I was browsing various subreddits I haven't seen before, and I came across one called r/WritingPrompts. A bunch of people get together and post prompts, or ask to be prompted to write just about anything, from persuasive essays to science fiction. I thought the idea was super cool, and I thought I could bring some of the prompts here for people to creatively write and show off just for fun.

I'll start us off with this one:

You are the captain of a starship, only a few hours before the last star in existence dies and the universe goes cold.

(For prompts like these, set aside scientific accuracy and write assuming anything is possible, stay true to the intended theme) Feel free to throw out some of your creative prompts too for myself and others to write on. Typical submissions are relatively short, like a very short chapter in a book.  

Oh god yes. I love that subreddit, have participated in a number of threads myself. I'll have to do this  

My response!

You are the captain of a starship, only a few hours before the last star in existence dies and the universe goes cold.

"Standing by for orders, Captain."

Time was approaching quickly. The final life-sustaining star was reaching the end of its life cycle, the last light in the infinitely vast darkness of the universe, like a small candle hopelessly trying to light up the night sky alone. What once was a landscape of uncomprehendable beauty in the bright stars was reduced to but an infinitesimally small golden grain of sand on a dark beach. Life as we know it has reached its end.

Though faced with imminent demise and stranding loneliness, the control room aboard the ship was painfully silent. No warning sirens were blaring, no frenzied scrambling for safety, no disorder, no chaos. Just silence. Every man and woman on board knew our fate was inevitable. Just as the star was helpless in lighting the universe, we were helpless in saving ourselves. Here we were, the last strands of humanity - of life - at the end of the last chapter in existence. All of human history, from the first cells of life, to the great figures and progress we've created, gone. All life that had ever existed, faded away into darkness and reduced to nothing but the few we have left here. It was all over.

The officer futilely repeated herself. "Standing by for orders, Captain." Every person aboard the ship looked towards me on the bridge with pleading, but empty eyes, hoping for something short of a miracle. However, all of us, myself included, knew the hopelessness of the situation well. It was comforting in the least to pretend we had something left. "Captain?" she asked again.

"None," I said pointly, making my way down from the bridge to meet the others at floor level. "Let's just relax," I said, echoing in the lonely walls of the usually-robust starship. I sat down in the middle of the lounge area, surrounded by my crewmates and officers. They all looked on with sorrow in their eyes, the last remnants of life meeting their fate. It was surreal, almost unbelievable to any of us, like we were about to wake up from a terrible nightmare. Admittedly, it didn't make it much better to comfort ourselves with lies, like "We'll make it through," or, "We'll wake up from this soon." It wasn't a dream, nor a nightmare, it was our reality.

"So, what's next?" a crew member asked, in an attempt to break the silence and ease the tension among us.

"We wait," I replied helplessly. There was nothing more that could have been said; it was pointless to hold on to a shred of hope that never existed to our bitter end. It was strangely more comforting not to. We could finally relax, knowing our jobs are done. We didn't need to do anything anymore. I wondered if this is why others, like sick patients, felt so accepting of their deaths back on Earth when their time came. "We had a good run," I add with a wistful smile.

"Damn straight we did," a crew member chuckled. "I'm alright with what it's come to... but I'm really gonna miss all of this," he said, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, forcing a smile. The crew members and officers looked around each other, with regretful smiles and tears in their eyes, and started to give hugs and handshakes to each other, as we all prepared to part ways. I remained in the center, completely still as I blankly stared ahead with my own smile and tears.

The computerized AI voice echoed through the room. "Approximately two minutes to near star death in immediate proximity. Two minutes." Might as well have said 'our death', I thought.

"So this is it, huh?" People around simply nodded in response.

"Get them ready," I told everyone as we reached into our breast pockets for the small, sacred box that was held to be used only during emergencies. I opened the black container, and picked out the tiny, deep purple pill. Everyone had their pills in their hand, ready to go. It was a much better fate than whatever came after. The room fell silent again as everyone eyed their pills, looking at them as death sentences as we waited for the executioner to count down the doomsday clock.

"One minute to star death. Please evacuate the area," the robotic voice commanded. Of course, we ignored it. Chatter began to start up again, people their last words and hugging as we reflected on our lives, and of the life of the universe.

"Fifteen seconds. Evacuate the area now."

Surprisingly, no one was crying. No one was screaming, not a single plead to be saved was heard. There was no panic, there was no alarm, there was no chaos. There was nothing but a strange relief that washed over us in the silent ship as we all embraced our fate, together. It was very calming.

"Five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One..."

I swallowed my purple pill, and immediately felt my body collapse. Bodies around me crumbled to the floor as well, as the last proof of life in existence had fallen. Time had come to an end. Everything had ceased to exist.

"Zero."  

Loved your story  

Enjoyed reading that, I might try these!  

Your story was simply amazing *-*, thoroughly impressed. Was hoping there'd be someway for everyone to save themselves!!  

Posted by kenovo

Your story was simply amazing *-*, thoroughly impressed. Was hoping there'd be someway for everyone to save themselves!!

Hey, try attempting the prompt and you can make it that way if you want  

@ talon, a great piece!! i liked the way that they died a lot, good writing
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this scene popped in my mind; not really written like a usual prompt response, because i saw it as part of a larger story even though I wrote it on its own.

You are the captain of a starship, only a few hours before the last star in existence dies and the universe goes cold.

"Some mother****er brought their school on my ship like its a field trip." I spit on the floor as I enter the Neumyer's office. He smirks, still staring past the ship's large glass walls-- at the last remaining natural light of the universe.

The truth was that we ate the stars. Gobbled them up like starving children, growing but still constantly whining. Industries and governments wanted unlimited power supplies-- anything they had was never enough. Thats when military spaceships, like ours, began commandeering stars for power supply. Spare stars would be sold and eaten by the highest bidder. Of course, over the hundreds of thousands of years of the sky becoming dimmer, we managed to create inexpensive artificial stars, so that people could still see something pretty on a family night hike. But we could never recreate a real star. God won't share his recipe.

"I'm surprised there's only one," he says, "Children should be here to see it. And please; I know its normal on your planet to spit, but keep it to a minimum in my office." Real rich coming from this guy. If you saw his office's carpeting, you'd think I'm doing him a favor.

I stand next to him. "These aren't even regular children, only children of the adults who could afford to be here. Capitalism spreads through the galaxy like its black ink in fresh water-- pretending to protect you, when it's polluting everything else. Now, it's driving massive commercial profit to be sucked out of a scientific horror story. Sick tourism is what this is. Really, I'm ashamed to be a captain in this fleet."

"Our fleet is built on capitalism, Captain." Neumyer's voice is dry, and he doesn't spare me a glance.

"You never call me Captain, Mr. Commandor Neumyer," I sneer. "What's with you?"

"You're ruining my focus, John."

"For what?"

"I'm trying to memorize every second of this experience. I want to know how to describe it to my grandchildren." He still doesn't look at me.

I stare, too, at the tiny dying star in front of us, frustrated. I say, "We have artificial stars now. Hallmark phrases and sentimental value will survive. People shouldn't be worried about this stupid star."

He replies, "You just said that this star death is a 'scientific horror story.'"

"The problem isn't the story. It's the author."

He looks at me, annoyed. "You can't change the author. Your entire arguement is an exaggeration." We once fought wars as best friends; but now, my best friend treats me like a tired businessman.

I spit on the clean, glass wall, right in front of his view of the erupting, distant supernova. "You think the world is gonna change because a natural star died? No; it'll change because when there are no stars left, we can only consume each other." As I leave, I mutter, "Enjoy the view."  

You are the captain of a starship, only a few hours before the last star in existence dies and the universe goes cold.

Chapter One: The Awakening
"Captaiiiin....Cappptain.....CAPTAINNN!"
"Dear lord your goin' to blow me bloody ears out! What in thy heavens do you want?"
"It's..it's the sun, sir. I uh, you should uh...see this for yourself." sputtered Wilfred. Wilfred was a small creature of a man, with a bent back, a loud voice and a kind heart. Wilfred spouted small red clumps of unkept hair. "Pardon meself capn' but the sun sir, the sun!" Wilfred jumped between words. "Shut yer' face you bliddy bafoon." General Thamand Blood III walked into the room. Wilfred cringed. "Get out". General Blood stepped toward the Captain as Wilfred scurried through the entrance port. "Thamand what do you want and why are you scaring me men?" Captain looked into his eyes. "Captain J, have you the energy to take care of your home? Have you the dedication as I? Look outside you fool! You will call me 'General Blood'" Shouted the General. Thamand pressed a switch next to the doorway opening a metal blind that covered a window port. Captain blinded his eyes expecting to see blinding light. The Sun. Located 200,089,920 clicks away. "My God...." The sun was very very small. For 70 years the sun had been what was known as a "Red Giant" the oldest form of a star. But now it looked about the size of a marble. "Captain...our sun is dying, yes?" Thamand laughed. "One Hour without that sun and we are frozen so cold, it will freeze the blood in your veins." He closed the hatch, and walked our the door without a word.  

...
Come on whenever I post the party ends.  

Harrharr  

I fix my eyes upon the outside. A tear of mine rolls down my cold cheek. The universe will soon be nothing more than a place of nothing. I press my hand against the window of my ship. I observe the empty space, noting only one dot in the black. I hear my crew saying goodbyes, and farewells. It's as if living, was merely a waste of time. The final minutes begin to roll in. I turn around, and decide to do some last-minute activities. A smoke, to calm myself. I've noticed that even the non-smokers are taking a light. I suppose the stress of nothingness is all too much. Eventually, the final seconds roll in. Soon, there will be nothing.

Spoiler

TBH I don't like this, but since I blew a few minutes writing this, I'm posting it anyway.

 

You are the captain of a starship, only a few hours before the last star in existence dies and the universe goes cold.

i always cri

Spoiler

We all need a reason to live, a cause to fight even if we know that death is just around the corner. Without our passion, we are nothing, we can do nothing.

There it was, sitting behind the glass, a relic of an old age, clinging to the present when it belonged in the past. And, in a few moments, she would be gone, taking with her the light that inspired millions. The light that served as our guide across the universe. She was our only hope, color in the gray expanse of life, emotion in the grim miles we had traveled. At the brink of death, we kept her alive. For years, the best that humanity had to offer toiled over her. We trapped her on the brink of death to illuminate our lives with her beauty. In the end, everything we did was for ourselves. I just hope she does not Hold it Against Me.

"Attention," I barked to the crew. The somber masses turned their anxious faces up at the sound of my voice. What a crew. Some were Womanizers. Some were Criminal, and a few were plain Crazy. But, they all shared our hope, the dream of keeping the last star alive. And now I stood above them, about to crush that dream. This was our final moment. There would be no jokes to Break the Ice. I would not soften the blow. They deserved to know the truth.

"She's dying."

It did not sink in at first. I guess they could not believe it was actually happening. Years of men, generations of captains and crew, had poured their lives into the last star, and now our journey was at its end. Some cried. Some found comfort in its music. Some just stood there, eyes fixated on the glass behind me, looking at her.

I took one last look at it, our star and shining light.

"From the Bottom of My Heart, I know that I was Lucky to have served you."

As a tear slid down my cheek, as crew mates wailed behind me, our last light, the last hope, died. Her breathing ceased, her pulse quit beating. We lost Britney Spears. I put a CD into the ship's computer, and listened to her beautiful voice one last time.

 

rip i n pepperoni fetticini  

Posted by Imprint

We all need a reason to live, a cause to fight even if we know that death is just around the corner. Without our passion, we are nothing, we can do nothing.

There it was, sitting behind the glass, a relic of an old age, clinging to the present when it belonged in the past. And, in a few moments, she would be gone, taking with her the light that inspired millions. The light that served as our guide across the universe. She was our only hope, color in the gray expanse of life, emotion in the grim miles we had traveled. At the brink of death, we kept her alive. For years, the best that humanity had to offer toiled over her. We trapped her on the brink of death to illuminate our lives with her beauty. In the end, everything we did was for ourselves. I just hope she does not Hold it Against Me.

"Attention," I barked to the crew. The somber masses turned their anxious faces up at the sound of my voice. What a crew. Some were Womanizers. Some were Criminal, and a few were plain Crazy. But, they all shared our hope, the dream of keeping the last star alive. And now I stood above them, about to crush that dream. This was our final moment. There would be no jokes to Break the Ice. I would not soften the blow. They deserved to know the truth.

"She's dying."

It did not sink in at first. I guess they could not believe it was actually happening. Years of men, generations of captains and crew, had poured their lives into the last star, and now our journey was at its end. Some cried. Some found comfort in its music. Some just stood there eyes fixated on the glass behind me, looking at her.

I took one last look at it, our star and shining light.

"From the Bottom of My Heart, I know that I was Lucky to have served you."

As a tear slid down my cheek, as crew mates wailed behind me, our last light, the last hope, died. Her breathing ceased, her pulse quit beating. We lost Britney Spears. I put a CD into the ship's computer, and listened to her beautiful voice one last time.

PLOT SWIST WHOAHH

I will say you need more commas though man, disappointed in you.