Fun with stories


Sometimes it can be fun to take a story idea and see how you would continue it.

Here are some ideas:

Story idea #1
Fourteen years ago, Stan cheated on his brand-new bride of four months. It was just a one-afternoon fling, a reaction to a silly fight he can no longer remember, and he didn't think it was important.   Now, he’s general manager for a profitable beer company; his wife and four kids are well-provided-for, with college funds and all the amenities they could desire. Stan’s in line for a big promotion, if he can keep up his reputation… until she comes in for a job interview. Stan recognizes Delilah Bond, but she doesn’t seem to recognize him. Slightly shaken, he plays dumb, treats her with complete professional cool, and goes about his day. 

 The next night, his youngest daughter starts to tell him about her new music teacher, Ms. Bond… who matches the description of Stan’s mistake from fourteen years ago. He tries to ignore this until he sees her outside his window, trimming the hedges, wearing an ordinary gardener’s uniform. And again, in his favorite bar, where she’s pouring drinks like a barman and conspicuously avoiding his eyes. In fact, he starts to see her everywhere, impossibly everywhere—touching the life of each of his children, involved with his wife (her new tennis partner), and hired at his company, though not in his division. Is he going crazy?

 No; it’s worse. Delilah Bond is one of four quadruplets, or she was. The girl Stan slept with fourteen years ago got pregnant, miscarried badly, and died. Her three sisters took a long time to figure out who’d taken their sister from them, and they have every intention of making him suffer the way they have… and they’ve had a really long time to plan.

 That was a little long....  Here are some shorter ideas:

 Story idea #2
You volunteer to be part of a time travel project, travelling one hour into the future.  When you leave your time machine, you cannot find any other humans on the earth.

 Story idea #3
You have discovered the secret of the British royal family.  Every time someone sings the British national anthem "God Save the Queen", the Queen's life is extended by one minute.

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