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Challenge #01758-D297: Old Tricks, New Places

Employment Agency for Supernatural Beings and Creatures. -- Anon Guest

The Fae Folk don't get to steal as many babies as they used to. Their usual shenanigans are now written off as the souls of dead humans. And that's just insulting. The worst they can do is already being done, and to humans, by humans. They have lived for centuries. Millenia. And they have yet to see depravity like human depravity. Humans can't be scared of them, any more. What they are afraid of most is other humans.

Make no mistake, the Fae still have their strongholds. Doorways and places where they can slide into this world, or places that allow them to observe the modern era. And they still hold true to never bothering the artists. Much. They might borrow a bard or two, but the bards are few and far between, nowadays.

Which is why Snowdrop had come here. An employment agency. The Fae court has always had a very thin grasp of economics, but she knows that things aren't as... worthy... as they had once been. So she came, and she expected to be given things, just because she happened to be a Faerie. You can imagine her shock when the Lupercain at the desk said, "That's not how it works, any more."

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Challenge #01757-D296: Flinging For Science

Bored Science class discovers Trebuchet. (Medieval rock flinger). -- Anon Guest

The substitute teacher, there for a month, didn't know shit about science. In fact, they had strong anti-science beliefs and would not easily be swayed on this. The school heard the classes' complaints and did exactly nothing about it.

So they got together during the lunch hour and plotted how to prove that science worked despite anyone's beliefs. "Okay. We got 'flat earth' and a gif of the earth turning isn't

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Challenge #01756-D295: Equal Access

And you don't get your driver's license back until you've helped repair and restore a car for someone in need. And this was actually done to a group of young "Hoons" for acting like -well- "hoons". -- Knitnan

People tend to think that 'equal access' means denying something to the abled. Cutting down those with an advantage to the level of the disadvantaged. Removing something that is already there. Such can be the case, but it also involves improving things for those

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Challenge #01755-D294: Cut the Glorx Wire

"Have you ever disarmed one of these before?"

"Meh. How hard could it be?" -- Bard2DBone

The strange symbols were counting. That much was recognisable by the repeated sequences. And they seemed to be counting down, too. It was easy to connect the dots. Alien device that was likely counting down? Rising ominous hum? Things were going south quickly.

Therefore, it was time to deploy the human.

Human Shaniqua sighed and placed herself down by the device. There were her usual rituals.

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Challenge #01754-D293: Caught!

"I can explain! I swear!"

"Let's hear it."

"Aw hell. Just skip to the beating." -- Anon Guest

It was one of those situations. Stealth mission. Retrieve the Macguffin of Wherever, and do so in such a way that there are minimum fireworks, thank you, Taako. Taako automatically gave Madam Director his usual forged picture of innocence and Who Sweet Little Me routine.

She wasn't fooled for an instant. Neither was the boy. Angus McDonald, world's greatest boy detective.

And now, several

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Challenge #01753-D292: Quest's End

"Are you okay?"

"I may be crying, but I can still kick your ass!" -- OohLookShiny

To be heroic, you don't have to be physically strong. It's an advantage to have that, but it is not necessary. To be heroic, all one needs to do is continue in your efforts to improve the world despite the torturous circumstances in your way. People even have a term for the sort who can deal a lot of damage, but also end up almost ruined

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Challenge #01752-D291: It's Actually a Dramatisation of Real Events

There are three! I mean three Tardises parked in the car-park - in the Director's, and The Chairman's spaces and now all three of Him are arguing with themselves and waving their sonics at each other. -- Anon Guest

"I'm here to right a grievous wrong."

"I'm here to right a grievous wrong."

It was a three-way Gallifreyan stand-off. All on the set. All between people who looked remarkably similar to the actors who had played them. Tensions were high. And at

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Challenge #01751-D290: In a Bygone Time

Critics review of The Mikado, performed by St Trinians School for Young Ladies. -- Anon Guest

The papers flew in, and for once, the girls did not blow up the paperboy. They'd been waiting for these particular editions with bated breath. They were the ones with the reviews in them. The girls wanted to read about the raving.

The dozen or so in the cast thundered down the stairs to their school song, "Maidens of Saint Trinians, gird your armour on/ Grab

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Challenge #01750-D289: Confessions at a Bus Stop

Writer caught doing research, then realises 'captive audience'. -- Anon Guest

Officer René wasn't intending to be on duty. They were just chilling near the bus stop and not paying attention to anything much. Someone was already under the shelter and working on their laptop.

And then they heard the words, "No... that's too much decapitation. Uh... pierced jugular. Slow. Plenty of signs of blood spatter."

There are some things you hear that you're better off walking away from. There are some

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Challenge #01749-D288: Hear Me Roar

They called them "The Ladies from Hell" the bravest one was not carrying a weapon but a musical instrument. -- Knitnan

Revolution comes in many forms. A poisoned chalice. A coup detat. Violence in the streets. Quiet murder in between the sheets. This one began with an infant daughter, wailing in her mother's arms, and an urgent flight into the night.

Twenty women before her had borne that man daughters. And twenty women and their daughters had died the next day. Ralin

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Challenge #01748-D287: War of the Sexes

Why do women's clothing never have pockets? -- Anon Guest

Everyone thinks it's the purse industry. Selling ladies all forms of impractical bags of varying sizes that, though they look pretty, are a pain to manage. Those that hang off the shoulder cause damage to the tendons. Those clutched in the hand are hard to keep track of. And those with large bags suffer the worst, because their significant others use them as pack horses.

That's only part of it.

The strangest

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Challenge #01747-D286: Stop Me if You've Heard This One

"Okay, this might be scary so if you need some time to prepare-"

"Jokes on you I'm terrified a hundred percent of the time anyway!" -- OohLookShiny

A Havenworlder and a Deathworlder walk into a bar...

So very many jokes start this way, including the off-colour one that also included cogniphagia. But this time, it was reality. The Havenworlder was in their livesuit and tucked under the arm of the deathworlder. A big, burly, brick of a human.

The worst kind.

Support

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Challenge #01746-D285: Why Not Have Both?

Don't be eye candy, be soul food. -- Anon Guest

After the Hunger War, things were relatively quiet. Never too quiet, because despite the differences that were buried to literally fight for life, people liked to remember a grudge or three. The Bureaux of Balance went public and attempted to help keep a lid on things.

And despite semi-retirement, it wasn't that much of a shock to see living legends turn up in situations loaded with strife. Well. Technically three living legends,

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Challenge #01745-D284: Wolf by the Fireplace

How about alien species who don't realize we're allegedly the dominant species on the planet? Maybe they value empathy more than intelligence, which would make dogs the most likely contender for dominant life form. -- Bard2DBone

When humanity met the Fressik, there was some evident confusion and quite a lot of debate. They had crashed on a colony world, and hit some large buildings, so the rescue teams had the rescue dogs with them. The smaller ones worked their way through the

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Challenge #01744-D283: The Allure

He was always the cool guy, best clothes, best attitude - He didn't get the girl. The class Dork the one who watched weird stuff, wore Those T shirts did. When the chips are down who can you rely on? -- Anon Guest

Travis was the pretty boy, and the bad boy. The rebel without a clue, as some of the teachers said. He always had a skateboard and could miraculously make it vanish before a teacher saw it. He could cuss

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