Instant Story

Challenge #01491-D030: Why Am I Here?

http://writing-prompt-s.tumblr.com/post/156109857968 "The world’s best have been transported to a single building, each having their own field of expertise. You, an average Joe, have also been transported. You have no idea what you’re so good at, but everyone else seems to be afraid of you." -- Anon Guest

The right hand rule sucks. I kept finding myself back at my own marks. Upstairs, downstairs... everywhere was closed in. No exits existed. Not even in the extensive gardens that seemed to grow every food plant in existence... as well as a few food animals. Small ones. Not the large ones that needed a lot of upkeep.

There were homes. Flats, habitats, whatever you wish to call them. There were places that could have been shops if they weren't arranged by an alien. There were no checkouts. There was no security. Everything was fresh, clean and new. Scarily clean. It was like the whole place was a habitat for a human collection.

There were others here. The best of the bunch. For every job, the leading name in that field was here. Wherever here is. The best doctor. The best psychiatrist. The best gardener. The best cleaner. The best... everything. And then there's me. Someone from podunk nowhere with a dead-end job in cubicle hell. I don't get it. I'm not the best at anything.

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Challenge #01490-D029: Prophecy From Another Dimension

You should write for Steemit...

Oh, that's right! You already do! Just "discovered" you there today... Having fun reading you, THANKS! -- @creatr

The message arrived via postcard under their door. They pondered over it for hours, because they had never written a word in their life. Everything was too busy. There was no time. There was no space to create anything in. Their space was a mere bed-sit[1] with cardboard walls and loud neighbours. It was the exact opposite of

Challenge #01489-D028: One Hazy Mid-afternoon in an East Sussex Hospital Ward

"She has amnesia,"

"Thank god!"

"What?"

"...I-I said, THAT'S TERRIBLE! " -- OohLookShiny

Nurse Blakely wasn't fooled for an instant. She had seen what had happened to Miss Doe. Helped patch up the damage. "You sound like you know how September Doe got her injuries, Mr..." she checked her notes, "Smith."

"First, her name is Holly Buckley. Second, it's my job to keep her safe. Third... I really failed this time. And it involved some werewolves. Well. Three werewolves, a volcano, and a

Challenge #01488-D027: Unrealised, Unrequited, Unrecognised

“If [he][1] was unable to see that I had feelings for him (at least five, but sometimes as many as seven)…” - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

Lyr watched Ambassador Shayde attempting to flirt with Rael. The impossible force against an oblivious stone. There had been more than one instance of interspecies dating that floundered heavily on the sending a signal stage. And not merely because of cultural difference. Subconscious body-speak could cause the most inconvenient miscommunications.

One species' flirting is another's

Challenge #01487-D026: On the Other Side of the Fence

“I have at least 14 bad angles” - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

Carl made a career out of being abnormal. As one of the rare few who could not be cured, he told the jokes than nobody else dared make. Like, "Hey did you hear about the dyslexic biker? He joined Hell's Angles." or, "Public transportation is a real pain. You just try catching the sub every day."

And it worked. People laughed. He earned a living. He kept a home and

Challenge #01486-D025: Worth a Life

“unfortunately it hurts all 3 of my feelings” - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

Oh crap. She'd tripped over a Faerie nest.

Of all the authors who featured the Fair Folk in their modern writings, A. A. Milne said it best: Their bodies were so tiny that they could only process one feeling at a time. What hardly anyone remembered about Faeries is this: immortality can drive cogniscent beings insane. Milne's traditional cause of faerie death is not what these hyperactive creatures needed.

Challenge #01485-D024: To Fix a World

“No motive is pure. No one is good or bad-but a hearty mix of both. And sometimes life actually gives to you by taking away.” - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

He only wanted to do good. To improve things for everyone. To make the world a better place. There were just a few things that he needed to make sure of. For the good of everyone. Well. Almost everyone. There were some... bad elements... that needed dealing with.

The drains on society,

Challenge #01484-D023: Subtle Dangers

Why should I go crazy when I can just as easily wait for it right here. Who wants gum? - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

Something had to exist that did not like quiet, and M'prax was reasonably certain that it was the Ship's Human. The dangerous deathworlders had a reputation for being unstoppable protectors and, more to the point, profitable creatures to have. But they were also... well... deathworlders.

It was hard not to think of the being named Sally as an

Challenge #01483-D022: Portents of Doom

“You know the bad thing about being a survivor… You keep having to get into difficult situations in order to show off your gift.” - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

"I wouldn't ordinarily complain about your... shenanigans," said the Cuidgari Security Chief everyone knew as Sherlock, "you have such a finely-tuned sense for skating on the borders of legality. But this is the third time this week. Are you bored, or have you and Rael had a... 'tiff' as you call it?"

"In

Challenge #01482-D021: All the Luck

“If my life wasn’t funny, it would just be true, and that is unacceptable” - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

Kyle was a Lucker. One of the unfortunate few with the Luck gene. His bad luck was everyone's good, and vice versa. His 'range' was five Standard Distance Units, or he would be isolated on a small station just big enough for one. The universe, it seemed, liked balance.

Fortunately for Kyle, he had found an 'out'. He moonlighted as a stand-up

Challenge #01481-D020: Carry the Light

'I don’t want my life to imitate art, I want it to be art." - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence

Auntie Mame is famous for saying, "Life is a smorgasbord, and most poor souls are starving to death." But even she would believe that Taerl Vincetti was taking things a bit too far.

She could have been the living embodiment of vanity, were it not for her belief that her life was a performance piece for all who happened to be in

Challenge #01480-D019: Facing Doubt

"Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow." — Carrie Fisher on pursuing dreams despite mental illness -- RecklessPrudence

Rael woke from his haze. His body hurt. That meant that the surgery had gone ahead. In lieu of recovering in an Intensive Care Patient Drawer[1], he and his warming tank were in a dimly-lit shelf in Medik Central. A young

Challenge #01479-D018: To Meet Like Minds

“Movies were meant to stay on the screen, flat and large and colorful, gathering you up into their sweep of story, carrying you rollicking along to the end, then releasing you back into your unchanged life. But this movie misbehaved. It leaked out of the theater, poured off the screen, affected a lot of people so deeply that they required endless talismans and artifacts to stay connected to it.” – Carrie Fisher, The Princess Diarist -- RecklessPrudence

Some stories, they say, are timeless.

Challenge #01478-D017: Popular Lies

Write about a false prophet. -- WriteAboutNowBlr

"And in the bright new age of reckoning, we will no longer have freeloaders sucking on the government teat," preached the man in the large, bright suit. "There will be no need for government! No need for taxes! Those who can fulfil a need will do so, and those who need will be sated!"

The crowd cheered. Of course they did. It was a message they wanted to hear.

"In this way, and in this

Challenge #01477-D016: One Fine Day in an Impoverished Neighbourhood

“I wish time would skip ahead. I got here too early.” -- WitterPrompts

Paul checked her watch. "You're right on time."

"No. I mean... the whole future thing. It's like... most of my time has been spent waiting for stuff that should have been here, already. Like... I dunno. Tablets should have always been there since my childhood, you know."

"And flying cars?" teased Paul.

"No. Dur. You can't have flying cars until after self-driving cars have taken over. Because, look at

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Challenge #01491-D030: Why Am I Here?

Challenge #01490-D029: Prophecy From Another Dimension

Challenge #01489-D028: One Hazy Mid-afternoon in an East Sussex Hospital Ward

Challenge #01488-D027: Unrealised, Unrequited, Unrecognised

Challenge #01487-D026: On the Other Side of the Fence

Challenge #01486-D025: Worth a Life

Challenge #01484-D023: Subtle Dangers

Challenge #01483-D022: Portents of Doom

Challenge #01482-D021: All the Luck

Challenge #01481-D020: Carry the Light

Challenge #01480-D019: Facing Doubt

Challenge #01479-D018: To Meet Like Minds

Challenge #01478-D017: Popular Lies

Challenge #01477-D016: One Fine Day in an Impoverished Neighbourhood