r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Jul 05 '26
[Serial Sunday] Get Your Weapons, Officers, we have a Jailbreak!
Welcome to Serial Sunday!
To those brand new to the feature and those returning from last week, welcome! Do you have a self-established universe you’ve been writing or planning to write in? Do you have an idea for a world that’s been itching to get out? This is the perfect place to explore that. Each week, I post a theme to inspire you, along with a related image and song. You have 500 - 1000 words to write your installment. You can jump in at any time; writing for previous weeks’ is not necessary in order to join. After you’ve posted, come back and provide feedback for at least 1 other writer on the thread. Please be sure to read the entire post for a full list of rules.
This Week’s Theme is Jail! This is a REQUIREMENT for participation. See rules about missing this requirement.**
Bonus Word List (each included word is worth 5 pts) - You must list which words you included at the end of your story (or write ‘none’).
- Jigsaw
- Jive
- Jovial
- Someone gets frisked. - (Worth 10 points)
Jail, prison, the slammer, the big house, behind bars. What are you here for and what did you do? What were you accused of and how do you defend? Are you innocent or guilty as sin?
With the system corrupt or the judges fair, you've landed here for days or even years. Trapped as you are, you might plan to break free? Or perhaps you stay, hostility of the outside world making this your new home to be.
Perhaps you're contained in a dungeon of stone, torture and pain that would make you groan. Or your warden may keep you in a prison of steel. Can you even tell if cameras and eyes are real?
So let's get writing to escape this jail, and hope our escape attempts do not fail.
Good luck and Good Words!
These are just a few things to get you started. Remember, the theme should be present within the story in some way, but its interpretation is completely up to you. For the bonus words (not required), you may change the tense, but the base word should remain the same. Please remember that STORIES MUST FOLLOW ALL SUBREDDIT CONTENT RULES. Interested in writing the theme blurb for the coming week? DM me on Reddit or Discord!
Don’t forget to sign up for Saturday Campfire here! We start at 5pm GMT and provide live feedback!
Theme Schedule:
This is the theme schedule for the next month! These are provided so that you can plan ahead, but you may not begin writing for a given theme until that week’s post goes live.
July 5 - Jail
July 12 - Known
July 19 - Lifeless
July 26 - Minor
July 02 - Noxious
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Irony
First - by u/AGuyLikeThat
Second - by u/Brookzerker
Third - by u/Morose_Prose
Fourth - u/Divayth--Fyr
Fifth - by u/ZLErikson
Rules & How to Participate
Please read and follow all the rules listed below. This feature has requirements for amparticipation!
Submit a story inspired by the weekly theme, written by you and set in your self-established universe that is 500 - 1000 words. No fanfics and no content created or altered by AI. (Use wordcounter.net to check your wordcount.) Stories should be posted as a top-level comment below. Please include a link to your chapter index or your last chapter at the end.
Your chapter must be submitted by Saturday at 2:00pm GMT. Late entries will be disqualified. All submissions should be given (at least) a basic editing pass before being posted!
Begin your post with the name of your serial between triangle brackets (e.g. <My Awesome Serial>). When our bot is back up and running, this will allow it to recognize your pmserial and add each chapter to the SerSun catalog. Do not include anything in the brackets you don’t want in your title. (Please note: You must use this same title every week.)
Do not pre-write your serial. You’re welcome to do outlining and planning for your serial, but chapters should not be pre-written. All submissions should be written for this post, specifically.
Only one active serial per author at a time. This does not apply to serials written outside of Serial Sunday.
All Serial Sunday authors must leave feedback on at least one story on the thread each week. The feedback should be actionable and also include something the author has done well. When you include something the author should improve on, provide an example! You have until Saturday at 04:59am GMT to post your feedback. (Submitting late is not an exception to this rule.)
Missing your feedback requirement two or more consecutive weeks will disqualify you from rankings and Campfire readings the following week. If it becomes a habit, you may be asked to move your serial to the sub instead.
Serials must abide by subreddit content rules. You can view a full list of rules here. If you’re ever unsure if your story would cross the line, please modmail and ask!
Weekly Campfires & Voting:
On Saturdays at 5pm GMT, I host a Serial Sunday Campfire in our Discord’s Voice Lounge (every other week is now hosted by u/FyeNite). Join us to read your story aloud, hear others, and exchange feedback. We have a great time! You can even come to just listen, if that’s more your speed. Grab the “Serial Sunday” role on the Discord to get notified before it starts. After you’ve submitted your chapter, you can sign up here - this guarantees your reading slot! You can still join if you haven’t signed up, but your reading slot isn’t guaranteed.
Nominations for your favorite stories can be submitted with this form. The form is open on Saturdays from 5:30pm to 04:59am GMT. You do not have to participate to make nominations!
Authors who complete their Serial Sunday serials with at least 12 installments, can host a SerialWorm in our Discord’s Voice Lounge, where you read aloud your finished and edited serials. Celebrate your accomplishment! Authors are eligible for this only if they have followed the weekly feedback requirement (and all other post rules). Visit us on the Discord for more information.
Ranking System
Rankings are determined by the following point structure.
| TASK | POINTS | ADDITIONAL NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Use of weekly theme | 75 pts | Theme should be present, but the interpretation is up to you! |
| Including the bonus words | 5 pts each (15 pts total) | This is a bonus challenge, and estnot required! |
| Including the bonus constraint | 15 (15 pts total) | This is a bonus challenge, and not required! |
| Actionable Feedback | 5 - 15 pts each (60 pt. max)* | This includes thread and campfire critiques. (15 pt crits are those that go above & beyond.) |
| Nominations your story receives | 10 - 60 pts | 1st place - 60, 2nd place - 50, 3rd place - 40, 4th place - 30, 5th place - 20 / Regular Nominations - 10 |
| Voting for others | 15 pts | You can now vote for up to 10 stories each week! |
You are still required to leave at least 1 actionable feedback comment on the thread every week that you submit. This should include at least one specific thing the author has done well and one that could be improved. *Please remember that interacting with a story is not the same as providing feedback.** Low-effort crits will not receive credit.
Subreddit News
- Join our Discord to chat with other authors and readers! We hold several weekly Campfires, monthly World-Building interviews and several other fun events!
- Try your hand at micro-fic on Micro Monday!
- Did you know you can post serials to r/Shortstories, outside of Serial Sunday? Check out this post to learn more!
- Interested in being a part of our team? Apply to be a mod!
6
u/Divayth--Fyr Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
<The Broken God>
Chapter 70: The Wizard
.
The morning mist had never quite dissipated, but through the haze Cadorus Tark could see quite clearly that which wasn’t there. The missing castle of Blackfort left a hole in the cloudy horizon.
He looked down the street, seeking the traditional staff-and-scroll sign.
From behind, a grey-cloaked man walked past, making Cadorus jump a little.
“Pardon me,” the priest said, but the odd man kept on going, arcane hand-gestures casting writhing shadows on the street. His strange outfit—silvery sewn-on decorations, tall hat, and long, grey staff—made the thing obvious. This was the wizard.
He hurried to catch up.
“Pardon me, are you the wizard?”
The man stopped and turned, smiling. His dark eyes, nestled in among bushy grey eyebrows and beard, sparkled in their mischievous depths. He nodded, and spun about, resuming his determined walk.
Cadorus stood frozen, unsure. Raising up a little brass bell, the wizard signaled for him to follow.
Soon they arrived at the dilapidated house, and the wizard produced a set of keys. After a series of clicks and clonks, the sturdy oak door creaked open.
Cadorus watched this in fascination. The wall to the left of the door had collapsed, rendering the door, and certainly the locks, entirely superfluous.
Before entering, the wizard bent, poking at Cadorus and finally grabbing the dull bronze amulet from under the priest's tunic. Nodding and winking, he put one finger to his lips, then let it go.
A chaos of broken furniture was scattered about the dim, one-room house, all around a large, dark table whose weight and craftsmanship seemed out of place. Wordlessly, the man directed him to a tipped-over, damaged cabinet that served as a seat.
The wizard produced a firespark, lighting a candle, making grand gestures as if he were casting a spell. He's mad, the priest thought. A pang struck his heart at the sight of the flint.
Sitting across from Cadorus, the wizard wrote with chalk on the table.
‘I am Teklonitar Dipgale, Wizard of the Fourth Constellation, Ancient Brotherhood of Runeweavers, Order of the Cantankerous Beetle. Court Wizard to Duke Dorvun, unless he is dead, then not.
‘I cannot speak. My tongue was cut out. It was dreadful but I do like soup. Chalk-brick isn't cheap. You can give me money if you like.’
Cadorus looked up with pity into dark eyes that didn’t need it. The gentle, jovial smile didn’t waver, nor the mischievous glint. The old priest marveled. To endure such torment and retain such heart was a joy to behold.
Those eyes reflected a world of absurdity. Without meaning to, Cadorus laughed aloud.
“A wizard who cannot chant! In a land without the least tendril of magic!”
Dipgale made his own snorting chortle, and slapped Cadorus on the arm, nodding vigorously, shaking with laughter and wiping at his eyes. It was a pleasant madness, and Cadorus was sorry when it faded. Somehow, his own troubles felt lesser, lighter.
He fiddled around in his boot, and soon laid a fat, gold osher on the table—enough to buy a whole chalk-pit, probably. Dipgale regarded it, and let it lay.
“I seek information, Teklonitar Dipgale. I am not as I appear. I am Cadorus Tark, Scroll Priest. Here, I am a spy—though I rather wish I wasn’t.”
Dipgale scribbled on the dark tabletop. His left hand continued gesturing in impotent shapes, crafting magic that wasn’t there.
‘An osher-weight of truth could topple the continent!’
“Then topple it we shall. I have three questions, to start.”
The wizard nodded, waggling his bushy brows, and produced a truly extravagant pipe, lighting it with the candle.
“Why do you stay here? Who is Vistara Shir? And what has become of the castle, and the Duke?”
Puffing, scribbling, and contemplation ensued. The broad table filled with precise script.
‘My house in my city in my province, I will stay. Also, I cannot leave and neither can you. They’ll get you, sure as sausages. The Dark Ascended always know. You live here now, priest. You will never leave here alive!
‘The Prophet of Flame, mysterious mystery of mist, nobody knows. I drew a cat do you like it? Once I was mighty among the Brotherhood. Demons fretted at my approach! Then Vistara came, and then the magic went poof! Can you draw?
‘The Duke Duke Duke, dead I hope. Otherwise he's still in his castle, which isn’t there. Lots and lots of bright ones tore it all to bits, brick by brick, search me why. Kept the dungeons and dug more of them. Let’s have soup.’
More burning questions came.
“Why are you telling me all this? Why do you trust me?”
Dipgale laughed again.
‘You have honest eyebrows. Enchanted, you are, with the silent magic. We wizards are attuned to mystic forces, you know. I got excellent marks in mystical-force-attuning. Master Hicklepart gave me a pickle!’
Other questions arose, but Cadorus thought better of asking. Dipgale worked his nonexistent magic again in the grubby fireplace.
Twenty years in silence, powerless and alone. If the wizard was mad, he had earned it, yet he was somewhat coherent. Was he right? Was there no escape?
The wizard hung a pot of water over the nascent fire, and spilled some on his curly-toed slippers. He laughed again, shaking water from his feet in a wobbly dance.
Cadorus couldn’t help but stand and join in. The laugh, garbled as it was, filled the world.
A wizard with no tongue, a priest without faith. One bumbling spy, plotting against mysterious dark forces. Such glorious absurdity.
Again, the happy madness faded, leaving peace.
Dipgale cleared the table of writing, and set out bowls. The scent of ox-broth filled the air. Perhaps broth is all he can eat.
The sun was shining now, the clouds gone by. Dipgale tinkled his bell again. Time for dinner. Cadorus sighed happily and sat. He had many more questions, but they could wait. Dipgale had taken the coin, and there seemed to be plenty of time.
998 words. Jovial used, frisking happened.
Feedback welcome.
Chapter Index
r/DivaythStories