Project Athena | Challenges

Past Prompts

You can find prompts given for past editions of Challenges here. You may use these prompts as inspiration for any story you want to write. 

This chapter will be updated at the end of each year. 

Romance

✎The dust has settled on my wedding ring. I haven't had the courage to touch it ever since she left, but as I put it on today, the silhouettes on the mirror become sharper.

✎There have been couples like us before, there will be more in the future. There probably isn't anything too special about us, but all I want is to be able to stand by this woman through thick and thin, from this day on.

✎Our hearts were in sync, as I heard his pulse flutter under my fingertips. I have missed this feeling for so long, but we finally have the chance to make up for all the missed moments now.

Science Fiction

✎Decades into the future, humans have created the technology to take highly detailed photos of exoplanets. Excited, scientists from all around the world crowd around the screen to be the first humans in history to see Proxima B. Quickly, however, their expressions turn horrified; it's no planet.

✎Mankind sent out signals and probes in all directions to contact alien life, which we did. But as numerous alien races, who were previously unaware of each other, raced to Earth for conquest they encountered each other. Seems we started the biggest interstellar war in history.

✎An alien parasite infected the human population, wiping 95% of the species out of existence. After a few centuries, humanity became immune. Now, when an extra-terrestrial race attempts to utilize weapons made from this virus to attack the humans, they're in for a shock.

Mystery & Detective

✎Your favorite podcast which talks about unsolved mysteries seems to be doing a special on you today.

✎"This is an automated text message from the Federal Surveillance Intelligence (FSI). A crime has been detected through this device's recording mechanisms and your location data has been accessed. Please remain where you are, unless unsafe, and an officer will be there shortly."

✎There's a train station in the middle of a forest, surrounded by only wilderness and the rest of the track; no civilization, no other infrastructure, just forest. A train passes by once every day and stops, but most don't get off. Those who do are never seen again.

✎The elevator that led to your apartment had an extra, blank, button. As a child, you always pressed it and it never worked. Today, as you go visit your parents' apartment, you press it and...

✎The lights turned on. The landlord's corpse bled. The trapped guests panicked. "Let's calm down and figure out who among us is the culprit," the detective pacified. But as a mind reader, you already know.

Paranormal

✎You run a diner for paranormal creatures and outerworldly guests. As the day is coming to an end a rather unexpected guest shows up...

✎A group of college students decides to spend their summer vacation in a cabin in the woods. But what starts as a fun vacation turns deadly when they realize the woods aren't quite as safe as they thought.

✎A man hears strange sounds coming from his attic and is determined to find out what they are. He sneaks up to the attic to investigate, but when he does, he stumbles upon something much more frightening than he could have imagined.