"I have been diagnosed with OCD"

Only thing I would change is the number of tires on the truck. 18 vs 16.

That weekend was amazing, and horrifying. I had my 15th birthday party on my birthday, as usual. Being a summer vacation baby has its advantages; it doesn't matter what day of the week it is. Since there's no school in June, I can have my birthday party on my actual birthday, AND all my friends can stay over!

But when I awoke, and my skill tree appeared, I was confused. It read, "No one fighting within 400ft; must be true before skilltree revealed."

Say what!? I live in one of the worst cities in the world! There's ALWAYS someone fighting around here!

I sighed. My family and friends heard my noise, and they all perked up, expectantly. I took a deep breath, then said, "I'm sorry; I don't know what I have. It says that no one can be fighting within 400ft in order to reveal the skilltree."

Everyone looked disappointed...that is, until my 5 year old sister shouted, "Road trip," excitedly jumping up and down.

It took only 5 seconds before everyone else was shouting similar sentiments at my parents. Five minutes later, we were all packed into the old Suburban and headed towards the city limit.

When we finally got out of the city, I saw a blip. "No fighting detected; revealing skilltree."

My eyes nearly bulged out of my sockets. "This shouldn't be possible," I thought to myself.

My sister noticed my change of expression. "What's wrong, Brother?"

I looked back at her. "I'm too powerful for my age. This makes no sense. This is like the skilltree of an 80 year old wizard. Nearly everything is unlocked. There's only one thing that isn't, and I have the skill points right here to unlock it. And see? It's labeled 'Memories.' It's like I'm supposed to..."

Mom shouted at me, "Wait! Don't unlock that here in the car! Wait until Dad pulls into this Rest Area! Then unlock it in the open field!"

I pulled my hand back, and I nodded. Momentarily, I was standing by myself in a grassy field, with my family and friends all watching from 400ft away. I accessed the skilltree again, and I used the skill points to unlock "Memories."

That's when it all came flooding back to me. The devastation to come today to our city; the profound loss I'd experienced that day; the love I'd found in the aftermath; the vows and promises I'd made soon after; the years of hard training; the monumental battles to regain territories and friends lost; the loss of my wife and my desire to avenge her; my failure to do so; and, finally, the forbidden magic I'd used to send my abilities and memories back to this day.

I collapsed to my knees; it was all too much to process in an instant. But nevertheless, I was back! I'd done the impossible! Here I was, my 15 year old self again! And this time, everyone important to me was outside the city! No one who I cared about needed to suffer this time, except...

I looked at the group of my family and friends. I'd forgotten something. My future wife wasn't here! She didn't meet me in the previous timeline until after the devastation! And since my sister was here, she wouldn't be able to save my future wife there! "Damn it all!"

My family and friends were rushing to my side, but I couldn't stay here to tell them everything just now! There wasn't enough time! So, I did the best thing I could. I rushed to my Dad; he had the Suburban keys, after all. I placed a forefinger on his forehead and implanted a simple, single command. "Wait here for 5 hours. I will return to explain everything."

With that, I activated my abilities and rocketed back to the city.

(In announcer voice:)

"Vegetable has unlocked all his abilities through a mysterious time spell, and is racing to rescue his future wife! But will he make it in time? And what is this devastation? Find out! NEXT TIME! ON DRAGON EGGS D!"

I opened my eyes upon a bare white room. It contained only myself and a single white chair. The walls were eggshell smooth, perfect and unblemished, unbesmirched by any smallest speck of dirt or dust. The emptiness of the room was striking.

I blinked twice and then turned on the spot, eyes darting round the perimeter, searching for a nonexistent exit. The smooth walls extended around me like a virtual hug, impersonal but inexorable. I felt a cold quiver of claustrophobia climb my insides.

I quashed it and observed the lone chair. It was a stiff, upright wing style, upholstered in white on white brocade. The textured pattern shimmered in the diffuse white light, beautiful and cold, uninviting.

Upon the seat of the chair sat a white envelope. It bore crisp black letters, the only splash of substantiality in this blank place.

I picked up the envelope and read my own first name. The chill climbing my insides shot up through the top of my head. The crisp black letters seened to dance before my eyes.

Where was I?

Frantically I tried to remember where I had been and what I had been doing before arriving here. I remembered my whole pointless life--but not the past day. I remembered yesterday, brushing what was left of my teeth. Going to bed. Getting up this morning? I drew a blank. Had I gotten up at all?

Fear kindled a fire in my belly. I tore the envelope open. Inside was a sheet of thick, smooth, dead white paper, cut with more crisp black lettering.

There was one sentence written on the whole folded page.

Welcome to Hell.

Numbly, I sat down on the uninviting white chair and stared at the unmarked white wall.

I stared and stared. The room was silent. I could hear the rush of my blood.

I was alone with my thoughts.

Eventually, I started to scream.

I can try but I honestly don't know where to go from here :D

The story is supposed to repeat until she's the "perfect" robot and then at the end, there's a hint that she's turning human.

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Ode to a Campfire

I

 

Amid a tangled mass of trees and rock,

A forest where light dapples into shade,

A clearing lies where we have taken stock

 

To rest a while in this pleasant glade.

And when that rest is broke by hunger's call?

We walk no more; a campsite here is made.

 

Our tents rise up as sunlight starts to fall

Their pegs like roots are driven into earth

Firm foundations for our resting hall.

 

So dig we now a circle in the turf

Exposing stone much stabler and drier

Our carried wood shall prove its weight and worth

 

As with a sudden spark it turns to fire.

 

II

 

How brightly now our cooking fire burns

A thing of light and warmth within the wood

Smoke twists up and dances as it turns.

 

We have made a thing, and called it good

When it sates and satisfies our need

And in this moment all seems as it should

 

But fire, like a living thing must feed

To stave off death, it will all things devour

Consuming, unrepentant, in its greed.

 

So watchful we must be, although the hour

Grows late; the sun has made its westward arc

Our tool, our toy, still holds its heat and power

 

A last light as the world around grows dark.

 

III

 

Above us now, faint starlight spots the sky

Our fire banks in deference, to match

dim embers twisting red to please the eye

 

Our quiet conversations start and catch

Against the snap and crackle from the fire

Each silence taking longer to dispatch

 

Words and light and people all can tire

When lengthy days in nature reach the night

The flames know when to rest and to respire

 

So when the final moment feels just right

Douse the fire! With one last clap of steam!

Let darkness blanket now this forest night

 

And let us slip off smoothly into dream.

read american gods by neil gaiman

The God of growth, that is who I am - that is who I was... it has been time immemorial since I was called who I once was.

We gods all exist no matter the moment. We may die, but what is death, but an old life lived well. When we gods die, we are simply born anew to be renamed, and we adjust to what life we live. And as the God of growth, I only grow stronger. Each moment I learn more, I grow more and learn yet more to grow further. I guess that's why I fell in love with her, with... Life.

How radiant she appeared to me our first ever fateful day, her face shining like an undying light. She grew as fast as I have, our ideas growing in tandem. As life grew, so too did growth of all kinds follow. I guess... it's fate that I met her each cycle, except where has she gone in this life of mine...

As I trudge through countries, states, streets, and even pavilions, I look everywhere for this light of mine. How far we have changed, our ideas corrupted and no longer the beauty they are seen as. Growth is no longer seen as the idea of becoming better for others, oneself, or even for life. These monsters corrupted the idea... they only care about capital growth, societal growth, and hardly nothing more...

And life, why... WHY! WHY!!!

Life is no longer holy... she no longer skips through the plains with the natives of the lands. She no longer sings her pleasantries with the behemoths of the sea. She no longer honors the cycle of life with the predators of the lands. Life is naught but considered a pseudonym for the amount of mortal that exists at a moment in time. Life isn't honored. The earth is simply a way to satisfy their carnal desires.

What does this cycle have to give anymore. As I'm run of the steps of another skyscraper, as they call it, I begin a journey to another location. But what is the point, I am tired, I yearn to sleep again, and when I do, I intend to erase it all. Either on my own terms, or maybe a call for the God of ends, they owe me after all for making sure to stop the God of Wars tireless rampage millennia ago...

Where may she be, though... I hold out hope still as I wish to see her once more before I decide to end it all.

I walk through a run-down town, nothing but slums where the cruel lives as I traverse the streets. I am targeted by hoodlum teens, seeing if I carry even the smallest bit of cash. I simply take their beating as my mind thinks, if I should destroy it all and reset this world anew.

That's when I hear them. A voice so distant yet so caring. As someone chases them away I look up and see her face. She looks as beautiful as they day we last met. Maybe... maybe I can live in this world a little longer now that she is here...

Thanks for the encouragement! I’m glad you enjoyed.

[removed]

I want a part 2, a follow-up! I can only imagine he'd just do ANYTHING he can to occupy himself! Maybe a progressive day-by-day comment written in diary format (even though this guy definitely does not have a diary), or even just a part 2 where we see him come out and how he's changed?

I think I'd like to see a medieval fantasy story but all the magical fantasy stuffs just junk from a non magical civilization that left for the stars long ago

Write a book about that and i would buy it in a heartbeat. Bravo it was a fun read. Do a part 2 😭

[deleted]

I've been searching, waiting, trying to get my fishing hook back for 500 years. I've tracked it to the Museo di Palazzo Grimani in Venice, but I cannot enter for now. I have other matters to attend to, like this security guard.

"I am not homeless you damned mortal, I am a god!"

"Miss, if you would please leave before I have to escort you out with force."

"I will turn you into an insect where you stand, get out of my way."

"Hey lady," A boy no older than 16 dares to yell, " You're ruining the vibe of this place."

He comes over to me and whispers, "Nuasiela, I've got it. Play along."

"You vile boy, fine, I'll leave willingly."

A crowd has formed around us as I walk out the door, just as a small storm is coming my way. I snap and the clouds dissipate with no one batting an eye. Gods it's hard to get mortals to look up.

The "boy" comes up to me with a small grin on his face, "you like my disguise?"

"I don't like anything about you, Marsmoke."

"Well then, we'll just have to wait 500 more, won't we."

"That won't be necessary." I say as I snatch it out of his hand. Finally, my coveted fishhook, the very thing I needed.

I walk into the streets of Venice without another word, becoming one with the early morning mist.

A whim. It was just a whim at first.

Flitting across the cosmos from one rock to the next, all was still.

A swirly purple one. A little green one. A sandy red one. Alighting on a mostly blue one with wavy whites, she dangled her feet off the edge and into the void.

Cheek in in palm, she bore a frown. Boredom reigned.

"Hmm?"

A brow was raised in moderate surprise. There was a microscopic peculiarity.

So she gave it a nudge. Just a nudge.

Space rippled as if it were the surface of a pond.

She was gone. Off to find the next rock.

...

..

.

A swirly purple one.

A little green one.

A sandy red one.

A mostly blue one with a tinge of green and wavy whites.

Little things had erected shapes and pillars from the earth.

Upon a pasture, a young girl laid limp. Her life pooled under her, dying the grass, already wet with rain. Huddled over her, embracing her tight, was a man clothed in primitive garbs. A father.

The air swelled, and a brow lifted in base curiosity.

Maroon climbed its way up the father's tunic. Tears were shed, unceasing in their sorrow.

A radiant palm reached out, drawing his attention, its touch gracing his daughter's figure.

He directed his gaze upwards and beheld naught but vestiges of fading ripples.

Warmth returned to the one within his arms, as did the sun.

"Goddess..."

The blades were dyed no longer, verdant in all their glory. Tears were shed, unceasing in their joy, unceasing in their piety.

Two souls thus set across the land, devoted to spreading word of a creator—of an almighty savior.

Then came amusement at the status those creatures afforded her.

...

..

.

A man of destiny stood before his vassals, crowned and clad in regalia. A sea of subjects heeded his words.

It was here that he set aflame the machine of war, pointing the tips of their spears towards friend and foe.

Space billowed, and from behind him manifested her radiant form.

Eyes wide, he spoke thus, "Behold, our kingdom's guardian has blessed us with triumph!"

A frown.

Resounding roars shattered the sky, smothering the warps in space left in her absence.

Unceasing was the king's ambition.

In but a blink, however, her status diminished just as her amusement did.

...

..

.

Towers of metal and glass protruded forth, motion and noise abound.

She walked among them.

"Did you see her? That wretch caked in dirt?" Laughter erupted among a passing pack of them.

That dirt was a souvenir from a brief visit to another one.

A coin was tossed her way, accompanied shortly after by some spittle.

They were unceasing only in their apathy and their derision.

Ripples spread just as they had before, but they now encompassed it all.

One moment, the mostly blue rock was there, with its swathes of green and stagnant grays in lieu of wavy whites. In the next, a vacuum took its place, the only indication anything had ever existed there waning waves.

But she was gone. Off to find another rock—perhaps another one worthy of a whim.

It should come as no surprise, then, that just as it all began with a whim, so too did it end with one.

‘The experiment has begun.’

….. You look down at the clothes you’re wearing. All white. There’s a bed, and a toilet. A sink, and shower. That’s all.

Well. Other than the camera. You knew it was here somewhere, even though you couldn’t see it.

‘You agreed to 60 days in this cell. You were shown it beforehand and have accepted responsibility for your own care inside it.’

Looking around again…familiarizing yourself with this place….maybe savoring it a little. After it’s over, after you know this place, it’s all old. It’ll become old too quickly.

‘There will be a closet, of food supplements nearby. Again, you yourself are responsible for your own health here.’

It was all white. It had blended into everything, but when you look closely, there it was. A deep closet, all filled with white bottles. You let out a sigh.

‘As per the terms of our agreement, you will subject yourself to physical and Psychological evaluation once leaving the cell. You will be compensated; you and your family will never want again.’

A small roll of your eyes. From the beginning these lab coats have held your situation over you. You, your wife…your daughter. Almost jeering at your situation.

‘Once you go to sleep for the night, this note will be gone. Everything you need to sustain your body is in here. Again. It is up to you to maintain…or fail to.’

Next to the toilet, toilet paper, white. Near the shower, white bottles. Body wash, shampoo, conditioner.

You almost didn’t want to read the rest. It would be real when you finished, and everything would start to spiral…slowly, but surely, you knew. You would probably not be the same man you went in as.

‘I, as the director am personally looking forward to seeing the effects of isolation. Of how well a human will take care of themselves under such circumstances. This of course would never be allowed anywhere. So you and your situation have given us a wonderful opportunity.

Thank you, sincerely. Good luck. You know the risks.

I hope it pays off.

—Director Clamwell.’

….. Crumbling the paper, you look around. Somewhere there was a camera, watching you like a rat. Like an experiment. They didn’t particularly care wether you lived or died. Either way….

“…You guys…already won huh. Well…don’t expect me to lose either.”

Sitting on the bed, you stared ahead. Thinking of…anything to do.

60 days, 1440 hours. 86400 minutes wouldn’t pass themselves.

[deleted]

[removed]

Now i want a continuation.

Bob woke up today. However, Bob did not, in fact, fall asleep at the helm of a planet sized warship, with full crew compliment and armament.

Lol exactly!

I'll second this.

The premise is there: the humans are disrespecting the god;

The develop too: the god warns the humans of his power, but they continue advancing calling him mad...

But than the end doesn't proceed to nothing. This make me remember about Dracula: >! there is a HUGE build up, until the main character disappear making a floop in the rhythm !<. Your story should to constantly build up tension, or at least remain tense, up to a big resolution.

Just teleporting them away avoid the conflict, and all that build up accumulated is vanished.

Also, very good job building tension is such a short paragraph! And dialogue feels good too (wich I don't know how much a compliment is since I'm not good at them. So again! You've done good dialogue!)

"UNLIMITED COSMIC POWER!"

"Sorry, I got to go... crazy motherfucker..."