(Monthly) Short Story Writing Prompts Submission Thread

Eh? Put it in a spoiler please, to make it easier for scrolling... And what's the title anyway?

 

Cbf with spoilers....

As for the title, "wasted effort"

 

CBF? Confederação Brasileira de Futebol?

At any rate, put it into a spoiler, seriously...

 

I believe it's an angrier version of Cannot Be Bothered

 

*sighs* It takes only a few seconds to do that... And it makes the whole thing easier for everyone...

 

Was on mobile, will get to it now

 

No one comments on quality of the story.

Okay ...

 

I haven't read it yet... In fact, I haven't read almost any of the stories in here.

Might read after I write mine... Maybe.

 

huh, you should.

There are some okay ones, some interesting ones, and some really average ones

 

A bit busy atm, maybe later... I do want to read them though, it's just been a while since I read anything outside of AG.

 

Just asking, have you posted a story here before? I can't really remember...

Edit: I remember now, there's an OP....

 

Yep, I made sure to at least keep them properly linked! \(^^)/

I think I wrote one or two? Not sure.

 

2, just checked

 

Here comes my late submission for February's topic! \(^^)/

Word Count: 706.
Genre: Uhn... Monologue?
Title: That which I cannot see.

Spoiler: That which I cannot see

It's always been strange to me when people ask me about my condition.

"How do you deal with it?"
"Can you walk around fine?"
"Do you need any help with anything?"

I mean... Sure I'm blind, but that's how it has always been, it's just how things are for me... How do you deal with your normal everyday life? It's just... Normal, isn't it? How else am I supposed to answer all that?

I wonder how do they think I have always lived, it's not like I would let everyone do everything for me, so of course I am fine as is... It even gets annoying after a while, I don't need people over-worrying about me.

Sometimes the voices are filled with pity as well, about how I can't see the beauty of the world, being always surrounded by darkness, and things like it... Why should I be pitied though? The pity is just unnecessary, I can enjoy life on my own, alright? I don't need to see a flower to know it is pretty, just smelling a nice scent and feeling it with my hands is more than enough to me!

At least the people near me do understand it after a while, but dealing with strangers is always bothersome, it's just the same things over and over again...

Well, enough of me whining about people that bother me, not like I should really care about it.

Right now I'm in a ceremony, as usual, everything is black, there is a sort of solemnity in it right now... I guess it is to be expected of a ceremony, right? But bear with me for a while longer.

I'm in the middle of it, most of the other people are on my surroundings, I can hear some of them crying of happiness, others just doing their best to contain their excitement... As for me? I'm walking, just going forward, without really hurrying my steps, I have been waiting for this for quite a while, a little more wouldn't hurt.

My dress is a bit hard to walk in, it is too long, but at the same time, really pretty, I loved the fabric that was used in it, it gives a wonderful feeling, and while passing my hand through it, I could feel that the design was really well made, I knew it would look gorgeous on me, and everyone that saw me, said the same, might be a bit of overconfidence, but this is my day, I suppose being a bit cocky won't really harm anyone.

I stopped walking and started hearing what the priest had to say, I already knew the whole thing, but this time it felt... Special, I suppose the occasion does that, I kept on hearing and hearing, the speech was slowly getting to an end... I think my cheeks are becoming wet? Oh, who am I kidding, of course I'm crying, how could I not? This is really wonderful, why would I not cry? I'm way too happy right now.

The speech ended, and now it was my turn to talk, I just said the one thing I needed to.

"I do."

Then I kissed my groom, rather, my husband, and let my tears completely fill my face, just this once, I can understand the feelings of those people, I really wanted to see how he looked right now, I could hear his breath, smell his scent, and just from his voice, I could know that he was as happy as I was.

Just this once, I wished from the bottom of my heart, I could see what was right in front of me, for in this day, I wanted to enjoy everything to the fullest, including that, which I know I'll never have, but still want it anyway, just to have this day, be even more perfect than it already is.

I put my hands around his neck and he took me in a princess carry, we walked towards the door, towards our celebration, and towards the next part of our life... I'm not afraid, the darkness never scared me, the uncertainty that comes with it definitely won't stop us, today starts my happy ever after, no matter what.

I'm not really sure on what I was aiming with this one tbh, I just went with the flow and this came out... I guess I just had fun writing?

 

I took it as multiple journey entries of well, the Last Man on Earth. An interesting peek, but it makes me wonder what else could've happened? As if, of all the excerpts in his journal, we chose the ones that were most 'relaxing' and harmless to read. It works as a snapshot from the film reel of his life, but not necessarily from the most exciting moments of his life.

The choice of the title, though, fits in an ironic way. Was it a "Wasted Effort" because his attempts to keep living are meaningless in a world with nothing left? Because we read the excerpts expecting to come upon a juicy adventure or a heart-thumping encounter, but come away strangely unharmed?

"Wasted Effort" carries all the markings of an apocalyptic story to come, but feels more like a prologue to the actual tale. There's some worldbuilding and crafting of the main character, yet everything drops off on the cusp of realization for both. The reader is left waiting for more at the end of its conclusion, and with a curious sense of wanting from having gained only a smidgen of the story that could've been.

 

And here is my March's theme, this one isn't late for a change!

Feels like I went somewhat far from the topic, but... Oh well, here we go!

Words: 1450.
Genre: Slice of Life maybe? Don't really know...
Title: I got a job!

Spoiler: I got a job!

The year is 2596 DC, I have been roaming these lands since 1799 AC, quite a while if I say so myself.

200 years ago, the existence of mythical creatures have been scientifically confirmed, the world was in a huge uproar at the time and many questioned what to do.

During the last 180 years, a witch hunt was carried throughout the globe, they feared us, and because of that, decided to destroy us... Really now, the last one had been on what? Middle ages? Why did they decide to do that all over again was beyond me.

Well, there was a problem though, they had way better technology today than they had back then, sure, we were still able to pack quite a punch, but it was a lot harder to deal with machine guns, missile launchers and tanks than it was to deal with a few armored knights.

It was only when the dragons got pissed off and started destroying a few cities that they finally noticed that this might not have been the wisest idea they ever had... Sure, they did try to nuke them a few times, but after the first one died to it, not a single one remained in place when airships got near... I suppose moving at Mach 10 does have its advantages, I'm so jealous, I can barely reach Mach 2 myself...

It wasn't as if they had nothing they could do against them, they did have AA guns and all, but the amount of resources spent was way too big for a war that may or may not be won, so they instead tried to make a peace agreement in which they of course came out in advantage... Something like a servant and subordinate relationship I guess.

Took a few months before those idiots finally stopped being so full of themselves and got an agreement of simply accepting the mythical beings on their societies and respecting the privacy of the fantastic creatures own groups, since most of them work in secrecy and are completely closed to outsiders.

20 years passed since then and things are quite stable between the various magical races and the humans, plenty of them entered human settlements due to being tired of hiding and wishing to live a life of comfort.

As for me? I'm a vampire, I usually had to live in underground caves near small villages and snatch some people that strayed too far, I always had to drink the whole of their blood to assure they wouldn't tell anybody of my existence... It was quite sad living all alone for about 4000 years you know? Though there were some really fun moments when I started making up random clues to make people believe the people I caught were actually kidnapped by aliens, but even that lost its fun after a while.

So, when the opportunity arrived, I moved in straight away! Nothing felt better than being able to laze around all day while playing games and reading novels, I always laughed at how far off some of the fantasy stories were about mythical creatures, though some were surprisingly accurate, I wonder how did people get this much of a close idea to them when they had no clue at all... I guess it was luck?

I lived of selling old coins, relics and the like, basically, a bunch of trash I picked up over the years, people were desperate for those, so I sold them to museums and collectors alike and got quite a bit of money, then I lived a really lazy life while feeding of blood packs that I could buy from some hospitals... Those were probably the best times in my life!

Sadly, money with no fixed income doesn't last forever, so I went broke after those 20 years... Which leads to the current situation I' in!

"Sergeant Alicia, we have a case for you."
"What is it this time?"
"A murder case near the city's center, it happened a few days ago and the trail is already cold, we found some of the blood of the perpetrator in it however."

I sighed... Really? What am I? A dog?

"So... Smell the blood, look for a similar smell and capture?"
"Exactly that."
"On it."

I left the office in a hurry, it's 8pm right now, so I have plenty of time until the sun rises, I should be able to finish this in no time, then, back to lazy life we go!

As soon as I left, I climbed to the top of the buildings and started jumping from one to another... Sure, I could go through the normal traffic roads, but those are too crowded, I save a lot of time by jumping from one terrace to another.

Before long I got to the point that I had marked on my phone's GPS (I received the exact location by sms), and dropped down to it, some of the other police officers were already waiting for me.

"Alright, where is the blood?"
"Sargeant Alicia! As quick as always it seems, here it is, we have the sample ready for you."

He took a small vial and gave it to me, I opened it and smelled...

"Ugh, filled with hallucinogens, whoever did it was probably completely drugged... Got it, I'll report directly to the station, so you're free to go."
"Yes Ma'am!"

I headed on the direction that I smelled something that was similar to this blood, was a bit far, but going after blood is a vampire's specialty, so I didn't really lose track of it.

Before long I was at the door of a house, it wasn't really that well maintained... Probably spent all the money on drugs... Oh well, let's barge in.

I punched the lock and it broke, getting in I could feel a horrid smell in there... Ugh, seriously, is the only thing this person does is drug themselves all day long?

Better wrap this up quickly, entering the house I quickly followed the scent and... For real? The guy is already dead? Did he die of overdose or something? The drugs' smell is so strong that I only noticed the putrid smell of death once I got on the room he is.

Tsc, such a waste, oh well, a job is a job... I noted the address I was in and ran back to the police station.

"Hey, the guy is already dead."
"Wait what? Who is- Oh, it's just you sergeant... The assassin is dead you say?"
"Yeah, overdose, probably killed the victim to get some money to buy more drugs, here is the address, the lock on the door was already broken, so I suggest hurrying there."
"Right... Already broken... And you had nothing to do with it?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about..." I said in the most innocent tone I could muster... He sighed.
"Understood, we'll send some troops right away, thanks for the quick job as always."
"And...?"
"And what? Is there something else?"
"My payment, I got an extra per case solved remember? It's part of the contract."
"... Sometimes I hate the person that contracted you with all my heart, you know?"
"I am happy to please!"
"Fine, go ahead."
"I'll dig in!"

He exposed his neck to me and I bit without a care in the world, after drinking a good amount I let him go and licked my lips.

"Thanks for the meal!"
"I hate you..."
"I'll take that as a compliment!

Well, I'm going now, gonna finish capturing another target!"
"Thought you were going home?"
"Otome games, otome games! I need to finish a route alright? It's the last one before I start the next one!"
"You and those games... Don't you ever do anything else?"
"Other than lazing around at home? Of course not! Why would I? I just need some money for a living, the rest will forever be spent in all of these 'useless' stuff you so happily produce!"
"You could... You know, go out sometimes, try to meet new people and..."
"You're a few thousand years too early to try and flirt with me boy, till tomorrow!"
"Take care!"

I left the station and ran straight back home! Full stomach and tons of free time, what else could a girl ever wish in life!?

Truth be told, he is kinda cute, but I'm not much into going after people that are that young... Specially humans, they just die so quickly, they could live a few thousand more years at least...

Oh well, back to shut-in life we go! For the goal of living a life as laid back as possible!

 

o/ Sensei, I have a question!! (First timer here )
The SS has to be original, but I can use a Villain from, for exemple, a novel I'm reading? Or a TV show? Or jumble everything together?

 

tfw someone's interpretation of your work is more interesting than your own

 

I like that lol

 

Wow, it's already March 14. Anyone else interested in submitting your story?