creative writing prompts places

Creative Writing Prompts from Far-Off Places

by Melissa Donovan | Jun 23, 2020 | Creative Writing Prompts | 2 comments

Creative writing prompts for travelers and adventurers.

Travel and adventure are the themes behind some of the greatest poems ever written and best stories ever told.

Blockbuster movies like the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, TV shows like Star Trek and Game of Thrones , and books such as Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland , Peter Pan , or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (aff link) all use adventure as a premise for telling a riveting tale.

Today’s creative writing prompts are designed to get you out of the house and away to a far-off place. You can go anywhere you want. Some of these places are fantastical while others can be found on any map.

Creative Writing Prompts

Use these creative writing prompts in any way you see fit. Write a poem, a story, or an essay about an experience you’ve had, or draft an entry in your journal. Change these prompts as much as you want to make them work for you. And have fun!

What if you had an opportunity to travel to outer space? Would you ever take a trip to the moon? Would you travel aboard an interstellar starship?
During a field trip to a museum, a group of kids (who are not friends with each other) gets lost and goes on a grand adventure through time and space.
What if you had a chance to travel anywhere in the world, but you had to stay in one location for a whole year? Where would you go and why?
You’re flying somewhere—anywhere—but when your plane lands, you and the other passengers quickly realize you didn’t reach your intended destination. In fact, you’ve arrived in a strange, wondrous (or terrible) world that you never knew existed.
Write a personal essay describing your favorite vacation destination.
Spaceships, planes, and Martians: We started out traveling around on foot. Then some clever Neanderthal invented the wheel. Now, we soar through the skies and tear through space. Write a story about a long journey set in an era when planes, trains, and automobiles weren’t readily available.
Write an article filled with travel tips based on your own travel experiences.
What if you discovered a portal to another world? Where is the portal? How does it work? What’s on the other side?
You’ve won a one-month vacation to the destination of your choice, and you get to bring one other person with you. Where do you go and who do bring?
Have you ever traveled alone? Tell your story. Where did you go? Why? What happened?

Do you ever use creative writing prompts to spark writing sessions? Have you found them helpful? Got any writing prompts of your own to share? Leave a comment!

I have only just discovered this website from the 101 Creative Writing Prompts book and have now ordered a book in the same series. I shall be following this blog regularly from now on.

Thank you, David. I hope you find the books and this website helpful and inspiring. Keep writing!

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365 Creative Writing Prompts

Here are 365 Creative Writing Prompts to help inspire you to write every single day! Use them for journaling, story starters, poetry, and more!

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If you want to become a better writer, the best thing you can do is practice writing every single day. Writing prompts are useful because we know sometimes it can be hard to think of what to write about!

To help you brainstorm, we put together this list of 365 creative writing prompts to give you something to write about daily.

Want to Download these prompts? I am super excited to announce due to popular demand we now have an ad-free printable version of this list of writing prompts available for just $5. The printable version includes a PDF as a list AND print-ready prompt cards. {And all the design source files you could ever need to customize any way you would like!}

Here are 365 Creative Writing Prompts to Inspire:

Whether you write short stories, poems, or like to keep a journal – these will stretch your imagination and give you some ideas for topics to write about!

1. Outside the Window : What’s the weather outside your window doing right now? If that’s not inspiring, what’s the weather like somewhere you wish you could be?

2. The Unrequited love poem: How do you feel when you love someone who does not love you back?

3. The Vessel: Write about a ship or other vehicle that can take you somewhere different from where you are now.

4. Dancing: Who’s dancing and why are they tapping those toes?

5. Food: What’s for breakfast? Dinner? Lunch? Or maybe you could write a poem about that time you met a friend at a cafe.

6. Eye Contact: Write about two people seeing each other for the first time.

7. The Rocket-ship: Write about a rocket-ship on its way to the moon or a distant galaxy far, far, away.

8. Dream-catcher : Write something inspired by a recent dream you had.

9. Animals: Choose an animal. Write about it!

10. Friendship: Write about being friends with someone.

11. Dragon : Envision a dragon. Do you battle him? Or is the dragon friendly? Use descriptive language.

12. Greeting : Write a story or poem that starts with the word “hello” or another greeting.

13. The Letter: Write a poem or story using words from a famous letter or inspired by a letter someone sent you.

14. The Found Poem : Read a book and circle some words on a page. Use those words to craft a poem. Alternatively, you can cut out words and phrases from magazines.

15. Eavesdropper : Create a poem, short story, or journal entry about a conversation you’ve overheard.

16. Addict: Everyone’s addicted to something in some shape or form. What are things you can’t go without?

17. Dictionary Definition : Open up a dictionary to a random word. Define what that word means to you.

18. Cleaning: Hey, even writers and creative artists have to do housework sometimes. Write about doing laundry, dishes, and other cleaning activities.

19. Great Minds: Write about someone you admire and you thought to have had a beautiful mind.

20. Missed Connections: If you go to Craigslist, there is a “Missed Connections” section where you can find some interesting storylines to inspire your writing.

21. Foreclosure : Write a poem or short story about someone who has lost or is about to lose their home.

22. Smoke, Fog, and Haze: Write about not being able to see ahead of you.

23. Sugar: Write something so sweet, it makes your teeth hurt.

24. Numbers: Write a poem or journal entry about numbers that have special meaning to you.

25. Dread: Write about doing something you don’t want to do.

26. Fear: What scares you a little? What do you feel when scared? How do you react?

27. Closed Doors: What’s behind the door? Why is it closed?

28. Shadow: Imagine you are someone’s shadow for a day.

29. Good Vibes: What makes you smile? What makes you happy?

30. Shopping: Write about your shopping wishlist and how you like to spend money.

31. The Professor: Write about a teacher that has influenced you.

32. Rewrite : Take any poem or short story you enjoy. Rewrite it in your own words.

33. Jewelry: Write about a piece of jewelry. Who does it belong to?

34. Sounds : Sit outside for about an hour. Write down the sounds you hear.

35. War and Peace: Write about a recent conflict that you dealt with in your life.

36. Frame It: Write a poem or some phrases that would make for good wall art in your home.

37. Puzzle: Write about putting together the pieces of puzzles.

38. Fire-starters: Write about building a fire.

39. Coffee & Tea: Surely you drink one or the other or know someone who does- write about it!

40. Car Keys: Write about someone getting their driver’s license for the first time.

41. What You Don’t Know: Write about a secret you’ve kept from someone else or how you feel when you know someone is keeping a secret from you.

42. Warehouse : Write about being inside an old abandoned warehouse.

43. The Sound of Silence: Write about staying quiet when you feel like shouting.

44. Insult: Write about being insulted. How do you feel? Why do you think the other person insulted you?

45. Mirror, Mirror: What if you mirror started talking to you? What might the mirror say?

46. Dirty: Write a poem about getting covered in mud.

47. Light Switch : Write about coming out of the dark and seeing the light.

48. The Stars : Take inspiration from a night sky. Or, write about a time when “the stars aligned” in your horoscope.

49. Joke Poem : What did the wall say to the other wall? Meet you at the corner! Write something inspired by a favorite joke.

50. Just Say No : Write about the power you felt when you told someone no.

51: Sunrise/Sunset : The sun comes up, the sun goes down. It goes round and round. Write something inspiring about the sunrise or sunset.

52. Memory Lane : What does Memory Lane look like? How do you get there?

53. Tear-Jerker : Watch a movie that makes you cry. Write about that scene in the movie.

54. Dear Diary: Write a poem or short story about a diary entry you’ve read or imagined.

55. Holding Hands : The first time you held someone’s hand.

56. Photograph : Write a story or journal entry influenced by a photograph you see online or in a magazine.

57. Alarm Clock: Write about waking up.

58. Darkness: Write a poem or journal entry inspired by what you can’t see.

59. Refreshed: Write a poem about a time you really felt refreshed and renewed. Maybe it was a dip into a pool on a hot summer day, a drink of lemonade, or other situation that helped you relax and start again.

60. Handle With Care : Write about a very fragile or delicate object.

61. Drama: Write about a time when you got stuck in between two parties fighting with each other.

62. Slip Up: Write about making mistakes.

63. Spice: Write about flavors and tastes or a favorite spice of yours.

64. Sing a New Song: Take a popular song off the radio and rewrite it as a poem in your own words.

65. Telephone: Write about a phone call you recently received.

66. Name: Write a poem or short story using your name in some way or form.

67. Dollhouse: Write a poem or short story from the viewpoint of someone living in a doll house.

68. Random Wikipedia Article : Go to Wikipedia and click on Random Article . Write about whatever the page you get.

69. Silly Sports: Write about an extreme or silly sport. If none inspire you, make up the rules for your own game.

70. Recipe : Write about a recipe for something abstract, such as a feeling.

71. Famous Artwork: Choose a famous painting and write about it.

72. Where That Place Used to Be : Think of a place you went to when you were younger but it now no longer there or is something else. Capture your feelings about this in your writing.

73. Last Person You Talked to: Write a quick little poem or story about the last person you spoke with.

74. Caught Red-Handed: Write about being caught doing something embarrassing.

75. Interview: Write a list of questions you have for someone you would like to interview, real or fictional.

76. Missing You: Write about someone you miss dearly.

77. Geography: Pick a state or country you’ve never visited. Write about why you would or would not like to visit that place.

78. Random Song: Turn on the radio, use the shuffle feature on your music collection or your favorite streaming music service. Write something inspired by the first song you hear.

79. Hero: Write a tribute to someone you regard as a hero.

80. Ode to Strangers: Go people watching and write an ode to a stranger you see on the street.

81. Advertisement: Advertisements are everywhere, aren’t they? Write using the slogan or line from an ad.

82. Book Inspired: Think of your favorite book. Now write a poem that sums up the entire story in 10 lines.

83. Magic : Imagine you have a touch of magic, and can make impossible things happen. What would you do?

84. Fanciest Pen: Get out your favorite pen, pencils, or even colored markers and write using them!

85. A Day in the Life: Write about your daily habits and routine.

86. Your Muse: Write about your muse – what do they look like? What does your muse do to inspire you?

87. Convenience Store : Write about an experience you’ve had at a gas station or convenience store.

88. Natural Wonders of the World: Choose one of the natural wonders of the world. Write about it.

89. Status Update: Write a poem using the words from your latest status update or a friend’s status update. If you don’t use sites like Facebook or Twitter, you can often search online for some funny ones to use as inspiration.

90. Green Thumb: Write about growing something.

91. Family Heirloom: Write about an object that’s been passed through the generations in your family.

92. Bug Catcher: Write about insects.

93. Potion: Write about a magic potion. What is it made of? What does it do? What is the antidote?

94. Swinging & Sliding: Write something inspired by a playground or treehouse.

95. Adjectives: Make a list of the first 5 adjectives that pop into your head. Use these 5 words in your story, poem, or journal entry.

96. Fairy Tales: Rewrite a fairy tale. Give it a new ending or make it modern or write as a poem.

97. Whispers: Write about someone who has to whisper a secret to someone else.

98. Smile: Write a poem about the things that make you smile.

99. Seasonal: Write about your favorite season.

100. Normal: What does normal mean to you? Is it good or bad to be normal?

101. Recycle : Take something you’ve written in the past and rewrite it into a completely different piece.

102. Wardrobe: Write about a fashion model or what’s currently in your closet or drawers.

103. Secret Message : Write something with a secret message hidden in between the words. For example, you could make an acrostic poem using the last letters of the word or use secret code words in the poem.

104. Vacation: Write about a vacation you took.

105. Heat: Write about being overheated and sweltering.

106. Spellbinding: Write a magic spell.

107. Collection : Write about collecting something, such as salt shakers, sea shells, or stamps.

108. Taking Chances: Everyone takes a risk at some point in their life. Write about a time when you took a chance and what the result was.

109. Carnival: Write a poem or story or journal entry inspired by a carnival or street fair.

110. Country Mouse: Write about someone who grew up in the country visiting the city for the first time.

111: Questions: Write about questions you have for the universe. Optional: include an answer key.

112. Rushing: Write about moving quickly and doing things fast.

113. Staircase : Use a photo of a staircase or the stairs in your home or a building you love to inspire you.

114. Neighbors: Make up a story or poem about your next door neighbor.

115. Black and Blue: Write about a time you’ve been physically hurt.

116. All Saints: Choose a saint and create a poem about his or her life.

117. Beach Inspired: What’s not to write about the beach?

118. Shoes: What kind of shoes do you wear? Where do they lead your feet?

119. The Ex: Write a poem to someone who is estranged from you.

120. My Point of View: Write in the first person point of view.

121. Stray Animal: Think of the life of a stray cat or dog and write about that.

122. Stop and Stare : Create a poem or story about something you could watch forever.

123. Your Bed: Describe where you sleep each night.

124. Fireworks : Do they inspire you or do you not like the noise and commotion? Write about it.

125. Frozen: Write about a moment in your life you wish you could freeze and preserve.

126. Alone : Do you like to be alone or do you like having company?

127. Know-it-all: Write about something you are very knowledgeable about, for example a favorite hobby or passion of yours.

128. The Promise: Write about a promise you’ve made to someone. Did you keep that promise?

129. Commotion: Write about being overstimulated by a lot of chaos.

130. Read the News Today : Construct a poem or story using a news headline for your first line.

131. Macro: Write a description of an object close-up.

132. Transportation : Write about taking your favorite (or least-favorite) form of transportation.

133. Gadgets: If you could invent a gadget, what would it do? Are there any gadgets that make your life easier?

134: Bring on the Cheese: Write a tacky love poem that is so cheesy, it belongs on top of a pizza.

135. Ladders: Write a story or poem that uses ladders as a symbol.

136. Bizarre Holiday : There is a bizarre holiday for any date! Look up a holiday for today’s date and create a poem in greeting card fashion or write a short story about the holiday to celebrate.

137. Blog-o-sphere : Visit your favorite blog or your feedreader and craft a story, journal entry, or poem based on the latest blog post you read.

138. Mailbox: Create a poem, short story, or journal entry based on a recent item of mail you’ve received.

139. Sharing : Write about sharing something with someone else.

140. Cactus: Write from the viewpoint of a cactus. What’s it like to live in the desert or have a prickly personality?

141. It’s a Sign : Have you seen any interesting road signs lately?

142. Furniture: Write about a piece of furniture in your home.

143. Failure: Write about a time you failed at something. Did you try again or give up completely?

144. Mystical Creatures: Angels or other mystical creatures – use them as inspiration.

145. Flying: Write about having wings and what you would do.

146. Clear and Transparent: Write a poem about being able to see-through something.

147. Break the Silence : Record yourself speaking, then write down what you spoke and revise into a short story or poem.

148. Beat: Listen to music with a strong rhythm or listen to drum loops. Write something that goes along with the beat you feel and hear.

149. Color Palette: Search online for color palettes and be inspired to write by one you resonate with.

150. Magazine: Randomly flip to a page in a magazine and write using the first few words you see as an opening line.

151. The Grass is Greener : Write about switching the place with someone or going to where it seems the “grass is greener”.

152. Mind & Body: Write something that would motivate others to workout and exercise.

153. Shaping Up : Write something that makes a shape on the page…ie: a circle, a heart, a square, etc.

154. Twenty-One: Write about your 21st birthday.

155. Aromatherapy: Write about scents you just absolutely love.

156. Swish, Buzz, Pop : Create a poem that uses Onomatopoeia .

157. What Time is It? Write about the time of day it is right now. What are people doing? What do you usually do at this time each day?

158. Party Animal: Have you ever gone to a party you didn’t want to leave? Or do you hate parties? Write about it!

159: Miss Manners : Use the words “please” and “thank you” in your writing.

160. Cliche: Choose a common cliche, then write something that says the same thing but without using the catch phrase.

161. Eco-friendly : Write about going green or an environmental concern you have.

162. Missing You: Write about someone you miss.

163. Set it Free: Think of a time when you had to let someone or something go to be free…did they come back?

164: Left Out : Write about a time when you’ve felt left out or you’ve noticed someone else feeling as if they didn’t belong.

165. Suitcase: Write about packing for a trip or unpacking from when you arrive home.

166. Fantasy : Write about fairies, gnomes, elves, or other mythical creatures.

167. Give and Receive : Write about giving and receiving.

168. Baker’s Dozen: Imagine the scents and sights of a bakery and write.

169. Treehouse: Write about your own secret treehouse hideaway.

170. Risk: Write about taking a gamble on something.

171. Acrostic : Choose a word and write an acrostic poem where every line starts with a letter from the word.

172. Crossword Puzzle: Open up the newspaper or find a crossword puzzle online and choose one of the clues to use as inspiration for your writing.

173. Silver Lining : Write about the good that happens in a bad situation.

174. Gloves: Write about a pair of gloves – what kind of gloves are they? Who wears them and why?

175. All that Glitters: Write about a shiny object.

176. Jealousy: Write with a theme of envy and jealousy.

177. How Does Your Garden Grow? Write about a flower that grows in an unusual place.

178. Jury Duty : Write a short story or poem that takes place in a courtroom.

179. Gifts: Write about a gift you have given or received.

180. Running: Write about running away from someone or something.

181. Discovery: Think of something you’ve recently discovered and use it as inspiration.

182. Complain: Write about your complaints about something.

183. Gratitude: Write a poem or journal entry that is all about things you are thankful for.

184. Chemistry: Choose an element and write a poem or story that uses that word in one of the lines.

185. Applause: Write about giving someone a standing ovation.

186. Old Endings Into New Beginnings: Take an old poem, story, or journal entry of yours and use the last line and make it the first line of your writing today.

187. Longing: Write about something you very much want to do.

188. I Am: Write a motivational poem or journal entry about positive traits that make you who you are.

189. Rainbow : What is at the end of a rainbow? Or, take a cue from Kermit the Frog, and ask yourself, why are there so many songs about rainbows?

190. Museum: Take some time to visit a nearby museum with your journal. Write about one of the pieces that speaks to you.

191. Cartoon: Think of your favorite cartoon or comic. Write a poem or story that takes place in that setting.

192. Copycat: Borrow a line from a famous public domain poem to craft your own.

193. From the Roof-tops: Imagine you could stand on a rooftop and broadcast a message to everyone below – what would you say?

194. Time Travel: If there was a time period you could visit for a day, where would you go? Write about traveling back in time to that day.

195. Changing Places: Imagine living the day as someone else.

196. Neighborhood: Write about your favorite place in your neighborhood to visit and hang out at.

197. Pirates: Write about a pirate ship.

198. Interview : Write based on a recent interview you’ve read or seen on TV or heard on the radio.

199. Hiding Spaces : Write about places you like to hide things at. What was a favorite hiding spot for you as a child playing hide-and-seek?

200. Extreme Makeover: Imagine how life might be different if you could change your hair color or clothing into something completely opposite from your current style.

201. Empathy: Write about your feelings of empathy or compassion for another person.

202. Opposites: Write a poem or story that ties in together two opposites.

203. Boredom: Write about being bored or make a list of different ways to entertain yourself.

204. Strength : Think of a time when you’ve been physically or emotionally strong and use that as inspiration.

205. Hunger: Write from the perspective of someone with no money to buy food.

206. Greed: Write about someone who always wants more – whether it be money, power, etc. etc.

207. Volcano: Write about an eruption of a volcano.

208. Video Inspiration : Go to Vimeo.com or YouTube.com and watch one of the videos featured on the homepage. Write something based on what you watch.

209. Sneeze: Write about things that make you sneeze.

210. Footsteps on the Moon: Write about the possibility of life in outer-space.

211: Star-crossed: Write a short modern version of the story of Romeo and Juliet or think of real-life examples of lovers who are not allowed to be together to use as inspiration for your writing.

212. Font-tastic: Choose a unique font and type out a poem, story or journal entry using that font.

213. Schedule: Take a look at your calendar and use the schedule for inspiration in writing.

214. Grandparents: Write about a moment in your grandparent’s life.

215. Collage: Go through a magazine and cut out words that grab your attention. Use these words to construct a poem or as a story starter or inspiration for your journal.

216. Oh so Lonely: Write a poem about what you do when you are alone – do you feel lonely or do you enjoy your own company?

217. Waterfall: Think of a waterfall you’ve seen in person or spend some time browsing photos of waterfalls online. Write about the movement, flow, and energy.

218. First Kiss: Write about your first kiss.

219. So Ironic: Write about an ironic situation you’ve been in throughout your life.

220. Limerick: Write a limerick today.

221. Grocery Shopping: Write about an experience at the grocery store.

222. Fashion : Go through a fashion magazine or browse fashion websites online and write about a style you love.

223. So Close: Write about coming close to reaching a goal.

224. Drinks on Me: Write a poem or short story that takes place at a bar.

225. Online Friends: Write an ode to someone online you’ve met and become friends with.

226. Admiration: Is there someone you admire? Write about those feelings.

227. Trash Day: Write from the perspective of a garbage collector.

228. Mailbox: Open your mailbox and write something inspired by one of the pieces of mail you received.

229. Fresh & Clean: Write about how you feel after you take a shower.

230. Energized: Write about how you feel when you’re either at a high or low energy level for the day.

231. Rhyme & No Reason: Make up a silly rhyming poem using made up words.

232. Tech Support: Use computers or a conversation with tech support you’ve had as inspiration.

233. Hotel: Write from the perspective of someone who works at a hotel or staying at a hotel.

234. Underwater: Write about sea creatures and under water life. What’s under the surface of the ocean? What adventures might be waiting?

235. Breathing: Take a few minutes to do some deep breathing relaxation techniques. Once your mind is clear, just write the first few things that you think of.

236. Liar, Liar: Make up a poem or story of complete lies about yourself or someone else.

237. Obituaries: Look at the recent obituaries online or in the newspaper and imagine the life of someone and write about that person.

238. Pocket: Rummage through your pockets and write about what you keep or find in your pockets.

239. Cinquain: Write a cinquain poem, which consists of 5 lines that do not rhyme.

240. Alphabetical: Write a poem that has every letter of the alphabet in it.

241. Comedy Club: Write something inspired by a comedian.

242. Cheater: Write about someone who is unfaithful.

243. Sestina: Give a try to writing a sestina poem.

244. Fight: Write about witnessing two people get in an argument with each other.

245. Social Network : Visit your favorite Social Networking website (ie: Facebook, Pinterest, Google, Twitter, etc.) and write a about a post you see there.

246. Peaceful: Write about something peaceful and serene.

247. In the Clouds: Go cloud watching for the day and write about what you imagine in the clouds.

248. At the Park: Take some time to sit on a park bench and write about the sights, scenes, and senses and emotions you experience.

249. Sonnet: Write a sonnet today.

250. Should, Would, And Could: Write a poem or story using the words should, would, and could.

251. How to: Write directions on how to do something.

252. Alliteration: Use alliteration in your poem or in a sentence in a story.

253. Poker Face: Write about playing a card game.

254. Timer: Set a timer for 5 minutes and just write. Don’t worry about it making sense or being perfect.

255. Dance: Write about a dancer or a time you remember dancing.

256. Write for a Cause: Write a poem or essay that raises awareness for a cause you support.

257. Magic : Write about a magician or magic trick.

258. Out of the Box: Imagine finding a box. Write about opening it and what’s inside.

259. Under the Influence: What is something has impacted you positively in your life?

260. Forgotten Toy : Write from the perspective a forgotten or lost toy.

261. Rocks and Gems: Write about a rock or gemstone meaning.

262. Remote Control: Imagine you can fast forward and rewind your life with a remote control.

263. Symbolism: Think of objects, animals, etc. that have symbolic meaning to you. Write about it.

264. Light at the End of the Tunnel: Write about a time when you saw hope when it seemed like a hopeless situation.

265. Smoke and Fire : “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Use this saying as inspiration to write!

266. Railroad: Write about a train and its cargo or passengers.

267. Clipboard: Write about words you imagine on an office clipboard.

268. Shipwrecked: Write about being stranded somewhere – an island, a bus stop, etc.

269. Quotable: Use a popular quote from a speaker and use it as inspiration for your writing.

270. Mind Map it Out: Create a mind map of words, phrases, and ideas that pop into your head or spend some time browsing the many mind maps online. Write a poem, story, or journal entry inspired by the mind map.

271. Patterns : Write about repeating patterns that occur in life.

272. Scrapbook : Write about finding a scrapbook and the memories it contains.

273. Cure: Write about finding a cure for an illness.

274. Email Subject Lines: Read your email today and look for subject lines that may be good starters for writing inspiration.

275. Wishful Thinking: Write about a wish you have.

276. Doodle : Spend some time today doodling for about 5-10 minutes. Write about the thoughts you had while doodling or create something inspired by your finished doodle.

277. Chalkboard: Imagine you are in a classroom. What does it say on the chalkboard?

278. Sticky: Imagine a situation that’s very sticky, maybe even covered in maple syrup, tape or glue. Write about it!

279. Flashlight : Imagine going somewhere very dark with only a flashlight to guide you.

280. A Far Away Place : Envision yourself traveling to a fictional place, what do you experience in your imaginary journey?

281. On the Farm : Write about being in a country or rural setting.

282. Promise to Yourself: Write about a promise you want to make to yourself and keep.

283. Brick Wall : Write a poem that is about a brick wall – whether literal or figurative.

284. Making a Choice: Write about a time when you had to make a difficult choice.

285. Repeat: Write about a time when you’ve had to repeat yourself or a time when it felt like no one was listening.

286. Outcast : Write about someone who is not accepted by their peers. (for example, the Ugly Ducking)

287. Scary Monsters: Write about a scary (or not-so-scary) monster in your closet or under the bed.

288. Sacrifice: Write about something you’ve sacrificed doing to do something else or help another person.

289. Imperfection: Create a poem that highlights the beauty in being flawed.

290. Birthday Poem: Write a poem inspired by birthdays.

291. Title First : Make a list of potential poem or story titles and choose one to write from.

292. Job Interview : Write about going on a job interview.

293. Get Well : Write a poem that will help someone who is sick feel better quick!

294. Lost in the Crowd: Write about feeling lost in the crowd.

295. Apple a Day: Write about a health topic that interests you.

296. Cravings: Write about craving something.

297. Phobia: Research some common phobias, choose one, and write about it.

298. In the Moment: Write about living in the present moment.

299. Concrete : Write about walking down a sidewalk and what you see and experience.

300. Battle: Write about an epic battle, whether real, fictional or figurative.

301. This Old House : Write about an old house that is abandoned or being renovated.

302. Clutter: Is there a cluttered spot in your home? Go through some of that clutter today and write about what you find or the process of organizing.

303. Go Fly a Kite: Write about flying a kite.

304. On the TV: Flip to a random TV channel and write about the first thing that comes on – even if it is an infomercial!

305. Fruit: Write an ode to your favorite fruit.

306. Long Distance Love: Write about a couple that is separated by distance.

307. Glasses: Write about a pair of eyeglasses or someone wearing glasses.

308. Robotic : Write about a robot.

309. Cute as a Button: Write about something you think is just adorable.

310. Movie Conversation: Use a memorable conversation from a favorite movie to inspire your writing.

311. Easy-Peasy : Write about doing something effortlessly.

312. Idiom: Choose from a list of idioms one that speaks to you and create a poem around that saying or phrase. (Ie: It is raining cats and dogs)

313. Playground: Whether it is the swings or the sandbox or the sliding boards, write about your memories of being on a playground.

314. Romance: Write about romantic things partners can do for each other.

315. Rock Star: Imagine you are a famous rock star. Write about the experience.

316. Come to Life: Imagine ordinary objects have come to life. Write about what they do and say.

317. Airplane: Write about meeting someone on an airplane and a conversation you might have.

318. Health & Beauty: Take some time to peruse your medicine cabinet or the health and beauty aisles at a local store. Write a poem, short story, or journal entry inspired by a product label.

319. Determination: Write about not giving up.

320. Instrumental Inspiration: Listen to some instrumental music and write a poem that matches the mood, beat, and style of the music.

321. Wait Your Turn: Write about having to wait in line.

322. Personality Type : Do you know your personality type? (There are many free quizzes online) – write about what type of personality traits you have.

323. Decade: Choose a favorite decade and write about it. (IE: 1980’s or 1950’s for example)

324. I Believe: Write your personal credo of things you believe in.

325. Lost and Found: Write about a lost object.

326. Say it: Write a poem or story that uses dialogue between two people.

327. The Unsent Letter: Write about a letter that never made it to its recipient.

328. The Windows of the Soul: Write a poem about the story that is told through someone’s eyes.

329. Trial and Error: Write about something you learned the hard way.

330. Escape : Write about where you like to go to escape from it all.

331. What’s Cooking: Write something inspired a favorite food or recipe.

332. Records : Go through your file box and pull out old receipts or records…write something inspired by what you find!

333. Banking: Write about visiting the bank.

334. Sweet Talk: Write about trying to convince someone of something.

335. Serendipity: Write about something that happened by chance in a positive way.

336. Distractions: Write about how it feels when you can’t focus.

337. Corporation: Write about big business.

338. Word of the Day: Go to a dictionary website that has a word of the day and use it in a poem, story or journal entry you write.

339. Pick Me Up: What do you do when you need a pick me up?

340. Unfinished: Write about a project you started but never completed.

341. Forgiveness: Write about a time when someone forgave you or you forgave someone.

342. Weakness: Write about your greatest weakness.

343. Starting: Write about starting a project.

344. Mechanical: Think of gears, moving parts, machines.

345. Random Act of Kindness : Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone or someone has done for you, no matter how small or insignificant it may have seemed.

346. Underground: Imagine living in a home underground and use that as inspiration for writing.

347. Classic Rock: Pick a classic rock love ballad and rewrite it into a story or poem with a similar theme.

348. Night Owl : Write about staying up late at night.

349. Magnetic : Write about attraction to something or someone.

350. Teamwork: Write about working with a team towards a common goal.

351. Roller-coaster : Write about the ups and downs in life.

352. Motivational Poster: Look at some motivational posters online and write a poem or journal entry inspired by your favorite one.

353. Games: Write about the games people play – figuratively or literally.

354. Turning Point: Write about a point in life where things turned for the better or worse.

355. Spellbound: Write about a witch’s spell.

356. Anniversary: Write about the anniversary of a special date.

357. Gamble: Be inspired by a casino or lottery ticket.

358. Picnic: Write about going on a picnic.

359. Garage: Write about some random item you might find in a garage.

360. Review: Review your week, month, or year in a journal entry or poem format.

361. Detective: Write about a detective searching for clues or solving a mystery.

362. Camera: Take your camera for a walk and write based on one of the photographs you take.

363. Visiting : Write about visiting a family member or friend.

364. Trust: Write about putting trust in someone.

365. Congratulations : Did you write a poem, short story, or journal entry every day for a whole year? Write about what you’ve learned and celebrate your achievement!

We hope you enjoy these creative writing prompts! And of course, if you write anything using these prompts, we’d love to know about it! Tell us how you’ll use these everyday creative writing prompts in the comments section below!

And of course, if you’d like the printable ad-free version of these prompts to reference again and again or to use in your classroom, you can find them at our Etsy shop !

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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50 Creative Narrative Writing Prompts to Ignite Your Imagination

February 21, 2024
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What is narrative writing, best creative narrative writing prompts for elementary, creative narrative writing prompts for high school, creative narrative writing prompts middle school, narrative writing prompts for students, fictional narrative writing prompts, recommendations.

Prompts for creative narrative writing are effective instruments that stimulate writers’ imaginations and foster creativity.

These writing prompts provide authors a place to start as they build captivating stories by letting them experiment with different characters, settings, and storylines.

They allow carrying the story in unexpected places while simultaneously establishing a structure for storytelling.

Through the use of creative narrative writing prompts, authors are forced to step outside of their comfort zones and try out different genres and styles.

These writing prompts might assist overcome writer’s block by generating original ideas and offering a novel viewpoint on narrative.

For writers who want to improve their craft and broaden their storytelling abilities, creative narrative writing prompts are a useful resource. They can be utilized as daily exercises or as inspiration for longer projects.

This article has a compilation of over 50 Creative Narrative Writing Prompts to Ignite Your Imagination. Check them out!

Narrative writing is a powerful tool that allows writers to create compelling stories that captivate readers and evoke emotional responses.

It does more than just retell events; instead, it digs deeply into the motivations, feelings, and ideas of the characters to weave a complex tapestry of experiences that the audience can fully immerse themselves in.

Authors can take readers to other places, eras, and points of view through narrative writing, allowing them to experience the world from a fresh perspective.

The capacity of narrative writing to emotionally connect with readers is one of its fundamental features. Writers can create a sensory experience that engrosses readers and gives them a sense of participation in the story by skillfully combining descriptive language with vivid pictures.

In addition to keeping readers engaged in the narrative, this emotional connection helps them sympathize with the characters and their hardships, which promotes a better comprehension of human emotions and experiences.

Narrative writing, at its core, is a transforming process that allows people to share a common story, so bridging gaps between them. It is more than just storytelling.

By creating gripping narratives with vivid characters and captivating storylines, authors can influence readers’ opinions, pose provocative questions, and motivate behaviour changes.

Read ALSO: 107+ Creative Writing Prompts For Middle School Students

Why use Creative Narrative Writing Prompts?

For writers of all skill levels, creative narrative writing prompts are an indispensable resource that provide a host of advantages.

Inspiration: Writing exercises offer a springboard for ideas or a starting point. They can serve as an inspiration to authors who are having trouble coming up with ideas or experiencing writer’s block.
Exploration: Authors are encouraged by prompts to write about themes, genres, people, and places that they might not have otherwise thought of. This investigation expands writing horizons and stimulates creativity.
Practice: Developing one’s writing skills requires consistent practice. Writing prompts provide writers with organized chances to hone their narrative, character, dialogue, and descriptive writing abilities.
Flexibility: Prompts can be modified to accommodate different writing objectives and tastes. They can serve as starting points for longer projects or as quick exercises or stories.
Overcoming Fear: The blank page might terrify some authors. It’s simpler to get started writing when you have a direction and are less anxious thanks to prompts.
Writing prompts promote experimenting with various narrative approaches, vocabularies, and styles. It’s a low-stakes setting where writers can push themselves.
Building Community: Prompts are a typical beginning point for group activities in many writing communities and workshops. Writing prompt responses to one another promotes writerly friendship, feedback, and teamwork.
Talent Development: Writers can hone particular writing abilities, such as world-building, pacing, character development, and story structure, by taking on a variety of prompts.
Productivity: By offering daily or weekly ideas to keep authors motivated and accountable, writing prompts can assist writers in developing a regular writing habit.
Self-Reflection: Writing responses to various prompts and investigating them can help authors gain a deeper awareness of their own passions, assets, and areas in need of development.
Write a story about a character who looks in their backyard and finds a secret portal to another realm.
Tell the tale of a person who wakes up and has to put together what happened after losing all recollection of the previous twenty-four hours.
Envision a society in which feelings are traded like goods. What impact does this have on everyday life and relationships?
Write a story about a time traveller who has to undo the effects of unintentionally altering a momentous historical event.
Tell the story of a group of survivors surviving in a post-apocalyptic world where machines have taken over sentience.
Write a story that takes place in a universe where everyone, save the protagonist, is born with a special magical skill.
Describe a civilization in which dreams are valued as commodities. What occurs if someone exhausts themselves?
Write a story about a character who inherits an ancient, enigmatic mansion that is haunted by the ghosts of its previous owners.
Describe the experience of someone who finds they have the capacity to speak with animals.
In a future where humanity has colonized other worlds, imagine the unanticipated difficulties that arise from otherworldly cultures.

Read ALSO: Chinese vs Japanese Writing: A Side-by-Side Comparison

For high school students, here are interesting creative narrative writing prompts for them:

Write about a world where music is forbidden, and one individual dares to defy the ban.
Describe a character who possesses the power to bring their drawings to life.
Tell the tale of a scientist who accidentally creates a potion that grants immortality.
Create a story set in a dystopian society where citizens’ thoughts are monitored and controlled by the government.
Write about a group of adventurers on a quest to retrieve a legendary artefact that holds the key to saving their kingdom.
Imagine a world where mythical creatures coexist with humans, but their existence is threatened by environmental changes.
Describe a character who discovers they can manipulate time, but soon realizes the consequences of their actions.
Tell the story of a person who finds a map leading to a hidden treasure buried deep in the jungle.
Write about a city where the streets come alive at night with magic and mystery.
Imagine a future where robots have replaced humans in the workforce, leading to widespread unemployment and social unrest.
Describe a character who can see glimpses of the future but struggles with the burden of knowing what’s to come.
Tell the tale of a group of unlikely allies brought together by fate to overthrow a tyrannical ruler.
Create a story set in a world where everyone is born with a tattoo that reveals their destiny.
Write about a person who discovers they have the ability to enter books and interact with the characters within.
Imagine a society where people are sorted into factions based on their personality traits, and one individual doesn’t fit into any category.
Describe a character who, unless they can end the cycle, is cursed to repeat the same day again and over.
Describe the tale of a sorcerer who finds out they are the last in a long line of people whose job it is to keep the world safe from evil.
Write about a future in which humans can upload their consciousness into virtual reality thanks to advancements in technology.
In a future where humanity is forced to find a new home among the stars because Earth is no longer livable, picture this.
Describe a character that has the capacity to hear other people’s thoughts but finds it difficult to control this power.
Tell the story of a person who discovers a mystery thing that gives them amazing skills but has a fatal cost.
Write a tale about a town where everyone lives with a secret, and a newcomer poses a threat to them all.
Write a narrative about a party of adventurers who discover a lost civilization beneath the ocean.
Imagine a society in which magic exists but is forbidden by a dishonest administration.
Tell the story of a character who finds they are the one chosen to vanquish an evil that has been threatening the planet for a long time.

Read ALSO: 140 Exclusive Writing Prompts For Adults

Tell the tale of a person who can travel between parallel universes and who has to deal with the fallout from their decisions in each one.
Write about a civilization in which recollections are traded, bought, and sold on the underground market.
In a world where sickness has been abolished by genetic engineering, imagine also that there is a difference between those who are genetically modified and those who are not.
Describe a character who, upon the full moon, is cursed to change into a new beast.
Tell the story of a rebel group that is up against an oppressive government that has complete control over society.
Write a story that takes place in a world where everyone, save the protagonist, has a guardian angel.
Write a story about a person who finds a hidden underground metropolis that is home to surviving members of a vanished civilization.
In a future in which sentient robots and humans coexist, imagine a situation in which a single person befriends an AI.
Describe a character who can telekinesis but finds it difficult to control.
Tell the tale of a person who discovers a doorway to a different dimension and has to avoid its perils to return home.
Write about a civilization in which reading is outlawed and one person goes to great lengths to protect literature and information.
Imagine a society in which the government rigorously regulates time travel, yet it is still possible.
Describe a character who learns they are descended from a mythical hero and that they have to live up to their destiny.
Tell the story of someone who, overnight, acquires the ability to speak every language in the world.
Write a tale that takes place in a future when global warming has wreaked havoc on the environment and people must adjust to survive in a hostile new environment.

Read ALSO: 50 Exclusive 4th Grade Writing Prompts That Are Printable For Free

Here are some fictional narrative writing prompts to inspire your storytelling:

Lost in Time: A young archaeologist finds an antiquated relic that allows them to travel back in time to a crucial historical period. They must avoid the perils of the past and learn the truth about the artifact’s enigmatic beginnings as they attempt to travel back in time.

The Forbidden Library: A curious adolescent discovers a hidden library full of knowledge that is prohibited in a society where books are outlawed. They discover a plot that has the potential to destroy their society as they investigate its mysteries further.

The Carnival of Dreams: Every year, an enigmatic carnival makes an appearance in the town and promises to fulfill its guests’ wildest dreams. But the magic of the carnival has a sinister cost, as a group of friends quickly learns.

The woodland Guardian: A lone guardian keeps the last remaining woodland in a realm beset by darkness safe from harm. However, the guardian must go out on a treacherous quest to defend their home and bring the land back into balance as a vicious tyrant threatens to completely destroy the forest.

The Clockwork City: A young inventor discovers a plot that might topple the ruling class of the steampunk metropolis, which is run by clockwork and steam. They have to uncover the truth before it’s too late, with the aid of a courageous journalist and a former robber.

The Memory Thief: A young girl learns she has the ability to take memories from other people in a world where memories are traded for money. But she has to go on a perilous journey to recover a memory that could save her dying sister when she unintentionally takes it, lest it be lost forever.

The Starlight Academy: A group of youngsters realize they have tremendous powers beyond their wildest imaginations at a prestigious academy for talented students. However, when they learn the dark secrets of the academy, they will need to work together to fend off an impending threat to both themselves and their world.

Creative narrative writing prompts are designed to stimulate creativity and inspire writers to explore new ideas and storylines.

For additional tips, guides, and resources on honing your narrative writing skills, explore our website’s blog section dedicated to helping writers unlock their full potential.

Of course! Feel free to share your creations with friends, family, or online communities to showcase your talent and receive feedback from fellow writers.

You can use these prompts as often as you like—daily, weekly, or whenever you feel stuck or in need of inspiration for your next story.

By using narrative writing prompts, you can practice storytelling, character development, and plot creation, ultimately enhancing your overall writing abilities.

Whether you’re an experienced writer looking for new ideas or a novice writer eager to explore different genres, these prompts will kindle a fire inside of you that can only be put out by writing the most captivating stories you can imagine. So grab a seat, reader, and join us as we explore this wealth of storytelling gems that are just waiting to be unearthed and brought to life by your vivid imagination.

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50 Creative Writing Prompts to Inspire You

February 6, 2024

As a writer, inspiration can strike at any moment. A song on the radio, a conversation with a friend, a powerful memory – all of these can spark an idea for an interesting story, poem, or other creative work. However, sometimes we hit a wall and our creative juices stop flowing. Writing prompts are a fun and effective way to get the ball rolling again by providing a jumping-off point for your writing.

Prompts stimulate your imagination by presenting a scenario, opening line, core theme, or creative restrictions that get you thinking in new directions. They take the pressure off starting with a blank page, alleviating that dreaded writer’s block. The key is to let the prompt spark your imagination without overthinking it. Allow your mind to wander and see where the prompt takes you.

Below you’ll find 50 diverse writing prompts designed to stimulate your creativity. Let them spark new short stories, journal entries, poetry, and any other creative writing pursuits. Most prompts can be taken in multiple directions based on your unique perspective. By practicing prompt-based writing, you can hone your skills while exploring different stories, tones, and styles that can later inform your other projects. Consider bookmarking this as a writing resource you can turn to anytime you feel uninspired or don’t know where to start writing.

Now grab a pen and paper or open up your favorite writing software – and get your creative juices flowing! With 50 prompts to choose from I’m willing to bet you’ll walk away with plenty of material for your next big idea.

Childhood & Memories

Write about your earliest memory. What do you remember most vividly? Why do you think it stuck with you?
Imagine you woke up one day with a new superpower. What would your superpower be and how would you use it? Would you keep it a secret or share it with the world? How would this change your day to day life?
What is a tradition or ritual that is important to your family or culture? Write about why you cherish this tradition. How does carrying on these traditions connect you with past generations of your family?
Write about a time you felt completely overwhelmed. How did you handle it? Looking back, what advice would you give your past self? What did you learn from that difficult period?

Time Travel & History

If you had a time machine, what time period would you travel to first? Why? Describe what you think you would see, experience, smell, feel once you arrived. How would people react to your sudden presence?
You find an antique letter in your attic. What does the letter say and what do you discover by reading it? Who was it addressed to? When was it written? Why was it never delivered? The letter could be funny, dramatic, mysterious or have any tone depending on where you take the prompt.
You wake up to discover you have traveled back in time by 100 years. How do you convince others of who you really are and that you’re from the future? Why did you travel through time? What era have you landed in?

Imaginary Worlds

If you could choose any fictional world to live in, what would it be and why? Describe your life in this fictional place. Who are your friends, where do you live, what does your day to day life look like? Have fun imagining vivid details that bring this world to life.
Imagine you wake up as someone other than yourself. Who are you now? Describe what a day in your transformed life looks like. Do you prefer this fictional reality over your normal life? What do you discover about yourself from walking a mile in someone else’s shoes?
Imagine you are attending a masquerade party and write a detailed description of your costume and mask. What reactions do you get walking around the party? How does wearing a disguise alter your behavior or interactions with other guests? Without showing your true identity, do you feel more uninhibited?

Fantasy & Science Fiction

Imagine you’re having a space adventure in the not-so-distant future. What do you hope to experience or accomplish on your journey through space? Describe what you encounter along the way whether it’s strange alien lifeforms, psychedelic planets, or bizarre floating galaxies. Let your imagination run wild!
You find a loophole in reality – for the next 24 hours whatever you write down comes true. What do you write? Why? Be as fantastical or practical as you choose and elaborate on how this temporary power dramatically alters your day to day life.
You wake up to discover your house is sentient and has a personality. Describe your unusual conversations and interactions. Does your home have a gender, name, and specific quirks? Do the lights, furniture, rooms emote certain attitudes? Let your personification of the house shine through based on your own living space.

Mysteries & Plot Twists

You find a wallet on the sidewalk that contains $1,000 dollars and no identification. What do you do with it? Write about your thought process over what to do next. If you seek the owner, how do you track them down? Or do you keep the cash all to yourself?
Write a short mystery story including clues for the reader to try to solve the mystery themselves. Make it suspenseful yet solvable based on the details you provide about the crime, criminal, motive and evidence. You can structure it like a traditional mystery narrative or get creative with the format.
You’re walking to your car after work and find a briefcase on the pavement. What’s inside and what do you do next? Let the story unfold exploring how this strange discovery sends you on an adventure, stumbling upon a conspiracy, secret plot or mystical phenomenon. Go where your imagination takes you!
Imagine you wake up with the ability to make something happen simply by writing it down. What would you write? Would you tell anyone about your newfound powers? What are the limits of your reality altering writings? Remember with great power comes great responsibility.

Nature & The Outdoors

Go outside and find the first interesting thing you notice. Write a story about that item. Be as imaginative as possible. Whether it’s a unique leaf, chirping bird, or wispy cloud, use creative embellishment to bring the object and its surroundings to life. Give vivid details showcasing the sights, textures, smells and sounds of nature.
Describe your perfect treehouse. What features or details make your treehouse so ideal? Add slides, trap doors, a zip line or whatever fun elements your perfect treehouse contains. Extend the story by describing what you’d do once safely inside your arboreal abode. Would you invite friends over for board games, nighttime stargazing or simple solitude?
Imagine you suddenly swap lives with your pet for a day. Describe the experience from their perspective. What’s it like seeing the world through your cat or dog’s eyes? How do they feel about you? What keeps catching their interest throughout the day? What food or experiences do they find extra delightful?

Personal Growth & Relationships

Pick two disparate objects (such as an umbrella and a lightbulb). Write a story incorporating both items. Part of the creative challenge is finding a way to logically include such randomly selected objects. But there’s value in putting your imagination to the test.
Who in your life brings you the most joy? Write about why this person is so special to you. Consider specific reasons why you appreciate and value them. Discuss your favorite memories together and how your relationship enriches your life.
What fictional character can you relate to the most? Why? Discuss the similarities and what draws you to them. Do you share common values, struggles or personality traits? Thinking about beloved characters can reveal hidden parts of ourselves worth exploring further through writing.
Perspective writing: Choose an event or milestone from your past. Write about it from the perspective of your younger self and your current self. How have your thoughts and feelings changed over time? What core memories or lessons stick out most to you all these years later? Reflecting shows how we evolve.

Creative Writing Prompts to Inspire Your Imagination

Begin a short story with “The storm clouds gathered in the distance…” Then let your imagination guide you from there. Where is the story set? Who are the central characters? Is there symbolism behind an approaching storm? See if you can incorporate sensory details to make the scene come alive.
Imagine you get lost wandering through a forest. As the sun begins to set you come across an abandoned cabin…What happens next? Give your story an air of mystery. Do strange things start occurring? Does someone (or something) show up unexpectedly? Or do you discover something telling about the cabin’s past occupants?
Write about an ordinary object in an interesting or unique way , bringing new perspective to something we often overlook. Pick any commonplace item then elaborate artistically on its purpose, history or hidden features. Use poetic language and rich imagery to reinvent the mundane.
Creative restriction writing prompt: Write a poem without using any verbs. Rely on descriptions, fascinating nouns and adjectives. Finding ways to express actions and events without verbs pushes your creativity in new directions. What clever or poetic devices can you use to share your story?

Poems, Restrictions & Word Play

Pick five random words out of the dictionary. Use them to write a poem. Doing so stretches your creative capacity to form connections between unrelated terms. What do these words make you think of or remind you of? Let the words spark imagery that carries throughout a free verse poem.
Creative restriction writing prompt: Write a short story without using the letter “E”. Omitting a common letter encourages you to discover new vocabulary and sentence structures you would not normally use. What clever tricks can you utilize to craft an engaging narrative devoid of the first vowel?
Write a recipe poem detailing instructions for an everyday task or chore. Try to make it as humorous or poetic as possible. Find the beauty and rhythm in mundane activities. Play with language to make your poem innovative, insightful and entertaining all at once. Enchant readers with your uncommon kitchen caper or laundromat lyric.
Write a poem inspired by a piece of abstract art. Let your interpretation fuel your creativity. Find a painting that intrigues you and capture its essence in verse. If you were to give the art a voice, what would it say? Use vivid imagery and philosophical reflections to pay homage to the artist’s vision.

Open Ended Prompts to Ignite Your Writing

Imagine you woke up famous. How do you think your life would change? Would you enjoy the fame or feel uncomfortable with all the attention? How might friends or family react? What type of celebrity would you be and what steps would you take to leverage your influence? This prompt can be taken in many directions.
If you had unlimited free time and money, what hobby would you take up? Why have you not pursued this already? Describe how learning this new skill would enrich your life. Consider something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t made time for. Or imagine a talent you wish you could instantly acquire.
Describe your perfect weekend. Consider where you would be, who you would be with, and what activities you would do. Really imagine the experiences vividly using all five senses. If you had no limitations, how would you spend those two rejuvenating days? This prompt invites you to visualize your bliss down to the finest detail.
Write about your perfect morning routine. Describe your ideal scenario from the moment you open your eyes to when you’re out the door. Do you wake naturally to sunshine and birdsong or need multiple snooze button slaps? Is your home filled with delicious aromas and lively conversation or blessed pre-caffeine silence? Embellish each phase of your ideal morning.
Now take any of the previous prompts that appealed to you and set a timer for 10 minutes. Force yourself to write continuously until the time runs out. The key is to not overthink or edit yourself. Silence your inner critic and let the words flow freely without judgement. Repeat this stream of consciousness style writing several times and observe what new ideas emerge versus when you self-edit while writing. Try writing both ways and take notes on differences in your creative process.
Ultimately prompts are meant to stimulate, not restrict your imagination. Let them spark those initial “what if” questions to prime your creative pump. Then put the prompt aside and let your unique perspective and experiences transform the concept into a fresh narrative only you could write. So be playful, unafraid to color outside the lines if an idea takes you somewhere unexpected. Surprise yourself and see where your curiosity leads!
You can revisit these prompts anytime you feel uninspired or simply desire a fun, low-stakes writing warm up. Writing regularly about random topics strengthens creative muscles helpful when tackling bigger personal projects. It builds your imagination through regular exercise while making writing feel less intimidating in the process.

So which of these 50 prompts appealed to you most? Did any propel you towards strangely compelling new story ideas? What unique ways could you expand or enhance certain prompts with further details? Now you have plenty of thought-provoking ideas to stimulate your next writing session. Time to get those creative juices flowing! Let your inner storyteller shine and don’t be afraid to take the prompt in completely unexpected directions. Those tangents and experimental twists are where the magic happens!

Lindsey Chastain

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The Only 10 Creative Writing Prompts You Need

by Joe Bunting | 55 comments

Start Your Story TODAY! We’re teaching a new LIVE workshop this week to help you start your next book. Learn more and sign up here.

You get better at any skill through practice. Prompts are a great way to practice writing (as you might imagine, we're really into practice here), and in this post, I have ten of our best creative writing prompts.

Try a few out, and if you're ready to take the next step in your writing, check out our 100 Best Short Story Ideas .

How To Use These Creative Writing Prompts

At the end of every article on The Write Practice , we include a writing prompt so you can put what you just learned to use immediately. And we invite you to share your writing with our community so you can get feedback on your work.

The Write Practice is more than just a writing blog. It's a writing workbook , and we think it's the best one on the Internet (of course, we're a bit biased).

One of the most important parts of practice is getting feedback, and we want to help YOU get feedback on your writing. To do that, choose one of the prompts, write for 15 minutes, and then copy and paste your practice into the box at the bottom to post your practice in our forum for feedback. You'll be able to read others' practice and give feedback too.

And if you want even more prompts, you can download our workbook, 14 Prompts , for free here (it's normally, $5.99).

Our Most Popular Creative Writing Prompts

Why not try using two or three of these creative writing prompts in your writing today? Who knows, you might even begin something that becomes your next novel to write or short story. It's happened to Write Practicers before!

Enjoy the writing prompts!

My 3 Favorite Writing Prompts

Write about a time you felt out of place, awkward, and uncomfortable. Try not to focus on your feelings, but project your feelings onto the things around you.

Write about a ghost. How do they feel about the world? What do they see and hear? How did they become a ghost?

Your characters haven’t gotten any sleep. Write about why, and how they respond to being sleepless.

Now, let's look at the rest of our favorite prompts!

1. Grandfathers

Write about a grandfather, maybe your grandfather or your character's grandfather. What memories do you/does your character associate with him?

See the prompt: Grandfathers

2. Sleepless

Your characters haven’t gotten any sleep. Write about it.

See the prompt: Sleepless

3. Out of Place

See the prompt: Out of Place

Write about longing. How does it feel to go about a normal day when your character wants something else?

See the prompt: Longing

5. Write About Yourself

Write about yourself.

See the writing prompt: Write About Yourself

See the prompt: 3 Reasons to Write About Ghosts

7. Road Trip

Write about a road trip. Is your character escaping something? Is your character looking for something? Hint at the thing without telling us while describing what the character sees.

See the writing prompt: Road Trip

Write about the morning. What are your character's morning routines? What is special about this morning?

See the prompt: Morning

9. The Beach

Write about the beach. Is your character reflecting on something important that has happened to them? Describe the memory while overlaying the sights, sounds, and smells of the beach onto them.

See the prompt: The Beach

Write about autumn. Natural surroundings can bring up old memories and odd feelings. Describe what your character sees, feels, and most of all does.

See the prompt: Autumn

Do you use writing prompts in your writing? What is your favorite prompt for ideas? Share in the comments .

For today's practice, choose one of these prompts and write for fifteen minutes . When you're finished with your practice, share it in the Pro Practice Workshop . Don't forget to leave feedback for three other writers. Not a community member yet? Join us !

Happy writing!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

55 Comments

It usually takes the living to confirm you’re dead. That’s why Saginaw didn’t know for months he’d passed. He was a hermit, had lived alone out in the woods for years. He still isn’t sure how or when he died.

After it happened, he continued to get up every morning and head out to the woodpile. Chopping was his release, his balance, his yoga. The repetitive grabbing and swinging and cracking and discarding brought him harmony.

Until the day he realized nothing was happening.

Like every other morning, he grabbed for the axe handle. This time, he noticed his hand passed right through it.

“What the hell?” he said to himself.

He looked down and saw the log cabin through his body, and knew he was dead. Thinking back, he realized he’d probably been dead for awhile. The familiar weight of the axe was a distant memory. He’d been grabbing and swinging and cracking and discarding nothing. He was going through the motions because they brought him peace.

Saginaw wasn’t sure what a ghost was supposed to do with his free time. He tried strolling through the woods and watching animals. They never spooked like he expected. It was boring.

Within days, he realized how much he missed his chopping. He returned home and tried doing it like a mime – empty hand reaching up and striking down on nothing. But now it made him feel useless.

According to the books he’d read during his life, the dead had the ability to interact with the real world. He practiced, trying to control things with his translucent body. He found that he could create a type of wind with his movements. Grass would sway as he ran by and dandelions would shed their cotton if he swooshed his hand over them.

That was the most he could do; wind would never carry his axe. Ghosts couldn’t shed tears but it didn’t stop Saginaw from crying.

He cried until he was angry. In a rage, he jumped up and, growling, grabbed the axe. It flew up with his hands.

“Oh my God!”

His anger vanished and the axe slipped through his fingers. He tried picking it up again, but it refused. Saginaw grew furious at his futility and kicked at the handle. His foot caught the wood and Saginaw realized what was happening.

His raw anger fueled the power to move objects. The only way to do what calmed him was to lose his calm. A total catch-22.

Sag fell to the ground. He’d never thought much about the afterlife. Glancing at the axe, he wondered, as dread lit fire to his insides, exactly where he was.

I like this piece a lot. It’s like a little story. That line, “Chopping was his release, his balance, his yoga.” is very telling, the yoga bit completing it beautifully. Thanks for sharing.

An interesting take on life after death. What is it? Even when dead, the dead don’t know. A question to be never answered. Adelaide

Brilliant post. I love just starting with a prompt and letting my muse find her way. I could pick any one of these starters and write a series of short pieces. And then voile I have a mini collection to create into a mini e-book. Wow. You’ve just experienced my ‘light-bulb’ moment. I now have an idea for some free giveaways to my potential readers.

After a couple of weeks of dull creative urge, this post has just put a surge of creative current back in my circuit. Thank goodness for that. Thanks Joe for the inspiration.

Thanks so much, Dawn. So glad this got your creative juices flowing! 🙂

I’m book marking this page, what a great post.

Here’s what I wrote.

The beach is empty. On a beautiful, perfect day, with a sky of crystal blue, the beach is empty. You can hear the surf slap against the sand, and the cry of gulls overhead. The white, fine sand stretches before you, so bright you have to squint against it. The day is hot, but not sweltering, and you marvel at the privilege of having the beach all to yourself. There is nothing here but, you, the gulls and the sound of the waves. The coconut smell of the lotion you are applying, the red of the beach towel laid down. You wonder if you should have brought a book, if you ought have left the ipod in the car, but then you sit down, watch the waves ebb and tide against the wet sand, and let the song of the sea lull you. A fleeting thought of awe wanders into your mind, at the quiet, extraordinary way that nature has, going on without human observation. The sea will always lap against the shore. The gulls will nest in the brush and seek their dinner from the sea. Even the fish, unseen, will make their homes and hatch eggs, all without anyone watching. It all continues without human eyes upon them, and it is marvellous. And then, in a moment like this, a perfect bubble in time, you might be allowed to witness it. Watch the gull walk along the rocks, its black shiny eye on you, watch the rhythmical way the waves roll and turn. See the crab burrow out from the sand, crawling along the shore.

And then in an instance, the bubble is broken. The moment shattered as the high voice of a child comes laughing into the sand. A couple follows close behind, their voices low. They make their place a distance away from you, but it is too late. The moment of grace with nature is over, the human world has once again inserted itself and the beach is no longer empty.

I love the beach. And I totally appreciate those moments/ times of immersion into the whole wonder of life at lands edge.

And then being slapped back into the moment by the sound and presence of humans.

Nice writing. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the feedback.

I loved this piece! Your wonderful word choice and clever phrasing helped to create a very vivid image of this gem of a beach, in my mind. It really sucked me in, so much so that I couldn’t help but feel a sharp twinge of sadness and disappointment when the human presence disrupted it all and popped the “perfect bubble in time”. Thank you for sharing such a lovely piece.

Thank you Catherine! That certainly is encouraging, and I appreciate the feedback.

You’re very welcome! I’m glad I could be of some help. Best of luck in all your writing endeavors!

No idea if you will find this a year later.

I was reading this and at first I was like thinking. I have read this before. Crystal blue sky. Generic.

And then I hit the line, “you ought have left the ipod in the car”. And it suddenly became personal.

In Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, the author talks about how children draw symbols. You say draw a person and they draw a stick figure. For an adult it is generic. They don’t actually look at what they are drawing.

The first part of that you write is like that and then suddenly small details, personal details, start to appear and the piece becomes much more powerful. In my opinion you drop out of the generic symbols of a beach and into your personal subjective view point, and the writing gets much better. More visceral.

For me I would encourage you to go back and either drop or rewrite all the generic parts like crystal blue sky, which sounds symbolic, to something personal.

I love this…..

I picked beach.

Soft morning mist Gently rises to kiss Fan of dawn’s rays And slicing through silky southern teal Nullakai’s finger, long dark green Invites me in. Briney effervescence clings To salty diamond necklace Criss-crossing my Summer freckled chest And aquamarine mesmerised My sleepy sea stained eyes Sting to a blur As swollen turquoise curve Breaks this office face Drowning the frown Before it begins I am fresh again fresh This Monday morning.

I’ve been intending to post a comment, but I don’t know much about blank verse or any other poetry other than Japanese short-form poetry such as haiku. What I notice about this poem is that some of the lines read awkwardly because of the lack of an article: a .

“Fan of dawn’s rays,” I think would read better if it were “A fan of dawn’s rays.” Same with “To salty diamond necklace” which would be better as “To a salty diamond necklace.” Again, a missing “a” with “As swollen turquoise curve.” Also, I don’t understand “And aquamarine mesmerised.” .

Otherwise, it’s a beautiful scene and a wonderful way to greet a Monday morning. Adelaide

Thanks Adelaide. Great feedback. Aquamarine should have been two words – aqua marine. I guess I was trying to imply ocean water in a sparklier, gem like way, and taking poetic licence/ freedom by playing with the two words.

Much appreciated. Dawn 🙂

… And I picked ‘morning’.

Dewey pearls lace the graceful dance of understory and spider webs weep fine filaments between sleeping boughs and awakening flowers. In hushed light creamy tones, sun softly shines awake dancing through curls of morning mist. And my body slips into the day, barefoot upon the forest floor.

Early birds sing through the dawning light, their excitement bouncing from leaf to branch. They pause to consider my gaze then flutter on their busy way.

This flesh of mine in autumn beige seeks a deeper walk, into the maze of awakening trees with liquorice trunks black and damp with dew.

Only the forest is talking; the world is yet to yawn and stretch it’s sleepy limbs out of night warmed sheets. I am alone in full company of the promise of a new day.

Strings of purple Hovea buds embrace my passing by, an ephemeral bracelet for one tiny moment, and leave a trace of sparkling silver pearls moist across my wrist. This freshness I bring to my lips. This gift I gently kiss. And I love myself awake.

This sort of reads like a poem, in fact a re-read proves it is! I almost missed that, I was reading too fast. Thank you for sharing.

Hi Giulia It was just a quick 15 minute muse, but yes, now that you’ve pointed it out it does read like poetry. Thanks for that feedback, I can have a play with it and offer it some shape.

Did you like it? Or was it a bit to poetic and slow? I’d appreciate your feedback. Thanks Dawn

Oh, I did like it! I think the structure shape of the poem needs a bit of polish, it might read more smoothly if the lines were shorter. I actually like the languid feel it has, it expresses morning and nature well, how everything seems expanded and slower when you’re really looking at the tiny marvels found in the natural world.

Grandfather.

He’s not a grandfather and I’m terrified he won’t become one. He’s be a great one. I’m positive.

I really shouldn’t be afraid of hospitals. I grew up in one–Dad’s a doctor. I’m familiar with the tile floors and nurses knowing my name and my nickname. But now I’m afraid. He’s not in scrubs but instead in a gown. A nasty butterfly needle is digging into his skin. They always say it’s a small needle and won’t hurt. Don’t believe them. I’ve had nightmares about this. About driving from Mississippi back home because he’s had a heart attack. He’s never had any heart problems so that fear should be irrational. I should have been praying a seemingly ridiculous prayer. It’s a good thing I was praying even though I didn’t know why. Unknown prayer saved his life. As I sat with him on the hospital bed I felt so strange. I felt 7 and still desperately needing my dad. I can’t do anything without him. I don’t know how to be me without him. At the same time I felt grief for my future children. If he’s not better then those make believe kids will only have my stories to go on. They’d never believe me when I told them their grandfather was the greatest man to ever live.

My brothers have stories. Absolutely hilarious stories of my dad that they both recounted on the way to the hospital room. As they did I realized I don’t have stories. I have facts, subjects, events. I have moments.

-Reading Harry Potter together and standing in line for each book release.

-Agatha Christie -Keeping Up Appearances -“I think I’ll go pay that bill.” “You know what I think you should do?” “What?” “Go pay that bill.” “Oh my gosh you’re brilliant!” -We are both left handed.

-How to swing a bat.

-How to replace a door.

-How to drive.

-Telling me his “M.D.” stood for “My Daddy.” -His Martin acoustic guitar -The smell of cedar wood and rain when he made duck calls in the basement.

I don’t have hilarious stories of my dad I just have a lot of lessons. He taught me in every moment we spent together. Those moments were hilarious but I don’t think I could recreate them to become stories.

I want him to be a grandfather because I didn’t know mine. He has to show my children how amazing he is because how could I possibly put that into words? He’s my very best friend. He thinks I can do absolutely anything. I know that I can because a quick phone call to him clears up any questions.

He always has the answers.

I need him to be a grandfather because I need him to keep being my dad.

That was wonderful, simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. I love it

Thank you!!!

A warm tribute to your father. I hope he got well. adelaide

I really love this piece.

I chose morning as it was a few weeks ago up here in upstate NY.

FROM MY WINDOW

Spring is gearing up. At the far end of the front yard, where it rises to meet the road, crocus splash yellow, white and purple. Stems on the lilac bushes are knobby with green tipped leaf buds. Daffodils, some just poking through the soil, some already at their full height with swollen flower buds ready to burst. Through the open window the breeze is damp,ripe with the fragrance of wet dirt, last year’s leaves and manure from the field around the bend. There are busy calls from unseen birds and announcing honks from another gaggle of geese. There is, in this moment, everything that there is.

coffee brewing the anticipation before the first sip

Lovely. I can almost feel myself standing beside you at the window. Great use of all the senses Adelaide. Thanks for sharing. Dawn

This post is in response to OUT OF PLACE

A sorority beach house. Full of surging hormones and testosterone from the young women and the visiting frat boys who have a house down the road. Some girls have wandered there to see what’s going on. Most likely the same things that are going on here.

It’s Easter Break at Laguna Beach. A week of fun, fun, fun! For some. For most. But not for the dark haired girl trying to play poker with two other girls and three guys. Trying to play because she is new at the game and loses every hand. She also loses at the witty, sexually laced repartee between the other five players. After four games and down to her last 10 pennies, she quits. It is not for her this game. The entire experience is not for her. She looks over the party goers. Beer, kisses and gropes are exchanged in corners. What goes on in the closed bedrooms is better not seen.

She takes a beer, her first, and her cigarettes and goes out to the beach. This is what she came for: the beach, swimming during the day, reading what she didn’t have time for when crushed with class assignments, girl talk with a few friends. Even that is a disappointment as the girl talk usually turns to boys, a topic which is foreign to her experience.

She’ll lie when she goes back to her classes. She’ll say the week was fun, a blast. Yeah. Partying every night. At least, she’ll have a tan to prove she was there.

Lovely demonstration of the odd teen, who out of place cannot even bare to bow to peer pressure. I liked the ending where she decided to lie to fit in.

Can you please tell me what a ‘sorority’ house is exactly. (I’m not from the USA.)

Thanks for sharing Dawn

Many colleges have sororities, a club of sorts to which candidates are invited to be a member. In some colleges they can be very snobbish, at least that was the situation when I was in college. My college, a small woman’s college, was more democratic, in that a student chose the soriety she wanted and was accepted in it. There was no voting on who could come in and who could not. Bigger colleges have special housing for sororities and fraternities (the male equvilent of sororities).I don’t know what other sororities did, but the ones at my college, in addition to organizing teas, parties, picnics, etc., had a commitment to do some social work for the community. Being a Catholic college we gave Catechism lessons to young childdren in poor parishes where there was a shortage of teachers to give these lessons after school

A sororiety beach house is just that: a house at the beach which the sorority rents for a time, the rent being paid for by charging a fee for each girl who wants to spend the week there. Easter week was usually a time of letting loose

I hope this answers your question. Adelaide

Thanks again Joe Due to the inspiration of this post and it’s kickstarting my creative flow (I’ve been editing my first novel), I have decided to do the NaNo July Camp.

Using some of the above prompts I am aiming to complete a collection of short stories, prose and poetic interludes. My goal is only 10,000 words. This will give me time to edit, shape and tease out detail. It’s winter in my part of the world. A cosy time to write beside the fireplace.

A brief synopsis: A collection of short stories, prose and poetic interludes that reflect on the shadows, woods, winds and ocean waves of a south coast winter.

Where nature walks deep into the rhythm of this human’s hibernating season and beckons her into conversation with looming clouds, long shadows and the low breathing reach of winter sun.

That she may see the beauty that dances between the tempest winter weather sweeping the landscape and her quiet resting inner world.

Of course I’ll still be visiting TWP daily. For ongoing inspiration and community to share with. Cheers Dawn 🙂

What a great, stimulating post! I chose the ‘Morning’ prompt.

My eyes slowly creaked open, only to squint in the sun beam that had smacked my face, arousing me from sleep. But I hadn’t been asleep…had I? I couldn’t be sure. As I groggily sat up in bed, a chill ran down my spine as the air conditioning kissed my back-drenched with sweat. The next thing I took notice of was the pounding in my chest. It seemed that my heart had been beating wildly only moments ago, and now it was doing its best to resume normality. Yet that wasn’t all. There was a dull, aching that had come with the wild beating. In my mind’s eye, I could see a face, slowly fading from sight. It’s features were slowly becoming more and more obscure. Who was he? Why did I care? Hardly a minute had passed before the man’s face vanished from my mind entirely. Birds began to chirp cheerily outside my window, and without knowing why- a tear slipped down my face and darkened the baby blue sheets. I struggled to search my mind for the image of his face once more, but there was nothing. There never would be- except for the lone tear that spotted my sheets.

Great start that draws your readers in; beginning of the day, mysterious dream image evoking intense emotion, loved it Catherine!

This is amazing.

I chose the sleepless prompt. I kind of went deeper than I was trying to.

She tossed. She turned. Her eyes wouldn’t stay shut. They would stay open either. She blinked. The dark of the night filled the room, and the smell of dust covered everything. The blankets on the bed were everywhere, and one the pillows had been thrown on the floor. The rest of the bedroom looked neat, beside the dark and glooming aroma.

She had a specific person on her mind. Someone she had been wondering about for awhile. She didn’t have a crush, nor were they enemies. The person was just very… normal. She tried getting her mind on something else, only to be reminded on him somehow. The smell was like him, the smell of the room.

She turned again, thinking of what happened that day. He had asked her a strange question; one that’s wasn’t like trying to know someone. It was just strange. “Do you like country music?” His words echoed in her mind. She had said no, and then he had left, without any sign.

He wasn’t exactly a normal boy, but he wasn’t weird either. He wears black often, but sometimes he’ll wear pink. His hair is often messy, but sometimes, for no reason, it’s perfectly neat. He manly sticks to keeping quiet, but sometimes, he’s the most active in class.

Thank’s, it is very creative! Besides I found this writing prompts tool http://youressayhelper.com/writing-prompt-generator.html very helpful!

Found this post and took a stab at the grandfather prompt.

I never knew my grandfather.

A man walks towards me. Top hat, suit. Black against white mist. He is smiling. He is a handsome man. He does not take a step but if he did they would be long strides. Purposeful, directed. He is tall but does not tower over me. And he is looking at me. Not at me, not through me. At me. At the deep sliver of me before the echoes of memory. And smiling. A smile that reaches from ear to ear. A smile that starts in the gut and ends in the eyes. A smile that leaves me quivering inside my own skin. He knows my secret.

How does he know. What if he tells someone.

He sees me. No, he sees him. The lie of lies. He sees past the lies. He sees the lies I tell myself and he laughs. A laugh from the belly that shakes the mists he reaches out from.

Small lies. Self-pity. Worthlessness. Fear. His eyes move past them, not even bothering to swat them aside.

Something rests on my heart.

I was inspired when I read this post and I immediately made a story. However, I came up with my own prompt: Jealousy.

I keep finding the wrong in her brown capturing eyes, hoping to see the darkness she has yet to reveal. I keep finding the treason in her refined movements, the plan in her bright smile, the sting in her sweet words yet I couldn’t find any. She is the sun, and everyone is flocking around her warmth but I am blinded. My eyes sting and my breath caught within my throat, afraid they will notice the insecurities blowing in and out of my lungs. Afraid to move for they might see the urge to block their words worshiping her, slowly pressing my stomach, burying me into the depths of the dark place I wouldn’t want to be in but I’m still falling, falling, and falling. I have to avoid the mirror and the vision of myself beside her, comparing and losing. I have to refrain from looking as it would pour fuel into the fire and I have to stay away, far away from her. She pleaded why am I keeping distance, as I remember how my stomach churns every time they prefer her, how I’m always in the shadow of her glow, and I retreated leaving her groping in the dark for an answer, like how I’m pathetically groping for salvation. I cry that night chanting apologies; I am lost and I have to find myself, hoping to be stable and solid so my molecules will not easily drown in hers. I am me and she is her as they point my parts apart from her. A heterogeneous system, as one, as sisters, as best friends. But not today. Today I’m lying on the thorns of my selfish inexcusable reasons devoid of any strength to get up. Today, I’m still avoiding the traces of her on my notebook and my map. I’m sorry, you are the best and the worst that has happened to me and for that pitiful reason, today at 10 am in our small warm coffee shop I will not be there. I will be somewhere else, a place cowards run off to, somewhere you wouldn’t have to go.

——-your undeserving best friend: jealousy

I just re-posted a post on my FB page about using images to help you write! https://www.facebook.com/A-Page-A-Day-Lets-all-write-just-one-page-a-day-103970129720405/?fref=ts I used many images to write my novel. El Salvador’s civil war was the most photographed war in history. I bet it still is! Thanks for a great post! Sherrie Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador: http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11Ch5chkAc

“Morning”

The sun shone through a small gap where the panels of curtains met. Usually the curtains did their job and blacked out any light, but the angle she laid in bed today was the perfect place for the sun to shine right on her face. It beamed like a laser through her eyelids. She turned over in bed attempting to evade the warm light. Her subconscious knew something wasn’t right. She bolted upright and scrambled to find her phone which served as her alarm clock. Dead. What time is it? She ran to the kitchen to look at the clock on the oven. It was blinking 3:38. This can’t be right, the sun is shining bright as noon. The power must have gone off sometime during the night. She hurried back to her room to plug in her phone. It seemed like hours as she waited for it to charge enough to turn on. Panic started to set in. Finally! The iPhone beamed back to life. The clock on the home screen read 7:22. She was late. Late for her first day at her new job.

I really enjoy creative writing and I hope to get better at it. I always have different ideas running through my head but I never actually put them on paper. I chose the “Morning” prompt and I feel like this is actually pretty good! Morning The warm rays of the sun filled the room as Vaughn lay their asleep. It was about 10:45 in the morning, and Vaughn was still exhausted from yesterday’s job searching. He had been fired about three months ago and has been budgeting his money the best he can. Natalie, his girlfriend, has been giving him small amounts of money here and there. Bzzz, Bzzz…his phone starts ringing, causing him to wake up from his deep sleep. His violet eyes scan the screen of the phone. Vaughn sighs, noticing it’s a text from Natalie. He puts the phone back where it was and snuggled back under the warm covers. As soon as his platinum hair hit the pillow- bzzz, bzzz, bzzz…this time it was a call. Vaughn released a sigh of annoyance, noticing it was Natalie again. “Hello”, he answered. “Vaughn I cannot believe you forgot again, you know as much as I help you, you could be a little better at remembering things”, Natalie yelled through the speaker. “What are you talking about, Natalie, we didn’t plan anything today! You said you were tired” Vaughn explained, his patients wearing thin. “I just texted you and said ‘Meet me at the new café’, I’ve been waiting here for thirty minutes and you’re still not here!”, Natalie whined. “Okay, okay, I’m on my way Naty” Vaughn threw the covers off himself and started getting ready. He wouldn’t have heard the end of it if he didn’t go. While he was pacing through his apartment, he knocked down a picture frame. He bent down and froze when he saw the picture it displayed. It was him standing beside a girl with brown hair and tan skin. Her smile was gentle and calming and her violet eyes sparkled with joy. Vaughn gently held the frame and whispered,” Cerene…”. *Flashback to High School* “Will we still talk like we are now, Florida seems like its pretty far”, Vaughn asked nervously. “Of course we will, silly, you’re my best friend!” Cerene Exclaimed. Vaughn and Cerene had been friends since elementary school. They were always together. Unfortunately, Cerene’s family traveled a lot. Her father’s job required them to move from time time. Vaughn didn’t like this at all, sure he had other friends, but they weren’t his best friends like Cerene was. She was always there for him, even when he was sick, she would bring tea, movies, or just sit and talk with him. Everyone at school thought the two liked each other. It was true Vaughn liked Cerene but he never knew how she felt about him. Cerene was leaving a week after graduation. As the day grew closer, Vaughn noticed that Cerene just wasn’t her cheery self anymore. Instead she seemed depressed and disconnected from the world. He’d find her staring off into the distance a lot like she was thinking. Three days before she was supposed to leave, Vaughn got a call from Cerene. “Hey, Cerene, how’s it goin’”, Vaughn answered. “Hey Vanya…I..um..I have some bad news” Cerene explained. Her voice was shaking, Vaughn wondered if she was about to cry. “What is it, Cerene” he asked, worried. “I’m…leaving earlier than I thought”, she said sadly. “But why, what happened to te week after graduation” he pleaded. “I’m sorry, Vanya, I tried to get extra time but my father said we have to leave earlier than expected!” she exclaimed. “Its okay, Cerene, its not your fault, but can I see you before you leave, please”, Vaughn asked with hope. “Of course, silly, you’re my best friend!” Vaughn snapped out of day dream when his phone started vibrating again.

Today was a fresh day, leaves crunching beneath my boots and the sun beams stretching out for a new morning. I usually had these walks by myself, oftenly I’d get looks from my friends of concern and they had always questioned me as to why I never invited them along. But me and the Autumn season are meant to be alone, we’re meant to be one.

My nose was red, and I had an occasional case of the sniffles not that I was really bothered about it. Nevertheless it might not be winter but the whispy breeze, and the coldness of the astomophere was indicating that it was near. I paused at the tree, in the middle of a meadow. A meadow packed with tall soft grass, flowers that were in the process of blooming and the silent birds that peacefully flew on by in the bright clear sky. I parked myself down, my back resting on the bark of the old tree my knees tucked into my chest while my arms rested on top of my knees.

I felt my hair blow with the sudden blast of wind, like waves of an ocean as I felt tears prick in the corners of my eyes. Truth is, Autumn was the sad season. The season where I lost my younger brother, Despite his falling sand the countless times he was called names and picked on by the other children, he always managed to smile and laugh with me, which you wouldn’t expect from a brother and sister. After he passed I always came here, somehow his presence lingered near. My eyelids eventually gave away to the tiredness from my sobs, my throat was sore, so just as I fell asleep, a small murmered whispered in my ear, “Sweet dreams, Sis.” And a small smile creeped onto my face, as well as the last falling tear.

This is lovely. I believe it to be true.

Beach Do you remember the last year when I called you and requested to see me at Clifton beach in the evening. You might have forget that call but tell me have you forgot that last meeting also? You might have forgot that meeting but tell me have you forgot our last dance on the sand. The sun was setting and the sky turned red as if it had not slept since many last nights. Do you remember when your left foot was kissing my right foot and your right my my left. Do you remember when we danced on the music of sew waves. Do you remember when a wave touched our feet took the sand from beneath our feet away with it. Since that day I am hanging in the air. I don’t have anything to place my feet on.

Using the prompt, “Road trip” and this is what I came up with.

11:00 in the morning, my wheelchair is securely locked in the mechanism. I’m semi nervous and excited, watching out the window as the bus pulls away from the depot. Out the corner of my eye, I notice one seat up and over, a young boy is looking back at me. I give him a quick smile before he turns to his mother. She looks back to me then nudges his shoulder. A scolding expression on her face and speaking quietly to him him. I don’t hear what is said but I’m sure I can imagine her words. Parents, how they stifle a child’s curiosity. 2:45 in the afternoon, the lift is shaky as I ride it down off the bus. I’m glad to have all four wheels on the ground. I have a couple of minutes before I have to board the next bus. Just enough time for a quick bathroom break. I’m passing the young boy again. We make eye contact. His mother is busy scrounging through her purse. Oops, I bet she lost her tickets. I pop a wheely as I ride pass the boy and a bright smile lights up his young face as he watches. I turn back around, looking at him and smile. Catching a glimpse of me, his mother grabs his hand and pulls him along toward a customer desk. My eyes are still on the little boy as he looks back to me once more. I quickly give him a thumbs up, then ride off toward the rest room, wheeling on my back tires. 3:00, I’d just exited the bathroom. Time to board. The bus will be leaving in 10 minutes bound for Philadelphia. I see the boy and his mother once more as I wheel myself toward the bus’s lift. Catching the mother’s eye, I remark, “He’s a bright young boy. He’s very inquisitive, nurture him well.” She manages a curt smile and hurriedly walks toward her destination and I can’t help to watch them as the lift raises me up to enter the bus. I can’t help but wonder about the man he’ll grow up to be.

this story really made my day and i would honestly consider you to become an author. I will forever cherish this story as i can relate being wheelchair bound and now have been inspired to “pop a wheely” which i will continue to do in my every day life.You are the reason i wake up in the morning

Robert i take a massive offence to this as i am also “wheelchair bound” and like to “pop a wheely” from time to time and would highly recommend deleting your comment

As a fellow wheeler, I too take great pride in ‘popping wheelies’ whenever free time shows face in my schedule. The W.A. society (wheelers anonymous) are a faction of like minded individuals who all have a great passion for the art that is ‘paralytic parkour’. I come from a long line of wheelers, must be in my genes-sorry future kids L0L! Not a singe soul has stood tall in my family for many of years now, everyday’s a struggle, all worse than the last, but my strong will and high admiration pulls me through with a little grass from my friends if you get what i mean 😉 anyway, maybe we could arrange a date sometime soon, ill send you my details for future reference.

Hey AJ, how you doing? cause im doing swell BUT i couldn’t help wondering about this faction im hearing of, i have some gnarly brain storms about a new stunt wheelchair as ive been having a lot of trouble going down the half pipe at my local skate park, i seem to be falling out my wheelchair every time i go down and cant get back up. approximately 1/3 paralytic parkourers die due to faulty wheelchairs, i hope you take my brain storms into deep consideration.

sincerely Lance.

WOW lance you seem to have caught my attention because this is a everyday common struggle of most wheelers. We wheelers have to stick together and have each others backs even when we are both struggling to find our feet quite literally! the only thing i have to live on is hope and you know what they say about hope ‘breeds eternal misery’ .

I found myself choosing the Grandfather Prompt. I felt my eyelids getting heavier as I placed my head on the car window. It was a quiet day. Even the sound of my mother and Grandmother talking seemed soothing. I was quickly brought back to reality by a voice message on my mother’s phone, from my grandfather. “I need..help…a hospital. Please come..” ,he whispered, then silence. I felt my heart drop to my stomach as his voice echoed in my head. I froze. I didn’t move. I couldn’t move… All I could do was sit there, listening to my mother trying to hold back her tears as she was speeding on a busy street. Only my younger sister shaking my arm snapped me back. “What’s going on? Why are they crying?”, she desperately asked. In that second, it hit me. We might not get there in time. I tried to hold back my tears, I tried to be strong, but I couldn’t. I could hear my heart pounding louder than my thoughts. I felt my temperature rising by the second. My tears sliding down my chin. The only thing I resorted to doing was pray. “Please, not today. I’m not ready. Not this soon, let me hug him one more time. Don’t take him from me yet.”,I prayed in silence. Then the thoughts began to come. What was the last thing I said to him? When is the last time I told him I loved him? My thoughts were interrupted as my mother slammed the breaks on my grandparents driveway. “Stay in the car.” ,my mother snapped as she ran out. The wait seemed endless. Everything felt unreal. I felt helpless. Was he dead? This can’t be how he leaves. I didn’t get to say goodbye. No more fighting over the t.v controller with him again. We would never share a piece of cherry pie again. I’ll never get another poem from him. My attention quickly turned to the door as my sister began to cry, as she realized the situation. My mother and grandmother came out struggling to carry my grandfather. I didn’t know what to think. “Where’s the nearest E.R?” , I hear my grandma yell. We made it on time. There seemed to be a weight off my chest. My grandfathers even SLIGHT breathing, was prayers answered.

After high school graduation we begin our journey, going to college; going here and there on vacations; work and exactly where we’re going isn’t clear. We can see down the road aways, sometime to the next turn, but our destination remains obscure. Often there are intersections and we glare down the different routes and make a choice and we’re off again. Job offers come and we change directions. We meet people and that may take is off in yet other directions. Then we start a family and the road seems to be long and hard. We wonder if we’re going down the right road. Will we get to nice place in the end? Will there be food and shelter waiting for us? Or will we run out of gas and be stranded, walking down the road? But we keep moving. Eventually the kids grow up and are in college and the road seems to open up and the scenery gets better. We start seeing what we think is our destination in the distance and our focus lands there. Are we going to make it – or can’t wait to make it. More intersections seem to keep the goal at bay, but we continue on. Kids are on their own road and we see them taking some of the same roads we travelled. But we make a turn and the goal is in view. We think back about the trip and how frustrating it was at the time and realize that it went by way too quickly. We long to be able to keep the trip going, taking in more sights and doing things that we didn’t stop and bother with previously. But we arrive as the sun sets. Out of gas. Cold. Hungry. Tired. And waiting for us is a huge lodge with a warm fireplace burning. A huge meal has been prepared. There is laughter, music and lots of people, many of whom we’ve known along the trip. It’s been a wonderful experience. And the talk is about the next road trip.

I absolutely love these! I just read a post about the benefits of using creative writing prompts and went looking for some to get started. Thanks so much for these!

Its been days since Ronda landed, maybe tonight she will get some sleep. Jet Lag has been a nightmare. Started the night befor the flight, woke up every 2-3 hours and could not fall back to sleep. Ronka always stresses before trips. Really she stresses before everything. The 13 hours on the plane were completely sleepless as well. Ronka rarely ever can sleep on a plane. She brought a book but did not read. She had some podcasts but didnt listen. Her focus was not good enough for any of those. Not even for random thoughts. She watched a few movies but probably doesnt remember much. At the last 2 hours she found Remi Cube on the airplane entertainment system and thats where she finally found solace. Went into a frenzy of playing until the plane landed. Ronda does most things in a frenzy. Now she’s in her parents home. Day 3 and she hasnt got much sleep. On the surface things are ok. She hasnt spiraled out of control yet. But deep inside she can feel the shift… She is not fully ok. Getting a little more grumpy and restless by the minute. A big total eclipse is happening in a few hours. The energies must be affecting. Ronda is always greatly affected with the universe arround her. The weather, The full Moons, the astrological signs. Ronda needs a good night sleep. A few good night sleeps. She needs to get back on track. She’s been doing relatively good lately.

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70+ Clever Creative Writing Prompts (& 6 Brainy Bonus Tips)

by Mel Wicks

on Aug 7, 2024

I bet you just asked Google to search for creative writing prompts.

Or was it writing ideas? Short story ideas? Or maybe writers block ?

Boy, are you stuck!

But don’t worry. It doesn’t matter if you’re halfway through writing a book , sweating over social media posts, or journaling about your own life, all writers get stuck for creative ideas sometimes.

So, it’s great to have you here.

This is your go-to source of story starters, writing prompts, and bonus writing tips guaranteed to improve your writing skills , power up your passion , and get your creative juices flowing.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Writing Prompts Q&A
72 Writing Prompts (Broken into Categories)
6 Bonus Tips (to Sharpen Your Writing Skills)

We’ll start with a few common questions and answers…

What are Writing Prompts?

A writing prompt can be a phrase, an image, or even a physical object that kick-starts your imagination and motivates you to write . It provides a spark of an idea as a starting point to stimulate a natural flow of writing.

Writing prompts are ideal for any form of writing, like fiction or nonfiction , journaling , copywriting , blogging , or poetry . They usually contain two parts: an idea or a potential topic to write about, and the instructions on what you should do next.

For example, a creative writing prompt for fiction writers might be:

Your main character has a car accident and starts to hear voices while in the hospital. Write a short story about the conflict between the character and the voices and what really happened at the time of the car accident.

While journal prompts tend to focus on topics of self-awareness, such as:

Write about a turning point in your life. How different would things be now if you had made a different decision at the time?

How Do You Use Writing Prompts?

Like all muscle-building exercises, writing prompts are most effective when you make them a daily habit. Over time, with repetition, you’ll find your flow of writing becomes more natural, and your ability to write for longer strengthens.

But don’t feel you have to follow a prompt to the letter. If the prompt suggests you write about romance, but it sparks an idea for a poem, write a poem. Let your imagination guide you through the writing process.

Here are some other hot tips:

Don’t overthink it. Just start writing.
Don’t edit as you go.
If it’s not working for your style of writing , move on to another prompt. Find the prompts that make you want to write.
The creative writing prompt is a starting point. The finish is up to you. You don’t have to write a complete story, a poem, or an essay. Feel free to discard your work halfway through and move on to something else.
Adopt the Ernest Hemingway approach: Accept that most of what you write is likely to be crap, and you’re going to toss it. This isn’t about producing ready-to-publish work for your latest freelance writing job . It’s about the practice of writing.

Have fun with it, and remember each prompt is an opportunity to practice and refine your writing craft. Now, let’s explore those creative writing prompts we promised you.

72 Writing Prompts to Help You Kickstart Your Imagination

Fiction writing prompts.

Fantasy Writing Prompts

Romance Writing Prompts

Comedy Writing Prompts
Horror Writing Prompts

Persuasive Copywriting Prompts

Poetry writing prompts, journal writing prompts, blog writing prompts, non-fiction writing prompts, random writing prompts.

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Use this famous opening line to start your own novel.
Rewrite your resume as a short story , either in the first or third person .
Open the dictionary to any page and select the first word that catches your eye. Write the opening few paragraphs of a thrilling, suspenseful story using your selected word at least three times.
Write a synopsis of your version of the movie, Groundhog Day . What would your day look like and why?
Write a short story using these words: Mountainous, parched, field mouse, time travel, and Black Forest Gateau.
Sit in a café and write a short story about the person or couple at the next table. Take note of their body language and clothing, what they’re eating, or doing. And if you can eavesdrop, let their conversation inspire you too.
Write about a person who is arrested for committing a crime, but they can’t remember anything about the night the crime occurred. What is the crime, why can’t they remember and what happens next?

Fantasy & Adventure Writing Prompts

If you could come back to life as any person, animal or thing, what or who would you be and how would you live your second life?
The world’s oceans dry up. Who or what survives?
You open the bathroom door and find the room’s disappeared. In its place is another world. Describe what you see and hear, and what you do next?
You’re sitting at a bar talking to a giraffe. What’s the conversation about?
You live in a fantasy world where people communicate without talking. Write about an average day in this sci-fi, fairy tale world.
You are the inventor of a popular video game. One day the main character from your game knocks on your front door. What does he want?
Write about a character who has a superhuman power. The problem is, they don’t want it. Write about the conflict between the character, his or her power and the everyday life they are forced to lead.
What is the most romantic season of the year and why?
Write a story about love at first sight. It doesn’t have to be about young people, or even about people.
“Last Christmas” was a song by George Michael that inspired a movie by the same name in 2019. Think of your favorite romantic song and write a film synopsis for it.
If you are a woman, write a short love story about the most romantic experience you could imagine, as a man. If you are a man, reverse the exercise.
The song “Summer Nights” from Grease is about the summer romance between two high school students, with their friends begging to hear more. What memory does that evoke for you about the first time you fell in love, and who did you tell?
Next time you visit a grocery store make a note of the first person you see. What are they wearing, what are they buying, are they alone? Write a description of them as the main character for your next romantic novel.
Your protagonist is about to marry the man she has been in love with for years. A week before the wedding she meets a stranger and falls madly and hopelessly in love. What does she do?

Funny Writing Prompts

You are a bartender on a quiet night, listening to man drown his sorrows as he tells you how his wife has recently left him for a neighbor. A second man enters and sits at the other end of the bar. It’s the neighbor. Describe the comedy of errors that happens next.
What makes you laugh out loud?
What’s the funniest joke you know? Write the backstory to the main character in the joke.
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you in real-life? Write it as a stand-up comedy anecdote with lots of observational humor thrown in.
Your shopping bag rips apart, and all the contents tumble out at the feet of the girl or guy who lives in the apartment below you, who you have fancied for some time. What does your shopping reveal about you and why are you so embarrassed?
List posts are one of the most popular forms of blogging . Write a funny list post about all the things you are not going to do this year.

Horror Writing Prompts?

Write the opening chapter to a story that begins: “I stared at my beautiful, evil wife and realized the horror had only just begun.
“Terror made me cruel” is a line from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Write about a situation where terror might make you cruel.
You’re walking home alone late one night when you realize several cats are stalking you. Then the streetlights go out. What happens next?
There’s a locked door at the top of the house you’re staying in. What’s behind it?
What are you really, really scared of? Put yourself in that situation and describe how it feels.
Write a horror story set in either a bar or a graveyard (or both). Include a blue-veined hand, a serial killer, and the phrase “all that spit and sweat.”
Your best friend doesn’t much care for Chinese food. Write down all the reasons why they need to reconsider their opinion and join you tonight at your favorite Chinese restaurant.
Your mother’s always nagging you to clean your room. Write an account of the last time she nagged you, but from her point of view.
Have you ever seen a ghost, or sensed a ghostly presence? Write an account of your experience knowing it will be read by a skeptic.
Talk the Christmas Grinch out of being a Grinch.
A man finds a letter in a bottle while walking on the beach. Where has the bottle come from, how old is it, and what does the letter say? What does it compel the man to do?
Think of a cliché and write an argument against it. Here are a few to start you off:

Time heals all wounds It’s better to be safe than sorry Money is the root of all evil Ignorance is bliss

Open the dictionary at any page and select the first word that catches your eye. Set a timer for 5 minutes and write a list of rhyming words. Now write a poem using as many of those words as you can.
Write a poem about rhythm. It might be about music, or the flow of a river, or the clattering sound of a train. Weave the rhythm you hear in your head into the tempo of your poem.
Write a poem about a feast. Describe how it looks, smells and tastes. Use powerful imagery and include the different sensations of spices and flavors, the texture and feel of the dishes and how each one made you feel as you ate more and more.
Write a poem about the “Thrilla in Manila.”
Write about your plans for tomorrow and how you hope they’ll turn out.
“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done. ” This is a famous quote about self-sacrifice from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Write an honest journal entry about how far you would be prepared to go to sacrifice your wealth, happiness, health, or safety for a person or principle.
Write about a single day — either the first or last of your life.
Think about the last time you woke up at 4am, in a cold sweat. What was on your mind and how did you resolve it? Did you feel differently about it in the daylight?
Write a letter in your journal to each of your family members, telling them what your love (and/or hate) about them.
What is your personal manifesto? What are the core principles and values that guide everything you do in life?
Make a list of all the things you’d like to say no to, and then write down the reasons why you don’t — or can’t — say no. Is there a pattern? Is there something you can change?
Write about the biggest challenge you have faced and how you overcame it.
Write an open letter to a person or group of people you strongly disagree with and explain why. Use reason not emotion.
Write about the best writing or weight loss tips you can share.
Interview your favorite fictional character.
Describe social media to someone who has never heard of it before. Include advice on which platform might be best for them.
Think of the 3 most unhealthy habits you indulge in and write about how you might be able to break those habits.
What are the top 10 style trends you would like to see make a comeback ?
Write about your views on climate change. Are you a believer or a skeptic? Is the world doing enough? What facts do you know?
Write about a time you had to swallow your pride and do something that made you uncomfortable, either morally or physically.
There is no such thing as a truly unselfish deed. Defend this statement.
If you were to write an autobiography, how would it start?
Write a fantasy story based on the last dream you had.
Write about your favorite place and how it makes you feel. Use all the sensory language you can muster to describe the place.
If you were a dog, what type would you be and who would own you?
If you had the opportunity to turn back time what would you change about the course of your life and why?
What is your favorite thing to eat and what memories does it evoke?
Write a list of your three most prized possessions (inanimate objects, not people or animals). Imagine you are forced to discard one. Which one would it be and explain the reasons for your choice?
Write your own eulogy as a diary entry. What would you like people to know and say about you?
Write 500 words on what financial freedom looks like to you?
Select a book from your bookshelf and open it to any page. Write out the last sentence of the last complete paragraph on that page and continue writing.
Think of your favorite book or film. Now rewrite the ending to something completely different.
If you were to buy a plane ticket today — no expense spared — where would you go and why?

There they are. A compact list of 72 creative prompts. And when you’ve worked your way through these, you might want to move on to the motherlode of creative writing prompts over at Reddit.

Reddit is part social media platform , part community, part media curator, with 520 million monthly visitors subscribing to message boards across 1.2 million sub-categories. Phew!

One of these subcategories is Writing Prompts , with over 14 million subscribers who have posted years’ worth of prompts, so you’ll never run out of inspiration again.

How Else Can I Improve My Creative Writing Skills?

Improving your skills takes lots of writing practice.

And using creative writing ideas and prompts are the best ways to do just that.

But it’s not the only way.

Here are a few other creative writing exercises you might want to explore:

Freewriting

This is when you write about anything that pops into your head. Take a blank page, set a timer for 30 minutes, and start writing. Write whatever your brain tells you to, and don’t worry if it’s nonsensical.

This writing exercise is great for pushing through writers block and allowing your mind to head off in spontaneous directions.

The Adjectives Game

List 5 things you like or dislike tasting, and then list 5 adjectives for each item. For example, you might like the taste of cake. The 5 adjectives might be: sweet, gooey, yummy, nutty, and scrumptious. Now do the same for your other senses.

This builds your sensory vocabulary and ability to write with flair and color.

Perspectives

Write about a recent incident you were involved in, from the point of view of someone else who was involved. Empathy is hugely important in writing and this exercise forces you to step into the shoes of another person and understand their point of view.

Writing authentic dialogue is notoriously hard to master, so this writing exercise will help.

Write about 300 words of a conversation between two people without using ‘he said/she said’ tags. Show the difference and relationship between the two speakers only through the words they use. It’s more challenging than it sounds.

Observation

Think of a color. Now go for a walk or a ride on the bus and note down everything you see of that color. When you get home, write up what you remember (take notes as you go to make it easier).

How many different hues of the color did you see? What did the things you saw make you feel? Was there any connection between them?

Think of an anecdote you like to recount. Write it up in less than 500 words. Now rewrite the same story in 100 words. Now in 50 words. And finally, in 25 words or less, if you can achieve it.

This exercise shows how filler words, background, and context can sometimes get in the way of a good story. It will help you choose your words carefully.

If you’ve got the time and energy, here are a few more creative writing exercises to really help flex those writing muscles.

6 Bonus Writing Tips to Power Up Your Passion and Sharpen Your Skills

Before we let you go…

If you’re looking for creative writing prompts or story ideas, there’s an excellent chance you’re looking for other ways to hone your skills and improve your craft.

Here are 6 bonus writing tips to help you on your journey:

1. Make Time to Write

If you’re not setting aside time to write, you may as well ignore every other piece of advice in this post. Make your writing time sacred and block it off in your calendar. Turn off your phone. Disconnect the internet, close your door, and write.

You can use a daily writing prompt if that helps you get going.

Creating a solid writing habit is the single best thing you can do if you want to be a writer.

2. Set Writing Goals

We set goals for everything in our life: losing weight, saving for a dream holiday, growing our business, and so on. So, do the same for your writing. Measure your progress.

Start with, say, a 300 or 500 word count in a daily session. Once you consistently reach this goal with ease, up the ante and shoot for more challenging targets. 1,000 words a session; 25,000 words a month, and so on. But make sure your goals are not overwhelming.

Writing goals will help you write faster and with more confidence. Over time you will recognize when you are most productive and can use this to your advantage.

3. Pack Your Writing with a Powerful Punch

Fill your writing with passion from an arsenal of power words . Or supercharge your reader’s imagination with a well-aimed metaphor .

Use these two writing devices to turbocharge your prose and watch the words burst off the page with intention.

4. Harness the Power of Grammar

Grammar reduces confusion and brings clarity and confidence to your writing. It’s a good thing and you need to learn the rules .

But grammar can sometimes get in the way of creativity and turn fluid prose into a turgid swamp of clunky awkwardness.

If you need to ignore your grammar checker and start a sentence with a conjunction that feels right, go for it. If you want to brazenly split an infinitive to avoid mangling a sentence, split away.

So, learn the grammar rules, but then learn how to break them . Effectively.

5. Copy Your Writing Heroes — Literally

Pick a writer you’ve always admired, whether it’s a New York Times best-selling author or an influencer in your blogging niche .

Now, put pen to paper and rewrite exactly what they wrote by hand. Don’t think too hard about it. Just go with it.

As you write out their words, you’ll absorb their writing style, their pace and rhythm, their grammar, their word choice, and their sentence structure.

This is one of the most effective ways to sharpen your writing skills and inspire your own writing voice.

6. Read Your Way to Writing Stardom

Every great writer is a great reader. There are no exceptions.

Read daily.

Read fiction and biographies, or read books, blogs and articles. But read in an active way. Stay alert to what grabs your attention and how the writer has crafted his words. Then consciously apply the best techniques to your own writing process.

A Final Word on Writing Prompts

The purpose of a writing prompt is to kickstart your creativity and spur you into writing something… anything.

Initially, the process may seem a little intimidating. But that’s OK. Most writers draw a blank when they first start with writing prompts.

Keep pushing through, because something thrilling will start to happen.

The more you practice using the prompts in this post, the more your creative juices will flow, and the more words and ideas will start pouring out of you.

So, let yourself go. Abandon yourself to the power of writing prompts and let the magic happen.

Happy writing!

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10 Great Sites For Writing Prompts

Of course, a large part of being a writer is having ideas, harnessing them, molding them. But we all have days when the ideas aren’t coming. We still want to write, but where to start?

Here are some sites that provide writing prompts.

StoryADay.org Writing Prompts

Each prompt is intentionally ambiguous, adaptable to any genre and style, and comes with a list of tips to help you delve deeper into the ideas. Try one today or sign up to receive weekly prompts by mail.

DIYMFA Writer Igniter

Easily the most fun prompt generator around: hit a button and spin! The Writer Igniter generates a fresh Character, Situation, Prop and Setting (with a picture for the setting). Useful for sparking an idea when you need a quick writing hit.

Writers’ Digest Writing Prompts

Weekly writing prompts from the ultimate writers’ magazine. You can post 500 words about the prompt in the blog comments and see what other people have posted.

Anytime a Tumblr user tags their post as “Writing Prompt”, it’ll pop up in on this page. There is a strong (and youngish) writing community on Tumblr, serious about their art. Definitely worth bookmarking.

Writing Prompts That Don’t Suck

Over 600 writing prompts, mostly one-liners and snippets of dialogue and word lists (which can be surprisingly productive).

CreativeWriting Prompts

Never again can you say that you have nothing to write. Creative Writing Prompts lists 346 prompts all on one page — that’s almost one for every day of the year. Hover your mouse over a number to generate a prompt. More for journaling than short story writing, but still useful.

Writing Fix

These prompts seem to be aimed at kids, but they work for me! There are journal prompts and prompts for creative writing. I love that they have them separated into Right Brain prompts and Left Brain Prompts , among other things. You can choose from among different types of prompts too: story starters, titles, themes, character descriptions, tone, even prepositional phrases!

Reddit Writing Prompts SubReddit

A collection of user-submitted prompts. Often skewed towards apocalytic/sci-fi/fantasy/horror topics, this is the place to go if you like to write dark!

The Teacher’s Corner

This site is aimed at teachers who give their students a period of free-writing or journal writing ever day, but it can work for any writer. You can use them for freewriting/morning pages/writing practice, or you might use them to spark ideas for seasonal stories (which publications love). The prompts are batched by month and often relate to themes and historical events from that month. Well worth checking out, especially if you are trying to do morning pages/journaling to warm up your writing day.

Poets & Writers Prompts

This page posts three different prompts every week: one for creative non-fiction, one for poetry, and one for fiction. Often the fiction prompt is ‘write a scene in a story that…’, but sometimes it prompts you to write a whole story, and it usually illustrates you how to think more deeply about the idea.

9 thoughts on “10 Great Sites For Writing Prompts”

One website I love the best and that I find most unique is http://everywritersgenii.com/unique-short-story-ideas-and-prompts-to-trigger-your-creativity-now/ as it not just only gives you the best story ideas and prompts but makes you come up with yours. You should really check it out. http://everywritersgenii.com/unique-short-story-ideas-and-prompts-to-trigger-your-creativity-now/

Definitely check out Daily Prompt – I’m currently on a 101 day writing streak. They give you a new writing prompt every day. http://www.dailyprompt.co.uk

I am a professional author and my by far favorite writing prompt website is http://www.pobble365.com .

http://130words.com is a free daily writing tool

Great. Thanks for this:) I actually posted a short story in the comments section on the September 20th writing prompt.

Oh! And this one, on Facebook, by StoryADay participant Julia H. West.

You’re welcome. That reminds me I should update this with a few extras.

For now, I’m adding this user-based prompt group in the StoryADay Community that gets updated during the challenge.

This is so sweet. I want to get into doing more writing prompts. Thank you so much for including these links.

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340 Fantasy Writing Prompts That Will Help You Leave Your Readers Spellbound

From Gulliver's Travels to The Hobbit to Watchmen , fantasy has been the cornerstone of fictional literature for centuries, leading to the creation of millions of imaginary worlds full of wonderment and adventure. Whether it is a simple tale told over a campfire or 500 pages of world-building expository writing, fantasy allows us to escape the confines of our own daily lives and experience something truly uncommon. Here are 340 fantasy writing prompts to help spark your creativity and give you the ability to create your own reality from the ground up.

This material is copyrighted by ServiceScape and is designed to be used for writing inspiration. Please feel free to use our ideas as a starting point for your next story! If you use one of our prompts as a basis for a story, you don't have to credit us, but it would be much appreciated if you do. A simple link to ServiceScape is the best way to do that. One caveat: Please do not publish our writing prompts as-is, in their entirety without attribution. This is not the intended use.

Alternate History

Children's story, contemporary, dark fantasy, fantasy of manners, high fantasy, low fantasy, magical realism, sword and sorcery, young adult.

There is an alternate interpretation or outcome for a nonfictional event within the past, establishing a new fictional historical setting for the characters. This redefined historical timeline incorporates elements of magic and the supernatural.

You wield the magic of the four elements, making you one of the most powerful wizards in the world, but you don't take well to your archmage title and isolate yourself in a small remote village in Tibet. You develop friendships with the local townsfolk and, over time, are able to find peace and hone your powers without the constant interruption that comes with a position of leadership. When your mountain town is invaded during the Annexation of Tibet, you are forced to come out of hiding and use your powers to liberate Tibet from the occupation.
Instead of the British industrial revolution, a magical revolution takes place in the late 1700s that results in the United States never becoming a superpower. Britain engages in a policy of isolationism, keeping all magical technology locked within its borders, while maintaining a dominant position on the world stage. As a British magic dealer, an opportunity presents itself in 1834, so you start illegally transporting bottles of elixirs into the United States and turning a huge profit—until something unexpected happens.
It is 1969, and you are one of the first astronauts to walk on the moon. As you take the first steps on the moon's surface, you and your crew discover stones with magical properties. You collect a few and take them back to Earth for additional research. The Soviet Union immediately sends a group of cosmonauts to the moon to gather their own source of magic. Tensions between Russia and the U.S. reach their peak, and a magical arms race ensues between these two superpowers.
As a historian, you are tasked with deciphering the inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone after it is surrendered to the British in 1801. You translate several inscriptions and discover that you now understand enough of the language to decipher the hieroglyphs you copied during a recent Egyptian archeological expedition. While reading the incantation aloud, it awakens all embalmed Egyptians, who had preserved themselves as well as their civilization using powerful magic. They now wish to resume their dominant role in the world.
You are a witch by trade, and you also just happen to be the mistress of a young playwright named William Shakespeare. Your coven dwells deep within the Forest of Arden and is ruled by your sister, Ophelia, who is the opposite of the sweet wilting flower you and William concocted thanks to the magic spell you placed on his quill. When the play Hamlet premieres, your sister casts a spell on the audience to make them clamor for a story about the young Ophelia. You confront your sister, and she implores you to use your skill to write another play about her namesake — this time without William. You refuse, as you do not want to stand in William's way and prefer to stay in the shadows. But when your once-powerful sister falls ill, you change your mind. You must honor her and — as she has you promise at the foot of her deathbed — make yourself known to the world. You fulfill your promise with the premiere of the soon-to-be world-renowned play Ophelia and are set to challenge your one-time lover's title as the greatest playwright in history.
Using your magical powers, you conjure a sea monster to attack the Christopher Columbus expedition during their initial voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. They survive the encounter and return to Spain with only a tall tale to show for it. Although a few in the royal court believe the story, most dismiss it and consider the expedition to be an embarrassing failure. With European powers uninterested in funding a new transatlantic expedition, you can now sail across the ocean yourself and claim the entire territory as your own. You become the first explorer to land in the New World, bringing your inherited magic with you.
You barge into the theater looking for the president. You see John Wilkes Booth approaching him, his Deringer pistol drawn, and you know you have only one chance to save Abraham Lincoln. You close your eyes and quickly recite a spell. When you hear the gunshot, you are startled by the noise and the screams from the audience. You run to Lincoln's box, finding Booth knocked out cold by a man who accompanied the president. However, the president is nowhere to be found. "Where is he?" the First Lady screams as she frantically looks around. A smile spreads across your face. Your spell worked, transporting the president out of harm's way… but where is he? You walk downstairs to search the theater. Then you review the spell in your mind and realize you forgot one important word, making his location more about "when" than "where." You think more, do a few calculations in your head, and determine that you sent the president to 1965 — 100 years into the future. You visited that point in history many years ago and remember it being a tumultuous time for the United States at the height of the civil rights movement. Unfortunately, there is nothing else you can do. With your powers greatly diminished after performing such a powerful spell, you decide to leave Lincoln there and see what becomes of it.
The Huns race over China. In a last vain attempt to save the outermost borders, the emperor calls for the armies to assemble. Everyone knows you to be a clothier, but your family has a history older than recorded time. Your great grandfather used his magical gifts to counsel emperors, as his ancestors did before him. Your family has never ruled, but their influence could be seen in the very heart of China's history—that is, until the emperor's daughter accused your great grandfather of dealing in all things "unnatural." In fact, such an accusation was the farthest from the truth. Your family's gifts come from the heart of China, the very soul of the country. As the Huns press further into your country's borders, you know that China is calling for you to fulfill the oath of your ancestors. You may have to stand alone and defeat the invaders without help, but you will face the Huns. China gives you no other choice.
After Julius Caesar declared himself dictator for life in 44 B.C.E., conspirators began plotting his assassination. Seeing the dictator's demise in a vision of the future, a soothsayer close to Caesar warns him of this betrayal. Caesar then thwarts the assassination attempt, arresting the conspirators and sentencing them to death. After foiling the plot, Caesar moves to aggressively expand the Roman Empire to every corner of the Earth. This expansionism continues throughout the centuries. Whether it was Alaric the Visigoth, Wu Zetian, or Genghis Khan, no leader could withstand the might of the Roman military. The Romans were even able to traverse the Atlantic Ocean and add the Americas to their massive empire, subjugating the native inhabitants in the process. Today, the entire world suffers under the boot of authoritarianism, ruled by the descendants of Caesar.
You are in command of British forces during the French and Indian War. After your forces suffer a sound defeat at the Battle of Fort Bull, rumors emerge among the British soldiers that the French are being led by a woman with magical powers. You write it off as an imaginary falsehood and continue strategizing with your fellow commanders until a mysterious stranger bursts into your tent, asserting to be a witch hunter. He tells you that the French have been bewitched by a woman who claims dominion over all of the New World. He offers to help you defeat this mystical warrior before she lays waste to the 13 British colonies and becomes Empress of the Americas.
The year is 1830, and the American railroad system is beginning to snake its way across the country. As a surveyor hired under Colonel John Stevens, you have been sent to a remote part of the western territories to scope out the land. During your journey, the landscape starts changing in unexpected ways. The desert sands are now forming hard, sharp peaks, and the reptiles seem to be getting larger the further west you go. The people seem different as well. The settlers you to talk to refuse to make eye contact and are wary of you, regardless of how friendly you are. One older woman warns you not to go too far west, or you might get too close to him . You ask who "he" is, but the old woman shushes you, shakes her head, and shuffles away. Her warning plays over in your mind as you keep riding west, not knowing what lies ahead. Eventually, among the sharpened sand peaks and unspeakable creatures, you see a dark and jagged tower on the far horizon. Soon thereafter, you are captured and brought to the court of the Desert Magus, an ancient warlock with immeasurable power who reveals that he has been the one reshaping the West to his will—and he intends to continue.
You are a member of the most powerful monarchy in the world: the Danish royal family, who has ruled for centuries with dragons by their side. On your eighteenth birthday, you finally learn the family secret. Instead of being gifted a dragon, you turn into one.
In April 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig located in the Gulf of Mexico caused the largest marine oil spill in history. With hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil seeping into the natural habitats of animals daily, you and your team of researchers and marine biologists have volunteered to help. You quickly realize that this oil spill is not like any other. Some of the creatures you treat have large, oily looking leeches attached to them and, no matter what you do, you cannot remove them. As the days progress, the affected animals magically transform into oily monstrosities that you no longer recognize. Without warning, they migrate, spreading their affliction to every living thing in the world's oceans. Now humanity is under the constant threat of these oceanic monsters, who increasingly venture out onto dry land to feed their insatiable hunger.
For generations wizards kept their knowledge to themselves, practicing their magical arts far from those who should never wield such power. They are convinced that forbidden esoteric knowledge should remain forbidden at all cost. However, in 1450, a wizard peering into the future foresees a world where knowledge is not forbidden, and it spreads like wildfire throughout the land. It all starts with an inventor named Johannes Gutenberg, who builds a machine called the printing press, allowing books to be published and distributed on a massive scale. A renaissance then overtakes the world, with knowledge of every form being distributed amongst the people. However, with the power to enlighten the masses, the wizard-seer fears it is only a matter of time before everyone knows the magical secrets that he and his brethren possess. So, with a snap of his finger, the wizard kills Gutenberg and all those who would dare use machines to distribute knowledge. Soon thereafter, Europe falls into a second dark age, and wizards become the puppet masters of kings and emperors throughout the world, ensuring that their knowledge remains theirs alone.
An airborne virus released in 1989 by the Russians during the Soviet–Afghan War infects millions of people worldwide, turning them into winged, gargoyle creatures. Modern technology is wiped out. As one of the unaffected humans, you must hunt the infected humans if you are to survive.
As an alchemist in China during the Tang dynasty, you have spent many years researching how to create an immortality elixir. However, despite countless hours of experimentation, all of your attempts so far have failed. After gathering a new set of ingredients, you decide to try again, hopeful that your latest experiment will be more successful. You mix saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur in an attempt to extend the life of the mayflies that you trapped that morning. Unfortunately, the flies drop dead one by one, and you conclude that the experiment is yet another failure. When nightfall comes, you light a few lamps and pack up what remains of your experiment. Suddenly, you are thrown to the floor by an explosion. You look up to see your laboratory engulfed in flames. Then, out of nowhere, water rains down from inside your home, extinguishing the fire in the process. Confused and shaken, you don't know what to make of it all. When a knock sounds on your front door, you open it to find an old man who introduces himself as a shaman. He explains that he is the one who saved you from the flames after you inadvertently invented gunpowder — a highly dangerous substance that can be used to commit unspeakable atrocities in warfare. You don't believe him and brush him off, but before you can close the door, he waves his hands and sends you to the future, where you witness several wars. Once you truly understand what gunpowder can do, you are returned to your time. You thank the shaman for opening your eyes and reassure him that you agree that this knowledge should be forbidden. Satisfied with your response, the shaman walks away, and you quickly close the door. Once alone, you remove a handheld gunpowder weapon from underneath your tunic that you snatched from a fallen officer during your travels through time. You decide to ignore the shaman and discover how this future technology works so you can produce hundreds more weapons for the warriors of your age.
The sudden appearance of ghastly, goblin-like creatures in the late 1800s forces a drastic social change in gender roles when certain women are gifted with the ability to destroy the creatures. As one of these gifted women, you are selected to join a private agency that hunts down the creatures. Your husband disapproves, but you have always believed that you are destined to be more than a housewife.
The great army of Genghis Khan surrounds your home city of Bukhara. The location is not heavily fortified, with just a mere moat and a single wall separating you from the tens of thousands of soldiers preparing for siege. You know what awaits your people: execution for all who resist, and either military conscription or enslavement for the rest. You have only once chance to save the city. You convince the city leaders to allow you to negotiate peace on their behalf. They agree, knowing that you are their best chance for survival. They open the gates, and you leave the confines of the city, approaching a white tent the Mongolians set up that morning. When you enter, you are surprised to see Genghis Khan himself waiting for you, along with a bevy of advisors. At first you plead for mercy from the emperor, yielding nothing but disdain and laughter. After being dismissed as nothing more than a stalling tactic, you decide to reveal what you have to offer in return. Closing your eyes, you take a dead mouse from your pocket, cup it in your hands, and begin to chant, causing ire amongst the Mongolian court. You open your hands, and the mouse has turned to dust. Out of nowhere, a shadowy figure appears beside you holding a sword and shield. Genghis Khan quickly grabs his nearby mace, but you tell him that this is just a mere demonstration of your power. You are a necromantic conjurer who can turn the dead into whatever you wish, including soldiers. All you need are the recently deceased to perform your work. The shadowy figure soon disappears due to the small lifeforce that the mouse provided, but that is all Genghis Khan needs to see. He agrees to spare Bukhara. In return, you are put to work during the siege of Samarkand, creating an army of invincible soldiers from the corpses of Genghis Khan's slain enemies. Soon, the Mongolian's military quintuples in size, and Genghis Khan now has the power to overtake the entirety of Europe and Africa.
It's early in the 20th century, and you're leading an expedition to one of the most inhospitable places in the world: Antarctica. The strong winds and bone-chilling cold make the journey across the desolate landscape an absolute misery. After hours of slowly traversing the frozen wasteland, frustrated by your lack of progress, you decide to set up camp and continue your expedition the next day. A few hours later, you are awakened by the ground shaking. After 30 seconds or so, the tremors subside, and you scramble from your tent. In the distance, the ground has been torn asunder. Surprised, your team decides to investigate the newly formed ravine. As you approach, you hear your colleague yelling that he sees something moving at the bottom of the chasm. You initially ignore his assertion, but he continues to insist that something is in fact down there. You decide to investigate and unpack the rock-climbing rope. After descending down the chasm, you can make out the faint flicker of torchlight and a group of people gathered below. You move closer and realize their scale: Each person is at least 20 feet tall! These giants have lived under the South Pole for generations, trapped below ground during the last ice age. Lucky for you, they are for the most part friendly, although very suspicious of you and your kind. You decide to spend several weeks living amongst the giants, learning their customs as well as a few basic words of their language. One morning, you notice that most of the men are gone. You inquire and are stunned to learn that the giants have decided to invade the surface world, ordering their warriors to climb up the ravine and attack whoever opposes them. With an abundance of food and natural resources, and with little standing in their way except for puny humans, the giants see the surface world as theirs for the taking — and your fear they might be right.
You're sitting beneath an ancient tree whose trunk is so wide you cannot reach around it. The sun is hot on your skin, and you can hear the sounds of the birds in the foliage over your head. This is the place you like to come to be on your own and connect with the land around you. It makes you feel closer to your ancestors, which is essential for a Karadji shaman such as yourself. Suddenly, you hear the cries of your people, and you jump to your feet to see them gathering along the shore, thrusting their spears in the air. You race to the top of the sand dune and see what looks like a strange, white cloud drifting across the water toward the shore. You walk across the sand, and your people part to let you through. They're looking to you to know what to do. As the white cloud nears, you see that it's something else entirely: a vessel of some sort bringing a group of strange looking men to your shores. You close your eyes, focus your mind, and try to perceive the future. When the vision strikes you, you fall to your knees. These men will bring sickness and destruction to your land. They will label you and your kind "Aboriginal Australians" and will subjugate your people for generations. You now know what you must do. You get up and call forth the powers of ancestorial spirts, who surround your homeland with an impenetrable barrier. The vessel crashes into this wall, causing it to sink and drowning the invaders in the process. Your homeland is protected for now, but you don't know how long this will last. All you do know is that you must stop at nothing to prevent these invaders from stepping foot on your soil.

Written for younger audiences, these stories usually teach child-appropriate life lessons within the framework of fantasy storytelling. Adult-oriented themes, such as violence, are either downplayed or removed altogether.

You are the son of a farmer who stumbles across a large egg in the woods. You take care of the egg until one day it hatches and a cute little dragon pops out. Through trial and error and your parents' guidance, you learn how to become a responsible pet owner.
On your eleventh birthday, your father gifts you a book about a magical world. You are reading a chapter about three children trying to overthrow an evil ruler when you get sucked into the book and find yourself in that world, standing in front of the characters you were just reading about. All three children stare at you. One of them asks, "Are you the magical hero we summoned to help us save our land?"
While waiting for the school bus on a rainy day, you notice a set of tiny red eyes peeking out at you from a bush. From that day forward, wherever you go, the eyes seem to be there, appearing in dark corners or under furniture. When you finally confront the mysterious eyes in the shadows, a small white mouse wearing a tunic reluctantly appears. He tells you that it is time to go home. He toots on a strange looking trumpet, and you are transformed into a mouse who must fulfill your destiny as ruler of the mouse kingdom—but all you want is to be home in time for dinner!
You are spending the summer at your aunt's home in the middle of nowhere, helping her with her farm as punishment for misbehaving. She warns you to stay inside the stone walls of the farmstead. You do not listen. As you explore the stone wall, you discover a strange silver locket nestled between the rocks. You take it home and pry it open. A gust of air and bright light erupt from it. You have opened a portal to another world, and it quickly sucks you inside. There you find all of your aunt's farm animals, but now they can speak to you and some even possess magical powers. With the help of your new-found friends, you try to find a way back home.
Your older brother is about to go off to college, and you are feeling left behind. Over the years, the two of you have grown apart, and he has traded quality time with you for quality time with his friends and girlfriend. While exploring an antique shop with your parents, you find an old, fancy mirror. A woman appears in the mirror, offering you your heart's desire. You wish that there was a way to make your brother stay forever. She smiles and grants your wish. The next morning, you go into your brother's room to find that he has been trapped inside a mirror himself. You go back to the shop and find that the magic mirror has disappeared.
You have moved to a small oceanside town. Your mother, a librarian, takes you to work with her each day in the summertime. Unfortunately, you hate reading. Impatient, you begin to explore the library's dustier shelves and discover an old journal. It speaks of half-fish, half-human creatures. One day, while out riding your bike, you spot one such creature beached on the sand. She seems to be about your age. You help her and make an unlikely—and forbidden—friend.
"Please help us," a lion says to you during a field trip to the zoo. Shocked, you realize you can now understand and communicate with all animals. Sympathizing with the animals who want to escape the zoo, you hatch a plan to help them.
Your father is always coming home with unusual souvenirs from his travels abroad. His most recent trip took him to the pyramids, where he acquired a painting of ancient Egypt. As you study it one evening, you are pulled into the painting and find yourself in ancient Egypt. You decide to explore this world, learning about Egyptian culture and society.
One day, a strange old man gives you a mysterious bag containing a piece of string, a broken chess piece, a piece of hard toffee, and a feather. You soon learn that each item is magical and that you were chosen to use the items to help four people in need.
When you were seven years old, your mother would take you out into the fields to catch fireflies. She used to tell you that the moon imbues them with magic, and if you find the right one, it will grant you one wish. Now that you are ten years old, you don't believe in such silly stories or your annoying mom—until you catch the right firefly and accidentally wish your mom away.
You attend a wizard school for children and are eager to participate in a contest of magical power against your peers. You feel confident that you will win the trials, but fall short and come in at second place. Although you are frustrated with losing, you learn how to deal with disappointment and the importance of good sportsmanship.
Small valuables have slowly been going missing, and your parents keep blaming you. But you know it is not your fault. Deciding to get to the bottom of things, you stake out the living room, setting a silver spoon from your mother's hutch out as bait for the thief. You awake in the middle of the night and lock eyes with a white cat, the spoon in its mouth. It darts off, scrabbling through an open window, and you follow it, eventually discovering a small city of cats in the middle of the woods. To your surprise, they speak to you, explaining that they only steal to break the curse and that, with enough offerings to the forest's fairies, they may become human again. They ask you to help them.
Your grandpa gardens to keep the gnomes away. That's what he tells you, and you believe him. One weekend, while he's away at a farmer's market, he asks you and your older sister to house-sit and care for the garden. Your sister throws a party, resulting in the smashing of grandpa's pumpkin patch, and the very next night, the gnomes arrive and wreak havoc in the house. It's up to you to stop them.
You are in fifth grade when the dreams begin. You find yourself in a version of your hometown that is not quite your hometown. The people are the same, but they dress wildly, in colorful gowns and suits. The town itself is the same, but the buildings are different; the library is a castle, and the local supermarket is built into a large tree in the center of town. When you are in the dream world, no one pays you any mind until one day a boy your age whom you have never seen before realizes that you are not from here. He tells you he isn't either. In fact, he's been trapped here for years. It's up to you to help him—without getting trapped yourself.
You and your family have just moved into a new house in a sleepy little town. The small garden in the backyard is decorated with a fairy village. Finding the village endearing, you begin to add items here and there. One night, you notice the lights in the homes are on. When you go outside to investigate, you see that actual fairies have moved into the village. They tell you that they need your help, so you do your best to keep them safe.
You are a shy boy who is new in town with no friends to speak of. At a fair, you win one of the games and receive a wooden unicorn as your prize. In the middle of the night, you awake to find a real unicorn curiously staring down at you.
Your mother is an animal trainer who is constantly travelling for work. The summer of your eighth birthday, she takes you on a road trip across the countryside to remote towns you've never even heard of. You have no idea what sorts of animals she trains until you sneak out of the hotel room to follow her. In a clearing within a mossy pine forest you find your mother… with a dragon.
You are a child growing up in a small town. Every evening, bunnies come out in your yard to eat grass and play. You always enjoy watching them, but one day you notice a fox hiding in the bushes, creeping up to get them. You close your eyes and make a wish that the bunnies will be protected. You open your eyes to find the fox running away from the bunnies, who are now the size of your mom's car.
You deliver papers for a local newspaper publication that your family owns. The last house on your route is an old, vine-covered cottage on a dead-end street. Your family has told you to avoid the woman who lives there at all costs. But when the newspapers start piling up on her doorstep for days on end, your curiosity gets the best of you. You knock on her door and soon meet the town witch.
The night that you lose your first tooth is the night you meet the tooth fairy. She is kind and bears gifts for you from her world. You become good friends with her. She says that not every kid can see her, which makes you feel rather special. Years go by, and teeth are lost. Eventually, you lose your last adult molar. She visits you one last time and presents you with a very special gift. She hands you the tiniest jar you have ever seen, which contains a tiny tooth. She says goodbye, and you put the tooth under your pillow. When you wake up in the morning, you are in her world and enrolled in the Tooth Fairy Academy.

Fantasy tropes are parodied, satirized, and subverted within this subgenre. The plot usually borders on the ridiculous, and characters often have quirky personalities and exaggerated idiosyncrasies.

As the newly coronated queen, you grow tired of the silly games women must play to keep heroes satisfied. You especially dread the annual hike to the dragon's lair, having to yell for help all day long until a hero shows up to "save" you. Throughout the kingdom, women and make-believe villains want to put an end to this farce once and for all. Therefore, you enact the Princess Act, which declares that women are no longer required to carry out damsel-in-distress scenarios to boost the egos of heroes. Shocked to hear that women were pretending this entire time, heroes must now find a new way to prove themselves.
While out walking one night, you come across a comic book store that you've never seen before. You enter, and the odd man behind the counter offers you a free, limited-edition Deeds and Dwarves Campaign book, the game that you and your friends play every weekend. You take it, envisioning yourself as the champion of your friend group who will be applauded for showing them exclusive content for a game they all love. After planning a campaign, you gather your friends in your mother's basement, which is home to your family's four cats and their respective kitty litter boxes. But the moment you finish filling out the character sheet, the room begins to rumble, and suddenly your mother's basement is plunked down in the middle of Dwarfguard, the fictional land of the game. Even worse, your friends are transformed into their dwarven characters, the cats are transformed into horses, and you have become an old wizard with arthritis. None of you will be turned back until you beat the campaign, so you slowly climb onto your meowing horse and set forth into a world of adventure.
The Lord of Hiccups is known as such due to the never-ending hiccups inflicted upon him at birth. Your sadistic uncle forces you into a marriage with the cursed lord and, after one long year, you have had enough of your husband's never-ending ailment. You go on a quest to find the only known cure for such a curse: The Holy Dixie Cup.
You work the night shift at a local 24-hour grocery store in your small town—a job you have because no one else would take it. You are the only one in the store, and hardly anyone sets foot in the place after 11 pm. One night, a rather tall man walks in. He wobbles when he walks, and his face remains obscured by the high collar of his trench coat and the wide brim of his hat. He utters a gruff "hello." Curious, you begin to mop the aisles only to get a glimpse of him. When you get to his aisle, you are shocked to see several small hands peeking out of the trench coat, grabbing cans of beans and corn before returning back into the depths of the coat. You call out to the strange thief, and the trench coat drops. You see a stack of goblins staring back at you, looking as equally as bewildered as your feel.
Unfortunately, your father is about to croak. As the leader of your clan of frogs, he reveals a shocking secret to you on his deathbed: All the males in your family can turn into a human—but only if they can convince a human to fall in love with them.
As the evil Black Knight, you are feared throughout the land as a brutal and ruthless warrior. Although many have tried, no one has bested you in battle. You agree to serve a dark warlock and lead his army of the undead to wreak havoc and destruction across the land. One day, while you are fighting a hero during a great battle, the hero's mace strikes a might blow against your armor and your helmet flies off. The empty helmet hits the ground, and the battle comes to a standstill as everyone is astonished to see that the Black Knight has no head. The hero slowly approaches the still-standing knight and looks down into a seemingly empty suit of armor. Waving away some smoke, he sees you, a small fairy, at the bottom, using a series of gears, levels, and other contraptions to control the knight's arms and legs. The hero picks you up by the wing and shows you to everyone. He begins laughing, and soon everyone on the battlefield, including your army of the undead, join in.
As the jester of the court, your job is to keep the royals laughing. In fact, it was the job of your father, your grandfather, and his father before him. You sing, you dance, and you roast the royals without consequence. But when one of your puns makes King Gerald laugh himself to death, the tables turn. You are sentenced to life on the Island of Fools, a remote island where bad comedians are sent to live out the rest of their days. Armed with an arsenal of jokes and a set of curled toed shoes, you are forced to live among the unfunny for the rest of your days—unless you can find a way off the island.
Ferrying souls across the River Styx is an unpleasant and monotonous business. One day, a living human shows up demanding to speak to the manager.
Frustrated that local townsfolk are being promised untold riches but instead being fooled again and again, a king has finally had enough and places a bounty on a mischievous leprechaun for his never-ending pranks and misconduct. As a reputable bounty hunter, you are determined to capture the leprechaun and claim the reward from the king—not to mention the leprechaun's pot of gold. However, the trickster is on to you and traps you in a series of hilarious scenarios, each of which you must escape before he turns you into a duck.
On the night before graduation, you and your best friend try to conjure up a unicorn in the basement of the mage's school. You're thrilled when it works… then quickly panic when five unicorns appear, then 10, then 20. Soon, the entire castle is overrun by unicorns doing everything from raiding the castle kitchen for apples to chewing on tapestries and knocking over priceless magical artifacts. Knowing that daylight is only a few hours away, you and your friend have to find a way to send these clumsy magical horses back to their world before the headmaster wakes up.
You and your friend are at a carnival when you come across a booth challenging you to test your strength by pulling a sword out of a stone. The sign promises great fortune. Your friend, who is much more athletic than you, gives it a try without success. The carnival workers poke fun at you, daring you to give it a try. When you do, the rusty old sword comes loose from the rock with ease. Suddenly all eyes are on you, and people begin bowing before you, hailing you as their new king. In fact, anywhere you go now, sword in hand or not, people worship you—so much so that it gets in the way of your everyday life. When someone begins following you around town and bangs coconuts together to mimic the sound of a horse galloping, you have had enough. You are now on a quest to break this strange carnival curse and relinquish the crown you never asked for in the first place.
After your great-great grandfather rejects a powerful witch's love, she places a curse on your entire family that forces one member to have the head of a hamster from birth. As the member of the family born with the curse, you must find someone who will love you in order to break the curse forever. You start attending furry conventions around the world in the hopes of finding your true love.
You are a knight on the way to save a princess, which is something you do on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, no princess has been interested in marrying you, even after witnessing your heroic acts. These weekly trips have become a complete dead end, and you are becoming increasingly frustrated with your loveless life. During your latest quest, you stumble upon a potion shop. Inside, an old blind woman is selling concoctions of all kinds, with effects ranging from "chicken breath" to "immortality." She shows you a potion with the promise of making you irresistible, but says that it is not for sale because no one would like that sort of attention. While she's out of the room, you steal it, thinking it's a surefire way to ensure that you'll find a wife. However, when you drink it, you find that it does make you irresistible—but only to flies. Your stench becomes known throughout the land, and you have even less luck in your efforts to find a partner.
You are the last of your kind, a dragon whose lineage has been terrorizing mankind for generations. When you come of age, you consider going into the family business of burning down buildings, eating knights, and spitting out their armor. However, you are hesitant and instead spend much of your time in your cave hiding from others—until, that is, the invention of pizza. You find your calling, from heating brick ovens to delivering food across the land, and you quickly become a legend. But as the centuries drag on and you enter the modern age, people begin to see you as a washed-up mascot, no better than the likes of those horrendous animatronic characters from the 1980s. Feeling the loss of respect from those who once revered you, the choice is yours: live out the rest of your life in shame or show the people how fearsome you can truly be.
The battle for the end of days is waging, and your angel brethren are called to arms. However, you are comfortable in your human form and are more interested in puttering around in your garage than caring about the state of existence. What is the point of being a fallen angel if you still have to show up to work every time there is an apocalypse? You just want to be left alone.
When your human kingdom places a toy and cookie embargo on the neighboring elf kingdom, they retaliate by unleashing a curse that turns all men into trolls and goblins and all woman into pixies and selkies. Now completely comprised of fantasy creatures, the once human inhabitants of this kingdom must deal with all baggage and annoyances that come from being a fantasy character.
You are enjoying your breakfast when you hear a knock on the door. You open it to find an elf, a wizard, a goblin, and a kangaroo standing outside, saying they received your invitation. You have no idea what they're talking about, but before you can object, they proceed to make themselves at home.
You've waited for decades for your prince to come, but to no avail. You are now 60 years old and tired of waiting for other people to solve your problems. You cut off your long gray hair, don some less ornate clothing, and sneak out of your tower to head off in search of adventure. As you near a town, you spot another tower and decide to investigate. Inside is another princess, although she is much younger than you. You help her escape, and together you make it your mission to free the other princesses who share in your plight. Eventually you form a roving gang of ex-princesses and pillage the kingdoms that trapped you.
You and your neighbor have been at odds for years over the state of his front yard. You can't stand how it looks and are convinced that he is a complete slob. Meanwhile, the neighbor believes that one of your kids is tearing up his yard. One day, in the middle of yet another argument, you both witness a gnome come out from behind a bush, rip up a piece of the lawn, shake his fist at both of you, and run away. After a little investigating, you learn that a small colony of grumpy gnomes is responsible for all of the damage, but no matter who you talk to or how much evidence you provide, no one believes your story. When you find your house covered in dirt one day, you decide enough is enough. Reluctantly, you and your neighbor put your differences aside and decide to track down the gnomes before they wreck your entire neighborhood.
You are weak, unathletic, uncoordinated, and scared of anything bigger than you. Considering you are 5'1'', that's basically everything in your small town. Your name is Tim, but everyone in your village calls you Timmy the Timid. You laugh it off, yet deep down you know that no one in town respects you. Whether it was that one time you fell into the chicken coop and got covered in feathers or that other time you lost an arm-wrestling match with a sprite, you always end up as the butt of a joke. One day you hear that your king is searching for knights to fight against the invading horde from the shadowlands and is holding a contest to find the bravest and strongest warriors in the kingdom. You decide to participate.

The setting takes place within a modern-day time period. Magic exists within this framework, but it is usually either indiscernible to most or has a logical, fact-driven explanation for its existence.

Your grandmother's dog has always bothered you. It's small and white, rather prim, and always sits and stares at you with its unblinking eyes. It's been around since you were a kid, and you feel as if it should have died years ago, but it keeps on living to your dismay. When your grandmother passes on, her dog becomes yours. You begrudgingly take it to your suburban home and, despite your displeasure, realize it really isn't too bad of a house guest. Until the night of the full moon, that is. You wake up to a horrible growling noise and rush downstairs. In place of the dog sits an old man. He wears a nicely pressed white suit and has a thinning patch of curly hair on his head. He smiles at you and introduces himself as your grandfather, who was cursed years ago by your grandmother. She did it to keep the family safe, he tells you with a wicked grin. And with that, he vanishes.
You've never been particularly good at school. You get mostly C's and sometimes even D's, no matter how much you study and prepare for exams and in-class essays. With applying to college on the horizon, your parents are becoming frustrated with you and tell you that you must improve your grades. You walk into your English class, feeling more stressed than ever and nervous about the essay questions on your test. Instead of the old lady who usually teaches your class, there is a young and beautiful substitute teacher with auburn red hair. When you approach the desk to retrieve your test, she can see that you are anxious. You tell her your worries about doing poorly, and she smiles. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a black pen, telling you that the pen is magical and writes only the correct answers. You take the pen and, sure enough, you ace your test. You continue to use the pen on every test or essay, and soon you advance to the top of your class. Things are great until, one day, your pen does not write the answers to your math test. Instead, the pen writes down that it desperately needs your help. You discover that the pen is bound to the soul of a straight A student who ran afoul of a witch with auburn red hair. There is a way to undo the curse, but it requires a single strand of hair from the witch who captured the soul in the first place.
CGI is all the rage, but your special effects makeup studio is still in high demand due to your unnatural ability to make actors look like anything that the script requires in just a few shakes of a tail feather. Your secret? Witchcraft—more specifically, the ability to bend and mold latex and other practical effects to your will. Your coven has allowed this even though practicing magic outside the covenstead is frowned upon. However, when your director suddenly needs 30 zombies ready to go in two hours, not even your magic transformation skills are up to the task. The only solution you can come up with is going to the local cemetery to perform a necromancy spell, which is strictly forbidden by your elders. But will anybody really notice the difference between 30 actors in makeup and 30 real decaying corpses under your control? You decide to take the chance, making sure to place at least three pine scent car fresheners around each zombie's neck.
You download a dating app that you've never heard of after your friend recommends it. She met her current boyfriend through it and, according to her, he's perfect. She warns you that the sign-up process is a little bit strange, but completely worth it. You shrug and fill out the information, thinking nothing of it. The very next day, a box arrives on your doorstep. You take it inside hesitantly and open it to find an odd array of items inside: a pink elixir, a rose, and some chalk. A notification is sent to your phone shortly after. The app requests that you open it and follow the instructions on the screen: draw a small circle on the floor, think of the perfect partner, and drink the liquid. You do as instructed and, in a gigantic poof of pink smoke, a man appears in your living room, standing inside the circle. In a few days, you get used to him. He is perfectly nice and makes an effort to plan dates as well as bring you gifts, but you soon realize that he barely eats, doesn't sleep, and doesn't seem to know anything specific about his past. You try to shake off the odd feeling, but then see his face, with a different name, on a missing person poster.
In Manhattan high society, you are known as one of the most successful psychiatrists south of 42nd Street. People especially talk about your famous hypnotherapy sessions, which can cure anything from cigarette smoking to arachnophobia. What they don't know is that you are also a shaman and one of the last practicing dreamwalkers, being able to enter the dream state of hypnotized patient and work directly with the subconscious. One day, a patient comes in and asks for your help to get rid of a facial tic he has had since childhood. After the hypnotherapy session, the patient is amazed with the results, but you feel off. You look in the mirror to find that your face is now twitching. You look up and scream as you see a small spider on the ceiling. You didn't know it at the time, but you were aiding your patients by absorbing their mental states. Now that your inner dam has been broken, you are overflowing with negative emotion, and you don't know how to make it stop.
You're brushing your teeth when you realize your bathroom sink has a slow drip you've never noticed before. You reach out and tighten the handle, but the drip continues at a rate of about one drip every three seconds. You continue brushing, watching the drip the entire time. The water droplets are stunning. Even against the white porcelain sink, each droplet seems to shimmer with an opal haze. It feels hypnotic to watch them fall to the drain. Your eyes focus on a single droplet hanging from the tip of the faucet spout. Out of nowhere, you feel a rush of water hit the back of your neck, as if a bucket has been dumped over you. Suddenly, you are falling into a dark, watery tube, flying headfirst like you would in a closed water slide flume, plummeting down into an unknown void.
You've been at your new job for a few weeks and, after five interviews and a grueling vetting process, you are finally feeling comfortable in your new role. You have enjoyed the work so far as well as all of the perks that come along with it, especially the view from your high-rise corner office. One day after lunch, you enter the elevator, swipe your badge, and hit the button for the fiftieth floor, where you are meeting with 12 top executives in the boardroom. You are not exactly sure what the topic of the meeting is, but hopefully they will fill you in when you arrive. The digital number counts up, lighting the number for each floor. When 50 lights up, the elevator stops and makes a bell sound. Then the doors open. Instead of a hallway, entryway, or any other office setting, before you is a vast, empty tundra. You hear a sound in the distance and, as you squint toward the horizon, you barely make out the shape of 12 people riding horses straight toward you.
Your wife has recently taken up a job as a pharmacist in your small town. It's a straightforward job, and she's well beloved by the locals, but you sense that she is unhappy. A few months into the job, she starts staying later and later at work, sometimes coming home in the wee hours of the morning. You become suspicious, thinking the worst. One restless night, you decide to pay her a visit at work. You roll into the parking lot near midnight and see that the lights are on inside the pharmacy. You go through the back door and find your wife behind the counter mixing some sort of concoction in a huge cauldron while the other pharmacists stand around her. You have just discovered the local coven.
You come from a long line of elven warriors who crossed an ancient rift to live in the human realm ages ago. They fought ferocious beasts, established civilization, and stayed successfully hidden from the developing human race as it evolved into the modern day. Your ancestors were trailblazers in industry and trade and, with their wit, intelligence, and determination, they paved the way for both human and elven generations to come. And now? You work at a greasy fast-food joint in the busiest part of the city. Your grandmother once told you that the rift back to the elven realm will open once more for those who seek it. You have always kept her words close to your heart. The day a customer spits in your face, you decide to start your search.
Tired and burnt out from your 12-hour nursing shift, you are more than ready to jump in your car and head home. You log out of your computer at 7:02 and collect your things. However, as you are leaving, you glance at the monitor and something catches your eye: You are listed as a patient. Your name and date of birth are right there as someone who has just been admitted to the emergency room. You open the chart, which indicates that you were brought in after a motor vehicle accident. You go to the trauma room listed and see a body on the procedure table, surrounded by medical staff doing CPR. You can't make out a face — there's blood everywhere — so you run back to your computer and look at monitor again. It's definitely you on the board. Then you look at your watch and see that it is 8:15. You shake your head, knowing that you haven't spent more than an hour trying to figure this out. It couldn't have been more than just a few minutes since you saw your name. Confused, you look at your watch again. It begins to slowly wind backwards until the hands point to 7:02. When you look up at the monitor, your name is nowhere to be found. Shaken, you decide to wait a bit before hitting the road.
Generations ago, humanity begged the Fae to leave this world in order to preserve reality. The Fae agreed to leave, but demanded that humanity never practice magic in return because, from their perspective, magic was theirs alone to possess. The leaders of men agreed, and the Fae disappeared from our existence. Humanity then banned the practice of magic, and tales of such power faded into stories of folklore and legend. However, as technology progressed over the centuries, the Fae came to believe that mankind has broken this sacred covenant, mistaking human technological advancement for magic. They have witnessed mankind flying in the skies, talking to one another over great distances, and even creating golem-like creatures called robots to do their bidding. The Fae have decided to come back to our world and put an end to this, reestablishing the covenant at all cost.
You run a bookshop in a quiet part of town. You don't get many customers from foot traffic, which you're grateful for, but you have a very particular customer base who pay well and, in turn, keep your store running. You don't know much about them other than they seem to have an obsession with first-edition books and are often very old. You figure that they're just regular people with a particular hobby. One day one of your patrons comes into the store toward the end of your workday in a panic, asking if you have any first editions left. You tell him you just sold your last one an hour earlier. He rushes out of the store. The following week, you find out he has gone missing. The next day, the first edition you sold turns up on your doorstep, burnt. Worried, you seek out your patrons one by one and discover that most of them have disappeared. The only one left is an old woman who explains to you that the will-o'-the-wisps who reside in the town sewer promised them immortality, but at the expense of something precious—in this case, books. But these sprites are suddenly going back on their promise, the old woman says, and she fears she is next. And she is. You decide to seek out the will-o'-the-wisps yourself, but first must face several trials in order to gain an audience with them and find out where your missing patrons have gone.
Your parents passed shortly after you were born, but you still keep of photograph of them in your pocket. Although your aunt raised you, you do not speak to her much. You are content avoiding her because she is quite ill-mannered. One day, your aunt tells you that she is traveling to another town to meet a friend; she will be staying overnight, leaving you alone. Happy to be by yourself for the night, you settle in to watch some TV. Suddenly you hear a thump from inside the house. You do not know what could possibly have made that sound. Moments later, you hear several other thumps, and you quickly follow the sounds all the way to your aunt's bedroom door. You have never entered this room, which she always keeps locked. Hesitantly, you twist the doorknob and are surprised when it opens. You peek inside the dimly lit room. Nothing appears out of the ordinary, so you open the door all the way and enter. Directly across from you is a line of dolls on a shelf, all staring blankly forward. Upon closer inspection, the dolls appear suspiciously humanlike. Suddenly, one of the dolls turns her head toward you. You fall to the floor and scream. Then, all of the dolls turn their heads toward you to shush you. You cover your mouth with both hands. You hear a faint "thank you" as the dolls go back to their original positions and the room becomes dead quiet again. You slowly get up to take a closer look. The dolls remain still. Perhaps it was all just in your head. Then you notice that two of them look oddly familiar. You remove the photograph of your parents from your pocket and look at their faces, then back at the two dolls, then back at the photo. They are identical.
You have heard something calling to you for weeks on end. It's not a voice, so much as it is a melody, though you feel you understand what it wants from you: to understand the pain it feels. You ignore it for the most part. You are a busy woman on her own in the city, with bills to pay and problems of your own. But when you decide to finally heed the call and follow the melody to a park on the north side of the city, you are met with your true calling. Within an overgrown thicket of thorns, you find a unicorn. It is badly wounded and, though it makes no sound aloud, the mournful melody in your head becomes more painful by the moment. You sit with the unicorn, placing your hand upon its side over the wound and, within moments, it begins to close. When healed, the gentle beast rises and lowers its glowing horn to you. A chorus of "celestial guardian" rings in your head; as it does, more unicorns appear from beyond the thicket, and you realize that it is a title that has been given to you.
Instead of working at Mambo Burger with your friends, you have decided to take a summer job as a lighthouse keeper on an island off the coast of New England. It is quiet work, and you don't see many people on a daily basis, so you often take breaks down at the small dock near the lighthouse's private beach. One day while swimming, you discover an underwater tunnel beneath the dock. Curious, you swim through it and end up in a cave beneath the lighthouse. Following another tunnel off of the cave, you end up in a smaller room, in which you find a golden medallion atop a stone pedestal. You take it, slip it around your neck, and jump back into the water in order to return to the surface. As you swim you realize that the medallion allows you to breathe underwater. Excited, you swim using the medallion daily. But as the weeks pass on, you notice some fishy side effects: Scales appear on your legs, and gills on your neck. You fear that if you don't find a way to reverse these effects soon, you may have to live underwater forever.
Most say they don't exist. Some say they do, showing a grainy YouTube video of a man in a gorilla costume as evidence. However, you know better. You know that the Sasquatch keep to themselves, hidden among the sequoias and other surrounding forests. Myth says they tend to the trees, and their magic makes the forests grow despite the ever-encroaching shadow of human civilization. You even tried to track one down once years ago, but ended up with nothing to show for it. It is almost as if the forest protects them as much as they protect the forest, somehow covering up tracks and camouflaging them from the outside world. One day during hunting season, you come across a deer deep within the forest. You line up your shot and fire. As the blast echoes through the early morning haze, you see the massive buck fall in the distance. When you approach your kill, you are shocked to find a sasquatch standing beside the fallen beast with pure rage in his eyes. You quickly lift your rifle, aim it at the growling creature, and slowly back away.
Your estranged mother has recently passed. In her attic, you find strange artifacts and books. Nestled in one of them is an old United States Road Atlas marked with red dots in various places. You and your brother decide to take some time off work and go on a cross-country road trip to visit these places in the hopes of feeling closer to your mother. But as you arrive at each location, you realize she was hiding an entire second life from you. She had been cataloging magical creatures, making a map of their locations across the country, and you are now seeing them for the first time in your life.
As one of three heiresses to a multibillion-dollar fortune, you have never really questioned where the money has come from over the years. Sure, your great grandfather was an oil tycoon and your grandfather was a real estate tycoon and your father was an internet tycoon, but how they became so successful in their respective careers never really dawned on you until recently. As you enter your father's boardroom, you and your two siblings sit down as your father begins to speak. "Do you know why we are here on the top floor of a skyscraper built by your grandfather? Magic, plain and simple. Our family has a gift to read and influence minds, along with a host of other powers. This has helped us amass a great fortune. Now it is time to pass the business on to the next generation, and I need to know which one of you has the gift." He then hands a letter to each of you that explains the test: a series of challenges that will determine who among you can wield magic and bend financial reality.
Growing up as the daughter of two veterinarians, you were always surrounded by animals. You loved to go to work with your parents and watch them help dogs, cats, bunnies, and even the odd reptile. Your favorite part of all, however, was the interesting conversations you would have with dogs. Unlike the other animals, dogs would respond back to you. Nobody else could hear them but you. It was as if dogs saw something in you that was different than the rest and let you understand their innermost thoughts. Your parents always believed you were just silly and liked to play pretend, but they didn't realize that you could actually communicate with the dogs in their care. As you got older, you feared that people would find you odd if you said you could talk to dogs, so you only ever communicated with the canines when you were alone. One day, a little pup was brought in by a tall, slender man with glasses. The man was fidgety and kept avoiding eye contact with you, your parents, and the entire vet staff. When you started a conversation with the dog, you couldn't believe what he said. The man who brought him in was a kidnapper and was hiding several missing children in a secret room in his basement. Despite the police's best efforts, nobody knew where the missing children were. Even though you now knew where the kids were being held, you also knew nobody would believe you because you got your information from a dog. You only had so much time with the dog, so you used your power to spread the news to every dog that came into the clinic. Perhaps having a group of them helping you would be enough to find the missing children.
As a botanist, you combine your passion for science with your natural born magic. You grow all sorts of fruits and vegetables, each with different attributes, and sell them at the local farmer's market. Your mother, an old-fashioned magic user, tells you to be careful when mixing the two, as the combination of magic and chemistry can often yield disastrous results, but you pay her no heed. You continue your experiments, adding magical health benefits to otherwise normal fruit, and life goes on. However, one of your experiments seems to have grown a mind of its own, something you have never seen. Initially you are proud of this breakthrough. But when your magical plant begins hiding around the house, your mother's warning echoes throughout your thoughts. Of course, by then, it is already too late. Your plant escapes and quickly drops its seeds around town. Within weeks, the neighborhood has turned into a massive sprawling jungle with thousands of plants, and you must find the plant that started it if you ever want to return to normal.

A brooding, foreboding tone and an overall sense of gloom permeate these fantasy stories. Noble heroes fighting for the greater good are replaced with grim, morally ambiguous characters who are usually motivated by self-preservation.

In a forsaken empire, a once-powerful royal family has ruled the land for more than ten generations. Yet the lineage is cut short when the queen's fifth pregnancy ends in another stillbirth. Fearing that this was a sign of God's damnation, the royal council meets in secret and decides to kill anyone who has a right to the throne. The best assassins are given their targets and, after the massacre, the royal council takes control of the empire and rules with an iron fist. The sin of such treachery curses the empire, and the land is plunged into darkness. Years later, rumors emerge of a powerful sorcerer in the north, protected by an enchanted barrier no one can break. The royal council sends you, the assassin who killed many of the nobles that fateful day, to destroy the barrier using dark magic and then kill the sorcerer. When you break the barrier and reach the sorcerer, you find that he bears a striking resemblance to the royal family.
You stoke the campfire with a stick, causing embers to dance around and fly up into the night sky. It has been months since you have had a moment of clarity such as the one you're experiencing now. You feel calm and at peace. Then, in the surrounding woods, you hear a rustle. Something is approaching behind you. You turn your head to see a large white wolf emerging from the wilderness. Before you can do anything, the wolf transforms into a slender woman with flowing white hair. She walks over and sits next to you near the campfire. "What brings you here, mortal?" she whispers as she gazes into the flames. "Damnation," you respond. "Why would a man such as you seek out damnation?" You look up at the stars as tears well up in your eyes. "I was once a married man, and we had two children. While I was at the market, our house caught fire. When I came home, I could hear my family screaming for help. I did not try to save them. I let our home burn to the ground." The woman turns her head toward you. "So that is why you seek damnation — because you are a coward?" You look down and respond. "I was not a coward that day. I let my family burn because I wanted to escape. I hated my family. I wanted them all gone, so I let everything burn." The woman smiles and takes your hand. "Then you have come to the right place, my dear. Follow me." You and the woman walk together into the dark wilderness, leaving your campsite behind.
For years you were known as "Stallion Jack," a highwayman by trade who gallantly relieved carriage passengers of their worldly possessions. The stories often describe you as a daring and dashing gentleman of the road whose swashbuckling heroism was matched only by your chivalrous respect for all of your well-to-do victims. But little could be further from the truth. In reality, countless travelers were harmed or even murdered by your hand. It was all just part of the job from your point of view—until you accidentally killed a well-known priest who many claimed had dabbled in dark magic. Fearing the repercussions, you decided you'd had your fill of highway robbery and fled to the countryside to lay low for a while. Strange nightmares have plagued you ever since. In the dreams, a shadowy figure appears at the end of your bed. One night, you awake in a cold sweat and are terrified to find the shadowy figure standing right where you envisioned him. As you scramble to find a way to defend yourself, the figure speaks to you in a rattling voice: "Repent your sins, my child."
Every person is a puzzle. Some are missing a few jigsaw pieces; others are missing almost everything. But each and every person can be harvested to construct a totus anima mea , or "whole soul," which provides everlasting life to whomever possesses it. You travel across the country every year murdering strangers and collecting souls with specific traits in the hopes of one day becoming an immortal. You are an amateur at best, but you enjoy the annual road trip as well as the people you meet along the way. On your most recent journey, you bump into an enchantress working at a diner who is on the same mission. As you talk, you get the sense that a whole soul is almost within her grasp. Eventually she mentions that all she needs is one last jigsaw piece contained within a soul that only a soul harvester can possess. You run for the door.
Your bare feet are caked with mud as you stand in the center of the city square, eyes pinned to the executioner's gleeful smile. It takes all your willpower not to lunge for him. Your mother is about to be hanged. It has been revealed that she is the Red Witch, a powerful mage who has freed hundreds of elves from captivity and enslavement. Unfortunately, you know this is not true as you are the Red Witch. Your mother has sacrificed herself for you and sworn you to silence. Above your head, your phoenix flies, circling as if he knows what you have done. He will not land on your shoulder like he normally does as he sees you have betrayed your destiny and your blood. Tears well in your eyes. No, you cannot let this happen. You will not let this happen! You close your eyes as a tear slides down your cheek and whisper a forbidden spell—one to bring about unbridled destruction. After hearing the sounds of terrified screams and the tearing of flesh, you open your eyes to find the executioner and the guards eviscerated. You are relieved, almost happy, until you look around your surroundings and realize the horror you have unleashed. Everyone is dead, including your mother. Your hatred and anger corrupted the spell, amplifying its power far beyond your ability to wield it. You fall to your knees, knowing that you have laid waste to a city of millions.
The demon king and his vast army march across the land and devastate everything within their path. As kings and lords argue amongst themselves, with even a few choosing suicide over confronting this seemingly unstoppable force, you decide to follow a different path. You ride to the Spire, a tower constructed generations ago to imprison an evil sorceress who threatened the land during her time. Her army of the dead nearly consumed the world until she was defeated and sealed inside this magical tower. You climb the stairs to the top of the Spire and look through the bars. To your amazement, she is not only still alive but also looks as if she has not aged a day. She floats over to you, her feet not touching the ground, and introduces herself. Hearing her kind voice, you begin to doubt all the tales of her wickedness and cruelty. However, you manage to shake off her alluring personality and give her a choice: "My forefathers constructed this prison and therefore, by blood, I have dominion over you. Either aid me in my quest to defeat this foe and you will be freed or rot for all eternity within this cell."
Your family and friends were overjoyed when you were selected to become the apprentice to the town mage — a high honor given only once a generation. You graciously accepted the role and swore to protect the village. You were soon studying the ways of magic and, in time, you became an effective and dependable apprentice. You helped your master with a wide variety of tasks, from mixing potions to fertilizing crops to curing the sick of their ailments. You even helped your master defend the village when the undead invaded your province. However, the town mage's unnatural longevity eventually became your burden, as you waited decades for him to pass his title on to you. It seemed like you would never become a master and take on your own apprentice. However, one day the opportunity finally arrived in a most unexpected manner. While the two of you were collecting ingredients in a nearby forest, your master suddenly lost his footing and fell down a ravine. You rushed over when you heard his cries for help, but as you looked down from the cliff at his mangled body, you decided that this was your chance to take his mantle. Tears welled in your master's eyes when he realized your betrayal and, out of sheer desperation, he began casting several spells, at first to preserve his own life, but then just to harm you in a last-ditch attempt at revenge. Nearly every destructive spell your master knew was cast upon you, but you easily blocked his attacks as they ricocheted off your deflection spell one by one. Eventually, the old mage fell unconscious and bled out. Walking back home, you were practicing your story about the unpreventable demise of your former master when you realized your village was ablaze. Fire swept throughout the land, and pure unmitigated horror engulfed the residents in your hometown. Some were covered in open sores and vomiting; others were overcome by madness. Then it dawned upon you: fire, plague, insanity — these were some of the spells cast by your former master against you as he was dying. You deflected them, but somehow the dispersed spells made their way to your village, causing outright chaos. With nothing left for you but the unintended consequences of betrayal, you collected your belongings and abandoned the doomed people you had sworn to protect.
After your mother dies and leaves you all her possessions, you take a liking to her ornate brass mirror. You hang it in your bedroom but are shocked to learn that the mirror is magical and speaks to you. It shows you all the amazing things you can possess, but each comes at a dark price. As the magic mirror consumes you, blighting your soul with unquenchable greed, you wonder if it was the true cause of your mother's sudden death.
You try to remember who you were before you perished. It was so long ago. There was a great war. Humanity was on the brink. You remember an army of gigantic befouled creatures that wanted to conquer and consume all of mankind. You were… a soldier. An imperial legion archer — a part of the final line of defense. What was left of humanity gathered within your nation's capital. A wall was built around the city. It reached higher than anything anyone had ever built. But it didn't matter in the end. The wall fell, and humanity was no more. Now you roam the battlefield as a bound spirit — a ghost that cannot let go of the past. All of your dead brethren have moved on; some ascended while others descended. However, you are not ready. Over time, you have watched your once bustling city crumble into ruins. You have also witnessed the gigantic creatures turn against each other after all of the people were consumed, fighting and eating one another until only a few remained. You sit on what's left of the city wall and watch one those monstrosities roam the countryside. You look around at your surroundings and suddenly remember that you died here. You were terrified when the creatures attacked. You abandoned your post and fled the battle. When the wall fell, it crushed you, and then you were no more. Now you can remember every detail of your life, providing you an unexpected moment of clarity. If you could only interact with the world, perhaps you could make it right. Perhaps you could have your revenge. But you are just a mere shadow of yourself, without form or ability. You hit the wall out of frustration. Pain shoots through your fist, which is unexpected. Even more curious are the pebbles that were scattered from to the impact.
After three long years of searching throughout the known world, you have finally found it: a weapon of immense power that could strike down a god. The ruinous journey, however, has left many scars upon you—some just on your body, others much deeper. When you began your quest, you were a naive squire, a member of a conroi tasked by the king to find this ancient and powerful weapon. The group comprised the finest knights from throughout the kingdom, including your father and brother. Following a rumor about the weapon's whereabouts, your conroi was exploring a cave when they came upon a witch coven. Many died that day, including your friend and fellow squire, but the weapon was nowhere to be found. Later, your group headed into the mountains, believing that the weapon was at the highest peak. When you climbed to the top, you found nothing but frostbite. While climbing back down, your brother slipped and fell into a ravine, never to be seen again. You took his place as a knight and led your devastated father, along with what was left of your conroi, down the mountainside. Months later, someone or something began hunting your group, picking off knight after knight until only you and your father were left. You saw pure madness in your father's eyes as he revealed that he had killed the remaining members of your conroi because he blamed them for the death of your brother. Your father then accused you of being part of the murderous plot. He aggressively approached you, his sword drawn, and you had no choice but to defend yourself. You won the fight but felt nothing but sorrow afterwards. Now, after so much time and sacrifice, you have finally found the most powerful weapon in all the land. You are a champion in every sense of the word, but it means nothing to you. You stare at the weapon blankly, then turn around, remove the armor from your body, and walk away.
When the moon turns blood red and the cries of wolves can be heard echoing throughout the land, a young woman must be sacrificed to appease the ancient god who lays dormant under your village. Otherwise, this being from a time before men will rise and decimate the world. You wake up in the middle of the night to find the villagers binding your hands and feet before dragging you out of your bed. You have been chosen as the next sacrifice. Although you beg for your life, the villagers ignore your pleas for mercy. You are carried to the pit, a chasm where, deep within, the beast resides. As you are held over the pit, with a void of pure darkness beneath you and sulfur permeating your nostrils, you realize that you will have but one chance to escape. You wrench your head to one side and whisper an incantation to a villager who is holding you. He places you gently on the ground and walks over to another villager to whisper the same spell into that villager's ear before walking into the pit. The second villager whispers into the ear of another villager, walks to the pit, and falls in as well. The pattern repeats over and over again as one by one the confused mob sacrifices themselves. Finally, you are by yourself, tied up on the edge of a pit with an angry ancient god digesting an unvirginal meal that he never wanted.
When you first heard of the falling star that destroyed the Shrine of the Infinite, you were saddened by the unfortunate but unavoidable event. However, after further rumination, you slowly come to the conclusion that this news seems oddly familiar. As archmage and advisor to the emperor, you are well versed in the prophecies of old. Some come to fruition, but most are either proven wrong or so vague that they could apply to almost any situation. This specific incident seems different somehow. After a few days of pondering, you remember reading a scroll decades ago describing this event in detail. You rummage through your personal library, then travel to the imperial archives to research further. Eventually, you find the parchment, which also prophesies the birth of the Prime Heretic in the capital city on the day of the shrine's destruction. According to the prophecy, this person will bring about the corruption of the empire and an end to the royal line you have served for generations. A millennium of darkness will follow, during which all monsters wiped from the face of the world will rise once more and ravage the land. You race to the records chamber and ask for the names of all who were born on that fateful day in the capital, obtaining a list of 12 newborns. You stare at the list, contemplating the unthinkable. Sacrificing innocents because of what one man wrote thousands of years ago is truly repugnant. After all, a prophecy is only words. Even if the Prime Heretic was born on that day, are you prepared to kill 11 others needlessly to ensure you prevent the prophecy from coming true? You can't bring yourself to do it. You close your eyes, rip up the list, and decide to live with the consequences of denying destiny.
When the corruption enveloped your village, you thought that it was simply a passing storm. You were confident that the ominous dark clouds would eventually dissipate and the sun would once again shine bright upon the land. Nothing could be further from the truth. Heavy rains have flooded everything as far as the eye can see, making your once idyllic town into an insect-ridden mire of muck and mud. Desperate for any respite, the village elders order you — a former scout of the King's army — to ride north on horseback to the source of the corruption in order to determine its origin. You do as commanded and ride toward the red swirling skies and streaks of lightning at the far horizon. The high winds and belting rainfall make the journey miserable, and the sounds of rolling thunder become an ever-present and unnerving reminder of what potential horrors lie ahead. Eventually you come upon another flooded village. The land is ravaged just as in your hometown. However, the villagers have been corrupted as well, with their skin covered in weeping lesions and their minds twisted. One man manages to tell you that this was caused by a wizard's descent into madness: "The wizard — insanity took hold of him, so he lanced it off. Ripped the madness right out, so to speak, and poured his chaos into the world. We pay the price for his newfound sanity. We pay the price!" The man grabs your arm and pleads for death, but you shove him away and quickly ride off. As you leave the town, you try to contemplate what just happened, but your thoughts are scattered. Something feels wrong. Your skin begins to throb in pain. You take off your glove and find lesions on the palm of your hand. As you stare at the wounds, you realize you are forgetting who you are and laugh out loud for no reason. Wait, what am I doing? "No, no, no…," you mumble to yourself. You close your eyes and shake it off. You can't lose control — not now! You must reach the heart of the storm, to the source of the corruption, no matter what takes hold of you.
After the Necromantic Wars, anyone caught practicing dark magic is condemned to living out the rest of their days in a prison unlike any other. Carved out of the mountainside at the outskirts of the realm, no one who has entered this prison has ever been seen again. A mounted guard now escorts you, a man found guilty of conjuring the dead, toward the prison entrance along with eleven other sorcerers accused of similar crimes. When you arrive, the large stone doors slowly open to reveal a poorly lit cavernous room. Your fellow travelers plead for mercy but the unresponsive guard simply shoves your party into the room one by one. As the large doors slowly begin to close behind you, the guard makes his way outside, turns around, and tosses a single dagger which lands near your feet. "Here's something to cut your magic restraints — and each other eventually. Welcome to hell, boys!" The doors close with a thunderous sound. You grab the dagger, cut yourself loose, and help the other prisoners with their restraints. One of the imprisoned sorcerers casts a light spell, but catches on fire instead. Another prisoner calls upon the elements to force open the doors, only to be ripped apart himself. For whatever reason, the prison reflects magic back upon the caster. With the dagger still in your hand and the other sorcerers following, you travel deeper into the prison, not knowing what horrors lie within.
You are a demigod, born from a goddess of darkness and a mortal man of little renown. For years you trained in the ways of warfare, knowing that someday the time would come for you to prove yourself worthy on the battlefield. The day finally comes when your mother tells you how one ascends to godhood: by slaying all the other demigods and absorbing their unnatural powers. You then set out to hunt down your own kind, intending to slay the half-gods one by one until you are granted godhood like your mother. However, your mother has not told you the truth. During your journey, you discover that the death of demigods does not bless you with pure divinity, but instead satiates the hunger of the Elder Titan, a primordial god that sired existence at the beginning of time. Although thoughtless and empty, this god has the power to snuff out what it brought forth and must be fed the carcasses of divine beings in order to be appeased. At first, the gods sacrificed themselves to satisfy the Elder Titan. However, as their numbers dwindled, the gods soon realized that it was easier to give birth to demigods and have them slay one another until the last demigod standing is struck down by his parent, thereby ending the Elder Titan's divine feast and setting the stage for a new generation of demigods to be birthed. You tell the other half-gods what you have learned, and you all decide to pursue the path of vengeance. You and your fellow demigods will satiate the appetite of the Elder Titan not with your own blood, but with the blood of your parents.
All was lost when the beasts came out of the woods, seeking to take over the tower of the ancient mage that kept your realm safe. Winged abominations with row upon row of teeth, hundreds of eyes, and sprawling limbs descended upon the world with horrible, unearthly war cries. They started with the cities, turning royals and peasants alike into minced meats and eviscerating village histories with a swipe of their gnarled, clawed hands. Any who survived the destruction of mankind were forced underground, eventually being blinded by centuries of darkness during which they scrounged for worms and beetles to feed their young. You are one of the few blessed with the power of sight prophesized to take back the world from the beasts above and reclaim the power over the tower that the beasts took so long ago.
When the new king rose to power, the immortal and bloodthirsty warrior's first order of business was to kill those who opposed him on the royal council. The king sought to put their heads on pikes as a warning to all who dared speak against him. Hunted and battered, the royal council dissenters were thinned out one by one, until seemingly the only member left was you. You desperately want to murder the king, but killing an immortal requires a magic far beyond your comprehension. You journey to the other side of the world to seek the help of a witch once shunned for her practice of necromancy. She agrees to help you and gives you a simple dagger with a crimson blade, which she says is the embodiment of your vengeance. You thank her for the weapon and return to the king's palace. At nightfall, you sneak into the royal bedchambers while the king is sleeping and slit his throat with the crimson dagger. The king grabs his gushing neck but does not bleed out. Instead, the king begins to rot, his immortal youth giving way to decay. Hearing the commotion, the king's guardsman rushes into the bedchamber. Without warning, the king lunges at him and bites him, initiating the same horrible transformation. The cursed blade did not kill the immortal king but rather made him both living and dead at the same time. Now, through your act of revenge, you have unleashed a living dead plague upon the land that will bring your kingdom to its knees.
You rip the head off of your latest victim and feel the surge of warmth as the victim's soul is consumed by the dark magic that preserves you. But as always, the cold creeps back in as you hunger for yet another soul. You were once a warrior, a champion among men who defended your kingdom against the forces of evil. Injured during a great battle, you were taken back to the stronghold and told that you would never walk again. You accepted your fate, but your king would have none of it. He implored his court mage to cast a spell—any spell—that would grant his greatest warrior the ability to fight again. The mage went through his spell book, found something that would do as the king asked, and then tried to explain the consequences. Uninterested in the details, the king ordered the mage to begin the ritual. When the mage was done, you felt strong yet empty, as if you were just a husk of who you once were. Then the hunger set in and, in an instant, you ripped the king apart, quickly followed by the mage and anyone else who dared cross your path.
When the monsters descended upon your kingdom, they brought an infectious plague. They poured from portals, slimy bipedal beasts with no eyes and too many teeth roaring through the streets. Their single touch killed instantaneously, leaving behind bodies just as infectious. With the king dead and the beasts on the prowl, you quickly realize that you must protect yourself and your fellow villagers. As the local blacksmith, you armor your neighbors as heavily as you can, making sure that they have enough coverage on their bodies to kill these beasts with no contact. But as supplies run short and their numbers grow, you and your small group must find a way to kill these beasts at their source, journeying beyond the safety of your barricaded base.
For two long years you searched deep within the Fagaras Mountains for what many thought was just legend: a simple door standing alone in the middle of a clearing. Before you embarked on your search, you were a blacksmith with a loving wife and three children. You had become a prominent and respected member of your village, but nothing was never enough. You always wanted more than what you were due, so one day you decided to throw your stable life away. You abandoned your wife, your children, and everything else you once held dear to search for the door. But when your supplies were running short, you returned to town in the dead of night and stole whatever you could get your hands on. When one of your former neighbors cornered you, you killed him in cold blood and ran back to the mountains. However, all of it was worth it now that you have found the door. According to the legend, if you open the door and enter, you will be granted what you truly deserve. Knowing deep down that you deserve it all, you open the door.

Motifs from fairy tales, particularly those from the Brothers Grimm , are reinterpreted with a new perspective. Redefining traditional fairy tale roles, such as the humble protagonist and the evil villain, are mainstays for these types of stories.

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe until its owner returned. After a long hibernation, the giant came down from the mountain to find his forgotten left boot inhabited with pests. Enraged, he gave the old woman and her many children three days to vacate the shoe. Panicked, the mother didn't know what to do. However, her children hatched a plot. They attacked the giant when he returned in three days and demanded that he let them keep their beloved—albeit stinky—home.
You are a 20-year-old woman working with your uncle at his logging company during the summer. It's not your ideal choice for spending your time, but it is a refreshing change in scenery for you. On your days off, you explore the nearby town and the surrounding woods, although you have been warned not to go out after dark due to the increasing number of wild animal attacks in the area. For the most part, you heed this warning. There isn't much to do anyhow, so you spend most of your time reading in the local diner. You make friends with one waitress who works there, a punk-looking girl with bright red hair and a combative attitude who wants nothing more than to leave the town. You become close. But a few weeks later, your friend goes missing. Despite your search, people have no idea where she's gone, some even claiming that they don't know her entirely. When she suddenly returns the following month, with a different attitude and an unfamiliar wardrobe, you are naturally suspicious. The more you look at her, the more unlike herself she looks. Where there once were freckles, there are none. The piercings she had are completely gone and have even healed without a trace. The worst part? Her eyes are an entirely different color. Convinced that this is not your friend, you decide to find out what exactly happened to her in an attempt to get her back — if she's not already gone forever.
There are many things that you take pride in: your success, your possessions, your beauty. But the one thing you take the most pride in is your Tinder desirability ranking. A friend of yours who works at Tinder has been letting you look at the desirability rankings of everybody in your city. A couple of months ago, you decided to start using a powerful glamour charm that you found on Etsy and, after week of wearing it around town, your desirability ranking shot up to the number one position. You have felt like the belle of the ball ever since. Today, however, your heart sinks when your friend sends over the latest rankings with a sad emoji. You have fallen to number two. A girl who has just moved into the city has taken the top spot. You look her up online and find out that she works at an animal shelter and rents a townhouse with seven male roommates. What a weirdo! You vow to take back your top spot by any means necessary.
You and your brother are the children of a notorious thief who became famous by stealing everything from pocket change to valuable jewels. After a particularly risky job gone south, your father retired from the thieving business, teaching you and your brother to steal only when you absolutely need it. But when your father falls ill with a fever and there is no one else to provide for your small family, you and your brother take up the forbidden family business. It starts with small things from the market—fruits and vegetables, an occasional loaf of bread—but you and your brother become greedy and, despite your father's warnings, take things you don't need, such as odds and ends from travelling merchants and even finer items from the marketplace. One day with your pockets already sufficiently stuffed with stolen goods, you and your brother venture to the a little goldsmith shop run by an old lady on the edge of the marketplace. Her shop's walls are lined with expensive trinkets and jewelry; any of them would provide enough coin to buy medicine for your father and put food on the table for months to come. You decide on an ornate golden candy jar in the shape of a gingerbread house and silently slip it into your bag. As you are leaving, the old woman tuts at you, waving her hand and slamming the door shut. She cackles as you look at her with shock, hobbling toward you with magic crackling at her fingertips. You have stolen from the wrong witch.
The king has invited every young lady to attend a ball being held at the castle tonight. You are brimming with anticipation for the evening, but your stepsister, Cinderella, is heartbroken as your mother has forbidden her to go to the ball. You sympathize with Cinderella, but you fear your mother's cruelty and hold your tongue. Your thoughts are elsewhere, anyway. You met the king's son, Prince Charming, by chance a few days ago, and the two of you felt the first stirrings of love. Perhaps if you dance with the prince at the ball tonight you will secure your future as his bride. When you arrive at the castle, you enter the ballroom to find the prince already dancing with a young woman in an exquisite blue gown. You immediately recognize her as Cinderella. You approach the dance floor and notice Cinderella blowing a shimmering pink dust into the prince's face. He gazes at her with a vacant expression. Prince Charming has been captured by a love spell, and you must do everything in your power to break the spell before the prince marries your evil stepsister.
Virtual reality has taken the world by storm, making anything that can be imagined possible in a simulated existence. For some, this is a form of entertainment; for others, it becomes a lifelong obsession. Your wife is determined to live in a fantasy world. She develops a virtual reality system called Maleficent that not only ties directly into the nervous system, but also handles all basic human needs while the person is engaged in the system. In other words, this platform allows an individual to live within a virtual environment in perpetuity. She tests her invention on herself and lives inside her virtual fantasy existence for weeks on end. You are determined to pull your wife out of her virtual reality slumber and shut down the Maleficent platform once and for all.
You are the son of a wealthy divorced couple who own a well-known stuffed toy brand. Despite being divorced, your parents' opposite natures make them excellent business partners. Your father has always been able to strike a deal with his strong, imposing nature, while your mother is able to forge and maintain business relationships using her soft, kind demeanor. You yourself are a perfect mix of the two and, as their only child, you have not only tested hundreds of stuffed toys, but are also next in line to inherit their plushie empire. But trouble strikes when you hear news of a spy infiltrating your boardroom. You make it your mission to follow the trail of evidence to ferret out the traitor. Your parents are sure the spy has been tampering with things in their offices, giving you enough evidence to host a stakeout of your own. After hours of waiting, you finally catch the perpetrator on the CCTV: a middle-aged attorney on the board of directors whom you've only met in passing. You watch as she paws through your files, looking through the stuffed animal prototypes and finding the ones that were deemed "just right." Then her bracelet falls off accidentally, causing her appearance to suddenly change. You zoom in on her face and discover that she is the curly haired CEO from a competing company. She quickly puts her bracelet back on and leaves the room. You try rewatching the video and find that nothing was recorded, as if the entire incident never happened. You must gather evidence and make sure that her plot to steal these prototypes comes to an end.
You're the eldest of three brothers, if only by two minutes. But it counts enough that it puts you in charge. As triplets, you do everything together, including running this city — not legally, of course, but where's the fun in that? Prohibition is a godsend, making you and your brothers incredibly rich and powerful almost overnight, and you're affectionately known as the Three Little Pigs, which also happens to be the name of your speakeasy. But being on top doesn't come without its problems. There's always some hotshot who thinks he can take on the Three Little Pigs. Until now, you and your brothers have made a meal out of anyone stupid enough to try, further cementing your reputation as the most dangerous men in the city. Yet, there are whispers of one who could be your undoing. All you know of him is that he goes by the name of Frank "The Wolf" Corozzo. To some, "The Big Bad." He's left a long line of bodies in his wake while taking over gin joint after gin joint, and now he's coming your way. You and your brothers have worked hard to get where you are. The last thing you want is some mafia outsider taking over your territory. You're ready to fight with everything you have.
As a young woman living with your stepmother and stepsisters, you hope to someday move out and live your life the way you want to. Until then, you have to deal with your overbearing family, whom you support with three jobs while they do nothing but complain. One day while your family was out shopping, your godmother unexpectedly stops by to visit you, which was surprising since you haven't see her in several years. After a cup of tea and a nice chat, she hands you a rabbit's foot for good luck before leaving. You graciously accept the gift but soon forget about it. However, a month later, your luck seems to have turned around when you are selected to be the next contestant for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire for a Day?" The game show has you live an extravagant, jet-setting lifestyle for just one day. Anything goes in terms of what you can do—the sky's the limit. If the home audience approves of your choices, you win the grand prize. However, if your day as a millionaire is judged to be too mundane, you go back to your normal life at midnight. You are ecstatic that you have been selected and you are ready to take on the challenge, hoping that this will be your ticket to a new life.
On the eve of your twenty-first birthday, you find a mysterious letter addressed to you sitting on the coffee table. You wonder how it got there. You live alone and have been out all day. Opening it only adds to your confusion. It's a handwritten note warning you to get out of town before midnight because you are in danger. You don't take it seriously, assuming it's some kind of prank from one of your friends, yet something about it lingers at the back of your mind. You tell yourself you're being ridiculous and instead go upstairs and jump in the shower to get ready for your birthday dinner with your parents. You're in the shower when you hear a noise. You wrap your robe around you and walk out of the bathroom to find a dozen blood-red roses in a neat bouquet on your bed. They weren't there when you walked in earlier. You discover a second note, but the handwriting is different from the first one. All this note says is "Happy Birthday." You drop it back down on the bed as you sit down, staring at the roses. Before you know what you're doing, you reach out and run your fingers along the stem, pricking your skin on the thorns. You press a bleeding finger to your lips to suck on it. Suddenly, the room spins, and you fall back onto the bed, unconscious. Soon you are dreaming, and you discover you can see into the dreams of others, as if peeking in through their windows. Before you know it, you slip into one of these dreams and find that you can become that dreamer, controlling the dream as it unfolds, for better or worse. While you explore this newfound power, someone in the real world is looking for you.
You are a luna wolf, last descendent of the Fenrir bloodline. With no new litters to speak of, your pack of more than 30 wolves has dwindled to just a few. The future seems bleak, until you fall pregnant — the first wolf to do so in several years. You hope that whatever curse that ailed your pack has now passed. The day you birth the wolf pups is filled with celebrations, and you cannot take your eyes off your five descendants, the future of the bloodline. However, everything changes the moment you encounter a young human girl with a red hood. While searching for food that you recently buried, you see the girl in the far distance as she unwittingly approaches your den, gathering kindling for her family. She pulls back dead logs and foliage, and the den suddenly collapses. As you race toward your home, the girl runs away from you. Desperate to save your offspring, you start clawing at what remains of the den, but it is too late. No one is left alive. With the human's scent still fresh in the air, you decide to hunt the girl down and exact revenge against her and her kin.
Upon the death of your grandfather, you inherit the antique store he had dedicated much of his life to. Everyone else in the family thought it was just a shop full of old useless items that no one could be bothered throwing out, but you and your grandfather knew better. You often spent time there with him, sharing his fascination with all things old, which is why you knew the store would be yours one day. But the first morning you entered the shop after he passed, it felt strange. Still, you were determined to keep the tradition alive. When you unlock the till, the cash drawer shoots open with a ring, revealing an envelope atop the money with your name on it. You open it to find a short note written in your grandfather's handwriting: "The shop is yours now. Good luck! Whatever you do, do not sell the antique in Box 33. It should be protected but never used." You stare at the words, not knowing what they mean. After an exhaustive hunt, you finally find a small, tarnished box on the top of the highest shelves, completely hidden from sight. Pulling it down, you find a sticky note on the lid with the number 33 written on it. You open the box to reveal wooden pan pipes. They don't look too important as you lift them out and inspect them. You know they must be old, but they aren't cracked or weathered in any way. Holding them to your lips, you gently blow into them. They sound beautiful! You then carefully place them in the box and carry it out to the front. When you look up, you are shocked to see a line of people at the door, waiting for you to open. At first, you can only stare. You haven't seen that many people enter the store over the course of a few months, let alone in one day. You open the door, wondering if somehow the pan pipes had anything to do with the sudden rush of visitors. After the most successful day in the shop's history, you close up and take the pan pipes from their box — your grandfather's warning forgotten — wondering what else you might be able to conjure.
There's nothing you enjoy more than the freedom of the forest. It is the only place in the world where you can relax and let your hair down. Not literally, of course. You have been growing out your hair for years, and it takes a good hour of combing every day to keep it from becoming an unkempt mess. One morning you wake up and open your window to a sunny day. A fragrant breeze blows through the window. You decide to make the most of the day, so you wrap up your long hair in a silk scarf around your head to keep it free from any branches you may encounter and walk into the woods. You decide to climb up your favorite tree and spend a few peaceful hours with your book. You haven't even made it through the first page when you hear a voice in the distance. Straining to hear, you make it out to be a male voice, calling for help. As soon as you pinpoint the direction, you pack up your belongings, climb down the tree, and head toward the sound. After what feels like ages, the voice finally becomes clearer, and you know you're close. Suddenly the long grasses part, and you nearly fall into a gaping hole. The man calls up from what appears to be an old well. He has somehow fallen into it. You look around, but there's nothing to use to pull him up. Out of options, you decide to unravel the scarf around your head and let your hair down into the hole in an attempt to save this man in distress.
The life of a giant is a grand one, and one you're proud of. Your lands stretch as far as the eye can see, with your enormous castle in the center. Throughout your life, you've accumulated a vast wealth of gold and jewels, all of which you keep protected and locked up in your vault. You are content and loving your life of solitude, having to venture away from your home only once a month for the Giant Assemblage. Today is one of those days. After packing a sack full of food and wine, you make your way to the meeting, where you greet your family and friends. Normally the meetings are to discuss the crops of magic beans you all farm, but this time it's revealed the number of beans in storage has dropped. No one knows how. You wonder what has happened. Then one of the giants stepped forward, confessing he traded some of the beans in storage for human gold coins that he wanted for his collection. The giants, yourself included, are furious as the beans aren't ever meant to leave the realm of Giants. Nothing like this has ever happened before, and everyone is worried as they argue over what happens next. No one knows what to expect. You all decide to end the meeting early and return to your homes to make sure that all your treasures are safe. As you reach your own lands, you see a beanstalk growing where it hadn't been before, and you hurry toward it. To your horror, you see a large hole looking down to the mortal realm. You realize a human is loose on your lands.
You're slowly getting ready for another school day, wishing you didn't have to. You hate school — or, more to the point, the living hell your two older stepsisters make of it for you. Ever since your dad remarried, they've gone out of their way to harass and bully you. At least when your dad was alive, you had a reprieve at home, where they would be on their best behavior, as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. But when he passed away years ago, there was no one left to stop them. If anything, your stepmother seems to encourage them. The only peace you get is catching the bus to school, as they drive to school together in their convertible, being far too cool to be seen with you. Not that you care. Today when the bus pulls up to the school, you see shiny limousine parked nearby. Everyone else seems fascinated with who might be inside, but you walk on, assuming it is just another rich kid who will soon be teasing you. The day passes like all the others. At lunchtime, you grab your bag and head outside to avoid the cafeteria — your sisters' domain. As you rummage through your bag for your book, you trip over a pair of legs sticking out from underneath your favorite tree, sending you sprawling. When you sit up, you come face to face with the cutest boy you have ever seen. He reaches out to help you, offering his apologies. You assume he's the new kid from the limousine, but he seems nice enough so you share the quiet of the tree's shade together as you both spend your lunchtime reading. He's a couple of years above you, so you don't see him the rest of the day, but for the remainder of the week, you see him every day at lunch as the two of you sit under the tree. It becomes the highlight of your day. Meanwhile, your stepsisters are becoming increasingly impossible as they talk endlessly about the new famous kid at school. They try to outdo each other in their attempts to gain favor. After a few weeks of lunch meetings, the new kid asks you on a date, and you agree. You don't tell your family, knowing they will only try to find a way to spoil it, but you enjoy the looks on their faces come Friday night when the limousine pulls up at your house.
When your father lost his job, life went from bad to worse as he struggled to make ends meet. You had no choice but to quickly learn to look after yourself as you took to the streets in search of food. One cold evening, after a long day of scavenging, you return to the apartment to find it boarded up, an eviction notice nailed to the door. You knock on the door, trying to convince yourself that your father wouldn't leave without you, but deep down you know he has. You walk around to the back of the apartment, climb up onto the hot water system, and push open the toilet window, knowing the latch is broken. There's no sign of your father, though his wardrobe is open, and several hangers are bare. You turn to your own bedroom and gather the warmest things you can into a backpack. You layer on the clothes but as you leave, you go to the closed door that once was your mother's study. You were never allowed in before, but now there is no one to stop you. You open the door. It takes you a moment to overcome the mustiness before you turn the light on and step inside. There's not a lot to see, just a desk with a computer and several mismatched bookshelves, all coated in thick dust. You walk over to the desk, where you see a book of matches on top of a notepad with something written on it. Wiping away the dust, you find your name. You frown as you pick up the book matches and open it, seeing only one has been used. You slip the book in your pocket, certain the matches will come in handy in the cold. You climb back out of the window and walk around to the front of the house, wondering what you will do next. Your stomach growls, and you wish you had something to eat. To distract yourself, you pull the matches out and strike one, letting it burn down close to your gloved-fingers before blowing it out. As soon as you do, a hotdog vendor appears before you. "Are you hungry?," he asks. "I want to get home before the snow gets too heavy, and it would be a shame to waste these." He holds out four piping hot hotdogs. Eyes wide, you stare at the book of matches before accepting the vendor's offer.
Your sister, Aurora, is an internet celebrity. Every day she is contacted by brands begging to sponsor her. Most of the time your sister declines these proposals. However, when a company advertising melatonin sleep aids offers a million dollars for one 30-second endorsement, she can't refuse. The next week she shoots the video, even though you beg your sister to reconsider, fearing the consequences of working with such a sketchy brand. Within a few days, her endorsement goes live, and it's a hit, going viral nationwide. Suddenly, everyone is taking the sleep aid. But when people across the nation begin falling into a magic-induced comatose state — your sister included — you realize you were right all along. You and a few of your remaining conscious friends must now infiltrate the company head on and get to the bottom of this waking nightmare.
Your father is a successful billionaire. For years his company has been on the forefront of technological innovation, always one step ahead of the competition. Unbeknownst to the public, his tech is derived with the help of sorcery. But he's not the only one who uses magic to get ahead. Your entire family is wealthy due to the assistance of the arcane, and you are even a bit of a celebrity because of this wealth. When it comes time to marry, your family expects it to be to a man of equal wealth and success. You, on the other hand, have found love in someone quite the opposite. He is humble and kind — a genius in his own right — but dirt poor. When your father finds out about your beloved, he becomes so furious that he turns the young man into a frog. The curse, he tells you, can only be broken by a princess. He explains that you can be that princess if you marry a Hollywood movie mogul who happens to have relations to royalty. You must make a choice: stay with your newly croaking beau and endure a lifetime of a slimy curse, or free him by breaking both of your hearts.
You and your sister are always left out at school. You two are not like the other kids, with their computers and gaming consoles. Your parents are very strict, and they never allow you to game like your schoolmates because they think it will rot your brains. Instead their rules only rot your chances of fitting in with the kids at school. Although you and your sister have tried to hang out with your peers at recess, they mostly ignore you. However, today they ask you to play hide and seek with them. You and your sister are designated as the hiders while the rest of the kids are seekers. Although this ratio makes little sense to you, you're just glad to be included. You and your sister decide to hide deep in the woods to make the game more challenging. Unfortunately, the other kids have no intention of looking for you at all, and the whole game is just a prank to get rid of you. After waiting in your hiding spot for a long time without being found, you decide to return to the schoolyard, but you quickly realize that you are lost. While wandering in the woods trying to find your way back, you suddenly hear the faint but unmistakable sound of video game music. Curious, you follow the sound deeper into the woods, where you are surprised to find a small cottage. You creep closer and see that the front door is slightly ajar, so you ease the door open to get a better look. You are shocked to find that the inside of the cottage looks much larger than it did from the outside, and it contains a massive spread of technology. Video games of every genre are stacked on shelves, devices like laptops, tablets, and game consoles are in abundance, and massive TV screens are mounted on every wall. You've never been allowed access to this stuff before, so you and your sister run over and immediately start playing. What feels like minutes turns into hours, but you don't even notice the passage of time as you stare fixated at the colorful pixels on the screens. You're so entranced that you don't even notice the old woman sitting behind you, coding her next video game. You two will be the characters in her new game, and the longer you play, the closer you are to being trapped forever.
It is a hot summer's day in 2017. You wake up in a dark room tied to a chair. A man walks in and asks, "Are you CaptainCrypto2817?" You suddenly realize why you are there. Last week, you were bragging on a Reddit thread that you made thousands of dollars a day trading cryptocurrency. Was it true? Not in the slightest. However, your captor thinks that you have insider information and wants to know your secret … or else. The man leaves the room, giving you the night to think over his non-negotiable proposal. An hour later, as you struggle to free yourself, a small imp-like creature enters the room carrying a laptop and approaches you. He opens the computer and points to a couple of charts on the screen. Then he looks at you and says: "Here's your answer, kid, but it will cost you."

There are no ferocious monsters to slay or powerful evil sorcerers to defeat. Instead, these complex stories are focused on a hierarchical social structure. The setting is usually urban, and magic is downplayed or removed altogether.

From your fiancée's perspective, you are a baron—a man born into power and influence. But nothing could be further from the truth. Five years ago, you were hunting for venison when a horse suddenly came out of nowhere and galloped passed you. Curious as to its origin, you followed the horse's trail back to an overturned carriage with bodies strewn across the ground. The scene spoke of a horrific massacre. You open the carriage door to find an entire family of nobles slaughtered. Whatever the robbers wanted, they left no witnesses to tell their tale. However, one particular young man bore a striking resemblance to you. Then it dawned on you: If you could pretend to be him as the sole survivor, you would inherent these lands and become a nobleman for the rest of your days. You took a hard look at the corpse, making sure that your face and his were a perfect match. It was like looking at a reflection. You worked to change clothes and dispose of the corpse, then waited to be rescued, finally being found by a group of knights, who brought you back to the city and your castle. You have ruled there ever since. Those who knew your doppelganger could not tell the difference. Any inquiries into your past resulted in you claiming amnesia brought on from the carriage robbery assault. And now, you were to be wed to the finest maiden in all of the kingdom. This maiden, however, is not what she appears to be. She was once the leader of a gang of criminals — the same criminals who robbed and slaughtered your adopted noble family. Now she has come back disguised as a duchess to kill the remaining witness of her crime and finish the job once and for all.
The ball at Griffin Park is a spectacular annual event held for only the wealthiest and most well-connected families in the capital. People say the entertainment is exciting and the food is to die for. As someone considered part of the "nouveau riche," you have been on the waiting list for years. However, for the first time in your life, you have been invited to attend, and you are elated that you have finally "arrived." On the night of the ball, you spend your evening dancing with women dressed in ornate gowns and speaking with men who have inherited wealth from the success of generations before them. You feel a bit like an imposter among these people of fineries and empty talk, until you meet the daughter of the wealthiest man in the city. You are smitten with her — so much so that you end up lying about your parentage in the hopes of impressing her. Your parents own a very successful talisman shop, but you decide to fabricate a grander story, explaining that your family is involved in the tea import business and has a fleet of ships under their control. The week after the ball, you receive a letter from the young woman's parents requesting your presence, and you realize your mistake. Before you know it, you are in too deep, and what was once a harmless lie has become something spiraling out of control.
You are an herbalist who sells potions at the town market infused with a little touch of your own magic. One day, a man from the royal court catches your attention as he peruses various market vendors. He engages you in conversation, and you are taken aback by his charm and wit. He is looking for some sort of cough treatment, but you find it hard to pay attention as you stare deeply into his eyes. You never planned on falling in love, but you have become instantly enamored by him. Before he goes, you offer him a free sample of your anti-cough elixir, which he gladly accepts. What he doesn't know is that you switched out the elixir for a love potion in the hopes of winning his affection. It will be an uphill battle because you are at a much lower station than he is, with no wealth or land to speak of, but you are willing to take that chance. You watch as, after entering his carriage, he gives the elixir to his ailing love interest, a well-known duchess who is a magnet for gossip and attention. Much to your dismay, she drinks the elixir, looks at you from across the market, and begins to smile as the carriage pulls away.
A few years ago, you were married off to one of the wealthiest men in the county, and now you are one of the wealthiest and youngest widows in said county. Your niece, who is destined to be placed in an arranged marriage in order to maintain her standing and wealth, has elected to stay with you for her final summer before betrothal. You make it the best summer you can for her, throwing lavish party after lavish party in her honor. You become close, and when she expresses her displeasure regarding her future husband, you feel for her — so much so that you decide you must do something about it. Little does your niece know that your previous husband is in the frog pond, living his new life as a mindless amphibian, cursed by the very woman he wed. As your niece describes how unpleasant her future husband is, you feel as if your previous husband needs a new companion. You throw yet another party and invite your niece's unwanted fiancé to see if he's suited for pond life. However, things get complicated when you lay eyes on him and fall madly in love. After a night of banter and frivolity, you feel that he has put you under his spell, and you are not quite sure where your allegiances lie. Do you turn this debonair man into a frog after he marries your niece, allowing her to inherit his wealth while denying you your newfound love? But it would be such a sin to throw away this fine specimen! Perhaps you should push your niece aside and marry this charming man yourself, relegating her to a life of destitution. You can't decide. All you know right now is that you need to see him again.
To whisper in the ears of kings and change the ways of the world, one must first study at the Sovereign Academy to become a royal advisor. Whether it is matters of war, matters of finance, or matters of diplomacy, few royals possess the knowledge to lead. However, royal advisors spend most of their lives studying such subjects and influence the monarchy to such an extent that they are regularly regarded as the true leaders of their lands. Many children of the merchant class apply to the academy in the hopes of one day wielding such power, but few are accepted and even fewer graduate. Above all else, women are stickily forbidden from attending Sovereign Academy—that is until you, an orphan girl, decide to explore a long-forgotten cave and discover a chest containing riches beyond the imagination as well as a single glamour charm that can alter your appearance. You place the charm in your pocket, change your appearance to a boy, and use your newfound wealth to buy your way into the Sovereign Academy.
Lord Nigel Briar has been pestering you for your hand in marriage since you were both teenagers. It has become so commonplace for you to deny him that it is a running joke whispered between you and your two sisters and met with a frown from both of your parents. You do not care. Your eyes have always been set on broader horizons, away from your family's countryside estate. In fact, you have been frequenting several symposiums at the local college hosted by a young man who believes he has harnessed the power of flight. Most attendees go simply to scoff at the lad, but you find it fascinating and, moreover, attainable — so much so that you decided to fund his project in secret with some of your hefty allowance. However, you included one stipulation: that you be his first passenger. You help him build a prototype of his magical flying machine and, in turn, build a relationship that is most certainly forbidden. When your parents find out, they promise you to Lord Briar. You are devastated. Now you and your lover must finish the machine before your wedding day in the hopes of escaping a lifetime of monotony.
As you enter the ballroom and look at your fellow revelers, you are surprised by who is in attendance. There are several from the house of Keenstone, a nouveau family who acquired their wealth through illicit gambling and prostitution. Then there are the Terrarocks, a family with strong ties to the Temple of the Devout who despise the Keenstones for their sordid ways. Families from the banking guild are also there, and they are furious at the Keenstones and Terrarocks as both houses are on the verge of defaulting on their loans. The imps are also there, although no one cared for them at all because—well, because they are imps. Tension riddles the soiree, with everyone clinging to the walls and avoiding the dance floor as if attending some sort of awkward preteen party. Well, you came here to have fun, not to stare across the room, so you get the orchestra's attention, ask them to play your favorite waltz, grab the nearest warm body, and hit the dance floor.
Your neighbor is a strange woman to say the least: a wealthy spinster shunned by most of the aristocracy. She does not attend any galas, avoids the scuttlebutt, and is often seen wearing men's trousers in public. It's completely unheard of… and yet you wish to be just like her. Your family's lifestyle is the polar opposite. You have always been waited on hand and foot by nannies and maids — so much so that you yearn for independence. You find yourself peeking through your estate's hedges to watch your neighbor while she gardens. When she notices, she invites you over for tea. You become fast friends, and she teaches you practical things about life that you never would have known as well as interesting things like ciphers and codes. But her knowledge of the strange and interesting goes further than that. In fact, she herself is an illusionist, meaning she can manipulate the perceptions of others to see what they want to see in order to remain unbothered. She offers to train you to do the same.
You keep seeing a woman in your dreams who is trying to tell you something. Each night, you get closer to understanding what she's saying. During your last dream, you make out one word she whispers to you: "loveless." Despite how uneasy this makes you feel, you still go about your business the next day. As a cobbler in the capital city, you deal with a discerning clientele who demand the latest fashions from the four corners of the world. However, none of that matters the moment the woman from your dreams walks through the door: She is a noblewoman who is about to marry a vulgar arriviste whose standing was less than even yours just a few years ago. In an incredibly short period of time he has been able to obtain an obscene amount of wealth through unknown means. You have seen him carousing around town many times, always with a different woman in tow. Now he wants to climb the social ladder with the woman from your dreams. Somehow, you need to help her find a way to escape this arranged marriage.
Since you were a small boy, all that you wanted to be was an archer. Archery was your passion, and you won tournament after tournament, beginning to make a name for yourself. However, your father had different plans for you. Being an archer, even in the royal guard, was considered lowly work for a nobleman such as yourself. Sure, if you were the son of a peasant or a farmer, you could aspire to become a warrior. However, from your father's perspective, you went meant for greater things. Upon your father's death, you would become the largest landholder in all of the empire. That was your true destiny according to your father, and you must prepare yourself for that outcome. You begrudgingly agreed, but did not give up on your dreams. Instead, you disguise yourself as a commoner and joined the royal guard. From your perspective, you could have your cake and eat it too as long as your true identity is never revealed. However, if word got out, your good name would be ruined and your father would most likely cast you out of the family.
As a young woman attending a magical finishing school, you have been taught the sort of practical magic that all young ladies of marrying age are expected to know. Soon you are going home to be wed, much to your dismay. You have known your suitor since childhood and find him dreadfully boring. You have no desire to marry him, despite your parents' insistence that you do so because of his family's status and wealth. Feeling trapped, you decide to use your magical abilities to do the one thing your professors told you not to do: escape.
You are the son of a wealthy potion trader who has long been preparing you to take over the family business. Before you can do so, you must first get married to a woman of equal or greater status. You have met many beautiful and amiable ladies over the past few months, but you do not feel a strong connection with any of them — until you lock eyes with one of the house servants while calling on a potential bride. You continue to visit the young lady's home, feigning interest in her in order to talk to the servant, and quickly discover that you are a perfect match for each other. As your friendship blossoms into something more, you decide to reveal your secret love to your father.
You have to marry a suitor within your inner circle, finding someone as privileged as you, with wealth and connections to further your family's name. You have a list of potential suitors, but you are disgusted by their pomp and ego, and none of the men can keep up with your wit and quick tongue. During one long night of mindless babble with an obnoxious suitor from the mage guild, you excuse yourself to the restroom but instead wander your family's grounds, ending up at the stables. You run your fingers through your favorite Pegasus' hair and relax a bit. However, you are suddenly startled when you hear someone approaching. You take a couple of steps back and manage to step on your own dress, stumbling and falling into a stack of hay. Someone nervously yells, "I'm so sorry, Miss!" One of the stable boys appears in front of you, flustered and a bit wet from the water that he presume spilled when he dropped a bucket. Annoyed but endeared, you engage in a battle of wits with the boy and are surprised to discover that he is more than capable of keeping up with you — sometimes even besting you. From that day on, you secretly visit the stable every evening after supper, when you should be speaking with your suitors. However, things get complicated when one of your suitors secretly follows you one night and sees you engaging with a mere stable boy. He finds it appalling and decides to use this valuable piece of gossip to his advantage.
You have much to do in preparation for your wedding. Nevertheless, you are excited about every aspect of the ceremony. Your husband-to-be grew up in a faraway land you have only read about in storybooks — a nation comprised of mountaintop villages interconnected by a vast network of bridges and tunnels. He is quite wealthy and sure to bring great fortune to your house, and you are relieved that you are actually in love with him, unlike many of your friends whose arranged marriages have not been so successful. You know very little about his family, which concerns you. Still, you are quite enthusiastic about the marriage — at least that's what you've been telling yourself. The day of the wedding comes, and the ceremony goes swimmingly. It is just as perfect as you could have hoped. But your husband seems different… changed somehow. He does not seem particularly happy, nor does he seem to remember the simplest things about your relationship. You shake this off, deciding he must be nervous, and the rest of the festivities go off without a hitch. But when your husband reveals to you that he is your fiancé's twin brother, ordered to marry you because your fiancé had gone missing a week before the wedding, your heart breaks. Not wanting to shame your families, you both keep up the ruse while working together to figure out where your fiancé went in the hopes of returning to some sort of normalcy. But as you work together as newly married husband and wife, your feelings grow stronger for each other, and you begin to doubt everything you thought you wanted.
You are a governess employed by a viscount to educate his three young daughters at their expansive, rambling estate. You are paid handsomely to make sure his children are up to date on world histories, incantations, and philosophies, and you are glad to have the job, much to your grandmother's chagrin. Whenever you go home to visit, she never fails to remind you that you should be teaching children of your own. But with their father widowed and the girls needing a role model, you feel as if you already do. When the viscount falls ill, you end up taking on even more responsibility. Your relationship with him grows while you nurse him back to health, and you realize this may be a more permanent situation than you had previously thought, but the impropriety alone may be enough to prevent you from returning his affection.
Your mother is known for being a matchmaker for nobility, as she is exceptionally good at setting up young women with men that lead to long, happy marriages. Many dukes and duchesses seek out her expertise and guidance. You have always admired her abilities and intuition, but when it comes time for you to find a husband, your admiration for her fades. Your mother constantly judges your choice in men and goes as far as to shoo potential husbands away. Recently, you have fallen quite deeply for a suitor, despite your mother's attempts at ruining the relationship. Knowing that you are close to marriage, your mother launches into a tirade and bars you from ever seeing him again. You are outraged by her conduct, until she explains that her matchmaking abilities are not a gift, but a curse. Although your mother can help others find true love, the men that your mother loves have untimely deaths, including your late father. To make matters worse, your mother discovered that the curse is hereditary, and she does not want you to suffer as she did. You solemnly accept this as fact, breaking off the relationship with your one true love. However, when he suddenly falls ill the next day, you realize it may be too late. You know you must find a way to break the curse, but how?
Your family has been on the brink of destitution ever since your father died. As the oldest child, you must now support your siblings and sick mother. You are concerned you will not be able to make enough to keep them alive and well until you hear that the palace is looking for a new servant to work directly with the young princess in her day-to-day affairs. A prestigious role for any peasant, this seems like the perfect opportunity to not only support your family, but also escape your small town, where rumors of you being a witch have been slowly taking root. You apply for the job, along with hundreds of other servants from across the kingdom. A week later, you learn that you have been chosen, even though you have limited experience in such matters. When you arrive at the palace, you unexpectedly discover enemies in your fellow servants, who are all vying for palace promotions. Most surprisingly of all, your only friend and ally in the entire castle is the young princess herself, who tries to bond with you on a wide variety of subjects. However, after being taught on day one to only be seen and not heard, you struggle with the premise of having a close royal friend. Determined to win you over, the princess persists and eventually confesses why you were selected as her personal servant: You look exactly like the sister of her one true love. A year ago, the princess fell for a prince from a faraway land during a ballroom gala, and soon thereafter, the two lovers began exchanging letters across continents. However, now that the prince's kingdom has declared war on your land, communication has gone from incredibly difficult to nearly impossible. The princess believes that a person who looks like a member of their royal family could easily slip past the guards and enable her to continue her correspondence with her love. Knowing how important this is to your newfound friend, you agree to be her courier.
One evening, a young man knocks on your family's front door, seeking shelter from the brutal magic-fed thunderstorm. He is soaking wet and shivering from the cold, so you offer him blankets, a cup of tea, and a spot by the burning fire. He thanks you for your hospitality and tells you that he is on his way to the Kargrove Manor, the home of one of the wealthiest families in your county. You speak of your distaste for the Kargrove family and their varied businesses, making the wealthy wealthier and the poor poorer. The young man says nothing and, once the storm has subsided, leaves your home. The following day, you go to the town center to gather food and materials but are stopped when a large carriage comes clattering down the road. The townspeople part to make way for it, and whispers pick up as people gossip about the carriage's inhabitants. Suddenly, the carriage door opens right in front of you, and you stumble back and fall to the dirt ground to avoid being hit. Grumbling, you see a hand extend in front of your face, offering assistance. When you look up, you spot the familiar features of the young man you welcomed into your home last night as hushed voices rise to declare, "Mr. Kargrove."
Growing up as the only daughter of an overbearing lord, your one duty has always remained obvious: attract the attention and affection of a powerful young lord-to-be. You were never allowed to have friends growing up, lest they distract you from your feminine duties and the tasks you needed to master to become the perfect wife. Unbeknownst to your parents, you have found a secret friend in the boy you discovered beside the washing stream one day. After you tell each other of your equally restrictive home lives, he volunteers to teach you how to fight in exchange for friendship. He informs you that there is an approaching tournament at the king's court, with the ultimate prize being a single wish granted to you by the king's mage — no questions asked, no restrictions. When you not only qualify for the tournament but also make it the final round, you find yourself face to face with the boy who offered you friendship, who turns out to be the king's son. Now you are both fighting for the same thing: freedom from home.
You are a harpy, a half-human and half-bird amalgamation that comes from a family of wealthy landowners. Although you are a young baroness, you find it hard to make friends outside of your own family because humans find you and your kind revolting. However, one exception to this rule is a human duchess you have served as a lady-in-waiting. You have known her all your life and consider her to be a close friend. Once the duchess reached the age of marriage, her father held various extravagant balls to enable her to socialize and find a prospective husband. At one of these balls, one of the young noblemen rudely mocked you and called you a disgusting monster. When he started throwing eggs at you, calling them your offspring, you ran away from the ball, crying. His behavior angered the duchess and, after wiping away your tears and eggshell, she cast a spell on you to alter your appearance. A nearby mirror showed that you were now gorgeous, with all of your bird-like features gone. The duchess explained that the spell would work for only a week and then created a plan to make that young nobleman fall in love with you during that week. "When you turn back into a bird, he will be horrified!" she exclaimed. You didn't share your friend's enthusiasm, or her belief that falling in love with you would be some form of punishment or revenge. However, you decided to go along with the plan and feel grateful that you can fit in, even if just for one week.

The quintessential story of the champion who comes from humble beginnings, goes on a quest despite initial uncertainty, encounters trials and tribulations, and eventually defeats a mighty foe.

Every day the sun burns at a hundred degrees or more, but every night it rains, keeping the balance in your world. It has been this way since the beginning of time…until tonight, when a monolith appears on the horizon, and the rains stops. Over time the crops wither, the people go hungry, and you must make a choice: watch your people die or trek across the plains from which no one has ever returned to find answers and hopefully rain. Like many of the other townsfolk, you are but a simple man, but unlike them you crave adventure and are willing to go where most would not dare. You might not survive the journey, but you definitely won't live if you stay. The last leaf has fallen from the trees, and the time for waiting is over.
Your entire life has been dedicated to training: wielding swords, sharpening blades, and battling enemies much bigger and stronger than you. You are in line to become the next protector of the king, the most valued position in the country. You are used to being the best, flaunting your strength and seemingly unbreakable confidence to attract potential partners and friends alike. However, everything changes on the eve of your 21st birthday. Suddenly, the ground begins to quake with a thunderous roar, the sky fills with dense grey clouds, and the wind rips tree roots from the earth. This activity lasts for only five minutes, but that's all it takes for the king to disappear, his guard slain at the foot of the throne. Your life is thrown into turmoil as you grapple with your newly appointed position as the guard of the missing king. You do everything you were taught in battle growing up, but nothing could have prepared you for the ultimate test you face, leaving you with one unanswered question: Are you truly as brave as you once believed yourself to be, or will your ego cost you not only the kingdom, but also your life?
You stand in the middle of the bridge no wider than yourself. Behind you is a village: peaceful, tranquil, and your home for the last year. They took you in when no one else would and hid you from the imperial guard. As you recovered from your wounds, the village elders taught you the ways of the warrior and helped you forge a new sword enchanted by the Goddess of Wisdom. Before you stands the Dark Army: monsters born of hatred that have been ravaging the countryside for months. A fallen wizard unleashed this horror upon the world. For what reason, no one knows. Below you is the Great Chasm: a ravine that cuts your village off from the rest of the empire. You stand at the ready, sword drawn, determined to defeat the forces of darkness one monster at a time.
You are a mage studying mythical archaeology. You have led a comfortable life spent mostly indoors, reading. For the most part, you are content. You've never been one to enjoy hard labor. In fact, the opportunity to attend in-person archaeological digs has arisen many times, but each time you have declined. So, when the headmaster of the school approaches you, asking for you specifically to accompany him on a dig, you already have a list of excuses as to why you're unable. But he insists, telling you that it's in your area of expertise. They think they've found the location of an artifact once thought to be myth. Eventually you accept, and soon after you lead a band of explorers to find the location of the ancient artifact. But a group of explorers from a rival school is hot on the same trail, and it becomes a race to the finish, full of magical sabotage to get to the artifact first. When you both arrive to find that the site has already been looted, both groups unite against a common enemy in order to figure out who stole the artifact in the name of history.
You work as an apprentice for the most well-known wand maker in the land. Throughout the centuries, he has provided wands for a wide variety of wizards, and his knowledge of the subject is unrivaled by any other. Now, being more than 600 years old, this artisan is beginning to feel the effects of his age. He calls you to his home and proposes a final expedition in order to gather materials. He wishes to go further than he has ever gone before to procure a vial of Starheart essence, one of the most powerful wand-making materials known to man, harvested from the first star that fell from the heavens. He rolls out a map he has been charting for decades, showing the location of the star calculated to an exact coordinate. It has been sought after for millennia, he says, and has driven many to madness. He promises that, if you help him harvest the essence, you will be the first to harness the power of the Starheart. He also guarantees that you will become his sole successor. You must now make the treacherous journey to the ends of the world to find the first star while avoiding the grasp of his competitors who wish to harness the power of the Starheart for themselves.
You are the youngest and only female of six siblings. You and your five brothers are the children of a beloved tavern owner who is an exiled knight. He taught each of you to handle a sword with precision. Your blade never leaves your side; it's a part of your soul. One day, your eldest brother makes a foolish wager with an enchantress, who unleashes a curse upon your entire village, leaving all the men weak of mind, muscle, and spirit. Hearing of this, a gang on the outskirts of town decide to raid your village and take what they can. You attempt to gather the local women to fight back, but most refuse. The ensuing raid devastates your small village, leaving much of the town in flames. Before riding off, the gang chieftain demands a monthly tribute; otherwise, they will pillage the village's food supply and poison the wells. Lost, you go to your sanctuary by the lake and pray for guidance. There, you find an alchemist who gives you a small stone, which glows a brilliant purple before transforming into a magnificent sword. The alchemist tells you that the women will listen now, as you were born to be their leader. Fire burns within you. You and the group of women you assemble will not go down without a fight!
While herding sheep, you find an old dagger. When you pick it up, it becomes warm in your hand, and you feel a swirling deep within your body. Your father races into the field to knock the dagger from your grasp. You become confused when he scolds you for touching it and refuses to listen to your protests. Hurt by his lack of trust in you, you go to bed without dinner only to slip into a fitful sleep filled with ominous shadows with glowing yellow eyes, flying witches, and creatures cackling in the underbrush. The screams from the nightmare slow to a gurgle as you wake to the stench of wet fur and decaying meat. You jerk upright when the door shatters, revealing a chittering crazed animal-like monster. It storms inside, its claws searching for your flesh. You react without thinking, moving your arms with seeming practiced control. You parry and block the monster's attack until your hand delivers a final blow, burying the dagger deep in the monster's chest. You step back, staring in shock at the bloody dagger still in your hand, wondering how it found its way to you. As its power fills your body, making you feel invincible, you realize it is not important how you got the dagger, only that it is here with you, now and forever. Gurgling screaming interrupts your thoughts, and you rush into the front room, where your father is on the floor, blood covering his chest. He coughs up more blood as he tells you to follow the pull of the dagger. Your tears fall as he takes his last breath. The dagger tingles in your hand, signaling that your journey is just beginning.
Many years ago, your house was stripped of title and land after the king accused your father of treason. To this day, your father swears innocence and argues that he was framed. The only reason he was not executed for his supposed crimes was because of his dedicated service to the nation and his longstanding friendship with the king. In addition, the king decreed that your house's connection to magic was to be permanently severed. Like many others houses of royalty, your family's powers derive from the kingdom's magical wellspring, which is a focal point of arcane energy. Without the kingdom's wellspring, your family has been forced to rely on labor and pure physicality to survive, and you all now live in a rundown crime-ridden village on the outskirts of the kingdom. One day, your father is badly injured when marauders from the neighboring empire raid your village. With the primary provider of your home bedridden, your family is on the brink of starvation. Now more than ever, you wish you had been born with your family's connection to magic, especially as you know you have the ability to wield it. In desperation, your father tells you the legend of an old mage who could reconnect you to your magical birthright and teach you the ways of wizardry. He points to a distant location on a map where the mage should be, guarding his own magical wellspring. Determined to save your family, you set out on a treacherous and uncertain journey to find the mage and learn the ways of magic.
It's a bright day. The village market bustles with merchants and traders selling all sorts of wares — fleeces, horses, cattle, corn, meats, and pies. You are on your way to fetch a sack of rare spice by order of your ill-tempered master when two masked men ambush you and steal the schillings your master gave you. Never one to back down from a fight, you chase the hooded figures throughout the market and eventually end up in a dark alley. When cornered, they reveal themselves to be members of the Oath Guard — a sword-wielding secret society from the other side of the world. They tell you that your father was their leader before he was slain by your master using dark magic, who then kidnapped you while you were an infant and made you into one of his many slaves. It took more than a decade for the Oath Guard to track you and your master down, but now that you have been found, it is time to exact revenge. "You were able to chase us down in the marketplace, so you do have raw potential, kid. The question is, do you want to help us?" Without hesitation, you say yes.
Your grandfather always told you that you were special. He read to you a lot when you were little, and he made you read to him in turn. Within those big gold-bound books you encountered words in foreign languages and images from history you'd never seen before or heard about. Once you got old enough, he started teaching you to spar. They weren't your everyday karate lessons. He had you practice with long wooden rods tipped in a spear so small it was barely noticeable. Eventually you started working with dummy swords. Your grandfather stressed that these were important life skills you couldn't learn in a classroom. When your grandfather passed away, you noticed someone watching you with a disquieting intensity throughout the funeral. In your grief, you told yourself you must be imagining it and pushed the disturbing feelings aside. All you wanted was to go home and remember your grandfather, leafing through his books and practicing with his wooden rods and spears. But upon entering your home, you came face to face with the stranger from the funeral: spear in hand, horns protruding from his forehead, and eyes dead set on you.
The new monarch promised peace and prosperity, which would be a welcome respite to the war of the past. Although other villages have prospered, the lowlands still suffer. The lowlands have never seen a royal envoy, and the uplanders have been known to take what they could, using their powerful magic to subjugate their southern brothers. Word passes on the wind that the monarch knows nothing of the lowlanders' plight, and their letters to the castle—letters that need to travel through the uplands—have gone unanswered. One brave messenger might be able to blend in and get through, bringing a personal plea to the castle, but the messenger would have to cross the uplands. Their northern neighbors would likely kill the messenger rather than risk splitting their wealth. The smart thing for you to do would be to stay and work the dying farm to keep your village alive for another few weeks, but no one ever accused you of being smart.
You are an archer in the midst of war. Your commanding officer has repeatedly told you that you are easily replaceable, and with all of the casualties this war against the Troll King has caused, you have solemnly accepted this fate. You are prepared to live out the rest of your unremarkable days in the treetops, taking out enemies from afar when they launch attacks against you, ultimately dying as a soldier. Then one night something changes your mind. The foot soldiers have turned in, and you are at your post watching for movement in the brush. During your 6th hour on watch, you hear something rustle and a faint wailing noise to the west. Curious, you jump down from your post and approach with caution, bow drawn. What you are greeted with is hardly a threat. Instead, it is a young troll child, no more than a toddler, weeping softly. Around its neck is a small tag in trollish that you cannot even begin to understand. The child reaches for you, sniffling, and you hesitantly offer your hand. When you pick up the troll, it falls asleep in your arms, you wonder if the war is still worth fighting. You look down at the child and decide it is time to do something meaningful. You break rank, enter enemy territory holding your new friend, and search for the child's home.
As an arcane healer living in the far reaches of the mountains, your life has been relatively peaceful. You and your family have been serving your village for generations and have cured ailments of all kinds, helping the villagers lead long, healthy lives. Your family's powers have been kept secret for the most part, keeping your village quiet and safe. So, when an unconscious stranger is found at the gates of your village, hushed suspicion arises. The elders of your village allow you to take him in and heal his life-threatening injuries. When he comes to, he is in a panic. He tells of massive rodent-like beasts infesting the valley below, destroying everything in their paths, and leaving sickness in their wake. Desperate, the stranger says he has searched out your village, one only spoken of in tales of old, to find someone who can help. You decide to do exactly that, despite the elders' wishes. Together you and the stranger travel to the lands beyond the gates of your village to fight the beasts and cure the sick before it is too late.
The dark wizard's goblin army entered your village last night, moving house to house as they searched for a child of prophecy. An orphan yourself, you have no children of your own and hope his wretched underlings will pass by your door. After a loud crash, the family next door starts screaming. Their child wails, but is quickly hushed. The silence is deafening. Footsteps approach your hut, and a loud bang sounds on your door. You stare at the wooden frame, then look to the window beside you. The spark of a memory that knows who you really are screams at you to run. The door buckles as the goblins force their way in. You grab the small sword you've had since you were a child and do the unthinkable.
When you were a baby, a great tsunami overtook your coastal village. The elders said it was punishment from the gods, but the townsfolk claimed they knew better. The sea, they said, was home to a monster beyond comprehension. They told stories of a beast who would come to snatch children in the dead of night, who wanted nothing more than to kill or maim, and who could walk on land and breathe underwater. You believed that these were just scary stories to get children to stay away from the ocean tides at night and to encourage them to be fearful of things that were different. As you grew up, you ignored these stories and started helping your adopted father with his fishing, eventually become a fisherman just like him. Meanwhile, the storms only got worse. Destruction, rebuilding, and more destruction became the norm for your coastal hometown, ultimately plunging your village into poverty. However, everything changes the night you are thrown off the boat during a tumultuous storm. You awake to find yourself surrounded by half-man, half-fish creatures within a village on the ocean floor. You panic, trying to swim away, only to look down and realize you have a fish tail too. The creatures grab hold of you and tell you that you are one of them. They beg you to listen to their story. Long ago, you were taken to the surface world and transformed into a human to protect you from your father, the old Sea King. Once a proud and courageous leader, the Sea King became a mindless monster when his wife died during childbirth. He wanted nothing more than to exact revenge against his newborn son, who — in the king's eyes — had killed his beloved. When the king realized that his own people had hidden his son on the surface world, he began laying waste to both the village above water and the village underwater. The king now resides in something they call the Rift, a crack in the ocean floor so deep that few return. Legend states that the only person who can end his reign of terror is you, the son of the king. With a team of warriors by your side, you must now seek out your true father in this unfamiliar terrain and defeat the monster that plagues both communities.
You are a fairy-child whose magic has yet to bloom. You were born on the night of the orange moon, which means you are destined to live an ordinary life, so it doesn't matter to anyone in your village when your magic will reveal itself. However, you don't want to live an ordinary life devoid of magic. You want to be something special and do great things, despite the orange moon. One day, while you are exploring the woods, you stumble upon a knight tied to a tree. When you try to set him free, you notice a map has fallen from his sack. You pick it up before he can warn you not to touch it. "No! Now, you've done it!" "Done what?" you reply. He says that you are now charged with rescuing the last wizard of the age. The holder of that map must complete the quest. You try to give the map back to him, but he says it will not work. "The map chooses who the map chooses. For whatever reason, the map has chosen you." As a fairy-child, you don't want to be involved in the business of humans, but then the knight tells you that the wizard can awaken your dormant magical powers. Your eyes light up—you're in!
Your mother has fallen ill, and you and your sister have been left to care for her. Day after day she burns with fever, and night after night her anguished cries fill the house. You notice that her body is slowly changing, with patches of skin giving way to glittering black scales. You urgently send for the sorceress who lives on the outskirts of your village. She tells you that the women of your family have been cursed for generations, doomed to transform into monstrous creatures by their 40th birthday. A cure for your mother's affliction does exist, although it is difficult to find. Terrified, you and your sister embark on a long and dangerous journey to save your mother's life — and your own.
No one knows why or how, but a pestilence ooze has enveloped the beach near your village. The elders send hunters on horseback to set the advancing black ooze on fire, hoping the ocean will come and reclaim the ashes, but the ooze drags the screaming horses and men into the sea, leaving only one hunter to limp home to tell the tale. He warns that the hissing ooze is headed straight for the hills at the base of your village. It is only a matter of days before all will be lost. Only one person alive has ever witnessed such a thing in the past: your great grandmother. She tells a tale of how she was once a powerful sorceress who was able to protect your village from the ocean pestilence. Your parents claim her stories are exaggerations, but you believe her. Your great grandmother takes your hands, looks deep into your eyes, and tells you that you have inherited her power and can save the village if you try. You politely disagree as you help her to bed. However, that night you wake up in the dark, wishing for light. The bedside candle ignites on its own. Suddenly you feel that something inside you can help turn the tide against what is coming. You are just not sure how. After sharing this insight with your great grandmother, she teaches you a few basic spells over the next couple of days, but it might be too little too late. The pestilence has arrived in your town, and the hiss of the ooze sends villagers screaming. A tingle of energy dances across your fingertips. As the ooze breaches the hill, you hope that it will be enough.
You are a traveling bard who plays the violin for coin all throughout the kingdom. You live a comfortable nomadic life, raking in piles of money for each performance. In your travels, you have met many people, most of whom you only meet once or twice, but there is one person in particular who you keep seeing over and over again: an old woman dressed in long blue robes with a hood over her white hair. You've seen her so often that you grow suspicious and decide to confront her. She tells you that she has been observing you and has decided that you are worthy of training. You are thoroughly confused, but before you can ask her what she means, she is gone. A few days later, a passerby drops an anonymous note in your violin case, asking you to meet at a local tavern. When you arrive, the old woman is waiting. She tells you that she is a professor at a well-regarded bard college in the northern territories and that you possess a power that very few have: the ability to magically influence others with your music. In fact, it's the most powerful she has seen in years. She then speaks of a dragon who lives in the ice caves of the north and must be lulled to sleep once every 500 years by enchanted music. She says you are the one destined to do it. Hesitant, you do not accept. But as the weeks continue and word spreads of devastation wrought by the dragon up north, you change your mind. You seek out the old woman's guidance and, joined by a small band of warriors and bards, set out on an expedition to quell the dragon's rage.
Your village works together, with some villagers fishing, others tending crops, and still others watching the children while their parents work. Everyone lives in harmony—some might say bliss—far from the dark magic and horrors of the outside world. One day you return from a local trade of fish and corn to find the village in flames; houses have burned to the ground, and bodies are scattered about. You race to your home and find your brother barely alive. He tells you that hooded figures came at sunrise, looking for you. Your brother coughs before saying that you never belonged here and you need to get to the capital to learn your truth. As your brother breathes his last breath, a hooded figure moves from behind a house, a flaming torch held high. Another hooded figure joins him, then another. This was your village, your home. You can make your stand here or race for the capital. The hooded figures notice you, and your choice is made.

Defined by an epic, magical secondary world that has its own set of rules and dramatically deviates from the mundane, these stories feature an honorable protagonist who must confront the forces of evil and save the world.

Every hundred years, magical blossoms bloom in your land, bringing blessings from the great tree for the citizens of the Elven enclave. Each blossom grants good health and youth, thereby enabling your people to extend their lives and spread their knowledge to younger generations. But on the dawn of the fourth millennium of blessings, the magic seems weaker than ever before. Not as many blossoms appear as in previous years, and a worried murmur floats amongst the elders about the weakening of magic throughout the land. To make matters worse, the protection circle around your previously well-hidden kingdom has been broken by a human. Panic ensues when this person enters the capital and demands an audience with you, the ruler of the Elves. The guards quickly escort him to you, and the human introduces himself as a mage. He states that the magic within the human kingdoms has completely vanished over the course of the last century, and he is seeking refuge at the last known source of magic. But he is not alone; all who rely on magic from human kingdoms will soon be drawn to this land, just as he has been. "I'm sorry to hear of your plight, mage, but Elven lands are not a refuge. The magic here dwindles as well. It is only a matter of time before all magic is lost, just like in your lands." The mage responds quickly, saying, "Then we have no choice! We must form a group of Elven and human mages to find the source of this disturbance and put an end to it." After considering his offer, you agree and declare that you will lead this quest to reignite magic before it is snuffed out entirely.
You are a part of a long and ancient line of immortal warriors. Five hundred years ago, you were blessed by the Goddess of Protection to defend the kingdom throughout your never-ending life. However, such gifts often become a curse. The gods, once approachable beings who could be called upon to aid in the affairs of mortals, became increasing ethereal as their powers increased until their influence over man receded completely and they abandoned our world to pursue more cosmic interests. The void left by their departure was eventually filled by a logic-driven cult that worshipped the natural order. Everyone from commoners to royalty abided by its tenants, the first of which was to reject the old gods and anything associated with them. Soon, citizens of the kingdom began hunting you and your companions throughout the land, trying to break the spell of immortality and end what they believed to be an affront to the natural order. What was once an esteemed role has now become an unending nightmare for you as you focus on one goal: survive against those you were created to protect. Living a nomadic lifestyle, you and your companions are constantly on the move. After one particularly brutal raid of your camp, you become separated from your companions. You wander the woods for days until you come across a dilapidated hut in the center of an oak grove. Inside, a frail, elderly woman sits in a rocking chair, promising you relief if you can complete one task: convince the old gods to return to our world.
Deep underground, within a long-forgotten dwarven sanctuary, exists a mechanical contraption that coverts magic into life. Not long ago, the queen's royal guard stumbled upon this device during a scouting mission. Hearing of its potential, the queen imprisoned you, the court mage, and decreed that you shall be the fuel for her immortality. Trapped with this device, you spend your days spinning a wheel that can only be turned by magic. You long to see your family, but, alas, you accept that such a dream will never become a reality. One afternoon, you spot a plume of black smoke coming from the contraption. Strange …. Before you can react further, a screech rips through the abandoned stronghold, and the cogs grind to a halt. You bound to your feet and run to the door, which you know is guarded. To your surprise, the guards have disappeared. You gasp. After nine years, you're free! You hear screams and chaos below. Then it dawns on you: Perhaps the contraption inadvertently reanimated the long-dead dwarves who were laid to rest centuries ago within the catacombs below. It could explain why the device was overloaded as there was more than one individual feeding off the life force you were generating. The guards must have fled from whatever had been reanimated. You may have unwittingly unleashed a great evil upon the land—an evil that the immortal queen is powerless to defend against, a blight that cannot be undone. You have no time to think. This is your chance to escape.
The light left a long time ago, plunging the world into darkness for decades. Nobody has seen a flicker of flame or a hint of any shining brightness. Except for you. You see it in the sky as a momentary flash of yellow-white brightness that streaks across the darkness. You don't even fully understand what it is as you've only ever heard about light in stories from the elders, who barely remember the feel of its warmth on their skin. But now you see a momentary respite from the black pit of nothingness that you've always known and you're starting to feel it, like a flame beneath your skin, traveling through your veins and pumping heated electricity into your heart. You don't know why you're the only one who can see the light, but you feel the call to illuminate the world around you. Only you can see. Only you can illuminate.
For nearly a decade, your kingdom has been waging war with a neighboring empire over the Arcane Arch, a massive magical amplifier stretching across two islands within the Jade Sea. Some speculate that elves built this structure before they were wiped off the face of the world in a desperate battle to save themselves from annihilation. Others speculate that this was once part of a powerful weapon wielded by an elder god that was shattered when the new gods attacked the Celestial Temple and overthrew heaven. Whatever the arch's history, its power to control the flow of magic has been sought after for generations, with nations prepared to do anything to claim it as part of their territory. Unfortunately, the latest war for the arch has had a significant toll for both sides. With a tenuous ceasefire finally agreed upon, peace talks are underway at a neutral location: a ship anchored directly under the Arcane Arch. As the chief negotiator, you are becoming increasingly suspicious of your counterpart's intentions. There has been little progress so far, and you believe the enemy is stalling for time in order to rebuild their forces for a surprise attack. Your fears are confirmed when one morning you arise early and see an armada approaching from the horizon. You are about to alert your staff when you realize the flags at the top of the armada's masts are not those of the enemy nation. They are from a people not seen in more than three thousand years: the Elven Imperium.
The eight kingdoms of the world are ruled by a select few families who can wield powerful magic that no one else can possess. These powers allow the royal families to dominate their subjects and control their respective kingdoms with an iron fist. Royal magical ability is passed down from generation to generation, although the gift comes in many different forms and is not revealed until the age of 20. You are the servant and close confidante to the princess of one of these kingdoms, and soon your friend's power will be revealed. Though many of her relatives have used their powers for subjection and warfare, you are confident that your friend will protect the innocent with whatever powers she obtains. After the Ritual of Bestowment on the princess's 20th birthday, it is announced that she has been blessed with a magic that the world has never seen before: the ability to teach the non-magical how to wield magic. Soon she starts teaching you how to levitate objects, teleport across the castle, and read other people's minds. However, the royal families inside and outside of the kingdom want to put an end to these teachings as they are frightened of losing their advantage over the peasantry. You and your friend decide to escape the castle and flee the kingdom in the hopes of one day opening an academy that will bring magic to the masses, fundamentally changing the power structure of your world.
Everyone is born with a destiny in the four realms of water, earth, air, and sky. Your mother was the Earth queen's highest general. You are expected to follow in her footsteps, but instead you yearn to join the healers. You feel this inclination is unnatural as no one in your world has ever questioned their destiny. Healers are born and brought up by their masters and mistresses, then begin their posts in the four realms without question. A healer with warrior blood will never be trusted, yet your gift grows everyday—from bringing wilting flowers back to life to curing your sister's deadly fever with a simple touch. You and your family keep your gift a secret, but when the air realm above you is attacked by fire gods and ash rains down from the sky, the two healers from your village are called away to save the high-born at court. However, your people need help too, so you reveal yourself and go to their aid. You grow stronger with each person you save. When it's all over, you are called before the Council of the Realms. They thank you, then promptly throw you in jail. There, in the darkness of the council's pit room, you meet a man who is bound in chains, just as you are. He calls himself a prince of the sky. He believes that destiny is all a lie, but what does that matter now? You two are trapped for all eternity, right? The sky prince has a plan. If you help him escape, he'll take you to the fifth realm—beneath the eye of all realms—where destiny, which is controlled by the great core stone, can be turned off. Though afraid, you are fired up with conviction, but first you must find a way out.
Not many humans enter the realm of the animal men and return to tell the tale. The beasts that rule this land were, at one time, just ordinary animals, but they somehow gained knowledge once reserved exclusively for humans and are now able to walk on two feet and speak to one another as humans do. The animal men emerged fairly recently, with their society being just a handful of years old, but their numbers are growing as more and more animals are flocking to live within the newly built castle walls surrounding the realm. One day the family mule could be plowing the fields, and the next it's speaking in full sentences and heading off to start its new life. Beasts of burden and hunted wildlife are becoming rarer by the minute, resulting in famine throughout the human kingdoms. With little to no communication between the humans and animal men, political tensions are rising — so much so that human kings are ready to wage war to ensure that the world returns to what it once was. One day your family dog speaks to you, telling you that this war will bring devastation to both sides. He asks you to accompany him to the animal realm to warn them about what's to come.
In the past, your village thrived as a hub of commerce in the region. Tradespeople from across the Grand Continent stopped at your village and stayed at your inn, known as the perfect place to rest at the midpoint of their journeys. However, a few months ago the long-forgotten dragons woke from their millennia of sleep, and now your village is in ruin. Travelers cower in the woods, afraid to wander out into the open, as traders have been plucked from their horses to disappear into the sky. Warriors and sorcerers have attempted to slay the flying beasts, but most are never heard from again. There is a rumor that a great and ancient evil from the west awakened these dragons although to what end, no one knows. You now scrape out a meager existence, living off your small garden and well-placed rabbit snares, until your traps catch the unimaginable: a small dragon pup. You should kill it to rid the world of this insidious monster, but the creature frees itself and makes you an unexpected offer.
The king and queen are preparing to make their journey to the elven border for their annual renewal of the Crowcross Peace Treaty. You have been chosen to escort them as their wagoner, as your family has been doing so for many generations. The trip goes smoothly at first, but you sense something is off when, from the corner of your eye, you notice a black cat staring intently at your group. You turn to take a closer look, but the cat quickly darts away. A couple of miles later, you see the same black cat peering from around a bush, and you wonder if the animal is a witch's familiar, which would suggest that a witch has taken a keen interest in the caravan. For what reason is anyone's guess. You tell the royal guards about your suspicions, but they laugh it off as nonsense. A witch has not been seen in these parts in the more than a hundred and fifty years since the abolishment of black magic. The next day, you start the most treacherous part of the journey through the woods surrounding the far reaches of the kingdom, a stretch of land where waypoints are few. On one particularly rainy night, the roads become too muddy for the horses to travel, and you elect to set up camp in a clearing off of the path. The night passes with ease, but when you and the guards awake the next morning, you find the royal tent in shambles and the king and queen missing. Everyone knows that their absence at the peace treaty renewal will be seen as an act of war, and it is up to you and the guards to find them before it is too late.
Almost three decades of drought transformed the Elven Empire from a once mighty and feared power into a shell of its former self. The source of the drought was thought to be a curse — a blight upon their land that turned their soil into dust. Eventually, the Kingdom of Men took advantage of their neighbors' weakened state and invaded the elven lands, ransacking what was left of their villages and overthrowing the empire. Witnessing the drought firsthand, the humans wanted to prevent the curse from spreading into their territory, so they built a massive wall around the fallen Elven Empire, forbidding anyone from entering. Nobody knows what lurks beyond the wall these days. The remaining elves were forced into servitude and ordered to take care of the very people who stole what was once theirs. Your family is among them. What little magic you once had has dwindled over time, diminished from being away from your homeland and shackled in tight chains. Your only reprieve from your suffering is when you care for the princess. She is sweet and affectionate, and she has taken a special liking to you. Over time, you develop feelings for her that are reciprocated, and you begin to believe that she may help your people when she eventually becomes queen. However, your hopes are shattered when the king finds you in bed with the princess, and the princess accuses you of assault. Instead of killing you, the king gives you a worse fate: You are exiled to the land beyond the walls within the blighted elven territory. You travel the barren wasteland for what feels like days, although in reality it has only been a couple hours. You sit on a tree stump to rest, only for the stump to start shining and shaking. Light beams travel through the roots of the ground like glowing veins, and the ground begins to quake. You hear whispers and, figures suddenly emerge from behind dead trees and bushes, surrounding you and trapping you on the stump. Horrified, you brace yourself for the worst. Instead of the cold tip of a sword, you feel a gentle hand on your shoulder. Looking up, you see an old man with pointed ears. The elf speaks. "Welcome, young one, to the revolution. This was our home, and we are going to take back what is rightfully ours."
You are part of an elven tribe that lives underground, in a place many refer to as the Underwood. For years, the sacred pools deep within these caverns have yielded a bountiful mushroom harvest that provides for all. As of late, there has been a hushed whisper from the surface traders in your tribe, rumors of a curse that has been draining the surface world's soil of its fertility. Believing their distance from the surface will protect their crops, your community goes about its daily business. But when the first crops of the season begin to shrivel and die in farming plots across the Underwood, your people realize they too are in danger of not only starvation, but the fading of the magic within the sacred pools. You and three others are chosen to go on a scouting mission to the surface and to travel to the far reaches of the realm, where this sickness reportedly began. There you will find a soothsayer, one who was exiled from the Underwood long ago after prophesizing a future much like the reality you are now living.
According to legend, the world was created by three ancient dragons, each representing a different element of reality. The World Dragon carved the terrain with his claws, the Water Dragon flooded the craters her brother had created, and the Air Dragon created the winds. Life sprouted in the lands crafted by the dragons, and soon the world was teeming with creatures of every shape and size. However, the Water Dragon became furious with her younger brothers for letting life flourish within their domain. She hatched a plot against all who lived, including her brothers, to flood the world with poisonous water so that she could live in solitude. Her brothers heard of her plan and cast a spell that rendered all three of them dormant so that the beings who resided on the lands they had made could thrive. The world and life upon it continued unabated, and soon the settlements of mankind began to take root. Prophecy states that there will come a time when the Water Dragon will awaken from her slumber and attempt to flood the world once more. At that time, a champion of immense power will fight the Water Dragon and defeat her once and for all. But none have been born with any such ability to do so — that is, of course, until you come along. Your powers emerge when you reach adulthood, and when it is discovered that the Water Dragon's dormancy is coming to an end, you must fulfill the prophecy.
Your twin brother was born five minutes before you, making him next in line for the throne. Knowing this has always filled you with jealousy, and the attention he receives makes your blood boil. But you love him and would never do anything to hurt him. Unfortunately, the night before his coronation, you and your twin get into a fight that leaves you seething in your chambers. When one of the chambermaids offers you a chance to get back at him, promising it will be a fun jest that will leave him unharmed, you agree without thinking too much about it. Little do you know that letting your brotherly spite get the best of you means you have just made a deal with a goddess of darkness. The next morning, you awake to find that your brother has gone missing in the hours before his coronation. In a panic fueled by guilt, you follow the trail of destruction that whoever took him made until you find yourself at the edge of the dark forest. The trail leads to a hole in the base of a tree, and you catch the last glimpse of your unconscious brother as he is dragged into it. You scrambled into the hole as well, only to find yourself falling. After what seems like forever, you make a gentle landing in an unfamiliar land — one that is bleak and cold. You continue searching until reaching a glowing river, across which you can see your brother being dragged ashore by the dark goddess. In that instant, you realize that you have entered the underworld. It is up to you to save your brother and escape before you're both trapped there forever.
For a millennium, elves have ruled the land and have subjected humans to a life of poverty and serfdom. Human rebellions, although common, have all been quashed by their elven masters, who wield powerful magic that no mortal man can withstand. The High Elves from the Hollow Mountains include landowners, merchants, and nobility, who are as cunning as they are ruthless. The Woodland Elves from the Ebony Forest are agile warriors who can bend nature to their will. The Snow Elves seek answers from deep within themselves and are considered the most the spiritual and enlightened of all elves. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Dark Elves, a nihilistic and sadistic people who act as the criminal underbelly of the empire. Together they are an unstoppable foe. However, before they united against the common enemy of mankind, elves plotted and fought amongst each other. You are a human and a master of elven disguise who believes that the only way to liberate humanity is to replant those seeds of mistrust among the elven clans.
As Princess of the Elven Glen, you were born with the ability to cure the flora and fauna of sickness. This gift was less of something learned and more of an intuition. With more training, your power grows to the point where you are able to communicate with the plants brought to you. One gloomy day, an old woman in a hooded cloak begs at the castle gate to see you, insisting that the plant life she brings is in dire need of assistance. When she enters, she is tearful, cradling the plant close to her. It seems to be a single flower in a small pot. Before you can touch it, you hear a voice from within it that warns you not to trust the woman before you as she wishes to add you to her collection. Confused, you silently ask what the warning means, but before the plant can answer, the old crone raises her hand with a grin, and you watch as your entire court slowly stiffens and turns to stone.
The raging forest fires destroyed everything in their path in the Hollows. All of the wildlife died with the trees. Now the water is filled with soot, and the smell of burning permeates the air. The only safe area is to the west in the Shadowlands, where the trees stand tall and strong and rushing rivers run through the city. But the Shadowlands were overtaken by the Fae and other powerful creatures escaping from the raging fires. Using their magic, they forced the humans to live in what was left of the Hollows. As a human, you are sick of watching your mother wither away under the blazing sun, starved and dehydrated. Every family is the same, yet there is no reprieve. If you are lucky enough to find food or water, you have to fight off hordes of neighbors who will beat, scratch, and sometimes even kill others to get their hands on the resources. You have seen too many brawls between scrawny kids and adults for just a handful of berries. When an adult breaks your brother's arm during a brutal fight for a cupful of bitter water, you've had enough. You set out on a months-long journey to infiltrate the Shadowlands and steal enough to save your family from death. What you don't expect is to find a distraught and dirty fae girl running from the Shadowlands, declaring that her once resource-rich homeland is now failing and the creatures that reside there are becoming increasingly savage and barbaric. Warriors from the Shadowlands have organized under the banner of a ruthless Unseelie Fae and are now planning a march on the Hollows in a desperate attempt to scour for resources. This fae girl becomes your friend as you rush back to the Hollows to warn the people of what is coming, all while wondering how any of you stand a chance against an army of powerful beings.
The sun burns red on the horizon as the moon fades to gray. An elven horseman appears on the hill, staring down at your farm, just as he does every morning. His presence is comforting in a way, soothing to know that the new protectorate from the elven nation of Highguard has taken such a keen interest in the affairs of the average man. The war has left many scars upon you and your brethren, but despite losing to the elven invaders, you feel that the new sovereign is ultimately better than the corrupt and cruel human kingdom that once ruled this land with an iron fist. Your former brothers in arms disagree, saying that the ruler of Highguard is anything but benevolent. There have been rumors swirling that he was once an evil demigod, cast down from the high heavens and forced to live amongst mortals. With his immense power and vast elven army, he now subjugates the world to his will, one kingdom at a time. You see no evidence of evil, just the normal ebb and flow of history and, as long as you lay low, no one will bother you or your small farm. But the next dawn, the sound of crashing swords wakes you. You race to the window, and the rider isn't there. Instead, three new elven figures on horseback breach the horizon, charging toward your farm with swords drawn.
Growing up, you heard the stories of how you became an adopted member of the royal family. It all started years ago, when the queen's inability to conceive plunged the kingdom into political chaos. Without a definitive heir, the king's brothers began vying to be next in line for the throne. The king realized that it would just be a matter of time before this infighting turned into outright warfare, so he pleaded with the gods for a solution – any solution – that would prevent the kingdom from descending into anarchy. The next day, the king's prayers were answered when the high priest entered the royal court carrying you in his arms. You were just a few days old, but the priest declared that you were a descendant of celestial beings who was destined to be adopted by the king and queen, and eventually to inherit the kingdom as prophesized by the ancients. Relieved, the king and queen accepted this gift from the gods and raised you as their own, much to the dismay of the king's brothers. Now that you have turned 16 years old, your celestial powers are beginning to take shape. Your father ensures that you have access to the best mystical teachers in the land to help you hone your powers. However, things suddenly change when the queen announces she is with child. Soon you are cast aside in favor of your new sibling. When the king and queen ignore the prophecy and publicly declare the newborn to be the true heir to the kingdom, you resent this child and spend your days brooding over your parents' betrayal. However, this all changes the day when the army of one of the king's brothers storms the castle. During the siege, your family is turned to stone, cursing all but you, who is immune to such spells due to your celestial blood. You barely escape, but now you must find a way to rescue your family and save the kingdom.
When you were born, a goblin heard your wails pierce the quiet of your rural elven village and snuck into town under the cover of night. Uninvited, he entered your home and saw you swaddled in a ratty blanket, cuddled in a cradle padded with straw from the hay barrels of your parents' farm. As your parents tell the story, they heard you let out an ear-piercing screech that sounded animalistic. They rushed to your crib to find the goblin standing over you, tracing a path down your arm with a long, gnarled finger. The goblin looked to your parents and said, "She will be the beginning. She will bring forth greatness like none ever seen before. But she will also be the end, the devastating destruction. That is final." As your parents stepped forward to save you from the goblin, he disappeared in a wispy fog, leaving your parents with an unknown prophecy of your future and you with a permanent black line along your forearm.

Whether set in prehistoric times, the ancient Celtic era, the Dark Ages, or the Industrial Revolution, these stories tell a magical tale that took place prior to the late 20th century. Magical and supernatural elements are hidden from the ordinary world so as to not disrupt the timeline as we know it.

As a sexton living in Florence during the Renaissance, you have always been fascinated by art, especially the murals found at your workplace in the Brancacci Chapel. One day while working, you notice an extra figure in one of the murals. When you see the mural the next day, the figure has moved closer. You see it again in the evening and, to your surprise, the figure is even closer. The man looks like he is running for his life. Certain that the others would call you crazy, you keep quiet. But the next morning you see the torso of a man emerging from the wall, struggling to break free. He begs you for help, his body half stuck in the painting. When you pull him from the wall entirely, he dusts himself off and runs away. You are about to pursue him when you see something from the corner of your eye: A large group of people have suddenly appeared in the mural. You turn around and stare at the new figures. They seem to be chasing the man and are increasing in size ever so slowly.
You open your eyes when you hear the snap of a twig in the dead of night. Someone is approaching your encampment. Before you left Greenland, your brother Leif Erikson warned you of the people who resided within these unexplored lands. Of course, you ignored his warnings, seeking the wealth of timber, furs, and grapes that the newly named Vinland had to offer. You scramble to your feet, light your torch, grab your sword, and begin searching the area. After a few moments of looking around, you see the trespassers on the outskirts of the encampment: three men with black hair and dark eyes, dressed in strange clothing. You place your sword on the ground and call out to them, waking the other men in your party in the process. You beckon them to approach, and the three men slowly oblige. Eventually, they sit across from you and your rekindled campfire. They are not hostile, but rather curious about you, just as you are curious about them. You try communicating by drawing on the dirt with a stick. First you draw a map of your current location, pointing to surrounding landmarks visible from the encampment and then pointing to the crude drawing on the ground. The strangers understand and soon add to the map with their own knowledge. They draw a pond to the south, a forest to the west, and a swamp to the north. "A forest," you exclaim. Wild grapes are known to grow in the woods within these lands, their vines winding themselves around the trees. You quickly grab a grape from one of the nearby barrels and place it on the map where the strangers have drawn the trees. You point at it, looking for some sort of confirmation. However, the three men look displeased, and one of them draws a large "X" over the forest location. He then proceeds to draw something next to forest. It looks like a cave, followed by a lizard-like monster surrounded by fire. You take a closer look and see it for what it is: a drawing of a dragon.
The Black Death creeps deeper into the English countryside each day. The men in the village build a barricade across the road to keep travelers out, but you know that won't stop what's coming. It's not a disease—well, not in the traditional sense. Someone sent this plague south, and the northern warlocks are following behind, wiping out any resistance as they roll through the country to take it all as their own. What they really want, though, is The Book, which is your family legacy. You'd be burned at the stake if your fellow villagers knew you had it. However, you knew this day would come. You open The Book and recite the spells as you prepare to do battle in secret, hoping to save a village that would kill you for what you are.
As a farmhand working on the duke's family estate in 1905, you have heard a fair amount of gossip about the wealthy family you work for, including whispers of financial trouble and the marrying off of the duke's eldest daughter. But the most intriguing bits of gossip come from the maids who work in the house itself. You only occasionally catch the maids on the back porch, shaking out a rug or tossing potato peels to the pigs in their pens, but each time you do, you hear something shocking. This time a maid tells you that the youngest daughter is afflicted by some sort of curse that has confined her to her bedroom as of late. You do not know the duke's daughter personally and have only spoken to her in passing, but this thought does not leave your mind. One night while closing up the barn, you see the duke's daughter, long haired and nightgown clad, flee across the field. With a sinking feeling in your stomach, you follow after her, fearing for her life. When you reach the edge of the woods, you call out to her. But when she emerges from the darkness, her eyes aglow, you realize that you may be the one in danger.
With the book Malleus Maleficarum spreading like wildfire throughout Europe, describing in detail how to identify and hunt down witches, you know that your time is limited. In an effort to escape, you board a ship with an upstart Italian captain who claims that the world is round. Ridiculous, of course, but with the witch hunters already searching your town, you know it is only a matter of time before you are discovered. If you are lucky, you might be able to use your powers to dissuade these self-proclaimed explorers from sailing off the edge of the world. You board the Santa Maria , the third of three ships, and hide. Most onlookers laugh as the trio of ships push away from the dock to head toward the open seas. Others cry, knowing in their hearts they will never see their beloved sailors again. You hope for a new life, perhaps in India if the ships makes it that far. If you sail off the edge of the world, at least you won't be burned alive at the stake. You take a deep breath, whisper a spell, and call up a strong breeze to sail you away from Europe once and for all.
You are an artist living in the 13th century who has been summoned by Llywelyn the Last, the newly anointed Prince of Wales. When you arrive at his castle, you find a group of 8 other draftsmen, some of which you know by reputation. Llywelyn explains that there have been sightings of strange creatures across the land, and he wishes for them to be documented for further study. You are not experienced in drawing wildlife and would rather return to your work on the Lambeth Apocalypse manuscript, but you have no choice but to obey the commands of your liege and join the expedition. You are sent on horseback to the last known sighting, accompanied by some of the royal guards. What you find is stranger than what you could ever imagine. Multiple-legged animals with humanesque faces. Wings on creatures never meant to fly. Some draftsmen are so sickened by the vision that they abandon the expedition altogether, believing it to be the work of Satan. The remaining party investigates further and eventually uncovers a group of sorcerers merging animals and people together in ungodly ways. No one knows for what purpose, but you are determined to find out.
You are a small child who watches from afar as your family is slaughtered by a vicious kabukimono gang. You flee into the woods, jumping over branches and rocks, to find a place to hide. Eventually, you crawl into a space under a log and quietly wait. After several moments, you hear a rustle nearby. You are preparing to crawl out and run when a fox jumps out of a bush and approaches you in a curious manner. She licks your face and nestles up against you. You are petting the friendly creature when a ronin from the gang finds you and draws his weapon. The fox whips around, jumps on the ronin, and bites his throat. The ronin collapses on the ground, clutching his neck as he bleeds out and dies. Once the ronin is no longer a threat, the fox prances back to you and jumps over your head. You get up and look over the log to see that the fox has transformed into a young woman. She reveals that she is a kitsune and vows to exact revenge against those who murdered your family.
You are a bartender in a speakeasy in the 1920s, hidden within the basement of the city library. There have been hushed reports of police raids among bar goers, but you and your patrons know for certain that your establishment is safe from law enforcement. The door has been camouflaged with magic and is only visible to the eyes of magical beings such as elves, goblins, and trolls. Although these magical beings conceal their true identity from others, you can always tell who they are just by their mannerisms and demeanor. It is something that you have picked up on over time. One day, while you're prepping for the evening shift, a young librarian completely unattuned to magic opens the door. You ask how she opened it, being just a normal everyday human, to which she replies that she'd been following you and saw the glowing sigil. Your boss has told you that humans who discover the space must be disposed of, but you can't bring yourself to do it. Instead, you indulge her questions and pour a splash of potion into her drink to erase her memory of the conversation. The potion works, but she returns daily, following you time and time again as if it was the first time. At the end of every conversation, you erase her memory and send her on her way. Over the course of a couple of months you get to know her and realize that she is a rare type of human: one who can see magic in the world and, could—if trained—wield it.
The English have claimed sovereignty over a land that is not theirs, and your people have been held captive for far too long. Rally cries echo across the Highlands as your fellow Scots long for the freedom they know is rightfully theirs. Whispers carry on the wind that the daughter of your once-king could save you. She's the last Scottish royal, hidden away in a nunnery. The problem is, the English know she is there, too, and the nunnery walls will not be enough to save her if the English queen's soldiers decide to end the line of Scottish nobility. You're not sure what a young girl can do against the might of the English throne, but as the whispers grow more fierce, the will o' the wisps converge, lighting up the night in a trail leading toward the nunnery. You know the Highlands are calling you to act. You are only a farmer, like your father before you and his father before him, but there has always been something different about you—something you've managed to keep hidden until now. Your English vassal lord does not take kindly to his farmers not attending their crops, but when the night beacons become too bright to sleep and the whispers turn into shouts in your mind, you slip away while your family is asleep. Mary, Queen of Scotts is only a girl, but if there is a possibility she can still save her people, you will see it done—if they don't catch you and burn you at the stake first.
On the morning of October 29th, 1929, you stand before your bathroom mirror and straighten your tie. You haven't felt this good in a long time. The stock market has finally finished its correction. After weeks of sell-offs and dire predictions, investment companies and bankers stepped in and were able to stabilize the market. There was another sell-off yesterday, but you are confident that the worst is behind you. Leaving your home, you travel to your office on Wall Street, where you work as one of the most successful brokers in the country. Yet as soon as you step foot into the building, you sense that something is wrong. After the opening bell, you are shocked to see the ticker telling a story of an unmitigated disaster. Everything is plummeting. There is a massive sell-off the likes of which you have never seen before. Minutes turn into hours, and soon your fortune is no more. There is no hope. You are done for. Without even thinking, you walk to the window and slide it open. Your legs tremble as you swing them over the ledge and carefully stand up. You raise your head to the sky and close your eyes as you jump… but nothing happens. You look down and find you're flying.
You are the only daughter of a famous composer in 1790. Your father is often away from home, travelling with his orchestra across Europe, leaving you to take care of your mother and the estate. This year, your mother has been unable to perform herself, as her once angelic operatic voice can no longer carry a note without leaving her in significant pain, bringing her great distress. You have taken it upon yourself to cheer her up, playing your violin for her on nights when she is feeling particularly sad. But lately you find yourself making silly mistakes in your playing and, as the weeks pass, you realize you are forgetting how to play entirely. Tearfully, your mother explains to you that your father's success is not what it seems. Years ago he called upon a demon named Beleth, who offered him fame in exchange for the musical ability of others. Through an ancient pagan ritual, your father sacrifices the talents of the people he knows, leaving these musicians unable to do what they've practiced for a lifetime. Your mother's voice was last year's offering, and it seems that this year your talents are on the table. Enraged by your father's assumed ownership over you and your mother, you decide to seek out the demon who struck the deal in the first place.
In January 1848, gold was accidentally found at a sawmill construction site at Coloma, ushering in the California Gold Rush. Those who first discovered the gold attempted to negotiate a treaty with the local tribe, the Nisenan Maidu, who owned the territory. The negotiations went well until the medicine man of the tribe recommended that the chief decline the offer. Stories passed down through the generations told of an ancient demon who would devour any and all who laid claim to the gold within these lands. From the medicine man's perspective, some things were better left alone. Eventually, the American military government decided that the Nisenan Maidu did not have any rights of ownership to the territory and could not negotiate a treaty. Floods of gold-seeking prospectors poured into the territory soon thereafter. Despite the medicine man's warnings that the gold was cursed, the prospectors took as much as they could find. You are one of the lucky few to have struck it, which has enabled you to live handsomely. You have a large house on the coast and have even staffed your house with a few servants, who are paid more than anyone in the county, as you often brag. But as the gold craze continues, cases of madness are reported. Prospectors have become aggressive, almost animalistic, with their greed overtaking them in the worst way. This is initially thought to be an unfortunate side effect of human nature, but this sickness is different. It seems to spread to everyone it touches, creating in them an insatiable need for gold that drives them to kill for it. You read in the paper that, in the final stages of the sickness, some victims have become delirious, their eyes glazing over, their only coherent thoughts being about the very gold that cursed them. The ongoing violence makes it unsafe to go outside. You have taken all the precautions you can, but your family begins showing symptoms. You decide to seek out the medicine man to see if you can put an end to it.
There's only 7,000 miles left of your planned 29,000-mile flight to become the first woman to fly around the world. You're nervous as you climb back into the cockpit of your twin engine Lockheed Electra after a brief hiatus. The clouds have gathered, and it's starting to rain. However, you fear if you prolong the departure, you won't make the record, especially as your navigator began acting strangely during the last leg, talking to himself behind you. Still, you're determined to succeed. You seal the cockpit, confirm that your navigator is ready, and start the engines. The navigator sounds excited — a little too excited, which only sets your nerves further on edge. You speed along the runway, going faster and faster until you launch into the sky, your eyes on the darkening clouds before you. As you enter them, your navigator begins laughing, and you ask him what's so funny. He only laughs harder. The clouds move strangely around you, as though they have a life of their own. Suddenly you realize his laughter has become a chant of sorts as the dark clouds ebb and flow like waves around the plane. The navigation panel goes haywire. You have no idea if you're flying up or down, north or south. Brightly colored lightning lights up the sky around you, and you try to maintain control of the plane as alarms sound. The navigator is still chanting spells behind you, and you yell out for him to stop. Instead, his voice grows louder as the clouds spiral ahead of you like a horizontal tornado that's growing wider and wider. You are losing control of the plane as it's pulled forward, and you realize you won't be making any records. In fact, you wonder if you will ever see land again.
Since you were children, your best friend Anne has had dreams of becoming more powerful than her father and uncle, and you knew that, as she rose, she would take you with her. Together, you would be unstoppable. Anne had the beauty, intelligence, and charisma while you had the magic of your ancestors, tracing back to Jacquetta of Luxembourg. Your magic worked best with the elements, such as when you were standing in the water of the creek or beneath the trees on a windy day or with your feet buried deep into the freshly turned earth. You love Anne like a sister and are more than happy to cast your spells when she needs them. However, with each spell you cast, you lose a little of yourself, growing weaker over the years. When you successfully place Anne under the eye of King Henry VIII, you think you've finally succeeded in achieving both of your goals, as your best friend showers you with gifts and comfort like you have never imagined. But then the use of your magic takes its toll as Anne's demands grow larger. It's no longer enough for her to have the king's undivided attention. Now she wants to be queen, despite the fact that Catherine of Aragon is already the queen. For seven years you draw upon every ounce of magic you can muster as you fight against the will of the church and the will of the queen to bring about your best friend's dreams. Finally, Anne becomes queen, and you think that you can enjoy your days at her side in the palace. You're now weaker than ever, and fear that you have significantly shortened your life, yet you have no regrets. Anne's happiness is your own. Then the unthinkable happens: Anne's first-born child is not the boy she promised the king, but a girl, setting off a series of desperate pleas from the new queen to save her crown and the attentions of her husband. As much as you love her and want to help her, you fear that you don't have enough magic left within you to bring about the son Anne needs to keep her crown — and her head on her shoulders.
You're certain the 1900s will bring about change and you want to be a part of it. With the magic powers you possess, you're certain you will. But first you need to make your way to St. Petersburg. If you have any chance of making the most of your powers, you need to make friends within high society, and who's higher than the tsar and tsarina of Russia? Making your pilgrimage across the snow-covered lands, you build yourself a reputation by using your magic to heal the sick. By the time you reach your final destination, your reputation has proceeded you. When the heir to the Russian throne becomes sick, the tsar and tsarina are most eager to meet you. You do your best to heal the boy and his hemophilia, but the best you can do is provide him with bouts of wellness. Your popularity allows your powers to grow until you are able to control the minds of those around you. Knowing no harm can come to you, you play the royal court like a puppet-master, oblivious to the rumors swirling amongst the disgruntled peasants. Although you hide your powers beneath the veil of religion, many see you for what you are and believe you to be evil. You try to extend your magic as far and wide as you can to control the rumors, but the growing revolution is more than you can handle.
You are a farmer living in Ireland at the beginning of the Great Famine. Within two weeks, your crops have been destroyed by blight, leaving your family without food or any means of income — that is, until a stranger rolls into town on his caravan. He comes selling bottles of a strange liquid, one that he claims will bring the town bountiful potato yields. Desperate for just about anything, your neighbors shell out their last few coins to this man, who you believe is a con artist. You change your mind when you awake the next day to find all the neighboring potato plants brought back to life. Of course, it is too good to be true. Over the next few days, the potato plants grow to astronomical sizes — to the point where they're destroying entire farms and houses. For each potato harvested, several appear in their place. It is now up to you to find the man who cursed your hometown before it is destroyed.
The rain only gets heavier as you drive your 1935 Chrysler Airstream along Route 66 across New Mexico. It's the dead of night, and your headlights barely pierce the thick darkness of the moonless sky. You push the pedal down further to pick up speed. There's no one else around — or so you think. Suddenly the radio starts to crackle and buzz, and you look down, twisting the knobs as you try to pick the station back up. The car hits something, and you slam on the brakes. Your tires screech as the car spins sideways before you manage to regain control and come to a full stop. Reaching forward to turn the ignition off, you see what looks like a body in the road, lying just at the edge of the headlights' reach. "No, it can't be. I would have seen him," you say to yourself as you push open the door and get out of the car. You run toward the body and kneel before it, feeling for a pulse that isn't there. Getting back to your feet, you tell yourself no one would know, that you could get back in the car and drive off, but then you turn around to see the badly dented fender. There's only small towns ahead, but it's still not likely you could get by unnoticed. Suddenly you see someone sitting in the passenger side of the car. You run over, yelling at him to get out. It's a man wearing a fedora, and he looks at you without blinking until you stop yelling. You ask him what's he doing, and he offers you a deal. He tells you he can turn back time half an hour, undoing the murder. You readily agree before he holds his hands up to silence you. There's a price, he tells you, a debt that you would have to pay. "I don't care. Just make this go away!" The stranger smiles and snaps his fingers.
After the French Revolution, your noble family went into hiding before barely escaping France and relocating to the south of England. There, you and your family set up shop as local merchants while still keeping most of the family's fortune hidden away. When word spread of King Louis XVI's oldest brother establishing a court in Germany, all of the men in your family decide to join the cause against the French revolutionists to reclaim their titles while you and the other women remain in England to mind the store. Before leaving, your father tells you that the family fortune is hidden deep within the Paris sewers. He hands you a compass imbued with a mystical energy that will help you find your way to the treasure. He says he will help you locate the family fortune once the revolutionists are defeated, but that is not meant to be. The new army established in Germany is soundly defeated while aiding a French revolt. Those family members who survived the battle are summarily executed, leaving your family in ruins. Years pass, and Napoleon Bonaparte grants amnesty to the surviving French aristocrats. You and what is left of your family go back home. Almost penniless, you decide it is time to find your family's fortune. With the compass in one hand and a torch in the other, you enter the Paris sewers.
Your mother was a mermaid — or at least that's what your father tells you. You are unable to tell which of his stories from his seafaring days are truth anymore, as he's told you too many to count. But there is something about the way he tells this one that reveals something within him that you rarely see: a gentle sort of longing that seems to hold a special place in his heart. You forget most of his stories as you get older, especially as you gather a few of your own when you turn 16 and begin faring the seas yourself as a deckhand on the RMS Rhone , a Royal Mail Ship transporting mail and cargo between Southampton and the Caribbean. It's hard work, but seeing the world makes it all worthwhile… until the hurricane hits. It overtakes the ship quickly, pulling people overboard and eventually breaking the ship in two. You are thrown overboard as well and, as you struggle in the water, you think that this is the end. Unable to hold the oxygen in your lungs any longer, you take in a gulp of seawater, only to find that it does not hurt you. You are breathing underwater. You look down to see that, in place of legs, you have a scaly, fish-like tail. Your father was telling the truth!
Under the flicker of torchlight within your clan's cave, you paint the history of the great battle beneath this cycle's moon. It took twelve hunters to defeat the mighty mammoth. The first eleven hunters had been thrown and knocked out, as usual, leaving you, the final hunter, to pull power from the moon to finally bring down the beast. It was better that way. You don't want anyone to know what you can do. But then a curious child follows the hunters on the next hunt and sees the power of the moon fill you. Things become complicated as you don't want to be revered as a god or feared by your clan. When a horde of a hundred outland warriors threatens to push your clan from their fertile hunting grounds a few days later, you and the moon may be the only thing that can save them—until the curious child steps beside you and starts to glow.

These stories focus on magic intruding into a normal setting that previously contained only realistic situations and characters. Traditional fantasy tropes are downplayed, with the introduced magic conflicting with the rules of the realistic primary world versus existing as part of a wholly fantastical secondary world.

Your uncle was always thought of as the black sheep of the family. He was a committed entrepreneur, starting up business after business in the hopes of being successful. His head was always in the clouds, however, and he was much better at being a dreamer than actually implementing his ideas. After his last failed attempt, he disappeared from your town and left a note for your father that he had stumbled upon the opportunity of a lifetime and was moving to China to pursue it. Years passed, and soon the family forgot about the oddball uncle until one day you received a letter from him asking for your help. You had just earned your MBA and were ready to start your new job in New York City, so you were not really interested in flying all the way to China to meet him. However, the tone of his letter intrigued you and you wondered what would possess a man to contact his niece after being absent for more than 20 years. You hopped on the next plane to China, then travelled by boat and later by raft, and finally hiked down a long and winding trail until you found your uncle standing in front of a cave. Just behind him, you saw five small dragons poking their heads out, looking at you like a curious dog would. You were at a loss for words as your uncle explained that he needs your help to start a new business: a dragon zoo.
You have just moved into a typical suburban cul-de-sac neighborhood. All the houses are well kept and look nearly identical — with the exception of one decrepit home with shingles falling off the roof and several broken windows. For the most part, it doesn't seem like there's anybody living there, but when you mention it to your neighbors, they don't seem to know what you're talking about. It's like the house doesn't exist at all from their point of view. Unable to sleep one night, you get out of bed and go for a walk to clear your head. As you pass by the old house, you hear a faint sound of what seems to be chanting. You approach the house and peek through a couple of windows, not knowing what to expect. Through the basement window, you see a group of children dressed in robes encircling an ancient book on a pedestal. After a minute, the children stop their chanting and begin giggling as their feet leave the floor. You watch in amazement as the children float in midair. Then a few candles ignite on their own and start floating with the children. As the candles drift by their faces, you realize that these children look very familiar: They are, in fact, the neighbors kids.
Your cat has gone missing, and you've done everything in your power to find him. After many weeks of putting up posters and searching throughout the neighborhood, you give up. Life goes on. However, one night your lost pet returns, and to your utter shock he can now speak. The cat tells you of the adventure he's had and the strange woman he met. He tells you that she's coming. When you ask him what he means, he does not answer. You worry about this for days. Sure enough, a woman comes knocking at your door with a horde of black cats in tow—all of which can speak. They are good omens, she assures you. You let the old witch in, and she tells you that the end of times is coming. She tells of a prophecy that guaranteed 500 years of peace—a promise made by a king to the elemental fairies of the dark forest. The 500 years is up, and the elemental fairies aim to take back the Earth that was once theirs. Confused, you ask her why she is telling you this, to which she replies that she has heard good things about you from your cat. She leaves you with this knowledge as well as the cats she brought to your home, who are uniquely able to track down and catch these elusive fairies. It is up to you and your band of cats to reestablish peace in the world.
In the months since the death of your mother, you have been frequenting the local cemetery, rain or shine. Your family and friends worry about you and think that what you're doing is strange considering you often stay there late into the night. Little do they know you've been regularly visiting the underworld. A few weeks after your mother's death, you visited her grave, and the doorway to the underworld appeared to you. You were unsure of it at first, frightened even, but eventually you stepped through it. You had hoped that it was a sign from your mother and that she would be waiting on the other side. Instead, an entire world of the dead became known to you—thousands of souls from all time periods in the city beneath your hometown alone. The spirits didn't seem to pay much mind to you and seemed to accept you as one of their own. After getting your bearings and becoming familiar with the vast city, you make it your own personal quest to find your mother and see her again. But after a few weeks of visiting the underworld, you find that you feel weaker and weaker with each passing day. When you realize that each trip seems to be draining your lifeforce, the search for your mother becomes more desperate.
You are the strongest knight in all the land, having defeated warrior after warrior on the battlefield. Legend of your heroism spreads, and soon your exploits became the inspiration of bards and artists. One day, while attending a celebration in your honor, a woman steps out from the crowd and challenges you to a fight. The crowd laughs at the scrawny woman, who has no weapon to speak of except for a small stick. You accept her challenge with a smile, letting everyone know that you'll go easy on her. Then, without warning, she knocks you down without even touching you. You pull yourself up and reach for your axe, but the metal burns your hand and you quickly drop it. When you try to grab the woman, she disappears only to reappear right behind you. After ten minutes of utter embarrassment, you yield for the first time in your life. You ask her how she is able to do this, and she tells you that the power is called "magic." She explains, "Many new foes called 'sorcerers' have mastered this art, and they are entering your realm. Brawn is no match for their powers." She then tells you that she is willing to train you on how to wield magic to defend your land from these enemies. Knowing that brute force will soon be a thing of the past, you gladly accept her offer and study a new way of becoming a hero.
A strange scratching noise outside has been keeping you awake for the last hour. You try to ignore it, believing that it's probably just a tree branch scraping against your window, but it continues to disturb you. Finally, you have had enough and get out of bed to open the window. Something quickly scrambles inside, startling you. You search your bedroom and see a small furry creature with large ears huddled in the corner. It is unlike any creature you have ever seen before. As you stare at it, you realize that it is scared and wounded. It eventually allows you to dress its wounds and, after a few moments of what sounds like purring, it falls asleep nestled up in a makeshift shoebox bed that you made for it. However, when you awake the next morning, the creature is gone. In its place is a single golden coin with a strange symbol engraved on it. You try your best to shrug it off and go about your day, questioning what really happened the night before, but when you see the creature again near your front door, you freeze. It tugs at your leg, gesturing to the nearby woods. Hesitantly, you follow it. The small creature darts down a path, leading you to a clearing with nothing except for an old well in the center, and you suddenly understand what the coin was for. You toss it in, and something deep within the well begins to glow. With this coin, the creature has granted you one wish. You must use it wisely.
You are a public interest journalist writing about the same things over and over again. Lost dog found. Local team wins a championship. The guy next door wins the lottery. You yearn for more, something more captivating and interesting, and one day you finally get your wish when you are sent to interview the owner of a mysterious house that has become a local legend. The house never changes and has always looked brand new, just like the pictures from the 1700s before the town was built up around the original estate. The man who lives there looks strikingly like his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather before him, leading to tall tales about who he really is. A chill covers you as you are invited inside. Everything looks new except for the wall clock, which doesn't seem to tick. The man gives you a cup of tea, and you sit beside a window looking out over the back lawn, but there is no grass or gardens on this summer day, only snow. You set your tea down, gaping, as the man sits beside you and starts to explain.
You have manipulated many rich men over the years, all of whom have given you large amounts of their fortunes and even some of their business interests. People call you a gold digger, but you think of yourself as more of an entrepreneur. You do have to admit, though, that you've had an advantage. From a very young age, you've been able to get what you want. It's not that your requests were naturally persuasive or reasonable by any means, but rather that you are able to influence people to do exactly what you want, when you want them to. It's a power you've kept secret your entire life and one that has aided you greatly in accruing massive amounts of wealth. But a few months ago, you decided to change your ways. You found the man of your dreams: someone you can truly love and be with for the rest of your life. You want to be a better person for him, so you give up your con artist lifestyle and wait on him hand and foot. Today, he has given you a special task: transfer all of your assets over to him. You are overjoyed to help him and are talking with your financial advisor about the details until it dawns on you that you are being played. Your lover has the same power as you. You shake off the illusion and decide that it is about time you show him who's boss.
Following your grandfather's disappearance, you and your mother have been working to clear out his large, sprawling estate. Every room is full to the brim with junk, and neither of you are particularly excited by this job. As you explore the house, boxing things up, you find a secret door leading down to the basement. You make your way down and find yourself in a strange stone room, full of colorful bottles and notes. You read the labels and realize that these bottles hold potions. You scoff at this, thinking that in his old age your grandfather must have lost it. As you throw the bottles out, one breaks and spills all over your hand. It's sticky and smells weird, and you're exasperated. When you wipe it off, you start feeling very strange. You tumble to the floor and soon discover that you are floating a foot above yourself. You desperately search your grandfather's notes until you find the exact potion you had just taken. You read that you are now a soul separated from your comatose body — an effect that will become permanent in three days. You must figure out how to reverse the curse before it is too late.
You were never the rambunctious type as a child. While other boys were off playing, you preferred more scholarly pursuits. Philosophy was one of your favorite things to study, as were poetry and theatre, and as you got older you began to write plays and novels of your own, though no one gave them a second look. With your family pushing for you to carry on the family business, you desperately wish for someone to make your dreams a reality. One day you are surprised to find your wish has been answered, but not in the way that you had hoped. Your work of fiction has turned to real life, you being the main character, which is especially bad considering you know exactly how the story ends: with your death.
You love thrift shopping and cannot believe your luck when you find a pair of vintage shoes that are perfect for you. They are old, maybe from the 1950s, but simple and comfortable. They make you feel unnaturally confident. However, each time you wear the shoes, it becomes harder and harder to take them off. In fact, some mornings you awake with them still on your feet, even though you swore you hadn't gotten into bed with them on. This begins to happen a little too frequently. One day while at work, you feel something strange. Your legs are moving without you doing anything, and you find yourself walking out the door and down the street. You fight for control of your own legs, but a voice in your head tells you, as clear as day, to stop resisting. You look around panicked. As you pass a large window on the street, you catch a glimpse of your reflection. It is not your own, but that of a strange man dressed in a vintage suit. It turns out, these shoes belonged to a wizard whose soul was cursed to possess the shoes for the rest of time — at least, until you came along. He's tired of being walked all over, so instead has possessed you.
As the son of two well-known celebrities, your life has been constantly critiqued by the general public. As an actor since childhood yourself, you are feeling the strain of living in the public eye and are yearning for something much quieter. When a young woman at one of the parties your parents dragged you to approaches you offering just that, you are inclined to listen. She tells you that she can give you a break from the spotlight, requiring only an item that means something to you, and you jokingly decide to indulge her by giving her the necklace from your neck, which your father wore to his first audition. She smiles, slinking off into the crowd. Thinking you've just done something incredibly stupid, you return home for the night with your family. The next morning, you discover that no one recognizes you — not even your parents, who think you're a stranger invading their house. You are shocked to find that the entire world has forgotten you. Not a single trace of your existence exists, and it is now up to you to find the woman who cursed you to this new life without the comfort of your friends and family.
You are a nurse who works at a rural hospital in an Appalachian Mountain town. Lately, things have not been easy at home or at work, and you are beginning to feel burnt out by life. The only thing that brings you peace is walking in the woods. You especially like exploring the forest at the edge of the hospital parking lot when your shift is over. You appreciate its calmness, and sometimes you wish you could somehow just live there without burden or responsibility, just like the woodland creatures you occasionally see. On one particularly bad day after one of your patients dies, you decide to go for a walk in those woods. After an hour of exploring, you stumble upon a clearing with the most beautiful pond you have ever seen in its middle. You kneel at the water's edge, peering at your reflection and wishing for a new life. You soon realize, however, that your reflection does not move when you do. Fearful, you try to scramble away, but a hand reaches out of the water, dragging you in. You close your eyes, bracing for the worst, but when you open them, you find yourself at the water's edge once more. You are completely dry, but something feels off. You look down and see a reflection of a deer's head staring right back at you. You are shocked at first, but then the feeling fades. You dip your head down to take a drink. Not remembering what was bothering you a moment ago, you decide to go back into the woods. You turn around and prance away from the water's edge.
The dreams started when you were nine. The echo of a giggle floated past your ears, a light bounce in your step as your tiny feet pushed into the wet sand and propelled you after her, your footsteps washed away in the salty sea. Her long black hair cascaded in waves down her back, but you never saw her face. Now, years later, the dreams still haunt your sleep. You tell your family and friends, but everyone dismisses these visions as inconsequential and something meant to be forgotten. One night, instead of the echo of the warm laugh, you hear nothing but the crash of the waves. She stands with her back to you at the edge of the water, and you step slowly down to her, touching her shoulder, clutching at her shirt like a newborn. She doesn't turn, but she whispers in the silence: "Find me. Help me." You wake up.
You work retail in a small-town mall in the middle of nowhere during 2013. Over the past decade, the mall has slowly been going out of business, with stores leaving one by one. It's sad to see a place that was once so vibrant now be on its last leg of life, but you knew it was over as soon as the last big box store pulled out of their lease. On the bright side, the mall has become a great place to walk around in, and you have even made friends with the gaggles of old ladies who come to the mall to get in their daily steps. One day after work you decide to join the walkers just for fun. But as you come to the opposite end of the mall, you realize one of the shops is still open amongst the darkness. It is one you've never heard of before. Curious, you enter, and find an old man behind the counter selling small, cloudy looking bottles with something strange swirling within them. When he tells you that they're memories, you don't believe him. But then he offers you one. You uncork the bottle and, in a whoosh of air, you find yourself in the mall ten years ago. It's bustling and lively, and feelings of contentment and nostalgia wash over you. The memory fades, and you find yourself back in the shop. Wanting more, you purchase another. You uncork it and find yourself in the mall once more, but this time something is wrong. The memory doesn't seem to end. It turns out the old man has trapped you in a memory that replays again and again. It's up to you to navigate this dreamlike state in order to get back to the life you never knew you'd miss.
It's time for your family's annual Easter egg hunt. Every year, your grandfather hosts this event at his sprawling estate, inviting relatives both immediate and distant to come hunt for eggs full of goodies. Your grandfather is quite eccentric, and he promises that this year's ultimate prize is one the winner will never forget. Hoping that the grand prize is a decent chunk of cash, you are scouring the estate grounds and checking all the usual hiding spots. You round the stone fountain that sits in an older part of the ground's gardens. The stone is faded and spotted with dirt, and there are spiraling cracks throughout the angel figure that serves as the fountain's centerpiece. You glance at the angel and are surprised to see its mouth hanging wide open with a shimmering pearl-white egg sitting inside. You don't remember ever seeing the angel's mouth open, but don't question it because this egg is unlike any other you have ever seen. You lean over the edge of the fountain, reaching for the egg. Just as you feel the slippery surface of the egg on your fingertips, a loud cracking sound escapes the fountain, and the angel's arm grabs you, throwing you into the fountain's water. The fountain is no longer the shallow little pool it appears to be. Instead, you are surrounded by water on all sides, and you desperately swim further, trying to escape it. Eventually, you reach the surface and catch your breath. You look up and are shocked to see the fountain angel floating above the water with her outstretched wings slowly flapping. She reaches out to you, and you take her hand.
You have always been able to see ghosts from the corner of your eye. At least, that's what you think they are. Since you were five years old, you have called them the shadow people. They appear for a second or two, too blurry to discern any distinct features. If you turn your head to take a closer look, they quickly fade away. As your grow older, however, you are able to make out faces and other characteristics. They are dressed in strange robes, seem to possess fantastical abilities, and are usually just going about their day or talking to one another. You try to ignore them the best you can, but you find yourself constantly distracted by them. It isn't until you meet another person, just like you, that you find out that they're not ghosts at all, but actual people from another realm. Your friend explains that magic is commonplace in their reality and is their primary method for powering their technology. However, the byproducts of such extreme use of magic have caused a rift to open between our world and theirs. You and your newfound friend must find a way to repair this rift before the two realities collapse into one another.
After completing graduate school, you thought everything would fall into place: a great job, a long-term relationship, and — most importantly — success. However, you find yourself just as miserable as you were before grad school, maybe even more, because life is not like you hoped it would be. You're dragging your feet down your office building's halls to the elevator, cold mug of coffee in hand and satchel falling off your shoulder. You get on the elevator and press the button for your floor. Right as you're about to reach your floor, the elevator begins to shake, and your nerves grow. The lights go out for a brief moment before flickering back on, and the elevator doors open. Thankful that you made it and determined to never step foot in an elevator again, you walk into the hallway, only to be met with a bright white hall. This isn't your floor. As you continue down the hall, you see doors painted a variety of different colors. You open one and are shocked to enter a vibrant world that is familiar in appearance, but your life is much different here. In this door's world, you are a successful businesswoman in New York City with a penthouse apartment. You exit the door and enter a new one. Your life is different in this world, but just as amazing because you are a world-famous musician. You spend what seems like several minutes going from door to door, experiencing new and exciting lives. In reality, you spend days doing this, and it comes at a price. The longer you stay and enjoy the new lives you discover, the quicker your old, real life disappears — along with your chance to return to reality.
When you were eight years old, you received a beautiful porcelain doll. Your parents do not remember buying it for you, so you made up your own story as to how you got it and the woman who gave it to you, whom your parents assume was your imaginary friend. Although you do not play with it anymore, you still enjoy its presence and consider it one of your most treasured possessions. The night before you leave for your freshman year of college, you are packing and discover that the doll has gone missing. Clad in your pajamas, you look everywhere. Eventually you find it sitting in the back of your wardrobe. You climb in to grab it, only to find that when you exit the wardrobe, the sun has risen. A little girl runs into your bedroom and stops, terrified. You are shocked to recognize her face. It is your own.
Mount Everest is known as the last sacred source of magic within the modern world. Wizards, sorcerers, witches, and warlocks traverse to the summit of the mountain as a rite of passage, unbeknownst to the general public, who believe magic to be a pure fictional fantasy. However, the strength of this magic is slowly dying, and no one seems to know why. You and a group of four other scholars of magic have been chosen to climb the mountain to find out. Midway through your trip, one of your party members goes missing. Then another. Then a third. Eventually, you discover what has taken them: a large construct of rock and ice, and you recognize it as a golem. Knowing that golems are creatures brought to life by magic users, you now have a hunch that someone must be draining the power from the mountain's source to harness as their own. Three party members down and fighting against both the elements and the obstacles put in place by the enemy, you must get to the peak as fast as you can.

Magic is not part of a secondary fantastical world, nor is it an otherworldly element intruding into a realistic primary world. Rather, both magic and the mundane exist in harmony with one another within the primary world, and the supernatural is a natural part of everyone's worldview.

Your teachers began to worry about you in kindergarten, when you were unable to move your building blocks with your mind. By the time you turned eight, you were diagnosed with a rare syndrome that prevented you from wielding magic due to the absence of a magical aura. But that makes you unique. In a world where magic is the means to almost every end — from warfare to simple household chores — your lack of magical ability means no one can sense your aura or feel you coming. You can slip past any magical barrier, completely unnoticed. Your strength and agility greatly outmatch those of most individuals, whose dependence on magic has left them physically weak. In other words, you are the perfect spy.
The goblin infestation that has plagued New York City for more than a century has nearly come to an end. Most would say that is a good thing. The disgusting creatures spread disease, hang around in alleys, and tip over dumpsters to feed their insatiable appetites. They were a pestilence to be eradicated—at least that is what the government has been preaching within their public service announcements over the years. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Although their exterior is unpleasant to look at, they are as human as you or me. Yes, they harbor disease—because it is illegal to give them medical care. Yes, they live in alleys—because no one would allow them shelter. Yes, they tipped over dumpsters—because they were starving. You have decided to give the goblins shelter, hiding as many as you can in your basement. You could go to prison for harboring the "unclean," but these goblins have become your family and your only true friends in an insane world.
As an agent for many well-known non-human actors in Hollywood, there is a certain kind of guilt that comes when the job market is slim. The need for elves, fairies, goblins, giants, and trolls is just not what it used to be since the widespread adoption of CGI. Why pay a real mermaid a real wage with all of the extra costs involved, including a salt water tank and a food supply of sardines and kelp, when you can just merge a fish with a person in a computer program and call it a day? Lately, the only jobs you can find for your clients are lower-tier, commercial work, which you know may help them in the short term, but won't do much for their careers. Despite several fantasy blockbuster movies being slated for the coming years, your phone has not rung once. However, you are determined to get your clients on the big screen — so determined, in fact, that you're tempted to open your own studio. You have the financial backing of the Leprechaun Banking Guild, who support fair fantasy representation in Hollywood. With the rising outcry of shunned fairytale actors and dramatists rallying behind you, that studio just may become a reality.
On a road trip up the East Coast, your car breaks down in a small Massachusetts town. Being a halfway decent mechanic and a recent graduate of the Philadelphia School of Conjuration, you are able to fix your car with a mix of elbow grease and an auto parts store summoning spell, repairing your broken engine in a matter of hours. You decide to stay in town for an extra day to stretch your legs and explore. Like most small New England towns you've visited, this one is quiet, with a few shops here and there, but there is something odd about this town. The people are stiff and smile a bit too much. They stare and often do not blink. Late that night, you are heading back to the inn you're staying at when you accidentally hit a woman on the side of the road. You rush out of your car to find that she is an automaton powered by an enchanted battery. You bring her back to the inn and are able to repair her quickly, the gears within her clicking back into life. When you question her about her existence, she cheerfully explains that all of the townsfolk were turned into automatons 20 years back by the local artificer to preserve the town, although she will not specify why. You ask her where she lives, but she says that she's just visiting from out of town and leaving soon… or at least she was five years ago. It is then that you realize you are in danger of suffering the same fate. You run out to the parking lot to find your car missing and realize it may happen sooner than you think.
You are the Master Apothecary at Mount Sinai Hospital and are known as the practitioner of last resort. When there is nothing ordinary medicine can do, you save the unsavable, helping those whose only other choice would be death. When you are called to the operating room, you pull on your scrubs, take a deep breath, and charge your magical power. After you enter, your skin begins to sparkle, and the doctors and nurses step away, knowing all too well that magic can have unintended side effects. The patient has been shot, and his heart needs to be rebuilt as only magic can accomplish. As you hold your hands over him, you look down at his face and pause. You've seen this man before… ten years ago, standing over the body of your murdered father.
"Welcome to the Nelson Lake Power Station. I am your host, Heather, and today we will be going on a tour of our facility. Please put on a hard hat, located on the hooks to your left, and follow me into the auxiliary room." You strap on an orange hard hat and enter a large space filled with crisscrossing pipes that extend as far as the eye can see. Projecting her voice over the drone of industrial machinery, Heather begins the tour: "Our plant generates approximately 400 megawatts of power. It consists of four conventional fire generation units. Water from the lake is boiled until it terms into steam at a temperature of 1,000 degrees. We then run that steam through the turbines located—" You raise your hand to interrupt her: "Excuse me, but when will we see the wizards?" Initially irritated, Heather forces herself to smile before responding to your question: "We will see them mid-way through the tour. Now, please hold all of your questions until the end. As I was saying…" While Heather gestures to the ceiling, you look down at the magical charm in your hand: a simple wooden circle with a valknut symbol carved into the center. You were surprised that you were able to get it past security. Perhaps this was all meant to be. As the tour continues, you rub the charm with your thumb and quietly chant a spell under your breath. Eventually, your tour group reaches another large room with four objects in the middle. Heather points to the cube-like structures: "And here is where we store our wizards. As you know, after the magical wielders were toppled during the Primal Rebellion, we faced a moral dilemma regarding what to do with those who survived. Fortunately, we found a good use for many of these wizard POWs as a source of electrical power for our society. Frozen within tesseracts, such as the ones you now see, we can extract their power to boil—" Suddenly, a large crack splits one of the tesseracts, which begins to rupture. As people run for the exits and alarms ring throughout the facility, you smile, knowing that your spell has worked. Soon your brethren will be liberated from this infernal prison.
At the turn of the century, rather than conducting their business solely from underneath bridges, the trolls decided to take a more modern approach to their trade and went digital. With just a few mean-spirited words or unwanted explanations, trolls were able to provoke and torment others, steering online conversations way off topic, to the detriment of everyone involved. Want to discuss astronomy? A troll would bring up how the Earth is flat. Looking for tips on how to make the perfect omelet? A troll would comment that no one should eat eggs due to high cholesterol. Trolls were having a blast with their newfound hobby. To them, nothing is better than infuriating someone to the point where everything is written in all caps. People, on the other hand, were completely fed up. However, where most just saw irritation, you saw opportunity. You went to each and every online community you could think of and enticed every troll you could find to come work for you. Eventually, you opened the very first troll farm that would spark controversy and spread lies on a massive scale, spreading propaganda for the highest bidder.
Each morning the villagers are herded like cattle to the mines to dig precious materials for their magistrate to line his coffers. They cannot object. A magic keeps everyone in line. Through the will of the magistrate, all must adhere to his wants, though no one knows exactly why. It is just the way it has always been. Meanwhile, the villagers' crops have started to wither and die due to everyone laboring in the mines day and night. When the king's heir stops in the village and questions the magistrate about the wilted crops, the magistrate blames the poor weather rather than his selfish ambition. You whisper under your breath, and the heir's head jerks up so he can look right at you. The magistrate follows the heir's sightline. Despite the magistrate's penetrating gaze, you feel like you can take control of your own words and actions for the first time in your life. You make a choice and say words that can never be taken back.
You are a celebrity bride-to-be desperately looking for a dress for your spur-of-the-moment wedding. You decide to visit a dress shop known for its fast turnaround in Los Angeles' magical district, despite its abysmal online reviews. The shop is known for creating the most beautiful gowns from the most stunning fabrics, but the price is heavy — and it is not just monetary. It's an exchange of words that become magically binding; the less money you have, the more you have to promise. These deals have famously backfired. However, with the wedding approaching in just a few weeks, you feel like you have no choice. From your point of view, you're both smart enough and rich enough to take this chance and avoid being duped into something that you will regret later. You go to the dress shop and end up promising to bring them new customers by promoting their brand, which seems simple enough, especially for a famous celebrity such as yourself. The dressmaker creates a stunning dress for you, and the wedding goes off without a hitch. Afterwards, you release photos of yourself in your gown to celebrity gossip websites. As these pictures circulate, people flock to the dress shop looking for a similar fashion statement. You have fulfilled your side of the bargain, but you are not as unaffected by your deal as you think. Under your influence, fans who are not as affluent begin promising things that should not be promised, sometimes ending in personal catastrophe. Feeling guilty about what you promoted to others, you must now find a way to stop this dress stop from ruining anyone else's life.
You are a caregiver recently assigned to help an elderly witch who lives in your coastal hometown. Back in her day, she was the proud owner of a potion shop on Main Street that offered a wide assortment of remedies and elixirs. She sold her business and retired more than two decades ago, and no one has heard much from her since then. Her daughter, who lives across the country, reached out to you and is paying you quite well to take care of her mother, although she has not specified her mother's particular needs. When you arrive on the first day, the old woman is confused to say the least. Despite this, she lets you inside, leading you through her house. From the looks of it — the dishes doing themselves in the sink, the dinner being magically prepared on the stove, a scarf knitting itself on the couch — she's an old witch who doesn't seem to need much help. But as weeks pass and she begins to open up to you, you realize what she needed most was a friend. She teaches you alchemy and potion making and talks about the trip she plans to take to Maine to find an herb with magical properties that she's always wanted to gather, but has never had the time to do so. You decide it's high time that she make that trip, so you pack your car with her in it and take off on the road trip of a lifetime with an unlikely friend.
You have just inherited the family bakery, passed down from your great-grandmother to your grandmother, then your mother, and now you. Your family has been using magic to ensure perfection in their pastries for years. With a few magical ingredients and incantations, you know exactly how to make bread rise perfectly each time and how to magically pipe perfect designs on cakes. For years the business has had nothing but success, but this all changes when a rival bakery opens across the street. The lines of customers that once stretched outside your front door are a thing of the past. In addition, your magic seems to falter, and your pastries begin coming out less than perfect. You have a sneaking suspicion that someone is sabotaging your family's business. After a little investigating, you discover that your competition has been hexing your baked goods. You begin plotting a way to secretly get back at them while still keeping your family business afloat.
You work as a conservation officer at the Northumberland National Park, a wildlife preserve in Northern England that protects several winged dragon species from poachers and other threats. Although dragons have been hunted to the point of near extinction, you have been pleased to see the population levels slowly increasing over the last few years and hope that the trend continues. One day, while perusing your email, you are suddenly interrupted by a distressed wildlife ranger on the two-way radio. You quickly pick up your handheld and ask what's going on. "Our patrol has detained ten trophy hunters near Breamish Valley. There are five, maybe six young dragon carcasses, but that's not the problem. It's their mother." The radio cuts out to static. You get up to look out your window and see a wall of flames on the horizon.
Children's stories told of a time when the rain fell from the sky on its own. According to the stories, the planet somehow knew it needed water and sent rain to make the trees and plants grow. Adults laugh at the stories now and pay rainmakers like you to water their crops. However, more frequently of late, headlines tell of wildfires plaguing the west, just like they had before the rainmakers stepped forward to save the people they once thought of as invaders. As the largest fire in history advances on your ancestral native lands, you step forward. Yet you immediately realize that this is no ordinary fire. It breathes with the heart of the blackest souls, the ancient enemy of your people, and is looking for the strongest warrior. The rain dancers have not done battle since before the gold rush, but this land belongs to you, and you won't let the fires consume what's left of your heritage. You just might need a little help.
Every summer, you work at an equestrian ranch out west —a large property where wealthy people from all over house their horses, pegasi, and unicorns. You soon learned that the only thing worse than a particularly fussy horse is their fussy owners, all of whom have mile-long lists of detailed needs for their prized riding companions. This summer, you find out that there is a particularly famous guest staying at the ranch: an old racing pegasus by the name of Blitz who won almost every race he participated in, unfortunately ending his century-long winning streak with a catastrophic leg injury and broken wing. Blitz's owner has moved onto greener pastures since the injuries, leaving Blitz otherwise abandoned while he heals. You take it upon yourself to help Blitz recover, and over the summer you develop a strong bond with him. When his owner insists that Blitz come back to racing immediately, your heart sinks. You plead with him to retire Blitz, knowing the animal isn't ready, but to no avail. The night before Blitz is slated to leave, you break into the barn, and the two of you fly off into the night.
The Council of Mages gathers on the top floor of its massive Manhattan skyscraper every ten years to conjure a list of all of the families in New York City, ranking them according to magical ability. The list includes many sections, with subsets and sub-subsets of magic wielders, but only the top and bottom truly matter. Families at the top are granted wealth and station and are invited to work directly with the council to shape the future of humanity. Meanwhile, families in the bottom five percent are deemed a hindrance to societal evolution and are taken away, never to been seen or heard from again. Your family is only mildly magical and has always been somewhere in the middle of the list, which is fine from your perspective. Despite being the strongest mage in your family, you've never had more aspiration than working a nine-to-five job. But when the new list is announced and your girlfriend's family is pushed to the bottom five percent, you know you have little time before they come to take her and her family away. The council sees all. Defying them is unthinkable. The only chance is to leave the city. Most die trying to cross the bridges into New Jersey, but you have no other choice. You won't let them take her.
You are a mermaid who teaches orphaned kids from the inner city how to swim at Camp White Dragon, named after the legend of the dragon said to be sleeping at the bottom of the lake for centuries. The campers absolutely adore you, and there is nothing you like more than instilling a love for the aquatic within their hearts. Luckily, the fun doesn't end in the water for you, as you are half human, half mermaid, and able to walk on land when you are not focused on swimming or breathing underwater. Although you long for a familiar connection, you have never met another of your kind. So, when you encounter a 13-year-old camper you once thought was human sporting a tail and swimming beneath the water, you become overjoyed. Unfortunately, she is not as enthusiastic. She is ashamed of being half mermaid, having only recently discovered this ability. You sympathize with her and make it your mission to mentor this young girl, boosting her confidence and teaching her to swim deeper than ever before. However, things don't go as planned when the two of you inadvertently awaken the white dragon at the bottom of the lake. You now must convince your fellow campers and camp counselors of the impending danger and find a way to make the dragon sleep once more.
As someone who works at the DMV, the Department of Magical Vehicles, you can confirm that the word "magical" does nothing to make the place more interesting. Day in and day out, you print, process, and sign paperwork for different licenses and registrations. You have registered vehicles from broomsticks to magic carpets, and everything in between. Today, however, you are getting a change of pace. Hank, who usually does the road tests, called in sick and you have been asked to sub in for the day. Your first appointment is with a sixteen-year-old pimply-faced warlock with a learner's permit. The two of you climb astride his pitchfork. You ask him to parallel park, do a three-point turn, and back up in a straight line. He's a little clumsy and off-balance, but he gets it done. Then you ask him to take to the skies and show you that he can fly in traffic. As he takes off, the hem of his robe gets caught on the tines of the pitchfork and he falls to the ground, but – inexplicably – you and the pitchfork keep launching skyward. You don't know where you are going, or how you will get back home, but at least you know this won't be your typical, boring Tuesday.
As a biology teacher working at a summer school for mages, you know more than anyone that if kids didn't want to do the work during the school year, they certainly won't want to do it now. However, that doesn't mean that you don't try. You teach simple things at first, like Punnett squares and the different parts that cells are made of, but none of the students seem particularly interested. Things continue to be tough until you bring in the frogs to dissect. Some of the kids are actually excited, which is great. A few of them are horrified, which is to be expected. But one of them gets a terrible, mischievous look in his eyes. Before you know it, he is chanting, bringing the frogs back from the dead one by one, sending the classroom into chaos. Shrieks of joy and fear echo through the halls as children run from the zombified frogs. Then the boy recites another spell, and one of the frogs grows exponentially, knocking over desks and chairs as it crashes its way through the walls, the spell-maker on its back. As you have no magical ability, it's up to you to enlist the help of the remaining kids to reverse the damage that has been done and catch their rogue classmate as well as the monster he's created.
You work for an animal shelter. Recently, management decided to accept magical pets alongside their typical menagerie of cats, dogs, and guinea pigs. Unfortunately, they were woefully unprepared to handle these creatures, and the shelter was soon in shambles. Teacup dragons burned through their cages, three-headed dogs devoured bag after bag of kibble, cats started fights with jackalopes, and you with your small staff are left to clean up the mess. Needless to say, your shelter needs additional funding to stay afloat. You and your co-workers must all work together to find a way to keep the shelter open in order to save the animals that rely on you.
You were not a popular kid in high school, and many of your fellow students went out of their way to make sure you knew that. Among other things, you were always teased for your inability to make the simplest of potions and your repeated mispronunciation of different spells. Not surprisingly, you are not looking forward to attending your high school reunion coming up in a few weeks, yet you are determined to show your childhood bullies that they were wrong about you. You decide to raid your savings account and turn to the magical black market, where you find a potion of perception, an illusory manipulation trick that turns the person who consumes it into whatever the other person wants to see. You drink the potion just as you arrive at the reunion. When you enter the high school gymnasium, all eyes are on you. Suddenly, people who made fun of you are coming up to you, are interested in what you've been up to since graduation, and are apologizing to you for how they treated you during high school. But something is wrong. People are getting a little too clingy, and their interest is turning into a magic-fueled obsession. You run out of the gym to head home and go straight to bed, hoping the potion will wear off soon. You wake up in the morning to find your classmates from the reunion on your front lawn. They are still obsessed with you. They follow you around all day and even fight each other to talk to you. You now realize that you have made a mistake and must break the curse or else live the rest of your life in hiding.

Legend and folklore are the primary sources for characters and plot elements within these stories. Whether the world is magical or mundane in nature, myths are heavily drawn upon to retell these old fables in a new light or add a new chapter to what has already been told.

It's been years since you were cast out of Olympus. Bouncing from job to job, you had a difficult time finding your place in the mortal realm. However, over time you slowly built up your reputation as a skilled gumshoe. Whenever someone needed help getting to the bottom of a problem — from a lost cat to a cheating husband — they came to you. Eventually you opened your own private detective agency in Hawaii and named it after your former moniker: Astraea Investigative Services.
You are a poet, though it is not a profitable business, much to your parents' dismay. To make up for this, you spend your late nights and early mornings as a cab driver, ferrying college students from their own late night shifts and drunks home from the bars. They always forget you, and you them. It is, for the most part, an unremarkable job. Until you meet the man in all black. He is unlike the other people you drive around. He tells you to drive to the docks on the opposite end of the city, a full hour and a half away, and while you normally wouldn't, you nod and start the meter. He seems well put together and lucid. He speaks clearly, and his voice is cold, almost frightening. He talks about history, recent and past, and seems to know the answers to most of the questions you ask on the matter, as if he was there himself. Toward the end of the ride, he tells you he is looking for a replacement in his line of work and thinks that you would be the perfect candidate. You let him out at the docks, and he beckons to you. You exit the cab to find a line of rather gaunt-looking people waiting to board an ancient-looking wooden boat. You realize that you have been talking to Charon, ferryman of the River Styx, and he's asking you to take over his job.
All your life you've felt awkward and out of place. You are always the last one chosen in gym class, always sit alone in the cafeteria, always on the outside looking in. Then your adoptive mother enrolls you at a new school, where you meet two girls with the same birthmark that you have on their necks. You look nothing alike, but you know you are kin. You can just feel it. You decide to invite your new friends over for a sleepover the night of your sixteenth birthday, which happens to coincide with the next full moon. That night, after a few good scary movies and far too much pizza, you decide to camp out in the backyard beneath the moonlight. After everyone has fallen asleep, you are awakened by a haunting voice beckoning you, telling you that your reunion has restored your gifts of sight. Frightened, you wake up your new friends. Then you notice her standing there: your queen, the goddess Hecate. She smiles serenely at you before speaking. "Hello, my Fates. It's good to see you again. It's time for your first quest — in this lifetime."
For as long as you can remember, you have always been fascinated by the statue of the Greek god in the local park. One day, while examining the statue, the god speaks to you, revealing that you are his offspring.
You are a collector of rare and mythical items — at least, that's what you tell the billionaires to whom you sell the artifacts on the black market. You've been everywhere — Greece, Egypt, Antarctica, Peru — and each place you go, under the guise of an academic researcher, you have gained access to sites that the general public has no knowledge of. But times are tough in this business, and the once-sought-after rarities are no longer in demand. Desperate, you take advice from one of your former customers, who just so happens to know of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He talks of the last griffin, a lion and eagle creature that once pulled the chariots of the gods, and how she has laid her final egg. This priceless egg made of agate lies deep within a long-forgotten gold mine, along with the treasure of eons past that the griffin was charged to protect. Your former customer agrees to pay your travel fees if you are willing to take the risks to retrieve these items. Little do you know that everyone is on the hunt for the egg, and you must compete in a race against time and former colleagues to find the treasure of all treasures.
You have been chosen to become an oracle in ancient Greece. Your mother and her mother before her were oracles as well, consulting the gods and relaying their wishes to heroes and others across the years. But there is one problem: You have never heard a word from the gods. Regardless, you pretend you do, and the next couple of weeks go relatively smoothly, although you do feel guilty for giving false advice to those few unlucky heroes. But when a kind, young woman in a hooded cloak arrives, seeking guidance from you specifically, you confess. You tell her not to heed your advice, for you cannot commune with the gods. You beg her not to tell anyone else. She smiles, removing her hood. Something inside of you tells you that this is the Goddess Athena. You fall to your knees, and she shakes her head, thanking you for your honesty. She requests you come with her. In shock, you agree and, with a simple touch of her hand, you are transported to the halls of Olympus, where you train with Athena and learn that the names of each god are titles passed down through many people. You are to become the next one.
Despite being raised in a family of fishermen, you cannot swim. In fact, you have a deep fear of the water. You know that it seems irrational to everyone around you, but for some reason, every time you approach the water lapping at the shore, your body freezes as if you have been paralyzed. One day you are waiting for your father and brother to return home from a day of fishing when the town bell rings. As more and more people report that family members did not return from their day at sea, the townsfolk panic, and soon they are screaming and crying. Your father and brother are among the missing. After several days of searching, your small fishing village gives up any hope of finding the missing people, but you do not. On the dawn of a cool, misty morning, you walk to one of your family's fishing boats and hesitantly step into it. The water is already rough, and you regret setting sail with no experience. A massive wave rocks your boat, tossing you into the cold water. You struggle to keep your head afloat, but your body has frozen. The ocean envelopes you as you sink into its dark depths. To your complete surprise, you are suddenly snatched from above. You come face to face with the haggard old man who just pulled you from the water. He is excited to have found you, repeating over and over again that his vision was right. He tells you that he saw you in a premonition while praying at the Temple of Poseidon and that he is here to help you search for your loved ones. He points to the ocean and says that Poseidon himself has blessed the journey and will aid you on the quest. When you look at the water, unrelenting fear takes hold of you. The ocean almost claimed you today; you know the next time it will pull you into its infinite depths forever. However, you must save your family. With little choice but to trust this strange old man, you set sail across the vast and perilous ocean.
Your dog walking business in New York City has been doing well for the past few years. You work mostly with wealthy clients who have 9-5 office jobs, and you have walked everything from Pomeranians to Great Danes. When one client sends for you via handwritten letter, your interest is piqued. You reread the letter and find a P.S. on the back regarding some sort of charm that the dog must wear to conceal his appearance. You disregard the odd statement and decide to visit the address listed. The next day, you find yourself at the door of a penthouse in an old art deco apartment building. Having read that the dog is fussy and bites, you have brought along your gardening gloves to protect your hands. But as you unlock the door with the key the client left for you under the mat, you find that what she wants you to walk isn't your typical dog. It's Cerberus, the guardian hound of the underworld. You're definitely going to need more than gardening gloves.
Most Spartan teenagers are ready for battle after just a few years of training, during which their bodies grow in size, their muscles bulge, and they shoot up in height. This has been the norm for generations, as Ares, the God of War, blessed the Spartan training grounds on the day that the city-state was founded. Yet despite your years spent on those same training grounds, you do not grow stronger. Instead, you become weaker and frailer. Your trainers are disappointed by your lack of progress, and soon you are deemed cursed by the gods and are exiled from your homeland. Determined to prove yourself a worthwhile Spartan warrior, you journey to Mount Olympus to confront Ares in person and gain his blessing.
You have a job as a customer service representative in a rundown call center in the middle of a nondescript office park. All day long you take calls from outraged customers demanding refunds for the low-quality products your company sells. Being hung up on is the norm, with many customers choosing to hurl insults at you rather than discussing things rationally. You've grown used to it over time, but every once in a while someone will say something that sticks with you. You always hate those calls. As another workday starts, you watch the waiting calls blinking yellow on your computer screen, knowing that each one will probably end in a one-sided shouting match. As you look down the list of thirty or forty lines, you see a call light up in blue. You've never seen a blue call before, and you have no idea what it means. As you watch, the blue call suddenly starts skipping up the queue toward the top, first slowly, and then gaining speed. Each call it passes disappears from the queue, and in no time the queue is empty except for the one blinking blue number. You click "Take Call" on your screen and suddenly, from your headset, a gentle sea breeze blows against your face. A woman on the other line asks you how your day has been and launches into an engaging conversation on topics you love to talk about. The hours fly by and, before you know it, your workday is done. You say goodbye to the friendly caller, go home, have a relaxing bath, go to bed, and wake up the next morning totally refreshed. When you walk into the call center, you are humming a tune that the blue caller taught you. You sit down at your desk and turn on your computer. To your amazement, you find the same blue caller waiting for you. You are ecstatic to start your lovely conversation again. But as you think about it, none of this makes any sense. It is almost as if you are being lured by a siren. However, you can't resist this siren's call.
You and your mother work hard every day to keep your grain farm running in the height of the Great Depression. You feel connected to the land in a way you can't explain, and your mother is a genius at knowing just how to make the crops flourish. Beyond this great closeness to the land, your bond with your mother is unshakable. Life is peaceful and tough, but fulfilling. The only thing missing for you is romance, but you believe that, when it's time, it will come to you. One night, you wake to see a purple orb glowing in the fields. A powerful force compels you to get out of bed and go to it. It's the dead of night, but you can't help yourself. When you get there, you find a hooded man holding a long staff, with the light that led you there emanating from the top of the staff. You don't run or scream, but you can't understand why. Then he greets you by your name: Persephone. He tells you his master would like to meet you. He waves the staff and, to your shock, the ground opens beneath your feet, but you do not fall. Instead, you see a stunning gentleman on a chariot tied to a pair of majestic horses beneath your feet. He asks you to join him for a ride. Before you can reply, your mother's scream rips through the night.
You are an American author spending the summer in Denmark while writing your latest novel on Norse mythology. On the weekends, you go out to the Faroe Islands to hike and write by the beautiful lakeside, occasionally taking a dip. One particularly foggy day you see strange movement in the water. Convincing yourself it's a large fish, you continue to write. But as this creature gets closer and closer, you realize that it's not a fish at all. In fact, it looks like a horse. It rises out of the water and you realize that this horse is a Nix, a beautiful but dangerous creature of Nordic myth that lures people to their doom by enticing them to ride it and subsequently drowning them. You know the perils all too well, but you still approach the creature, reaching your hand toward it. In response, it disappears under the water. You return to the same beach every day for the rest of the week, and every day the Nix appears, getting closer each time. When you step into the water and it sinks below the surface, urging you to follow it, you wonder if the legends about this beautiful creature are incorrect. You swim with it, surfacing in an underwater cave — a perfect pocket of air where its foal sleeps peacefully. The Nix nudges the small sleeping horse, pointing out lesions on its leg. You believe the Nix is asking for help. It is up to you to save this mythical creature while keeping its existence a secret.
Your grandmother from Greece is a hoarder. She has items from generations upon generations stuffed in her house and refuses to give any of them up out of fear of losing an heirloom that she hasn't seen in years. Eventually, she becomes more erratic, claiming that the end of times is nigh, and your mother has to make the very difficult choice to put her into a nursing home. It is then up to you and your family to clear out the house. In the many hours you have spent tossing things in the trash, you have found an array of different treasures, but none as interesting as the old wooden box in the attic. It is small and ornately carved, with metal insignias around its edges. It's also locked tight. Despite your better judgment, you decide to crack it open using a knife, deeply curious to see what's inside. As soon as you do, you realize you have made a mistake. A powerful explosion of air and smoke erupts from the box, shattering the nearby windows. You slam it shut and throw the box into a donation pile, quickly moving on to another task. Less than a day later, news stations are going wild with reports of crime and even the threat of war on the horizon. Your family also seems to be more on edge and endlessly arguing with one another. For some reason, you are immune. You realize that you must have opened Pandora's box — or a version of it anyways. However, the donation pile is gone and the box along with it. While avoiding the turmoil overtaking the world, you must now figure out how to capture what you've unleashed before humanity rips itself apart.
You've always been attracted to bad boys — guys in leather jackets with tattoo sleeves and piercings decorating their bodies. You like them when they're rough around the edges and tell it how it is, so you are thrilled when you meet a mysterious man decked out in black biker clothes in your favorite bar. He's got a fire in his eyes and a wicked, gleaming grin. The two of you flirt all night, and he finally asks if you want to come back to his place. Obviously, you say yes, but you are shocked when a red light blinds you and pitches you into darkness. The next time you open your eyes, you are surrounded by dark walls and stone. The stranger from the bar stands in front of you, but his handsomeness has been stripped, revealing the ugly, scarred face of Hades. You've been kidnapped, added to the group of women he manipulates into coming to the Underworld with him. Your only chance of escape is to somehow outwit this god, so you make friends with all the other kidnapped women, Hades' henchmen, and the rest of the Underworld creatures. You vow that you will get back to the world of the living, no matter what it takes.
You've always loved hiking, and you've finally built up the stamina to hike Mt. Hallasan on Jeju Island. The trail winds through a dense and lush forest, and you just know that the view of the water at the very top of the mountain will be spectacular. The trail isn't as busy as you expected, which means you can truly enjoy the peaceful singing of the birds and the rustling of the trees. Suddenly, you hear the sound of crying in the distance; you decide to investigate in case someone is hurt. You veer off the trail for what seems like only a few minutes, but you quickly realize it has been much longer as you get lost deeper and deeper amongst the trees. You keep following the sound of crying until you stumble upon a young man sitting at the base of an especially tall tree. As you approach, you notice he is clutching his stomach, and his shirt is stained with blood. However, the blood is a deep brown, like it has been dried for a very long time. The man looks up at you, and you feel immense fear but also an indescribable feeling of awe. He springs up from his spot on the ground to clutch your hands, and you feel a shiver go down your spine. He is not normal. In a rushed voice, he tells you that his spirit has been trapped inside the blood-stained shirt for centuries, and he needs your help to break his curse of immortality. You gasp, realizing that this man is a Dokkaebi, a Korean nature spirit. You want to help, but you fear you are being manipulated as these spirits are known for being tricksters and playing pranks on humans. Still, you can't help but be drawn to the man, wanting to help him escape from his prison. You take one more look at his desperate, captivating gaze and make your decision.
Tradition states that mages in your kingdom are granted the companionship of a mythical beast when they reach their 20th year. The beast is said to be a reflection of your future and the path that you are destined to take as one of the few chosen at birth to wield magic. When your 20th birthday arrives, you are ecstatic. The ceremony begins in the evening as the sun is beginning to set. The ritual torches are lit, the sigil drawn, and you step forward towards the Elder Crystal, placing your hands atop it, your family watching you eagerly. As the mages of old recite the birthright incantation, the ground shakes. The earth within the sigil cracks and falls away, allowing a pure, white light to erupt from below. The light shifts from white to a blazing red as a horrible screech echoes up through the hallowed woods. The phoenix rises, its flames blinding and beautiful, and sends a ripple of heat across the crowd. Everyone goes silent as the bird perches next to you, heat radiating from its feathers. This creature, which was thought to have been extinct for hundreds of years, has been prophesized to stand beside the mage who will bring forth the end of times.
Your mother's body is being ravaged by a horrible sickness that has overtaken your village, and you know she will not last much longer. Desperate to save her, you go to the home of the three old women on the outskirts of town. They are rumored to dabble in magic, and you hope that they can save your mother's life. When you reach their home, you beg the three women for their help. Unfortunately, they tell you that they cannot save your mother from her fate. You are disheartened, but thank them for their time as you leave. However, moments later, you hear muffled sounds of arguing from inside the home. You peek in through a window to see that the argument has been settled and the three women are now holding what looks to be a string. One of them cuts it and, at the same time, a woman in the village cries out, shouting that her brother has died. You see the string for what it is: the string of fate. When night descends, you return to the house, sneak in, and rifle through their belonging as they sleep. You find a small box with your mother's name on the lid. Inside is a string with a note stating that it should be cut again, this time in half. You steal it and flee the house.
Having grown up in a busy foster home, you appreciate the peace and quiet of nature. You prefer to spend time alone in the forest, which is where you discover that you can run like the wind, lift rocks as big as yourself, and throw them further than the eye can see. One afternoon, you are walking through the woods when dark clouds suddenly gather overhead. The storm breaks, and rain pelts down on you. Suddenly, a huge clap of thunder shakes the sky, and a fiery bolt of lightning strikes nearby. You dive out of the way, narrowly missing being directly hit, but you feel a surge of electricity shoot up through your feet. The radiating pain from your heels causes you to fall to your knees. You're surrounded by a bright light, and you look up, covering your eyes. As the light fades and the rain subsides, you find a giant of a man standing before you. His hair is long, thick, and grey, as is his beard, and his bare arms are strong and powerful. His face is stern and intimidating. He tells you his name is Zeus, father of the gods. At first, you're afraid, but then he tells you a great war is coming, and you have an important part to play. The time has come to fulfill your destiny. With a powerful swirl of wind, he swoops you up and, before you know it, you're standing in the center of Olympus, where the other gods eagerly await your arrival. You know you're not a god yourself, but you feel your own power grow in their presence. Zeus puts his hand on your shoulder, and the gods part, revealing the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. Zeus tells you she is your mother. As she embraces you, she tells you that, if you agree to fight on the side of the gods, your memory will live forever. However, you will never return to the mortal realm again.
Your mother's crops have never been bountiful. Year after year her harvest yields small, withered vegetables, leaving you and your three siblings in a state of constant starvation, especially as you have to sell some of the yields to help cover other household expenses. When it's your turn to run the market stall, you set out your measly collection of potatoes and misshapen carrots, not expecting much. But when a rather tall woman walks by your stall, she strikes up a conversation with you, saying that she is headed to a far-away land to help them with a drought that has devastated their community. She offers you 600 gold pieces for your entire stock of vegetables in order to help feed these people, but she includes one condition: You are to plant the seed she gives you in your family's garden and save the yield for her the following year. Excited by the sheer amount of gold she is offering, you agree and make the exchange. You go home to tell your tale, and you and your family celebrate. A year passes, and the plot of land you planted the seed in doesn't seem to be growing. But the night of the full moon, two days before the stranger said she'd return for her crop, you hear a deep rumbling outside. You find that a pumpkin as large as a carriage has sprouted under the moonlight. The next day, your mother auctions off the pumpkin. You beg her to remember the promise you made to the stranger, but she does not listen. As the pumpkin is carted away to its new home, you see the stranger in the crowd, a stern expression on her face. She waves her hand, and the ground rumbles. The vegetables in your garden begin to grow exponentially, soon towering above your head. She then reveals herself to be Gefjun, the goddess of agriculture and abundance, and states that she has given your greedy mother exactly what she wanted. If you don't find a way to reverse the curse, the overgrowth will eventually sprawl across the rest of the town, crushing it.
It's after school. You're in the music room as usual, practicing the piano, when you notice a drop cloth covering an instrument you've never seen before. You pull back the cover to find a glimmering harp. Your heart jolts. It is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. You pull a chair up to the massive golden beauty and, as if possessed, begin to play. You've never played the harp. Although many consider you a bit of a musical prodigy, the way you take to its strings overwhelms you. The majestic tune invades your senses as your eyes shut. Suddenly, you see flashes of times past — of goddesses and nymphs, of heroes defeating monsters. It's all as real as anything you've seen in the ordinary world. When you open your eyes, you see eight women dressed in white gowns smiling softly at you. "We found her!" the youngest one cheers. You gasp and jump from your chair, asking how they got in and who they are. The most regal of them all steps forward and introduces herself as Calliope. She tells you that you were cursed to forget who you are and sent away from them, but they have found you now. Before you can ask any further questions, the lights turn out. You gasp again but, in a blink, they're back on. The women have vanished. Was it just your imagination? You find a note on the ground that simply reads: "Euterpe, we'll see you again." Euterpe? They obviously have the wrong girl… right?

Defined by abilities that far exceed those of normal people, these individuals protect the public and battle sinister villains. There is usually a backstory to how the hero's powers were established and what motivated the superhero to dedicate his or her life to fighting evil.

The summer that you accept an internship with one of the biggest biotech companies in the United States is the summer your life changes. Upon arrival on your first day, you receive a badge and passcodes for every door in the building, all of which change on a monthly basis. You are assigned to be a research assistant for one of their chief engineers, a famous biochemist. You bring him coffee every morning, take notes, and check his calculations. For the most part, the job is peaceful. Then Subject 237 arrives. Imprisoned for grand larceny and multiple manslaughter charges, Subject 237 is what people have referred to in recent years as superhuman, one of thousands whose body chemistry changed after exposure to a strange meteorite impact in New York City. He has the ability to morph from solid to liquid to gas and back again, unscathed. The biotech company you work for wishes to reproduce this effect in other human beings and struck a very secret, and very illegal deal with the prison warden to experiment on the prisoner. But this doesn't sit right with you. Despite what you've been told, after speaking to him, you believe this man is innocent. When another superhuman with psychic powers is brought into the facility and confirms your belief by reading Subject 237's mind, you know you must act to free and protect this innocent man.
You work at a comic bookstore in New York City. One night, you stay late after closing in order to take inventory. You see a bright light coming from one of the crates in the back of the store. You go to investigate and discover an issue of a comic book you've never seen before. When you open it, a group of superheroes waves you in. Shocked, you drop the book on the ground. You take a step back, close your eyes, and take several deep breaths before opening them again. The book is still there, and it's still glowing. When you pick the book up again— whoosh —you're sucked inside. The next morning, the store manager arrives just as you're emerging from the book. Your manager looks stunned to see you there, especially as you're dressed in a superhero outfit and looking very fit.
When your mother died, you inherited her multi-billion-dollar tech company. Being somewhat of a scientist yourself, you thought the job would be an exciting new chance to develop tech alongside some of the industry's best and brightest. But in her later years, your mother decided to outsource the R&D to other companies in order to simplify management of the business. You soon find out that your position is more about paperwork than revolutionary technology, with a few high-end social events sprinkled in for good measure. Fed up with the mountains and mountains of emails, you take it upon yourself to develop a new initiative, one that could truly challenge you for the betterment of society. After a few months of development, you build a state-of-the-art mech suit capable of defeating any foe. With this fresh new piece of tech that you're proud to call your own, you take to the streets of your city with the goal of stopping crime and helping the community at large. However, you quickly discover that the people don't want your help. In fact, they see your new crimefighting hobby as simply ego-driven self-aggrandizement. With each passing day, people are refusing your help and mocking you online. Soon, you become the source of countless memes and are given the ridiculous superhero name of "Billionaire Boy." Tired of the endless mockery, you decide to switch sides and become a supervillain to garner the respect you demand.
Your great grandfather was a superhero in the 1940s. Although he was popular for quite some time, he went into hiding in the early 1950s after a mission gone wrong ended with the death of his sidekick, your great grandmother. He put his crime-fighting days behind him to focus on raising his sons. Surprisingly, none of his sons nor anyone in the family tree exhibited any superpowers... until you. As you come of age, you discover that you can manipulate time. It starts out small. For example, you go back in time to prevent your toast from burning or turn back the clock a few minutes to ensure you make it to school before the first bell. However, when you accidentally open a time rift and find yourself back in the 1950s, just a few days before the fateful mission that took your great grandmother's life, you realize you can change much more than you previously thought.
You are down on your luck. Your demotion at work has just turned into a firing, your car has finally given out, and — to make matters even worse — your girlfriend of five years has just dumped you. Depressed, jobless, and feeling like the world is against you, you sink into your couch, wishing for something better. When you see an ad on TV for a company with high pay, high stakes, and no experience required, you decide to take a chance. After all, you have nothing left to lose. But when your new place of business implants a chip in you that grants you super strength and allows you to see through walls, you realize you may be in over your head. Now you and your fellow co-workers who survived the implant procedure must work together with your newfound abilities to take down villains while remaining anonymous to the general public.
The first time it happened was in the middle of a basketball game. The second time was when you ran into your ex-boyfriend in the supermarket. The third time, that homeless man was asking you for change. Each time the process has been the same: Time seems to slow down, your body begins to freeze, and your mind becomes quick as lightning as you study the situation. You analyze and decide, and then the moment passes. Maybe you're just imagining things. Maybe it's all the caffeine you've been ingesting or the fact you've slept only 12 hours over the last four nights. Maybe it's just the adrenaline giving you a boost. Then it happens for a fourth time, and it becomes clear that time is actually stopping. You are making a blind turn around a corner when the truck in front of you skids into the other lane. The driver in an oncoming car honks and jams on his brakes while the car behind him veers wildly toward you. All at once everything freezes. Terrified, you assess the situation. You could yank the wheel hard and perhaps miss that oncoming car, but there's a truck behind you that you didn't see earlier. You finally decide on the optimal course of action.
Your mother is a superhero known as the Cosmic Mist who has been saving the metropolis area since before you were born. She is able to manipulate the particles of the very air her enemies breathe and can change its temperature, speed, and chemical makeup within the blink of an eye, turning it into a deadly, iridescent mist. But during one battle against her arch nemesis that was televised live on the news, she summons the mist, and they both disappear completely. When she doesn't show up back home that evening, you know something is deeply wrong. You have to navigate the city—now in a state of heightened crime and danger due to her disappearance—and figure out what happened to her, all while coping with the confusion that comes with the development of your own emerging powers.
The year is 1895. You are an archeologist leading an expedition into a temple deep in the heart of South America. The ruins are rumored to hold a great fortune, and you are one of the first explorers to set foot inside. After navigating through several boobytraps, you and your team stand before a massive stone statue of a sleeping face. When you take one wrong step, the statue's eyes open wide, flooding the room in bright white light. You don't remember much after that. The next day, you awaken back at your encampment. You are heavily bandaged, and a team member explains that the temple collapsed and you barely made it out alive. Disgraced, you return home with no riches to speak of. However, several days later, you are invigorated with more energy than you have ever felt before. In fact, you are able to lift large, heavy objects with ease. The statue, it seems, has granted you the power of superhuman strength. Overjoyed, you schedule a meeting with your board of research directors, excited to share this new development. But within a few days, your skin has hardened. You are horrified to realize that you are slowly turning into living stone.
You have come close to death many times over the course of your life, but each time you have, you are saved by some miracle. Whether it be a quick step to the side or a perfectly timed crouch to pick up a penny from the street, these encounters have been very lucky. Perhaps a little too lucky. You decide to put this to the test by seeking out danger, just to see if you can get out of it. You rock climb without harnesses, cliff dive from impossible heights, and even find that every bullet fired at you, regardless of the distance, misses. This, you deduce, is your superpower. With seemingly nothing left to lose, you become a vigilante, using your luck to stop criminals in their tracks. You begin to make powerful enemies, all of which are powerless to stop you. But when you wake up one morning and stub your toe on your dresser, you fear that your luck is running out.
When the mysterious metal pod washed up on the shores of New England, it became a sensation. People travelled for miles just to glimpse it, convinced that it was living proof of alien existence. One month after the pod appeared, it opened and a man stepped out. A hush of disappointment came over the crowd as he did, but quickly dissipated when he levitated ten feet above the ground. He raised his hand, causing a massive cloud of hot steam to rise from the pod and rocket into the sky. Then it rained for a week straight across the entire United States. As the rainwater seeped into the ground and flooded homes across the nation, people began developing strange abilities, including levitation, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis, to name a few. You, a grocery store clerk from the middle of nowhere, were gifted with the ability to see the future, and you see that the world is going to end in a matter of weeks. Now on a mission to reverse the effects of the mysterious rainfall, you and a few others travel across the country, hunting for the man who emerged from the pod.
You are a teenager who lives next door to an elderly man who has become your friend over the years. You help him out occasionally, watering his garden and chatting while he rests on the porch as well as walking his tiny, yet equally old Pomeranian every night. You both enjoy the company. Despite speaking almost every day, you realize that you know very little about your friend. You decide to interview him for a class project, and he agrees, leading you into his house. The walls are covered with newspaper clippings detailing disasters that were averted over the years, and he tells you that, as a young man, he had a very exciting life. When he leads you into the back room and you see an old superhero suit —one that's been at the center of many urban legends — you know you're in for a good story.
You have idolized superheroes your entire life and want nothing more in this world than to be one. When you move out of your parents' house, you decide to make your dream come true. You attempt everything: exposing yourself to radiation, getting hit by lightning, allowing every strange-looking spider you come across to bite you… but nothing seems to work. After several failed attempts and a few trips to the hospital, you are almost ready to throw in the towel. However, no matter how hard you try, you can't shake the feeling that you were meant for greatness. Then one day it dawns on you: You don't really need superpowers to protect the innocent from the forces of evil — you can be one of those superheroes who uses gadgets! You quickly download the best CAD software you can find, watch a few YouTube tutorials, and get to work.
After a nuclear disaster, people begin developing strange mental capabilities. Levitation, pyrokinesis, and telepathy become commonplace, making the end of the world a very interesting place to be. Your parents died in the blast, so you now roam the wastelands with a group of these superhumans, all of whom prefer to remain pacifistic. But when you meet an opposing group of superhumans that threatens your way of life, you must make the decision to make peace or give into violence.
You can communicate telepathically with animals. It's a superpower you've had your entire life, one that your parents initially thought was just the result of an overactive imagination. Your sister is insanely jealous of your superpowers. Despite this, you both have gotten along fine over the years, growing up with little to no issues with each other. One day while walking in the forest, a random squirrel tells you that people have been going missing over the last few weeks. You ask other creatures in the forest, and they all tell you that something big is coming. "The forest is dying," they tell you. "The monster is here." You investigate further, asking more questions of the local animals. Eventually, they lead you to the edge of the forest and a construction site where scientists and workers alike congregate over the deepest hole you've ever seen. They leave for the night, but before you can make your way over, you see something crawling its way out. It is large and monstrous. As you watch, it shifts form — from animal to bird and finally settling on a human form. You then realize that it is your sister. Jealous of your abilities, she struck a deal with an entity that fed on her envy, gaining the ability to shapeshift. But this power is slowly killing her. You now have to find a way to free your sister from this creature's influence before it is too late.
Each year, the most exceptional cadets from the best military schools in the nation are chosen to become part of the government's superhero team. Every candidate's DNA is tested and then ranked according to the potential for superhuman ability. Cadets who meet the minimum DNA requirements are then put through rigorous physical trials to determine their ability to overcome adversity. The few elite candidates with both the highest DNA ranking and the ability to pass these trials are selected for the program, where they are genetically modified to reach their maximum superhuman potential. You were able to pass the physical trials with a few other cadets. However, you barely made the cutoff for DNA ranking, so you know you are at the bottom of the current candidate list and have no real chance of being chosen for the team. Despite this, you desperately want to be a superhero and are willing to do anything to be selected — including cheating.
You were born into a family of superheroes, so your parents were devastated when you did not possess a single superpower at birth. At first, your family hoped that you might be a late bloomer and your powers would develop over time. However, this was not the case. Now in your late 20s, you lead a normal life while your family is off fighting criminals around the world. Sometimes your lack of powers gets you down, especially when you see news reports of your family's heroism on TV. Nevertheless, your hobbies and interests do keep your spirits up most days. You are even dating someone who is dealing with a similar family issue, though hers is more of the competitive squash variety rather than the saving the world variety. However, when your superhero family is captured by an evil supervillain hell bent on world domination, it falls to you and your girlfriend to rescue your family and save the day. You may not have super strength or be able to fly, but you hope that what you do have will be enough to save them.
Initially advertised as something that would change people's lives for the better, millions of Americans participated in the Superhero Transformation Project, willingly signing over their bodies to the government in order to be subjected to genetic modification. For the most part, the program was successful. People who gained the power of flight or invincibility after genetic modification went on to have the life of their dreams, fighting crime for their local governments while being heralded by the general public. But some people did not gain meaningful powers and instead were granted pointless abilities, such as the power to know someone's shoe size just by looking at them or the power to grow the hair on their head on command. Others, like you, are able to predict the future — but only 30 seconds before it happens. It feels more like a curse than an opportunity. Once you're assigned the night shift at a high security prison, you learn that those 30 seconds are worth so much more than you believed.
In a world overwrought by supervillains, you are always busy fighting crime. However, no matter how strong they are, these villains do not pose much of a threat to you. With the power to incapacitate superhumans by mutating their DNA at will, you have come to be known as the Golden Goddess, the most powerful superhero of your generation. At first, you help as many people as possible, removing superpowers from any criminal that you can corner. However, over time, you become increasingly selective about the supervillains you pursue as you don't believe that every petty crime requires a superhero like you to get involved. When you are invited to join the League of Superheroes to fight the forces of evil as a team, you quickly decline the offer. You would never work with a committee of smaller-scale superheroes, being told who to fight, what to do, and how to do it. A team would just drag you down. However, everything changes when you come across a villain who seems to be immune to your powers. Even worse, this villain manages to absorb your abilities, rendering you vulnerable. With your powers gone, you decide to enlist the help of the weaker superheroes whom you once shunned, hoping that they will aid you in regaining your powers despite how you treated them. When they come to your aid, no questions asked, you understand the true meaning of being a hero.
An outbreak is affecting the entire nation. The flu-like disease is powerful enough to change a person's genetic makeup if catalyzed by some sort of physical trauma. Despite your best efforts, you contract the disease. A week later, you get hit by a car. Lamenting your bad luck, you lay in your hospital bed for months, and the doctors are saying that you'll be paralyzed for the rest of your life. But when you make a full recovery, you discover that you are impervious to any harm whatsoever. You are heralded as a medical miracle. In the months that follow, newscasts are ripe with stories of people all across the nation gaining all sorts of superpowers. Initially it is joyous, with people using their newfound powers to help their communities. But as more and more people gain powers, things begin to get out of control. Crime skyrockets. People who don't have powers keep putting themselves in danger in order to get them, and it becomes a crisis. You decide to form a coalition of other superheroes in order to keep the peace as best as you can, but there is no doubt that the world is headed toward anarchy.
You have taken a pizza delivery job, which is perfect for you considering you can run at superhuman speeds — a power you gained after an accident involving an electrical outlet. You haven't met any other superhumans, so you go out of your way to hide your powers from others while still completing deliveries in record time and earning generous tips. Three months into the job, you finally catch a glimpse of another superhuman jumping rooftop to rooftop and landing impossible distances. Curious, you deviate from your pizza route to follow him and eventually recognize him from one of your college courses. When you observe him breaking into a jewelry store and robbing it of its contents, you realize that not everyone uses their power for good. Now, pizza still in hand, you must decide whether or not to intervene.

These high-action stories incorporate melee and magical fighting within a medieval-inspired world. The overall scope of the plot is not epic. Instead of saving the world from an imminent threat, a few characters use their abilities to accomplish a small-scale goal.

You are the son of the greatest warrior of the kingdom, who — through his heroism and might — has protected the land from the forces of evil for decades. However, your path has not been as glorious as your esteemed father's. After being caught in bed with the princess, you have been banished from the kingdom and are now scraping by as a common sell-sword without title. When a powerful sorcerer sends assassins to murder your mighty father in his sleep, it is up to you as his first born to forge the path of vengeance. You hope that this quest may win you some favor with the king, making up for your past misdeeds. You may even be invited back into the royal court if everything works out as you planned. You form a willing group of sword-wielding fighters at the local tavern to accompany you to the Valley of Doom, where the sorcerer and his followers dwell. Legend has it that no man has made it out alive. After assembling your group, you begin your journey when suddenly the daughter of the local witch jumps out from behind a tree dressed in full battle attire. With a sack bearing endless fruit and meat and a determined twinkle in her eye, she asks, "Room for one more?"
When you turned 13 years old, your master decided that you were more valuable as gladiator fodder than as a field worker and sold you to a traveling slave trader who was desperate for anyone who could pick up a sword. Soon thereafter, you were thrown into the arena to fight to the death. Few expected you, a scrawny boy with no combat experience, to survive long. However, you proved them all wrong, defeating foe after foe in the arena and living to see yet another day. Whether it was magic or might, no gladiator could withstand your blade. Word of your victories spread throughout the land and, at the age of 20, you were freed by the king himself and recruited to join his vanguard. You then marched from foreign land to foreign land at the far edges of the known world. As you eviscerated barbarians, your broadsword laying waste to hundreds in the name of the king who granted you freedom, your infamy only grew. Now, as you near your 40th birthday, you have retired from the vanguard and command your own mercenary outfit. You enjoy the fruits of your labor… but there is still unfinished business. Restless nights haunt you, filled with visions of your former slave master who tore you away from your family and sold you into gladiator combat. You can barely remember his face, but still, you dream of chasing him down, cornering him, and crushing his skull with your bare hands. After waking up in the middle of the night screaming, you push your concubine out of the bed and grab your sword. You are ready for revenge.
"Don't do it!" the sorceress exclaims as she enters the chamber. You ignore her pleas and jam your dagger further into the statue's eye socket to pry the gemstone out. You glance back at her and smile, showing her the gleaming gemstone in your hand. "Don't be so superstitious, Gwendolyn." Just then, the floor begins to rumble, and debris falls from the ceiling. Panicking, you try to push the gemstone back into the socket, but the sorceress grabs your hand. "There's no time for that. Run!" You sprint out of the room, race down the corridor, and slide through two stone doors as they close. Finally safe, you take a deep breath and lean against the temple wall. You look over at Gwendolyn, who stares intently at a nearby graveyard, her unease growing. "What now?" you ask. She raises her hand and points without saying a word. Past the bramble and rusted wrought iron, you can make out the stilted and shuffling movement of recently reanimated corpses. You look back at Gwendolyn and lift your mace. "I don't run from the dead."
You enter the throne room, a once revered place where the laws of the land and the greater good were paramount. Now, nothing could be further from the truth. Although gaining an audience with the king is still considered a high honor, the royal family is a shell of its former self. The royals are more concerned with possessions and comfort than their own kingdom. It has been a generation since any royal has even stepped foot on a battlefield. These days, they are about as useful as the many statues that adorn their decadent palace. The true power lies with those who whisper. Backroom deals hidden from public inquiry are where you find out who comes out on top. An audience in the throne room is no more than a formality — a way to declare to the public what has already been decided behind closed doors. In your case, this means that you cannot seek justice for the death of your brother. The murderer is a member of the high council and one of the last mages in existence. He is, for all intents and purposes, untouchable. You will not have your justice but you are given title to lands near your territory at the barbarian outskirts. In return, you must declare in front of the royal court that your accusations are incorrect and that the mage is innocent of any wrongdoing. You agree to the terms. However, as you approach the disinterested king sitting atop his ornate throne, you become overwhelmed with rage when you see the mage's smug face amongst the council members. The time for talk is over! You knock out one of the royal guards, grab his sword, let out a battle cry, and charge the mage.
You wake up in bed to find a knife pressed up against your neck. An angry woman is on top of you, clutching the weapon with one hand and holding a bedsheet against her body with the other. You try to remember her name, but last night is a foggy blur of taverns and brawls. "Uh, miss… It seems like you have me at a disadvantage. How can I help you, uh, miss… miss…" Her eyes widen with rage. "How dare you! I am the Duchess of Bridgemoor, and you stole my ring. Tell me where it is or I'll put an end to you." The duchess? You have been looking for this woman for the better part of a month, but you never expected to find her in your bed with a knife at your throat. "I'm sorry, m'lady. I believe you used it to wager that your friend could beat me in a fist fight. Unfortunately, you lost. Perhaps I could find that elf bartender who won the wager and convince him to give the ring back to its rightful owner." Seeming somewhat relieved, the duchess relaxes. "Please do so right away. I can't stand to be without it." She places the knife on the bedside table, shimmies off you, and walks to the window. Do you really know where her ring is? Not in the slightest. You can't even find your pants right now, let alone a fancy lady's fancy ring. But her bounty is the largest in all of the four kingdoms and you will say anything to earn her trust.
Each year, men from all walks of life travel to Levania to try their hand at defeating countless warrior opponents. The arena is filled with desperate men — many on the brink of starvation — who fight against battle-tested gladiators. The winner receives endless amounts of treasures and glory alike. However, the arena is an absolute bloodbath, with only one rule to follow: be the last man standing. On the day of the yearly tournament, you are dressed in a drab grey uniform as you serve drinks and food to the riveted spectators watching the unmitigated carnage. Around you, other similarly dressed servers are making their way through the stands, keeping the unruly crowd satiated while the battle rages on. You hear the sickening squelch of bloody flesh being ripped open from the arena floor, but you don't even spare the ring a glance. Instead, your eyes are glued to the Chief Magistri, who sits on a bejeweled throne in the royal box, separated from the brutality by an impenetrable magical barrier. He laughs at the displays of violence and cheers when another poor man falls to his death, just as he did when your father, your grandfather, and your older brother died painful deaths at the gladiators' hands. For the Chief Magistri, it is mere entertainment; for the men of your family, it was a fight for survival. You refuse to be like them. You watch as a boy your age, dressed in the same grey uniform as you, brings the Chief Magistri a goblet of mead. The chief does not spare the boy a glance, immediately taking a sip of his drink to quench his thirst. The boy turns to leave the royal box and catches your eye, giving a slight nod. Seconds later the chief grasps his throat, choking on the poison. His team rushes to help him, but it is too late. All around the arena, the servers in the grey uniforms drop their platters and run toward the center of the ring. You grab a fallen sword and enter the bloodbath.
Wizards — you hate the whole lot of them! Their high-and-mighty attitude and outright arrogance know no bounds. However, they do pay a pretty penny — more than the richest lords of the land — so you begrudgingly guard the front gate of their castle sanctuary. They come and go, sometimes completely ignoring you, other times treating you like a dog. You mostly keep your opinions to yourself, but one day you can't help but laugh. "What are you wearing, little man — a dress?" The insulted wizard turns around, levels a stern gaze at you, and approaches in an angry huff. "I'll have you know that I am the head alchemist and these golden robes signify my seniority. Don't ever speak out of turn to me again! Hey, look at me when I am speaking to you!" You look down at him as he continues to berate you, trying to put you in your place. "Use those big muscles when we tell you to and stay out of my way… or else!" Having reached your fill of righteous indignation, you lift your axe, swing it at his head, and shut him up for good. "Guess I'll have to find a new job," you mumble to yourself as you stare at his decapitated body. Then again… maybe not. Deep inside the wizard's sanctuary, there is a room filled with treasure — at least, that is what you have heard in the wizards' hushed conversations as they pass you by. Perhaps it's time you go visit that room and see what you can find for yourself. You take off your guard helmet, throw it to the ground, rip open the gates, and storm the castle.
As you enter the outskirts of the village, you feel the eyes of the townsfolk upon you. They know their kind, and you are definitely not one of them. Most keep their distance, with the exception of a child who runs up to you and asks, "What's that stick and chain thing?" You look down and answer, "It's called a morning star, kid. It's the best weapon out there for bashing heads. You see, you take this end here and then swing it like so…." Before you can provide a demonstration or speak further, his mother rushes out, grabs the child, and drags him back into their home, admonishing him for talking to you. You continue walking through the village until you reach the town square, where a few dozen onlookers watch you. With a booming voice, you ask a single question to everyone within earshot: "Where's the town's constable?" No one responds. Most just stare at you from a safe distance. You search the crowd, trying to spot the constable amongst the sea of peasant faces, but no one stands out. "I'll ask again. Where's the town's constable?" Someone steps out of the crowd. "I am the town constable, sir. How may I help–" You interrupt his prattling with a simple request: "Give me your list of witch bounties and pay me double." The constable shrugs, explaining that the bounties are not up to him. He would need the sheriff's permission to make such a change. "But if you stop by next month," he says, "I'll let you know his decision. I'm sure we can come to an amicable solution that is satisfactory to all parties involved." You grab his silk tunic, lift him into the air, and whisper, "Do I look amicable?" The constable shakes his head. "Give me your list of witch bounties and pay me double. Do you understand?" When the constable nods, you let him go. He pulls himself together and asks you to come to his home to go over the details. You follow him down the road, with the crowd of onlookers following you just a few feet behind.
Once a hero amongst your people, you are now relegated to live the rest of your days as an exile. You were charged with leading the king's army and defending the empire, yet nothing prepared you for the day when a great chasm ripped apart the land to allow demons to pour out of it like a bleeding wound. When you saw the mayhem unfolding from your bedroom window, you knew for certain that the court mage was behind this abomination. His experiments with necromancy ran afoul of all that was natural and holy. Whatever he unleashed that day would be dealt with first, followed by that man's head on a pike. However, when you stormed into the royal court to convince the king of who was behind this catastrophe, the mage was already there with his finger pointed directly at you. "There he is, my king. The one who unleashed hell. Guards, kill him!" You were too late. The king was convinced of your treachery, and soon you were fighting your way out of the castle, slaying your own men and whoever else stood in your way. When the prince himself confronted you on the drawbridge, you had no choice but to kill him as well. With the prince's blood on your hands, you know you can never go back home. Riding for weeks across deserts and mountains, you find yourself in a place that is completely unfamiliar. You must start anew in this foreign land, selling your particular set of skills to the highest bidder.
As the only daughter born into a family of rough, burly male fighters, you are deemed by your father to be a waste of space and resources. You were ignored by your family until your 18th birthday, when you unexpectedly started to show signs of possessing a dreadful magic that belongs exclusively to dark mages. Believing that such powers should have been extinguished a century ago after the warrior clans overthrew the magic-wielders, your father is horrified of your newfound abilities and what it means for the family. He quickly sells you to the neighboring town's brothel, where you are dressed in rags and poorly mistreated, including being chained and beaten. You're told that your value is directly tied to your ability to pleasure the brothel patrons, but you are disgusted by the drunk men who come stumbling into your room. On one particularly brutal night, you have had enough. You grab the brute's face between your palms, stare straight into his eyes, and say, "Leave this room. Tell them that you have been satisfied. Do not speak of what has happened in this room." The man's eyes widen in a daze as he nods, then he drunkenly hobbles out of the room. You stare at your hands in shock, but rejoice at finding a solution to your problem. From then on, you repeat the same process with your customers, working to earn enough wages to buy yourself out of the brothel. One night, a cloaked figure enters your room. You prepare to perform your magic the same as always, but the figure removes her hood to reveal a scarred face and a wicked grin. She speaks in a high-pitched whisper. "At last, I have found one like me." Before you can protest, she grabs your face, and your world goes dark.
Your entire life, you've heard the stories about the temple deep within the Vanora Woods where cultists worship a tainted god that defiles the laws of reality, even within the celestial plane itself. Rumor has it that those who have witnessed this deity's true form are stricken with madness due to attempting to comprehend the incomprehensible. Between their cries for sanity and their uncontrollable laughter, these individuals describe this god as a pure, unceasing void that perverts nature by being both born of something and born of nothing: a contradiction of existence. The cultists believe that summoning this being into our world would bring about penance for our sins. When the planets align, the window between worlds slightly opens, allowing mortal men to do unmortal things. At this time, if a virgin is sacrificed using the Ethereal Blade, a single dimension of the tainted god will be summoned, and this abomination of tentacles, teeth, and eyeballs will enter our world — or something scary and spooky like that. Frankly, it is all just a bunch of nonsense from your point of view. You honestly could care less about these kooks and their hocus pocus religion. What you really want is the Ethereal Blade — more specifically, the gemstones that adorn it. It is usually locked away somewhere safe. However, the blade will be taken out today for use in the summoning ceremony. The cultist temple stands before you. The time is just about right for the sacrifice. You swing the doors open to find the cultists praying and chanting. The head cultist has the blade in his hand. Below him is the virginal sacrifice, a beautiful young woman with flowing blonde hair, asleep atop an altar. "Bonus," you say to yourself as you unsheathe your greatsword.
Young men and women have been disappearing in your village. At first, the villagers thought it was due to wild animals or raiders, but after a few months, only you and a few others of your age remain. Now you believe something more organized and sinister is behind this plot. One day while walking to the blacksmith to sharpen your battle axe, you pass the village notice board and see your friend's sketch posted amongst the other missing. Fed up and outraged, you decide to take matters into your own hands and retrace your friend's nightly routine so that you can discover what happened to him. The next night, you purposely stand outside the seediest tavern on the outskirts of your town, where your friend worked as a bartender. Just after midnight, you hear a rustling behind you, followed by a swift blow to the head. When you wake up, you feel immense heat. Beads of sweat cover your body. You open your eyes and find yourself in a cave full of glittering jewels. You recognize all the missing faces in the cave, each person equipped with a pickaxe and a barrel, mining gems by torchlight. "Get a load of the muscles on this one," someone behind you says. A pickaxe is pushed into your hands, and the demanding voice declares, "Get to work, big man! The wizard does not condone lazy slaves." Trapped, you must escape and save the others, exacting revenge upon those who have decided your life is worthless.
"'Glorious George and The Dark Castle' — what do you think? Is it a good title for the song?" The bard looks at George, hopeful. You listen in as your group sets up camp for the night. "No, I don't like that," George says. "Not at all. Could you try something more heroic? Perhaps more exciting?" George offers a few options, trying his best to come up with some sort of alternative. You chuckle a little bit under your breath. Assembled two weeks ago by this impetuous and conceited prince, "Glorious George" has led your party of ten travelers across the countryside to find a legendary haunted castle filled with untold treasure, magical weapons, and beautiful damsels in distress. Of course, the castle is just a myth. You would have a better chance finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. However, the good prince pays well, so you'll follow him wherever he goes and cater to his every ego-driven whim. Your party includes a well-known historian, who is tasked with chronicling the heroic deeds that George performs on an hourly basis. There is also the bard, the cook, a few squires and servants, and a witch named Esmeralda, to whom you have taken a liking. Then there is you, a warrior from across the great sea who single-handedly changed the tide of the War of the Eight Houses. Your enemies on the battlefield trembled at your towering presence, some dropping their weapons to flee while others got on their hands and knees, begging for mercy. Nowadays, you are tasked with being nursemaid to George, making sure that his royal highness doesn't get into too much trouble. The next morning, George wakes you up and points at a castle in the far-off distance. "There it is! The Dark Castle! Adventure awaits!" As he races toward his horse, you call out, "You don't want to go there, sir! That castle is part of the Crowlin Empire." But before you can stop him, George rides off. You look over at Esmeralda, who shrugs. "We should probably follow him." You begrudgingly agree.
You yell out to the young tavern wench to fetch another round. A couple of hours ago she told you that your money wasn't good here, and you and your fellow warriors have been indulging yourselves ever since. However, now she is shying away from your calls, pretending not to hear you as she quickly walks toward the kitchen door. "Hey! Come back here!" you call after her as you try to get up from your table. As your cohorts egg you on, you manage to steady yourself to make your way through the crowded tavern, pushing anyone aside who doesn't have the common sense to move out of the way for a seven-foot-tall man. When you finally make it to the door and open it, you find a long narrow hallway with no kitchen to speak of. However, you do find something of great interest on the floor: a trail of the tavern wench's clothes. You walk past one shoe, then the other, followed by a pair of stockings. You turn the corner to find even more of her outfit scattered about. You follow the trail until it ends with her kerchief tied to a doorknob. You open the door to find the young woman in bed, covered only by a sheet, patiently waiting for your arrival. You grin, clear your throat, and formerly introduce yourself: "Hello, umm, very nice lady who gives free mead. You might have heard of me and my conquests. I am the brave warrior who just ransacked the nearby wizard's sanctum. Well, it looks like you wanted some alone time with me. I'm happy to let you know that I'm here to oblige." She takes a moment to look you over, then smiles and says: "Yes, that was the point. I definitely wanted you alone — away from your fellow warriors at the tavern table, away from your sword you left next to your barstool, and away from your sensibilities, my highly inebriated friend. By the way, there are some people from that wizard's sanctum you just mentioned who would love to make your acquaintance." You suddenly hear footsteps behind you. You spin around to see five men rushing down the hallway, weapons drawn.
You glance to your left, seeing a faint flicker of light coming down the narrow stone tunnel. "Finally," you say to yourself, "I've found the grate." With a torch in one hand and a map bought from an old witch in the other, you have been walking through a maze of rats and sewage for the last five hours. The first few rooms of the castle's sewers were rather large, with grand archways and even signs pointing you in the right direction. However, every turn has led you to a smaller and smaller passageway, and now you can barely fit through the last few tunnels. You pivot your body toward the light and move forward. Eventually, you find yourself under the grate. You look at your map one last time and think about every turn you have made. "Yeah," you say to yourself, "the treasure room is up there." You extinguish your torch in a nearby puddle of god-knows-what and use the handle of your battleax to push the heavy grate up and out of the lip holding it in place, scraping it along the stone floor of the room above. You then grab the edges of the opening and pull yourself up. As you look around, with your head and arms in the room while your legs still dangle below, you don't see any treasure. "Stop right there!" You turn your head to see eight guards scrambling out of their beds and grabbing their weapons. This isn't the treasure room. It's the castle barracks.
As a battle-weary warrior, you have seen your share of bloodshed and would rather gamble, drink, or visit the local brothel than ruminate about the horrors of warfare. However, when a witch offers you a reward to help find her daughter and kill the kidnapper, you begrudgingly agree. Swinging your axe at a man's head is the last thing you want to do, but your newfound hobbies require a full coin purse. The witch's daughter is being held by a ruthless mage who uses the magic of young witches to prolong his life beyond what is considered natural. With the help of her coven, you, the mother, and two other witches traverse the badlands on horseback in an attempt to track down the daughter before it is too late. However, when you reach the edge of Druid Lake, the trail goes cold. Frustrated, your group decides to shelter overnight in an abandoned castle. There, you find a mad man living amongst the ruins who says that he saw the mage with a young girl about a week ago. Claiming to be an expert tracker, he is willing help you find the child — for a price. Desperate and out of alternatives, you agree to his terms, and the deranged man joins your group. You ride past the lake and enter the Dark Moon Woods, to the displeasure of your fellow witch travelers, who believe the legend that the woods sap the strength of magic wielders. Halfway through the woods, the mad man points to fresh tracks on the ground and says that the girl is very close. However, when a letter slips out of the man's pocket previously sealed with the mage's signet ring, you know that you have fallen into a trap.
In a land overrun by dangerous supernatural species, only the wealthy can lock themselves safely inside their secure castles, leaving the rest of the citizens to fend for themselves. Hunting these creatures is the only way for you to survive, protecting yourself and the people you love. It is also a way for you to earn some coin because neighboring townsfolk pay you to kill the creatures decimating their land. When you return to your hometown after one particularly brutal fight with a swamp of sirens, you find your village in ruins. There is debris where shacks once stood, and you can smell the charred flesh of the people who once lived there, including your family. Devastated, your anguish overwhelms you as you fall to your knees. After a few moments, you manage to gather yourself and look toward the eastern sky, where the light catches the glimmering castles that protect the gentry class from the monster infestation. Why should they be safe from the creatures at the expense of other people's lives? You grab your trusty sword and take off to the east. Nothing has prepared these elites for what is coming for them. Soon you will be the creature they fear the most.
As you leave the forest, the unobstructed daylight strikes your eyes, and you lift your hand to block the piercing rays. You are still getting your bearings when the ground moves underneath you and your left foot slips. You scramble backward and find yourself at the precipice of a ravine, with a river flowing far down below. You take a deep breath as you glance toward your right, where your companion is exiting the forest. Staring intently at her map, she describes the terrain as she continues walking ahead: "Now, we should be close to the cave, but there is some sort of chasm somewhere around here—" In one swift motion, you grab her by the robe and hoist her up just as she is about to step off the cliff. You then set her back down a couple of feet away from the edge. Without acknowledging what just happened, she looks up from the map and points at a nearby tree. "Cut that down and place it across the ravine. We have no time to lose. The sun is setting." You do just as she requests, using your battle axe to chop down the tree before dragging it to the edge and tossing it across the ravine to bridge the two sides. You and the sorceress carefully make your way across, and soon you find the entrance to the cave. After exploring the cave for a few minutes, you come upon a treasure chest. Your partner quickly opens it and begins filling your sack with handful after handful of riches. You glance back toward the cave entrance and see the sunlight slowly fading away. The sorceress notices the diminished light as well. "We have to leave now, before nightfall. Pick up the sack and follow me," she commands before running toward the entrance. You follow her, gripping the heavy sack with both hands. But as you exit the cave and approach the ravine, the dim light of dusk turns into darkness, and an unnatural fog settles across the land. Without warning, skeletons emerge from the mist and attack you. You swing the sack of treasure at them as they claw at your skin. "Give me the damn sack and use your axe!" the sorceress screams. You drop the sack and wield your battle axe, swinging it wildly at the skeleton horde. Meanwhile, your partner is balancing herself on the makeshift tree bridge and slowly walking across, levitating the sack in front of her. You turn your back to the ravine to fight off the skeletons, giving the sorceress the chance to reach safety, but when you call out to ask if she has made it across, there is no response. You fear the worst. Then you hear something unexpected: the sound of bark scraping against the ground, followed by a rush of tree limbs, and finally a distant splash. You turn your head to find that the sorceress has pushed the tree into the ravine, stranding you to fight an unwinnable battle. "Sorry," she yells across the chasm. "I don't like sharing. Good luck! You're going to need it." She then runs into the dark forest, the sack floating by her side.
You are apprehensive about not wearing your armor or having your greatsword by your side, but this job calls for a more subtle approach. The door creaks open, and you quietly sneak into the wizard's chamber in the dead of night. You are trying to steal the Paragon Amulet, a magical medallion forged by the god of fire many eons ago. A hefty coin purse has been promised to anyone who can deliver this trinket, but first you must navigate the pitch-dark room without disturbing the sleeping wizard. As you hear him snoring just a few feet away, you methodically search through his belongings. From the corner of your eye, you see the amulet hanging on a hook on a nearby wall. You grab it and begin to make your way toward the door... but something feels off. You listen and realize that the snoring has stopped. Before you can react, a lightning bolt shoots across the chamber and nearly hits you. You dive behind the foot of the bed as the wizard shoots more lightning from his fingertips. You look around, trying to find a way to defend yourself, but the only things near you are a full chamber pot and a jug of water. As the wizard continues to spray lightning at the foot of the bed while you crouch behind it, you tip the jug on its side and soak the floor where he stands. Then you hurl the chamber pot at the wizard's head. As he ducks, his hands point toward the ground. The lightning hits the puddle, which then travels up his body and knocks him out cold. Not knowing how long he will be unconscious, you make a break for it and run to the door.
As you gulp down your second cup of ale, chaos breaks out in the village tavern. Someone you never thought you'd see again — a beautiful but ill-tempered warrior maiden with whom you fell madly in love many years ago — starts a barfight. She and her two companions — a young squire and an enormous man with a missing ear — take on six local men over an unknown dispute. You don't want to help her, but she was your first love, and your protective instinct fires up. You jump in and knock out one brute after the next. Soon you, the warrior maiden, and her companions are the last ones standing. She then notices you and tells you that she came to find you, but she got into a little trouble along the way. You're not surprised when she reveals that she owes the guys on the floor a little coin over a misunderstanding. You tell her it's been good to see her, but now you need to head home to tend to your father, who is worse off than the last time she saw him. She feels for you and tells you that is precisely why she's there. Your father lost his memory years ago in battle. Together, you and the maiden once sought out a bracelet that would restore his memory, but you grew weary of your failures and fought often. You eventually returned home, and she returned to her clan. But now she's here, saying she's found the bracelet's location and wants you to come with her. Filled with renewed hope, you agree.

In these stories, magic is juxtaposed with a real-life contemporary urban setting. The plot usually has a dark tone and employs tropes commonly found in crime noir.

Elves have lived in the cities for generations, suppressing their magical abilities and cutting the tips of their ears off in order to integrate into human society. Their existence has been kept a secret by those in power, knowing that if word got out, the elven people would be hunted down like they were during medieval times. After several elves are murdered, the police bring you in to investigate who is behind these gruesome acts. You are a private investigator who is trusted by both sides because you are half elf and half human. Your instincts have taught you not to believe in coincidences and, after combing through the evidence, you determine that everything points to a serial killer with a grudge against elves. Elves never kill their own, so the killer must be human, but only a handful of humans in the city know that elves exist, and all of them hold positions of power. Your investigation leads you down an unexpected path of dark sorcery that is more chilling than you could have ever imagined.
You sip your coffee at your favorite hole-in-the-wall café across from a crumbling and congested elevated highway. It's nearly midnight, but you don't want to go home. Your heart is aching. Your grandmother has been taken by a man your kind knows by reputation but no one has seen up close — a fallen angel who will hunt down anyone or anything if the price is right. The owner of the café, an old woman with a weathered face, offers you another cup and a smile of sympathy. When a scruffy-jawed man with thick boots and violet eyes enters the café, the old woman nearly drops her coffee pot. The café owner calls him by name, the shock in her eyes palpable as she begins to tremble. The man nods a greeting to her. Then he notices you and, to your surprise, marches right over to your table with an aggressive, animalistic intent. You hop to your feet and quickly whisper an incantation. He stops in his tracks and smiles, as much as his gruff exterior will allow. "I haven't picked a fight with a Benandanti in a hundred years. Why would I start now?" You slowly sit back down as the man makes himself comfortable in the opposite seat. "Word on the street is that you are looking for a man with broken wings. I have a lead or two, but first could you help me with a little something?" He takes off his fedora to reveal two horns sprouting from his head. You wave your hands, and in an instant the horns disappear. "Thanks, buddy. Now let's get to work."
"Where is she? Where's the girl?" The ogre punches you in the gut again as his two associates hold you in place. You cough and gasp for air. After a moment or two, the ogre grabs you by the necktie and lifts your head up. "Did you hear me, human? Tell me where she is." You look straight into his eyes and say, "I told you I have no idea what the hell you are talking about! I don't know anything about a girl. I'm just a stockbroker." One of ogres holding you up chimes in, saying that maybe you are telling the truth. The leader turns to his associate and levels a hard stare at him: "No. He's lying. I can smell it on him. The girl was seen breaking into that vintage clothing store over there about an hour ago. I found this guy running from the scene." He then looks back at you. "Then again, you were probably looking for a streetwalker or a place to piss when you saw me coming and decided to run. Is that what you were doing, Mr. Stockbroker?" You nod in agreement, and the ogre burps a short laugh before hitting you square in the jaw. As you fall to the ground, the world goes dark. The next morning, you wake up lying in a puddle next to a dumpster. It feels as if every part of your body is throbbing. You manage to get up and look around, relieved to find no sign of the ogres. Realizing the coast is clear, you remove the ring from your finger, breaking the illusion spell and revealing yourself to be a 20-something girl wearing an ill-fitting men's suit and a pair of size 10 horsebit loafers you grabbed from the clothing store last night. You brush yourself off and slowly make your way home.
Your parents own a small convenience store in the heart of the city in which you live and have always pressured you to carry on the family business. You don't mind picking up a shift or two every so often, but it is not something you want to do for the rest of your life. After a failed semester at your first year of college, you come back to work for your family while you figure things out. Your father tasks you with overseeing the nighttime deliveries. You agree, thinking nothing of it and assuming it's like any other delivery the store gets. He gives you the key to the backroom—one you've never been in before—and leaves you to it. But when a tall, winged creature wearing a baseball cap climbs out of the delivery truck to get you to sign for the shipment, you realize your parents have been hiding something from you. You help unload your first shipment of magical potions, shelving them in the massive backroom among the others, and realize this secret has been going on longer than you thought.
You climb off the city water taxi wearing your favorite summer dress. You look around and spot your best friend at your usual picnic spot in Marina Park. As you pay your fare, someone bumps your shoulder, causing you to drop your handbag. You pick it up, glancing back in surprise to the woman you've had your eye on in AP Bio all semester. She's tall, blonde, slender, pale, and exactly your type. You've wanted to get to know her better, but you were too shy to introduce yourself. You look away. She seems busy tuning her guitar anyway. You walk the other direction and finally join your friend. As you sit down and start talking, you can hear your crush in the background as she plays her guitar. A few people come by and drop money into her hat as she strums a tune and sings. She's incredibly good — singing, dancing, and playing her guitar as you watch her from the corner of your eye — and you are having a hard time ignoring her as you try to catch up with your friend. Noticing how distracted you are, your best friend decides to play matchmaker and drags you closer to the singer. "Come on! Maybe you can drop your phone number in her hat instead of money? I think she would appreciate it more!" You begrudgingly follow your friend. When you get there, you spot an enormous man with a serpent tattoo on his shoulder watching with a scowl on his face. Wait. Did the serpent tail on his tattoo just move? As the blonde finishes her set, she catches your eye and smiles at you. Before you can react, the big man rushes forward and grabs the singer. In a thick Bulgarian accent, he yells, "Samodiva! This is for my sister!" The crowd screams and fans out. After the scuffle is over, the man runs off, leaving the singer on the ground. Someone in the crowd calls the police as you hurry to her side. She asks you to get her out of there. Her hand is clutching at her stomach, where a silvery ooze is visible. Is that her blood? She locks eyes with you again, this time with a plea. "Don't say a word." You nod. Whatever is going on, for some reason, you trust her, and you're determined to save her.
Most of the supernatural creatures remaining in the world have left the cities, favoring the small towns where they can more easily blend in with the monotony that suburban humans favor. You refuse to live such a dreary life and instead reside in New Orleans, with its vibrant jazz, brass, R&B, and soul music scene. Being a shapeshifter, you can seamlessly blend in as a human and are able to fully experience the city and everything it has to offer. One night, you're enjoying a live band at your favorite jazz club when you overhear an odd conversation at the end of the bar. A couple of guys are talking in hushed voices, discussing rumors of abductions throughout the city. These aren't just any run-of-the-mill kidnappings though. Supernatural creatures are being targeted. The two men notice you watching and maintain eye contact, recognizing you as a fellow supernatural creature. You nod, but do not engage, thinking about what you have just heard and what it means for you and your kind. As you're leaving the club through the grimy back alley, you hear a scuffle and turn just in time to see two human assailants shoving a bag over the head of one of supernatural creatures from the conversation moments ago. The abductee is herded into the back of a van and driven away by one of the humans. The other one stays behind, leans against a wall, and lights a cigarette. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, you approach the kidnapper, punch him out cold, and shapeshift into his form. As you rummage through his belongings, looking for clues, you hear his phone ring. You answer it, and the male voice on the other end tells you to meet him at a dingy dive bar across town. You agree, eager to pursue the lead.
You are a private eye in the heart of the city who is often tasked with scoping out adulterers, people who skip out on their girlfriends, or shady business deals. When a young woman comes to you, teary eyed, in the hopes of finding her missing boyfriend, you don't bat an eye, even when she says she can't pay your entire fee. The case is as typical as typical can get. But when she tells you how he went missing, how he quite literally vanished, screaming into thin air, you accept her meager offer and get to work. You poke around, visiting his local haunts, and eventually witness something rather shocking: a man in an alleyway talking to tiny, fluttering forms who, when he doesn't comply, seem to zap him with something. He screams out in pain, vanishing into a cloud of mist. You watch a little longer and discover that the small creatures are fairies. Digging into the magical underbelly of the city, you find a retired warlock who says he can help you go undercover. You hesitantly agree. Once you are in your tiny, winged form, you have three days to find the group responsible for these disappearances.
You've just inherited your grandfather's bookshop in Central London. You spent your childhood exploring its shelves and are passionate about keeping the legacy going. The night after the shop's grand re-opening, you receive a strange package containing a leather-bound book with an odd gemstone at the center. Etched in gold ink is an inscription from your grandfather, telling you this book is your legacy and that you must protect it with your life. After flipping through it, you realize in awe that the book can foretell the future. You are reading history that has yet to be written when a group of men break into your store, hunting for the book. They threaten to burn your shop down with you in it unless you hand it over. You decide to run for it, book clasped to your chest. Out the front door, down the back alley, up a fire escape. Everything inside you is telling you to protect the book at all costs. As you turn a corner, the book slips from your hand and lands on the tar-covered rooftop. You look at the open book and see an illustration of yourself on a rooftop looking down at an open book. It is the present moment. You flip to the next page to find another illustration of yourself falling into a swirling black portal as if a tornado opened up below your feet. You suddenly feel a gust of wind.
"Time to go pal!" The bouncer pushes you out the back door and into a dimly lit alley. You immediately trip over your own feet and fall into a pile of garbage bags. The bouncer chuckles a bit before slamming the door. As you look around for your glasses, you find something odd: a playing card submerged in a puddle of gritty rainwater. You find your glasses right next to the card, a crack across one lens. As you get yourself together, you decide to grab the card as a keepsake for the evening. When you pick it up to take a looker a closer look, you're transported to a dingy room filled with imps, trolls, and goblins. They look as annoyed to see you there as you look shocked. Clearly you aren't the guy they were expecting. They heave heavy sighs as they take their seats around a poker table. "You'll do, kid. Take a seat," says a voice from the corner. You do as instructed just as an imp starts dealing the cards.
"What do you think? Have you ever seen anything like this?" You ponder the question while picking up a metal shard from the ground. "No… Never. It doesn't make any sense." The alley is littered with the bodies of half a dozen demons, some decapitated, and others stabbed multiple times. In all of your years on the force, you have never seen demons gather like this on the surface world; doing so would bring too much attention. Why were they all here together? What were they looking for? You stare at the shard in your hand. It is definitely a broken piece of a mystical weapon, the type of weapon that can only be forged by an elf, but the elves abandoned the human world more than a millennium ago. "What is that in your hand, Detective?" the police officer asks. You shove the shard in your pocket and shrug. "I don't know yet." Anticipating that your response will only invite more questions, you decide to change the subject: "So… what's the plan? Are you shutting down the crime scene?" The officer looks around at the carnage. "Yeah. It will be dawn in a couple of hours. We need to clear this out and hose it down before the public starts taking photos and posting it to Snapface or whatever. Are you done?" You nod and turn toward the street. As you walk away, your pocket begins to glow. Suddenly, the shard flies out of your trench coat and falls down a storm grate on the other side of the alley. You and the officer chase after it and then pry open the grate. Pointing your flashlight down, you see the rest of the shattered weapon on a narrow walkway. A woman stands next to it in knee-deep water, quietly sobbing. The officer whispers, "Oh Christ, is that who I think it is?" You nod without taking your eyes from the woman. "Yeah. The Lady of the Lake. Which means the weapon is Excalibur. At least what's left of it."
You glance at your watch again. It just turned 3:00 AM, the witching hour. You chuckle a bit. "The witching hour. Great," you say to yourself. You can't believe you are here doing this. You have been waiting for an hour at an abandoned warehouse to pay blackmail to a witch. She struck up a conversation with you at a nightclub last week and eventually put you under her spell. The next morning, you woke up in her bed and raced out of there as soon as you could, but it was too late. The photographs she took told a story of sordid infidelity, and you would pay any price to make sure that your wife never finds out. You hear a vehicle in the distance and look up to see the witch's sedan pull up along the far side of the warehouse. She parks her car but keeps the motor running. The headlights are pointed directly at you, and you hold up a hand to stop them from blinding you. As she steps out of the vehicle and approaches, her high heels clacking against the cracked concrete floor, she says, "Sorry I'm late. Busy night. Do you have my money?" You hold out a thick envelope. She snatches the envelope and quickly counts what's inside. "Good, it's all here. See you in a month for the next payment. Right here on the 25th at 2:00 AM." Your jaw drops: "What? It's not just one pay off? I can't afford that!" She looks straight into your eyes and smiles. "Oh, I'm sure you can. After all, you don't really have a choice." She turns around to walk back to her car. Enraged, you look down at the floor, not knowing what to do next. Then you see your answer: a metal pipe in a pile of debris a few feet away. Now is your chance to end this once and for all. You pick up the pipe and slowly sneak up behind the witch.
As a barista, you are used to demanding customers and the never-ending line of drink orders. Disappointed by our muffin selection? Too much whipped cream on your corporate coffee milkshake abomination? "No problem, sir. I'll get right on it." You manage every situation with a permanently plastered smile on your face and feel like you can handle anything. However, you were not expecting the blender to malfunction right before the end of your shift, forcing you to spend hours past closing time cleaning a sticky mess off the ceiling. Now you — a 23-year-old woman — has to speed walk home through a dangerous part of the city well after midnight. As you turn onto yet another empty side street, the streetlights flicker before turning off entirely. Plunged into near darkness, you hear a crash from a nearby alley and the sounds of a struggle. Despite everything in your body telling you to run the other way, you creep around the corner and peer down the alleyway. Through the darkness, you see a man with his face buried deep in a woman's neck, blood pouring from the wound as the woman struggles to break free. Terrified, you gasp audibly, and the man wrenches his head in your direction as the body in his grasp goes limp. His glowing red eyes search for the source of the sound, and his bloody fanged mouth hisses. Suddenly, someone grabs your shoulder and spins you around. You stare at a young man dressed in medieval garb, a crossbow in his hand, as he stares back at you intently, studying you to see if you were bitten. After a moment, he aims his crossbow into the darkness and tells you to get behind him. You brace yourself for the imminent fight.
You lean back in your chair and look out your office window onto the city. The sun has just set, and the off-and-on rain has now turned into a full-on storm right as hordes of people have taken to the streets to head home from a hard day's work. Some race to the subway while others hail cabs. The hot dog stand where you usually get lunch is closing down for the night. In the distance, you see a man apparently talking to himself as he shuffles down a dark alleyway. When you look more closely, you notice some sort of creature on the fire escape above him, preparing to pounce. You shrug, deciding that guy won't last long. It is just how things work around here. Everyone has an angle, whether they want one or not. Knowing a person's angle is how you stay one step ahead in the game. You're still watching the sheets of rain pouring down on the cityscape when you hear a tapping sound on your office door. You swing around to find a woman has let herself in. She is completely drenched from the storm, but that only seems to intensify her incredible beauty. She is wearing an all-black dress and stares at you with eyes that pierce your soul. She smiles slightly as she introduces herself with a sultry voice. You ask her to take a seat, and she tells you her problem: "I heard you're the best private eye in the city. My husband has been missing for more than a week already, and I fear the worst. Can you help me?" You take a closer look and notice that she has no aura or soul. You sniff the air and catch the slight smell of sulfur — a dead giveaway for who she truly is: an everyday run-of-the-mill succubus. Most succubi would skip town when done with a husband; the last thing they would do is ask a person like you for help. What does she really want? Why does she need you involved in it? You don't understand her angle, which worries you. However, she is willing to pay you in full up front, and you need the cash desperately, so you ignore your misgivings and agree to take on her case.
You feel like your coven has held you back your entire life, expecting you to follow rule after rule. It has never made any sense to you why witches, with all their power, go out of their way to repress it. That isn't how you want to live your life. You want power and to use your magic whenever and wherever you choose. One night, while the coven is out celebrating the sabbat beneath the full moon, you make your escape and head far away to the first bustling city you find. Right away you use your magic to extort every elected official you encounter, going unchallenged every step along the way. Within five years, you've used your magic to be elected mayor, with everyone of importance in your pocket. Life is perfect. Then one day you receive a letter in the mail, the words spelled out with letters cut out from magazines. The letter is blackmailing you over your witchcraft. Someone knows of your dark secret and wants to be paid off. Furious, you try to use your magic to discover who sent it, but you can't, which makes you realize someone possessing magic must be the culprit. Immediately you suspect your coven. Who else can possibly know enough to attempt to blackmail you? But you need more evidence. You hire an attractive private investigator to work the case, someone who knows about your kind and can get to the bottom of any situation. But what he uncovers is more than you bargained for.
Down a dimly lit alleyway in the middle of downtown is your store: the last clock repair shop in the city. The business hasn't been doing well for a while. Most people would rather throw away a broken clock than bring it to your shop for repairs. You do work on antique clocks from time to time, bringing them back to their once majestic selves, but the workload is uneven at best, and lately you have been thinking more and more about calling it quits and retiring to Florida. One day while watching TV in the back room, you hear the bell ring from the front door. You get up and turn to look, expecting a package delivery or maybe the landlord, but instead you find a 14-year-old girl. "I'm investigating the disappearance of a man in his mid to late forties. He's just over 5 feet tall with a stocky build. Have you seen anyone that matches that description?" You stare at her for a moment, shake your head, and tell her that the comic book shop is two blocks away, near the subway station. "Maybe you can find him there, kid." She leaves without saying another word. The next morning while unlocking the store, a stocky man runs over to you and shoves something into your hand. "I don't have much time. Just repair the damn thing and I'll be back tomorrow." Before you can say anything, he runs out of sight. You look down and find a simple pocket watch in your hand, but you feel different: more alive, more invigorated. You look at your reflection in the storefront window and find that your gray hair has turned back to brown.
As the son of a Wall Street tycoon and the current mayor of New York City, you're used to dealing with death threats against you and your family. It is simply an unfortunate part of being in the public eye. You're also accustomed to a security detail being right by your side every time you step out the door, which is a comfort when you hear that several sons of powerful politicians and wealthy businessmen have been murdered over the last few months, washing up on the shore of the Hudson River. The tabloid newspapers call the murderer the "Billionaire Boy Killer," and your father has ordered you to not go out after dark until the killer is caught. However, when your friends invite you to join them on a night out on the town, you can't resist. After your family goes to bed, you sneak off and go to the city's best underground nightclub to meet up with your buds. While getting settled at your table, you spot a beautiful girl sitting alone at the bar. You've never seen someone so gorgeous in your life. Her shining black hair, bright eyes, and scarlet red lips are mesmerizing. Just as you decide to approach her, she beckons to another partier from across the club, who walks over and sits right next to her as if in a trance. She whispers something in his ear, and they both get up to leave, the boy slowly following behind her, eyes blown wide and mouth hanging open as if in awe. Curious, you follow from afar as they make their way through many dimly lit streets and back alleys, eventually arriving at a wharf. There, you hear a soft song come from the woman's mouth, and the young man hands her his wallet and Rolex watch without hesitation. She sings another soft tune, and he turns around and walks straight off the wharf, falling into the water below. After the initial splash, there is no noise. The young man sinks to the bottom without attempting to swim. Just a few bubbles float to the surface, followed by nothing. You try to stifle a gasp, but the woman hears you and looks over, smiling. You almost scream when you see her teeth, razor-sharp and pointed. She approaches you, singing, but you continue to back away from her, and she falters. "How can you resist a siren's song? Only the supernatural are immune, but you are just a human." A siren? Scared and confused, you turn around and run into the darkness.
It never seems to stop raining in this city. You pull your hat down low over your face and the collar of your trench coat up high around your neck. As you turn the corner, you see the familiar flashing blue lights and yellow tape of a crime scene. Another state senator has been murdered, the fifth one in as many weeks. Your reputation is on the line. There is a not-so-well-kept secret amongst the police force of the creatures who live hidden in the city. Excommunicated from hell, these demons reside in the extensive sewer systems beneath the streets — their powers diminished without a connection to the Hell source. The chief of police has been pushing the idea that these murders are part of a demon uprising, a conspiracy that some in your department have been slowly adopting. However, you are not buying it. Not that you are fond of demons, but you do not see them as the threat everyone else perceives them to be. Showing your badge, the officers let you through, and you take a look at the body, knowing right away the crime has been staged. Too many obvious indicators point toward demons that it is almost laughable. Someone else is behind these murders, and you intend to get to the bottom of it. You see movement in the alley, and you walk over to find your demon informant lurking in the shadows. He confirms that he saw who committed the murder, but he is too afraid to share the information with you. No matter what, you have to get the information from him if you want to solve the case.
You receive a message from the head office dispatching you to the dark and dirty streets of downtown Los Angeles in order to investigate a spade of vicious supernatural murders. Looking through the thick case file of countless photos and police reports, something about these crimes seems off, but you can't quite put your finger on it. Your first stop is The Black Goat pub, an establishment frequented by many types of otherworldly creatures. When you step inside, you look at the strange patrons who have shed their charm spells, revealing their true identities for any and all to see. You smile a bit and think to yourself that there is nothing usual about these suspects: vampires, shifters, fae, werewolves, djinn, and more. As always, the bar is loud with music and jeering. You remove your hat, shake the rain off it, and order a drink. You then make your way over to the other side of the pub and sit in the dark corner, keeping to yourself as you watch, taking mental notes as you get a feel for who's who. Suddenly the door opens again, letting in a gust of wind and rain. A deadly silence falls over the pub as a figure saunters through the door. The figure approaches the bar to order a drink, and you notice scaled purple skin hidden beneath its trench coat's sleeves. When the figure flicks out a forked orange tongue to lap up the glass of whiskey, you realize you're in way over your head with this one. You can't help but wonder who this being is and why every other creature seems to be in awe of its presence. Where did it come from? What does it do? More importantly, why is it turning to stare at you with golden slitted eyes?
For the last five years, you have been working at a red-light district bar as a cocktail waitress. The patrons are loud and obnoxious, especially after a couple of drinks, and are usually lousy tippers to boot. The boss is an ungrateful deadbeat who won't think twice about asking for a favor only to forget that he owes you the next day. Your coworkers come and go in just a matter of months. No one stays around for too long in a place like this. However, despite it all, you have been feeling pretty good about your job and your life — that is, until one evening when you see your old flame entering the establishment with a bunch of his friends. You lock eyes with him from across the room, and his face lights up. "Sandra! You work here?" he exclaims. "I thought you were… well, dead." You quickly make your way over to him, grab him by the arm, and escort him outside before he can blather more about you in public. As you leave with him, your ex announces to his friends that he'll be back soon, saying, "My old girlfriend wants some private time with me. Who am I to say no?" His companions' laughter rings in your ears you as you wind your way through the crowd and exit out the back door. Once in the alley, you let go of his arm, grab him by the collar, drag his head down, and forcefully whisper, "What the hell are you doing here?" He quickly responds: "Whoa now, little lady! I didn't even know you were alive. A mutual acquaintance told me you made the wrong demon angry, and he put a hit out on you. Every monster was hunting you down back home." You shove him away and fill him in on the details: "That's right. Pretty soon I had no place to hide, so I fled to this city to lay low for a while… A while became five years." Your ex slowly smiles: "You know, there is a contract that I'm working on right now. Big score downtown. Guarded by a couple of griffins. But my crew's not up for the task. I could use someone like you." You turn your back to him and decline the offer: "Not a chance. All of that is in the past. I have a new life now… Sorry, I gotta get back to work." You are heading toward the door when you hear the distinct sound of your ex drawing back the hammer of his gun. "You know, Sandra, there's still a bounty on your head."
You're hunting the gray demon, a creature whose M.O. is known to many in your line of work. In Boston, he convinced a flower shop owner that her plants had come to life in order to exact revenge. In New York City, he convinced a ballerina that she was a statue — much to the dismay of the audience that night. In Chicago, he made a chef go mad when he convinced him that his patrons wanted to eat him instead of his cuisine. Just a mere whisper from this creature can convince anyone of anything, and it has been your job over the last two months to track him down before he strikes again in your city. You and your partner have run out of leads, and you are not looking forward to filing an unsolved crime report for this case. However, when you open the front door to your apartment, you find your spouse knocked out on the kitchen floor and your young son chanting and rocking back and forth with the TV blaring in the background. The gray demon emerges from the wall behind your son, catches your eye, and freezes your movement. You watch in horror as your son takes the demon's hand. You cry out for him to stop, but your son doesn't react. It's as if he can't hear you. The demon smiles down at the boy. He smiles back. Then in a flash, they disappear.

These character-driven stories focus on teenagers who interact with magical elements and experience dramatic personal growth over the course of the plot. There is an emphasis on interpersonal relationships, including romantic turmoil, tested friendships, and family issues.

For the last several months, suitors have come from far and wide to impress a young and fair princess in the hopes of gaining her hand in marriage. They come in expensive clothes and carriages, showing off their talents and wealth in a spectacle for all to see. But after one year of pageantry, the princess still shows no interest in marrying any of them. In fact, she has never felt any attraction to any man in her life. Her parents are frustrated with the lack of progress and decide to seek the help of a sorceress to set their daughter straight. They ask the sorceress to give the unwilling princess a potion that will make her fall in love with the next suitor. The sorceress agrees and is granted entrance to the castle disguised as a dressmaker. After finding the princess's chambers, the sorceress knocks on her door, but there is no response. She knocks again and, after a few moments of muffled commotion, the princess unlocks and opens the door, seeming somewhat distracted and out of sorts. While the princess looks down at her bed, the sorceress quietly slips the potion into her tea. The princess then drinks it and, in an instant, turns into a bird. The sorceress places the bird in a small cage attached to her belt, takes the form of the princess, and then exits her chambers to greet her "parents" and tell them how excited she is to meet her new suitor. Now destined to be caged for the rest of her days, the princess's only hope is you, a young handmaiden who witnessed these events while hiding under her bed. Moments ago, you were about to kiss the princess for the first time before the sorceress's knocking interrupted you. Jumping off the bed and hiding underneath it, you were able to escape unnoticed, but now must find a way to rescue your one true love and set her free.
You are walking down the street one day when you happen upon an upset dog with four small roller skates attached to his paws. You remove his skates, and the grateful dog licks you on the cheek before running away. The next day, you find your best friend's bike in a nearby bush with a flat tire. You bring the bike over to your friend's house, and he thanks you for finding it. That night, you see some sort of creature near your trash can. You go to investigate, only to find your girlfriend's broken charm bracelet at the bottom of the can. When more strange incidents occur in your town, you are convinced that the creature you saw is behind the mayhem, but your parents and other adults don't believe you. With the help of your friends, you decide to set a trap and see who—or what—is behind all of these pranks once and for all.
You are a 16-year-old girl living with your aunt in New York City. You take the subway to and from school every day and are familiar and comfortable with the route. But one night when you are coming home late from school, you come across a subway station you've never seen before. Curious, you descend into the station only to discover that it is filled with strange beings. They pay you no mind and, although you are nervous, you buy your ticket and board the subway train. To your excitement and surprise, the station it pulls into is not of this world, but of another. You exit the train and explore this new world, excited by the hustle and bustle of magical creatures, but when you try to return home, the subway station is gone.
As the daughter of a wealthy merchant, you live in the countryside, pursuing your passion for things like writing and archery. You devote most of your time to these studies and practices — so much so that your mother worries you are destined to become a spinster. Fearful of the family bloodline ending with you, she hires a woman to give you lessons in more "womanly pursuits." The instructor she hires is older, with silver hair and a quick wit. Seeing as your mother offered to pay extra to host these lessons at the family home, the older woman brings with her three other pupils to learn along with you. When the class starts, you are initially disappointed, but after your mother leaves the room, the subject changes immediately. The books on manners are swept aside, and in their place the woman places books on witchcraft. You laugh at first, but are intrigued as you notice the other pupils taking up the books and reading voraciously. You are even more intrigued when the woman levitates the book nearest to her, plopping it gently on your lap. Anyone can wield magic, the woman explains to you, but only a select few can use it well. Excited by this opportunity to learn something brand new, you begin studying — and under your family's nose, you grow your magical abilities.
One day, you wake to find that everyone over the age of 20 has fallen into a deep sleep in your kingdom. A strange, haunting voice lures those who are awake to a rundown castle deep in the woods. You and your friend, both apprentices to a powerful wizard, refuse to follow the voice, sensing that something is wrong. You use what knowledge you have of the magical arts to get to the bottom of this mystery and break the spell.
As your parents repeatedly tell you, your older brother is nothing but trouble. He's out all hours of the night and is always hostile toward everyone, including you. Your parents think he's going through a phase, but you think otherwise. You've watched him enter the woods late at night and emerge in the morning, covered in mud, leaves, and — lately — scratches. When he does not return one morning, you know that something is wrong. Terrified, you decide to go into the woods and follow his footprints. You find an old tree with what seems to be a doorway inside, along with a scrap of your brother's plaid shirt. You enter and are transported to another world where you discover your brother has been part of a guild hunting monsters for months. When you learn he's been captured, you join his guild to find out where he's been taken.
"You have exceptional power thrumming beneath your veins, little one. Go to the woods, my dear. The woods are dark, but you are light. Find the tree. It is short and wide, with countless grooves and bumps and the thickest roots of all the trees around it. Find the tree, my dear. It is your destiny." These were the last words your grandfather uttered to you before he passed. You were young and clueless at the time, but as you have gotten older, you have noticed that your body is always full of such intense energy, like you are a rod that has been struck by lightning. Your parents say that you are overactive and need to calm down, but you can't help it. The energy intensifies when your emotions are heightened, like when you are ecstatic, heartbroken, or angry. One day, as you watch a peer being mercilessly bullied in the school hallway, feelings of frustration and anger grow within you. You try to ignore your feelings, but your body betrays you. Your veins bulge beneath your skin, glowing a light blue, and sparks fly from your fingertips, zapping the bully with a shock. When everyone in the hall turns to stare at you in horror, you run from the building. You know you cannot go home because your parents will be notified of what you have done. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, you remember your grandfather's mysterious words and set off into the dark woods that no townspeople dare enter for fear of unknown dangers lurking within. Upon entering the woods, you find yourself in pitch blackness. However, the darkness does not last for long, as your body lights up and, to your amazement, sparks shoot from your fingers. The trees sway in a light breeze, and a voice raises above the sounds: "Find me, for I am your destiny."
You are a teenage boy living with your grandparents on a farm during the summer. Every day, you help your grandfather complete his chores around the farm, including feeding the animals, tending to the garden, and chopping wood. One day while splitting logs, you notice something moving at the edge of the farm close to the forest. Curious, you call out to it, thinking that it's one of the cows that's wandered too far from the pasture. The creature pauses, and for a moment it looks at you and then moves into the light. But it is no cow – it's a unicorn. Amazed at what you have found, the unicorn examines you for a moment, and with a slight nod of its head, its horn begins to glow. In that moment, it takes the form of a girl about your age.
It's 1984, and your father is a famous magician who entertains thousands of adoring fans from Atlantic City to Las Vegas. Though you rarely go with him on his tours since you are still in school, you make sure to watch him during his TV appearances which are always entertaining and go off without a hitch. However, on the night of his televised disappearing act on Johnny Carson, you are shocked to see your father actually vanish into thin air and never return to do the rest of his set. Though your mother is convinced he has run off with one of his assistants, you know something is not right. You look through his old notebooks and find strange writing in a language you have never seen before. Not knowing what to do next, you ask an awkward but smart girl in your history class for help. Even though you have never really gotten along since elementary school, she agrees to help you, and you hit the library together. After doing some research, you're surprised to discover that the language is Sumerian, the written passages translate into ancient spells, and your father was not just a magician, but an actual wizard. It's up to you and your classmate to follow the clues he left behind, and in time, to find him as well.
In your family's coven, it is a rite of passage to go on a yearlong journey in search of your magical purpose. The spirits of witches and warlocks past are more likely to offer guidance to those around the ages of 14 to 17, as they know that it may be their last chance to do so. It's not that those who enter adulthood are unwilling to hear them, but rather that they become unable to do so to over time. You are now 18 years old and have not seen any sign of the spirits. Your mother has begun to worry, as your younger siblings have already had their magical awakening, and you are well past due for yours. You decide to go out on your own, without the help of the spirits to guide you, and find that navigating the world without them is easier than you expected. But after a few months of living on your own, you find that your powers have begun to slowly diminish. Panicked, and afraid of disappointing your family, you seek out a mage who swears to have a connection to the spirits and says he can help you. Little do you know that he's part of the reason you're unable to hear the spirits in the first place.
You are an awkward 17-year-old girl who spends most of her time online, particularly in VR chat rooms, where you find it easier to make friends. You are excited about Knight's Brawl, a VR game you've been waiting to play for months. The game allows you to explore an open world full of dragons and fantasy creatures and travel to different arenas to compete against other players. When someone in your online group chat offers you an exclusive beta-testing code, you jump at the opportunity. You boot up the game, and everything looks incredibly realistic. You swear you can even smell your surroundings. But when you enter your first battle and actually feel each blow, you know something is wrong. Only then do you realize that you are no longer playing the game, but are in it, and you — like the others trapped in the beta — have to fight your way to the top of the leaderboard if you want to escape.
Long ago, the two continents of your world were bound in harmony by the marriage of a sorcerer and sorceress from two opposing royal families. For more than one hundred years, that balance was kept, each heir fulfilling their sacred royal duties and marrying a partner chosen by the council — often a duke or duchess from the opposing family. You are the next in line for the throne. Although you are ready to fulfill your family duties as an 18-year-old and maintain peace through matrimony, your parents are not. In fact, their daily squabbles have become full-blown arguments, with geopolitical tension escalating in their wake. When they abruptly end their marriage after an explosive fight, the two continents rally their troops at the border. Now you must find a new way to establish peace throughout the land while dealing with a family irrevocably split in two.
As a shy girl living with your three aunts in their inn, life has been pleasant. You help your aunts tend to their crops and animals, prep vegetables for dinner, and enjoy the occasional chat with inn patrons, who often share wonderful stories. However, on your sixteenth birthday, your aunts suddenly stare at you strangely and hardly make any conversation. You assume that they have tired of you but are too polite to say so. Perhaps this is all part of growing up: seeing adults as who they really are and not from a child's perspective. The feeling continues to nag at you, and late one night as you pass your aunts' room, you hear strange chanting noises from within. You look inside and see three strange beings gathered around a large cauldron. They are wearing your aunts' clothing, and you realize that trolls have been masquerading as your aunts with the help of magic disguises. They must have taken over the inn in order to ensure a steady stream of food. You are determined to figure out what they have done with your real aunts before they start choosing patrons for their next meal.
The summer of your 17th birthday you decide to drive across country with your best friend. The first few days go smoothly, but on the fourth day, you go to a fortune teller at a travelling carnival who tells you that you're both in grave danger. She's so concerned for your safety, in fact, that she successfully sells you a strange looking talisman that she says will protect you. Uneasy, but laughing it off, you and your friend continue on your journey. But on the fifth day, you notice something following you. It is not a person, per se, but more of a shadow — something constantly on the edge of your vision. When you tell your friend about it, she pauses, horrified, before telling you she's seen the same thing too. At your next campsite, you both are unable to sleep and are even more terrified when you hear a rustling outside your tent. You emerge to find the shadow, who has caught up with you. But it soon takes the shape of a worried young man. Breathless, he tells you that the fortune teller is actually a witch and that he was the last person she cursed with the talisman. His soul has been tethered to it ever since. It is now up to you and your friend to find the witch, free the young man's soul, and save your own.
The house at the end of the street has been condemned since you were a little kid. It has always been part of a neighborhood mythos, a source of scary stories that the people who have lived around it like to spin, with the history of the place changing each time. As you near your final days of high school, you and a few friends decide to explore the old house before you graduate — a final goodbye before you all go off to different colleges in different towns. The house is mostly empty, with nothing of significance. Until you find the mirror. It is as tall as you, its metal frame tarnished with age. You swear you can hear something coming from beyond it. When you touch the surface, it ripples, taking you and your friends aback. Slowly but surely, you all decide to enter the mirror, eyes shut tight, not knowing what to expect. When you open your eyes on the other side, you are standing in the stonewalled hallway of some sort of castle. Frightened, you and your friends turn on your heels to rush back into the mirror, only to discover that the portal has closed. You traverse the halls of the castle, hearing music and laughter coming from far away. When you and your friends, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, walk into the full ballroom of the Elven King's Court, everyone goes silent.
You are a teenage boy living with your divorced mother in a suburban neighborhood. Every summer your father takes you on a cross-country trip in his RV, visiting whichever tourist trap he decides to drag you to this time. But this summer, your dad has a different plan. He tells you that his work has carried over into the summer, so you'll be travelling up to Maine for a while. He even has a job for you. You agree to go with him. You're not particularly excited about working, but you have to admit that you're intrigued. When you get there, you find out what your father's really been doing for all of these years: hunting demons and banishing them back to their own realm.
Two hundred years ago, human soldiers entered your woodland home. Initially their arrival was peaceful, but when they saw the beauty of the trees and lakes, they decided to claim it for their own. Now most of the trees that your forefathers claimed are gone, cut down to use as lumber to create human homes. The grass and meadows have been trodden down to hard-packed roads. In some ways you are thankful you are not old enough to know what the world used to look like. You are a young cobbler with dreams of running your own store, which is ridiculous because you are an elf, making you a slave, like all others of your kind. You will forever mend shoes for your master in return for food and shelter. One day, a woman wearing a hood over her ears enters your shop. She stares at you with tears in her eyes, then leaves before your master sees her. That night, you see the same woman in the distance. She looks at you, then turns to walk into the woods at the edge of town. You follow her, trying to get to the bottom of this mystery. Your master will beat you if you don't return before dawn, but you feel drawn to follow—drawn to what looks like hundreds of torches beckoning you deeper into the woods.
For years, you have lived under the control of a cruel woman, caring for her family to pay off your father's debt. To keep him from debtor's prison, you obeyed without complaint. You would do anything to protect your kind-hearted father, who writes to you often although you have never seen him in person. Now, on the morning of your eighteenth birthday, you awake to find a small box at the foot of your haybed. Inside is an amulet, along with a note from your father. It says you have passed the test of selflessness, but now you must journey to bring this amulet to the far end of the scorched valley of sorrow and bone. You were born cursed to look like a human, but completing this final task will finally break the curse, and you can live with your kind for the rest of your days. You're shocked. Your father lied to you and—even worse—pretended you were trapped and working for this ghastly woman because of him. In reality, all along, it's been because of you. But who are you? And who are your people? The magical folk are vast in this land, but you never thought yourself one of them. The fae court, the elven clans, the centaurs, the mermaids—you could be any of these beings or none of them at all. There is only one way to find out, and you've never been more ready for anything in your life.
Against your wishes, your father has sent you off to an all-girls boarding school in a remote part of the Midwest after moving for his job. You attend your classes and make a few friends, but one group of girls in particular strike you as odd. One night you see them silently sneak into the woods and decide to follow. You find them dancing around a small bonfire, singing in harmony. In the flames, you see the outlines of horses flickering, and within moments, real horses burst out of the flames. The girls mount them with glee and ride off into the forest. The next day you confront them about it and learn that they have been practicing magic from an old book in the library. You join in on the fun, but when you learn the origins of the book and the darkness that seeks to take it back, it is up to you to protect the book, your friends, and the school itself.
Your village is encircled by a massive wall that protects it from gigantic monsters that roam the world, so most villagers never travel beyond the wall. Even as a curious teenager who dabbles in magic and alchemy, you have never been tempted to look through the enormous wrought iron gates out of fear of the consequences. When your brother and sister go missing, all of the clues lead to them being on the other side of the wall. However, your elders refuse to let anyone go out and search for them. With no other option, you must venture beyond the wall with the help of your best friend to bring your siblings home.

And that's a wrap! I hope that you found something inspiring within these writing prompts that will kindle the fantasy writer within you. I would like to thank the following writers for creating all of these wonderful story starters. We really appreciate your contributions!

Allison Chaney
Emma Ingalls
Inks&Edits
Jennifer Eaton
Karishma Petersen
Lindsey Carnick
Liz Butcher
Samantha Tate

Images created by Grandfailure .

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100 Character-Driven Writing Prompts

March 19, 2024 by Richard 1 Comment

100 Character-Driven Writing Prompts: Character-driven stories are the heart and soul of great literature, captivating readers by delving deep into the minds, emotions, and motivations of the protagonists. These stories focus on the inner lives of characters, exploring their struggles, growth, and relationships as they navigate the challenges and triumphs of their journeys. By placing characters at the forefront, writers can create narratives that resonate with readers on a profound level, fostering empathy, understanding, and self-reflection.

Crafting compelling character-driven stories requires a keen understanding of human nature and the ability to create multi-dimensional, relatable characters. Writing prompts that focus on character development can be invaluable tools for writers seeking to hone their skills and explore new creative avenues. These prompts encourage writers to delve into the psyches of their characters, unearthing their fears, desires, and secrets, and bringing them to life on the page.

The following list of 100 character-driven writing prompts is designed to inspire writers of all levels, from novice to experienced. These prompts span a wide range of genres, from science fiction and fantasy to contemporary fiction and mystery, ensuring that there is something to spark the imagination of every writer. Each prompt presents a unique scenario or character archetype, inviting writers to explore the depths of human experience and craft stories that will resonate with readers long after the final page is turned.

By embracing the power of character-driven storytelling, writers can create works that not only entertain but also enlighten, challenge, and transform readers. These 100 writing prompts serve as a springboard for creativity, encouraging writers to push the boundaries of their imagination and craft stories that celebrate the complexities and beauty of the human experience. So, whether you’re a seasoned author or a budding writer, dive into these prompts and let your characters guide you on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery and storytelling magic.

A retired spy is pulled back into the world of espionage for one last mission.
A time traveler falls in love with someone from the past.
A child discovers they have magical powers and must keep them hidden.
A therapist begins to suspect their patient is a dangerous criminal.
A robot learns to feel human emotions and questions its purpose.
A ghost watches over their living family members, unable to communicate with them.
A world-renowned surgeon loses the ability to operate and must find a new purpose.
A politician leads a double life as a vigilante by night.
A woman wakes up with no memory of her past and must piece together her identity.
A chef inherits a mysterious cookbook with recipes that have strange effects on people.
A homeless man discovers he has the ability to see the future.
A successful businesswoman is forced to confront her humble beginnings.
A soldier returns home from war and struggles to readjust to civilian life.
An alien disguised as a human falls in love with an earthling.
A parent’s worst fear comes true when their child goes missing.
A writer’s characters come to life and demand a different ending to their story.
A hitman falls in love with his target and must choose between love and duty.
A scientist accidentally clones themselves and must deal with the consequences.
A time traveler tries to change a historical event but makes things worse.
A doctor discovers a cure for a deadly disease but realizes it has terrible side effects.
A politician’s scandalous past catches up with them as they run for office.
A famous actor is haunted by a ghost who claims to be their biggest fan.
A detective falls in love with the main suspect in a murder investigation.
A therapist becomes too emotionally invested in a patient’s problems.
A con artist falls for their mark and must choose between love and money.
A journalist uncovers a government conspiracy and becomes a target.
A child befriends an AI and must keep it a secret from their parents.
A time traveler meets their future self and learns a shocking truth.
A spy falls in love with a fellow agent from a rival country.
A doctor discovers they have a terminal illness and must come to terms with their mortality.
A famous musician loses their hearing and must find a new way to create music.
A chef opens a restaurant that only serves food from their childhood.
A ghost helps a living person solve their own murder.
A therapist is stalked by a former patient seeking revenge.
A politician is blackmailed by a hacker who threatens to expose their secrets.
A scientist creates a device that allows them to communicate with animals.
A soldier is captured by the enemy and must rely on their training to survive.
An alien falls in love with a human and must choose between their home planet and Earth.
A parent’s child is switched at birth, and they must decide whether to keep the child they raised.
A writer’s fictional world becomes real, and they must navigate it to find their way back.
A hitman is hired to assassinate a public figure but begins to question the morality of their profession.
A detective is framed for a crime they didn’t commit and must clear their name.
A therapist is haunted by a patient who died by suicide.
A con artist falls for a mark who is also a con artist, and they must outsmart each other.
A journalist is embedded with a group of rebels fighting against a corrupt government.
A child discovers a portal to another world in their backyard.
A time traveler accidentally changes the course of history and must fix their mistake.
A spy is betrayed by their own agency and must go on the run to survive.
A doctor discovers a way to bring people back from the dead, but at a terrible cost.
A famous actor is forced to confront their own mortality when diagnosed with a terminal illness.
A musician’s songs start coming true, and they must find a way to stop it.
A chef is kidnapped and forced to cook for a dangerous criminal organization.
A ghost falls in love with a living person and must find a way to communicate with them.
A therapist discovers their patient is a serial killer and must decide whether to turn them in.
A politician is elected president and discovers a secret that could destroy the world.
A scientist creates a machine that can read people’s thoughts and struggles with the ethical implications.
A soldier is sent on a secret mission behind enemy lines and must rely on their wits to survive.
An alien comes to Earth to study humans and falls in love with one of their subjects.
A parent discovers their child has superpowers and must keep them safe from those who would exploit them.
A writer’s characters come to life and take over their life, forcing them to live out their own story.
A hitman is hired to kill a child and struggles with the moral implications of their job.
A detective investigating a murder begins to suspect that the victim is still alive.
A therapist becomes obsessed with a patient and begins to lose grip on reality.
A con artist is conned by their own mentor and must find a way to get revenge.
A journalist uncovers a secret society that controls the world from the shadows.
A child befriends a monster living in their closet and must keep it a secret from their family.
A time traveler falls in love with someone from the future and must choose between staying or going back.
A spy must go undercover as their own twin to infiltrate a criminal organization.
A doctor discovers a way to make people immortal but realizes the consequences too late.
A famous actor is stalked by an obsessive fan who will stop at nothing to get close to them.
A musician is cursed by a witch and must find a way to break the spell before it’s too late.
A chef opens a restaurant that serves magical dishes, but the magic comes with a price.
A ghost is tasked with helping a living person fulfill their destiny before they can move on to the afterlife.
A therapist begins to suspect that their patient is possessed by a demon.
A politician makes a deal with a powerful entity to win the election, but the entity has its own agenda.
A scientist accidentally creates a black hole and must find a way to stop it from destroying the world.
A soldier is sent to a war-torn country to rescue a group of civilians, but things don’t go as planned.
An alien crash-lands on Earth and must blend in with humans to survive.
A parent’s deepest fear comes true when their child is kidnapped by a supernatural entity.
A writer’s fictional world begins to bleed into reality, and they must find a way to stop it.
A hitman is hired to kill a wealthy businessman but discovers that the businessman is their long-lost father.
A detective is brought in to investigate a series of bizarre murders that seem to defy explanation.
A therapist’s patient claims to be from the future and warns of an impending apocalypse.
A con artist falls for their mark and must choose between their love and their freedom.
A journalist stumbles upon a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top of the government.
A child discovers a magical amulet that grants wishes, but the wishes come with unintended consequences.
A time traveler is tasked with preventing a major historical event from happening.
A spy must go undercover as a member of the royal family to prevent an assassination attempt.
A doctor discovers a way to communicate with the dead, but the dead have their own agenda.
A famous actor is forced to confront their own ego when they are cast in a role that requires them to play a less attractive version of themselves.
A musician is given a powerful instrument that can control people’s emotions, but it comes with a terrible price.
A chef is tasked with creating a dish that can bring peace to warring nations, but the ingredients are nearly impossible to find.
A ghost is given a second chance at life but must live in someone else’s body.
A therapist begins to suspect that their patient is a werewolf and must find a way to help them control their transformations.
A politician discovers that they are the chosen one destined to save the world from a great evil.
A scientist creates a machine that can bring fictional characters to life, but the characters have minds of their own.
A soldier is sent on a mission to infiltrate a group of rebels, but begins to sympathize with their cause.
An alien falls in love with a human and must choose between their loyalty to their own species or their love for the human.
A parent discovers that their child has been replaced by a changeling and must find a way to get their real child back.
A writer is transported into the world of their own book and must find a way to change the ending to save the characters they love.

In conclusion, character-driven stories have the power to illuminate the human condition, fostering a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. By placing characters at the heart of the narrative, writers can create stories that resonate on a profound level, touching readers’ lives and leaving a lasting impact. These 100 writing prompts serve as a catalyst for creativity, encouraging writers to explore the limitless possibilities of character-driven storytelling.

Crafting compelling characters is both an art and a skill, requiring writers to delve into the complexities of human nature and bring their creations to life on the page. Through the use of vivid description, authentic dialogue, and psychological depth, writers can create characters that feel as real as the people we encounter in our daily lives. By investing time and effort into character development, writers can elevate their stories from mere entertainment to works of art that inspire, challenge, and transform.

As you embark on your writing journey, remember that character-driven stories have the power to bridge the gap between writer and reader, creating a shared experience that transcends the boundaries of the page. By crafting characters that readers can relate to, empathize with, and root for, you have the opportunity to create stories that will be cherished for generations to come.

So, whether you’re a seasoned author or a novice writer, embrace the power of character-driven storytelling and let these writing prompts be your guide. Dive deep into the hearts and minds of your characters, and let their stories unfold with authenticity, vulnerability, and truth. Through your words, you have the ability to shape the world, one character at a time.

In the end, remember that writing is a journey of self-discovery and growth. As you explore the depths of your characters, you may just find yourself reflected in their struggles, triumphs, and transformations. Embrace the power of character-driven storytelling, and let your creativity flow freely. The world is waiting for the stories only you can tell.

If you enjoyed these writing prompts, we have many more on our site .

64 Captivating Unreliable Narrator Writing Prompts to Ignite Your Imagination

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

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500+ Writing Prompts for Kids (Journal & Story Ideas)

Hey there, future authors, creators, and dreamers. Are you ready to let your imagination run wild?

Whether you love to write stories, draw pictures, or just scribble down your thoughts, I’ve got something super cool for you. It’s a list of 500 awesome writing prompts! Think of these as little seeds you can plant in your brain, and who knows what kind of amazing stories will grow?

Grab your favorite pencil, cozy up in your writing spot, and let’s get started.

Unique Writing Prompts for Kids

Kids in a classroom-- Writing Prompts for Kids

Table of Contents

Sometimes, the best stories come from the most unexpected places.

Here are some unique ideas that will take your writing to new and exciting worlds.

Imagine you find a secret door in your school that leads to a hidden world. What happens next?
If animals could talk, what would your pet say to you?
You wake up with superpowers one day. What powers do you have, and how do you use them?
Write about a day in the life of your favorite toy. What adventures do they have when you’re not around?
You discover a magical treehouse that only appears at night. What do you find inside?
A new student at your school is actually an alien in disguise. What happens when you find out?
You get to invent a new holiday. What is it called, and how do people celebrate it?
Write about a time-traveling kid who visits ancient Egypt. What do they see and do?
Imagine you can jump into any book and become part of the story. Which book do you choose, and what happens next?
What would the world be like if kids were in charge of everything?
Imagine a world where everything is made of candy. What would you do?
Write about a mysterious door that only appears during thunderstorms.
You find a map leading to a lost city. What happens next?
Describe a day in the life of an invisible person.
Imagine you could turn into any animal at will. Which animals would you choose and why?
Write about a magical backpack that can hold anything you want.
You find a message in a bottle on the beach. What does it say?
Imagine a world where it rains chocolate milk instead of water. What’s it like?
Write about a time when you shrunk to the size of an ant.
Describe a town where everyone has a unique superpower. What’s yours?
Imagine you can speak to ghosts. What do they tell you?
Write about a magic book that comes to life when you read it.
You find a pair of shoes that allow you to fly. Where do you go?
Imagine a day when gravity stops working. What happens?
You discover a secret underground city beneath your house. What’s it like?

Journal Prompts for Kids

Journaling is a fantastic way to express your thoughts and feelings. These prompts will help you reflect on your day, your dreams, and everything in between.

What was the best thing that happened to you today?
Describe your dream vacation. Where would you go, and what would you do?
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?
Write about a time you felt really proud of yourself. What did you do?
Who is your hero, and why do you look up to them?
What’s something new you learned recently that made you excited?
If you could talk to your future self, what advice would you give?
Write about your favorite memory with your family or friends.
What are three things you’re grateful for today?
If you could have any pet, real or imaginary, what would it be and why?
What’s your favorite thing about yourself, and why do you love it?
Write about a time when you helped someone. How did it make you feel?
What do you dream about at night? Describe your most recent dream.
If you could invent a new food, what would it be and why?
Write about your favorite place to relax. What makes it special?
If you could meet anyone from history, who would it be and why?
What’s your favorite season, and what do you like to do during it?
If you could live in any time period, when would it be and why?
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received, and why did it mean so much to you?
Write about a time when you were really brave. What happened?
Imagine you could move anywhere in the world—where would you go and why?
What’s something you want to learn to do, and why?
Write about a time when you felt really happy. What made you smile?
If you could trade places with any character from a book, who would it be and why?
What’s your favorite family tradition, and why do you love it?

Funny Writing Prompts for Kids

Get ready to giggle with these silly and wacky prompts! They’re perfect for writing something that will make you and others laugh out loud.

Write a story about a cat who thinks it’s a dog.
Imagine you’re a superhero whose only power is making people laugh. How do you use your power to save the day?
You wake up one morning to find that you’ve turned into your favorite food. What happens next?
What would happen if cows started flying? Describe a day on a flying farm.
Write about a world where everyone speaks in rhymes. What does a regular day sound like?
Your pencil suddenly comes to life and starts telling you what to write. What kind of stories does it want to tell?
If you could swap places with any cartoon character for a day, who would you choose, and what crazy adventures would you have?
Imagine a talking banana who becomes your best friend. What do you do together?
Write about a time you tried to teach a pet goldfish how to dance.
What would school be like if all the teachers were robots programmed to be super silly?
Imagine you have a pet dinosaur. What mischief does it get into?
What if your shoes suddenly started talking to you? What would they say?
Write about a day when everything you touched turned into spaghetti.
Imagine you wake up and everyone in your town is singing instead of talking. What’s the day like?
What would happen if you could only eat dessert for every meal?
Describe a time when you accidentally turned your teacher into a frog.
What if you found out your dog could do magic tricks? What tricks would it do?
Write about a time when you switched places with your pet for a day. What did you do?
Imagine you wake up with a giraffe neck. How does your day go?
What would happen if you could only walk backward for a whole day?
Write about a time when your lunch came to life and tried to run away.
Imagine you could change the color of anything by touching it. What do you change?
What if your favorite food could talk? What would it say to you?
Write about a time when you got stuck inside a video game. How do you get out?
Imagine you could make anything float by blowing on it. What would you do with this power?

Story Starter Writing Prompts

Sometimes, all you need is a first sentence to spark your imagination. Here are some story starters to help you begin your next great tale.

The moment I opened the box, I knew my life would never be the same.
It was a dark and stormy night when I heard a knock at the door.
As soon as I stepped into the forest, I realized something magical was about to happen.
I never expected to find a treasure map hidden in the old library book.
The day I discovered I could talk to animals was the best day of my life.
Just as I was about to give up, I saw something that made me gasp.
When the clock struck midnight, the world around me began to change.
I was walking home from school when I found a mysterious key on the ground.
The letter I received in the mail this morning had only one word on it: “Run.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a dragon flying over my neighborhood.
As soon as I opened the treasure chest, I saw something glowing inside.
The strange noise coming from the attic turned out to be a tiny dragon.
I never thought I’d meet a real-life mermaid, but then I did.
The moment I touched the ancient artifact, I felt a surge of power.
My best friend told me a secret that I could hardly believe.
As I walked through the mysterious fog, I realized I wasn’t alone.
The letter I found in the old oak tree was addressed to me.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a giant footprint in my backyard.
The old key I found fit perfectly into the lock of a hidden door.
Just as I was about to give up, I heard someone calling my name.
The moment I stepped onto the pirate ship, I knew an adventure was about to begin.
As soon as I pressed the button, the machine whirred to life.
I found a map hidden under the floorboards of my room.
The sound of wings fluttering in the night made me look up in awe.
The old man handed me a coin and said, “This will change everything.”

Picture Writing Prompts for Kids

Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words—or even more! Use these picture prompts to inspire a colorful story.

Imagine a picture of a rainbow-colored unicorn dancing in the rain. What is the unicorn celebrating?
Look at a photo of a deserted island. Who lives there, and what secrets does the island hold?
A picture shows a giant moon in the sky, twice as big as normal. What’s happening on Earth?
See a drawing of a mysterious castle on top of a hill. Who lives there, and what’s their story?
Imagine a picture of a little girl flying a kite that’s pulling her up into the sky. Where does she go?
Look at a photo of an ancient tree with a door carved into it. Who might live inside?
Picture a robot sitting alone in a garden. What is the robot thinking about?
A drawing shows a city floating in the clouds. Who lives there, and how do they get around?
Imagine a photo of a boy holding a glowing orb. What powers does the orb have?
See a picture of a cat wearing a wizard hat. What magical adventures does the cat go on?
Imagine a picture of a spaceship landing in a field of flowers. What happens next?
Look at a photo of a mountain with a hidden cave. Who or what lives inside?
A picture shows a giant fish swimming through the sky. How did it get there?
Imagine a photo of a tree with doors leading to different worlds. Where do the doors go?
See a drawing of a mysterious island floating in the air. What’s on the island?
A picture shows a dragon curled up around a pile of gold. What is it guarding?
Imagine a photo of a tiny village inside a glass jar. Who lives there?
Look at a drawing of a flying car zooming over a city. Where is it going?
A picture shows a cat wearing a pirate hat and holding a treasure map. What’s its story?
Imagine a picture of a magical waterfall that turns everything it touches into crystal. What happens next?
See a photo of a bridge made of rainbows. What’s on the other side?
A drawing shows a tiny person riding on the back of a giant bird. Where are they going?
Imagine a photo of a ship sailing through the clouds. Who is on board?
A picture shows a castle made of candy. Who lives there, and what’s it like inside?
Look at a drawing of a forest where the trees glow in the dark. What’s the secret behind the glowing trees?

Winter Writing Prompts for Kids

Winter is a time of magic and wonder. These prompts will help you capture the coziness and excitement of the season.

Write about building the most amazing snowman ever. What makes it special?
Imagine you could live in an igloo for a week. What would you do?
What if snowflakes were actually tiny fairies? Write about their adventures.
Describe a day in a winter wonderland where animals can talk.
What would happen if your town had the biggest snowstorm ever? How would you spend your snow day?
Write about a secret winter festival held by animals in the forest.
Imagine you wake up and find that everything you touch turns to ice. What do you do?
What’s the story behind a snow globe that magically transports you to a snowy village?
Write about a magical pair of ice skates that let you skate across the clouds.
What would it be like to ride a sleigh pulled by reindeer through the night sky?
Write about a day when the snow suddenly turned into marshmallows.
Imagine you could talk to snowflakes. What would they tell you?
What if you found a frozen lake that led to an underwater kingdom?
Write about building a snow fort that magically comes to life.
Imagine a world where winter never ends. What’s it like?
Describe a snowball fight where the snowballs have a mind of their own.
What would happen if your pet turned into a snowman overnight?
Write about a magical scarf that keeps you warm no matter what.
Imagine you could control the weather with a wave of your hand. How do you use your power?
What if your town had a secret winter carnival only kids knew about?
Write about a day when you and your friends discover a hidden ice cave.
Imagine you find a snow globe that transports you to a winter wonderland. What do you see there?
What if your favorite winter coat suddenly gave you the ability to fly?
Write about a time when you met a snow fairy in the forest.
Imagine you could skate on ice that plays music as you glide. What tunes do you hear?

Christmas Writing Prompts for Kids

Christmas is a time for joy and creativity. These prompts will fill your writing with holiday cheer!

Write a letter to Santa, but instead of asking for presents, tell him about your year.
Imagine you are one of Santa’s elves. What is your job at the North Pole?
What if your Christmas tree could talk? What stories would it tell?
Describe the most magical Christmas morning ever. What happens when you wake up?
Write a story about a reindeer who dreams of flying but is afraid of heights.
Imagine you find a lost present under the tree. What’s inside, and who is it for?
What would happen if Christmas lights could talk to each other?
Write about a snowman who comes to life on Christmas Eve and goes on an adventure.
Imagine you could spend a day with Santa at the North Pole. What do you do?
What if you woke up on Christmas morning and found out you were Santa for the day?
Imagine you find a magical candy cane that grants wishes. What do you wish for?
Write about a time when you helped Santa deliver presents on Christmas Eve.
What if your Christmas stockings were filled with tiny talking animals?
Imagine you wake up to find your Christmas tree has grown to the ceiling overnight. What do you do?
Write about a gingerbread man who comes to life and goes on an adventure.
What would happen if you found out your Christmas presents could talk?
Imagine you spend Christmas in a cozy cabin in the snowy mountains. What’s the best part of your holiday?
Write about a reindeer who gets lost on Christmas Eve. How do you help it find its way home?
What if you discovered that your favorite Christmas ornament has a magical secret?
Imagine you could bake cookies that come to life. What kind of cookies do you create?
Write about a time when you built a Christmas tree out of snow.
What if you found a snow globe that could show you any Christmas memory? What do you see?
Imagine you get to design Santa’s sleigh. What does it look like?
Write about a time when you caught a glimpse of Santa’s workshop.
If you could celebrate Christmas with any holiday movie character, who would it be and what would you do?

Halloween Writing Prompts for Kids

Halloween is spooky, silly, and full of surprises! These prompts will help you create stories that are a little bit creepy and a whole lot of fun.

Write about a haunted house that turns out to be friendly. What happens inside?
Imagine you get to choose your own special Halloween superpower. What is it, and how do you use it?
What if your Halloween costume came to life? What would it do?
Describe the creepiest, most mysterious pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. What makes it so strange?
Write about a group of friends who discover a secret door in a graveyard on Halloween night.
What would happen if your pet turned into a ghost on Halloween?
Imagine you’re a witch or wizard for a day. What spells do you cast?
Write a story about a Halloween party where all the guests are monsters.
What if you found a magic broomstick that could fly you anywhere? Where would you go?
Describe the best trick-or-treat adventure ever. What makes it unforgettable?
Write about a haunted carnival that only appears on Halloween night.
Imagine you could turn into any Halloween creature. What would you become, and what would you do?
What if you found a book of spells hidden in your attic? What’s the first spell you try?
Write about a time when you discovered that your costume gave you real powers.
Imagine you’re invited to a monster’s Halloween party. What do you see and do?
Imagine you’re invited to a monster’s Halloween party. What games do you play, and what snacks do you eat?
What if your shadow came to life on Halloween and started doing things on its own?
Write about a ghost who has lost their way and needs your help to find their home.
Imagine you and your friends explore a spooky old mansion. What do you find inside?
What would happen if all the pumpkins in your town started glowing mysteriously on Halloween night?
Write about a talking black cat who gives you a special Halloween mission.
What if you found a magic wand that could bring your Halloween decorations to life? What happens next?
Imagine you discover a hidden room in your house filled with ancient Halloween treasures. What do you do with them?
Write about a night when the moon turns blood red and strange things start to happen in your town.
What if you woke up on Halloween morning to find that your town had turned into a spooky Halloween land overnight?

Spring Writing Prompts for Kids

Spring is all about new beginnings and fresh ideas. These prompts will help you celebrate the season of growth and renewal.

Write about planting a magical garden. What kind of plants grow there?
Imagine you could talk to flowers. What secrets would they tell you?
Describe the first day of spring from the perspective of a hibernating bear.
What would it be like to have a picnic with talking animals in a blooming meadow?
Write about a mysterious seed that grows into something unexpected.
Imagine you discover a hidden spring that makes everything around it come to life.
What if you could ride on the back of a butterfly? Where would it take you?
Write a story about a raindrop that goes on an adventure as it travels to the sea.
Describe a spring festival where the trees, flowers, and animals all join in the celebration.
Imagine you find a rainbow in your backyard. What happens when you touch it?
Write about a magical umbrella that can control the weather. What do you use it for?
Imagine you discover a hidden garden that blooms with flowers in every color of the rainbow. What makes this garden so special?
Write about a time when you found a baby bird that needed your help. What did you do?
What if you could talk to insects? What would they tell you about their lives in the spring?
Imagine you plant a magic seed that grows into something incredible. What does it become?
Write about a spring day when the rain brings something magical to your town.
What would happen if all the animals in the forest threw a spring party? What games do they play?
Imagine you find a hidden waterfall deep in the woods. What do you discover there?
Write about a butterfly that takes you on a journey to see the first signs of spring.
What if you could make flowers bloom with just a touch? How would you use this power?
Imagine you wake up to find that your garden has been transformed into a magical jungle. What creatures do you meet?
Write about a time when you discovered a family of rabbits living in your backyard.
What if you could shrink down to the size of a bug for a day? What adventures would you have in the spring?
Imagine you find a trail of flower petals leading to a secret spot in the forest. What do you find there?
Write about a spring day when everything you draw with chalk comes to life.

Fall Writing Prompts for Kids

Fall is a season full of colors, cozy moments, and new adventures.

These prompts will help you capture the essence of autumn.

Write about jumping into the biggest pile of leaves ever. What surprises do you find inside?
Imagine a talking scarecrow who tells stories about the farm. What are its best tales?
Describe a day in the life of an acorn as it travels through the forest.
What would happen if you discovered a secret treehouse hidden in the fall woods?
Write about a squirrel who is preparing for winter but finds something unexpected while gathering nuts.
Imagine you could paint the autumn leaves any color you want. What colors do you choose, and why?
Describe the coziest fall day ever. What do you do, and how do you feel?
Write about a magical pumpkin that grows bigger every time you make a wish.
What if you found an enchanted forest where the trees tell stories? What tales do they share?
Imagine a fall harvest festival where everything you eat gives you special powers. What do you eat, and what powers do you get?
Imagine you discover a corn maze that changes every time you go inside. What’s the secret behind it?
Write about a day when the wind carries you away on an autumn adventure.
What if the leaves in your yard started forming shapes and messages? What do they spell out?
Imagine you find a mysterious old lantern in the woods. What happens when you light it?
Write about a squirrel who finds something very unusual while collecting acorns.
What would happen if pumpkins could talk? What stories would they tell?
Imagine you spend the night camping in the fall woods. What spooky or magical things do you see?
Write about a time when you followed a trail of autumn leaves to a hidden place.
What if you found a haunted scarecrow in a pumpkin patch? What does it want?
Imagine you could control the wind on a blustery fall day. How would you use this power?
Write about a cozy fall evening where you discover a hidden world inside a jack-o’-lantern.
What if you could jump into a painting of an autumn scene? What would you do there?
Imagine you find an old book of autumn legends. What happens when you read it?
Write about a harvest festival where everything goes wrong in a funny way.
What if you discovered a magical acorn that could grow a tree overnight? What does the tree look like, and what makes it special?

Summer Writing Prompts for Kids

Summer is a time for adventure, sunshine, and fun!

These prompts will help you capture the joy and excitement of the summer season.

Imagine you find a hidden beach that no one else knows about. What do you do there?
Write about a day when you build the biggest sandcastle ever. What surprises do you find inside?
What if you discovered a secret cave while exploring the shoreline? What’s inside?
Imagine you could swim with dolphins for a day. What adventures do you have?
Write about a time when you found a message in a bottle floating in the ocean.
What if the sun didn’t set for a whole week? How would you spend the extra daylight?
Imagine you could fly a kite that takes you up into the sky. Where does it take you?
Write about a summer carnival that’s full of magical rides and games.
What if your ice cream cone never melted, no matter how hot it got? What flavors would you try?
Imagine you spend the summer on a mysterious island. What do you discover there?
Write about a time when you had the best summer camp experience ever. What made it so special?
What if you found out your favorite swimming spot was actually home to a family of mermaids?
Imagine you could talk to the fish in the ocean. What would they tell you about their underwater world?
Write about a summer night when the stars seem to be extra bright. What happens under the starlight?
What if you could visit any place in the world for your summer vacation? Where would you go, and what would you do?

Valentine’s Day Prompts for Kids

Valentine’s Day is all about love, friendship, and spreading kindness. These prompts will inspire sweet and creative writing ideas.

Write about a time when you made a special Valentine’s Day card for someone. What did it look like, and why was it special?
What if your pet could send you a Valentine’s Day message? What would it say?
Imagine you find a heart-shaped treasure on Valentine’s Day. What’s inside?
Write about a Valentine’s Day party where all the guests are animals. What do they do to celebrate?
What if you could send a Valentine’s Day card to anyone in the world? Who would you choose, and what would you say?
Imagine you wake up on Valentine’s Day to find that everything around you is heart-shaped. What do you do?
Write about a time when you did something kind for a friend on Valentine’s Day. How did it make you feel?
What if you could bake magical cookies that spread love and happiness? Who would you give them to?
Imagine you receive a mysterious Valentine’s Day letter. Who is it from, and what does it say?
Write about a time when you helped someone who was feeling lonely on Valentine’s Day. What did you do to cheer them up?
What if you could create your own special Valentine’s Day tradition? What would it be?
Imagine you could visit a land where everything is made of candy hearts. What’s it like?
Write about a Valentine’s Day surprise that you planned for someone special.
What if you could make a wish on a Valentine’s Day star? What would you wish for?
Imagine you get to spend Valentine’s Day with your favorite storybook character. Who do you choose, and what do you do together?

Book-Related Writing Prompts for Kids

Books open the door to endless adventures!

These prompts will inspire you to dive into the world of stories and create your own.

Imagine you could jump into your favorite book. What happens when you become part of the story?
Write about a time when you found a book that had the power to change the world.
What if your bookshelf could talk? What stories would it share with you?
Imagine you could visit a library where every book comes to life as you read it. What book do you choose first?
Write about a character from a book who suddenly appears in your room. What do you do together?
What if you discovered a hidden room in your house filled with ancient, magical books? What do you find?
Imagine you’re writing a book, and the characters start telling you what to write next. What do they say?
Write about a time when you read a book that was so amazing, you couldn’t put it down. What made it so special?
What if you could create your own ending for a book you’ve read? How would you change the story?
Imagine you could visit a world from your favorite book. What would you do there?
Write about a time when you shared your favorite book with a friend. How did they react?
What if you discovered a secret society of book lovers who meet in a hidden library? What do they do?
Imagine you could write a letter to your favorite author. What would you say?
Write about a book that you wish existed. What’s the title, and what’s the story about?
What if you could collect all the stories ever written in one magical book? What would it look like, and what would you do with it?

St. Patrick’s Day Writing Prompts for Kids

St. Patrick’s Day is full of luck, leprechauns, and all things green.

These prompts will help you celebrate this fun holiday with your writing.

Imagine you find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. What do you do with it?
Write about a time when you met a friendly leprechaun. What did they teach you?
What if you woke up on St. Patrick’s Day to find that everything in your house had turned green? What’s going on?
Imagine you follow a trail of shamrocks that leads you to a magical forest. What do you find there?
Write about a St. Patrick’s Day parade where all the floats come to life.
What if you found a four-leaf clover that granted you three wishes? What would you wish for?
Imagine you spend the day in a leprechaun’s shoes. What adventures do you have?
Write about a rainbow that appears in your backyard and leads to an unexpected discovery.
What if you could visit a land where it’s always St. Patrick’s Day? What’s it like?
Imagine you’re in charge of planning the ultimate St. Patrick’s Day party. What do you include?
Write about a time when you followed a mischievous leprechaun on an adventure.
What if you could paint the town green for St. Patrick’s Day? How would you do it?
Imagine you discover a secret tunnel under a giant shamrock. Where does it lead?
Write about a magical harp that only plays music on St. Patrick’s Day.
What if your pet turned into a leprechaun for a day? What mischief would they get into?
Imagine you find a book of ancient Irish legends. What happens when you start reading it?
Write about a time when you found a hidden message in a bowl of lucky charms.
What if you discovered that your family had a secret St. Patrick’s Day tradition? What is it?
Imagine you’re part of a St. Patrick’s Day treasure hunt. What do you find?
Write about a time when a rainbow appeared in the middle of a rainy day. What happened next?
What if you could create your own lucky charm? What would it look like, and what powers would it have?
Imagine you visit a castle in Ireland that’s rumored to be full of magic. What do you discover inside?
Write about a St. Patrick’s Day where everything you touch turns to gold. What do you do with your newfound wealth?
What if you could brew a potion that brings good luck? Who would you share it with?
Imagine you could catch a leprechaun. What would you ask them for, and what deal would you make?

Free Writing Prompts for Kids

These prompts are designed to let your imagination run wild.

There are no rules—just start writing and see where your creativity takes you.

Write about a time when you discovered a hidden talent you never knew you had.
Imagine you could spend a day as any animal. Which animal would you choose, and what would you do?
What if you could visit any place in the world, real or imaginary? Where would you go, and why?
Write about a dream you had that was so vivid, you felt like you were really there.
Imagine you could invent a new toy. What would it be, and how would it work?
What if you found a secret passageway in your house? Where does it lead?
Write about a time when you made a new friend in an unexpected place.
Imagine you could visit any time period in history. When would you go, and what would you do?
What if you could speak any language fluently? Which language would you choose, and why?
Write about a time when you had to make a tough decision. What did you choose, and how did it turn out?
Imagine you could design your dream bedroom. What would it look like?
What if you could have any superpower for a day? Which one would you choose, and how would you use it?
Write about a time when you had an adventure in your own backyard.
Imagine you could trade places with anyone in the world for a day. Who would you choose, and what would you do?
What if you could make a wish on a shooting star? What would you wish for, and why?
Write about a time when you did something that made you really proud.
Imagine you could visit any planet in the solar system. Which one would you choose, and what would you explore?
What if you could create your own holiday? What name would you give it, and how would people celebrate?
Write about a time when you helped someone and how it made you feel.
Imagine you could live in any kind of house, real or imaginary. What would it look like, and where would it be?
What if you could have any pet, real or imaginary? What would it be, and how would you take care of it?
Write about a time when you tried something new and how it turned out.
Imagine you could be the main character in your favorite movie or book. What happens next?
What if you could travel anywhere in the world instantly? Where would you go, and why?
Write about a time when you discovered something surprising about yourself or someone else.

Technology Writing Prompts for Kids

Technology is a big part of our lives today.

These prompts will help you explore how technology affects the world around you.

Imagine you could create a new app. What would it do, and why would people use it?
Write about a time when technology helped you solve a problem. How did it work?
What if robots became our teachers? What would school be like?
Imagine you could design your own video game. What is the storyline, and who are the characters?
Write about a world where everyone communicates only through emojis. How does it change things?
What if you could invent a robot to do any one task for you? What would it be, and why?
Imagine a day without any technology. What do you do instead?
Write about a time when you used the internet to learn something new. What did you discover?
What if you could talk to your favorite electronic device? What would it say?
Imagine you could build your own computer. What special features would it have?
Write about a time when technology went wrong. How did you fix it?
What if video games could become real life? Which game would you want to live in, and why?
Imagine you could control all the technology in your house with your mind. What would you do with this power?
Write about a time when you had to teach someone how to use a new piece of technology. How did it go?
What if you could create a hologram of yourself to do your chores? How would it work?
Imagine you discover a secret website that only a few people know about. What’s on it?
Write about a world where everyone has a flying car. How does it change the way people live?
What if you could create a virtual reality world of your own? What would it be like?
Imagine you could talk to animals using a special device. What would they tell you?
Write about a time when you used technology to stay in touch with someone far away. How did it help?
What if you could invent a gadget that makes life easier for everyone? What would it do?
Imagine a world where drones deliver everything you need. How does it change your daily life?
Write about a time when you had to unplug from technology. What did you do instead?
What if you could explore outer space using a virtual reality headset? Where would you go, and what would you see?
Imagine you find an old piece of technology from the past. What is it, and how does it work?

Alien Writing Prompts for Kids

Aliens can come in all shapes and sizes! These prompts will help you imagine what it might be like to meet beings from another planet.

Imagine a spaceship lands in your backyard. Who steps out, and what do they want?
Write about a time when you discovered that your neighbor is actually an alien in disguise.
What if you could communicate with aliens using a special language? What do you say to each other?
Imagine you’re the first human to visit an alien planet. What do you see and do?
Write about a day when aliens come to your school. How do they fit in?
What if you discovered a mysterious object that turns out to be alien technology? What does it do?
Imagine you could invite an alien to dinner. What would you talk about, and what food would you serve?
Write about a time when you accidentally switched places with an alien. What was life like on their planet?
What if aliens started sending messages to Earth? What do they say, and how do we respond?
Imagine you find a tiny alien living in your backpack. What adventures do you have together?
Write about a world where humans and aliens live together. How do they get along?
What if you could travel through space with an alien friend? What planets would you visit?
Imagine you discover an alien species that looks like ordinary household objects. What do they want?
Write about a time when you helped an alien who was lost on Earth. How did you get them home?
What if aliens had their own version of pets? What would they look like, and how would they behave?
Imagine you could ask an alien any question. What would you want to know?
Write about a day when you woke up to find that you’ve turned into an alien. How do you adjust to your new life?
What if aliens decided to compete in the Olympics? What sports would they be good at?
Imagine you could visit an alien zoo. What strange and wonderful creatures do you see?
Write about a time when an alien visited your classroom. How did they teach differently from your regular teacher?
What if you discovered that your favorite movie star is actually an alien? How do you find out?
Imagine a world where aliens and humans work together to explore the galaxy. What discoveries do they make?
Write about a time when you found an alien artifact buried in your backyard. What powers does it have?
What if aliens had their own version of holidays? What would they celebrate, and how?
Imagine you could travel through time with an alien companion. Where do you go, and what do you see?

Narrative Writing Prompts for Kids

Narrative writing is all about telling stories. These prompts will help you create tales that are full of imagination, excitement, and adventure.

Write about a time when you had an unexpected adventure. What happened, and how did it change you?
Imagine you find a secret door in your house that leads to another world. What’s it like, and what do you do there?
Write a story about a time when you made a new friend in an unusual way.
What if you could relive any day of your life? Which day would you choose, and why?
Imagine you wake up one morning with the ability to talk to animals. What do they say, and how does it change your day?
Write about a time when you had to make a difficult decision. What did you choose, and what were the consequences?
What if you could visit any place in the world for a week? Where would you go, and what would you do?
Imagine you’re the main character in a fairy tale. What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them?
Write about a time when you did something brave. What gave you the courage to act?
What if you could switch lives with anyone for a day? Who would you choose, and what would you experience?
Imagine you discover a hidden talent that you never knew you had. How do you use it?
Write about a day when everything seemed to go wrong, but something surprising happened to turn it around.
What if you could spend a day with your favorite book character? What adventures would you have together?
Imagine you find a map that leads to a hidden treasure. What do you find when you follow it?
Write about a time when you learned an important lesson from someone unexpected.
What if you could travel back in time to meet a famous historical figure? Who would it be, and what would you talk about?
Imagine you’re stranded on a deserted island. How do you survive, and what do you discover?
Write about a time when you helped someone in need. How did it make you feel?
What if you could live in any period of history for a year? Which time would you choose, and why?
Imagine you receive a mysterious letter that changes your life. What does it say, and what happens next?
Write about a day when you woke up with a special power. How do you use it?
What if you could explore a place that no one else has ever been to? What do you find?
Imagine you’re the hero of a story that takes place in a distant galaxy. What adventures do you have?
Write about a time when you made a mistake but learned something valuable from it.
What if you could bring one of your dreams to life? Which dream would you choose, and what would happen?

Persuasive Writing Prompts for Kids

In persuasive writing, the objective is to get others to understand and accept your point of view.

These prompts will help you practice your skills in making a strong argument.

Write a letter to your school principal convincing them to make recess longer. What reasons do you give?
Imagine you’re trying to convince your family to get a new pet. What arguments do you use to persuade them?
What if you could choose the destination for your next family vacation? Write a persuasive essay explaining why your choice is the best.
Write a speech to convince your classmates that your favorite book should be the next class read. What points do you make?
Imagine you want to start a new club at school. Write a letter convincing your teacher to support it. What benefits does the club offer?
Write an essay persuading your parents to let you stay up later on weekends. What are your main arguments?
Imagine you’re trying to convince your friends to volunteer for a community project. How do you persuade them that it’s a good idea?
What if you could change one rule at school? Write a persuasive essay explaining why the rule should be changed.
Write a letter to your town’s mayor convincing them to build a new playground. What reasons do you give?
Imagine you’re running for class president. Write a campaign speech that persuades your classmates to vote for you. What promises do you make?
Write an essay convincing your teacher to have a field trip to your favorite museum. Why is it a great choice for a class trip?
Imagine you’re trying to convince your parents to let you have a sleepover with your friends. What points do you make to persuade them?
Write a letter to your favorite store asking them to carry a product you love. How do you convince them it’s a good idea?
What if you could choose the next family movie night film? Write a persuasive essay explaining why your choice is the best.
Write an essay convincing your school to start a recycling program. What benefits does it offer?
Imagine you’re trying to persuade your teacher to have a class party. What arguments do you use to convince them?
Write a letter to your favorite author persuading them to write a sequel to a book you love. What reasons do you give?
Imagine you’re convincing your parents to let you take a special class or activity. How do you persuade them it’s a good idea?
Write a persuasive essay explaining why your favorite season is the best. What makes it special?
Imagine you’re trying to convince your school cafeteria to add a new food to the menu. What points do you make?
Write a letter to your local library persuading them to host a special event or program. What reasons do you give?
Imagine you’re trying to convince your teacher to give less homework. How do you make your case?
Write an essay persuading your friends to try a new sport or activity with you. What makes it fun and worthwhile?
Imagine you’re convincing your family to take a trip to a place you’ve always wanted to visit. How do you persuade them?
Write a letter to your favorite TV network convincing them to create a new show based on your idea. What arguments do you use?

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts for Kids

Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude, family, and celebration.

These prompts will help you reflect on the holiday and create meaningful stories.

Write about a time when you felt especially thankful. What were you grateful for, and why?
Imagine you could invite any three people, living or dead, to your Thanksgiving dinner. Who would you choose, and what would you talk about?
What if you could create a new Thanksgiving tradition? What would it be, and why?
Write a story about a Thanksgiving where everything goes hilariously wrong. How does your family handle it?
Imagine you’re a turkey on Thanksgiving Day. What do you do to avoid becoming dinner?
Write about a time when you helped someone who needed it. How did it make you feel, and why are you thankful for the experience?
What if you could travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving? What do you see, and how do you participate?
Write a letter to someone you’re thankful for, explaining why they mean so much to you.
Imagine you’re in charge of cooking the Thanksgiving meal. What do you make, and how does it turn out?
Write about a time when you and your family worked together to prepare for Thanksgiving. What was the best part?
What if Thanksgiving was celebrated in a different season? How would the holiday change, and what new traditions might arise?
Imagine you could invite your favorite fictional character to Thanksgiving dinner. How do they fit in with your family?
Write a story about a Thanksgiving where your family decides to have a potluck with all your neighbors. What surprising dishes do people bring?
What if you had to explain Thanksgiving to someone who had never heard of it before? How would you describe the holiday and its meaning?
Imagine you find a magical cornucopia that fills itself with whatever you wish. What do you put in it, and why?
Write about a time when you felt especially connected to your family during Thanksgiving. What made the day special?
What if your Thanksgiving meal came to life and started talking? What do they say, and how do you react?
Imagine you’re responsible for setting the Thanksgiving table. What special touches do you add to make it perfect?
Write a story about a Thanksgiving where everyone brings a dish from their culture. What new and exciting foods do you try?
What if you had to host Thanksgiving in a totally different place, like a beach or a mountain cabin? How would the holiday change?
Imagine you could give one Thanksgiving meal to someone in need. Who would you give it to, and why?
Write about a Thanksgiving where your family decides to go on a trip instead of staying home. Where do you go, and how do you celebrate?
What if you could create a Thanksgiving parade float? What would it look like, and what message would it convey?
Imagine you could turn your Thanksgiving dinner into a fun competition, like a cooking show. Who wins, and what do they make?
Write a story about a Thanksgiving where you discover a hidden family recipe. How does it change the meal, and what does it mean to you?

Fourth of July Writing Prompts for Kids

The Fourth of July is all about fireworks, fun, and celebrating freedom.

These prompts will help you create stories and reflections about this exciting holiday.

Write about a time when you watched fireworks on the Fourth of July. What made the experience special?
Imagine you could design your own Fourth of July fireworks show. What would it look like, and what would the grand finale be?
What if you could travel back to the first Fourth of July celebration in 1776? What do you see, and how do people celebrate?
Write about a Fourth of July parade where all the floats are based on your favorite things. What are they, and why do they make you happy?
Imagine you could spend the Fourth of July in any city in the United States. Where would you go, and what would you do?
Write a story about a time when you and your friends had the best Fourth of July barbecue ever. What made it so memorable?
What if you discovered a secret about your family’s history on the Fourth of July? How does it change the way you see the holiday?
Imagine you could invite any historical figure to your Fourth of July celebration. Who would you choose, and what would you talk about?
Write about a time when the weather threatened to ruin your Fourth of July plans. How did you make the best of it?
What if you could create a new Fourth of July tradition? What would it be, and how would people celebrate it?
Imagine you’re in charge of organizing a community Fourth of July event. What activities do you plan, and how do people enjoy them?
Write a story about a Fourth of July where you discover a time capsule from 100 years ago. What’s inside, and how does it connect to today?
What if you could have a Fourth of July party with people from all over the world? How would they celebrate, and what foods would they bring?
Imagine you’re writing a letter to a soldier who is away from home on the Fourth of July. What would you say to them?
Write about a time when you saw the most amazing fireworks display ever. What made it stand out, and how did you feel watching it?
What if you could create your own Fourth of July outfit? What would it look like, and why would it be special?
Imagine you could bake a cake that represents the Fourth of July. What flavors and decorations would you choose?
Write a story about a Fourth of July where your family decides to take a road trip across the country. What do you see and do along the way?
What if you could invite your favorite superhero to your Fourth of July picnic? How would they help make the day even better?
Imagine you discover a hidden park where only a few people know to watch the fireworks. What’s special about this secret spot?
Write about a time when you celebrated the Fourth of July in a totally different way, like at a beach or in the mountains. How was it different from other years?
What if you could create a Fourth of July playlist? What songs would you include, and why?
Imagine you’re a reporter covering the biggest Fourth of July event in the country. What do you see, and who do you interview?
Write about a time when you made or saw the coolest Fourth of July craft or decoration. What made it special?
What if you could spend the Fourth of July with a family from another country who has never celebrated it before? How would you explain the holiday to them, and what would you do together?

Travel Writing Prompts for Kids

Traveling opens up new worlds and adventures. These prompts will inspire you to explore different places, whether real or imagined.

Write about a time when you visited a place that took your breath away. What made it so special?
Imagine you could travel anywhere in the world for a day. Where would you go, and what would you do?
What if you could explore an ancient city that no one has visited in thousands of years? What do you find?
Write about a time when you got lost on a trip but ended up discovering something amazing. What happened?
Imagine you could take a journey through space to visit different planets. What do you see and experience?
What if you could visit a place from your favorite book or movie? Where would you go, and what adventures would you have?
Write about a time when you tried a new food while traveling. What was it, and how did you like it?
Imagine you could go on a safari in Africa. What animals do you see, and what adventures do you have?
What if you could visit a famous landmark that you’ve always wanted to see? How does it feel to be there in person?
Write about a time when you made a new friend while traveling. How did you meet, and what did you do together?
Imagine you could take a trip to a place that only exists in your imagination. What’s it like, and what do you do there?
What if you could visit the bottom of the ocean in a submarine? What creatures and landscapes do you discover?
Write about a time when you traveled to a place that was completely different from where you live. How did it make you feel?
Imagine you could spend a week on a deserted island. What do you do to survive, and what do you discover?
What if you could go on a road trip across the United States? What stops do you make, and what do you see?
Write about a time when you traveled with your family. What was your favorite part of the trip, and why?
Imagine you could visit a place where it’s always winter. What do you do there, and how do you stay warm?
What if you could explore the jungles of the Amazon? What animals and plants do you encounter?
Write about a time when you visited a place with a rich history. What did you learn, and how did it impact you?
Imagine you could take a train ride through Europe. What countries do you visit, and what do you see along the way?
What if you could go on an adventure to the North Pole? What challenges do you face, and what do you discover?
Write about a time when you visited a place that felt magical. What made it so enchanting?
Imagine you could visit a castle in Europe. What stories do you uncover while exploring its halls?
What if you could go camping in a national park? What natural wonders do you explore, and what do you learn?
Write about a time when you visited a bustling city. What sights and sounds made the experience unforgettable?

Language Writing Prompts for Kids

Language is powerful and fun to play with! These prompts will help you explore different ways of using words to express yourself.

Write a poem about your favorite season. How do you capture the feeling of that time of year?
Imagine you could create your own language. What are some of the words, and what do they mean?
What if you could learn any language instantly? Which one would you choose, and why?
Write a story where all the characters can only speak in rhymes. How does it change the way they communicate?
Imagine you wake up one morning and can suddenly speak to animals. What do they tell you?
What if you had to write a letter to someone using only emojis? How do you get your message across?
Write a story where words have magical powers. How do the characters use them?
Imagine you could read minds. What thoughts do you hear, and how do you react?
What if you could communicate with people in the past using letters? Who would you write to, and what would you say?
Write a story where a character has to solve a mystery using hidden messages. How do they decipher the clues?
Imagine you find an ancient book filled with a forgotten language. What does it say, and how do you translate it?
What if you could speak to someone who doesn’t speak your language? How do you find a way to understand each other?
Write a poem that describes a feeling without using the name of the emotion. How do you express it?
Imagine you could invent a new word that everyone starts using. What is it, and what does it mean?
What if you could only communicate through pictures and drawings for a day? How do you tell your story?
Write a story where a character has a secret language only they understand. How does it help or complicate their life?
Imagine you could speak the language of trees. What would they tell you about the world?
What if you had to create a code to send a message to a friend? How do you make sure they understand it?
Write a letter to yourself from the future. What advice does your future self give you?
Imagine you could write a story that comes true as you write it. What happens, and how do you control it?
What if you could translate the sounds of nature into words? What messages do you hear?
Write a story where the main character discovers they can speak any language but can’t remember how to speak their own. How do they cope?
Imagine you’re in a world where people communicate through music. How do they express their feelings and ideas?
What if you had to teach someone how to speak your language? What are the most important words you’d start with?
Write a poem or short story using a word or phrase from another language. How does it add to the meaning of your work?

Black History Month Writing Prompts for Kids

Black History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements, culture, and history of African Americans.

These prompts will help you reflect on important figures, events, and contributions.

Write about a time when you learned about an important figure in Black history. What did you learn, and why was it meaningful to you?
Imagine you could interview any African American historical figure. Who would you choose, and what questions would you ask?
What if you could create a museum exhibit dedicated to Black history? What artifacts or stories would you include?
Write a story about a child who discovers a hidden family history connected to the Civil Rights Movement. What do they learn?
Imagine you’re participating in a march for equality during the 1960s. What are you marching for, and what do you experience?
What if you could have a conversation with Martin Luther King Jr.? What advice would he give you about making a difference in the world?
Write about a time when you stood up for something you believed in, inspired by a figure from Black history.
Imagine you could travel back in time to witness a significant event in Black history. What event would you choose, and what would you see?
What if you could write a letter to Rosa Parks? What would you say to her about her bravery and its impact on the world?
Write a story where the main character is inspired by Harriet Tubman to overcome a personal challenge. How do they succeed?
Imagine you could visit a classroom in the past where students are learning about Black history. What are they discussing, and how does it compare to today?
What if you could design a poster celebrating an unsung hero from Black history? Who would you choose, and what message would you highlight?
Write about a time when you participated in a project or event that celebrated Black culture. What did you learn, and how did it impact you?
Imagine you could create a book of poems inspired by the Harlem Renaissance. What themes would you explore?
What if you could attend a speech by Frederick Douglass? What would you hope to hear, and how would it inspire you?
Write a story where the main character learns about the importance of Black inventors and their contributions to society. How does this knowledge change them?
Imagine you could design a monument to honor African American veterans. What would it look like, and what would it symbolize?
What if you could visit a jazz club during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance? What music would you hear, and who would you meet?
Write about a time when you learned about the history of African American music. What genres or artists stood out to you, and why?
Imagine you’re writing a play about a pivotal moment in Black history. What scene would you focus on, and what message would you want to convey?
What if you could have dinner with Maya Angelou? What would you talk about, and what wisdom would you hope to gain?
Write a story where a young artist is inspired by the work of Jacob Lawrence to create their own masterpiece. How do they express their creativity?
Imagine you’re part of a community project to restore a historic Black neighborhood. What stories and memories do you uncover?
What if you could visit an African American church during the Civil Rights Movement? What would the experience be like, and how would it inspire you?
Write about a time when you learned about the contributions of African Americans to science and technology. How did it change your perspective on history?

For even more writing prompts for kids, check out these video writing prompts:

Final Thoughts

Teachers, these prompts are just the beginning of a fantastic writing journey.

Encourage your students to take these ideas and run with them, exploring new worlds and expressing themselves freely. Kids, let your creativity soar—your stories are waiting to be told.

If you’re looking for a tool to automatically generate rubrics for writing assignments, check out my Grading GPT tool. If you’d like to customize lessons plans for different learners, try my AI Custom Learning Pro tool .

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Best Canva Fonts for Business: A Guide to Professional Typography

My name is Debbie, and I am passionate about developing a love for the written word and planting a seed that will grow into a powerful voice that can inspire many.

Best Canva Fonts for Business: A Guide to Professional Typography

Choosing the right fonts for your business materials can make a huge impact on how your brand is perceived. Whether you’re creating a logo, designing social media graphics , or crafting promotional materials, the typography you choose can either elevate your brand or detract from it. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Canva fonts for businesses looking to establish a professional and polished image. From classic and elegant to modern and crisp, we’ll break down the top typography choices to help you create visually stunning and impactful designs for your business.

Choosing the Right Font for Your Brand Image

Understanding the importance of typography in business, key factors to consider when selecting canva fonts, top serif fonts for elegance and sophistication, best sans-serif fonts for modern and clean designs, ideal script fonts for a touch of elegance, recommended display fonts for impactful headings and logos, frequently asked questions, future outlook.

When it comes to choosing the perfect font for your brand image, it’s essential to consider not only the aesthetics but also the emotions and messages you want to convey. The right font can make a significant impact on how your audience perceives your brand, so it’s crucial to choose wisely.

Typography plays a crucial role in the success of a business, as it helps convey the brand’s personality and message to the audience. The choice of font, size, color, and spacing can greatly impact how customers perceive a company’s image. Consistent and well-thought-out typography can enhance brand recognition and create a lasting impression on customers.

Key Factors to Consider When Selecting Canva Fonts

When selecting fonts for your Canva designs, there are a few key factors to keep in mind to ensure your text stands out and complements your overall aesthetic. One important consideration is the readability of the font. Choose a font that is easy to read at various sizes and on different backgrounds to ensure that your message is clear and accessible to your audience. Experiment with different font styles such as serif, sans-serif, and display fonts to find the perfect balance between readability and visual appeal.

Top Serif Fonts for Elegance and Sophistication

When it comes to creating a design that exudes elegance and sophistication, choosing the right serif font is crucial. Serif fonts are known for their classic and timeless appeal, making them the perfect choice for projects that require a touch of refinement. Here are some top serif fonts that you can consider using to elevate your designs:

Georgia: Georgia is a versatile serif font that is widely used for both print and digital design. Its clean lines and subtle serifs make it easy to read, while its classic appearance adds a touch of sophistication to any project. Whether you’re designing a website, a magazine layout, or a wedding invitation, Georgia is a reliable choice that never fails to impress.

Best Sans-Serif Fonts for Modern and Clean Designs

When it comes to creating modern and clean designs, choosing the right sans-serif font is key. Sans-serif fonts are known for their simplicity and versatility, making them a popular choice among designers looking to achieve a sleek and polished look. To help you elevate your designs, we’ve curated a list of the best sans-serif fonts that are perfect for creating modern and clean layouts.

Ideal Script Fonts for a Touch of Elegance

When it comes to adding a touch of elegance to your design projects, choosing the right script font can make all the difference. Script fonts are a popular choice for adding a sophisticated and classy look to various materials such as invitations, logos, and branding materials. Here are some ideal script fonts that can help elevate the elegance of your designs:

1. Playlist Script: Playlist Script is a modern and stylish script font that exudes elegance. Its flowing characters and intricate details make it perfect for adding a touch of sophistication to your projects. Whether you’re designing wedding invitations or creating a logo for a luxury brand, Playlist Script is sure to impress.

Recommended Display Fonts for Impactful Headings and Logos

When it comes to creating impactful headings and logos, choosing the right display font is essential. The font you select can greatly influence the overall tone and feel of your design. Here are some recommended display fonts that are sure to make a strong impact:

Montserrat: This versatile sans-serif font is clean, modern, and great for creating sleek and professional-looking headings.
Playfair Display: A classic serif font with a touch of elegance, perfect for adding a sophisticated touch to your designs.
Raleway: A stylish sans-serif font that is simple yet striking, making it ideal for creating bold and eye-catching headings .

In addition to these fonts, other great options for impactful headings and logos include Oswald , Lora , and Inconsolata . Experiment with different combinations and find the perfect font that aligns with your brand aesthetic and messaging. Remember, choosing the right display font can truly elevate the visual appeal of your design and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Q: Why is choosing the right font important for business communication? A: Choosing the right font is important for business communication because it can convey the tone and professionalism of your brand.

Q: What are some factors to consider when selecting a font for business purposes? A: Some factors to consider when selecting a font for business purposes include readability, brand consistency, and the message you want to convey.

Q: Can you recommend some Canva fonts that are ideal for business use? A: Some Canva fonts that are ideal for business use include Montserrat, Lato, and Roboto.

Q: How can a business ensure their typography is consistent across all marketing materials? A: A business can ensure their typography is consistent across all marketing materials by creating a style guide that outlines the fonts to be used and how they should be applied.

Q: Are there any fonts that should be avoided for business communication? A: Fonts that are overly decorative or difficult to read should generally be avoided for business communication as they can detract from the message being conveyed.

Choosing the right font is crucial for creating professional designs. With Canva’s wide selection, you can easily elevate your business visuals.

Japanese Fonts Canva: Incorporate Eastern Aesthetics into Your Text

Headlines for Copywriting: Craft Attention-Grabbing Headlines That Convert!

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THE 30 BEST Things to Do in Yekaterinburg, Russia

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Located east of the Ural Mountains, Yekaterinburg is the fourth largest city in Russia and is famous for the golden-domed Church on the Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land. Vysotsky, the business center, offers so much to those who are new to the city and if you are looking to get the perfect view of the city and at the same time learn about the city’s history then Plotinka is the place to be. The keyboard monument is also another spot for a tranquil walk as you get to explore the city. Take a look at this list of the top recommended things to do while in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

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1. Visit the commemoration site of Romanov sainthood
2. Celebrate technology at Keyboard Monument
3. Enjoy the masterpieces at Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts
4. Explore the grand Rastorguyev-Kharitonov Palace
5. Catch a show at Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
6. Go back in time at Black Tulip War Memorial
7. Check out exquisite pieces at Museum of Hardstone Carving and Jewelry History
8. Offer a prayer at Church of Ascension
9. Enjoy the tranquility of Victory Park
10. Tour the Ganina Yama Monastery
11. Take a stroll along the Iset River Dam
12. Create memories at the Beatles Monument
13. Check out the exhibits at Ural Geological Museum
14. Visit the Old Water Tower
15. Order classic Russian dishes at Restaurant Podkova
16. Stop by the Monument to the Founders of Yekaterinburg
17. Visit the 19th-century mansion showcasing historical photography
18. Swing by the Museum of Sverdlovsk Railway
19. Take a relaxing stroll through Literary Quarter
20. Visit the Chapel of the Revered Martyr Grand Princess Yelizaveta Fyodorovna
21. Shop at Grinvich
22. Enjoy summer days at the lively Istorichesky Skver
23. Head to Memorial House - Museum Reshetnikov for fascinating exhibits
24. Tour the Ural Vision Gallery
25. Visit the monument of Alexander Stepanovich Popov
26. Check out Yekaterinburg's unique subway system
27. Enjoy the views from Vysotsky Viewing Platform
28. Explore the Nevyansk Icon Museum
29. Book a historical military tour of Yekaterinburg
30. Visit sites of the city related to Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin

The perfect to-do list for Yekaterinburg

things to do in yekaterinburg | visit the commemoration site of romanov sainthood

Come and visit the site of the commemoration of the Romanov sainthood – the Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land. This is where Russia’s last emperor, his family, and house staff were executed during the Russia Civil War. A memorial chapel is the only symbol left of the horrific tragedy that once occurred here. This beautiful complex now houses a belfry, a museum, two churches, and a patriarchal annex.

Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land Address : ul. Tolmacheva, 34, Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovskaya oblast’, Russia, 620075 Website : Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luiz Pryzant (@pryzant)

Featuring a QWERTY/JCUKEN keyboard, the Keyboard Monument is an outdoor sculpture created by Anatoly Vyatkin. This unique monument is considered one of the top spots that attract visitors, both local and foreign, to the city. On the last Friday of July, on Sysadmin Day, tourists flock to this spot to celebrate science and computers at this spectacular monument. It is the perfect spot for tech lovers!

Keyboard Monument Address : Ulitsa Gor'kogo, Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovskaya oblast’, Russia, 620075 Opening hours : 24 hours (daily)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pálinkás Balázs (@balazs.palinkas)

Considered to be the largest fine arts museum in the Urals, the Ekaterinburg Museum showcases exhibits some as old as the 14th century. Marvel at exquisite masterpieces from Western Europe, applied modern art and Russian exhibits. This amazing museum brings together a robust collection of culture, art, and history under one roof.

Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts Address : Ulitsa Voyevodina, 5, Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovskaya oblast’, Russia, 620014 Website : Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts Opening hours : Tue - Thu: 11am - 8pm; Fri - Sun: 11am - 7pm (closed on Mon)

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29. Book a historical military tour of Yekaterinburg (from USD 200.3)

Book an informative historical military tour and get to learn about the military history of Yekaterinburg. You will be taken around interesting military sites in the city and will also be accompanied by a knowledgable tour guide. This tour generally lasts three hours as you get to see the Soviet Army Square and the Black Tulip Memorial where the brave soldiers who died in the Afghanistan war are commemorated. Wind up your tour by visiting the Museum of Arms of UMMC to see an array of grand arms exhibition.

Military History Tour of Yekaterinburg Duration: 3.5 hour from USD 200.3 Book Now

30. Visit sites of the city related to Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin (from USD 178.05)

In this three-hour, half-walking, half-driving tour, you get to enjoy an exhilarating adventure while visiting the best city sites that Boris Yeltsin, the first president of Russia used to frequent. As you head to the Yeltsin Center, which is home to an art gallery, café and a museum among many more, pick up some souvenirs to take home with you. Finish off your tour by visiting the Boris Yeltsin Museum and marvel at its nine halls exploring the nuances of Russian history.

The First Russian President Tour in Yekaterinburg Duration: 3 hour from USD 178.05 Book Now

If you are new to Yekaterinburg, it is easy for you to assume that the city holds many treasures for you to explore. Avail this list of amazing things to do in this beautiful city. With it in hand, you will surely enjoy your visit to Yekaterinburg.

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1800+ Creative Writing Prompts To Inspire You Right Now
Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted ...
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14. The Found Poem: Read a book and circle some words on a page. Use those words to craft a poem. Alternatively, you can cut out words and phrases from magazines. 15. Eavesdropper: Create a poem, short story, or journal entry about a conversation you've overheard. Printable Ad-Free 365 Writing Prompt Cards. 16.
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Speciality Museums. By InnaYYZ. This is a combination presidential centre, honouring the first president of Russia, museum, and social gathering place... 3. Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts. 224. Art Museums. The Museum of Fine Arts, Ekaterinburg is the largest art museum in the Urals. The Museum was founded in 1936, but its collection dates ...
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The beauty of this amazing church is evident in its baroque-style ornaments, gilded domes and the fact that it was recently renovated. Serving as a temple, this is the perfect place to soothe your soul and say a prayer. Church of Ascension. Address: ул 620075, Ulitsa Klary Tsetkin, 11, Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, 620075

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