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#158 It's All Good, Man

With only a few episodes left to air, the legal drama Better Call Saul is coming to an end. Along with the Breaking Bad saga, this spin-off garnered dozens of nominations and countless fans around the world through excellent character development and storytelling. Saul Goodman’s colorful suits, elaborate scams, and wordplay (“It’S all Good, man”) will be hard to forget.


Whether you're familiar with the series, or this is your first time hearing about it, there'll be something for you in this week's prompts — inspired by the show's characters and themes.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a couple sharing a cigarette in a parking lot.

Adults – 63 stories

Write about a character with questionable morals.

Dark – 41 stories

Write a story where the law plays an important role.

High School – 24 stories

Write a story about a character who is trying to become a better person.

Middle School – 42 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “It’s not fair.”

Middle School – 72 stories

Stories

Mystery in Mayhem

Submitted to Contest #158

           It was another dismal day in the City of Mayhem, where criminals outnumbered law enforcement three-to-one.            The dark, grey clouds hovered over the city like a blanket. Thunder rumbled so loudly, that it rattled the windows of the 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme that was parked in the shadows on Porter Street. Shards of metal fell from the rusted-out fenders as the door swung open.      &n...

21 likes 10 comments 10
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And life went on

Submitted to Contest #158

Elena wasn't very clear on the details. She could not fathom how quickly she had let go of her common sense for sheer, utter recklessness. It could be blamed, she supposed, on the Ferris Wheel of thoughts her mind had become; receive the highest grades, get the best recommendations, gain this internship or that, look good, dress well; the same drivel running over and over in a slow torturous pace in her head. Breaking away from them, breaking away from that need for perfection and success, had been thrilling. Twenty years old and still liv...

21 likes 6 comments 6
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Meeting Death at MacDonalds

Submitted to Contest #158

Mike was high as a kite that had binged PCP. He always seemed to do his best work when he was stoned, though his many former employers disagreed.             Between volleys of bullets, he stumbled and wobbled his way through enemy fire, clicking his fingers. The multiverse was a continuous carousel of universes. Clicking on one hand took him one way, clicking the other hand took him back.             Putting in the work to...

19 likes 5 comments 5
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You Called My Name Again

Submitted to Contest #158

My McDonald’s fountain drink cup of spare change sits quietly in front of me. Snow is beginning to bury it away. No one looked my way. That’s how it usually is. People avert their eyes, and do their best to block me out of their consciousness; if I did appear in their field of vision, I suppose they’d feel some sort of social obligation to hand me some spare change. But I’m simultaneously too young and too old to garner too much sympathy, so then again, maybe not.  I sit down, pulling my blanket around me a bit tighter. New York winter...

19 likes 0 comments 0
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The Gift of Prophecy

Submitted to Contest #158

"The current ruling is undeniably unjust; there are currently many languishing in prison for the 'crime' of trying to save a human life. The expectation of inhumane apathy must end, starting with the liberation of those wrongfully condemned!". The speaker was a short man who appeared to be balding. Matt recognised him but couldn't put a name to him. He was older than most Change advocates, many of whom were young and, in Matt's opinion, too immature to think through the consequences thoroughly. "Gallery, we have heard this all before." Mat...

19 likes 3 comments 3
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The Visiting Room

Submitted to Contest #158

*Contains sexual content; Discusses death.* Rita slowly opened her eyes to early morning sunlight streaming through the bedroom window. Reality hit her full force like a punch to the gut when she rolled over and saw the empty space in the bed beside her; the space that should be occupied by Mark, her husband of just three years. Mark was not there, and he never would be again. It was exactly one month to the day since her husband, the love of her life had died in a car accident on his way home from work. If only she had known when he left...

19 likes 6 comments 6
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Special Like Her

Submitted to Contest #158

The inner ring is beautiful. Well, perhaps beautiful is the wrong word. It is very intense, very bright. It is clean, shockingly clean. Everything from the architecture to the people is perfect. The middle rings are fine at first. In the first middle ring, the only real difference is the new inclusion of color into the clothing and buildings. It starts subtly at first, this addition of color, but it is still refreshing after the eye-watering white of the inner ring. As one begins to go further into the middle rings, one will see a less desir...

18 likes 1 comment 1
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we were only seventeen

Submitted to Contest #158

“Dunhill.”I gaze at his stubby fingers clutching the packet, each nail shorter than the last. The warning label pokes out from between them, informing the consumer of the cautionary tale of Fiona, who'd succumbed to lung cancer at thirty-three after being a serial smoker most of her life. “Someone's rich.”“Only the best for her majesty,” He jokes, holding out the last stick for me. I graciously accept it, fishing out a lighter from my pocket as I grasp the cigarette between cracked lips. He throws the empty square a few metres away from the ...

18 likes 6 comments 6
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Rabbit Hole

Submitted to Contest #158

On August 20th, 2013, Lena walked into the classroom of the Queen. She taught junior and senior AP English. She had long blonde curls and piercing blue eyes. As always, she dressed with a retro air, choosing a fitted navy skirt, red heels, and a white blouse. The Queen was also the Debate coach. Which is why a fourteen year old Lena walked into her classroom at 2:05pm because she would join the debate team, just like the cool and confident girl on her TV. That girl was involved in lots of extracurriculars which is why she was so popular. The...

18 likes 15 comments 15
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Pick a box

Submitted to Contest #158

Pick a Box Gina stood in the dingy, smelly basement (or ‘the dungeon’ as it was colloquially referred to) and cringed inwardly at the sight of row upon row of boxes stacked on shelving units. There must be hundreds of them, she thought. ‘Pick a box. Any box,’ Senior Detective Matt Rankin said with a smug grin. ‘Every one’s a winner and every one’s a loser. I’ll leave you to it then,’ he said as he turned on his heel and walked out into the passage that led back to the relatively bright lights of Police Headquarters.     ...

18 likes 9 comments 9
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A Good Man

Submitted to Contest #158

The five thirty-three to Reading departed London Paddington. Onboard the train was Jill. Jill was in love with Saj; she was married to Ben. Ben, better known as Dr Benjamin Morgan MBE (awarded for “Services to Paediatric Medicine”), was a good man. As Jill sat there, head pressed up against the glass window, watching the suburbs of London fly by in the dusk light, she reflected on her recent revelation: she was leaving Ben today. Saj had been offered a job in Canada, something in IT, and she had decided to move with him. Why? She was in...

18 likes 0 comments 0
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The Coder

Submitted to Contest #158

“Davey, is you ok?” His mother’s accent came through stronger than usual whenever she was panicking. David sighed, turning off the speaker on his phone. Another melodrama! He was sure it would be something not worth discussing. As always. “I’m fine, mom. What happened this time?” “Oh, I glad you ok. So, they get money all right?” David sat up feeling like something yucky stirred in his stomach in anticipation of trouble. “What money, mom? What are you talking about?” She went into a long confusing story but he finally was able to get the gis...

17 likes 3 comments 3
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Size Matters

Submitted to Contest #158

Byron Strueth had lost almost sixty kilograms in a twelve-month stretch. It was a marvellous achievement. In less than a year, Byron had completely transformed himself. Through a strict regime of exercise, meditation and healthy choice eating, he had shed the weight, dropping from a hefty 130kgs down to a lithe 72kgs. A brave new world lay before Byron, but someone had forgotten to tell the previous incarnation of Byron; the fat one. His new body, with its narrower dimensions, perplexed and confounded Byron. He was ill at ease in it and ca...

17 likes 2 comments 2
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The Road Home

Submitted to Contest #158

The sun momentarily blinded Eric as the door slammed shut behind him. He squinted around him and tried to locate Jon’s car, but none of the ones he could see matched the description Jon had given on the phone earlier that week. Eric sighed, sat on the low wall at the edge of the car park, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was so natural, even after not doing it for over a year. He pressed the power button, but nothing happened. He pressed it again, for longer this time, but the phone was dead. Of course it was; it had spent over a y...

17 likes 1 comment 1
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Blowing Smoke

Submitted to Contest #158

Eva had a plan. On her break, she exited the Garden, and walked toward the Sycamore tree at the far end of the parking lot. The tree was the designated smoker’s area for guests of the Garden. At a staff meeting, she heard Garden founder, Dr. Elmwood, discuss the virtues and benefits of socializing over a smoke. Eva never smoked, but she carried a pack of cigarettes. Recently hired, she hoped to get acquainted with the clients. Despite lacking experience, she knew befriending clients was no option. But, by way of gaining trust, a smoke brea...

17 likes 4 comments 4
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