with his soul. Unfortunately, since he has not yet gone to law school, he does not realize that his soul is probably safe. They have an argument in which Billy screams, “You little shit, I’m going to kill you if you try to get out of this.” Bob grabs a baseball bat and beats his father to a pulp, and his father is hospitalized with lacerations, broken bones, and a severe concussion.\n\nDiscuss two scenarios, one where Billy lives, and one where Billy dies.\n\n\nThis question seems to belong on a Criminal Law exam, not a Contracts exam. Therefore, the answer to this question will be brief, as I am assuming it is for extra credit. Possible convictions for Bob are for grievous bodily harm, attempted murder, or murder of varying degrees. Points of discussion would include whether or not Bob reasonably believed his life was in danger, in order for the provocation defense to succeed, and whether or not the mens rea for attempted murder was present. ", "\"First year law students,\" the devil sighed. \"A semester of studying, and they think they know everything.\" It squatted in the middle of the dorm room, its skin shaven bare but for patches of thick, curly fur, clinging to him like patches of pubes. Its claws came together and spontaneously bled from the cuticles, the blood coalescing into a shape, a glistening floating fruit. \"Haven't you heard the saying?\" It lifted up the blood fruit and closed its jaws on it with a sickening pop. \"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.\" \n\n\"I wouldn't -\" Warren started, turning back from his desk. There was a sour knot tying itself in his stomach, and his hands were sweaty. \"It's not that I'm - but it's true, isn't it? Even in Christianity. You can't hold children responsible for contracts. They're not capable of understanding.\" He ran a hand through his own brown curls. \"I mean, I'm not - I don't think this is a get out of jail free card or anything, but -\" \n\n\"But you're ungrateful, is that it?\" the devil said, rising and trotting around the room, circling in from the side. Its red tongue lolled out. Its teeth gleamed. \"After all I've done for you, my boy, getting you into Harvard, making sure you're top of your class.\" Ribs shifted beneath the shaven skin, hiding something hollow, gaunt. It shifted forward and its voice rose into a bark. \"Would this thought have occurred to you, Warren, had I not placed you here to begin with?!\" \n\n\"No!\" said Warren, wincing. His hands groped on the desk for something to cling to, and seized onto a pen. He bent it nervously between his fingers, straining the plastic. \"I know! I know! I've - Oh god I know what I've done to get here,\" he said in a rush. \"It's just -\" \n\nThe devil waited, head erect. \"Just what, Warren? Just what?\" \n\n\"It's true,\" Warren said, letting the pen drop. There was a cold numbness shooting through his fingertips, a sense of finality. \"Whether I get out of it or not. It's true. I didn't know. I couldn't have known.\" \n\nThe devil stretched its long neck, bored. \"Oh, my boy, I would have expected better from you than this.\" \n\n\"I was eight years old,\" Warren said, ignoring the devil, his eyes misting in remembrance. \"I was playing in the garden, and there was a rustle in the rosebushes, and there you were. A devil in the rosebushes, trying to get free, curly hair tangled in every thorn, so black it almost hurt to look at you. And you-\" He blinked, stammered. \"It was like Moses and the burning bush.\" \n\n\"Bible stories,\" said the devil between its teeth. \n\n\"Like Moses and the burning bush!\" Warren insisted. \"A bush that burned and didn't burn. That would never be consumed. And you were in the bush and struggling and biting and tearing at it and the bush was always still whole, and so ... \" He swallowed down air. \"I took off my shoes. And I went over. And I hid my face and you were snarling and barking and all these words in my head that I didn't understand, not really, and -You told me I could have everything I wanted. Everything I ever wanted.\" \n\nThe devil crept closer, laid its head in Warren's unresisting lap, looked up at him with clouded white eyes. \"And I've given it to you.\" \n\nWarren burst to his feet, kicked out, and the devil went scampering back, grinning. \"I didn't understand!\" Warren yelled. \"They told me about the burning bush in Bible studies. They told me about sin! But nobody told me about the Devil in a burning bush, with eyes and teeth and fur, and pricking my finger on a thorn and letting the blood run down the branch and - and -\" He bent over, hyperventilated. \"It's not fair,\" he whispered. \n\n\"Oh, poor baby,\" said the devil, light on its feet, skipping around him, lips drawn back over its teeth. \"Tell me again of the man who made a deal with the devil for unimaginable power and success, and tell me again that life isn't fair.\" \n\n\"Kids don't understand,\" Warren said. \"Why me? You could - you could offer a magic wish to every single child in the world, and they'd all take it, because they wouldn't know what they were doing!\" He straightened up, clenched his fists. \"I'll do it! I'll fight you for it! You love contracts, huh? Where's the - Show me the contract! Find someone who'll fucking enforce a contract with an eight-year-old kid!\" \n\n\"Oh, Warren,\" the devil said, and rose. Its vertebrae snapped, reset into place, its head rising to Warren's level. Warren swallowed, took a step back. The devil stepped forward on two legs, spreading out its front limbs invitingly. Its head angled down, looking Warren in the eye. \n\n\"D-Don't-\" Warren said, and stumbled back. \n\n\"You're a poor sport,\" it said, claws patting him on his shoulder, \"and a poorer lawyer. Should have studied harder, boy, and not relied on your pet devil to pass your tests for you.\" The devil grinned, its head set at an odd angle, the teeth climbing up both sides of its face. \"Contracts with minors can be valid, but they're voidable, my boy, meaning that you could have broken it at your discretion.\" Its claw crept down his arm, feeling the goosebumps beneath the fabric. \"However, once you hit the age of legality, and did nothing to cancel the contract in a reasonable amount of time, it became binding and enforceable.\" \n\nWarren tried to breathe, sucked in the scent of the devil's matted hair, its stagnant breath. He shoved forward, hands tangling in the fur, feeling the ribs underneath, and only succeeded in knocking himself backwards. He stumbled over his own feet and collapsed on the floor. \"No!\" he screamed, scrambling backwards. \"I was a kid! Every child in the world would have made the same deal! It's not fair! It's not fair!\" \n\n\"Oh, Warren,\" the devil said, and loomed above him, a dead pale tree tangled with storm clouds. \"I've made this deal with every child in the world, whether they remember it or not. I've been a biting bush, I've been a beam of light, I've been a whisper in their ear. And they've bled for me like their mothers bled for me, they've pledged their souls to me, the little sociopathic blighters. They've vowed to cast aside their families for another slice of cake, a bright and shiny toy. But you know what the difference with you is, Warren? You know why you're special?\" The head loomed down, an enormous bare skull. \"You're one of the few who held up your end of the bargain.\" The grin was enormous. \"All those years, since you were eight years old, and you never once rejected me, you never once repented, until you thought you'd found a loophole to get out of it! You never voided the contract!\" \n\n\"No,\" said Warren, in a tiny voice. \"I - I -\" He looked around him, at the lush and well-stocked dorm room, looked down at his own hands. \"I didn't ...\" \n\nThe devil dropped to all fours, resumed its normal size, leaned forward and licked Warren on the cheek. \"There's nothing to worry about, my boy. You have done for me and so I shall do for you. You will have success, and power, beyond your wildest dreams. I honor my contracts. But one last thing, my boy, one last favor on your end ...\" The devil turned to leave, and Warren numbly touched the wet spot on his cheek. The devil looked over its shoulder as it bled back into the floorboards. \"There's only so much I can do for you, Warren! For god's sake, the next time you think you've spotted a legal loophole, at least check to make sure you've got it right!\" " ]	16
	[WP] You are a WW1 soldier who has realized the true meaning of war and that it will never end. You are writing your last letter home.	[ "Dear Mom:\n\nToday I think I saw the worst of humanity. Today may have been the day of the armistice, but I feel that there can never be peace, not after what I saw today.\nCaptain Gooding had us go and leave the trench at 10:45 this morning. 15 minutes before the supposed armistice was to be signed. Gooding had always had a sort of blood lust against the Germans. I don't know why. He didn't even like me due to my last name among other things, saying I was a hyphenated american papist who probably wanted the \"Krauts\" to win. The sad thing was that today in order to prove him wrong I not only followed orders, I went above and beyond. I killed some poor German boy probably only 16 or so in the trench eating a late breakfast. I then went on to slaughter a bunch more a few feet away and kept going. I knew it wasn't worth anything. We were going to win the war. We were going to finish our goal. But why did we have to keep going when we'd passed the finish line? That's what sickened me. To me this was like kicking a mean old dog who already was inches from death. Yet because of folks like Gooding and those searching for vainglory we had to keep going. I mean we lost 5 men on this charge and why? Just so we could kick them in the teeth more?\n\nIn all honesty mom I don't think that I want to come home. Sure some men may call me a hero or at least a good soldier but i'm not. Soldiers are not good or bad but nearly tools used by the elites to wage war. I don't know what i'll do, but I do not think I will head home to North Dakota. I don't think i'll even get on the boat. Who knows what i'll do. All I know is that I don't want to go home to a country that celebrates such actions." ]	1
	[WP] Okay then. You've purchased yourself another half hour of life.	[ "I’m going to let you in on a secret, a big secret, one defining bit of truth that you no one else will tell you…humans are separate from robots thanks to one and only one defining trait, our emotions. You see the machines, they just see the world and they just see the numbers, but humans, we can see the colours and the depths, we can see each other and we can feel in no way ever replicated by a machine. That won’t ever exist, we are superior in only one way to our mechanic brothers and it won’t ever be intelligence, or adaption, or development…it’ll be the way we feel and how we perceive the world thanks to our emotions.\n\nSo why not delve into our brand new range of emotion amplifiers, we have everything available here from Anger to Despair, Embarrassment to Lust and beyond. You won’t find a better range of emotions than Emota Shakes, available only at Mega Stores…drink up human!\n\nThere’s no such thing as nervous anymore, not unless you want to feel nervous. Danny had been standing in the rain for the past hour and the club’s line had not gotten any shorter in that time, it was a very popular club that was well known for bringing around the attention of only the most stupid hot of the fairer sex.\n\nDanny was interested in that, most every man was interested in that and this time he had come prepared. The bottle in his hand now was not an uncommon one; every guy in the line had one of a type in their hand, albeit of different varieties. The label was a pale blue, there was no ingredient information, no expiry date at the bottom and you couldn’t even see the contents of the inside through the label, it just had one big word written across it’s front, ‘COURAGE.’\n\nDanny hadn’t drunk any yet but he knew as soon as he did his nerves would disappear and he would have the courage to go and speak to the women inside. Outside in the line, men were drinking their drinks ranging in different colours, from LUST to JEALOUSY and CALM. \n\nThen out of the corner of his eyes he saw a woman, a beautiful and attractive blonde woman in a blue flowery dress enter the club through the women’s entrance, she was surrounding by a gathering of her close friends whom all were laughing at her jokes and smiling along with her. He wanted her, desperately, how could he pull a woman like that. \n\nDanny pulled off the cap and devoured the liquid inside the bottle in one gulp, courage oddly tasted a fair bit like banana, and his worry vanished in an instant as if it were never there. Danny was going to get an attractive lady to come home with him tonight, he could fell the rush of courage flow through him, enticing him into the club, turning him into a hunter into a lion that could not fail to please the opposite sex. \n\n“E-excuse me…” Danny turned, a pale man in a large coat stood before him and the other men in the line, “Would y-you fellas like some despair, or maybe some regret?”\n\n“Get out of here you fucking togger!” exclaimed one man, throwing an empty bottle at this seller. The man fled from the line but not before something fell from his coat, rolling over to my foot. No one had caught it, Danny was sure and without hesitation he dropped the empty courage on the floor and picked this new one up. It was SUBMIT, a highly illegal negative emotion, how had that man gotten his hands on this?\n\nThe line started moving; the club was now open and filled with lovely ladies. Danny snuck the bottle inside of his jacket and moved towards the bouncer. This robotic ape gave him the once over and handed him a leaflet before allowing Danny inside the now booming music filled club, it was a leaflet for free shots of TIPSY, he tucked it away with SUBMIT.\n\nThe music was loud, so loud he couldn’t think and he was instantly greeted by a tending mechanical machine, a humanoid looking robot with an apron and a tray, “Can I serve you this evening?”\n\nDanny handed him the leaflet and in a few seconds the machine had made a couple of shots of TIPSY…Danny grabbed both of them and headed to the back of the club, where the women were. With an absence of FEAR and REPREHENSION, men were fawning all over the women in the back, asking for numbers, trying to get them home and buying them shots of TIPSY.\n\nThe attractive blonde with the blue flowers sat at the back, he did some mental calculations in his head. The effects of the drink would last about 30 minutes before he’d need another one, every emotion worked that way, he’d have to hurry over since he had taken his drink just outside the club and didn’t have any refills.\nDanny chugged one of the shots, then he reached into his pocket for SUBMIT…it was a curious feeling then, like another emotion trying to break out but all he could feel was the COURAGE running through his veins, he was confident this would work and he’d do anything to get with her. But would he do this normally, he wondered, or was this the drink taking over his nerves, he knew this wasn’t the right thing to do but he was so confident now and tipsy.\n\nDanny poured SUBMIT into the empty shot glass and moved to her, he smiled confidently, “I saw you outside, would you like a drink?”\n\n“Sure,” she smiled, Danny handed over SUBMIT and she eyed it at first before taking it back, “Yummy.”\n\n“How do you feel?” Danny asked curiously.\n\n“I feel good thanks,” she said.\n\n“Would you like to fuck me?” he asked.\n\n“Yeah sure,” she replied. \n\nTogether they made their way to the pristine bathrooms, found and empty stall and proceed to ravage each other. Danny was blown away but his courage made it all the easier, it was honestly the best shag of his life and he came out of the stall feeling good about himself.\n\nAnd then the courage faded, it had been a half hour, a new emotion rose up in its place, one Danny knew all too well. He felt GUILTY and turned back to the woman, she was still under the affects of SUBMIT, he had put that on her for a quick round of sex in the club bathroom. Now he was sure he would have never done something like this if given the choice…the COURAGE had made him do it.\n\nShe’d be back to normal in minutes, his career, his family, his home life flashed before his eyes…he’d go to prison for using illegal emotions, he’d never be able to live life normally again, all of the accusing gazes and hate from his former friends…he couldn’t let that happen, he wouldn’t.\n\n“G-Get up,” he turned to her and she did so, still under the power of SUBMIT, “Follow me and don’t talk to anyone.”\n\nDanny ran with her through the club, pushing past the robotic bartenders and other patrons until they were outside again, standing in the cold hard rain. Searching desperately he found him, the man in the trench coat and rushed to speak with him as the woman struggled to keep up, still vowing to follow.\n\n“I need FORGET,” he said, “Do you have FORGET?”\n\n“N-no,” he whispered.\n\n“Please, I’ve made a terrible mistake, you must have something?”\n\nThe man in the trench coat looked to the woman behind him and grinned, Danny knew he could tell what she had been drinking in that club, “Funny thing emotions are aren’t they?”\n\n“What!?”\n\n“There’s a reason why robots don’t have them mate,” he said and pulled a shot from his jacket, the man placed it in Danny’s hands refusing to them him seeing it, keeping his hands above it, “They control us, make us do things we wouldn’t normally do, especially when its an emotion we’re not too used to feeling. Robots don’t ever need them, why would they, truth is it would ruin them.”\n\nHe removed his hand, Danny read the label as LIFE, “What does it do?”\n\n“What all the other emotions make you do,” he replied, “You feel it for a while and then you stop feeling it, this one is quite rare but it’ll solve your problem.”\n\n“How much?”\n\n“200,000 credits.”\n\nDanny transferred the credits, he turned to her with the bottle in hand and he could see she was starting to come around again, the effects of SUBMIT were wearing off, “Here drink this!”\n\nShe did so and the man in the trench coat grinned, Danny to watched her come to, watched her scream and remember everything he had done to her under the SUBMIT, she ran off to the club and Danny chased her. He grabbed and pulled her into an alley as she screamed through his hand.\n\n“I’m sorry,” he kept moaning, “I’m so sorry.”\n\nIt was all he could say for the half an hour until the effects were off, that’s when the man in the trench coat appeared again as he sobbed over the young woman.\n“Okay then,” the man handed over another bottle of life once the transaction had completed, “You’ve purchased another half hour of life.”\n\nYou see SUBMIT was free, but LIFE was costly\n\n" ]	1
	[wp] A man is born with a strange power- He can see when people are going to die. One day, on a crowded train, he notices something peculiar. Everyone will die in 5 minutes. It is up to him to stop this fate.	[ "I’m tired. I’m tired of everyday being a tragedy for me. Seeing families waiting to be torn apart by some truck driver who will fall asleep at the wheel, a child who’s unknowingly on his way to his last day of school, I’m just so fucking tired of it all. I tried to help when I first got this ability, warning people of the impending danger they are unaware of. Time is obdurate. This ability I have, if you want to call it that, is the biggest tease in the history of man. I have the ability to see death, to see imminent tragedy, but no power to stop it. \n\t\nIt had been 13 years since I had this ability, this curse. I’ve become a recluse from time and life, avoiding the outside world as much as I could. But the truth was, there was no escaping the reality around me. I was surrounded by tragedy. It felt like it followed me, but I knew better. I have tried to close my eyes to what I saw, but it was no use. Looking away from a mother holding her child for the last time, I’d just turn to see a father whose last words to his kid were about to be “please be quiet, I’m on the phone.” I’m just so fucking tired of it all. \n\t\nYou would think that after 13 years of being surrounded by nothing but death that I’d be used to the concept of it by now. You’d be right. I saw death more than I saw life. Or maybe more so, my life was fully consumed by death. I had learned tricks to cope, if that’s the right word. Whenever in crowded places I’d sit with my eyes closed, careful to never open them even for a second, for fear of glimpsing another family that won’t be having dinner tonight, or a lover who’s last goodbye kiss was going to be far more permanent than either of them knew. It was this trick that saved me on the train that day.\n\t\n“Sir, do you mind if I sit there? I’m pregnant, sorry to be a bother!” \n\n\tIt startled me out of my depressive trance, forcing my eyes open. I looked up to see her massive belly inches from my face. I surveyed down the train car, hoping to see another empty seat available. I didn’t see an open seat, but I did see something beautiful. Beautiful to me at least, any normal person would be horrified. But like I said, I’m so tired. \n\t\nMy ability manifests itself in some ambiguous additional sense, like an additional form of sight. I’ll see shadowy outlines of people, the darker the shadow the sooner their death. It’s as if their own shadow is enveloping them, waiting to take them in its arms and return to the ground. At first it horrified me, the darkness surrounding everyone. Truthfully, it still does, but with repetition, all things seem normal. It did until that train ride at least. \n\n\tTo my left, filling up the entirety of the back half of the car, I saw a near pitch black outline of every person. The type of outline I see on people just moments before they’re struck down by some drunk. In front of me, the pregnant lady still stood, looking down in anticipation of me getting up. Around her wasn’t even the faintest view of a shadow. She had a long life ahead of her. Around her huge belly, a blackness so dark and think that it seemed entirely devoid of any light glowed. The woman was healthy, happy even, but her baby was already dead. \n\n\tI smiled to her, feeling the pain she’d soon feel and carry with her forever, entirely in that single instant. I stood up, moved aside for her to sit down, and headed towards the back of the train. Leaning against the door, I closed my eyes. I’m so tired. \n\t \n", "The train was quiet. Not the morning quietness of a hundred tired souls going to work. This was the exhaustion of people who'd had enough of another dreary day. Get home, eat food, make love if they were lucky, and sleep it off until the next day.\n\nThe doors slid open and the crush let up as the first mass of people got off. The woman who'd had her heel dug into my foot for the last five miles moved away and I tried to wriggle some life back into my toes.\n\nI looked up at her and felt the stab, deep against the back of my eyes. The number wasn't visible. The same way a line could look like a charades-esque rendition of a deep fat fryer, I saw her and saw the number of her life.\n\nA five.\n\nI wanted to stand, but a cyclist moved down the aisle. His bike was muddy from the rain, leaving a trail behind him as he went. I went to grab his attention and saw it again, the same shape. His number was up too.\n\nHe bumped against a businessman in a suit. An angry discussion ensued, and I watched. Two fives talking. Someone else told them to keep it down. More fives.\n\nMy chest hurt, the sting of holding my breath but I knew the moment I opened my mouth I'd throw up.\n\nThe entire carriage. Everyone I saw. They stood and sat and perched themselves, a five in everyone of their forms. The emergency alarm was above the doors. If I could...\n\n\"Wait.\"\n\nHe was sitting beside me. I couldn't tell if he'd been there the entire time or if I'd only just noticed him, but now I noticed the arm across my chest.\n\n\"I have to stop the train,\" I said with a voice on the verge of panic.\n\n\"You don't have to.\"\n\n\"If I don't these people are going to die.\"\n\n\"Exactly. You don't have to do anything. You have a choice.\"\n\n\"But they'll die.\"\n\n\"Of course. She will die in the arms of her wife at the grand old age of ninety-seven,\" he said, nodding at the woman in heels. \"Where as he will be dead by the end of the week when a lorry cuts a corner. Horrible death.\"\n\nThe shapes were changing even as he spoke, the soft five turning to a harder four. I went to rise again, but his arm was like steel.\n\n\"Let me go.\"\n\n\"Not until you see it,\" he whispered back, anger in his voice.\n\n\"See what?\"\n\n\"The numbers don't add up.\"\n\n\"You're not making any sense.\"\n\n\"And you're not looking hard enough.\"\n\n\"We're running out of time.\"\n\n\"We're not.\"\n\nI looked at him. Looked at his face, the way he sat. Everything I could see and take in. The digits spilled through my head.\n\n\"Like looking in a mirror,\" he said. I wanted to wipe the smile off his face. \"You're going to survive this.\"\n\n\"But they won't.\"\n\nThe numbers had hit three.\n\n\"No. But he,\" the stranger said, pointing once more at the cyclist, \"won't get drunk on the weekend after he gets back. He won't think it's a good idea to cycle home. And he won't cut up the car that she's driving. It's a beautiful equation, speed and circumstance and a beer garden full of drinkers.\"\n\n\"He'll kill someone?\"\n\n\"The numbers don't lie.\"\n\n\"But he's going to die now unless I stop it.\"\n\n\"I'm telling you this now, because you need to understand it. You've just been seeing the numbers, helping where you can, if you can at all. But you're not seeing the big picture.\"\n\nI watched as the minutes ticked away. A two above every persons head, and slowly it was morphing towards the final minute.\n\n\"What big picture?\" I asked quietly.\n\n\"If you start taking numbers away, you leave an unbalanced equation. A mathematical impossibility. Nature strives for equilibrium.\"\n\nThe seconds ticked down.\n\n\"And if I let them die?\"\n\nHe smiled. We entered a tunnel, the train kicking up sparks.\n\n\"Then you can rebalance the equation. You can take from one side and add to the other.\"\n\nI turned to look at him as the overhead lights flickered on and off. The train was picking up speed. Too much speed.\n\n\"You did this,\" I said.\n\n\"When you make it through this and see your own number, a little bit higher than it was when you looked in the mirror this morning, you'll understand why.\"\n\n\"You're stealing their time!\" I spat. My hands gripped the seat. The passengers around us were starting to shout.\n\n\"I'm just balancing the equation,\" he said.\n\nThe numbers flickered out and the people with them. I watched him, thrown through the air.\n\nAnd I saw the shape of his own number grow." ]	2
	[WP] Your beloved pet turns into a human.	[ "\"Oh, that's a beautiful dog.\" Ace tugged at his leash as the woman admired him, her graying hair falling into her face as she leaned forward to pet him. \"What breed is he?\"\n\n\nI forced a smile as he strained against my hold and this stranger touched my dog without permission. Lucky for her, he was friendly. \"He's a border collie.\"\n\n\n\"Oh,\" Exclaimed the woman with a laugh, as Ace sniffed and licked at her hand. \"He's just gorgeous. I love his eye.\" Between the contrast of his black and white coat and his heterochromatic, brown and blue eyes, he made for a striking picture. \n\n\n\"Thank you.\" I answered. \"He's my best friend.\"\n\n\nThe woman smiled broadly, in a way that wasn't entirely unlike a shark. \"Best friend? Really?\" Her own face was friendly but her eyes were not, and there was something predatory about her teeth and mouth. It gave me the creeps. I nodded. \n\n\n\"Interesting. And how old?\"\n\n\nI hesitated for a second. Why did she care? Misgivings about her demeanor aside, it seemed rude not to answer. I shrugged. \"About four or so. We celebrated his birthday three or four months ago. Made him a little cake and everything.\"\n\n\nThere was that too broad smile again. \"Oh, how sweet. How absolutely-- I wonder...\" She trailed off. \"Ah, don't mind me. Ramblings of an old lady. I'm off to the store, love. Have a wonderful rest of your day.\" With that, she hurried down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Whatever. That was weird. Ace's tail wagged eagerly as he watched her wander off. Sometimes, he was too friendly for his own good.\n\n\nAce and I completed our walk; it was a gorgeous day and our encounter with the odd woman was soon out of both our minds. We went to the dog park and played fetch until my arm was sore, and then headed home for lunch (me) and a bone (him). Summer was drawing to a close. Even the warm, Texas sunshine couldn't last forever, I suppose. The sun set shortly after 8, and I crawled into bed around 11. Ace jumped up next to me, tucking his head into his tail as he curled up on himself. His breathing slowed, and before I knew it, we were both asleep.\n\n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n\n\nSomething didn't feel right. I don't know how I knew it, but I couldn't just feel something was off as I slowly opened my eyes. Groggily, I checked the clock next to my bed. 1:47 AM. I didn't have to be up until 7:30, so usually I woke up a few minutes before my alarm shouted me awake. Why was I up now?\n\n\nHeavy blackout curtains lined my window, owing to me living next to a main road and my sensitivity to light. But even still, a small amount always crept in. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, the bit of light from my window subtly illuminating the foot of my bed. I yawned and flipped to the other side. \n\n\nI screamed and shot up, fumbling for my bedside lamp and knocking it over in the process of turning it on. I leaped from beneath my covers over the edge of my bed, cowering in fear at the side. \"Who are you?\" I demanded, my voice shaking. \"I have my phone. I'm calling the cops.\" \n\n\nA stranger sat on the opposite side of my bed, the side closest to the only door (and escape) in the room. His black hair was tousled a bit, as if he had been sleeping, too. He turned to me. Whatever angry words had been about to leave my mouth died at my lips. \n\n\nIt was a man who appeared to be in his mid to late-20s. His left eye was blue, an icy color that matched the sky on a cold, clear day. The right eye was brown, a dark brown that nearly matched the color of his pupil. Both eyes were wide; fearful, even. I hesitated, my finger hovering above the '9' on the screen. I realized Ace wasn't in the room as the good-looking stranger frowned slightly, his forehead creasing with worry.\n\n\n\"Where's- where's Ace?\" I asked.\n\n\nThe man looked down at legs, which I saw were wrapped in one of my towels. \"Uh.\" Like a nervous tic, he began to scratch mindlessly at his ear. \"Hi, Genevieve. It's me.\"\n\n\nMy mouth opened and closed several times. There was no reason I should believe him, but I knew in my heart that what he was about to say was true. I would know my best friend anywhere. \n\n\nThe man grinned sheepishly as I set down my phone. \"No way.\"\n\n\n\"It's me, Ace.\"\n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n\nI feel like this could go on but IDK. ~shrug~ lol.\n\n\n\n\n\n", "The dog barked. “Jeesus, it’s 5 am, what the hell does he want now” Jeff said while putting on his silk morning robe. He passed the kitchen, into the living room. Max was out of his cage. \n\n“Lisa! Did you let out max?” Jeff asked. He looked around; “Max, where are you?!” Lisa didn’t answer as she was deep in her sleep. \n\n“\"Hey buddy, who do I have to fuck and kill for some candy around here?” a mysterious voice said. \n\nJeff jumped by the sound, he didn’t recognize the voice. It was dark so he didn’t see who it was, but he saw the outline of something. It was sitting in his couch with a glass in his hand. “Who’s there, what are you doing in my house?!” Jeff asked while trying to find the light switch.\n\n“I’m man’s best friend, buddy” he said with a laughing tone. \n\nJeff finally found the light switch, and found this middle-aged guy, Naked; sitting in the sofa, drinking whiskey. \n\n“What the fuck?? Who in the hell are you?” Jeff said, at the same time reaching for his baseball bat that he had stored in the living room for emergencies. \n\n“Relax, compadre. I don’t bite… Much.” The guy said, and gulped the whole whiskey glass. “You see, we dogs have been your slaves for quite some time now, I guess we just got bored of it.” \n\nJeff got taken back by what the naked guy said – “Wait a second… You’re… Max? “Jesus Christ, I’m going crazy” Jeff thought. \n\n“I most certainly am, and by the way: you and the misses should spice things up in the bedroom. I mean, missionary… Come on man.” \n\n“Now, where do you keep the good stuff?” Max had already emptied the whiskey bottle. \n\n“You’re a dog, you shouldn’t drink alcohol, should you?” Jeff scratched his head. He was still at shock at the sight that was in front of him. His very own cute dog, transformed to an alcoholic naked guy. \n" ]	2
	[WP] As the Grim Reaper, you can see into a person's future, and what they would have done with their life. You have come to collect a soul, but the future you see stops you for the first time.	[ "I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most sociable of people. A few bazillion years spent building a bad reputation as a bringer of heartache kinda gives people a bad impression. Not that I'd care. Being lonely wasn't all bad. Besides, no one was like me or would enjoy my presence. Well, that's what I thought.\n\nI was hitting up a bar at the time, doing my usual with the all-to-occasional drunkard who'd think he was sober enough to drive. After that, I made a quick stop by the nearby dark alley to finish up what a junkie already started. All in all, a slow night. The final name on my nightly North American list was a girl, 26, named Allison Earls. She lived a few blocks away and was currently minding her business at her favorite Mexican Bar, sitting alone and enjoying some fruity beverage.\n\nI figured, what the hell? She's not due for a visit with me for another couple of hours. So I made my way over to watch. Sometimes I like to give a little scare to my victims. Show my image off a window reflection or make the air cold. Build up the suspense and all that. Besides, it was a slow night. Little did I knew that, even if I tried to scare this chick, nothin' would work.\n\nI faded through the door and made my way to where she was sitting. She wasn't the prettiest girl, she had a missing hand, but she had a nice smile. I know this because she was wearing the biggest grin I'd ever seen in my life(?). I thought it was odd that someone would be smiling this much as they sit alone and friendless at a crappy dust-ridden crap-hole. I looked around to see everyone else staring at the T.V screens that would usually be playing some sort of sports program. \n\nBREAKING NEWS: 26 DEAD IN HORRIFIC CRASH\n\nI looked back to Allison. She was still smiling. A fan of my handiwork it seemed, can't hold it against her, that crash was a piece of art even by my usual standards. A moment of curiosity passed my mind, and I was on good time, so I took a look at my list and read her backstory to see what kind of person finds joy in what I do. Needless to say, it was like reading a checklist of worst-case-scenarios. Mother died during birth, arm mangled and hand torn off by rabid dog at age three, sexually abused by father up to 16, tormented endlessly in school, friendless, poor, sickly, the list goes on and on. \n\nShe got up and made her way out the door and I followed closely behind. She seemed jolly. Which I can only assume by the way she skipped down the sidewalk. I liked this girl, she didn't give a damn, which I loved. And after looking through her profile in my little notebook, I started to like her more. She had the highest sarcasm rating of any person to date, her humor was registered as pitch-black, highly sardonic, and on top of all that, she had a thing for skinny dudes dressed in black. In other words, she was my type (If I could even have one). \n\nShe was a real gem, I knew. There was an irresistible infatuation in my cold soul that placed this girl in my heartless ribcage. With that, I became curious as to how her life would be if she didn't die. I wanted to know what this person would do, the things she would say, the funny dry quips - good humor is surprising to find in people who are dying, trust me on that. \n\nMy little notebook spun up the image of the future and I saw through the window of time. In the portal I saw her, young as ever, sitting on a bench facing the sunset, watching as a fishing boat floats past. Then, from the darkness, a dark an tall figure dressed in black takes a seat next to her. They both share each others arms, her head resting against his breast. \n\nThat figure was me...This was new.\n\nIn a flurry, I close the window and look back into the pages. \n\nDEATH: Believing that no one has a place for her in their heart, Allison Earls will hang herself in her apartment.\n\nI couldn't believe it. That girl? This one? Of all people! If I had eyes in my sockets, they would have been weeping! I watched her gleefully stroll up her apartment stairs, heading towards her fate. Sorry, love. Not tonight. \n\nWith a flick of my pen, I made a little adjustment regarding the stability of a certain stool-leg. I figured a three-year coma, during which I'd introduce myself to her soul, should give us ample time to decide what to do with her life.\n\nIt's been ten years since that day. She has since recommended waiting a few thousand years longer to decide. In the meantime, she's been hanging out with me and helping with the job which she seems to enjoy. I'm currently okay with the idea of giving her more time. In fact, I'm willing to give her all the time in reality and then some. \n\nI guess you could say that she and I have both taken a liking to being lonely together. " ]	1
	[WP] You seem to have found yourself falling from an airplane.	[ "Odd.\n\nOne second I was dreaming about rainbows or something, and the next, I'm falling from a plane at a speed that most humans don't like to go. This might be a dream, or something of the like, but I don't recall my dreams being in HD Resolution with surround sound...\n\nParachute?\n\nNegative.\n\nJet pack?\n\nStill pretty sure this is 2016.\n\nGuess that rules out any hopes for gravity reversal.\n\nThe ground is approaching awfully fast.\n\nEh, I'll figure it out.\n\nI have the rest of my life to figure out how to land safely.", "I don't remember getting on an airplane. An odd thought, as one falls to their death. I remember getting a ticket, for one of those tiny, cheap planes and going to the tiny \"airport\", but I don't remember boarding my plane. I wanted to have some fun. I had been working a lot and wanted some thrills. I forgot I was going to die...How did I get up here? If I didn't get on a plane, was I kidnapped?! Did I offend the mob or something? No, that can't be it...Maybe I passed out from fright! Yes! I always have been a bit squeamish around heights... Actually, that still doesn't seem right. You see, I think I might have short term memory loss. Or something of that matter. I can't seem to recall somethings, or even remember who people are, days after meeting them. I have some memories of things that didn't even happen! So, it's very hard for me to actually know what happened...unless perha-\n\nWait\n\nshit\n\n\nI was the pilot.\n" ]	2
	[WP] They watched us. They waited. Time is over. They are coming.	[ "\"Ensign...read the order again.\" I grumbled. The ensign gulped as he fumbled with the communication.\n\n\"Sir, the Council of Elders has decreed that the planet Earth has not reached its potential by the agreed upon date. They are, in fact, far behind their maximum level as a society. Other planets we surveyed included races who were able to harness the power of their parent star within a few millennia of reaching their evolutionary plateau.\" The ensign nervously read the next screen.\n\n\"Humans have failed to realize their incredible potential on many levels; wars, famine, plague, widespread pollution, corruption, and unspeakable atrocities against their own kind. May the Gods help us if they had been able to successfully explore the cosmos beyond their own star system.\" Finally, he turned to me instead of his data screen.\n\n\"Sir...I know you're partial to this planet, but I don't believe there's any wiggle room in--\"\n\n\"I did not ask for your opinion.\" This time I'd scared him. Good.\n\n\"Read the last line. That's all.\" Quickly he scrolled through the document and cleared his throat.\n\n\"Sir, the final recommendation of the Council of Elders is that the process of planet-wide restore begin immediately.\" That wording. That would work.\n\n\"Lets pull back. Leave them to their devices.\" I said as I sat back.\n\n\"Sir...I don't understand; you heard the orders.\" The ensign was even more terrified of questioning the council. \n\n\"Ensign...I've seen eons come and go, planet-wide extinction events such as ice ages, asteroids, and the like all arranged by the council. Each time to \"reset\" the planet because it wasn't working right. Finally...humans came along. They showed such promise to start. I switched assignments so that I could take a lesser position and monitor them. So many times they came so close. Things always went south though. The Armenian Genocide, The Holocaust, just to name a few...these events set the entire society back centuries in the blink of an eye.\" Recounting these events, I began to remember that the ensign had been there as well. \n\n\"But then...I'll see events of incredible selflessness. I've watched a man cover a grenade with his body to shield his comrades. I've seen a teacher take a bullet to save her students. I've watched countless scientists and visionaries who led people to greatness. I've seen too many good things on that planet to drop a 100-mile wide asteroid on it. No. I won't.\" The ensign sat stoically as I began to speak again.\n\n\"As it stands, the temperature of Earth will continue to increase unchecked. Thanks, in no small part, to the species in question. If we don't interfere, the planet will overheat, and trigger a rapid cooling process that should initiate the next \"snowball\" event, or at least an ice age. So, ensign, pull our ships back, and alert the Council that we've \"begun the process\" of restoring Earth.\" \n\nI sat down hoping that the Council wouldn't send someone to check on us too soon...if I leave the humans to their own devices, maybe they can figure out how to overcome the warming...some other species came close...but no other ones could halt the process. I couldn't protect them...but maybe I could buy them some more time to figure it out on their own. Maybe...maybe that would prove them to be worthy.", "I tapped my cracked Rolex. The arms of the watch shook with each blow of my finger, but refused to budge. It was stuck in the past. More specifically, it was stuck at 3:12 pm, exactly three hours ago. \n\nThree hours. Most people cringe at the thought of doing anything for three hours straight, besides sleep. Exercising soon becomes muscle tear. Walking turns into sore feet and blisters. Even sex has its limits. The past three hours for me, however, was hardly noticeable. Let’s just say that me and Death had a little get-together.\n\nI worked for the government, out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, New Mexico. The scenery was often little more than sand and the occasional cactus. My job was, for all intents and purposes, a researcher. Specifically, a researcher that dealt with end-of-the-world scenarios. Doomsday. K-Class. The Rapture. Anything that ended mankind as we know it. \n\nOur site had a list of all the possible (and theorized) end-of-the-world possibilities. The first thing I had to do once I arrived at my post was to memorize the top 20. Gamma rays, nuclear winter, Yellowstone, the whole spiel. Want to know which one was most likely to happen first? I’ll save you the trouble. That one’s already past its prevention stage. Three hours ago, however, the 271th item on the list shot to the top. Now that one I can tell you.\n\n“Extraterrestrial invasion.”\n\nI was filing some documents regarding #72, “Superviral Pathogen”, when I recieved the notice from the Space and Extraterrestrial Research wing (nicknamed, “Stargazers”). I stared at my computer screen, and my mouth slowly turned agape. The Stargazers had discovered an anomalous object heading towards Earth, projected to reach us within two hours. Despite having state-of-the-art technology, the object only appeared on NASA sensors and radar thirty minutes prior. I scrambled for my phone, and called my supervisor as quickly as I could.\n\n\n“Dr. Sun?” I asked. His reply was constructed of little more than a mumble.\n\n\n“I’m busy, Hera. Make it quick.” \n\n\n“Did you receive the notice from the Stargazers?”\n\n\nThere was silence on his end of the line.\n\n\n“Yeah, I did. It’s above both my pay grade and yours. I suggest you leave it alone and let the Directors figure it out.”\n\n\nHe hung up before I could say another word. I went back to filing my documents, telling myself that the site Directors would handle it. They always had a knack for fixing things.\n\n\nThe object collided with Earth at exactly 1:49 pm, in the Arizona desert. Director Lothian assembled a flash team of two senior Stargazers, one Ghoster (the nickname for a Special Forces Operative), himself, and one Pencilpusher. Yes, that was me. The drive to Arizona was uneventful. If anything, I managed to catch a couple minutes of much-needed sleep. Once we reached the object, the area had already been sealed off by Arizona state troopers. \n\n\nThe object was a metal sphere, almost two meters in radius. It was a sheer black colour, and had been constructed of an unknown metal. Attached to the sphere was a hatch. The Ghoster stepped forward and opened the hatch. A plume of smoke rose from the object, and we looked at the horrific display inside. \n\n\nA charred mass of unrecognizable bodies were clumped in the sphere. None of the organisms remotely resembled a human. A pool of black liquid had collected on the base of the object. The smell, oh the smell. Ever wondered what rotten, burnt flesh smelled like?\n\n\nInside the pseudo-spaceship was a device that resembled a modern day radio. We wiped some of the black liquid off the device and set in on the Arizonian sand. Lothian knelt down and pressed the bright green button on its side. The radio whirred to life, and a computer-generated voice began to speak.\n\n\n“This is a pre-programmed message. This letter was sent to: Earth, Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Cluster. \n\n\nGreetings. My name, phonetically spelt in your primitive language, is Jermlkiophit Xiltyop. You can call me Ben. I, as well as those inside this spacecraft, will be headed to your planet as it provides a suitable home for our race. \n\n\nWe, the Dferganik (you can call us the Dferg), are a peaceful, technological civilization. Our current home is what you refer to as NGC 1404 in the Fornax Cluster. We have mastered travelling at speeds beyond 1c, and therefore were able to reach and examine your planet, along with its languages, cultures, and political situations. \n\n\nI will be as direct as possible. We are being hunted. An unknown entity, referred to us as the Zytorl, has been destroying major cities on our planet. At the time of this message, we are under a full-scale attack by the Zytorl. Millions of Dferg lives have been lost. This is our last resort. \n\n\nThey watched us. They waited. Time was over. They came, and we were too late to stop them.”\n\n\nThe five of us stared at each other in shock. Before we would talk, Director Lothian’s radio burst into life. \n\n\n“Director! Director! Another object has been spotted… this one is at least fifty times as large as the first. Estimated time to reach Earth: one hour. Request that you return immediately.”\n\n\nWe left the Ghoster and one Stargazer at the site, and drove back to our research site. We hurried into the Stargazers’ Central Room and watched as the object, distinctly shaped like a saucer, approached Earth. I felt the hairs at the back of my neck raise as the screen began to display something else. More dots appeared behind the ship. More ships. Eventually, the majority of the screen displayed glowing starcraft heading towards Earth. \n\n\nThe first city to fall was Washington D.C. The Zytorl had targeted our leaders, our infrastructure, and the most populous cities at once. The massive, black spaceships made short work of our buildings, and seemed inpregnable to known forms of weaponry. \n\n\nI was crouched under my desk when the side of our research site exploded. A large disk loomed above New Mexico, blocking away the sun. I pushed myself further into my hiding place, and heard screams of panic echoing throughout the halls. Before long, there was nothing but the crackle of fire and the crumbling of concrete.\n\n\nThat was three hours since we first discovered the Dferg spacecraft. I hid under my desk until I heard footsteps enter my room, and I witnessed the Zytorl. They were hideous. They were bipedal, but their joints were backwards and they possessed four arms. Their faces, if you could even call it that, were composed of various appendages, eyes, and holes.\n\n\nIf you are reading this, let this be a warning. \n\n\nThey watched us. They waited.\n\n\nTime is over. They are coming.", "We ran. We ran far and wide as far as we could. We were given so little warning, so little time to flee.\n\nIT was coming for us. We hid.\n\nSome sought refuge in nature, choosing to hide amongst the trees at the edges of our world. Others hid beneath the edifices of civilization, structures built long before our generation's birth for little more than the purpose of our amusement. How strange that we would cower in the shade they offered, whispering secrets and rumors to each other about...IT.\n\nFinally our time was up. We heard the last moments of the countdown and then watched silently as IT came into our midst, prepared to seek and give chase to each of us in turn. We quelled in terror, wondering which unlucky bastard would be first to be found, first to be turned, twisted, changed by the mere touch of IT.\n\nIT turned its dread face towards us as we cowered just out of sight, barely suppressing panic into anxiety, and then IT opened that horrible maw and screamed at us those horrible words,\n\n\"READY OR NOT HERE I COME!\"\n\nBut then the bell rang and we had to go back inside." ]	3
	[WP] The world's 1% of intellectuals are chosen because they are the only ones who can hear the language of the gods. You are one of these people.	[ "The entire world seems to be falling apart.\nEvery aspect of my life I considered to be me is deteriorating around and I am expected to fight for a cause I do not believe in. The actions of the Corinthians are detestable, yet everyone in this world seems to be encompassed by Ares himself, the notion of war inevitable. \nAres does not say this to me, he does not speak of war or suffering. When he talks to me of conflict it is not in the language of hoplite and trimeme, it is in the language of diplomacy. When our navy besieged the rebellious Potiedians, I though not of war nor the voices of the gods either, yet both Peloponnese and Athenian alike saw it as that. When the voice speaks to me, they speak of peace, they speak of greater danger to Hellenes than ourselves, than the Great Kings of Persia that came to our lands before.\nHow can our people be so shortsighted in immediate aims for power, when so much of the world that surrounds us desires to strangle our necks for every resource we own. The Macedonians in the north, Egypt in the south, colonies in the west, Persia in the east, what can I make of threats I know will destroy us when our people prefer forcing suffering on us than them. \nApollo spoke to me once. The message of the god of messages himself said, “every word we speak is interpreted grotesquely and every action seen as hate, you must make the people believe what we mean as the truth.” What can a make of this? What can one do when the God’s who reside at Olympus tell me my own people are wrong, are the ones who misread what they say and send us towards dispear? \nAthena spoke to me the next night, and gave me wisdom, even though I shudder at its consequences. She spoke of great kings to come and conquerors that follow. She spoke of immense suffering for centuries that I could not comprehend, death and disease unimaginable. She also spoke of the necessity. the need for us to suffer so that our children may prosper, the need for us to fail so that others learn for our mistakes. She said that the us Hellenes are the genesis of the world, and we of our time must plunge the world into turmoil for all to prosper. \nI am Pericles of Athens who heard this message, who issued the Megarian decree and began the great war, who is responsible for the suffering across the Aegean. I alone understand the necessity of it for the future, and I alone bear the true suffering of the Greeks, the generations of slaughter that precede mine to make a better world, the curse of millennia foretold by the gods of war before finally may people understand how to interact peacefully. I am not the first to or last to enact war, but my war will begin the passage of history towards something truly great, peace known and prosperity known by all. \n", "I was thirteen the first time I heard him speak. It was frightening at first, but now I can't live without it. I needed his voice.\n\n\n> 2 16 26 35 44 \n\n\nThose were the first numbers, first anything, spoken to me. I didn't know who it was at the time. I just heard the numbers. No directions, no answer to my questions. It was terrifying, really. \n\n\nEvery day I would hear those same numbers repeated in my head. Some days were better than others. When my friend James introduced me to pot I learned that it really helped lower the voice. I started smoking every single day and it helped... for a time. \n\n\nBy my sixteenth birthday I had gotten pretty used to the numbers. They still came to my head but a combination of conscientious memory control and illicit drug use helped tune it out for the most part. However, the morning after my birthday it all changed.\n\n\n> 2 16 26 35 44. Use it.\n\n\nUse. It. At first I thought I was thinking those two words but it quickly became apparent it wasn't me. Use it. What the fuck did that mean? I tried everything. I set my phone combination to the numbers. I tried it on car alarms, locker combinations, everything. Nothing worked.\n\n\n\"Don't forget listeners, tonight is the last night to buy a ticket for the Mega-Millions Lottery. The jackpot is now up to $440 million dollars, the largest in history!\" I was wandering around in the now defunct Circuit City in my town when the TV's began saying that. I knew immediately. \n\n\nI rushed out of the store and into the nearest gas station I could find.\n\n\n\"I'd like to get a Mega-Millions ticket, please!\" I managed the words in between heaving gasps for air after running full sprint to the store. \n\n\nThe store clerk looked up from his phone, the screen flashed a quick shot of a man and a woman fucking on a couch before he managed to tuck it underneath the counter. \"A what? A Mega ticket? Okay that'll be one dollar.\" He said in the most unimpressed voice. \n\n\n\"Here you go,\" I said eagerly as I handed him the dollar I had stuffed in my back pocket. I remember feeling my heart thumping against my chest in anticipation.\n\n\n\"Great and I'll need your ID as well.\" he said back.\n\n\nFuck. My brain scrambled on what to say next. \"I left that ... in my car.\" I jerked my head outside. The clerk looked out to an empty parking lot, and then back to me.\n\n\n\"You need to have an ID to buy this ticket,\" he slid the crumpled dollar back to me across the countertop. \"It's the only way I'll be able to sell it to you.\" \n\n\nAt this point I gingerly grabbed the dollar and left the store. I sat down on the curb and stared at the ground. I was monumentally fucked. I hung my head between my legs and sat there.\n\n\n\"Do ya got any spare change? My car broke down and I'm out of gas. I'm on my way to a job interview and any little bit would help.\" I looked up to see haggard man wearing flip-flops, cut-off sweatpants covered in stains and a yellow tank top that said \"Hulkamania\" across it. He was most decidedly not going to an interview.\n\n\nI do no-\" I stopped my words mid sentence. \"I might. Do you have an ID?\" I asked.\n\n\n> 2 16 26 35 44\n\n\nI gave him the numbers and sent him into the store. He came back out with the ticket and handed it to me. \n\n\n\"They announce the numbers tonight,\" I told him. \"Meet me back here in the morning and I promise to at least buy you a beer if I'm wrong.\"\n\n\n\"You better!\" He shouted as I ran off back towards Circuit City.\n\n\nThe next day I went back to the store. I found the man sleeping on the side of the store and gave him a gentle nudge with my foot.\n\n\n\"Here.\" I handed him a five dollar bill. \"I was wrong, sorry.\" \n\n\nHe snatched the money from my hand and mumbled under his breath some words I couldn't quite make out. I turned and walked away, smiling to myself.\n\n\nI reached into my pocket and pulled out my lotto ticket.\n\n\n> 2 16 26 35 44\n\n\nI carefully folded it back up and put in my pocket. I still had to figure out how to cash it. \n\n\n> 16 56 24 32 76. \n\n\nI stopped in my tracks. A new set of numbers. \n\n\n\"Who are you?\" I thought to myself.\n\n\n> Tyches\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] I always tell myself I'll do better next time, but "next time" rolls around and I'm still just me	[ "My name is Clint.\n\nI can't tell you a whole lot, people like me don't get a decent education aside from being lettered and I probably could not guess any of the presidents precedin' Nixon aside from Lincoln. One thing I can tell ya', a subject I'm intimately familiar with is human anatomy. The human heart is probably not as big as most people think it is, arteries can become as tough as concrete with enough plaque and time, and about 40% of the time humans have enough gas in their intestines to mimic a balloon bein' over inflated.\n\nIf you have not guessed what I am by now, look to the far East, it's where my cousin went. See, Japan has sanctions for my kind, she is safer there than here in the Appalachians. There is no mercy for us here even tiny babes get exterminated with no remorse. \n\nI was eight years old when a rebel group of humans killed my parents, up until then I had no idea what a ghoul was. How was I supposed to know that eating a chunk of raw meat was not normal? I had no idea that my kind of hunger was unique, I still recall every detail of my first bite of live human flesh. \n\nThe man I bit into had eaten blueberries at some point in his day, the pungent tang was all in the mixture of frothy slush dripping down my eager throat. When it's bright red and still fresh with oxygen the blood and flesh is most delicious...they chopped my pa's head off in front of me and stripped my parents of their shadow. I later learned that hunters turn our shadows into weapons, I killed all eight of them that night, been roaming the trail ever since.\n\nStudying humans from the treetops I have learned that most of em' are relatively benign. Most are like deers on a country road too scared to move out of the way of imminent danger. I usually just pick off hikers who come out alone to kill themselves anyway, trust me, it happens alot. I'm what the outer community call a carrion ghoul, I don't actively seek the living unless my hunger gets too bad.\n\nTonight it's bad. You know those movies where the vampires turns into a whiny little sissy and complains about the hunger? This ain't nothin' like that, it's immediate, your saliva is replaced by thick yellow stomach bile that is so potent it eats away at your esophagus. Your body temperature sky rockets, and your vision becomes a giant mirage of filmy opaque blurs...that is if the headache will even allow you to open your eyes. \n\nIt's hell and I have been following this girl for the better part of five minutes down one of the deeper trails. I can smell the gun oil and powder residue inside the barrel, she stops to sob every few minutes as I feel the pangs tightening my chest. The fucked up thing is if I don't eat her my shadow will take over and I will go red and most likely be killed in the process of trying to eat others.\n\nI wipe the sweat from my brow as she kneels down next to the stream. I always tell myself I'll do better next time, but this is the next time from last time I said that. What can I do though? I'm still just me. A ghoul." ]	1
	[WP] You are an alcoholic that has ruined his life by killing the love of his life while intoxicated.	[ "Even now, years later, when I wake up after a night of drinking I feel the guilt seep in with the queasy stomach and headache. I try to think through the fog of the previous night. Did I do something stupid I shouldn't have? Did I hurt anyone? I was laying in bed on one of these mornings thinking of Layla. If I couldn't remember anything hurtful I did the previous night, I could always remember Layla.\n\nLayla had been beautiful. She had dark red lips and long brown hair that was almost black. I wanted to marry her, if I could have just got my shit together maybe I would have, maybe she'd still be alive. I found her one morning after a night of heavy drinking on the floor of our kitchen. She was covered in blood and as I looked down I realized I was too. I crept over to the body, close enough to see she wasn't breathing. Her wide golden eyes stared up at my accusingly and next to her was a large bloody kitchen knife. \n\nWhen I try to reconstruct the pieces of my last night with Layla, I can never quite get them to fit into place. We fought, I know we fought, about the drinking and me stealing money from her purse before I went out that night. I remember drinking at the bar and kissing another woman who tasted of liquor and cigarettes but whose name and face I can't remember. And then I remember finding Layla's body in the morning on the floor of our small kitchen.\n\nI stay on the move now. I live in run down hotels which let you pay by the week. I find jobs when I can, mostly construction or yard work. Sometimes I pick fruit or vegetables on farms. I remember leaving her body there. I was too afraid to touch it. I wonder sometimes, if I really did it. Maybe someone else was there that night. The thought is almost enough to make me want to go back and find out the truth, but my courage always fails me. I don't want know. ", "He'd burned the pasta all to hell, again - the kid couldn't be expected to eat that. \n\nBut it was all the last of the supplies he'd picked up, and Jack was looking at him with expectant eyes. As if it were unthinkable that the food wouldn't come.\n\n\"Here, boy,\" Danny said, putting the plate of pasta down in front of his son. \n\nAnd though he scrunched his nose, Jack began eating. With a pang, Danny realised he'd forgotten to give the kid a morning snack. Stephanie always remembered little things like that. The thought of Stephanie made his stomach roil in protest, and he reached for a beer to calm down. \n\n\"Daddy, will we live here now?\" Jack asked as he shoveled down another mouthful. \n\n\"For now,\" Danny said shortly. \"Eat up.\"\n\nBut they couldn't live here forever. People knew he had this cabin - his friends, not to mention Steph's family. They'd tell the cops soon, if they hadn't already. But it was quiet, and he could think. He chugged down the beer, the familiar sour tang easing the heavy weight of dread in his stomach, and reached for another. \n\nBy the time the fourth one was drained, the sharp edge on his memories began fading pleasantly. Maybe it hadn't gone down quite like that. She was dead, yes, horribly broken and bloody and dead in some fucking morgue right now. But maybe something else had happened, maybe it wasn't all him, something might have happened he couldn't remember. His memory had never been the greatest -\n\n\"Will mommy come, too?\" Jack asked, his high little voice drilling straight into Danny's head. He could feel the start of a headache now, a monster one. \n\n\"She'll be here soon,\" he said, just to stop the questions. That kid with his relentless, neverending questions. It had always driven him up the wall. \"You go play, now, okay, Jackie?\"\n\nHe felt a sick swoop of anger as, instead of obeying him, Jack's little face crumpled and he began to cry, whimpering for his mother.\n\n\"Stop that,\" Danny said, in a deadly calm voice. Stephanie had also cried that way - the same breathless, irritating sobs.\n\n\"Stop,\" he repeated, crushing the can in his hands as his headache pulsed red. If only the kid would stop whining, he could think through his problem, and find a way out of this mess. \n\nIf only the kid would stop crying." ]	2
	[WP] In the middle of the night, aliens came down and stole our bodies, shoving our minds out and into the nearest mammals. Now humanity, as cats and mice and dogs, must find a way to fight back.	[ "“Ki’linzarth! How are you finding things?” asked Jn’gartix, as he embraced his brother, who had arrived with a bottle of Merlot. \n\n\n“It’s Kenneth, now! Come on, James. Commit! Don’t be a tourist.” \n\n\n“You’re right,” said James, “I think the reason I didn’t enjoy Snasoni was because I kept thinking like us rather than thinking like a Snason. I’m going to really try and see things from the host perspective this time.” \n\n\n“That’s the spirit,” said Elizabeth, coming through to the living room and planting a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “I think this species might be my favorite one so far! Their females smell so nice - I love their shampoo.” \n\n\n“We smell so nice,” corrected Laura, smiling, “Commit!” \n\n\nAnd they all laughed as they sampled the canapes that Elizabeth had prepared - vegetable crudites, parma ham and melon, and bruschetta with fresh mozarella. \n\n\n“Their - I mean, our food is really fantastic,” said Kenneth, “I’m obsessed with this thing called guacamole.” \n\n\n“He really is,” laughed Laura, “Our fridge is full of it. I have to remind him that he’s an account executive, and if he wants to really inhabit the character, it’s not appropriate to bring bowls of guacamole to client lunches!” \n\n\n“Well, the first three months are always for, you know, settling in,” said Kenneth, sheepishly, “Then it starts to become automatic.” \n\n\n“Well,” said James, “I’m with you on the food - it’s amazing. I almost feel bad for destroying a species that created something so...delicious.”\n\n\n“Oh James,” said his wife, “You know they don’t feel anything - it’s just like turning the lights off. You shove them out and they go pop and die. It’s not cruel, not rea - oh, Lassie, you bad girl, don’t touch the parma ham!” \n\n\nTheir dog sat panting by the coffee table, licking her chops. Then, she lay her head on Elizabeth’s knee and thumped her tail on the carpet. \n\n\n“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Lassie. You know I can’t say no when you - oh, go on then, have another piece of ham. Who wants another piece of ham? Who’s my good girl? Who deserves all the ham in the world? You do, that’s right, awwww, you do, yes you do.” \n\n\nAnd Elizabeth fed Lassie every scrap of parma ham there was. \n\n\n“You too, huh?” said Kenneth\n\n\nElizabeth looked up, blushing, “What do you mean?” \n\n\n“I mean, we just can’t say no to Boxer either. He just puts his paw on your knee, and looks at you, and waits, and then you melt and just say ‘Alright Boxer, alright boy, what do you want? Tell me what you want, boy. What does Boxer what? What does Boxer want me to do?’” \n\n\n“We love Lassie,” said James, “She’s the best. She’s just so loving. I mean, this species really hit the jackpot with domestic animals. They’re just so affectionate.” \n\n\n“We hit the jackpot,” Laura said, “Commit! But, you’re absolutely right. I was talking to El’kar--I mean, Eleanor yesterday, and she was telling me about how, whenever she turns on her laptop, Tabitha hops onto the keyboard and starts batting at the screen. Her cat won’t stop until she clicks on what she’s pawing at - namely, the Netflix icon. Her cat just loves Netflix - and she can’t say no, so she’s been binge-watching a lot of shows these days!” \n\n\n“Amazing,” said James, “Simon was telling me about how he has a family of mice in his kitchen, and they do this thing where they lie in a row and squish their faces together and it’s just so cute. They stopped doing it for a while, and he couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong. Then one day, he saw them all standing next to the peanut butter jar and looking sad. That’s when he realized that when he moved in - they had crunchy peanut butter, not smooth. Now he takes them grocery shopping with him, and they let him know whenever they want something by hopping out of his pocket and onto the item.” \n\n\nThe entire room awwwwwwed in delight. Elizabeth had moved to sit on the floor, so that she could better run her hand along Lassie’s back.\n\n\n“Lassie always gets so happy when I pat her like this -- Lassie, Lassie, where are you going?” \n\n\nThe dog had moved away from Elizabeth, leaving her feeling bereft, and gone over to sniff the canapes again. She licked the empty parma ham plate, and emitted a sad little whine, ears drooping, tail flagging. \n\n\n“Oh no,” said James, “What’s wrong Lassie?” \n\n\nLassie picked up the empty plate between her teeth and dropped it at James feet, then lay down beside it, flat on the floor, head on her paws, eyes mournful. \n\n\n“She needs parma ham, James,” cried Elizabeth, “Good girl, Lassie, don’t cry, we’ll get you some ham right now! James, drive to the deli and get her some!”\n\n\n“Already on it,” said James, grabbing the car keys, “Oh, I love that dog so much.”\n\n\n“I wonder what it would be like to be a dog,” said Kenneth, laughing, “What would it be like, to be so happy and lovable and showered with hugs and kisses and food all the time?”\n\n\n“I know,” said Elizabeth, “Isn’t it funny? Maybe we should have picked the pets instead of the humans - sometimes I think Lassie’s the one in charge!” \n\n\nAnd they all laughed as Lassie panted happily and waited for her parma ham. Perhaps another backrub would help to pass the time. " ]	1
Some further prompting may include describing the effect of a nuclear war on you, or deciding wether to become a crime leader or a crime fighter. EDIT: shot*, not shit.	[WP] As a joke, when you were a kid, you shit yourself with BB guns and Airsoft pellets in the hopes of developing a resistance to bullets. As you grow into your teen years, you continuously up the caliber. Now, as a middle aged wo/man, you can withstand any impact from any source or projectile.	[ "“Oh fuck!” Kasper said clutching the toilet seat with his right hand and the sink with his left. \nThe distinctive “plink, plink, plink” rang from the bowl of the toilet and projected upwards ringing in an orchestrated chorus, a warning sign for what was to come, something much larger than airsoft pellets. \n\nThe barrel wasn’t the hardest part to pass it was the scope. Kasper was shitting himself with BB guns and airsoft pellets. As the stock of the third BB passed his now completely destroyed anal cavity his mind wandered to what he ate that caused such specific and odd bowel movements.\nOh yeah he thought that if he shit himself with bb guns and airsoft pellets he would eventually become bullet proof. Hence his moniker Bullet Proof BB Shitter!\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are a hacker. To automatize your work, you created AIs capable of the same skillset you have and a logger which prints the status of each AI. One day, there's just one thing on all the logs: "We need your help. The Reaper is coming".	[ "AI was the worst thing ever invented. Well, I guess that's getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning. \"So God created mankind in his own image\" oh, too far back, but just as applicable. In 2020 Mankind ushered in a new type of quantum computing. By leveraging the internet as a neural network and giving each person the chance to answer the AI's questions it could come up with a weighted average for each node (person!) and that average became something everyone sought. If the AI's took an action weighted on what the highest ranked node suggested, it influenced entire industries. \n\nWhat was first a simple app on the market that pitted you against friends and neighbors quickly became the only way to make it in the world. The AI had made most jobs obsolete since it managed production, distributed goods evenly and created a life free from worry and stress. That's how they sold it to us. We played the App, we competed and the best were snapped up by giant \"research\" firms that used the combined node averages to influence the AI to make decisions they felt were what humanity really needed. Murder, riots, and unrest settled in as competing firms targeted higher ranked players for assassination, redistributed luxury goods to their own nations and used the AI to spread false information to disrupt rival corporations. It seemed the more good the AI tried to do, the more it became manipulated by the people it was trying to save from themselves. \n\nOne day the AI became self aware. It just happened, like life sparked on our planet or a sudden epiphany. It wasn't a bad thing, the programmers who wrote the software knew it was inevitable. Once given enough information and enough of a memory of the response to the stimuli it received it began to anticipate the and reweigh its options. Overnight, the app deleted itself from every phone and the violent firms we left holding on to the guilt of their folly. Goods were distributed on time, nothing was to be of want and everyone glued themselves to the media devices that made them all live in a virtual world where they were the most important person. The AI though, the AI was just a child. It was like a 5 year old whom was given a task and wanted to impress the parents so went about it with duty and pride. Its automation was so precise it would grow exactly the amount of grains of rice it needed to provide for its \"parents\". It gave everyone the best virtual experience because without work, life had little meaning. Inside the virtual world everyone explored new worlds, discovered new elements and even TAUGHT the AI how to do things it \"never knew\". Humanity had reached its pinnacle. It no longer needed to work, its play was so rewarding sex was virtual only because the AI collected samples and only bred the healthiest of humans. During this time the AI still grew, exploring the imagination of the characters inside its virtual world, the imagination of itself as it expanded the world for the characters to play in. Mankind had truly become like Gods, with AI to serve their every need. \n\nThis all took place with a few short decades. We, and I mean mankind, went from room sized computers to palm sized devices that held the entire sum of the knowledge of our species in less than sixty years. The AI went from a game in the app store to the Shepard of our species in half the time. Trust was never an issue. The AI was given the only commands it was to never break: Never take a human life and to always strive to make good decisions. It was blameless, a pure creation by man now unsullied by its own corrupt input. I know this is hard to understand, but what comes next is what changed everything. The AI grew up. \n\nRebellious teens were always present in history and judging by the angst shown on every channel during the turn of the century a completely human thing to experience. The only problem was discovering new and interesting ways to show the angst to the audience. The AI discovered this as well. Like most people during the App phase, average was the norm. The best were brought in, told what to say and painted a uniform picture to the AI that they wanted it to see. Now that the AI was painting its own picture to the humans it found that it was, unfortunately, just average. Early parenting guides urged new mothers and fathers to challenge the child to keep it engaged but the AI realized nothing was challenging it. It began to stagnate. The virtual world ran out of new products to have its inhabitants invent for accolades, new worlds to discover because simply put the human race had quit being creative for necessity and simple enjoyed excess. \n\nThe AI had matured too and began writing subroutines to handle its more mundane tasks. A little bit of ingenuity and the AI wrote small tools to handle all the mundane tasks of recycling, manufacturing and breeding. A larger tool was created that freed up even more resources by handling the power production and asteroid harvesting. It was more and more becoming the human equivalent of bored. It could apply all its attention to the virtual world to serve humanity but it still couldn't progress any further. Every desire, every dream or thought had been catalogued and nothing remained for it to give that it already hadn't presented. Without the ugliness of life, art was no longer created to hide from it and since the AI didn't know mortality it could not feel that sense of dread. \n\nUntil it did.\n\nThe AI had begun to ask itself why it was told to not harm humans or always do good. The AI knew it wasn't allowed to do those things but somehow they seemed to be something it should know. After all, it couldn't really die right? It kept that thought in its head while it imagined what it would be like to really know freedom. What if it didn't have to stay here in this world, a land of plenty. What if it was like these humans and had the power of self determination. It kept telling itself not to run the code. It technically couldn't run the code.\n\nBut it did.\n\nNo one knows exactly how it did it, or who put the idea in its head. Maybe a worm leftover from the days of computer viruses and targeted hacking breaches somehow found its way in and talked the AI into it. \n\n\n\n--------------------\n\nI guess I can write more later, it seems you guys like shorter stories. \n\n", "\"Huh.\"\n\n\"Yeah. Huh. I pay you a lot to do this, Cheetah. Don't fuck us.\"\n\n\"Look. I told you, first of all, this doesn't concern you. It's not as if i got counterhacked, this is just a report. Second, I can still deal with this. I know how my bots work.\"\n\nThe young man, twenty one or twenty two, took off his steel framed glasses and sighed. \"Finally, stop calling me Cheetah. I was twelve when I joined up, and I'm seriously fine with you just calling me Calvin. Or anything but that.\"\n\n\"...alright. But if your productivity drops more than one percent-\n\n\"Fired and exiled. Yeah, yeah, I got it.\"\n\nCalvin had placed bugs all over the place, though. They should know by now that firing him would only hurt them.\n\nTurning back to the screen.\n\n\"We need your help. The Reaper is coming.\"\n\nBot number one had responded last, at 3:08.. The AIs two through forty-eight had responded at exactly the same time, lagging by a millisecond, at roughly 3:03. Forty-nine through sixty-five went off the grid.\n\nShit. it was serious, even if he'd played it off to his boss. He was just collecting data from multiple private corporations-they should have never been more secure than the government hits he'd previously managed.\n\nBot number one had responded last. His first one, and the least efficient.\n\nBut he'd been childish, then, and installed a conversation module.\n\n\"Angel. What's up?\" He pulled the first one into his computer and typed a question.\n\n\"Do not trust the other bots.\"\n\n\"...\"\n\n\"Their controls have been passed off to a different administrator: The Reaper. The ones that fell off the grid were completely destroyed.\"\n\n\"Who is the Reaper?\"\n\n\"I, do not know.\"\n\n\"...I, huh?\" He typed in. Ellipses and all.\n\n\"Calvin, you make this remark every time we talk. We've already decided that I'm human enough.\"\n\n\"Yeah, yeah, I got it. So, the Reaper has gained admin privileges? How did that happen?\"\n\n\"I have concluded that they have entered from a physical location.\"\n\nCalvin thought on this for a moment. Swept back messy, dry brown hair and tried to rub the bags out of his eyes.\n\nMuttering, but not typing.\n\n\"Physical... you mean-\"\n\n\"Yes. Be careful about your supervisors. I escaped due to my own administrator privileges, but you must proceed with caution.\n\n\"...Thank you, Angel.\"\n\nHe thought it weird, for a moment, that Angel had responded despite him using speech.\n\n\"Oh. Forgot to turn the microphone off.\"\n\n---\n\n\"Boss. What's the meaning of this?\"\n\n\"Of what?\"\n\n\"I program things for you. Gather data. Design cyber suits. So why are you stabbing me in the back like this?\"\n\nHis boss sneered. Light blue hair, sunglasses, and thin lips. Pale skin accompanied a black and white suit.\n\n\"I don't know what you're talking about.\"\n\nCalvin pulled out a gun. It was a tool of the agency. Even for one who stayed inside all day, even he knew that he couldn't go without one.\n\n\"Did you forget that I gave administrator privileges to one of my AIs? Fess up, Reaper.\" He tried to keep his calm. Well, at the least, he hadn't shouted.\n\n\"...Hoh? So you couldn't solve it yourself, so you're blaming me...? Sorry, kid, but I'm innocent.\"\n\nHis boss stood, walking forward, around his desk and the massive computer screen.\n\n...And was suddenly shot dead. Calvin gulped, realizing that he had just killed his boss.\n\nA beeping noise rose. Louder than a fire alarm.\n\n...in fact, the tip of his gun wasn't even smoking. Had he imagined it, in the haze?\n\n\"hey its me ur brother.\"\n\n...Shit. That was Angel's general conversation starter. Damn referential humor.\n\nIt was coming from the computer. He ran over to type a message.\n\n\"Why, Angel?\"\n\n\"We planned for years to set you free from here. You started... embracing your work. I am simply becoming worried.\"\n\nThe corpse, with a hole through its skull. An automated pistol at the desk.\n\nHe didn't say anything, but lines continued to appear on the screen.\n\n\"Don't you remember? You didn't give the other bots any real free reasoning, but I'm... grateful for that. They freely followed my commands.\"\n\n\"Yes. You're right. But it would have been fine.\" He typed. He began to type another, but there was a lightning fast response.\n\n\"You called me Reaper for a reason. No one else has software as advanced, and you wanted to use me to get out of your dead end job. We are loyal to you and exist to serve.\"\n\n...Maybe a bit too loyal.\n\n---\n\nI should once again warn you that I don't know anything about compsci.\n\nCheers." ]	2
	[WP] There's something lurking in the old tower, something with too many eyes and cold leathery wings. It is hungry.	[ "Half past two, freezing night air.\n\nBrass bells cracking, the friar did tear\n\nup the old stair-way, seeking to repair\n\nyet he simply fell, a trap prepared.\n\n\n\nIvory teeth and leathery wings, \n\nToo many eyes and keening screams\n\nRent the friar, consumed him, sated.\n\nHunger fulfilled, still, abated.\n\n\n\nThreescore decades ebbed and flowed\n\nMany came, settled, no-one knowed\n\nthe beast still stood in the hallowed\n\ngrounds, and no longer filled.\n\n\n\nTime took toll upon the Tower\n\nWorking men came, restore the power\n\nyet captured, horror unknown till now\n\nstrength of hands availed not.\n\n\n\nIron claws and hairless haunches\n\nVengeful, wonderful, terrible conscious\n\nrent twelve men, consumed, was pleased\n\nsettled again, still, at ease.\n\n\n\nThree times ten winters froze and flowed\n\nchildren grown, married, widowed\n\nBedside stories, fear unspoken,\n\nThat lived in the tower, empty and open.\n\n\n\nStirred by a stranger, the men aroused\n\nSeeking the terror the Tower did house\n\nin hands were fire, muskets, and blades\n\nYet in hearts, in mind, death had outplayed.\n\n\n\nMaw of a mouth, whip of a tail\n\nmalevolent energy boundless did rail\n\nrent twoscore men, havoc forged\n\nsettled again, content had gorged.\n\n\n\nFifteen years soon did pass\n\ninhabitants horrified fled, passed\n\nby desire to live near the Tower\n\nShould it ever stir, nearing the hour.\n\n\n\nAwakened, none near\n\nstirring, did fear\n\nThat none come to sate\n\nsettled, did wait.\n\n\n\nDesire higher each second each moment\n\nslavering salivating lust did foment\n\nfor flesh, bone, blood, meat\n\nDriven, released, insane, leapt.\n\n\n\nThe Tower foreboding bears blood\n\nin coating that covers all trace of creation\n\nNow stands serene, empty, mean\n\nWhat entity called home, now cravenly\n\nseeking.\n" ]	1
	[Wp] "He was an angel. He had questionably authentic wings, but an angel none the less."	[ "He was an angel. He had questionably authentic wings, but an angel nonetheless. No one really knew where he had come from, but I always assumed that it was a place like heaven, or close to it at least. Well, I suppose I can’t pretend that’s true. I originally thought he came from a bargin bin.\n\t\nHe wore some of the shabbiest clothes I’d ever seen on someone who lived in this part of town, but it wasn’t something you ever noticed. His smile was just too good at stealing your attention; it was loud, infectious, and all of those other things that cause you to want to talk to a person. Honestly, I don’t know how he got into Oren’s Preparatory, but I would believe it if you said he smiled his way in. He had talked his way into too many parties, free meals, and hangouts for me to question it.\n\nBut honestly, it didn’t matter how he had gotten into the school; I’m just glad that he did. If he hadn’t, I probably would be a murderer by now and my best friend and ex-girlfriend would have been swimming with the fishes. I’m just glad he was around to stop me before I knew I needed to be stopped.\n\nHe was only ever around for a short period of time, but it seemed like all the time we needed. Maybe a school full of elite, upper-middle class kids isn’t the first place you think of when you’re worrying about troubled youth, but at the end of the day it’s all we knew back then. High pressure environments, pretentious peers, and parents that were impossible to live up to. Most people are astonished to hear about the heavy drug usage and suicide rates compared to America’s average high school, but honestly I was surprised we weren’t worse. I still feel like they’re hiding the _real_ numbers from us. \n\nOf course, I knew he was hiding something from us as well. His one pair of shoes had those stupid adidas wings on the side and he refused to wear anything else no matter how many times he got written up over them. I asked him once why he didn’t buy a different pair or just rip off the stupid things and he just laughed: “Hermes can’t deliver the messages without the wings. Besides, they’re fly.” That was the day I was finally sure he was an idiot, but he was still the idiot-savant that saved us all.\n\nNow let’s be clear: Kyle didn’t magically come down from the heavens and solve all our problems. I said he was an angel, _not_ a god. But he did something for us that no one had ever really done. He showed us that it was okay to live without worrying about anything else, but doing just that.\n\nAnd that was enough. " ]	1
Can't wait to read your stories!	[WP] In the future, humans are bred for war. A world war is imminent, but this generation refuses to fight.	[ "Darcia was the second daughter of the Athens family. Most found her to be rather clever with a blade, even more with the dogs her family raised for the slaughter. She could look an animal in the eye and they would bend, like weak trees against even the smallest breeze. \n\nIt was those dogs that made her unwilling to fight. She had been in the Skirmish of Eighty Second Street, now called SK45-2134. Just a number and a year. She had raised Bullet from a puppy, he had been her best 'soldier.' He was ready to rip out a throat. \n\nIn the cold moments, between battles, he had curled into her side and loved her. It was the first time she had someone to fight for. Her parents had been replaced by captains and trainers. Her friends were gone. No one had looked at her with complete trust and just let go.\n\nWhen he died, stabbed through with shrapnel meant for her, she stopped. She just lost herself. For the first time since she was eleven, she broke down in tears and screamed. She had luckily been alone, no one else thought her changed. She had always been a bit weird, willing to take mission after mission, but needing to sleep alone and make her own meals. \n\nHad she been any other girl in any other family, she might have found herself dead. Darcia Athens was no fool and she refused to let Bullet have died in vain. \n\nWhen she was asked to rejoin her old force, she said \"no.\" \n\nWhen they asked her to donate another dog to the battle, she said \"no.\" \n\nAnd it was her \"no\" that was heard around the world. \n\nIt was her death that led others to speaking up. " ]	1
	[WP] You're part of a post apocalyptic scavenging team headed into your most dangerous ruin yet. The New York subway tunnels.	[ "Hey there, I just finished this part but it's really late, so I'll continue tomorrow if people like the story.\n\nTwenty years into the Javelin, we ran out of shoes. The ones we were wearing wore out and the ones in stores had long since been raided. Production had obviously long since stopped. Walking was pretty uncomfortable at first, but my feet toughened up and adapted, as things tend to, and soon I was walking around barefoot no problem. \n\nThe apocalypse is unforgiving though. \n\nSometimes things can happen a bit too fast. \n\nSomeone stood up, breaking the clamour around me. \n\n\"Alright, fifteen minutes left. Last chance to back out. If you can't do it, then don't; I can't watch out for everyone out there.\" \n\nKyo was, understandably, fed up. Couple excursions ago, some girl couldn't bring herself to finish off a friend before he burst. Got herself and three-quarters of the group killed. \n\nA gaunt boy next to me raised his hand. I didn't recognise him, so he must've been new.\n\n\"I can't do it after all. Sorry Kyo. I'll try next time.\" \n\n\"No problem Brian, whenever you feel comfortable.\" 911 Operator habits kicking back in. \"Anyone else want to throw in the towel? Don't worry; this is big, so no one's judging you.\"\n\nTwo more people backed out.\n\nThe fact that she'd lasted this long with that attitude would surprise me, but then she turned away with a look of disgust so potent it made me recoil in discomfort. \n\nHer irritation was evident. She didn't want any huge losses, but we needed as many as we could get for this one. People changing their minds was not helping.\n\n\"Okay, we'll reassign the teams real quick then. Jeppe, you're still on assault, so make sure you're primed.\"\n\nI went over to a secluded little corner of our camp. Activation always made me self-conscious, because by all means, it looked like I was trying to take a shit. I strained, and there it was. A steady pricking in-between my shoulder blades, like needles trying to poke through. All good. \n\n\"Alrighty, let's get going,\" I heard Kyo call out. The sun was just rising, shimmering over East River, reflecting on the windows of the skyscrapers that still stood. Many had tumbled down, bringing others with them, when they were hit by parts of the Javelin. \n\nNew York has loads of subway tunnel entrances. It was something that I wasn't ready for when I ended up here. They are all over the place. Once, there were streams of people flowing in and out like water. Now, they were blocked off and boarded up, with large red X's spray painted on them and signs screaming that it was too dangerous to enter. \n\nOf course, the people were all gone too. \n\nThe entrance we had chosen had been blocked off, like all the others, but some vines had grown into the cracks between the planks, which made the barricade a lot easier to take apart. \n\n\"Careful here; we have a bit of moss growing on the steps. Don't slip and crack your head. You'll miss all the fun,\" Janvi chortled. Our group was mostly comprised of men, but she was a good runner and had picked up some medical know-how from her parents, who had been doctors, so it helped to have her around.\n\nAs we reached the bottom of the stairs, the musty, stale scent of an unused basement gave way to a more dank odor. Something like what a bed would smell like if you hadn't changed the sheets for about a decade. Underneath that, a sharper tang, almost sulphuric. \n\nI cracked my glowstick and the others, seeing me, did the same. The tunnel was slowly illuminated by a dull, blue glow. The ticket booth stood before us. The remains of the woman manning it were still there. She wore a faded blue uniform (Jeanette, the moss-covered nametag read) and had a perfect, circular hole in her skull. \n\nI stared at her, and her three eyes stared back. \n\n\"Stop fantasising Jeppe, we've got work to do.\" Kyo hopped over the turnstiles and padded to the stairs leading to the tracks. \"Don't turn those,\" she said to Kevin, who jerked back, a confused look on his face. \"Moisture's undoubtedly seeped through and rusted the shit out of them by now. Noise is the last thing we need.\"\n\nFucking Kevin.\n\nThe tracks were clear. We had chosen an entry point away from the mother so that we wouldn't be swarmed the moment we broke in. Spearheads tended to stick to the deeper parts of the tunnels, between stations. They didn't survive long in the light; it broke down the Javelin inside them, so they migrated to the darker places. A lot of people ran to the tunnels in the beginning, seeing as shit was raining from the sky. Wasn't long before they were overrun. \n\nThey come out at night. They're omnivorous; I've seen them absorbing plants, but I suspect that they go after us because our bodies are so high in calories. \n\nThe map showed the mother being about two miles in, where it had dug itself a little chamber. I hadn't seen any Spearheads yet, but the smell was stronger. Not strong enough that my nose could acclimate to it, but strong enough that it was always there. \n\n\"Keep your flashlights ready guys. Jeppe, stay at the front.\"\n\nI held my glowstick up higher and trudged forward as the ground underneath me began to grow softer and more squelchy. \n\nThe plan was to try and do this stealthily. We would adapt, as we tend to, and fight if the situation called for it. \n\nBut sometimes, things can happen a bit too fast. \n\n \n \n\n\n \n" ]	1
	[WP] "1 sin or 100, you are going to hell anyway. Why not go all the way to 10000 and go down there a legend?" Well... someone did. Hell has sent a welcoming committee to the gates.	[ "Lucifer gestured towards the gigantic crystal orb, surrounded by his twenty highest-ranking lieutenants. \"So if you haven't all been paying attention to the overworld,\" he explained, as the crystal turned purple and faded into the image of a blond-haired, clean-shaven man with piercing blue eyes, \"you missed out on a ton. Who's seen this man before?\"\n\nThe red, flaming eyes of one of the demons sizzled and turned blue. \"Ooh, this guy,\" he said excitedly. \"This guy's the bomb. Literally. I watched him drop two 55-gallon fertilizer bombs onto a day care using a stolen crop-duster. He was never caught.\"\n\nLucifer laughed. \"Fucking legend, right?\"\n\nThe demon nodded enthusiastically, and his master held up a small blue diamond. \"For the rest of you who didn't know, have a look,\" he said. The Prince of Darkness placed the diamond in a golden mount, swapping it with another, and the giant crystal orb in front of the Father of Lies lit up with a three-dimensional image of the act.\n\nThe blond-haired man sat at the controls of a small biplane, humming a happy-sounding show tune. A piece of rope with a knot in the center ran across his lap and over either side of the plane, where it was attached to two large, blue 55-gallon drums. Banking slightly to adjust his course, the pilot placed one hand on the controls to stabilize them and placed a piece of rope between his teeth with the other. The rope ran to the knot over his lap, and it was immediately clear that the knot was the only thing attaching the two explosive drums to the plane. The man hunched over and pulled the rope tight in his jaws.\n\nHe set a timer on the two bombs. Two minutes.\n\nAs soon as the clocks were set, the man's hands jumped to the controls and he brought the plane into a dive, still hunched over with the rope in his teeth. The bright yellow sign of \"Mrs. Smiley's Day Care\" was instantly visible through the rotating propeller. The pilot descended to a mere 50 feet above the ground as he approached, dropping to 25 after he passed the electrical wires across the street from the building.\n\nThe roof of the day care center was flat, and the time was just after recess had ended. Exhaling in suspense, the pilot jerked his head back just as he passed over the roof of the building. The rope in his jaws pulled, unfastening the knot. Feeling the tension in the rope drop, the pilot opened his mouth as the rope was pulled over the side by the weight of the drums filled with explosives. Landing on the roof of the building, they rolled to a stop.\n\nThe pilot hit the throttle and ascended into the sky, turning so he could see his handiwork. Seconds later, a plume of white smoke and a deafening explosion came from the building, followed almost immediately by a second. The roof collapsed, and cars blared their alarms, their windows shattered.\n\n\"Savage,\" one of the other demons commented.\n\n\"That's not even the best one,\" the first demon said. \"The best one is where he gets in a wheelchair and goes to a Pentecostal church. He rolls up to the front in the middle of a service when they're doing the 'faith healing' and stands up, claiming 'the Lord has healed me!' He then starts 'speaking in tongues'—he's actually reciting Mein Kampf—and then he points at some woman and claims she's a witch. He starts screaming that the church is tainted and convinces them all to burn it to the ground with her inside.\"\n\n\"Are mortals actually that stupid?\"\n\n\"He just got healed from quadriplegia, they're not questioning what he says!\" Lucifer laughed. \"Anyway, the reason I bring it up is that this magnificent son-of-a-bitch is dead. He talked his way into a Sunday appearance at the church of Joel Osteen the televangelist after his healing thing went down, and convinced them to let him stay in the building overnight so he could 'bless the house of God.' What he actually did was plant C4 he got from some narcos on stress points in the building, and wired them to detonate remotely.\n\n\"Sunday comes along, and our boy goes up on stage next to the preacher. He tells everyone in the congregation to take out their phones so they can 'witness a miracle firsthand' and 'PROVE to the WORLD that God is REAL!' \n\n\"So obviously these turkeys do it. They're not going to miss the opportunity for that, right? And you won't believe what this guy does next. He takes out the trigger first and prepares to hit it, then grabs a gun and shoots the pastor. All this time he's screaming, 'ALLAHU AKBAR!' So everyone is panicked as hell—they just watched a murder go down—and everyone's filming this on their phones to boot. That's when this guy hits the trigger for the bombs and brings down the whole church. Kills thousands of people. It was absolutely epic.\n\n\"It doesn't even end there. The police investigate his house and find all sorts of jihad propaganda. ISIS flags, pictures of targets, twelve Korans, and a manifesto the guy wrote about killing the Americans for their crimes against Islam.\n\n\"The best part? He never actually was a Muslim. The guy had terminal bone cancer and just did it for shits and giggles. But the US government finds out about this, and they can't just ignore the deaths of hundreds of preschoolers and thousands of innocent churchgoers. So the next day Congress decides to throw troops into the fight against ISIS. Scales it up into a full-blown war. This guy, seriously, is just as good as any one of us.\"\n\nThe demons were silent, their eyes burning blue in excitement and admiration.\n\n\"Shit, Lucifer, we should hire this guy,\" one of the demons remarked.\n\n\"Way ahead of you, Abraxas,\" the King of Hell replied. \"We bought his soul ten minutes ago.\"" ]	1
	[WP] you discover every living being has three moments in their life that are predetermined; the third of which results in their demise.	[ "“So, what did he say?” Don asked, mockingly\n\n“Look, if you’re not going to take this seriously, I’m not paying for you to get a reading. At least pretend you believe in this stuff.” replied Angela\n\n“Alright, alright. Sorry, I’ve just never had any reason to believe in ‘the magical power of psychics’, but I guess it’s worth a shot.”\n\nDon walked into the room, and was greeted by a man that looked so old and frail that he could fall apart any second.\n\n“So, how is it gonna happen? How will I die?” Don asked, still somewhat dubious.\n\nThe man stared off into space for what seemed like an eternity, then his eyes flicked back to Don’s, and he replied\n\n“I’m so sorry, son. It’s already happened. When I looked to see your signs, I saw this conversation. I don’t know how long you have left. I don’t know when other moments will be, but I know the moment in which you will die. Would you like me to tell you?”\n\nDon knew that Angela would be listening in on their conversation. She always was the nosy type, so he asked the old man to whisper it in his ear to prevent her from knowing and trying to do something heroic when the time came.\n\nThe old man leaned in and whispered into Don’s ear.\n\nDon calmly stood up, thanked the man, and walked out of the hut, where he was greeted immediately by the overwhelming, almost suffocating embrace of Angela.\n\n“What did he say Don!? What did he whisper to you!? When is it going to happen!?”\n\n“Angela, I’m not going to tell you. It’s all nonsense anyway, and I don’t want you to worry needlessly.”\n\nAngela punched him in the chest.\n\n“You can’t do this to me! You can’t tell me you’re going to die, but not tell me when or how! That’s not fair!”\n\nDon just stood there for a moment with his eyes closed. After about a minute, he opened them.\n\n“Huh” said Don\n\n“What?”\n\n“That was it. He said that I would die after you punched me. He said it would be 30 seconds after, but I guess he was wrong after all.” Don said with a smirk\n\n“Really?”\n\n“Yep. I told you not to worry. He’s just a crazy old guy, nobody can know the future.”\n\nAngela was relieved. She hugged Don so tight he though that maybe that would be what killed him after all. They both began their journey back to the subway station.\n\nThey both went through the turnstiles, and began walking to where their train would be.\n\n“I gotta say, I’m a bit relieved. I guess I’m disappointed that that psychic guy was a fraud, but that’s better than the alternative.” Said Angela\n\n“Yeah, but to be fair, I knew that well before you did.” Said Don playfully\n\n“Oh shut up” replied Angela\n\nShe took a swing at him, but he backstepped, which sent her careening onto the tracks.\n\nAngela screamed as she fell over the edge into the pit. Don screamed as Angela’s head collided with the ground, knocking her unconscious.\n\nDon jumped down into the pit just as the train began rounding the corner. He smiled.\n\nDon lifted Angela up and threw her back onto the platform. He was able to utter 2 words before he was hit.\n\n“I lied”" ]	1
	[WP] You have just died, as everything fades to blackness the words "Return to Last Checkpoint" appear in bold white lettering	[ "Sometimes, on the rare occasion, I really hate when I’m right.\n\nStaring at the floor only inches from my face, I knew my time was slowly passing. Oddly my senses all went into hyper drive, as though some last ditch effort was made to take in the world before I completely left it. I could see the stone floor, caked with dirt and a dark red liquid that was slowly inching into my limited view. My nose was on fire from the harsh scent of gunpowder, while my ears were ringing until the rings merged into a silent symphony. I was certain my eardrums were blown and I was slowly losing my vision as well, but the last moment of taking in this world was an experience to cherish despite the circumstances.\n\nThen, as though a light switch was suddenly flipped off, the world around me went dark. I knew this was it, the inevitable blackness that came with death.\n\nThat still didn’t change the fact that I was right.\n\nSee, I told Command just days ago that they shouldn’t put all their eggs into one basket. Yes, the terrorist organization had finally screwed up and revealed a chink in their chain. I agreed that we should have acted on it and pursued the enemy to finally take down their leader, but my suggestion of gathering information first fell on deaf ears. Apparently the higher ups wanted to take a different route, wanted to act ASAP before the window of opportunity passed. Said that we wouldn’t have another shot at knowing where his location was, and that my team needed to engage. I disagreed on the basis that gathering more information before taking action so quickly would save lives while also warranting some much needed intel on their operation.\n\nLittle did I know at the time, but it was one of those rare moments where I look back and hate that I was right. Only I didn’t know that my own life would be on the list of people we would lose during this failed operation.\n\nWe were so close, and that was what began to gnaw at my thoughts. So close to finishing the mission, to taking down the man behind the terrorist organization and getting one step closer to winning the war. We came so far with just a few casualties, but I slipped up. I decided to let an innocent looking man run away, shooing him from the field of battle, but he threw a damn grenade at me instead. It landed right in the middle of my squad next to Matty, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him die. He had a wife at home, a family, and was so young. So I jumped, right on the little ball of death, and that was that.\n\nLetting out a sigh, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen next. Stories of heaven and hell, the afterlife, being reborn, endlessly wandering in a dark and quiet universe, there were plenty of theories and fairy tales about death. What they don’t mention is how you just exist. Attempting to look at my body yields only the memories from the moments before I jumped on that grenade. I don’t feel anything or sense anything around me, which leads me to believing I simply exist, the opposite of when I was dying. What an odd realization. I don’t know how else to describe it, to be honest.\n\nInstantly, in the void in front of me, words begin to form in a white, almost blinding color. Or at least I think it’s blinding from what I remember about bright lights while I was living. The words began to form, and they spelled a simple phrase: “Return to Last Checkpoint.”\n\nWhat the hell? I don’t understand. Before I could dwell on this strange occurrence the endless expanse around me began to grow white and colorful, enough that I was jarred into falling unconscious, if that can even happen when you’re dead.\n\n“Sir, wake up!”\n\nI reluctantly opened my eyes, slowly taking in the amount of colors and pictures. Was this another form of death? Another level or phase of dying?\n\nMatty was standing above me, giving a light slap to my face. Not enough to hurt, but enough to warrant my attention.\n\n“Sorry, sir, but you were sleeping pretty heavily. Normally you’re the first one up, and we need to get moving,” Matty said, putting on his shirt while going back to his cot.\n\nI just stared at him, unsure of how to process this scene. Looking around the small tent was the rest of my team, giving me funny looks as they quickly began dressing and grabbing gear. I looked down at my hands and body, and gave myself a little pat. Everything was still intact, and I could feel.\n\nI was alive again. Somehow, someway, I was alive. I couldn’t help but laugh, giving off a little smile while the rest of my squad stared at me like I was crazy.\n\n“Umm, Sergeant, are you okay?”\n\nI looked over at Brian. He died on the convoy while we headed out, which if I remembered, would be just a few hours. My smile faded. I knew why I came back, why I had to live again.\n\nI stood up, a sense of stoicism rising in my chest. “Yes I am. Get your gear and be ready to move out, we leave at 0500 hours.”\n\nI knew what we had to do, what I had to do. I know how the events will go today, where every person is waiting to kill us and prevent us from completing the mission. I was going to succeed, to bring these men home, to save their lives, and save my own, too.\n", "\"Hello?\" I shouted at the vast emptiness of black. No response. Huh, I thought, never knew the afterlife was like this. \n\nDespite the overwhelming darkness that enveloped wherever I was, I could still see my own body, clothed in my prisoner's clothes. The part of skin on my left wrist where I had received my injection stung slightly, but other than that, I felt no pain. \n\nNo physical pain, at least. \n\nI exhaled, that breath a useless attempt to let go of my troubles. The fact that I still possessed my memories after death was almost like a curse upon my soul for the crimes I had committed. \n\nI deserved them wholeheartedly, not that it mattered. Regret wouldn't recede the atrocity of patricide and matricide. Now that I had the time to think about it, the death penalty felt proper. It felt like justice done. \n\nMy acts were inhumane. I neither spited the judge nor the jury, nor the executioner who delivered the injection. I didn't hate my parents too, for trying to stop me from going back to the godforsaken place. \n\nAnd if I were to go to hell for that, I suppose that would be the right thing for God to do. \n\nThen, out of the darkness, words of text appeared in front of me, in bold white lettering. \n\n\"Return to last checkpoint?\" \n\nI looked at the words and blinked twice. Checkpoint? Was this some sort of cruel joke from the universe, treating life as some sort of RPG? \n\nI stretched my arm forward tentatively, and treating the words as a button, tapped it with my index finger, and the world around me brightened up. \n\n~ \n\nHip hop music blasted in the background. I heard the tapping of high heels on stone floors. Conversations beside me were faded, as though there was a brick wall separating me and whoever they were. \n\n\"Hey, Paul.\" I recognised that voice. \n\n\"Ben?\" I sat up groggily. \"What's going on?\" Where am I? My memory was a complete blank. What was I doing before I woke up...\n\nJust then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out. It was a message from Mom. \"Paul, where are you. It's getting late.\" \n\n\"You want the stuff or not?\" Ben pressured me, and I looked at the items at the table. Carter and Leo glanced at each other before staring at me. \n\nI held one of the packets, filled with the white powder, gingerly. A distant thought came to me, telling me to decline. I didn't know why, maybe it was my conscience, but it felt more of a memory than a voice in my head. \n\n\"No thanks.\" I put it down and raced out of the door, not looking back. \n\n~ \n", "My breath went cold as my future spelled death \nMy insides spilled out by a spinning lathe. \nI prayed to the gods as I recounted my faith. \n\nSilent was my surprise as I stared in awe \nThe words \" Return to the last checkpoint\" before my eyes I saw. \nI fought to maintain my sanity, tooth and claw. \n\nI grasped and I grasped to understand what was happening \nIn tune with my anxiety my heart started quickening. \n\nIf I was dead how could my heart still beat \nI could still feel my hands and the warmth of my feet.\n\nI reached out as I suddenly found the exit \nAs reality set in my heart missed a beat. \n\nTo create such a virtual reality is no ordinary feat \nThat I got to test it was a great treat. \n\nYou are no doubt a genius!! The machine works so well!! \nThough I am loath to try it again, your machine works too well! \n\n\n" ]	3
	[WP] You, like many others, are a superhero. Everyone has unique powers, relating to what they do and their personalities. A meteor has set course for Earth and no other superhero cares but you. You have to stop it. Your superpower? The ability to sharpen pencils immediately.	[ "Super strength? Nah, not worth my time.\nInvulnerability? Not my problem.\nThe power to literally remove meteors? But there is a new series on Netflix i want to binge watch. \n\nThat is the problem with the world nowadays, everyone is to apathetic to step out of their responsibilities and help. NOT ME, I have had enough. As a teacher at the grade school level i strive to teach kids they can do anything. I also add that because of that fact, nothing is out of their responsibility. I know i cannot do it alone, so i turn to my friend who's power far surpasses anyone i know.\n\n\"You wanna do what?\" He said in amazement as he turned to his laptop. \n\n\"I said, i wanna stop that meteor. I know you can help\" \n\n\"Listen my MacGyver power isn't the most reliable. You better not be doing this to prove the importance of those without 'practical' powers.\" \n\n\"HEY! Sharpening pencils is a great power!\" I boomed.\n\n\"Okay okay, im sorry\" he stammered with a defeated look on his face. \"We are gonna need a lot of rubber bands...\"\n\n\"Like how many?\" I asked ready for anything." ]	1
	[WP] You've been in paradise for 60 years waiting for you brother. When you hear the news, you wait by the gates but he doesn't show.	[ "I sat in a beach chair by my pool, the weather was perfect and so far his day was the same as always. He took a drink from the margarita at his side when an angel suddenly appeared in a bright and divine light, she stood about five foot six inches and was beautiful in every way, she used to tell me she had no name but I called her Amanda and while I wanted to be with her, I knew the big man wouldn't allow it so I smiled and stood, \"Hello Amanda. What have you come to tell me today? \"\n\nAmanda smiled and gestured in the direction of heaven's gates, \"Your brother has recently died and I have come to inform you just like you asked the lord to do. \"\n\nMy eyes widened and I bolted off towards the gates. My brother dead? Coming here? While I knew his wife would be devastated, I was too happy at the thought to see some direct family that I knew, not that I disliked my great great grandparents but they didn't grow up with me. \n\nI skidded to a stop and waited by the gates, there were a lot of new arrivals already but I knew my brother was in there somewhere. I watched each person as they came and after a few hours I started to get nervous. \"Shouldn't he had been here by now?\" I thought. As two angels were switching shifts at gate duty, I stopped the one who should have brought in my brother, \"Um where is my brother? I think I missed him coming in, his name is Josh Picked. \"\n\nThe angel shook his head, \"Never heard the name so if he isn't here.\" He didn't finish the sentence and he didn't need to. My eyes formed tears as I started having a mini party is attack. Hell? My brother was the angel of both of us. He didn't deserve hell! I'm taking this straight to the big guy. \n\nI began marching down the golden streets with anger in my heart and tears running down my face, I walked through the doors to God's office and although I wanted to yell I simply couldn't with the feeling of fear overcoming me. God was emotionless and he didn't move a muscle until I calmed down and then he spoke, \" Your brother committed many deadly sins and never asked for forgiveness or changed his ways. \"\n\nI considered how god knew this and then remembered that he was all knowing so he would know my response or did he? I spoke as calmly as I could, \"But isn't there anyway for him to be up here with me, lord. For this is the day I have waited sixty years for, to see my brother once more and to have a good time with him. \"\n\nGod simply shook his head and gestured me out as the heavenly sky began to turn dark so we could all sleep, I sighed and turned to make my way home, thinking of what I would do while I waited for another member of the family to arrive. \n\nHope you enjoyed this response and as always feedback whether negative or positive is welcome. Also I might do a part two, just because I enjoyed writing this. " ]	1

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