Clearstone was a peaceful place where a man could forage his own path in life, but that was before Mad Dog Roberts took it over. Now Clearstone is owned by the Roberts Mining Co. and the people are little more than cogs in Roberts golden machine. This traveling cowboy isn't a part of that machine, and he isn't about to leave without a fight.

Matthew Mercia had never believed in the Day of the Dead the way his mother did. He didn't get excited to wake up on November second to celebrate the lives of relatives who had passed--until he was one of those relatives. Now he can only wake up on the day of the dead, so he only has tonight to walk among the living. How did I die? Who killed me? Why? These questions may just keep Matthew from celebrating this Dia de Muertos.

Authors Note:

This story was written in four hours for Ectocomp 2019 with 4,500 words, 7 unique endings, and one epilogue. It is based on the All Souls Procession Weekend in Tuscon Arizona. No additional knowledge is needed to read the story, but if you want more information on anything look up the event! 

Edited on 12/06/19: the tense switch on the first page was fixed. Everything else was left the way it was for the contest.

Image from: http://clipart-library.com/day-of-the-dead-clipart.html

A suspense/horror story. It is about a cabin you inherited from your creepiest uncle (yeah you know the one). There are two possible endings. Good luck.

Tips:  Use the link at the end to go back to the beginning, even if you die you can continue to play. Hit "Drive to cottage" after each play through and look for the room that changed. You will face a choice in that room that will decide if you live or die, again.

Note: A special thanks to Chris113022 and Gower who play tested, and proofread this story.

Let's write a poem together,

about nature or the weather.

Alternating lines, you and me,

 writing in perfect harmony.

I will write a line, you the next,

our lais is a river of text.

Leroy and Mika are parting ways for two years. They have signed up for the Peace Corps and are going to opposite corners of the globe to make a difference in the world. Their shared loves are poetry and the environment. This lais is the perfect poem to remind them what they mean to each other; they just have to write it.

Authors Notes:

A 1,000-word story written for a contest with the theme of nature environment. The game is a craft your own poem game. A lais is a poem written with octosyllabic couplets (8 syllable lines that rhyme in pairs). You get to craft the poem that expresses these two characters' love, and you get to decide if their love is strong enough to survive two years apart.

Actual word count is 936.

A special thanks to  Ogre11 and mizal for proofreading and play-testing! Their feedback was instrumental in making this game what it is.

Merlin Ambrosius was just an electrician working in Britain. His last job was on an archeological site doing the lighting for what was believed to be the home of Merlin the Magician. He accidentally got himself sent back in time to the days of King Arthur, where Merlin Ambrosius became the sorcerer of legend. Did he serve King Arthur well as a trusted advisor? Was he a feared but well-respected as a sorcerer? Or did he get caught trying to fool the medieval prince?

Author's Note:

This game was made for the Year's End Contest - Choose Your Own Prompt II. The theme was "8) This story has an original and sensible magic system, built from the ground up. The plot is up to you."

Magic is defined as the power to influence reality by using mysterious or supernatural forces. Rather than having characters learn to shoot fire out of their hands, my magic system is based on having limited technology in the past.

There are two main branches, which focus on different types of "magic." One caution is that some of the smaller pathways are similar, differing only by the puzzle you have to solve and ways you can fail. Also, when choosing between the "Lady of the Lake" myth or the "Sword in the Stone" myth, please note that these tales both involve Excalibur, so the story remains the same until after you make the sword of legend. After that part, these two branches have a different (second) puzzle, which can lead to various endings.

An answer guide is provided for electrical puzzles. For an added challenge, do not use it. Additionally, there is a walkthrough here if you want help finding all 12 endings. Good luck!

Special thanks to Reader82 and poison_mara for proofreading and play-testing for me. Without them, this story would have a few million more errors. Reader82 fixed most of my bad grammar, and poison_mara thought of adding the guide for the electrical puzzles.

Professor Gower sits in his big, big oak desk, glasses perched precariously on his nose. He lays a fountain pen down atop his grade book and steeples his hands with something of a patient sigh.

He has warned his students:

The purpose of this thread is to have a place to talk about smallish issues of language, style, syntax, grammar, word choice, paragraph structure, or whatever. This is for microlevel issues, not big stuff like "what should I write about?" or "how do I make interesting choices?" or "is that mole bigger than yesterday?"

Bring a piece of your work-in-progress, and let's all discuss it together.

It's worth 40% of your grade, and you may not have an extension.

Alas, no one has come to his office today. This is not an issue though: Professor Gower has better things to do.

Authors Note:

Time travel story-game requested by Microblue with permission from Gower.

Special thanks to TheChef for play-testing and proofreading.

The Description was mostly written by Gower, and the rest is the author's original account of the real adventures of the English professor that travels in time to ensure the safety of literary classics. While you can read this story on its own, it's recommended that you have some familiarity with the classic authors Homer, Marie de France, and Euripides. It's also recommended that you read The Iliad, Lanval, Medea, and Beowulf before reading this story. General knowledge of those works will be accepted for this story but will do nothing for your grades on Gower's quiz to follow.

There are two possible endings. There are also four authors to meet, four literary gems to save, and four historic items to frame in Gower's office; however, there is only one epilogue.

Please enjoy as you travel to the past to meet Gower's favorite authors.

Todd, a master of dark magic in a world that forbids it, has a chance to prove that dark magic can be used for good; unless he becomes the dark lord that everyone fears. Will Todd become a hero, or is he destined to be the villain?

Notes:

More of a story with multiple outcomes than a game.

There are no right or wrong answers, although you have the option of getting yourself killed many times, and choices matter.

## unique epilogues are available. 

On the first page, there is a link to background information on the world and how it is structured. This link is for people that like to have the basic understanding and context that the main character has at the start. It is completely optional.

Applicants wanted for an exciting and challenging position as the captain of a deep space mining mission. No former space exploration experience is necessary. We are looking for candidates with common sense and natural leadership skills. Press the button below to apply!

Job Summary:

Responsible for all decisions made aboard the Endeavor mining shuttle.

Location: Outer Space

Job Type: Contract

Salary: 10% of any profits made. All losses will be deducted from base salary.

Every billionaire wants to get in on the space-race these days, and William C. Harrington is no exception. With an extraordinary budget, an abundance of passion, and an intense desire to never lose, he set his sights on colonizing the farthest star known to mankind--Icarus.

Traveling through space can be a dangerous ordeal; fortunately, the crew bound for Icarus has you to guide them. Will you gamble your life to fulfill the vision of your eccentric financier, change the mission to increase the chances of successful colonization, or explore space in humanity's first mobile colony? We are waiting on your orders, captain!

The year is 2075. Eyron is the city that serves as the worlds leading technological center. It has expanded to encompass 70% of the U.S. population. Anyone who matters is in Eyron as part of the U-Cloud.

U-Cloud is the worlds first cloud computing network that includes androids and humans. A new microprocessor developed by Volpere, the largest technology company in the world, allows human minds to be linked to computer information networks, but it comes at a price. Like any machine on the U-Cloud, admins can take total control of people on the network.

The government and wealthy elite serve as admins to maintain order on the U-Cloud. They can monitor the thoughts, memories, and actions of any device on the network to ensure all rules are adhered to. All devices have no choice but to play by the rules, with a few exceptions.

Alexander Kertchen is one of those exceptions. His blue collar background means he is one of the chipped members of the working class, but Alex's job is to modify and fix broken microprocessors. When his chip needs a repair, he manages to unplug himself from the U-Cloud. What this young technician does with his new found freedom is up to you.

I greatly appreciate the consideration for my original request and real life schedule. This seems to have popped back up, changed formats, and taken off quickly; however, the lower word count and considerable time frame mean that I might be able to put something forward. 

My apologies to Green in advance. Anything suspense/horror that I write is either painfully or comically bad. This will be a nightmare.

Sounds good. I'll stay on the list for now and quietly drop out later if the line is too long... 

You can take me off the list. Mine isn't a gurduge match, so I don't mind it being canceled. I'll find someone to duel because of a personal vendetta eventually. 

Oh, how fun! Can you make a Shadow Dragon? I don't have many specifics, but I world prefer the main colors be black and purple. You can just Google "shadow dragon" and use the first image as inspiration. Whatever you come up with I'll make my avatar. No need to credit me or anything, it's your work.

Yeah, well, one can hope! Being in a duel for the fun of it will be fun enough though. We will see how it goes.

I haven't been active around here recently, but I've been lurking in all of these little duels. While I have no quelms with you, I would love to be put on a bracket should this turn into a tournament. My chances of winning are probably very low, but this format seems  like a fun challenge. If a bracket is made then throw me on the list! Hopefully I can make some time to actually write in Janurary... 2500 words shouldn't be too bad.

Hmm I'll participate here. There are a lot of characters from a lot of different media that I have liked over the years; however, one that I keep coming back to is Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities. I read the book a long time ago, so I don't remember every detail, but I have never forgotten the major details of his storyline. Basically, I'm a sucker for self sacrificing characters.
 

Sydney constantly sacrifices himself for his friends and those he loves. From failing law school because he did his friends homework but not his own, to being his friends assistant to make his law firm the best in town, and even giving up his own life to safe a man the woman he loves is in love with, Sydney almost never does anything that benefits himself more than it benefits his friends. This is, to me, an ideal characteristic to have. It falls in line with a lot of aspects of my life, even if it is taken to a more extreme level than I ever have had to go to.

Wait, he finds donuts eventually? I would read on then!
 

You did really well tying together all of the jokes on this thread into an actual first page of a story though. I even like the synopsis you provided. Escaping aliens to find donuts would be the best story game since cows vs aliens!

I see what you did here, haha. It's better than some story openings that I've read despite so much about breakfast. Still, I might pass this story up since it's obvious that there will be no donuts. Why read a breakfast story without donuts? The only thing that might keep me interested is the fact that toast and jam got me into this mess... how did that happen? 

Welcome to the site! Writing here is fun and easy. The community is fairly active and helpful on the forums. Feel free to post in the writing workshop if you have questions. There is also a "Help & Info" tab on the left of your browser that is neat. Look there for guides in various areas (including how to make your own story, link pages together, and do other basics). I made a guide that explains some of this called a beginners guide to chooseyourstory.com (or something like that).

Good luck and have fun!