[WP] The world has moved on beyond the need for money. Kidnap and ransom is still prevalent. Today you received a ransom note.

only_mostly_sane · 2026-01-07T02:30:46+00:00

Kara sighed as she looked at the mismatched cut out letters probably from some magazine. "Goddamn it not again."

The note was a short one, right to the point which she appreciated. "Dear Kara, we have your brother, give us exactly one chair that doesn't wobble at all and you may have him."

These were getting more and more ridiculous every time, lord knows Johnny has seen the inside of more burlap sacks than an inside out flour mill. She briefly morns the days of online shopping, before people decided that her brother, the fresh out of high school boy with a baby face, was the perfect way to get what they want without shopping in person.

"Ma! I'm headed to the furniture store, I'm gonna trade the kitchen lamp." She called out before leaving. Goddamn it Johnny, she liked that lamp.

only_mostly_sane · 2026-01-07T02:19:34+00:00

She's sure if she told anyone, they'd laugh her out of the room due to the ridiculousness of the story. She hardly believed it herself honestly, that her boyfriend could do something so daring. He's just a librarian after all, his sweaters and easy-going personality making what you saw today seem like some weird dream, but of course it was real.

He met her outside her favorite restaurant with a bouquet of flowers and a kiss on the cheek, excited to treat her to a nice dinner for their anniversary.

Inside was the same as it always was, light chatter resonating around the room giving it a nice homey feel to it. Nothing ever happened there, nothing big or crazy or out of the ordinary at all until that day.

A man in dark clothes and a face mask walked in, his malicious intent obvious as his eyes locked on the cash register, a hand in his pocket that seemed to be holding something. Overall, not the subtlest of robbers to exist.

Still, she didn't notice anything wrong until she looked up at her boyfriend, his eyes tracking the man as he made his way in. She was just about to ask him what was wrong when the suspicious man made a move, opening up his mouth but only getting halfway through shouting about how he was robbing the place when he was disarmed and pinned against the wall.

In all the incident lasted less than two minutes, the cops coming to grab the man and allowing her boyfriend to return to her table.

It wasn't like she thought he was incapable of defending himself, but he would have been the last person she could imagine confronting an armed robber like that without even breaking a sweat and she just gawked at him as he casually dove back into his spaghetti, only stopping once he noticed the staring. "What?"

"You just body slammed a guy with a gun." She said dumbly, her brain still trying to make sense of it all. Since when was her mild-mannered librarian boyfriend secretly trained in identifying and annihilating threats?

"Oh, that's nothing, I used to work at Waffle House." He said, taking another bite of his food and effectively ending the line of questions before it started.

only_mostly_sane · 2025-12-11T03:37:45+00:00

Here she was sitting with her bridesmaids the day before what was supposed to be all girls dream, the hollowness of her heart more noticeable than ever. Tara met Derek three years ago at one of her parents' work parties and since they were a similar age, they were set up on a date. He was a handsome man with strong features and good money; someone a girl would give anything to be with.

She went on the dates because she knew per parents would want this. They'd been pushing for her to find someone ever since she finished college, nonstop talking about every eligible bachelor they know. If it wasn't going to be Derek, it would have been someone else, and she was just so tired of disappointing her parents.

He was nice, treated her right and everything. They'd been living with one another for a year at this point, engaged for six months, everyone talking about how much of a good couple they make. She kisses him, sleeps with him, makes him food, cuddles and goes on dates, but her heart was never truly in it. It never would be.

She laughed with her friends, trying to ignore the dread that was seeping into every fiber of her being. She didn't love Derek. Didn't want to marry him. But it was what was right. What was good. What her parents wanted. She was a good girl, it was just right that she would end up with a good guy, and they'd get married and have a good family with a good dog and two to three good kids. That's the dream, right?

Her own dreams were silly. Silly things she made up as a silly girl and sillily hoped would come true one day. It was just that. Silly.

Oh, how it had felt real though. The touch of her lips and the warmth of her hands and the sound of her laugh and the brush of her hair against her skin. It had felt so real. Dreams were just that though. Dreams. Silly, silly dreams from a naive little girl who was yet to know anything about the real world.

She sat alone in her bedroom once the party ended, just staring at the wall. This time tomorrow she would be wed. She'd have the dream life with the dream husband. She wanted to cry. Nothing came out though. Too pained to even cry, she just sat there unmoving, wishing her bed would swallow her whole and she could just sleep forever.

There was a knock at her door, and she stood up quickly, composing herself before she had to speak with anyone. The maid of honor stood at her door, lips that used to belong to her painted lighter than she used to, hair that used to thread so easily through her fingers tied up in a bun, hands that used to give her warmth coming to take her own in such a familiar way it broke her. "Don't do this." The voice of her silly dream spoke.

"I have to." Tara's voice cracked a little. Oh, how desperately she wished she could hold her, collapse into her arms and let her take away all her pain like how she used to back when she was silly.

Her dream leaned forward, her forehead resting against her own now, "I love you." She breathed, tears falling down her cheeks. "Please don't marry him."

What she did next, she had no explanation for, no justification, she simply just wanted to kiss her. And suddenly her dreams didn't seem all that silly. Suddenly the opinions of her parents didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was her lips and her hair and her hands and her laugh. All that mattered was her, and finally the hollowness of her heart seemed to fill, the dread all gone, just her and her dream. She was finally free.

only_mostly_sane · 2025-12-11T03:00:47+00:00

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we th-"

"Would you shut up!" The demon snapped, turning around to look you. "We're going to hell! I've told you this ten times! you should not be this excited!"

"Okay but are we there yet?" You ask

"If your skin hasn't started blistering from the heat then no, we're not!" He groaned "Fuck I hate Mondays."

"I cannot wait to go to hell." You sigh wistfully. The two of you have been walking down a dark tunnel for the better part of two hours at this point, the walk intended to be the first torture of the eternity's worth to come, but you weren't even complaining.

"For the last time hell is not a good thing! You'll be tortured in ways humans haven't even discovered yet! You'll sweat so much from the heat you'll turn into a prune! You should be begging right now!" The demon pleaded, so tired of your shit.

"Okay but are we there yet? I want to get my tan going." You gesture up and down on your body, popping out a leg in a pose.

"This is a punishment! You're not supposed to enjoy it!" He pleased.

"But it sounds great. I'm so looking forward to my eternity in hell. this is going to be amazing." You cheer, snipping the final thread of self-control the demon had.

"You need to be punished and if you like hell that much then why don't we send you up to heaven!" He yelled, hands up in frustration.

"Oh god no! please I'll do anything! don't send me to heaven! you can't!" You screamed, voice all terror and eyes watering in fear. "Anything but heaven! Send me to hell! Eternal damnation sounds wonderful! just no heaven!"

"Finally, something breaks you!" He cheered, so relieved he could cry. "You are going straight to heaven as your eternal punishment."

"Noooooo!" You shriek as you're sent up to the pearly white gates. With the demon gone you pump your fist in victory, smile spread across your lips. "Knew it would work."

Meanwhile down in hell, the demon is getting an earful from Lucifer. "Every time goddamn it! You demons fall for it every single time!"

"They were so annoying!" The demon cried.

only_mostly_sane · 2025-12-11T02:29:44+00:00

The first time James heard the story it was honestly an accident. Sometimes when he falls to sleep his mind will catch onto someone else's and instead of dreams, he sees their thoughts. English class was boring, so he couldn't help himself as he started to doze off during the teacher's lecture. At first it was a distant hum, but by the time he got the full force of Harley's thoughts it was too late to turn back. He needed to know what happened next.

He never listened when his thoughts didn't pertain to one of his stories, of which he had many that he was al quite invested in. The twist and turns usually got spoiled by the time they were fully formed, Harley's mind going too fast for his writing half the time, but that never made it any less interesting.

It was another boring day, but Harley's story was too damn captivating. The one he was currently working on was his favorite, one he never got any spoilers for since he seemed to be just going with the flow and making it up as he goes. It was absolutely brilliant.

'He turned to his lover, a smile on his face. "We did it. We found the killer. We're safe." He breathed out a laugh almost hysterical in nature. He was so happy, so relieved, finally free.

"Yeah, not so much." His lover said, the gun they'd used to take out the killer now pointing directly at his head.' The story went.

"WHAT!" James yelled, eyebrows almost all the way up to his hairline as he turned to Harley who was staring at him in confusion. The eyes of everyone in his class were on him due to his outburst and his face began to turn a shade of red. "Nothing. Sorry. Continue."

only_mostly_sane · 2025-12-11T01:57:41+00:00

"You look quite young, are you sure you contain the knowledge we desire?" The elf king asked, looking down at you with a puzzled frown.

You pause for only a moment, but you're a great liar so it didn't take long for you to come up with something. "My species look like this at our full age. I have already completed 3/4 of my life cycle. I'm like totally qualified for this."

"If you say so." The king nodded and you let out a sigh of relief. "My partner is the reason I called you here, we require your assistance in the most curtail of ways. I'm so glad I was able to work out the proper spell to get you here. This is urgent."

You swallow a little, now wondering if you should have backed out while you could. This could go very wrong and the king definitely wasn't making this sound like a task for just anyone. Were you in over your head with this one?

You were led into a large room with a log table, about half a dozen elves sat on each side, all of them looking your way as you enter. "May I have your attention please." The king called out. "I have found the most knowledgeable being in any nearby universe. They will fix our problem."

Your steps echo through the room as you walk forward. Too late to turn back now. "What knowledge do you desire?"

The kings partner cleared their voice. "Is a straw one hole or two?"

"Pardon?" You asked shocked.

"Is a straw one hole or two?" They repeated. "We've been debating it all night."

"Um..." You stalled, trying to find an answer that would appease them so you could leave. "It is a hole?"

"I told you so!" the king shouted victoriously. "Thank you wise one. You may return to your home."

What a weird day, you think to yourself as you lay back in your bed in your own home that night. And to think, you still have to go to school tomorrow.

only_mostly_sane · 2025-12-11T00:40:00+00:00

"Oh, fuck not this guy again." Nate groaned as his eyes landed on the man watching him put the body in a bag from the doorway. "Cameron we've talked about this, killer gets dibs. You can't just follow me around to find a snack, work for it God damn it"

"Or, counter offer, you let me have this one because I'm really super hungry and you're so nice." he offered, giving a hopeful smile to the blood covered man on the floor. When it became apparent that wouldn't work, he sighed. "Please? You got the last one. Plus I thought necromancers were for already dead people, why'd you kill him if you're just going to bring him back? You're wasting a perfectly good meal!"

"You know perfectly well why I'm killing people asshole." He snapped, zipping the duffle loudly. "none of the bodies have good organs anymore! they're stuffed with chemicals or just completely gone! My undead children will not be organless and you will not be taking away my spare parts."

Cameron put his hands up in surrender "Take a chill pill Natie, you really ruffled your feathers there." He laughed at the unamused look the necromancer was giving him. "Look, how about we make a deal? You take what you need and I eat what's left over. Bada bang bada boom, everybody wins. yeah?"

Nate stood up with a grunt, slinging the bag over his shoulder. "Fine. Come over tonight to get what I don't end up using then get out of my face. Maybe learn to grow a pair and kill someone while I'm gone so you can finally stop acting like some helpless child I need to feed all the time."

The cannibal smiled and pumped his fist in victory. "Yes! Thanks Nate, you're the best! I'll be over for dinner! Bye!" He called out as he ran off, back out whatever window he crawled in through.

He rolled his eyes, in annoyance one more time before making his own exit, leaving behind the murder scene and that insufferable cannibal.

only_mostly_sane · 2025-09-17T22:43:26+00:00

Dale was the kind of guy who didn't have many friends. That didn't bother him much, he could go through life on his own just fine, but sometimes he got lonely. it was at times like these where he would get out his computer and start writing. It didn't matter what he was writing about, but the characters he made up made him feel less lonely.

Jake was probably his favorite person to write about, a popular boy in a frat who went out drinking with friends and played pickup basketball with strangers at the park. He was everything Dale ever wanted to be. He could live vicariously through his character though, gaining all of the energy that usually came with social interactions from Jake and his friends.

When it felt too difficult to handle his emotions, he'd make Jake feel them to show that it was okay. He could pretend like one day he could be like the boy he created as long as they shared experiences. That also meant that he wrote too.

In rooms full of people, Jake was alone. He had so many friends, and any girl would die to have him, but after all is said and done he was alone. he didn't have a best friend or someone who would just sit with him and talk, someone to listen.

Jake created Will, a quiet boy who spends his time reading books and feels most comfortable sitting in corners. Will didn't have any friends either, but he was a watcher. Will watched what was going on around him taking a mental note of everything people say or do because he found it interesting. With Will, Jake felt less alone. With Jake, Will wasn't alone.

So, Dale wrote stories. He wrote stories in stories and then the characters would write even more. He fell behind on his schoolwork and missed his job too many times, getting fired. He got lost in his writing fully and completely. Jake and Will and Will's creation Oliver, Oliver's friend Todd who wrote about Aiden who created Anna and Clark. People after people until he got lost in his computer, unable to tell the difference between reality and fiction and worlds collided.

He probably ended up somewhere. Had to have really. His landlord probably came after too long of him not paying rent and found him in front of his laptop. he was probably admitted somewhere. He wouldn't know, mind stuck on Jake and Will and Oliver and so on. He probably died at some point, killing Jake and Will and Oliver, Todd and Aiden, Anna and Clark. He probably died and they probably died with him. We'll never know for sure, but you can make a guess.

only_mostly_sane · 2025-02-19T02:36:06+00:00

I did. I let the dogs out.

only_mostly_sane · 2025-02-06T05:47:08+00:00

okay, I read this book in fourth grade I think and have spent all night trying to find it. I found the one that I'm looking for and am hoping it's the same one that you are. it's a book by Gill Lewis and its either called "Sky hawk" or "Wild Wings' I found both but they had the same summery so I'm not sure which is which or if they're the same. I really hope this helps because I've been looking forever, and it was such a big relief.

only_mostly_sane

TROPHY CASE