avatarZane Dickens the Instigator

Summarize

Weekly Prompt: Fooling The World

Having fun with those pranks? It's time to scale.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Welcome to the fourth weekly challenge for April* where our theme is Fool Me Once:

It started with a single prank, then a case of mistaken identity. Then it grew darker with a fabricated identity to see how many fools you could catch.

And now we go larger still. But first a word from our sponsor.

Remember WMD? Think on that scale. It's time to fool the world.

Here's an example story to get those synapses firing.

A Treasure worth Murdering For

What could they be after?

They gathered, as they usually did, in the basement of a nondescript office building in the centre of town. Each taking a separate entrance.

All coming virtually unguarded and totally unremarkable.

But they were a very remarkable group, especially when they squabbled. No game of Risk ever had more dire consequences for the world.

“Your plan won’t work,” said a tall, greying suit with a beaklike nose. “It already has,” came the reply, punctuated by thick, stubby fingers jabbing at the table.

Both men postured, both men wouldn’t back down until the world was a slowly cooling glass ball hurtling through a tomblike solar system.

“The world knew when they saw your forces marshalling on the border, you were up to no good. And now we have to cripple you.” “Exactly according to plan.” “But…” “But what? People die. Life is short and brutal for non-Westerners. Our economy is booming again, we still have oil. As long you don’t fire any shots, this will still get us all the outcome we desire.”

An elderly woman with blond hair and a clipped german accent spoke next, “Gentlemen, remember the prize. Remember what is buried under Kyiv. Remember how we will remake the world.”

“We know, in time to stop them.”

40/100 — Check Zane getting “creative” with his 100 Story Challenge backlog.

What grand lies can you tell us?

  1. What histories could you re-write with a wry smile, a nudge and a wink?
  2. Could you fool the real world in a science fiction tale?
  3. Could you fool an imagined one in a twisted fantasy story?
  4. Could you keep us guessing at a mystery until the very end?

Let's see what tangled webs you weave when first you practise** to deceive.

Challenge Requirements

Your story must:

  1. Tell us a fictional story inspired by a global-sized misdirection.
  2. Be min 100 and max 1000 words long, excluding the title, subtitle, and any post-story bio/links. (We use Medium’s own word count feature.)
  3. Use “Fool the World” as one of your five tags.
  4. We recommend Fiction, Flash Fiction and maybe your genre too. But it’s your choice.
  5. Please link back to the prompt so others can find it easily.

New here? Here’s how to write with us. We’d love to see your stories.

If you love what we do — say thanks with a coffee. ❤️

*Yes! If you’re counting, this is a month with five Fridays!

** Practice? ProWritingAid made me choose this one. Did it lie to me?

Writing Prompts
Writing
Fiction Writing
Creativity
100 Story Challenge
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