The Fate on Wrist (Notes)

Recently I wrote a short story titled "The Fate on Wrist". The short story was written by combining small pieces of writing I did each day. Each day I picked a prompt from my Pinterest feed and wrote whatever came to my mind. Some days I only wrote a short paragraph, some days I ended up writing a couple of pages. My initial reason for starting this challenge was I noticed I was more productive throughout the day when I did a creative task first. Eventually, I thought it would be a cool idea to make all these small pieces of writing into one short story at the end of each week. Throughout this project, I learnt a lot about my creative process. So, I decided to share the extracts I wrote along with some notes I made to connect all the prompts and things I noticed about the writing process in general. I hope this can inspire more people to start writing and if you want to join in on this writing challenge, feel free to do so! I will be continuing my challenge so please look forward to seeing more chaotic stories that were based around 7 random prompts! I have added the link to the short story, The Fate on Wrist at the end of this post.

The extracts and Notes:

Monday:

Prompt: You are born with the one thing that can kill you written on your wrist. Yours is the name of an animal. That animal just went extinct

[character in this story is same as the character from 07/05 and 08/05]

[continent that flooded. Both law of physics and biology the same as Earth]

[flooded continent was skeptical towards visitors but not discriminatory. After the flood, they blamed the DnD continent and became discriminatory towards people from those continent especially]

“Tibetan fox are now officially extinct”

The moment I heard those words spoken from the news, the world around me stopped. I don’t remember there being a single though in my mind. I just remember being overwhelmed by the feeling of disbelief.

Tibetan fox was the word written across my wrist. It was the only thing that could kill me.

I tried to act like it wasn’t an issue but some people who knew me well knew I was acting a bit off. They never said a word about it but I could just tell they were worrying over me. I tried to wear a long sleeved shirt as much as I could. Well, nobody found that suspicious since it was something everyone else was doing as well. It’s only natural that people didn’t want to show the one thing that could easily kill them.

Nobody understood why or how it happened but at one point in history, people were born with the one thing that could kill them printed on their wrist. If an individual was attempted to be murdered any other way, some sort of lucky miss will happen. But no matter how much the person tries to avoid the one thing that is written on their wrist, it always finds its way to the individual. So there wasn’t a single person who was immortal.

[make her live off grid so the forest scene later makes sense or at least they’re easier to connect]

Tuesday:

Prompt: Hunt and gather

[one of the neighbouring continent: values oneness with the natural environment]

[has magic and spirits but law of biology is same as the flooded one but the animals can act as a spiritual messenger]

[Law of biology same as Earth. Law of physics based on folklores and mythologies]

[folklore continent open depending on the individual rather than basing their opinion which continent the visitor is from]

The tribe was getting ready to hunt, They marched through the forest. Finding the ideal spot to set alight the forest. They have done this for generations. It was an effective way for them to gather resources. Once a small area of the forest was burnt down, they will plant new trees in a certain pattern and once the trees have grown, they know exactly where to gather the fruits. Trees take a long time to grow. But they have the lands which their ancestors have done the same thing in. By the time the nutrient from the ashes completely deplete and there start bearing less fruit, the place which they burnt will be ready for the fruits. Of course, the animals would come to these trees and eat some of the fruits. But that didn’t bother them. The more fruit trees they planted, the more animals gathered, the easier their hunt was. They could hunt and gather on the same spot.

As they marched through the forest a black cockatoo flew over and rested on one of the branches reaching out from a nearby tree.

“It might rain soon.”

One person in the tribe who noticed the cockatoo mentioned.

“We should hurry along.” The other nodded as they set off to the area where they had planned.

Wednesday:

Prompt: Run

[flooded continent]

[plot hole with the dam. If they were predicting heavy rain the government would have thought about doing a maintenance on the dam]

We were only given seconds to save our lives. We were predicting some kind of flood since so many people were born with “water” written on their wrist. Of course, this information was never made public to avoid any form of panic. I was working in the sector of the government that records the words written on people’s wrist and predicts any major natural disaster by seeing if there are any words that are written on people’s wrist repeatedly. Obviously, we can’t stop the natural disaster from killing the people with that word written on their wrist. Well, not with our current understanding anyway. So what we try to do is improve the infrastructure based on the predicted natural disaster so those who survive can go back to their lives as easily as they can.

But it wasn’t a flood. It was the dam. We were so focused on improving the city structure to flow the water away from the city. We didn’t pay as much attention to the dam. Did we contribute to the death of those people? Would there have been less people impacted from this incident if we just let things unfold? Would they have had more resources to hold the dam on the spot if we weren’t so obsessed with preventing a flood?

When the wall on the dam gave in, there were very few places people could hide. They did their best to find an elevated area to hide. But the moment they thought it was safe for them to come out, a wave from the backlash of the incident snuck up on them and swallowed them whole.

That day, we all learnt the consequences of manipulating the force of nature and the danger of overconfidence.

Thursday:

[neighbouring continent]

[law of biology and law of physics based on DnD]

[character is elf and is apprentice of the character from 03/05]

[after the time skip]

[DnD continent open to everyone]

“So there’s no gold?”

“Of course there’s no golf. I’m a dragon! What am I going to do with gold? Buy stuff? Why do you humans always think we have gold?” [dialogue prompt] The dragon sighed, creating a small puff of ashes as it curled back into the position it was taking a nap in.

“But… didn’t some kind of knight or adventurer make a deal with you to protect their wealth?” The convict asked in confusion and fear.

“I’m a dragon of wisdom and knowledge. I have had some people leave offerings to me to have their questions answered but not gold. You know what, here’s a little wisdom to you, you foolish human. If a dragon was to protect someone’s wealth, especially gold, they would melt away from our body temperature.”

The convict stood there in disbelief. The only way of their return back to their people was now gone.

Friday

[same character from 03/05]

[currently at flooded continent, travelling to fantasy continent]

She shook her head.

“No. You’re not coming.”

“Oh, we’re coming,” he answered.

“Wherever you go, we go.” The other group behind him nodded their agreement. [dialogue prompt]

She glared at them for a moment. But then sighed and turned around.

“Fine, do whatever you want. But I won’t wait for any of you if you fall behind.” She said in a sharp tone as she started to walk off without checking if they were following her. The group smiled and followed her closely.

They were heading towards a neighbouring region which was going to be a risky trip. Afterall, most of the regions had their own laws of biology and physics. Because of this, visitors and immigrants from different regions were very rare. Since there is little to no interaction between different regions, many people looked down on others who weren’t from their own region.

But now with their own region flooded and mostly underwater, there were very few areas where the original citizens could continue living in. The facilities which the government has prepared for was able to sustain the whole population for the long term but definitely not permanently. They had no idea at what point in future the resource may become scarce. Once the resource becomes scarce, people are likely to start war. Once the war starts, there would be many people trying to leave the region. If there was any time they needed to make a decision, it had to be now.

That’s why she was planning to leave the region alone. Afterall, there wouldn’t be any other “team mates” which she would need to take into consideration while executing her plans. But she gave into their persistence in the end. Because no matter how capable and talented she was, she knew the chance of survival was higher in a small group than on her own.

They hiked up the untamed forest, occasionally checking their map and their coordinates. Eventually, the angle of the sun indicated noon. They decided to set up a camp up in the trees right there and then.

“But can’t we travel a bit further and make more progress towards reaching the neighbouring region?” The man asked.

“We’re not familiar with the area. We don’t know where we can find food or water. It’s better to stop travelling early on the first day and just focus on gathering resources. We will set up hammock tents we brought along up in the trees since we don’t know what kind of animals or people might walk past us at night.” She explained dryly.

The man nodded.

“There are five of us. We all have our own ration of food so we should focus on finding water rather than food for now. How about we send off 2 people to find food and 3 to find water?” He suggested.

“That should be fine just for tonight. It would be dangerous for only one person to wander off and search for food anyway.” She agreed but yet again in a cold tone.

“So you do care about the group.” The man commented with a smile.

“I’m only trying to avoid unnecessary injuries."

“Oh really?” The man raised his eyebrows and started to take off the cloth that was covering the word printed over his wrist.

Her eyes opened wide and before she could think, she held down the piece of cloth he was trying to remove.

The man didn’t say anything. He just looked down at her hand holding down the cloth and looked back at her with a smirk.

“I said I don’t want any unnecessary injuries!” She commented in a slightly harsher tone and walked off to tell the plans to others.

Saturday:

[DnD continent]

[Same character from 03/05, still with her group from 07/05]

[Right after the time skip]

To be a witch is to be a healer, teacher, seeker, giver and protector of all things. If this is your path, may you walk with honour, light and integrity. [prompt]

That was one thing I learnt from becoming a witch after crossing over to the DnD continent. It was a phrase which I held very close to my heart now. I once walked away from my own home. Fearing the worst was coming my way. But I have matured. I have grown stronger. I now have enough knowledge and courage to go back and help the people I left behind that day. I gathered all the equipment I could and turned to others.

“You guys ready?”

“Remember? Wherever you go, we go.” The group behind him nodded their agreement.

I chuckled at their never changing response.

“Alright, let’s go and get our apprentice.” I said as I tied a red ribbon with clear quartz tied on one end and tied the other to a branch of fern. I snapped off the branch and gently held it in my palm as I remembered everything about my apprentice.

The fern floated up and led us to where the apprentice was. We walked through markets filled with people, through the countryside, then through a forest. Eventually, the fern came to a cave and it entered.

Before it floated into the cave too far in. I grabbed the quartz at the end. We all cast ourselves with protection spells and I cast up a glowing orb. With that, we were ready to enter the cave.

We made the right decision by casting ourselves with a protection spell. There were a lot of monsters and traps. It can’t kill us if it’s not the word written on our wrist. But we didn’t know anything about the cave so it was better to be over prepared. Also, any serious injuries could delay our travel to get our apprentice and go to the flooded continent to lend them help.

Eventually, we came to an opening and the fern dropped. The quartz shattered from the impact. The dragon that was curled up and an elf that was staring down at the ground both jolted up at the sound of the crystal crashing.

“If you’re here for a gold, I was just telling this elf we don’t have any.” The dragon sighed.

“Oh no, I’m here for…”

“Teacher!” Before I could finish my sentence, the elf, my apprentice sprung up and rushed over to me. He looked down at the broken quartz and red ribbon tied up to the fern and looked back at me.

“You came looking for me?” He asked in confusion.

“We finally have everything to help the flooded continent. We will negotiate your exile with the council. The dragon said there’s no gold here anyway. Come on, we need to hurry.” I said everything almost in one breath.

“O… okay,” the apprentice agreed hesitantly.

With that, we cast the teleportation spell and headed to the border of the continent.

“The flooded continent huh… Good luck, mortals.” The dragon sighed again and went back to sleep.

We got to the border, rented a boat and saw the horizon I left behind a long time ago get closer and closer over the days we sailed across that ocean. I felt nostalgic as I looked at my home continent. Remembering the defensive, self-pitying girl that I used to be. Remembering how I tried to push all of these now my dearest friends away from me. And how the sail across these continents were far too quiet. Both the law of physics and biology were very different between these two continents so the furthest I could use the teleportation spell to was the edge of the continent. I learnt to be fascinated by the difference each continent has but now it only brought me agitation. I couldn’t wait to get to the other end and finally lend the help I have been dying to give.

Three days later, we finally reached the flooded continents land. It was faster than when we left it behind. The water must be slowly draining away after all. The summit of the mountain which used to be barely peeking, looking like a little mound was slowly getting back its original height. We docked the boat and started to trek through the forest; wasting no time.

The forest was more cleared than I last remembered. Patches of ash covered the forest. I started to quicken my pace, worried that I might have taken too long to come for help.

Then, I stopped.

Everyone else stopped as well, following my lead. We could hear some movement in the bushes just ahead of us. We hid ourselves behind the trees and bushes, not knowing what or who was ahead of us.

Nothing happened. It felt like we were frozen on the spot for hours. I was so focused I could hear so many things. The quiet rustle of the leaves. The squeaking of branches. And my own heart beat, getting quicker and quicker by each minute.

Then suddenly, a figure peaked out from a bush ahead of us. The person was wearing the patrol uniform. It was one of the guards. I lowered my weapon and stepped out to the opening with my arms up in the air.

“Hello, my name is [insert character name]. I want to offer help to this continent.” I said as calmly as I could.

“Help? To this continent? Where are you from?” The guard asked in a harsh tone.

“The DnD continent.”

“Very well.”

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain pierce through my body. I looked down and saw blood seeping through my brown cloak and what looked like a spear made of some kind of bone. I was confused. I didn’t know what just happened to me. But then I remembered the word written on my wrist.

Tibetan fox.

A spear made with bone piercing through my gut without trouble. Not a single hint of near miss. Not giving the slightest chance for me or for my teammates to react. In a place where I couldn’t use a protection spell. This had to be it.

“Huh, lucky us. The first attack we used was the freaks weakness.” One of the guards spat out with a smirk.

My teammates rushed over to me. Their eyes filled with tears. As the guard pulled out his spear, I collapsed on the ground. The pain from the wound only got worse. The warm tears ran down my face. I felt my teammate’s arm catch me. I felt pain in my chest as I struggled for air. I couldn’t hide my smile as I looked back at my teammate.

I felt relieved. I wasn’t immortal.

Sunday:

Prompt: A princess who asked the dragon to kidnap her.

[same dragon from 06/05]

The human and the elf finally left the cave. Finally some time for myself. I will do what I need to do to fulfill my role as the dragon of knowledge and wisdom but I still try to stay away from humans. Although every single one of them are on their own journey to better understand themselves and the world around them, I still find their egoistic wishes draining. I understand most are unintentional. Yet I find their mindset is just simply boring and uninspiring.

A set of footsteps approaching me. I let out a sigh. I give a lazy glance over to the opening to the clearing which I nest in. I’m considering putting up a private property sign. Maybe then I can sue these foolish mortals for trespassing. It has been 3 centuries. They must have updated the interspecies… right?

“What do you want?” I muttered at the sight of the petite, well dressed girl standing at the entrance of my nest. Was she lost?

“I want you to kidnap me.” She stated confidently.

“What? No! That would cause too much commotion between the mortals and the dragons!” I was caught off guard. I’ve had people ask me for knowledge and unfortunately one too many people asking for gold. But being asked to be kidnapped? This was first.

“Please! My parents are forcing me into a political marriage. If you kidnap me and my fiance fails to save me, which I’m pretty sure that narcissistic flimsy, law book head would not be able to get past the dragon of knowledge and wisdom, my parents would see that I deserve someone better,” The girl pleaded desperately.

Why can’t I get a single century of peace and quiet in my life! But law book head, haven’t heard of that insult before and you know what, it is to my liking.

“Fine, I will help you but only because I like your insult. You possess some hope in humouring me.” The girl smiled.

World Concept:

Each continent (region in the story) had its own law of physics and biology that are usually very different from one another

This causes people to reluctant from travelling outside their continent or make it very difficult to travel outside their continent

Everyone (regardless of the continent) is born with what can kill them printed on their wrist since birth

There is a sector in the government that records these words to predict any major natural disaster incident or terrorist incidents

If a person is born with innate talent (e.g. magic) but is living in a continent where the law of physics is not compatible with magic then the person will not be able to use magic until they move to a continent where the law of physics is compatible with magic.

If a person who can use magic travels to a continent that doesn’t have magic then the person will lose all of their magical ability while they are within the continent.

A specie that doesn’t exist in one continent is able to travel to another continent but would not be able to reproduce with any of the species on the continent they are introduced to

Due to lack of interaction between different continents, discrimination towards people of different continent is strong

However, there are continents which are open to visitors

Notes:

It gets easier to write longer extracts once you start to make few connections between the previous stories

Writing each extract resulted in too many different characters in one story. Reduced the number of characters by merging some of the extracts together

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Final story available at: https://vocal.media/fiction/the-fate-on-wrist