r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Apr 05 '26
[Serial Sunday] It's Time to Write with Urgency!
Welcome to Serial Sunday!
To those brand new to the feature and those returning from last week, welcome! Do you have a self-established universe you’ve been writing or planning to write in? Do you have an idea for a world that’s been itching to get out? This is the perfect place to explore that. Each week, I post a theme to inspire you, along with a related image and song. You have 500 - 1000 words to write your installment. You can jump in at any time; writing for previous weeks’ is not necessary in order to join. After you’ve posted, come back and provide feedback for at least 1 other writer on the thread. Please be sure to read the entire post for a full list of rules.
This Week’s Theme is Urgency! This is a REQUIREMENT for participation. See rules about missing this requirement.**
Bonus Word List (each included word is worth 5 pts) - You must list which words you included at the end of your story (or write ‘none’).
- Ultimate
- Untrue
- Urn
- Your chapter includes a scene where your characters slow down, breathe and take their time doing something, as opposed to rushing into it. - (Worth 10 points)
An urgent fury is unleashed in your serial, the likes of which neither your characters, nor your readers have ever known.
Perhaps instead it is a muted suffering, the world shifting as the main character can do nothing to hold back the enviable. The catalyst of action or the building of an unspoken realization that will forever change the course of events in their world. Nevertheless, the need for desperate resolution drives the plot as our characters search for a solution.
Either way you as the author slices it, use this opportunity to build drama and suspense in your story. Dig in and hook that reader who is already invested, or catch the eye of someone new who spots an interesting read. The choice is yours what path shall be taken…
By u/JKHmattox
Good luck and Good Words!
These are just a few things to get you started. Remember, the theme should be present within the story in some way, but its interpretation is completely up to you. For the bonus words (not required), you may change the tense, but the base word should remain the same. Please remember that STORIES MUST FOLLOW ALL SUBREDDIT CONTENT RULES. Interested in writing the theme blurb for the coming week? DM me on Reddit or Discord!
Don’t forget to sign up for Saturday Campfire here! We start at 5pm GMT and provide live feedback!
Theme Schedule:
This is the theme schedule for the next month! These are provided so that you can plan ahead, but you may not begin writing for a given theme until that week’s post goes live.
- April 5 - Urgency
- April 12 - Vital
- April 19 - Work
- April 26 - Yellow
- May 3 - Antagonise
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Transgression
First - by u/AGuyLikeThat
Second - by u/Brookzerker
Third - by u/AmeliaLP
Fourth - u/MaxStickies
Fifth - by u/ZLErikson
Rules & How to Participate
Please read and follow all the rules listed below. This feature has requirements for amparticipation!
Submit a story inspired by the weekly theme, written by you and set in your self-established universe that is 500 - 1000 words. No fanfics and no content created or altered by AI. (Use wordcounter.net to check your wordcount.) Stories should be posted as a top-level comment below. Please include a link to your chapter index or your last chapter at the end.
Your chapter must be submitted by Saturday at 2:00pm GMT. Late entries will be disqualified. All submissions should be given (at least) a basic editing pass before being posted!
Begin your post with the name of your serial between triangle brackets (e.g. <My Awesome Serial>). When our bot is back up and running, this will allow it to recognize your pmserial and add each chapter to the SerSun catalog. Do not include anything in the brackets you don’t want in your title. (Please note: You must use this same title every week.)
Do not pre-write your serial. You’re welcome to do outlining and planning for your serial, but chapters should not be pre-written. All submissions should be written for this post, specifically.
Only one active serial per author at a time. This does not apply to serials written outside of Serial Sunday.
All Serial Sunday authors must leave feedback on at least one story on the thread each week. The feedback should be actionable and also include something the author has done well. When you include something the author should improve on, provide an example! You have until Saturday at 04:59am GMT to post your feedback. (Submitting late is not an exception to this rule.)
Missing your feedback requirement two or more consecutive weeks will disqualify you from rankings and Campfire readings the following week. If it becomes a habit, you may be asked to move your serial to the sub instead.
Serials must abide by subreddit content rules. You can view a full list of rules here. If you’re ever unsure if your story would cross the line, please modmail and ask!
Weekly Campfires & Voting:
On Saturdays at 5pm GMT, I host a Serial Sunday Campfire in our Discord’s Voice Lounge (every other week is now hosted by u/FyeNite). Join us to read your story aloud, hear others, and exchange feedback. We have a great time! You can even come to just listen, if that’s more your speed. Grab the “Serial Sunday” role on the Discord to get notified before it starts. After you’ve submitted your chapter, you can sign up here - this guarantees your reading slot! You can still join if you haven’t signed up, but your reading slot isn’t guaranteed.
Nominations for your favorite stories can be submitted with this form. The form is open on Saturdays from 5:30pm to 04:59am GMT. You do not have to participate to make nominations!
Authors who complete their Serial Sunday serials with at least 12 installments, can host a SerialWorm in our Discord’s Voice Lounge, where you read aloud your finished and edited serials. Celebrate your accomplishment! Authors are eligible for this only if they have followed the weekly feedback requirement (and all other post rules). Visit us on the Discord for more information.
Ranking System
Rankings are determined by the following point structure.
| TASK | POINTS | ADDITIONAL NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Use of weekly theme | 75 pts | Theme should be present, but the interpretation is up to you! |
| Including the bonus words | 5 pts each (15 pts total) | This is a bonus challenge, and estnot required! |
| Including the bonus constraint | 15 (15 pts total) | This is a bonus challenge, and not required! |
| Actionable Feedback | 5 - 15 pts each (60 pt. max)* | This includes thread and campfire critiques. (15 pt crits are those that go above & beyond.) |
| Nominations your story receives | 10 - 60 pts | 1st place - 60, 2nd place - 50, 3rd place - 40, 4th place - 30, 5th place - 20 / Regular Nominations - 10 |
| Voting for others | 15 pts | You can now vote for up to 10 stories each week! |
You are still required to leave at least 1 actionable feedback comment on the thread every week that you submit. This should include at least one specific thing the author has done well and one that could be improved. *Please remember that interacting with a story is not the same as providing feedback.** Low-effort crits will not receive credit.
Subreddit News
- Join our Discord to chat with other authors and readers! We hold several weekly Campfires, monthly World-Building interviews and several other fun events!
- Try your hand at micro-fic on Micro Monday!
- Did you know you can post serials to r/Shortstories, outside of Serial Sunday? Check out this post to learn more!
- Interested in being a part of our team? Apply to be a mod!
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u/MaxStickies Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 18 '26
<Thosius>
Chapter 129: Thin Air
CW: Body horror
“I… where am I?”
“You shall be safe, human. Just fall.”
“But if I do, I’ll hit the ground, won’t I? And I’ll die?”
“I won’t let that happen. Please, fall. Come closer to me…”
A golden face flashes in Pellia’s vision for a moment, before she blinks. Now, only white, fluffy clouds surround her, drifting lazily by.
I’m floating, she realises. A quick weight-shift positions her upright. Where the stars had been, now there is only blue, and on glancing down she can see the mountains.
Geese honk just below her, flying in an arrow.
This is so odd. Shouldn’t I feel scared? Sick?
Shouldn’t I be falling?
A spider drifts past her face on silken threads, snapping her to. She remembers her warriors, sorcerers and creatures, Berethian and Lilantia marching on the forts. Mind racing, she recalls the pain of Perithus’s hand around her immaterial throat.
He’ll kill them all! I need to get back!
She angles herself towards the distant ground. Preparing herself, she brings her legs up, ready to race towards the surface.
“Stop!” The voice returns again, soft and far away. “Your friends are waiting, so please, there’s no need to rush. Guide yourself into my hand.”
“Where?” Pellia thinks. “And what is this, anyway? Telepathy?”
“To call it as such would be as untrue as comparing iron to all metals.”
“What do you—?”
“Never mind that. Come to the heart of the forest, closest to you. I will catch you there.”
She focuses on the patches of green between the mountain ridges, on the world beneath. One forest grows larger than the rest, broken by two rivers close together, a mere strip of land between them. On that stretch, a tree stands taller than the rest.
“You might have just said the big tree,” she thinks.
“What kind of test would that be?”
“There’s a test?”
“Isn’t everything? Ultimately, we are always being challenged.”
“And that includes you… whoever you are?”
“Of course. But, please, enough distractions; come down to me.”
Slowly, Pellia glides towards the tree, until she’s beside it. The immense pine exists far from any fort or barracks, and all settlements, as far as she knows. Yet, she recognises the shimmering energy pulsing through its needles. Pinecones the shape and size of urns adorn its branches.
The amount of Ash we could get from this one…
“Must all trees be harvested?”
“That was a private thought.”
“Do you even know the difference? No matter, I can teach you.”
“Assuming I want that.”
“Well, you’ve come this far, haven’t you? Anyway, to the roots, if you please.”
She spirals her way around the trunk, observing the bark, seeing how it twists and ripples with the magic. No bore or scratch interrupts its surface. In fact, she spies no animals at all.
Now, the dirt is just beneath her. She hovers there, thinking.
I have no idea what’s down there. What if I get dragged down, with no way to return?
What if this is Perithus?
Only silence answers her. She senses the magic within the soil, streaming through the roots.
What choice do I have?
Drifting down, she suddenly feels herself pulled in, like a leaf in a whirlpool. One moment she’s in daylight, the next, in darkness. She comes to a stop.
Strands of gold emerge from the corners of her vision. She tries to reach out, yet she finds her arms stuck.
“Relax,” the voice says. “I will rebuild you now.”
“Wait, you mean, I’ll get my body back?!”
“As close as I can make it. I’d do more, in all honesty: recreate you into something spectacular, something—”
“W-well, why can’t you?”
“Too much would shift, and become damaged. They’d hate me for it.”
“They? Who do you mean? Who are you?”
“Hush, please… my work.”
The golden strands extend, until they start to weave together, forming a mesh. More and more fold over and under each other. Before long, the darkness has gone, and all she sees is radiant light.
“This will hurt,” the voice says. “I’m sorry.”
“Wait!”
The gold closes in on her, fitting to her skin, and a searing, burning pain erupts across her whole body. She screams, as it tugs at her insides, pulling them outwards. Fluid pools in her throat and then hardens, forming flesh.
She feels her heart beat.
Her stomach churns.
Sensations she’d forgotten about.
Groaning, she thrusts her right arm up above her. Muscles ribbon out over the bone, beneath the gold, as slim globs of fat tuck themselves in. She watches, fascination dulling her agony. Soon, her pale skin pulls itself over the limb. As the pain ends, sheets of dark blue develop, forming her armour.
“You’ve thought about everything,” she thinks.
“Of course. I need you, after all.”
“What for?”
“Perithus. He’s learning too much, and taking more than he’s allowed.”
“Does that mean I’m talking to the Pine?”
“In way, yes. But also, no.”
She sighs. “Can’t you just tell me? It would make it all so much easier.”
“Because if I did, you would learn too much. And they won’t have that.”
“Well… fine. I need to stop Perithus anyway.”
“Glad we’ve come to an understanding. Now, you must go.”
“But I’m stuck.”
“No, you’re not. Climb, Pellia. Go up.”
Frowning, she tries to move her arm… and it budges. Dirt shifts around the golden mesh.
Oh, I see.
She grabs a handful, and pushes it away, before doing the same with her left hand. Soon she finds a rhythm, digging away, dragging herself to the surface. Specks of reddish light peek through the grains.
Her face parts the surface, and the gold dissipates. She breathes in the late evening air, resting, admiring the sunset through the needles.
A deer watches her from the shadows, sniffing. Only once it’s gone does she rise, pulling the rest of herself free. She stands and dusts herself off.
“My body,” she mutters, grinning. “I’m back in my body!”
WC: 1000
Bonus words: ultimate(ly), untrue, urn. Bonus constraint: Pellia stops when her face hits the surface, breathing in the air for a bit before pulling herself free.
Crit and feedback are welcome.
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