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Flash fiction fresh from my fingers to your mind!

Challenge #01227-C132: No Way Out

:From a former loose cannon/maverick's inner monologue:

But they were in a position of authority now, and for some reason that meant they didn't get to have their way anymore. -- Recklessprudence

Blaize Hartley hadn't meant to become a hero. It just sort of happened that way. She leaped in where angels would fear to hear about and winged it from there. She had an extreme knack for getting herself both into and out of the most ridiculous of pickles.

Including a trip down a one-way wormhole remnant to a system of interconnected planetary systems that were isolated from the greater Galactic Alliance. They had a set of really interesting problems that Blaize just kind of barged through.

And since she had nowhere else to go for a Galactic decade, she had to stick around to sort out the mess. Songs were sung, stories were told, dramatisations were made.

And, not knowing exactly how it happened, Blaize Hartley wound up... in charge. She, who regularly thumbed her nose at Authority... had become one. There was no real warning. No way to prepare. She came back from another wild session of daring do to discover a mountain of paperwork to fill out.

And an administrative staff wanting her decisions.

She tried to delegate. Finding people who were really great at their jobs, and then politely requesting they do her job for her. But it never stuck. Every time she thought she had a window of opportunity for one more adventure, the staff found her, dragged her back to her office, and sat more paperwork in front of her.

The Authorities, she found out, were not fun people because they never got to have any.

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Challenge #01225-C130: Monster in my Room

1) http://haberdashing.tumblr.com/post/142984148989/hot-bunns-3-am-thoughts

2) Branching off the above prompt - Pick a fandom and set one character as the monster under the bed/in the wardrobe --Gallifreya

1)

Every child gets a monster. An ancient contract, written in blood. Paid in teeth. They stay until the child is strong enough to care for themselves.

Some... never leave.

They are the monsters for the people who are particularly vulnerable. The people with one foot each in two

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Challenge #01224-C129: Retrospective Introspective

Meanwhile, in the past... -- RecklessPrudence

Rael didn't need to subscribe to the On This Day info feed. He was surrounded by hobby historians who would gleefully inform him of any significant events as they met him. If he was lucky, they would only infodump the interesting bits.

People had work to get to, after all. And limited time meant that people only passed on the information that they deemed important. Which lead to a skewed view of history, and an equally

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Challenge #01223-C128: Known Behavioural Patterns

:[Name] thinks while hiding and sneaking with new-found allies from and around old enemies:

[Name] started a mental drinking game for the disgusted comments about how this was not running a search pattern, and the amount of things it couldn’t find, but gave up when they realized they’d mentally gotten alcohol poisoning. -- RecklessPrudence

This had to be the biggest collection of obligatory stupid guards and bad base planning since someone let a three-year-old play Fortress Defence Jr. Jain had

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Challenge #01222-C127: Phrases of Doom

Person #1: Do not worry! I will fix it...

Person #2: You know, [Name], there are certain phrases in our language - such as that one - that simply cannot imply a good outcome. Do you know what I mean?

Person #1: Wow! This really DOES bond skin instantly!

Person #2: Good example. -- RecklessPrudence

Certain phrases imply impending doom. Whenever someone says, "What else can go wrong?" the universe is likely to answer with a supremely painful example.

Whenever a human

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Challenge #01221-C126: Executive Decisions

I see you have complaints about out Giant Robot Spider help program, We apologies for any Inconvenience this may have caused you.

Do to your complaint the following actions have been taken: Giant Robot Spiders have been dispatched to your location.

We know you had a choice of Aid providers and we thank you for your continued support. -- RecklessPrudence

Say what you will about the robot rescue spiders, and many citizens frequently did, but they were extremely effective. They saved hundreds

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Challenge #01220-C125: A Return Visit

http://www.internutter.org/challenge-01072-b340/

He keeps coming back... -- Anon Guest

Arthur saw him two weeks after his initial visit. He calmly collected the mail and, once inside, said something about it. "Hey, Lewis. You remember that cam guy who broke in a while back?"

"Yeah, he was trying to communicate with a Deadbeat. Why?"

"He's lurking in the foliage and watching the house."

Lewis, in the middle of a complicated recipe, groaned to himself. "If he's still there in half

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Challenge #01219-C124: The Truth About Dragons

http://crescentmoondemon.tumblr.com/post/142716976033 -- Anon Guest

They say that dragons are terrifying beasts. They say that their appetites know no bounds. They say that they thrive on fear. They say that they hoard things just to keep them from mortal hands. They say a lot of things, really. Especially after they've had a few pints, down at the local pub.

Eve knew differently.

For starters, Dragons are more than fine with a sheep or a cow once a month.

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Challenge #01218-C123: A Big, Wet, Sloppy... Hug?

Just a snippet from a very enjoyable story, stripped of gender-specific terms:

..."I will hug you," they threatened, spreading their arms... -- RecklessPrudence

"It's impossible to swim through the Glunk and survive!"

Exhibit A, still dripping an pungent, unidentifiable goop, said, "Desperate times, all th' wards I could muster, an' some bluidy good air pockets, ye ken."

Rael, summoned to the scene, hadn't recognised her until she spoke. "Ambassador Shayde?"

She saluted him. But carefully, so that none of the glop adhering

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Challenge #01217-C122: Curses!

:when a person who has been living with their curse for some time decides to stand up for the abused, and Sanctioned Mages try to put them down:

Spell slinging against a cursed one and a legendary sword. How hard can it be? -- RecklessPrudence

The words had come in anger and magic. Latching onto her soul. Devouring her destiny with simple words, "You will fail at every one of your stated goals."

It hadn't meant much, at first. Her goals had

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Challenge #01216-C121: Not Under My Roof

There's the problem! You weren't thinking! Now you've made a pre-teen a nuclear power! -- RecklessPrudence

"In my defense," began Sara.

"You keep your big mouth shut," demanded Jaquelline.

"Will the both of you please be quiet?" asked Sam. "Do I need to bring out the talking stick?"

"There's no point. It doesn't work," said Sara. "Mother just rages off on a topic if someone says a hot word."

"Do you see the insolence of this child, Samuel? The things I have

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Challenge #01215-C120: Silver Spoon, Muck Manners

Just a moment. I have a multitude of extravagant ways of saying "no" to this, and I need to decide on one. -- RecklessPrudence

It had been the third time that this particularly unpleasant example had decided to interrupt an otherwise pleasant conversation. "No" was not in his vocabulary. Neither was "No, thank you." Both of those simple statements had been ignored.

So Lutetia said, "Just a moment. I have a multitude of extravagant ways of saying "no" to this, and I

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Challenge #01214-C119: Don't Send Me an Angel

http://khaleesijade.tumblr.com/post/142561344474/what-do-angels-actually-look-like-per-the-bible

Angel: “FEAR NOT.”

Shepherds: screaming

Angel: “I SAID FEAR NOT.”

Shepherds: screaming LOUDER

Angel: “WHAT PART OF FEAR NOT ARE YOU NOT UNDERSTANDING?” -- Gallifreya

[AN: The link supplied contains images that might be disturbing to those who don't read biblical accounts of what angels look like]

From the Expurgated Gospel of Tebol the Shepherd:

And the Lord sent an Angel unto Tebol, and the Angel had unto itself twelve wings, half of them like

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Challenge #01213-C118: Talking it Out

Therapy ghosts! -- Gallifreya

[AN: This prompt harkens back to the second half of story #01176, Free Spirits. But you know I'm not going to go further with that one]

Someone was in his usual hiding spot. One of the more corporeal monsters. A skeleton. A tiny little kid. And they were crying to themself.

Happstablook remained invisible as he crept closer. This kid was crying. Not the loud crying that demanded attention, but the silent kind that would not go away,

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Challenge #01211-C116: Through the Multiverse

Adventuring around the Multiverse, starring Stanford Pines! (If you have not seen Gravity Falls up to Not What He Seems, please replace Stanford with another character)

  1. With Wander and Sylvia
  2. In the last TV show, comic or game universe you encountered -- Gallifreya

[Of firkin course I've seen Gravity Falls. I was just never up on the decoding things because I (a) lacked the reflexes and (b) lacked the smarts. This is an author who needs help at every third Professor Layton

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