The SST AlterNet
Explore writing-prompt responses by character, arc, theme or available text.
Browse the collection below.
Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Everyone's ready, Ms. Sharp," Melody said. She sat in her small office in front of 10 monitors. Each display showed a different contestant along with their vital signs. Dana Sharp stood in another room with 10 giant-siz
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Fret not, Your Majesty," the bearded Knight Captain reassured the King. They stood on the west tower watching a black dragon carry the princess toward the sunset. The fires in the village painted the sky a brilliant sha
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"I love you too," Sarah replied automatically. After a second she realized she was alone in her apartment. She stopped wiping the plant's leaves and looked around the living room. She tensed her body half expecting to fi
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"OPEN IT!" Mundo yelled. The athletic man hopped off his chaise and knelt in the sand next to Sandra. She sat up and stared at the black envelope the stranger handed her. Sandra and her best friend, Mundo, rested under a
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"I can make it. I can make it," Tony glanced at his watch as he pulled into the restaurant's parking lot. 7:59 a.m. He hoped the manager would give him a minute or two of leeway even though it was his first day on the jo
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"C'mon, speed it up," the burly guard said. He shoved Chris toward the vertical black hole that hung in the air. The short, blond, pale man stumbled forward, but he found his balance before he reached the portal.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Good morning, Guardsman Miller! The date is Thursday, November 13, 3400. It is 3:48 a.m.," a female computer voice chirped at the patient man. He lay in the pod, awake, for over 40 minutes while it checked his vitals. T
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"There is... one last option," Dr. Douglas said. "Maybe."
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Manny woke with a groan. He felt a dull ache in his head, but the pain doubled when he opened his eyes. The bright sunlight coming in through his window forced him to shut his eyes again. He rolled over in his bed to fac
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Jenny stepped out of the pitch black, vertical hole that hovered in the air into a bright, white office lobby. A black cat with a red skull pattern in the fur atop its head followed her out of the portal, then the hole d
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Palmer watched the young woman with curiosity. He sat at a small table in the mall's food court. Holiday shoppers flowed around him like slow-moving traffic going this way and that. The murmur of the patrons sounded like
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"May I see your I.D. please?" Freddy asked the woman trying to buy a bottle of wine. He knew she was well over 21, but he didn't want to bother trying to explain his ability to his boss. The woman's eyes lit up, she happ
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Ready?" the scrawny guard asked through the bars. The inmate, Zoe, nodded and stood from the bed. "I suppose it's about time I see other places," she smiled. Once Zoe was out of the cell the guard led her toward the exi
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Haaaappy birthdaaaaaaaay tooo youuuuuuuuu!" The gang of 10-year-olds cheered for their newest member after they finished singing. The birthday boy, Albert, took in a deep breath while he eyed the candles, then he exhale
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
The sound of applause caught the old wizard’s attention. He stopped walking and looked at the end of the block. A small group of people dispersed from around a young girl, each going their own way with a smile on their f
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"That was the worst one yet," Wilfred thought to himself. The old man straightened his back and sat up on the wooden park bench. The sun left a brilliant orange sky as it dipped behind the treetops. "Maybe I should get t
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Thank you, miss," Thomas Moon smiled at the friendly bartender that delivered a plate of buffalo wings to the table. Thomas lifted his mostly empty glass of beer to signal her for a refill. "If you don't mind, please."
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"No. You approved my vacation months ago. I'm already here and I'm not giving it up." Wanda paced in her small boat while she talked to her boss. She planned the trip for almost a year and began hinting at her boss to so
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Good morning, Doctor," a woman said. Dr. Jones heard her voice the moment he stirred before he managed to open his eyes. He realized he was laying down and decided to sit up while looking in the direction of the woman's
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Well, at least it moved," Julio shrugged at the tiny digital clock. The bright red '22' displayed on its face was different from yesterday's 23. He grabbed his phone to check the time and realized he was running late fo
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"How long?" Agent Chance asked. He stared at the small, translucent-orange pill bottle. "How long what?" Gus, the quartermaster, asked. Gus was in the middle of gearing Agent Chance for his mission when the tall, broad-s
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"I DID IT!" Emma cheered for herself. She clapped happily bounced in place and pointed at the black hole hovering above the campfire. "I can go home now! Thank you, Mundo!" The short woman rushed to hug the even shorter
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Welcome!" the thin man said from behind the counter. He smiled at the two women that walked in, a tall pale woman wearing a white skirt suit and a shorter woman in a matching black suit. The shorter one carried a small
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Can we play tomorrow?" Russ asked. The red-headed boy asked Katie from the door to his room. He held a football in one hand and looked eager to leave.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Oh Visionaries
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Might as well," Lucy shrugged. She accepted the plate with two slices on it with a nod of thanks. "We're all gonna die anyway."
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
The red-headed boy sat behind the bushes. He waited against the cool bricks of the funeral home under the window he unlocked earlier. The boy rummaged through his backpack while waiting for the last workers to leave.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Kiss me, baby," Ruben bobbed his head to an imaginary beat and enjoyed the song in his memory. After resisting it for two days the pop melody drilled through his subconscious. Now he stood in a crowded subway car wishin
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Julio paused and stared at the sights before him. A forest full of giant trees replaced his neighborhood. Sunlight poured in from the treetops and illuminated a small clearing on the forest floor. A familiar young woman
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Kirk smiled to himself. The brown-haired teenager watched the act before his from backstage with smug cockiness. On the stage a young girl, Kirk guessed 14, with long silver hair manipulated a deck of cards in front of a
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Howard stepped out of the elevator and navigated the narrow maze-like halls on autopilot. His mind checked off tasks for the day instead of paying attention to his surroundings. It proved to be a mistake when he turned t
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Gah!" Fillip jumped in surprise the moment the light came on. He expected the room to be empty and the unexpected occupant startled him. When he recognized his own face sitting on the bed he calmed down. "You're early,"
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"AREA-51?? Bullshit, you don't know anyone there," Aurelio said while pulling into the parking lot.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Are you sure you don't want some company?" Jorge Alaniz asked his daughter. They stood in the driveway loading her car with camping gear. "The Wilson's son summoned a minotaur that he had trouble controlling at first,"
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Frank stared at the black hole at the back of his empty locker and took a breath. He stepped back to scan the flow of students for anyone watching his locker, but no one seemed to notice him.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Recording," Melody said.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Hey wait up," Kirk shouted. He jogged to catch up to the silver-haired girl. "Emily, right?" he asked when he reached her. She nodded. "You're pretty good with magic." She grinned at him with perfect white teeth.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Upside Down & Inside Out - Ok Go
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"This is it," Charlie thought. She stood on a busy corner with a crowd waiting for the light to change. The day proved more eventful than she expected. It wasn't until after lunch that she realized she was the one causin
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"After all of our debates there isn't anything you could say to change my view," Mundo said. Wordlessly, Pastor Parkman stood and slid out of his heavy black coat. He set it on the chair then unbuttoned and removed his s
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
“Come on!” Alliane pulled on Jonah’s arm. “You can’t see anything from there, get closer!” She stood on one of the city’s outer walls trying to get her boyfriend to look at the river of zombies shambling below. Jonah cri
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"I'm not going to hurt you!" Nyva spoke loudly at the building. An overhang created a lightless corner that she needed to get by. "I' need to be seen on camera making my rounds but I'll ignore you if you ignore me." She
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
“Thank you, ma’am,” Perry winked at the cashier and gave her his best smile. The steady, green “90” hovering above her head changed to red and jumped up to 100. “I’m losing my touch,” he thought as he walked away with th
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"That'll be 12 dollars," the cashier said. She smiled politely. Luther looked around the cafeteria-style cafe. He saw people in dark business suits sitting and talking, drinking coffee and eating like a normal business d
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"James!" Kelly rushed into the office. She shut and locked the door behind her, then turned to her boss whose first name she never used before that moment.
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"What's wrong?" Milo thought the question. He sat on the sun-faded green leather seat of his school bus. The teenager noticed an uneasy feeling in the back of his mind as soon as he woke; and, it grew more uncomfortable
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
"Hey, did you drop this?" the gentleman asked. He held up a frayed, threadbare purple sock. Sam recognized the rag as one of his socks. Specifically the sock from his right foot. The sock on his left foot was a red and g
Read the moment ↗Before Stellar Tour · unassigned stories
Owen sat down on a park bench to enjoy his lunch. He watched strangers walking by while the woman's rant replayed in his mind.
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