Instant Story

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 her. Gloria could take the gun for defence, but... it would also be something to tie her to the scene.

The corpse on the floor was Gloria's contact. Still warm, but not very warm Six hours, perhaps, since he had become the late Martin Boutonniere.

Whoever had killed him had taken some of the more interesting plans, but missed where Martin had hidden the list of names. Gloria found it intact and undisturbed in its hiding place. She removed it, and put everything back the way she'd found it. On the way out, she locked the door. She'd hid the key where anyone might hide a spare key to the apartment.

Support me on Patreon / Buy me a Ko-fi

Prompts remaining: 34 Submit a Prompt!
Ask a question

Challenge #04724-L340: One Weakened Link

Whilst in the woods, (alone or with someone(s) at the author’s discretion) Wraithvine comes upon a dying man, a double-crossed messenger with an arrow through his chest. He begs Hir to deliver his letter. But, a dying man is not necessarily a righteous one, not all treasons are unjustified. Wraithvine must decide if fulfilling the promise is correct, and ze does not have much time… -- Deathshead419

On a road less traveled, more of a deer trail, there's only a

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.

Challenge #04722-L338: Not the Best Laid Plan

When the conspirators are trapped, their plans come to ruin, someone has to be responsible and that one will have to pay the ultimate price for stupidity… -- Deathshead419

It had been a simple enough plan of sorts. Assassinate the new Earl, gain the favour of the old Earl, and perhaps that of the favoured son. It may even gain them the favour of their liege lord for removing an obvious problem. Others who knew of their plot insisted that no good

Challenge #04721-L337: Den of the Unwelcome

Where can someone go when the world is on the hunt and there seems to be no safe harbor? -- Deathshead419

The thing with running was... you had to keep running. Stop and relax, and they would catch up with you. You learned a thousand ways to stay out of sight. You learned a hundred ways to avoid notice. And you had to learn what was safe to eat more than once. Especially if you wanted to survive for one more meal.

Challenge #04720-L336: Learned Something Yet?

It's been twenty and one years. Wraithvine comes to see if the little turd has finally learned some humility. The allied Duke, a peaceful, and honorable elf, joins hir to see his future son-in-law as well. He would never let his daughter wed one who would mistreat her.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04581-l197-attitudes-adjusted-while-you-wait -- Anon Guest

One can wander very far on assorted quests during twenty years. Especially if a few Dragons or deities decided to relocate Wraithvine to different continents.

Challenge #04719-L335: Newfound Family

Come to find out, this a new kind of fae. Magic, it seems, can sometimes spontaneously poof life into existence when there's a sudden buildup, like this youngster. Choosing a name was one thing, but learning how to care for them was another. There was going to be a learning curve for both. First, clothes, then, food, maybe? This very young one was going to be their foundling, but they were also going to be quite an education.

https://peakd.com/fiction/

Challenge #04718-L334: Haunting Recall

An older elf, though far from elderly, spent their days deep in wine and dandelion. Their nights in tears and regret. They had done so many terrible things they were unable to forgive themselves for. The humans asked Wraithvine to help. This elder had only been a child when this all happened, they didn't deserve this kind of sorrow. -- Anon Guest

The Xenophobia Wars were not one war, as evidenced by the plural. They were not one event, nor between one

Challenge #04717-L333: Sweet Justice

One of the waitstaff, technically they were still just a trainee at the Drunken Horns, when the adventurers returned a few nights later to, once again, enjoy a party, yes they DID make reservations first, asked softly. "So.. what happened to the watchmen bullies?"

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04627-l243-money-with-menaces -- Anon Guest

Mudita, as a young adoptee of the Drunken Horn, had been on cart service when the corrupt Watch squad came in. Watching a bunch of evil-minded goons get comeuppance

Challenge #04716-L332: The Devil in the Rain

"Please... tell me the story of one of the most difficult guests who had found this place to rest?"

~"Oh that would be Kormwind Arachis Felbourne Whitekeep, ninth of his name. Poor paranoid soul. Justifiably so. He'd been poisoned in a place he believed himself safe and did not handle the betrayal very well..." Rezzie furnished Wraithvine with a tankard of light cider and settled one of herselves nearby to relay the story of taking in a storm-bedraggled Hellkin with the disposition

Challenge #04715-L331: Lossless Operation

Oakroot showed them the place where he came from. A place where kids were all but farmed out, or tossed out of thought of as worthless. The ones who owned that place... disappeared. The adventurers had their base of operations now, and lots of new sons and daughters to help. The first time the sound of honest laughter from a child was heard, some in the party wept, for they were healing.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04643-l259-found-family-free-fuddlement -- Anon Guest

Oakroot

Challenge #04714-L330: A Simple Misunderstanding

The dragon had so much gold in their cave that their hoard, built up over many generations, had gotten way out of hand. So they began to melt the gold into jewelry, though that did tarnish it. But it was not to give to the rich. Each piece was carefully crafted and handed out to poor travelers in the forms of bracelets or necklaces. And in each one a dragon's blessing. Vicious animals, and cruel opportunists, would feel the need to be.

Challenge #04713-L329: Unseen Miracles

A farmer asks Wraithvine and Birbrid to come fishing with him. He needs a few more hands to pull in the nets as he's stocking up for winter. Crops are almost harvested, and he'd need help with that as well. He'd usually have help from his sons, but many have caught very bad colds, and the season for snows is fast approaching. -- Anon Guest

The autumnal weather should have been frightful. There should have been strong winds, threatening storms, and an

Challenge #04712-L328: Guided Experience

Jay and Sunshine looked upon the shocked soldier who had made their first kill on the battlefield.

"The first one is always the loudest in your mind. They get quieter, but never let them go completely silent. Once that happens, you become like us." -- Anon Guest

[AN: War and armies aren't always necessary and do not mesh well with Pax Humanis. This has to happen in association with Greater Deregulation]

They called it a Double Blade Attack. One, the rapier, an

Challenge #04711-L327: Patience of the Doctor

They called me freak and fled. I realized, it was not prejudice, it was fear. They constantly had bloody noses, and not from being struck. I had no choice, I gently sedated them and checked them. It's good I did, they were not long for this world. Now, they will be able to grow up into an adult. -- Anon Guest

[AN: This prompt was rearranged from being freeform poetry for space reasons.]

Life should never have settled in this place, but

Menu

Flash fiction fresh from my fingers to your mind!

Challenge #04723-L341: La Resistance

Challenge #04724-L340: One Weakened Link

Challenge #04723-L339: Unburied

Challenge #04722-L338: Not the Best Laid Plan

Challenge #04721-L337: Den of the Unwelcome

Challenge #04720-L336: Learned Something Yet?

Challenge #04719-L335: Newfound Family

Challenge #04718-L334: Haunting Recall

Challenge #04717-L333: Sweet Justice

Challenge #04716-L332: The Devil in the Rain

Challenge #04715-L331: Lossless Operation

Challenge #04714-L330: A Simple Misunderstanding

Challenge #04713-L329: Unseen Miracles

Challenge #04712-L328: Guided Experience

Challenge #04711-L327: Patience of the Doctor