Instant Story

Challenge #04739-L355: Birthday Wish

Visions guided Wraithvine to a village isolated on a forested island just off a wild coast. There ze finds a village where a fortnight before everyone over the age of 13 vanished. The children are distraught, food is running low, and the twelve year old girl who’s birthday is only days away cannot sleep.

What has happened to the adults and can Wraithvine get to the bottom of the mystery in time? -- Deathshead419

There was something deeply wrong with this section of the wide ocean. First there were the merfolk and their warped predator false god. Now there was this place.

Wraithvine had followed the trail of smoke and regular puffs of it. Someone at the fire wanted and needed attention.

Desperately so, as it turned out. There was not a single adult on the island. Nobody over the age of thirteen, as Wraithvine discovered. Ze did set foot on the seemingly cursed land without incident, but the signaler had had a conniption about it.

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Challenge #04738-L354: The Vanishing Mystic

A Spiritual Guru has been leading on her clientele with tales of a mysterious master who seems always just out of reach. Yet as her tricks of hiding cigarettes and magically “repairing” plates, she hatches a plan to have a fake “master” appear in the window to mollify her marks. And it works, his silhouette enough to keep them in awe and paying her. Only…the man she hired to do the deed tells her that he never made it that night…

Challenge #04737-L353: A Different Kind of Bull

A trio of elves are using their longevity to rig long-term investments in a rather prosperous region, pretending to be a family of knowledgeable businessmen by taking turns as son, father, and grandfather with magic guises. Needless to say, they have amassed a fortune immiserating the humans of these valleys for generations. Though if Wraithvine were to show up it seems unlikely that their scheme would go unnoticed. -- Deathshead419

It was the kind of thing only a long-lived being would notice.

Challenge #04736-L352: Not Another Faerie Tale

A chimneysweep out late at night sees the darndest thing: a carriage racing away from the palace as it turns into a pumpkin. Even stranger, a crystalline slipper falls from the fleeing vehicle, one that fits the chimneysweep perfectly. And then, word spreads through the city that the prince is looking for the lovely lady who wore a glass slipper to his ball. -- Deathshead419

Just like trusting government systems based on waterlogged women handing out swords, one should not chose eligible

Challenge #04735-L351: One Head Under the Crown

A long reigning king has reached the end. The eldest has the strongest claim, yet his rule is unlikely to last long. The middle son is inclined to autocracy, yet, deft in international politics and likely to keep the kingdom at peace. The youngest is quarrelsome with his peers, yet, sympathetic to the plight of his people. And there is the bastard, a playboy likely to leave governing to the parliament except when he wants to indulge.

Wraithvine is called to choose

Challenge #04734-L350: Welcome to Pax Humanis

Such a shame, so YOUNG to be a mass-murder, they're only 10./ "Wait, they're still breathin', tho'."

What? But...such shallow breaths and restraints?/ "Th' nice cat lady an' th' scary guys say use this thingy an' th' bad men won't chase me no more!" -- Anon Guest

Timi had had quite enough of the bad men. They all came to her big house and had a lot more food that Timi and her sisters ever did and they did things to

Challenge #04733-L349: Sensory Overload Episode

They thought it was yet another knomira sitting and screaming not getting their way. But an observant individual sees they're covering their ears and back against a wall. And realize, this isn't a knomira, it's a person who's struggling due to the size and noise of the crowd. -- Lessons

"Stoppit, stoppit, stoppit, stoppit," the voice carried over the hubbub of the crowd. Given that it was a commercial concourse on a nexus station, it was a safe bet that this was

Challenge #04732-L348: One Taste of Home

The camp was quiet save for the soft sound of weeping. Bibrid, in their guise as gnome, sat next to the young individual and asked what was wrong. The person was homesick, but it would be at least another month or more before they got to see home again. He, of course, listened and his best to be soothing. He understood what it was like to miss one's home. -- Anon Guest

It does a child good to spend some time away

Challenge #04730-L346: Improvised Weaponry

The pirates caught the ship's human in their jammies and socks. The human captured them by shuffling feet on soft surfaces and touching the pirates. The touches leaving painful spots. Rumor spread humans could shoot lightning from their fingers. Those that knew better knew it was just static. -- Fighting Fit

Ships' night is normally a strategic time for space pirates to attack. Unfortunately for these pirates, normal and Humans don't mesh. Human Zorq was in their BVD's and socks when the

Challenge #04731-L347: This Will Pass

It's storming and the kids are scared. Wraithvine calls to Lilbit after confirming the kids have no allergies. The soft purring and pets soon have the children sleeping peacefully. -- Anon Guest

It was definitely a dark and stormy night. Between the lightning flashes, it was black as pitch out there. The wind raged against the mountains and the trees. The thunder shook dust loose from the rafters, and the children were hiding under the tables and shrieking at most peals.

Wraithvine

Challenge #04729-L345: The Hardest Thing to Learn

The Master-Healer looks upon their apprentice with sadness. "There is one lesson I must teach you yet."

~What is it Master?~

"The fact... sooner or later, we will fail"

https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=eny9wNGzYAc -- Anon Guest

[AN: in order to take advertising money away from YouTube, I am translating every YouTube link to Invidious. Watch videos ad free]

"This, above all, I will do no harm," recited the trainee Medik, Min. "I will treat my patients with respect and

Challenge #04728-L344: Downtime After the Fray

It's been a long slog, the marines were tired, battered, and just tired of it all. They finally got the word, they were going home. One soldier said all he wanted was a nap, and his favorite snacks. Several havenworlder medics, and some level 1 and 2 deathworlder medics, asked the humans, what kind of snacks? -- Anon Guest

"Roasted, salted cashews," said Marine Blem, who had literally rolled out of her battle-rated livesuit and had yet to extract herself from the

Challenge #04727-L343: Earned Adoption

The human family wept, for illness robbed them of being able to have children. The kobold warren nearby decided to trust them and brought a nest of eggs. They loved the young kobolds as deeply as they would their own flesh and blood. And the sorrow was turned to joy. -- Anon Guest

The good news, such as it was, was that Hirren and Aldin had survived the mumps. The bad news was that it had stolen the young couple's ability to

Challenge #04724-L342: Free as a... Prince?

Wraithvine and anyone ze believes will help with the task (possibly meaning no one) must infiltrate a ball and rescue a prince from the clutches of his evil (yet, alas, overwhelmingly popular and powerful) Queen Mother. All without being recognized or exposed during the escape, and before the clock strikes one in the morning, for some reason… -- Deathshead419

[AN: Pure evil requires dedicated choice, and I don't believe anyone living is pure evil. Not even in fiction. They have motives and

Challenge #04723-L341: La Resistance

An undercover agent deep behind enemy lines. The radio is broken. The phones are dead. The gun is still warm, the crime scene fresh. And the contact is 6 hours late. Has the agent been double crossed, left for dead, or worse? -- Deathshead419

Good news, bad news, good news... Good news, the gun still had ammo, and she was smart enough to pick it up with gloved hands. If the occupiers were looking for clues, they wouldn't find a hint of

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Flash fiction fresh from my fingers to your mind!

Challenge #04739-L355: Birthday Wish

Challenge #04738-L354: The Vanishing Mystic

Challenge #04737-L353: A Different Kind of Bull

Challenge #04736-L352: Not Another Faerie Tale

Challenge #04735-L351: One Head Under the Crown

Challenge #04734-L350: Welcome to Pax Humanis

Challenge #04733-L349: Sensory Overload Episode

Challenge #04732-L348: One Taste of Home

Challenge #04730-L346: Improvised Weaponry

Challenge #04731-L347: This Will Pass

Challenge #04729-L345: The Hardest Thing to Learn

Challenge #04728-L344: Downtime After the Fray

Challenge #04727-L343: Earned Adoption

Challenge #04724-L342: Free as a... Prince?

Challenge #04723-L341: La Resistance