Instant Story

Challenge #04953-M204: See Him Face

They say that black cats crossing your path is bad luck. However, black cats mean no rats, and that's good luck for the farmer. -- BKF

Maaten Baurbrand knew there was something out there in the night. She couldn't see it, couldn't hear it, couldn't even smell it, but she knew it was there.

Every time she went out in the dark to be sure the cow shed was shut, there was the sense that something else was out there with her.

She startled at movement out of the corner of her eye, but saw nothing more than a stalk or three swaying in the breeze. Yet there was a sense of something small, or at least low to the ground, stalking in the inky blackness of night.

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Challenge #04952-M203: Emphasis on the 'Mostly'

A human who guards the crew would seem rather outnumbered given the SIZE of the ship. But the pirates didn't count on him having a very well trained Belgian Malinois. -- BKF

The Investigative Process was a very big ship. Galactic Survey motherships had to be large, mostly for the scientific analysis labs and customisable vivariums for the wild captive samples. Between stellar systems, the Ship's Human roamed the connecting halls, checking up on what Human Beck called Geektopia.

It took them

Challenge #04951-M202: The Only End

The saint encounters the creature-held body of the deceased prince, and thus begins the battle to stop it, and return the prince's remains to his family.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04943-m194-something-wicked -- BKF

Ganlen was able to pass easily through the crowds and city traffic as a hound,and thanked his gods that he had listened. His usual means of travel - a local bird - was being hunted by teens with slings. If he'd flown, he might have met impediment

Challenge #04950-M201: Careful Gentle Lessons

The kids are getting cooking lessons from Wraithvine and Bibrid. -- BKF

Scramble and Chance had learned the most important things about living in the wilderness. How to make shelter if they had none of their own. How to make fire even when magic was unavailable. What plants and animals were reliably edible more than once.

Now they were learning how to cook it.

One thing that could very rarely fail was stew. Except one eager child was fireproof and heat-resistant. Chance

Challenge #04949-M200: Battle in the Bedroom

A small child has an imaginary friend, a favourite stuffed toy, and a puppy. The three do not get along — the puppy has tried to eat the toy many times, the toy endlessly needles the imaginary friend for not being real, and the imaginary friend has learned a piercing whistle to annoy the puppy. But now they must put aside their differences and work together… to defeat the monster that lives in their child’s closet. -- Tergon

Everyone who knows about

Challenge #04948-M199: Last Days of a Saint

A dying elderly woman's final wish. She had spent her entire life helping others. And while that life had made her very happy, a tiny little piece of her wishes she could be spoiled a little and treated like a queen. Just for one day, though. -- BKF

A Saint for Wraithvine had reached the point where she was no help to anyone. A lifetime of charitable action had worn her near to a whisper, but she was happy.

"It is our

Challenge #04947-M198: A Most Useful Weed

An alchemist has been brewing a potion for three months, and after taking meticulous care, it’s finally ready for the final step: the addition of a locally grown, fresh-picked herb.

Unfortunately, a combination of overzealous weeding by locals and imperfect weather means that the usual crop is not available.

The alchemist now has forty-eight hours to find the missing ingredient, and is becoming increasingly unhinged. -- Tergon

Months of steeping, fermenting, careful additions of each ingredient according to the instructions. The

Challenge #04946-M197: Controlled Substance

There is nothing more stubborn than a determined wizard, except, perhaps, a determined CAT! And when the plants are fully mature, Lilbit manages to get into the catnip, with rather amusing results.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04696-l312-important-gifts -- BKF

Wraithvine knew hir stuff. The wards did little more than add an unpleasant static charge to Lilbit's fur, but they kept her off the plants. The cat mint plants that kept drawing her back to a very unpleasant experience.

In an effort

Challenge #04945-M196: The True Impediment

A hellkin runs a special school for those who are disabled, helping them learn how to overcome the prejudices and misconceptions people have of those who are not considered "normal". None of those there are treated as lesser, but instead, shown just how strong they can be. -- BKF

There were two entrances to the place, depending on what kind of parent wanted their child there. One side was bright, open, colourful and soft. The other side was stark, dark, and oppressive.

Challenge #04944-M195: Letter Campaign

A malicious letter writing campaign forces Lord Kormwind to implement a restrictive policy in regards to mail coming into Whitekeep. This has unforeseen consequences. -- Deathshead419

[AN: I can't easily imagine what might lead to such things in Whitekeep. Origins outside of Whitekeep can work]

A king of conquest is generally expected to encounter the need for more conquest. In such a way, empires are wont to grow. King Kormwind Arachis Felbourne Whitekeep, ninth of his name, stopped short of controlling enough

Challenge #04943-M194: Something Wicked

The royal family are faced with a terrible burden. The boy that was their son has long since died. What was within the body was pure evil. Now came the most painful part. Casting out the evil, though it would mean having to bury their son. For the sake of many lives, there was no other course.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04898-m149-what-rude-beast -- BKF

The thing that inhabited Prince Crevith's body drove it relentlessly Eastward. To what goal, it did not

Challenge #04942-M193: Signed, Sealed, Adopted

Bibrid is offered the opportunity to officially adopt Chance as their own child. Scramble was not interested in being adopted, ze saw the two traveling with them as beloved Untys. -- BKF

[AN: The plural of Unty (The nongender variant of Aunty or Uncle) should be "Unties", but it also looks like that thing you do when you loosen a knot. My compromise is leaving the Y alone, so I fixed that in this prompt. Also, Scramble in Nonbinary. I checked. Last

Challenge #04941-M192: Slow, Slow Progress

A person who studies plants, but is not a druid, just a normal human, works with her elven husband to develop Harukh'ai crop plants that grow more quickly, grow larger, and are more nutritious. Others may sneer, but they truly believe the way to world peace, is by making sure no one goes hungry. -- BKF

[AN: Possibly in relation to Had a Bad Day ]

Hard-root in its natural form is a slow-growing tuber that, like most things that grow in the

Challenge #04940-M191: Give Your All

They were poor, but at time of offering at the temple, they gave their very last coin with a wish. Not for wealth for themselves, but, of all things, for the children of the local lord who was not unkind, would survive their illnesses. And the poor who gave their very last? The gods always know. -- BKF

See a copper, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck. So the saying goes. The truth of the luck of

Challenge #04939-M190: Justice in the Snowfall

A child’s tradition- the shadow dance, to summon and welcome Kinderfreund and Helpmeet -- Weirdlet

Kid culture is a heck of a thing. Nobody knows who invented the floor being lava. There's no recorded instance of step on a crack. Nobody knows who first determined how to use a dandelion clock.

Nobody knows who created the Shadow Dance.

Just like nobody knows who thought of leaving out offerings for Greatfather Langeven and the unicorn that draws his sled. All around Alfarell,

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Challenge #04953-M204: See Him Face

Challenge #04952-M203: Emphasis on the 'Mostly'

Challenge #04951-M202: The Only End

Challenge #04950-M201: Careful Gentle Lessons

Challenge #04949-M200: Battle in the Bedroom

Challenge #04948-M199: Last Days of a Saint

Challenge #04947-M198: A Most Useful Weed

Challenge #04946-M197: Controlled Substance

Challenge #04945-M196: The True Impediment

Challenge #04944-M195: Letter Campaign

Challenge #04943-M194: Something Wicked

Challenge #04942-M193: Signed, Sealed, Adopted

Challenge #04941-M192: Slow, Slow Progress

Challenge #04940-M191: Give Your All

Challenge #04939-M190: Justice in the Snowfall