Hello everyone!
This is a call to anyone whose got a rabbit’s paw dangling from their rear-view mirror, a mutated clover pressed between the pages of a book, or a penny in their pocket they found staring at the sky. Keep all your lucky trinkets and baubles near, because…
This week’s prompt is:
A Roll of the Dice
RULES AND GUIDELINES BELOW!
Make sure you scroll down and read them if you haven’t! You may not be eligible if you don’t!
Bring on the gambling stories. I wanna see all your gunslingers with a bone to pick and your irreverent rogues with bones in need of pickin’. If someone doesn’t got with a card up their sleeve or a weighted pair of dice somewhere in the mix… well that just wouldn’t be right, would it?
Actually, it would.
This is a lot broader than that, because instead of explicitly writing something about gambling, take this prompt more broadly to be about chance. Chance, but also stakes. Because for that roll of the dice to mean anything, first you gotta ante up. Whether than means looking embarrassment in the face to ask that cute person out, or putting your life into a stranger’s hands—that’s up to you! Just make us feel that moment of tension before the dice settle.
It’s all in that roll, that top card of the deck, that falling coin. Take us into that anxious limbo where the laws of physics and probability melt away into pure emotion at what could be.
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Remember, this is part of our weekly Writing Group stream! Submit a little piece following the rules and guidelines below, and there’s a chance your entry will be read live on stream! In addition, we’ll discuss it for a minute and give you some feedback.
Tune into the stream this Friday at 7:00pm CST to see if you made the cut!
The whole purpose of this is to show off the creativity of the community, while also helping each other to become better writers. Lean into that spirit, and get ready to help each other improve their confidence in their writing, as well as their skill with their craft!
Rules and Guidelines
We read six stories during each stream, three of which come from the public post, and three of which come from the much smaller private post. Submissions are randomly selected from among the top ten most-liked of each post, so be sure to share your submissions on social media and with your friends!
- English only.
- Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
- One submission per participant.
- Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
- Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
- Submissions close at 4:00pm CST each Friday.
- Include a submission title and an author name (doesn’t have to be your real name).
- Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
- Your piece must be between 250-350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
- Write something brand new (no re-submitting past entries or stories written for other purposes).
- Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
- Please format your submission as “Submission Title” by Author Name and be sure to separate paragraphs. (Example Submission)
- No fan fiction without explicit permission from the source’s owner, and no spoilers for the source material if you are writing a fan fic.
- Original art may be included in your submission, but is not guaranteed to be shown on stream. Only .jpeg format images shared via a direct link will be accepted. (Example Submission) (Information on “Direct Links”)
- No additional formatting (such as italics or bold text) will be applied to the text of submissions. Symbols or instruction indicating such formatting may render your submission ineligible.
- You must like and leave a review on two other submissions to be eligible, and your reviews must be at least 50 words long. If you’re submitting to the private post, feel free to leave these reviews on either the private or the public post. The two submissions you like need not be the same as the submissions you review.
- Understand that by submitting here, you are giving us permission to read your submission aloud live on stream and upload public, archived recordings of said stream to our social media platforms. You will always be credited, but only by the author name you supply as per these rules. No other links or attributions are guaranteed.
Comments on this post that aren’t submissions will be deleted, except for replies/reviews left on existing submissions.
Nice. A god of death helping the new mortals in the afterlife. But the afterlife is not great. And fate is inevitable. Great concept. The booming voice is easy to imagine, so great job with the voice as well. I wonder what the corridor is a metaphor for? I love the way causality is shown. You can’t re roll the dice. Good job.
“On a Dice’s Edge” Submitted by: Exce
“It seems you have won this throw,” the female Angel finally admitted, after inspecting the dice, before leaning back in her armchair. The man next to her smiled, “Indeed I have.”
Leaning back as well, the man ushered his command. “Bring forth the next prisoner, a former captain I believe.”
Soon after two guards rolled in a prisoner that was shackled to a near vertical slab of wood. The man was in a sorry state, his head having fallen forward.
“Well then, take him out and lets get to the next round” the woman said pointedly.
The man raised his hand with a smug smile, creating a ball of blazing golden energy before flinging it at the prisoner.
As they both returned their attention to the dice, assured of their prisoners demise, someone rose from the flames.
The Captain raised his hand, and the dice lifted off the table. They leaned closer in confusion, and before realizing the reason for this odd behavior, the Captain forcefully flung its hand to the side.
In a thick spray of blood, the woman was flung back, her chair teetering on the verge of falling over before righting itself.
All the man felt was fear, turning to see the Captain peel himself from the ash and flame.
The Captain raised his hand. Red walls came into existence around the man, before they quickly began to shrink.
Excelsius took his time.
In the end all that remained were the dead woman, and a glowing red cube.
He walked over, picking up the strangely heavy object carefully as if it was a piece of art.
One of the shaking guards spoke up, they’re voice breaking “Will… You kill them all?”
The Dracul wasn’t sure if it was hope or horror in the man’s voice.
Excelsius threw the cube into the air, watching it spin and twirl before it smacked onto the floor. He looked onto it. Despite there being nothing on its sides.
“Well…the dice says it’s my turn.” he looked over his shoulder, eyes burning red “And I intend to use it.”
Title: Roll of the Dice
Written By: T.S.G. Sager
Las Vegas, 1952.
It was a hot day when I met the stranger of luck. I was at some casino on the Vegas strip, probably the Showboat. Doesn’t matter.
I was playing poker, a regular, I’d be in there most days gambling away my money. They knew me as Shigure Mikage. Some days I’d ‘lose’, others I walked away with twice I’d walk in there with. I had those fools played. Telepathy was cruel to them, but they’d never know.
I played a few hands, today I was gonna lose, to keep the House off my back. It was then I heard some cheering coming from the Craps table. Curious, I went all in on a pair, and walked away from $25,000. Chump change.
As I approached the table, something felt…heated. Much hotter than the air plaguing Sin City. There I saw him. He looked ridiculous, dressed in all sorts of charms for good fortune. Rabbits’ feet, sevens and eights, clovers and horseshoes. Name it. He was wearing it. I asked the gentleman next to me, “Have they already changed the dice?”
He nodded.
‘Oh fuck, this guy is gonna get himself killed.’ I thought.
A few rounds passed by, I watched as this guy threw his dice.
Tika Tika Tika Tika Tika Bumpa bump bump.
How the hell was he doing this? I tried reading him, and nothing. It’s like his hands were gifts from lady luck herself! There was no stopping this guy, well, until I watched as two mooks approach him from behind, tapping his shoulder. I watched, and followed not long after.
I headed outside, and toward the back alley, and to my disbelief I saw four goons lying on the ground, and the stranger completely untouched.
“What happened?” I asked.
“They brought me back here, tried to kick the shit outta me; and in missing me everytime, they ended up beating each other up instead,” he responded.
“How?” I asked.
“Their fists?”
“No. How did you win so much?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes it’s a gift, other times it’s a roll of the dice.”
ALEA IACTA EST by Simon D. Field
Maximian makes his way through the camp, and though the purple paludamentum adorns his shoulders again, it can’t appease his seething rage.
He, Augustus whom Diocletian had named his brother, a warrior without equal! Forced to abdicate! Sent to Arelate! Like a subordinate general! And by whom? By the upstart Constantine, the son of his praetorian prefect, aspiring to don the purple!
Maximian’s hands, mighty despite his age, tremble with the fury of Hercules. He’ll show them. He’ll show the pups that they can’t challenge an old lion. He has enough troops to take Gallia from the young fool. They’ve scoured Rhenus with him and marched in his triumphal procession. They’ll recognize their old leader.
And then… Then he’ll make his own rebellious son pay. The insult of being chased from Rome by his own soldiers bought with his son’s gold still stings Maximian. He’ll rip the purple from the whelp’s shoulders and crush him under his foot. The West is his, and not even Diocletian will make him relinquish it again. He who is accustomed to commanding is ill-suited for lazy private life in obscurity.
He spreads the word that he wishes to speak. Soldiers assemble to listen. Many faces in the crowd are familiar. It pleases Maximian. He’s ready to cast his dice.
Maximian’s booming voice silences the commotion, and he struggles to speak well, claiming their Augustus dead, talking of the past glory and promising more in the future, but then remembers how the Italian army deserted him and smiles.
Though he’s never been a good orator, he won’t repeat his mistakes. In a tone of gratitude, he promises a generous donative to celebrate his reassumption of the purple. He still has some gold, and the civilians will pay the rest.
But as he looks on, the triumphant smile fades from his face. Only a few legionnaires cheer. He realizes that he’s got four ones on the dice.
Maximian turns and hurries away, cursing the army’s loyalty to Constantine. He’s lost the first round utterly. The thought is bitter.
Come what may, he’ll not relent this time.
“Self consistency” by gregovin
It was a normal day in the star ship unity. The oxygen levels were good, the outer hull had not had an incident recently. I had even had time to watch a few hundred movies on the way. The copilot had not been much trouble and actually corrected me on one occasion.
“This is AI John informing you we have docked at Terra station. If this is your final destination, your bags will be at claim 12. Please let people with connecting flights through first. Thank you”
I opened the doors. An hour later we had a new set of passengers. It was time to double check the pre departure checklist.
“Gravity ring number:11
Destination: Sirius
Asteroid intercept probability: less than 0.001%
Impact prevention systems: full coverage
Oxygen: full
Scrubbers: ready
Engines: ready
Fuel: full
Leaks: none detected
Prepare for launch”
“Copilot confirms”
Ten minutes later, I triggered the engines and we departed to ring 11.
The copilot pinged me
“Sir, are you sure this is the right ring? It looks like the one we came from”
“Requesting confirmation. STC confirms ring 11 is correct. Don’t worry, I thought it was weird too. They know what they’re doing. Gravity rings are almost perfectly safe, only a 0.0000014% of all recorded jump attempts have resulted in failure, there was no need to worry”
“Ok”
We approached ring 11.
“One minute to gravity ring activation”
Everything was looking fine, all systems operational.
BOOM!
“Impact! Large object hit the fuel storage pod 3. No detection on the grid. Error unknown. Sealing and requesting assistance”
How did that happen? Even if an asteroid managed to have a path intersecting with the ship, the detection system should have caught it. I was half way through the process of booting up the error analysis sub AI when I received a ping from STC
“Wrong ring, a newbie just almost got you all killed”
That was close. Paradoxes are zero probability. We were trying to cause one, accidentally. That could have been much worse, the most likely outcome was a random tank failure.
“Biled Blood” Submitted by Connor/Dragoneye
Anesio wiped down his blade as he sat next to the fly-ridden corpse of his prey. What remained was its bloated flesh, dripping with jaundiced fluids.
“This’ll do it,” thought Anesio, as he took a small vial from his belt and scooped it through the mutant’s innards. He then corked and holstered it among the armory of glass bottles that adorned his dark leather armor.
The clopping of hooves drew Anesio’s attention to a figure, riding up the hill towards him. As he approached, the figure saddled off his mount and joined Anesio’s side.
“Is this it, the last Fault?” he asked, gesturing towards the cadaver.
“The last Fault.”
“Well, at least that’ll give us safe passage through here. We’re planning on moving into Yhadartha in the next couple of days.”
“So soon, eh, Mirro?” Anesio’s grey eyes looked up and down his employer. He was dressed in fine clothes with heavy-duty boots and a dark blue cloak draped across his shoulders.
“Of course. And with you beside us, we’ve guaranteed a safe trip there.”
“I’m not going with you.”
Mirro froze in shock. “What? Isn’t that what I hired you for?”
Anesio stood up to loom over the short, portly nobleman, his gaze piercing straight through Mirro. “I think the contract explicitly stated to take care of the pests that were poisoning the soil. I’ve taken care of it, now give me my pay, and I’ll be off.”
“Maybe you should have read the fine print.”
Anesio leaned uncomfortably close to Mirro, meeting his eyes. “Maybe you should know what service we Brothers provide. We are not bodyguards. We’re soldiers.”
There was a long silence between the two of them, before Anesio spoke, “Do you want to test me, ‘Lord’ Mirro Ravinni?” His voice bore hints of a threat, and from the sound of such an imposing question, the lord’s knees buckled.
Mirro scrambled for the pouch that hung from his horse’s saddle, before dropping it at Anesio’s feet. “J-j-just go,” he said before galloping away.
The Brother Variant held up his pay, a little heftier than he expected.
This Campaign Sucks
by MasaCur
Patrick grinned evilly across the lunchroom table, tenting his fingers over his notes. “You enter the main chamber. Braziers light the room. The ceiling disappears in the darkness above you. In the middle of the room is a manticore.”
“What up, losers?”
Ryan glared at the newcomer. “Piss off, Cristian. We’re playing Chambers and Chimeras.”
“Sounds like girl repellent.”
“What do you want?” Ryan asked.
Cristian addressed Ryan directly. “I need help with my chemistry homework.”
“Kinda busy.” Ryan glanced over his character sheet as he replied. “Either talk to me after school, or start rolling up a character.”
Patrick snorted. “Cristian Aguilar? Please!”
“Not happening,” Cristian agreed. “I mean, I don’t even get this thing.”
Ryan sighed. “It’s a roleplaying game.”
“Sounds kinky,” Cristian replied, smirking.
“Gentlemen, the manticore,” Patrick interjected.
“Right! I rush the manticore and strike at it with my sword.”
“Roll to hit,” Patrick declared.
Ryan tossed his twenty-sided die. It bounced, then stopped, a black one staring at him.
“That’s a critical failure,” Patrick sadistically chortled. He rolled some dice, then consulted his notes. “In addition to missing, your sword shatters.”
Ryan glanced from the die to Patrick. “That was a plus four broadsword.”
“Was.” Patrick rolled another twenty-sided die, and it landed on a twenty. “Critical damage, I’m afraid.” He scooped up some dice and rolled them. “Take fifty-six points of damage.”
Ryan knew it was more than Percival could take.
“I’m dead!”
“Zathrudus runs for it!” Byron quickly stated.
“You coward! Eight months I’ve had that character, and now he’s dead!”
“Well, you could always…” Patrick started.
“I’m done!” Ryan angrily retorted, storming out of the lunchroom.
Cristian followed after him, catching Ryan halfway down the hall. “Hey, I’m sorry about your character…thing.”
“What do you care?” Ryan bitterly replied.
Cristian shrugged. “I don’t. It’s not like manti-whatevers exist. But…you thought it was important.”
Ryan sighed and nodded weakly.
“If you want, we can go out for pizza after school. My treat. And you can even tell me about this game of yours.” Cristian offered with a smile.
A Robot and A Demon roll a Dice by Jesse Fisher
Having a poker face was never an issue for him, having a visor with no LEDS behind it made it easier to keep the fear hidden. Well fear is the emotion he was told equated for the calculations in his CPU, it was times like this he did not enjoy knowing the odds.
He still had his preprogram ‘breathing’ cycle even when there were no normal beings around him. Across from him was an old…frenemy that had dropped by for his semi-routine visits. The dark navy furried creature tapped it’s bladed fingers on the table in both impatience and annoyance. The bright yellow eyes stared at the six sided dice in the mechanical hands, inscribed on it was three 1s and three 2s.
“Trying to outsmart me by making it fifty-fifty of a roll.” Both high and lower voices spoke as the creature felt bored by this. “You know the deal, either you stay as you are or I take my turn for this go round.”
The robot knew the being was right, a demon of their own making playing a game that was meant to placate him. However they always came here to let fate choose what would happen, fate is the only one that can change this.
“Never knew a robot with cold feet,” The creature seemed to detect even a hint of the fear in the bot that was almost unreadable. “So what will you do? Let me have control or let my energy corrupt you until you are nothing but scraps on the floor?”
That was what this whole situation led to, either he was going to remain as he was now or turn into a cyborg monster by the monster across from him. The dice in his hand felt heavy, a game of chance is never easy when the odds are against him. Out of all the times he succeed the chance of failure kept growing, this time it might be the time.
With hope this roll will be the next if it results in a good end.
The Game
~by DukkiFluff~
“Hey! Look what I found!” She exclaimed as she ran through the greenhouse.
Talebot looked up as she approached, “What is it?”
She held out a faded, dusty box, its contents rattling, “I don’t know.”
He chuckled as he took it from her, “Well, let’s see then, shall we?”
He opened the box carefully, picking through the contents.
“What is it? What is it?” She pressed.
“It’s a game, little one.” He replied. He removed the board from the box, laying it on the floor.
Her eyes lit up at the red and yellow checkered pattern, tracing her fingers along the colorful snakes and marching along the ladders, “How do you play?”
“Here, I’ll teach you.” He picked up two of the pieces, placing them on the starting square, “We start here,” he then picked up a white cube with black dots on each side.
“Ooh, what’s that?” She inquired.
“A dice. Or die. Either word works, really.” He showed it to her, “Each side has a different number of spots. This determines how many spaces you move on the board. Watch,” he tossed it on the board. It bounced, and four dots faced up at them.
“You move four spaces!” She giggled.
He nodded, and moved his blue piece four spaces across, “Now it’s your turn.”
She bit her lip, grinning as she picked up the small cube and tossed it on the board. She pouted as it landed on two, and her wings drooped, “Aww! My number is smaller!”
“That’s okay. Move your piece.” Talebot encouraged.
She did so. “Your turn.”
He rolled the dice, moved three spaces, and gave it back.
She pouted even more as she rolled a single dot. She moved her piece. Her frustration turned to confusion as she landed on a snake’s tail.
“Move your piece from the tail to the head.” He told her.
She did, ending up two rows down, “I’m ahead now!” she laughed.
He nodded, “Yes, you are. And if you reach this square first, you win.”
She clapped her hands and giggled, “Your turn, T.B! Roll the dice!”