A writing prompt passage for "Non Linear Story Telling", 3.4

[quocanh]

Writing Prompt: Write a story about a flashback that is completely false.

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You're dead.

Your immortal soul drifts upward—or at least that's how you interpret the sensation. There is no true sight, sound, or any familiar sense, yet somehow information reaches you in ways your consciousness struggles to comprehend.

A choice materializes before you—not visually, but as an undeniable presence. Heaven: everlasting paradise. Hell: infinite torment. The decision seems obvious. All you need to do is speak your preference.

You attempt to voice your choice but discover you cannot. Panic floods what remains of your being. You struggle against conceptual limitations, writhing against non-existent restraints. The idea of eternal damnation terrifies you to the core.

Then comes relief: Just kidding. You don't actually have to choose. A pause. I apologize for trying to make you speak—professional habit. I used to be a dentist.

An awkward chuckle without form.

You died in 2025, correct? Something like the shuffling of papers ripples through the void. Ah yes, the dawn of artificial intelligence. Starting from this date, all arrivals must complete a verification test. Nothing to worry about—consider it the afterlife equivalent of those CAPTCHAs we used to solve when alive. Quite simple... if you're not a robot. Somewhere in the ether, a pair of brows furrow.

Confusion cascades through your consciousness. Before you can question this bizarre protocol, the formless space transforms around you. Three distinct visions materialize, each contained within its own pocket of infinity—separate universes observed through impossible windows. Within each, a memory plays with perfect clarity, not merely visible but experienced completely. Knowledge arrives in your mind with the certainty of fundamental truth: you must identify which of these three events never actually happened in your life.

The test has begun.

Situation 1

Quote

The ring burned in your sweaty palm as you led her through the park on your anniversary. Not the anniversary of your first date—but of that day you nervously reached across the band room aisle to ask for her clarinet reeds. Today, you played your instrument like a snake charmer, notes dancing through the evening air. You were certain you sounded magnificent, though she only laughed at your silly performance. When you finally knelt and presented the ring, her laughter transformed to tears, the diamond catching the last light of sunset as she nodded yes.

Situation 2

Quote

The apocalypse began with a desperate chase. You frantically turned the key in the ignition, relief washing over you when the engine finally roared to life. That relief vanished seconds later as the car hit something and flipped—a sickening rotation of sky and earth through the windshield. In the aftermath, trapped among twisted metal, she reached for your hand with faltering strength. With her final breath, she pressed her ring into your palm—the same ring you would clutch each night for the decades that followed, long after the world had ended and begun anew.

Situation 3

Quote

It ended with a ring. Over all these years, the gold band had meant everything to you—your vows, your shared life, your identity. Yet here, at the end, you would never have imagined how little it would matter. You stood at the volcano's edge, heat scorching your face, and with one final gesture of release, you cast the ring into the churning lava below. As it disappeared into the molten earth, you felt the weight of your past vanish with it—ended forever.

If 1 didn't happen:

Spoiler

Ah yes. The voice brightens with recognition. You were quite the hero, weren't you? Saved the world and ended the great evil. A warmth suffuses the void around you, something like approval radiating from everywhere and nowhere. Thank you for your service. And hey— the formality drops for a moment, replaced with what feels like genuine enthusiasm, —let me just say, it is a pleasure to welcome you in.

If 2 didn't happen:

Spoiler

Quite a dramatic divorce, the voice remarks with a hint of amusement. But you were always a bit theatrical, weren't you? All that business with the volcano. Watch your step next time. A sound like a sympathetic sigh filters through the void. Sorry that it ended this way, but hey—life moves on. There's a pause, followed by what feels like the metaphysical equivalent of someone tilting their head. I mean, for other people. Not for you, because you're dead.

If 3 didn't happen:

Spoiler

All those years you spent pining over your loved one were quite sweet, actually. The other consciousness softens, taking on a warmth that feels like sunlight through the void. Don't worry—she's been waiting for you this whole time. Something like a smile infuses the words. She's told me quite a bit about you, you know. Those quiet moments by the lake, the letters you wrote that were never sent, the way you kept her photo beside your bed until the end. The presence draws closer, almost conspiratorial. I can't wait for you to meet her again. She's just beyond that threshold, waiting.

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I came up with this idea for an opposite choose-your-own-adventure where: instead of choosing what happens next, you choose what didn't happen before. Coming up with the situations was more difficult than I had anticipated—this is a story told in the deletion of its parts. I had to rely on a concept called apophenia, which is the human tendency/ability to see patterns in randomness. I also needed to center my situations around an object (the ring) whose meaning was carved out with each story.

Now I think my premise is really cool, but I'm willing to bet that someone else can come up with even better situations. If you can come up with your own, I'd love to hear your version of this.

Edited April 3, 2025 by quocanh
Added tags

[Shard of Sharks He/Him]

I really like the inverse choose your own adventure. I think your character for the guy in the great beyond is really intriguing as well. I think the contrast between the drama surrounding the ring and the casualness of the ghost guy really added to engaging the reader. I also liked the idea of a afterlife captcha. One thing, however, is I think that the ghost guy is a bit of a trope. I understand that's not the main part of the story, but I thing the alternate endings would be more interesting if he had more personality.