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Mundane Matters

A 36-post collection

Challenge #04723-L339: Unburied

Sluggish movements, unable to think, and forced to work for eternity by a Vodun Sorcerer. Zombies, a metaphor for the nightmare of every slave. After decades of distortion, it would be fitting to tell a tale in the mold of what happened to those unfortunate souls like Clairvius Narcisse… -- Deathshead419

[AN: I usually don't mess with RL people. So this entity will be legally distinct from that person]

I am... stuck. I know I was someone, but I can not remember... anything. I must work, I must obey, I must... remember... something. Something beyond my grave.

What I remember is wreathed in fog. The light of the sun as... the Master... opened my casket. His voice, demanding I rise and follow. I vaguely remember not liking being dead. It was stuffy in there. Suffocating.

It should not be possible to suffocate when you're already dead. That should have mattered more, but... the thought evaded me for all the time since the grave. I never saw the Master's face. Even when I was looking at him. I do not remember the sound of his voice, but I remember that his word is my command.

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Challenge #04703-L319: Red Waves in the Morning

"Crap! We have a red tide."/ Shall I get the chocolate?

"No it's not that time yet. I mean we have a dead zone rolling in. Need to find out what is causing it before too much damage is done to this tidal sanctuary."

For those who are unaware of what a Red Tide is, I present you with this.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/redtide.html -- Fighting Fit

Working at the Shoreline Wilderness Sanctuary was usually just watching a bunch

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Challenge #04699-L315: The Green Revolution

Is the difference between mad science and genius the success of the project? That’s what one researcher believes, for a new breakthrough could solve global warming. Or it could freeze the planet. Success or failure, genius or madness. Only results will tell which is which. -- Deathshead419

The saying goes, If it's stupid and it works, it's not that stupid. Some people feel inclined to test such expressions to the snapping point. Some have a mad idea and would rather seek

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Challenge #04697-L313: An Unnerving Supply

Conglomerated Meat Products Limited has a rather infamous reputation, beloved by customers for low prices and hated by nutritionists for how those prices are achieved. At least they were, and those detractors would love more information. Alas, the last three health inspectors to visit the plant have vanished without a trace, the police somehow never finding evidence of foul play… -- Deathshead419

On paper, it looked like a very good business. It never ran out of supply, and could fulfill a great

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Challenge #04676-L292: Deepest, Darkest Secret

An airplane vanished over the Amazon rainforest, never to be seen again. The authorities did a perfunctory search, but came up empty, declaring everyone dead. But one child of a businessman lost on the flight isn’t so sure. And so the child sets out alone to find the truth of the disappearance and, perhaps, a parent alive… -- Deathshead419

[AN: I misread this and instantly thought of this thing {Offensensitivity warning for flashing imagery} and now I have to divorce myself

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Challenge #04656-L272: The Angel's Share

Every distiller knows that while a spirit is maturing in the barrels, some will be taken by the angels. Yet one maker of metal barrels is convinced he put an end to this folklore and keep that booze for his clients. It would put a hitch in his plans for wealth if the Angels were real and decided to pull him into their ranks for his pique… -- Deathshead419

There's a reason why people leave bread and milk for the fairies. There's

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Challenge #04655-L271: Improper Parcel Preparation

What happens to a poor postal worker delivering a package some idiot wrote “Non-Flammable” on, even though the contents are VERY LIKELY to spontaneously burst into flames? -- Deathshead419

As far as Lyle was concerned, this parcel was plastered with overly specific denials. All hand-written over every possible space. Not flammable, they said, Definitely won't spontaneously combust. It was also laid all over with "Handle With Care" and "Fragile" stickers. One of the hand-written warnings, in worrying crayon, said, Store it in

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Challenge #04647-L263: Just One Won't Hurt

For decades Markus was a marketer for [BRAND] Cigarettes, telling himself lie after lie to justify his job. That was until his brother contracted lung cancer. Now Markus is desperate to use his riches to make amends for his ill deeds. But is there really anything he can do to make up for all the bodies he’s helped to poison? -- Deathshead419

[AN: Had to alter this prompt a little because there is an actual brand name involved. I can not

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Challenge #04646-L262: Hubris in the Temple of Art

A playwright and troop director has crafted his greatest play. Only hitch is he has scorned warnings of restless spirits in the theater. Now ghosts are causing havoc while opening night is almost here. -- Deathshead419

Actors are a superstitious and cowardly lot. In a high-pressure environment where their means of continuing life and relative comfort depends entirely on a combination of extreme good fortunes, superstition is a natural reaction. Their practiced skills could fall victim to any little thing. A random

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Challenge #04637-L253: Do NOT Create the Torment Nexus

“At last, I’ve created the Torment Nexus,” said the Protagonist of the classic story you’re about to read, right now. -- Deathshead419

[AN: Thanks a fuckbunch (/sarcam) ]

Neuroscience had made amazing leaps forward. They not only mapped the human cerebrum, but were controlling it to a certain extent. Laws, of course, insisted that such methods could only be used for therapeutic purposes. Which was fine and good. Advances were made against depression and psychosis. They even found a remedy for

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Challenge #04631-L247: The Wolf You Don't See

Comrade Dvochev has been a ruthless enforcer of the revolution. Royals and their dogs, Bourgeoisie and their mercenaries, Traitors to the cause and their foolish hangers on, even Old Friends and their families.

But now the boss’s eye is falling on Dvochev himself. Might be time to take a long vacation overseas and get lost while doing so, as retirement packages for those in his position are usually measured in caliber… -- Deathshead419

The mistake that all revolutionary idealists make, the

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Challenge #04573-L189: Literate Legacy

Opening a box belonging to a great-great-grandparent, they smiled warmly. This was truly a treasure. An heirloom beyond any they could have desired as an inheritance. Their grandparent had always been an avid writer since they were young. And what was in the box? Diaries. From the time their grandparent had been a child, into adulthood, into old age, and even a few weeks before their serious decline made it impossible for them to do more than sleep, and write in their

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Challenge #04571-L187: As You Sow...

A corporate lawyer has made his fortune fighting worker regulations in Boston, breaking up union strikes in Sri Lanka, and sending Pinkertons to crack tree hugger heads in the rain-forest.

One day though he steps through the wrong, ethereal door and finds himself in the body of one of those he had fought, facing down the corporate guns.

[Twilight Zone Music Plays] -- Anon Guest

Presented for your approval, James Worpyington-Smythe III, council for the corporate persons and their rights to pursue

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Challenge #04565-L181: Age Appropriate Knowledge Source

They are a writer, and they thought their talent would simply consign them to a few pages, writing the histories of others, while their own was eventually forgotten. Their talent, however, was more than noticed. After all their writings gave lessons, and those lessons were saving many lives. -- Anon Guest

History is a complicated beast. It's difficult to believe that the first wonders of the world were not only rising from the ground, but had been standing for centuries at the

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Challenge #04561-L177: The Ultimate Scam

Mr Bad Example lives a life of plunder and scams, impersonating people, ripping off his workers, and changing identities whenever the heat rises too much. -- Anon Guest

[AN: I've been informed that there's a song called Mr Bad Example by Warren Zevon, so I can't use exactly that name for this piece.]

Alan Nemor had a gift. Primarily, he had the gift of being nondescript, but with a lot of charisma. He could change his hat and his coat and become

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