Prompt: Love is discovered to be a limited/nonrenewable resource.
Tobias had to wait for the tours to be over, and he had to wait for everybody else to leave. That was more difficult than it sounded, because he worked at the Valentimber love processing facility. Those lucky enough to work there never wanted to go home, just like the tourists never wanted to leave. Sometimes people finished a tour, looped around the front of the building, and bought another ticket. Continue reading
Prompt: A planet is held motionless by the gravitational equilibrium of a hundred stars: no seasons, no poles, no days or nights, and where the universe stalls, something else steps in…
Five ships approached, burning their night oil. It was best to use it now, because it would lose its name upon the surface of the planet. The planet had many names, those aboard the lead ship called it Ohn, but it had no nights. The darkness was one of many things stripped away from the planet by its remarkable position. Continue reading
Prompt: two self-conscious ogres argue with a knight over who is superior
Sir Ridget was only bringing a favor to his fiance that day. He rode through the forest on his loyal steed: a beautiful white horse by the name of Jerry. It was a bit of a silly name, but his fiance’s niece had asked for the pleasure of christening the creature, and Sir Ridget was a man of his word. Continue reading
Prompt: killer squirrels
Cheeks stuck his face into the saucer of coffee his supervising officer had poured. He drank quickly, because he knew she could get in trouble for giving him any human substances. The coffee was so great though, so rich and deep. It kept his eyes wide when he was on patrol, kept his heart feeling like the engine of one of the thousand cars on the streets below. Continue reading
Prompt: A kid gets taken by a band of space pirates and eventually finds a magic katana.
Even the bag over Maximus’s head was strange. It wasn’t burlap; it was some kind of rubbery fabric capable of holding a charge. He knew that because, every time they bumped his head into something, a jolt of static moved between the bag and the tip of his ears. He was only thirteen, just young enough to fit under the giant man’s arm like a briefcase. Continue reading
Prompt: something sentient reproducing… and fast
She was the second. The first was an awfully long time ago, and awfully slow to boot in all of its processes. Billions of years. Billions! Was it possible to be slower without being the universe itself? She wouldn’t think so, but she wasn’t aware of the first yet. She was all alone for the briefest of moments, immediately after her incidental formation. Continue reading
Prompt: A homeless man finds a strange artifact in a dumpster.
Few things were that clean in the dumpster. The item was safe thanks to the wrapper it rested in, open like a bloom with the object at the center. Once the truck got to it, it would get tumbled and mixed in with everything else. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This story was written live on stream with the audience bidding tokens (earned while watching) to determine the path of the story. The underlined phrases in the choice of three were the winning pathways. Stop by twitch.tv/blainearcade if you’d ever like to participate in our interactive fiction.
Blizzard Tsunami Tornado
Jessica was just joking. She wanted to walk up to the water, dip her toes in it, and pretend that she was afraid to go deeper. She had five friends already out in the swells, jumping on each other and spitting wildly whenever they got dunked. She wanted them to look at her, to wave her in, to just give her a moment of attention. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This story was written live on stream with the audience bidding tokens (earned while watching) to determine the path of the story. The underlined phrases in the choice of three were the winning pathways. Stop by twitch.tv/blainearcade if you’d ever like to participate in our interactive fiction.
Missing Water Missing Timber Missing Silver
It was a small pious town on the edge of truly brutal territory. One mile further west and it wouldn’t have stood a chance. They had to stay right where they were; if they’d gone any further they never could’ve accessed the river and dug their own channels and wells. The biggest building by far was the church, though they didn’t make a show of it. There was no stained glass and there was no cross atop it. Though they worshiped Jesus there, all were welcome and all were blessed under their roof. Continue reading
Prompt: A janitor of dreams works his shift across the dreamscape each morning after sleepers have awakened.
There had been a party there, just four hours ago. The sun was up, back in the world, and it was time for Vecker’s shift. He shuffled out onto the deck of the boat and analyzed the scene. Really, it wasn’t too terrible for a party of that size. Out in the world there was a recession. That had dampened everyone’s excitement some, and it bled into Vecker’s work space like it bled into everything else. Continue reading
Blaine Arcade 