808 comments

Sad Speculative Inspirational

This story is dedicated to Kylie on Reedsy Prompts. Please read my author's note in the comments~ 

The corners of Kylie's mouth slightly moved upwards as she stared at the box, her eyes twinkling with pride. She felt like a pet owner watching their dog do as trained, a mother bird observing her child fly for the first time, an artist finished with their masterpiece.

The creation Kylie had made, this small, carefully chosen box, packed to the top with loved items, it was like a newborn to her. Delicate, a source of her pride.

Kylie picked up her time capsule, fingers light as feathers, and cradled it during the whole journey.

It had taken her months, maybe even over a year, to decide what she would put in this box. After all, it was nothing but the future generations' perceptions of those who had lived before them. 

There was no doubt that Kylie would add technology. She wondered how much her phone would be worth in the future, more or less than its current price? How much value would people give to old phones? Would it be valuable due to its time and design? Or would future technology be ten times more developed, and people would regard it as a cheap, lame device? She hoped it would be valuable as she placed the phone into the box with trembling hands.

Food would expire, plants would die, clothes? Her clothes weren't unique. They didn't represent anything, and they could never speak for the world's current fashion.

Kylie snapped her fingers excitedly as an idea flashed into her mind. Photos! Photos of everything! 

Her mother's call for her echoed throughout the house with the door left swinging ajar. Kylie had departed on a crucial mission to collect photographs.

Would taking photos of all the buildings be too much, she questioned, as she sunk into the shade, a refuge from the tormenting sun. 

What if the buildings had fallen and only ruins remained? What if it would be an inspiration-a vintage inspiration to the future- for architectural design? What if she, Kylie, would become famous in her grave?

You're getting way too ahead of yourself, Kylie, she thought as she snapped a picture of the Reedsy™ building and walked away. 

Her camera clicked and flashed for hours on end, until she decided to check her phone and realized it was almost eight. The sky had burnt from its fresh blue to a thick, tar-like black. She dashed home, mentally noting where she'd go for photos the next day. 

~~~

One windy morning, months after the first day of photo-taking, Kylie dressed in a hurry as she deliberated in her mind what else to add to her capsule. 

Toys! Those toys might not exist in the future. It'll be fun for future kids to play with them!

She tucked in a fidget spinner, a few figurines, and as many intact toys she could find in her little brother's closet.

Kylie arranged receipts and restaurant menus, thinking about its use for research on foods they would eat back then. 

She slid in jewelry, household items, pens, markers, paper. She placed some of her paintings on top, along with some of her stories. She felt as if she was building a skyscraper, stacking things on top, level by level. 

Kylie added an unused cigarette she had found on the street, and a lighter along with it. Who knew which people would come across her time capsule. 

Makeup products! I'm sure everyone would appreciate some makeup and skincare items. Goodbye, all of the makeup products that I spent hundreds to get. Goodbye nail polish, goodbye lotion. Goodbye essences. 

Her journey to find and choose the items that would determine the future's impression of the past had lasted for months. Kylie was finishing with the final details, and one last idea sprung up. 

I'll tuck in some masks and gloves so they can observe what we used to prevent our worldwide pandemic-

Her busy hands froze.

What if there was no future generation, what if the pandemic wiped out everyone, what if the survivors would only die from natural disasters? 

What if this sickness was the universe's way of wiping out humanity? They had caused so many problems: merciless killing and cruelty of animals, destroying nature's beauties to slap down gray, dusty buildings, contributing to climate change with vehicle exhaust, Kylie was only getting started. 

Humanity had also turned on each other. There was the constant injustice and prejudice, leading to traumatizing deaths based on skin pigmentation or specific beliefs. Betrayal, backbiting, lying. Those had always weightlessly fallen from humans' lips. Racism, stereotypes, lies, falseness, sexism, these were all real. And they happened every day.

What if the universe had concluded humans weren't worthy of living on Earth, the planet of life, after all? 

These what-ifs slunk across Kylie's mind, wrapping around and squeezing, a deadly viper ready to take over its prey. They clawed around her head, a sinister darkness beginning to cloud her previously positive mindset about her creation. 

She glanced down, sullen, at the time capsule she had spent months creating. A torrent of tears swished over her glazed eyes, and suddenly, Kylie was sobbing. She didn't want to die. Kylie didn't want her family, her friends, her teachers, her neighbors to die. She didn't want anyone to die. 

Nobody's going to die.

Kylie's tears sparkled as they fell upon the items she had so lovingly collected and packed, shimmering in the afternoon sun. Kylie stared at them, a caring smile beaming through, as she picked up her stationery saved for special events, and sat at her desk to write a letter.

Crisp labels sat, taped to every item in the time capsule. Kylie had written the name of every object, along with a description.

Her letter sat, the curlicues and swirls of ink drying beside the open window. 

Kylie now stood, looking down at her time capsule, an enveloped letter to go along with it, eyes twinkling with happiness. Writing the letter had lifted everything-all of her concerns off her shoulders, and she had decided to bury the time capsule. 

Kylie kissed her time capsule and walked to the park.

October 10, 2020 02:56

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808 comments

Avani G
15:20 Oct 11, 2020

Yay! I'm so glad you posted again! I'm even more glad that Kylie got mentioned in here! 🌹

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16:51 Oct 11, 2020

Aww, Avani! I know that this isn't meant for me, but this is still SO sweet! I'm upvoting you now, and then I'll upvote Laiba!

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Avani G
17:41 Oct 11, 2020

I love you so much, Kylie! I would upvote you, but I already did ;)

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20:58 Oct 11, 2020

Aww, thank you, Avani! This is the sweetest thing!

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21:00 Oct 11, 2020

THIS IS SO SWEEEEET! Thank you SO SO much! (okay, you are now the main character in my next storyyyyyy!!!!) You and Laiba will both be in it!

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Avani G
21:50 Oct 11, 2020

💖💖💖

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Avani G
17:43 Oct 11, 2020

Oh, and check out my bio!

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Laiba M
18:11 Oct 11, 2020

I read your entire bio, it's nice you mentioned Kylie! Also, I probably agree with everything there, haha :) How does your older sister keep you sane? My younger sister is going insane because of me :P

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Avani G
19:50 Oct 11, 2020

Lol. Np:-) And frankly, I don't know how my sister keeps me sane. I guess she just does.

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Laiba M
20:35 Oct 11, 2020

Oh, cool :D What type of relationship do you have with your sister? Do-your-own-thing, very sweet/best-friend type relationship, always laughing and doing crazy things, always humbling each other/getting mad at each other, etc.

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15:46 Oct 14, 2020

To both of you guys, my new story is out and you are both involved!!!

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Laiba M
18:08 Oct 11, 2020

Thank you, Avani and Kylie! It means a lot, haha~ :)

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05:20 Oct 10, 2020

Good job with this :)

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Laiba M
11:56 Oct 10, 2020

Thank you, Scarlett!!

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Radhika Diksha
14:07 Mar 16, 2021

It's such a wonderful story, why I did not find it before. I loved the tears, the pain, and the emotions. You were so good at constructing the story. Kudos to the efforts you gave in for the work. Loved it.

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Laiba M
15:14 Mar 16, 2021

Hi, Radhika! Would you like me to call you Radhika or something else? Thank you so much!! You're way too sweet~ T-T How are you?

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Avani G
20:29 Oct 14, 2020

RIP to your pet, Laiba. That's just so sad. I'm sending prayers to her right now.

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Laiba M
20:31 Oct 14, 2020

Thank you, Avani! Your words mean a lot. She was a parakeet named Meg :)

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Avani G
20:34 Oct 14, 2020

If it makes you feel better, I had a puppy named Myers, but we couldn't take care of him and had to send him back to the shelter. Even though we only had him for three days, it was really sad to see him go.

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Laiba M
20:37 Oct 14, 2020

That's so sad :( We had Meg for 3 years :(( What's strange is, I originally had 3 parakeets; one died October 11th of 2018, and Meg died October 12th, 2020... the day after the other's death anniversary...

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Laiba M
20:37 Oct 14, 2020

Now I have one, and he's, unfortunately, alone :(

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Avani G
20:38 Oct 14, 2020

That's really sad, Laiba. But in the end, all we can do is pray and hope for the best.

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Avani G
02:07 Oct 15, 2020

Yesterday was Myer's "anniversary." =(

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Laiba M
11:51 Oct 15, 2020

Aww, I'm sorry! I hope he's happy wherever he is now <3

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Laiba M
01:03 Oct 12, 2020

And then there's a twist~ I'm not making a new story just for this, but it's an extra bonus :) Decades later, a young boy and his friends run through the construction site that seems as if there hasn't been any new progress for years. The boy trips, scraping his knee and arm badly along the way, squeezing out a cry for help. His friends rush over, and after putting Smart-Aids on his wounds, they inspect the area. It seems he's tripped over a corner jutting out of the clay-like earth. They kneel over to dig the unidentifiable object out, wo...

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Laiba M
01:03 Oct 12, 2020

I guess you'll never know what she wrote in the letter~

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02:51 Oct 12, 2020

Whoa, that's crazy! But I wanna know!!

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02:52 Oct 12, 2020

Great job!!

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Laiba M
12:06 Oct 12, 2020

Thank you! I feel like this was kind of boring, but I knew I didn't want the contents of the letter to be explained, haha~~

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Avani G
21:29 Nov 03, 2020

Woah. I hope English never gets THAT outdated, haha! You should do a sequel!

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Laiba M
22:19 Nov 03, 2020

Me too! That's a good idea! I don't really do sequels, since the only sequel I've posted on Reedsy I deleted, but it'd be really cool :)

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Avani G
22:36 Nov 03, 2020

Haha, I deleted the only sequel I did, too! ;-)

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19:10 Oct 10, 2020

BTW, I am working on a story right now, and you are in it! (your name, anyways!)

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Laiba M
20:23 Oct 10, 2020

Wow, it's an honor :) Thank you again!

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21:02 Oct 10, 2020

Haha, you might not like the character u r tho. YOU ARE NOTHING LIKE HER!!

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Laiba M
21:13 Oct 10, 2020

Excited to see what you portray me as, haha :)

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22:16 Oct 10, 2020

lol

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Laiba M
11:59 Oct 10, 2020

(Note: Thank you for reading my story!! Did you like the idea of the Reedsy building? For the next few weeks, I am dedicating one story to each of my followers! This story is fully dedicated to Kylie; make sure you check out her account and stories! Thanks for all the support :D We passed 120 followers and 1100 karma points! Thank you all so much, it means everything!! Check out the rest of my stories, too! Thanks!! See you next time with a new story for a new follower haha~ You can request if you want a story for you in the comments!! Thank...

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. . .
05:16 Oct 10, 2020

Great job, Laiba! The descriptions were great!

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Laiba M
11:55 Oct 10, 2020

Thank you, Siena! I love your account name font, by the way :) Thanks again~

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. . .
16:52 Oct 10, 2020

You're welcome, thank you, you're welcome!

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Laiba M
18:25 Oct 10, 2020

:) You're welcome :D How'd you get the font like that? Copy-paste?

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. . .
19:05 Oct 10, 2020

I think I just looked up fonts and typed my name in there... I don't really remember though.

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. . .
19:06 Oct 10, 2020

And then yeah, copy-paste.

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03:09 Oct 10, 2020

This 100% deserves a win! Love it!

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Laiba M
11:57 Oct 10, 2020

Oh my goodness, thanks, Kylie! I don't think anyone's said that about my writing~ Thank you so much, that means the world and beyond to me!!

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16:51 Oct 10, 2020

You're so welcome! :)

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16:57 Oct 10, 2020

Also, check out ma bio!!

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Laiba M
18:25 Oct 10, 2020

Sure! I'll check it out now~

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Laiba M
18:27 Oct 10, 2020

Thank you!!! It really means so much, Kylie!! Wow, thank you so much, you're amazing~ Truly~~

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03:04 Oct 10, 2020

This is SO amazing, my all-time favorite story on Reedsy now! I love me (hehe) and how you added a building for Reedsy! Also, I do legitametly cry when I think about loved ones dying! You are so talented and you captured me perfectly! The descriptions were amazing, and thank you SO SO much for including me! I am honored to be a part of this story! :)

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Laiba M
11:53 Oct 10, 2020

Thank you, Kylie!! It's no problem, you've been ever so kind to me from the start~ upvoting me without me asking, putting me in your bio, you're an angel :) I'm so glad you liked your story!!

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16:50 Oct 10, 2020

Aww, you deserve it. Your stories are amazing and you've been so kind back! :)

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Laiba M
18:24 Oct 10, 2020

You deserved the story too! Thanks again~~

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19:01 Oct 10, 2020

You're welcome, but thank YOU for writing it!!

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Laiba M
20:21 Oct 10, 2020

No problem! I hope my way of writing the story didn't disappoint you in any way~

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The Cold Ice
06:53 Dec 24, 2020

Hey

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Laiba M
00:55 Dec 25, 2020

Hi~ How are you?

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The Cold Ice
03:40 Dec 25, 2020

I am fine how are you

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Laiba M
14:34 Dec 25, 2020

Good! Are you on winter break?

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The Cold Ice
16:24 Dec 25, 2020

Yes

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Laiba M
18:30 Dec 25, 2020

That's nice! Are you going to do anything during break~?

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B. W.
21:10 Nov 28, 2020

Hm, whats one of your favorite movies? I know ya say you like Disney movies and stuff, so do ya have a favorite Disney movie?

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Laiba M
03:59 Nov 29, 2020

Cinderella! It's such a classic, I will never stop admiring how wonderful it is despite the technology at the time :)

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B. W.
04:05 Nov 29, 2020

Nice ^^ weren't there like 2 sequels to the movie or something? along with a live action at some point?

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Laiba M
14:07 Nov 29, 2020

Yeah~~ I also love the live action! It's so good :) I loved her dress especially! I also really like the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast~

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B. W.
18:11 Nov 29, 2020

Oh, i like that as well ^^ what were the two sequels to cinderella even about though? I don't think I've ever watched them

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Laiba M
18:15 Nov 29, 2020

I don't remember much, as I've only watched those once when I was in elementary school. I do remember that Cinderella's stepmother puts a spell on the prince~

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The Cold Ice
07:16 Dec 11, 2020

Hi

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Laiba M
14:16 Dec 11, 2020

Hey!~ How are you doing?

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The Cold Ice
15:38 Dec 11, 2020

I am doing good hbu

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The Cold Ice
15:38 Dec 11, 2020

Upvote spree

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Laiba M
16:07 Dec 11, 2020

I'm doing well!~ And of course :) How many points do you want to exchange?

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The Cold Ice
18:14 Dec 11, 2020

How many points is also. Ok

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Laiba M
18:39 Dec 11, 2020

Okay! I'll go and upvote you :D

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Laiba M
18:47 Dec 11, 2020

I finished upvoting!!~

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The Cold Ice
10:02 Dec 08, 2020

Hi

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Laiba M
15:25 Dec 08, 2020

Hi, Sahitthian! How are you?

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The Cold Ice
16:46 Dec 08, 2020

Nice

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Laiba M
16:53 Dec 08, 2020

:) Are you doing anything fun today?

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The Cold Ice
04:23 Dec 09, 2020

Idk

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Laiba M
15:08 Dec 09, 2020

Ah, okay~~ Hmm, what's your favorite subject to study?

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The Cold Ice
06:17 Dec 03, 2020

Hi

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Laiba M
13:20 Dec 03, 2020

Hey!

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The Cold Ice
14:00 Dec 03, 2020

Wyd

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Laiba M
15:07 Dec 03, 2020

Studying, you?

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The Cold Ice
15:46 Dec 03, 2020

Nothing

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Laiba M
16:02 Dec 03, 2020

Ah, okay. Do you have any type of class or school today?

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The Cold Ice
02:12 Dec 02, 2020

Liked it

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Laiba M
02:20 Dec 02, 2020

Thank you, Sahitthian! I love your name, is it Indian?

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The Cold Ice
02:24 Dec 02, 2020

Yes

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The Cold Ice
02:24 Dec 02, 2020

Why

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Laiba M
02:28 Dec 02, 2020

Oh, nice!~ It sounded familiar, so I was curious :)

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The Cold Ice
02:29 Dec 02, 2020

You are a Indian

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Laiba M
02:47 Dec 02, 2020

No, but you're close!~

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B. W.
20:44 Nov 28, 2020

Hm, besides the whole private messaging thing we've been trying to do, whats something else you'd want on here?

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Laiba M
20:47 Nov 28, 2020

Not really anything else, lol.

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B. W.
21:06 Nov 28, 2020

I would say getting rid of the downvoting option

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Laiba M
03:58 Nov 29, 2020

Ohh, that makes sense. I would say not getting rid of it, but making downvoting not affect your points. I still downvote some really rude comments that hate on people or their stories, so I wouldn't get rid of it, rather make it not affect karma points.

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B. W.
04:04 Nov 29, 2020

Yeah, i guess that would be alright, though I don't even know why they'd make it to where it affects the points, that's kinda strange :/

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Laiba M
14:06 Nov 29, 2020

Yeah...

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B. W.
00:10 Nov 28, 2020

Are you planning on making any new stories with the new prompts and stuff?

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Laiba M
02:01 Nov 28, 2020

Ehhh...hmm...Not sure. I really really liked one this week, but I was so caught up with Thanksgiving and class and Black Friday sales that I forgot T-T

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B. W.
02:13 Nov 28, 2020

Hm, maybe you could help me with one of the new prompts? or maybe this is when we can finally do that thing together ^^

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Laiba M
02:36 Nov 28, 2020

We could, but I was waiting for private messaging to do all that :( Which prompt?

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B. W.
02:48 Nov 28, 2020

I don't really know, all of them seem a bit interesting, which one do you like the most?

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Laiba M
03:00 Nov 28, 2020

If I had to choose, someone trying to atone for a mistake they'll never be able to fix?

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B. W.
23:46 Nov 23, 2020

ya wanna hear some more jokes or something?

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Laiba M
00:40 Nov 24, 2020

Sure.

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B. W.
00:49 Nov 24, 2020

knock knock

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Laiba M
01:05 Nov 24, 2020

Who's there?

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B. W.
01:09 Nov 24, 2020

harry

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Laiba M
01:18 Nov 24, 2020

You already told me this one (Harry up and answer the door, or something like that) :)

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All Rounder
08:37 Oct 11, 2021

Today is death anniversary of your med....i like your all stories ..will be waiting for another piece ..

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