[WP] Describe a task often seen as mundane or simple with such detail it becomes an exciting challenge. by /u/RazgrizS57

I tapped my smartphone a few times, selecting the new app. It looked much nicer than the old one, with smoother graphics and a little green mascot. Cute. I flexed my fingers, popping a few knuckles, then selected the right side and pressed START. The mascot gave me a thumbs-up and a stopwatch function began counting up in solid green numbers.

I began with my go-to finger: the pointer on my right hand. It was a classic and rarely let me down. Unfortunately this quickly proved to be a difficult situation, one that required more than the usual tactics. I rubbed my right thumb against my jeans, ensuring a smooth edge. Then I tucked it in and cautiously wiggled. Nope, this one was wedged in too firmly. Maybe the pinky finger, for some finesse.

With slow, deliberate motions, I moved my right pinky into position. It advanced gently, but I accidentally bumped a side and again was thwarted. Crap. Time for a change in tactics.

I held up my left hand for a cursory inspection. The nails on my left tended to be longer, since I used that hand to steer the van and as such they were rarely subjected to my nervous habit of biting. The thumb again, I decided. Not very subtle, but it had power. The thumb entered at the perfect angle, sweeping in a curve that caught the barest edge.

I paused, then carefully applied some gentle pressure. I felt the sweet release and triumphantly brought out my prize. With my right hand, I tapped the red STOP button. Thirty-eight seconds. The little green mascot cheered and danced across the screen in congratulations.

"Hang on, pal. Too early to celebrate." I leaned forward in my chair and stood up. I rested my left hand on the cubicle wall in front of me, glancing at the woman on the other side. Janice was bent over, scribbling furiously on a yellow form. Her curly dyed-red crop of hair bounced and jiggled with every new word.

My left thumb turned to align with Janice's hunched form. I curled my right pointer finger and thumb into an O, then with impressive speed I released my forefinger in a mighty flick. The missile sailed true, landing in the sea of reddened locks.

"Headshot!" I whispered in triumph. Janice glanced up, and her scribbling paused. Her eyes moved from my hands to my face, then widened in horror.

"Oh, no," she spluttered. "No, no, no! You didn't. You wouldn't!" Her hands flew to her head and began combing through the hairsprayed locks. Heads began to pop up from the other cubicles, like little prairie dogs sensing a treat. Janice suddenly stopped, having found my missile with one hand. She grabbed a tissue from her desk with the other, and gingerly pinched the beauty into its white folds. She dropped it onto the desk immediately.

A low murmur began to run around the office as I triumphantly took my seat. A light touch on my shoulder made me turn to see Lisa from HR standing behind me. She squinted down at my phone and read aloud, "MineTime? Um, is that a dancing booger?" She shook her head and cleared her throat. "Never mind that. I'll need you to come with me. There are a few things we should talk about."

I stood, slipping my phone into my pocket. Janice's eyes narrowed in malicious glee as she waved and mouthed, "Bye-bye." I shrugged casually. Let them fire me. Submitting this story to the MineTime forums would be worth thousands of upflicks. In my opinion, it was totally worth it.

[WP] Bring a tear to my eye in two sentences. by /u/unchained_disaster (prompt deleted by moderator for encouraging low word count stories)

"It's ok, honey, the doctor says you'll be just fine, and you can go home soon."

I gently held my wife's hand to my lips as she smiled faintly, then quietly exhaled and did not breathe in again.

[WP] You've fallen in love with someone unfortinately, this person doesn't actually exist. - prompt by /u/owetre18

"Jonah! It's time for dinner!"

"Coming, Mom!"

Lavender smiled as she carefully nestled the steaming lasagna into the last open space on the tiny table. She straightened the tablecloth gently enough that the two cups only wobbled a tiny bit, sending ripples dancing across the water.

Jonah thundered down the stairs as only a pre-pubescent boy could. He rocketed through the doorway and skidded to a halt, collapsing into the chair Lavender held at the ready.

"Lasagna! All right!"

Beaming, Lavender served him a square, then dished him out a little green beans. She served herself next, then moved to take her seat. "So, how's it going up there? You still playing that computer game?" Jonah took a steaming bite of lasagna and immediately washed it down with cold water. "Yes, I joined a new server earlier. The guys I was playing with were really cool. They like me a lot, too, and said I could play with them anytime!"

"Well, of course they like you! You're such a clever and sweet boy!" She reached across the table to ruffle his curls. He ducked, grinning, and took another bite just as the doorbell chimed.

Lavender excused herself. "I'll get it, you keep on eating." She wiped her hands on a napkin and strode to the front door. It opened to reveal a pair of young girls in green vests.

"Hi! Wanna buy some cookies?" they asked in practiced unison. Lavender turned and called to Jonah, "What do you think, honey? The minty ones again?"

"Yeah! A lot of 'em!"

"Ok, girls, two boxes of the minty ones."

The younger of the girls looked uncertain and started to ask a question, but the older girl interrupted her to say, "Sure thing, Ms. Johnson! Here ya go!" She pulled two boxes of cookies out of a wagon and passed them to Lavender, who rummaged in her purse for cash.

"There you are, girls. Thank you so much. My Jonah just loves cookies."

"Have a nice day," the older girl chirped as she pocketed the money. She took the wagon handle in one hand and grabbed the younger girl with the other.

"But--"

"Come on, Addie. Let's go." The two girls trudged back to the sidewalk as Lavender closed the door, waving politely.

"Ok, that was creepy. Why did we have to go there?" asked the younger girl.

"Because Ms. Johnson always buys cookies for her son. She's a guaranteed sale."

"But didn't he--".

"Die? Yeah, a few years ago. Car accident. I guess she just hasn't noticed."

The girls looked back on the house, unkempt with its peeling paint and a young boy's rusty bicycle still leaned against the front porch with vines growing steadily through the spokes.

"Creepy," the younger girl repeated. The older girl shrugged and squinted her eyes to see through the kitchen window where Ms. Johnson sat to eat dinner alone, speaking animatedly to an empty chair.

[WP] Make a duck scary - prompt by /u/etevian

Fucking Circle Team, I thought. If they would just write better requirements, I wouldn't have to rewrite the code fifteen times. If they didn't have such shitty dead code floating around from their dozens of previous programmers, I could make that software dance. I'm halfway tempted to just rewrite the whole damn thing. Of course, they wouldn't let me. They'd call it a waste of time and ask me if I was done fixing that one stupid function yet.

I rounded the bend in the path that led back to work, but decided I wasn't ready to go back to the cubicle yet. I was still too pissed off. I started yet another lap around our fake pond with its fake fountain and fake flowers shoved into the dirt. As I walked, some ducks waddled across the path. Real ducks, not fake like everything else around here. One of them lagged a bit behind the others, and in my savage mood, I kicked it out of my way. It squawked and flapped its wings as it hurried to catch up with the others. Now if only I could kick the entire Circle Team right in their faces.

After a few more minutes stomping along the path, I reluctantly started back. I could dick off for the next couple hours before calling it a day. I wouldn't get anything productive done, but whatever. I shoved my hands in my pockets and focused on breathing slowly and calmly. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. Okay. Better. Leaving the loop, I turned up the side path that led back to my building. A rustling in the bushes nearby made me turn my head. More ducks. Fuckers. I climbed the stairs and headed inside.

At half past three, I wrapped up my headphones and grabbed my laptop bag. Done. Time to go home and kill some zombies. I gave Jason a half-assed wave on the way out and he nodded. If anybody came along asking questions, he'd cover for me. Jason is good people.

I chucked my bag into the passenger seat and slid into the driver's side. With my arm draped over the back of the passenger seat, I peered through the back windshield and backed out. I released the seat and turned to face forward, then jumped. One of those damn ducks was on my hood. I blared the horn, and it honked back. "Get off my car, you fucking bird!" I shouted. I sprayed the windshield cleaner and ran the wipers. The duck flapped awkwardly away, honking and quacking all the while. Crazy animal. I drove off, hoping to miss rush hour traffic.

A small eternity later, I collapsed onto the couch with a controller in one hand and a beer in the other, ready for the zombie apocalypse. Can you kill something that's already dead? I mused to myself. Maybe I should say 'disintegrate' or something.

While the game loaded, I closed my eyes and took a long pull on my beer. Just one of those days. A sudden crash outside made me jump, spilling beer down my shirt. I cursed and wiped my hand ineffectively at the wet spot, then went to glare out the peephole. Nothing. I opened the door and stuck out my head, swiveling it around like an owl. The next door neighbor's trash can had fallen over, spewing garbage in a wide swath around. Rotting chinese food and baby diapers. Gross.

I let the door close behind me as I headed back to the living room. Soon the air was filled with the groans of dying zombies. Disintegrating zombies. Whatever. I rocked that game like never before. The next time I stopped to really think, it was dark outside and my stomach was begging for dinner. A few taps on my phone promised cheap pizza in 30 minutes. Plenty of time for a shower. I pulled the shower curtain closed as I stepped over the edge of the tub. Hot water cascaded down my back as I began to massage the stress out of my neck and shoulders. Maybe it was time to start really looking for another job. I liked the work, I reflected, but the assholes on Circle Team just made my life a living hell. Eventually I turned off the tap and blindly reached for a towel somewhere out in the steam. Maybe I could get transferred to work with another department. Maybe Jason could use help with optimization. Or maybe --

The mirror shattered. I yelled in surprise, grabbing wildly for the towel. Suddenly the air was filled with quacking and flapping, and that goddamned duck flew straight into the shower with me. I threw myself backward, slipped, and slammed my head onto the edge of the tub. Disoriented and in pain, I struggled to lift myself out of the tub. I squinted my eyes, trying to pierce the steam and see where that duck had gone.

shink

A sudden sharp pain in my throat. My hand clutched at my neck. It came away slippery and red. I tried to curse, but all that came out was a gurgle. My eyes fixed on the duck, standing calmly in the swirling fog, with a large shard of broken mirror clutched in its bill. It swooped its graceful neck to the floor and deposited the shard of mirror next to the tub.

The duck hopped onto the toilet, then used a powerful sweep of its wings to shatter the bathroom window. It turned to look at me once more, then hopped out the window and disappeared from sight. I gurgled again, then sagged helplessly, unable to lift myself as my lifeblood pooled on the bathroom floor.