The SST AlterNet
Explore writing-prompt responses by character, arc, theme or available text.
Browse the collection below.
Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
I glanced up from my phone as I reached the bus stop, to get a quick idea of the passengers. Even one dying on the bus ride would slow my day down, but all the times checked out fine. Most of them could look forward to s
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"It's not..." I yelled after the person, but I lost track of them in the crowd. "mine." I shrugged, looked down, then unfolded the paper. It turned out to be a flyer for a local Chinese restaurant. I flipped the sheet to
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
The white and blue squad car arrived with its sirens blaring, but the commotion was already over. The officers stepped out of the car to get David Jeffries out from the brick side of a building that held him prisoner. Th
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Samuel Klink sat in an uncomfortable brown hospital chair in a dark hospital room holding the thin, pail, frail hand of his wife. Emily Klink lay in the bed staring at nothing. She sighed and enjoyed the peace of having
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"So? Did you break up with him?" Jerry sat on the edge of his blue sofa seat and listened to Elaine's story with great interest. Elaine finished her story with a dismissive wave and sat back on the bigger couch.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Lewis worked in his home office when he heard the front door open. Seconds later his youngest, Julie, bounded into the room demanding attention.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Dread stepped out of the black portal and into a bustling city teeming with people. Mirrored skycrapers tickled the underside of fluffy white clouds all around them, each of the glass buildings reflected some portion of
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Johnson. Visitor." One of the guards banged the cell door, but the man sitting on his bed with his arms around his knees did not look up. Johnson wasn't his name. "Hey!" The guard banged the cell door again. "You wanna
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
My eyes fluttered open after the first ring, but I didn't move another muscle until the sixth ring. At that point I figured whomever it was would not stop bothering me until I told them they had the wrong number. I reach
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"You know where everything is, make yourself at home. And keep a card on you, just in case." Robin, Threnody's red-headed mother related instructions to the short man with a blue mohawk that held her daughter. Her husban
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Hope this is okay here. I know this is just the announcement, but it gave me an opportunity to introduce a character I've been wanting to introduce for a while. Thanks!
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Mitch Stratford walked into the upscale restaurant and scanned the seated patrons. A woman with bright pink hair sitting alone stood from her table to wave him over like one of his high school students might; she showed
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"You wish me 'no harm'?" The pale, tall, dark haired woman said with a soft laugh and stared at the man who wanted to hear her story. He stood tall, protecting his wife behind him and showing no fear. The invading woman
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Another installment of Dirge & Dread's weekly adventures:
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Hey." Johnathan Strauss jumped awake, instinctively grabbing his faded green duffel bag. The voice belonged to an elderly woman that poked his chest to wake him. "You're going on two days here, time to move along." She
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
I watched the stiff man walk away then turned my gaze back to the briefcase. A thin white string wrapped around the shiny black handle and attached it to a small sheet that looked like it had typed instructions on it. I
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
I woke in my bed, turned on the lamp, then reached for the pen and notepad I kept on the nightstand to write my dreams. Writing out what I could remember helped me put the images into a cohesive prediction that I could w
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Mornin', Jerry." I dropped a $20 in his coffee can like I did every Monday morning. The cross-legged, bearded man lowered his cardboard sign and looked up at me with a smile.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Threnny! You know Lauren asked after you jus' the other day. She said to me, 'Vegas, how come Threnny don't visit more often?' " Vegas said. "Ain't that right, hon? Anyway, I nodded, cause she was right. Then I told her
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
I looked up from the dagger I was polishing when I heard the chime over the front door. An angel, or at least a half-angel, walked in. I did not see any sign of wings, but the golden halo over his long, straight, black h
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Dread reached the Derby track and stepped across the boundary with her right foot. Her black and gold motorcycle boot attracted a stream of nanos from the track like a magnet pulling metal filings. They flowed from the s
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Terry Mullins stared out the car window at the unassuming Chinese restaurant. He eyed the full parking lot and wished he could choose a better time frame. Some time darker, and not so in the middle of the weekday dinner
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"If you fail to cooperate, your lovely," a masked man caressed Helmut Stein's wife along her cheek. "... lovely family will regret it." The video ended with Helmut's two children being dragged out of the camera's view wh
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"They expect us to just roll over and give them a cut?" Adam Fenwick voiced his concern to the other two council members gathered at the small, elegant, round wooden table. They sat in a shadowed, private room at the bac
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Don't worry about a thing, Mr. Fuller," the young dark haired nurse said as she affixed the straps around Sean Fuller's arms. He rested in the metal chair and stared at the bright orchid arrangement resting on a nearby
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Denny Blake chuckled to himself as he pulled into an empty parking spot in front of his boss' car about to claim the spot. He got out of the car and headed towards the office before he started time again, just to see his
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"I think Karen saw you," Maria spoke to the bathroom mirror. A freckled girl with coppery red hair stood behind her own dark haired reflection, but she knew the girl did not have a physical presence. The red-head shook h
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Look around your HUD. You're a Beastmaster, so it should be easy to find," Dread heard Dirge's advice through her helmet. She skated as fast as she could to complete her lap and try and push Jelly_Jim across the startin
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Reminder: Global Swap in 30 minutes. Please make the necessary arrangements," Rothe's personal node, a thin, small, transparent rectangle of glass reminded him. He dismissed the on-screen notification with a swipe and s
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Folks, I hope you all are as excited as we are," the tour guide in a bright yellow Polo shirt said. He greeted the gathered crowd in an open hangar bay. He smiled. "We've spent a lot of time and resources to put his tou
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Good morning, let's get right to business," Lawrence said. The greying commander spoke to his small team of physicists and other assorted scientists gathered in the briefing room. "Last night's votes have been tallied,
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
A tall, lean man wearing a heavy black trench coat knocked on the hospital door, then let himself into the room. Inside he found a scene he did not expect. The parents of his claim discussed something with two other peop
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
The Smith family sat around the dinner table enjoying Mrs. Smith's meatloaf when the doorbell disturbed them.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
It's the kind of thing that can slip through the cracks, especially during the hubbub of moving day. Seven year old me explored the large room that I claimed, and it was the first time I'd ever seen a walk-in closet. It
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Dread growled in frustration and punched the street as she rose to her feet. She remembered being cut off from her powers the moment searing pain coursed through her knuckles and up to her wrist; the blacktop broke her k
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Thank you for meeting with me," Sergi Vecchio, a rotund man in well tailored black suit nodded politely at an elderly Asian woman wearing a red dress, and a white ragged kitchen apron. "I know you're a busy woman, Mrs.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Violet Cruz sat in her car and took a deep breath. She stared at the small Chinese restaurant while her mind ran down the checklist again. It took her two years to reach this point after Arnold's death, after a stranger
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
The citizens gathered around the King's castle at mid-day to celebrate his victory over the Lord of Darkness. The King arranged a stage on the grounds, and now he sat in this throne on the stage with his chosen Queen nex
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"He sounds amazing; but, what's a gun?" Faelys asked her friend Kerrin. The two sorceress in training sat in a courtyard at a grey stone table, sitting on grey stone seats. Dozens of other students sat around them for th
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Next time start with me," Thorne said. He admired the picture of the 14 year old girl. Her creamy, light brown skin contrasted nicely with her long, straight, dark brown hair. "Especially for someone like her." He put t
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
The stranger chuckled and leaned his head back to let out a long sigh. I kept my eyes on as much as the high beams could see of the road, but I noticed movement in the passenger side. He reached into his black and maroon
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Previously on Dirge & Dread: Dread lost her derby match against Jelly_Jim, then he identified the girls as Unique Souls. Now the adventure continues:
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"This is my stop," the Elven guide said. Fillip "Fizzle" Zillmew stared at the giant, metal, black door the guide led him to. "Here's a key, good luck," the elf handed Fillip a small dark iron key.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
I arrived at the pizzeria ten minutes early, hoping to find a good spot to wait for her. However, once in the restaurant a beautiful dark haired young woman waved me over. She stood and hugged me as I reached the table.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Penny closed her eyes and turned her head to avoid the thug's foul breath. The large naga pinned her against a brick wall with his arms, and she felt the tip of his snake tail caress her inner thigh.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
What I did on my Summer Vacation
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Change has come to our kingdom," King Willen addressed the gathered citizens. "I brought change to our Kingdom." He held a hand up to the sky; it glowed with brilliant red light. "I know many of you will find it difficu
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"HELLO??!" Carl Pinney woke on a cold metal table. He sat up and searched the dark room he woke up in for any sign of someone else. He glanced upward and noticed the lights were on, despite the darkness of the room. Blac
Read the moment ↗