Loveday Writing

The brief of the AWC Furious Fiction – February 2025 short story competition was as follows:

• Your story must feature SEVEN of something.
• Your story must include a character who opens a box.
• Your story must include the words LADDER, BLANK, and CHILL.

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Pandora

In the beginning there was a void, guarded by seven spirits.

Once she stated who she was and her mission to the spirits, they let her go into the void. The void was dark but she was able to walk. She kept walking until she saw a ladder materialise in her front of her.

She climbed up the ladder, going up each rung slowly, seeing nothing but the dark blankness of the void in front of her. She stopped when a balcony materialised in front of the last rung.

She walked forward as a path kept materialising in front of her, wondering if she was going to fall at any moment. The path ended with a glowing, gold, floating box.

She grabbed the floating box and held it in her hands, the glow almost blinding her, she admired its beauty before she realised it felt chilly in her hands. The chill spread throughout her body.

The chill made her doubt herself and her decision, but she couldn’t be rude to the Gods that gifted the box to her and slowly starting lifting the lid.