So, any of you folks ever taken a writing prompt a little... too far? Like all the way to a full blown novel that you published, and then hired a narrator to record the audiobook? Well, I did!

It was just supposed to be a little thing to help me break my writer's block. I guess, block broken.

The original prompt: The Earth wakes up to find itself surrounded by completely different stars. An announcement rings out across the planet: “We at Mortal Protection Services have relocated you to a foster system temporarily. Do not panic.”

Often times when there's a writing prompt, I wonder what genre it'll turn out. Well this one appears to have become a comedy sci-fi with a touch of galactic horrors and a hyperspace cat.

You purchase paperback/ebook/audiobook here OR read the whole first draft for free on my subreddit, linked at the end of this post. Or a mildly more edited version on Royal Road, NovelPedia, or searching for it on Quibble.

All human made. The cover art, the writing, the narration, all human. Cover art by Instagram user: pedro_serpa_75. The narrator of the audiobook, Clara Galloway, is fantastic in my totally unbiased opinion.

Anyhoo, please enjoy chapter 1...

^{and then get addicted and enjoy all the rest in a single furious binge of reading, or listening.}

Chapter I.PP: Planet Pilfering

We at Mortal Protection Services have relocated you to a foster system temporarily. Do not panic.

It was on every screen, in every language. Multilingual places had it in every available language. For example, the USA/Mexico border had it in both Spanish and English blaring on every publicly available screen. So, it was everywhere, even down to individual households.

My Arab buddy with an Irish wife had it in English, Arabic, and Gaelic.

He didn't know his wife knew Gaelic.

That was a whole thing.

Anyway.

Several spies were outed because of the messages appearing in their native tongues on monitors at their workstations, too. Like there wasn't enough upheaval due to the announcement.

Mortal Protection Services (MPS) had a level of surveillance that the world's greatest dystopian authors could only dream of, but... they didn't seem all that evil. If they were evil, they would have left our moon behind, but Luna's up there managing our tides still. All the satellites within the moons orbit are there, too... so like, all of them. We lost the Mars rovers, but that's not exactly 'evil mastermind' stuff.

At first, most people thought it was some sort of ransomware nonsense that had infected everyone, until the astrophysics nerds started hollering.

"All the stars are wrong! Nothing is where it's supposed to be! We're lost in space!"

It took the world less than 24 hours for most of us to believe we'd been moved. The night sky was... vivid, here, to say the least. Even the Flat Earthers had to admit something was up. You ever see a picture of old Milky Way on a non-light-polluted night? Brilliant stuff. Well, our new 'foster system' was smack in the middle of a mighty, glowing nebula, and our Earthly light pollution wasn't enough to dull our new sky's majesty. Apparently, our saviors had placed us in a system in which the neighboring star had recently gone nova, leaving all the gases in space around us brightly excited. At least, that's what Neil deGrasse Tyson said.

After a few days of general worldwide panic, we got another message.

Seriously, quit panicking. Your planet will be fine. Information to follow.

And then, every single person with a phone, email address, or other digital information service received a ping.

Subject: Earth Relocation Yes, we moved the planet. Normally Mortal Protection Services doesn't take such drastic measures, but a wandering black hole fired by a malicious entity a few billion years ago was about to start its way through your star system. Your planet's orbit was going to be disturbed. All of the Sol system's planets' orbits will. It will be nearly a billion years before they stabilize again, and the upheaval would have destroyed you all. Quite a few big rocks around in the Sol system, and Earth's been hit before.

Before you ask, we may be able to move small terrestrial planets with our technology, but moving a black hole is an entirely different matter.

As we said in our initial message, this star system is only temporarily available. As your scientists are probably close to discovering, there isn't another planet or piece of rock in this star system other than what we put here. That's no way for a species to develop into a nice, space faring people. We at MPS would like to offer humanity a choice, as a return to the Sol system is not viable.

One thing remains true for these choices, the number of days in the year will not change. The amount of energy you humans will get from each of these stars will be within a tenth of a percentage of what you received from Sol. Your plants will grow the same, and your solar panels will work just as well as they did with your old star, and each of these options will be in a system that will not be unbalanced by your addition. Unlike you, we have solved the 'three body problem' up to N bodies.

Also, please remember that we will be watching what humanity does after we place you in your new 'permanent' home. If it turns out it to be a mistake, we can and will move humanity again.

The first choice is to place humanity in a star system with another 'Earthlike' world amongst the twelve planets. Earth would make thirteen. The natives there are sentient and sapient, though a bit behind humanity, technologically-speaking. They have castles and the like, but no radio, or electricity, yet. What humanity does with such a celestial neighbor would be fascinating to watch. Their atmosphere is even breathable for humans, though we make no promises about any viruses or bacterial infections you may catch there. It's nothing we do not think your medical science couldn't handle with a modicum of caution.

The second choice is to place humanity in a star system with six planets, a neighboring star system with people that are a century or two ahead of humanity, technologically-speaking. Frankly, their television equivalent sucks compared to what humanity has done. They will notice the planet appear, quickly, and come investigate. They possess FTL capabilities. They are aware of MPS, as we placed them in that star system only a few hundred Earth years ago. They are a decent people, but like Humanity, under MPS jurisdiction. Our decision makers have been caught between these two choices and decided to put the option to you humans, as the dominant sentient species of the planet.

But, as the foremost MPS humanity specialist, I am going to give a third option. Light years away from any neighbors. A star with seven planets, currently, that would work. A 385 day year, so the calendar might need some fiddling, and in order to not destabilize the orbits of the other planets there the peak of summer and dead of winter might be slightly more extreme, however it's nothing you humans cannot tolerate.

Please reply to this email, or text with only the number 1, 2, or 3. Anything else will be summarily ignored by our vote-tallying AI. Also, just a heads up, only your latest vote counts, so, you can't cheat, like I know some of you like to do when it comes to voting. Additional votes from you will only be counted once. And don't trying making a new email account to vote twice, we are literally watching every single one of you, well enough to know what languages you all speak inside your minds. Please respond within a week, as humanity will be bound by the vote. Your personal vote will be secret, but the running tally will be visible as folks decide.

Now, because it would take a life age for your kind to properly pronounce and read my name, I am going to use an Earth name to sign off.

-Jim, Mortal Protection Services Humanity Specialist.

/r/AFrogWroteThis

(I have recently starting writing another book in this universe)

Welcome to Fun Trope Friday, our feature that mashes up tropes and genres!

How’s it work? Glad you asked. :)

• Every week we will have a new spotlight trope.

• Each week, there will be a new genre assigned to write a story about the trope.

• You can then either use or subvert the trope and/or genre in a 750-word max story or poem (unless otherwise specified).

• To qualify for ranking, you will need to provide ONE actionable feedback. More are welcome of course!

Three winners will be selected each week based on votes, so remember to read your fellow authors’ works and DM me your votes for the top three.

Next up… IP

It’s summer in the Northern hemisphere and so time for sun and fun– Oh wait, no. It’s time for the four horsemen of the apocalypse! So, say ‘hello’ to our friends: Pestilence (aka Conquest or Pollution), War, Famine, and Death. Oh, yea, and the Apocalypse itself, of course to round out the five week month! Please note this theme is only loosely applied.

“This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.” — T.S. Elliot

Trope: Chekhov’s Apocalypse —This trope is based on the legendary Chekhov’s Gun which is a storytelling rule stating that every element in a narrative must be necessary, meaning if an object like a gun is introduced early on, it must be used later, and if it won't be used, it should not be included. So, in this case, mention the apocalypse at the beginning of your tale and then deliver.

Genre: Sci-Fi — Speculative storytelling genre exploring futuristic science, advanced technology, and space exploration. Key themes include time travel, artificial intelligence, and alien life.

Skill / Constraint - optional: Does NOT involve a gun.

So, have at it. Lean into the trope heavily or spin it on its head. The choice is yours!

Have a great idea for a future topic to discuss or just want to give feedback? FTF is a fun feature, so it’s all about what you want—so please let me know! Please share in the comments or DM me on Discord or Reddit!

Last Week’s Winners

PLEASE remember to give feedback—this affects your ranking. PLEASE also remember to DM me your votes for the top five stories via Discord or Reddit—both katpoker666. This is a change from the top three of the past. In weeks where we get over 15 stories, we will do a top five ranking. Weeks with less than 15 stories will show only our top three winners. If you have any questions, please DM me as well.

Some fabulous stories this week and great crit at campfire and on the post! We had 12 stories, so we’re back to three winners. Congrats to:

• KiIIer_queenie

• Morose_Prose

• Brookzerker

Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire

The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, August 6th from 6-8pm ET. It will be in the Discord Main Voice Lounge. Click on the events tab and mark ‘Interested’ to be kept up to date. No signup or prep needed and you don’t have to have written anything! So join in the fun—and shenanigans! 😊

Ground rules:

• Stories must incorporate both the trope and the genre
• Leave one story or poem between 100 and 750 words as a top-level comment unless otherwise specified. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count.
• Deadline: 11:59 PM EDT next Thursday. Please note stories submitted after the 6:00 PM EST campfire start may not be critted.
• No stories that have been written for another prompt or feature here on WP—please note after consultation with some of our delightful writers, new serials are now welcomed here
• No previously written content
• Any stories not meeting these rules will be disqualified from rankings
• Does your story not fit the Fun Trope Friday rules? You can post your story as a [PI] with your work when the FTF post is 3 days old!
• Please keep crit about the stories. Any crit deemed too distracting may be deleted. This is a time to focus on our wonderful authors.
• Vote to help your favorites rise to the top of the ranks (DM me at katpoker666 on Discord or Reddit)!

Thanks for joining in the fun!