Writing Prompt
Writings
Writings
STORY STARTER
In an alternative future where nobody eats meat, your protagonist has been secretly running a small farm.
Create a story around this character and their scenario.
Writings
He hated veg He’s part of a secret group of meat eaters Rabbit meat Look cute no one’s alarmed The farm is the garden small not caged They eat veg plentiful a vital food source the rabbits So nobody suspects anything Feed them in a veg farm for salad lovers Turn the meat to taste like tofu to encourage more meat eaters
It was 4am. I crept out the back door, careful not to wake my younger sister. As I softly closed the door behind me, I smiled to myself. I loved the fresh morning breeze, no sound for miles. Even the birds weren’t awake yet. I tiptoed up to the woods, glanced around to make sure nobody had followed me, and darted in.
The air was crisp and cool, the perfect fall day. As I entered a hidden clearing, I smiled. Here was my farm. I ran this farm to help provide for my family (my aunt, uncle, 5 cousins, and my sister) because we didn’t have a lot. My mom died when I was 7 and my sister was 2, and my dad passed away a year later. So, my aunt and uncle took us in. They hated anyone trying to help, especially me. I was the oldest, even of their children. I’m 16, and for four years I’ve been running this secret farm to provide money. Some close friends have also helped, but nobody in my family knows about it. And that’s good. Every time I get money from the farm, I sneak it into my aunt and uncle’s savings jar or I go to the bank and deposit it for them.
I set off to go milk the cows when I saw Charlie rushing toward me. Charlie was 80 years old, but he still helped me on the farm, because he was a good family friend of mine. He was really close to my parents before they passed.
“May! May! It’s urgent! The farm’s going to be shut down!”
I gasped, tears welling in my eyes. “No. No, no, no. This is bad. I need it to provide for my family! How am I supposed to do that if they take it away?” I was crying now, but Charlie didn’t seem to care, because I was like a granddaughter to him. Blinking back tears, I grabbed the necklace my mother gave me. Charlie saw me make the subtle movement, and he smiled. “They would be proud of you.”
I nodded. “I know.” Then, I smiled. “I have an idea.”
Charlie laughed. “There’s my girl. What is it?”
“I show them.”
Charlie was taken aback. “Why? This is a secret farm for a reason. NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW!” I laughed and put a hand on Charlie’s arm.
“They can now. That’s what’s become necessary. I can’t keep secrets from them forever. They need to know.”
Crickets chirped in the soft autumn night. Gabe rocked on his porch. His rocking chair made gentle squeaks into the darkening sky. Humming a half remembered song, Bobbie Jean wiped the kitchen marble counter. Cinnamon and the smell of a warm oven hung around her shoulders.
Framed in the golden hall light, Bobbie Jean stood at the screen door with two plates of hot apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Gabe patted her rump as she set down dessert. As Gabe raised the first forkful to his mouth, their cell phones beeped an alarm. Bobby Jean sighed and began to rise.
“Settle baby,” Gabe said, “I got this.”
“It’s probably that damn Norwegian. Nothing but trouble.”
“Keep it warm for me and I’ll be right back,” Gabe said.
Bobbie Jean patted his side as he climbed down the stairs heading for the old hay barn. There was not much need for hay barns to feed the animals since the Global Sustainable Plate Act of 2044. Gabe walked towards their barn checking their camera feeds on his watch. He tapped to enlarge the image.
Meat eating already waning was officially banned. Except for the occasional Heresford or Georgia Red in zoos, livestock were liberated and meat eating was illegal. Farmers switched to soybeans, mushrooms, and almond trees and the world was a brighter kinder place.
Gabe slid open the farm door. They grew onions, sweet Walla Wallasand a few criminis and garlic ramps. After the act passes, they nearly starved as the world market reset. Junior and Sally were lost to the measles and the hunger. Gabe shook the memories from his head. With hard work and patience they were good again. Crack! Gabe shined his watch light into the dim barn interior. People slept in tight cages. One or two moaned from the stacked cages.
When the world was turned upside for the better, people stayed the same. A black market of burgers and baby back ribs sprang up immediately. Gabe shined his light. The man, plump with glossy skin, had crawled all the way over to the far window before triggering the bear trap. Gabe waved to the security camera for Bobby Jean and used the gel lift to move the body to the deep freezer hidden behind a false wall. Shame to let all that meat go to waste.
With each year the secret demand as well as the prices inched up. They sold their meat as pork but their buyers didn’t really ask questions. Skilled in the old ways of smoking and salting, Bobby Jean was a good butcher and he experimented with fattening their stock on fruits and pecans. Enjoying the thrum of the crickets, Gabe washed his hands and tidied up. Farming was hard but they were more fortunate than most. He hummed as he headed back home hungry for his slice of apple pie.
The pigs that squealed were quickly silenced. Animals that called frantically were loud. Loud animals brought concern. Concern brought attention. Attention brought downfall. Oh god, but their meat was amazing. Her body shivered in joy whenever tasting that deliciously rich grease. She could practically feel the warm energy invigorating her, from hair to feet. She needed it. It was in her DNA, the call for protein. If she was caught now, it would be horrific, but she didn’t want to stop. She always felt better after a fresh, meaty breakfast. Any leftovers were dehydrated, disguised, into fruit jerky. She even painstakingly scraped free the marrow. It was delicious and added to other meals. And the bone-broth. She simply boiled the bones, in a secret area, with a complex, hidden ventilation system. No, she wouldn’t stop. If she did, those helpful bacteria in her stomach would starve and die. Meat would become undigestible. She was sick of relying on nuts for protein.
Noah stood at the kitchen counter, flitting through mail, when a red envelope caught his eye. He dropped everything else and ripped the envelope open. Big, bold letters:
ATTENTION: HARVEST COMPLIANCE INSPECTION WILL TAKE PLACE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 BETWEEN 8 A.M. AND 4 P.M.
He broke into a cold sweat as the ground dropped out from under him. That’s only two weeks away, he thought, and he was backed up on orders for his illicit pork and chicken. Normally, he could mask the meat business by using the pigs to clear scraps and the chickens for eggs, but it would be much harder to hide the turkeys he was prepping for Thanksgiving.
The government outlawed the sale of meat a decade ago to curb greenhouse gases from factory farming. He was careful to be discreet - he never kept cows and he was exclusive with his purchaser list. Not once had he been reported up until now. Random inspections happened - to make sure the farmers were on track for the harvesting each fall - but he knew in his gut that an inspection this late in the year meant someone had betrayed him.
That meant it would be too great a risk to distribute the birds early. He had no way of knowing who it was. He also had nowhere to put them that wouldn’t destroy his most profitable time of year.
Noah cupped his head in his hands and sunk into a barstool. He had an impossible decision to make and very little time to plan. There was only one person he could trust to help him - his father. He audibly groaned and pulled out his phone to dial. He wondered if this would end the same way as last time, when the roles had been reversed. He certainly hoped not.
“No meat! No meat!” I always hear them say. ‘Thou who eats meat must be killed!’ I’m scared to be found out, My secret must not be leaked. Yet here I am, Farming animals. Minus ham.
The police must not find me, Or else I am doomed. I do not want to go to jail, As much as I want this food. This food? The veggies, I mean. The green things, They taste like metal rings!
I hate it, I hate it, I hate this world a lot. It wants us all to go veggie mode, Our diet is just rot.
Why is our world like this? The thought stuck to my mind. Why did they suddenly change the diet from meaty goodness, To that so called ‘feat’? Our diet now tastes more like feet.
For one last time, I ask: “Why not meat?”
why not meat..?
Why Not Meat..?
WHY NOT MEAT..?!
WHY. NOT. MEAT?!?!?!?!
June 26, 2025 The sound of the tv wakes me up. It’s seven in the morning. My off day is already ruined by having to get up early now. I look at the tv to see the news reporter, Sharon Westwood, giving breaking news. What’s so important that it has to wake me up so early? I don’t hear much of it, just snip its of her voice. I look up once again and see some sort of red circle, almost like a forbidden sign. I clear my vision, put my glasses on. I look towards the screen to see that meat is being forbidden from being eaten. What? This can’t be real. How could this possibly be allowed? I get ready for the day thinking this is a bunch of baloney, but as soon as I step outside I begin to realize that this wasn’t the case. People everywhere were eating plant based meals. Veggie sandwich, spaghetti without meatballs, and as I walk to work I see my favorite steakhouse, Jerry lions, throwing out tons of meat. This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. I walk into work and find Luke, who’s just as confused as I am. We talk for a little before we clock into work. Lunch comes around and I get mine out. I hadn’t realized how serious this whole no meat thing was, next thing I know I’m in the bosses office. Apparently all bosses were told to fire those who eat meat. So now not only am I forbidden to eat the only thing that makes food good, but I’m also out of a job. Without my job I couldn’t possibly live in the city. I go on Zillow and start looking for houses till I found something that sparked an idea in my head. Maybe I didn’t have to get rid of meat, I mean how could I get in trouble if no one can find me?
August 7, 2060 It’s been thirty five years since the banning of meat, but that hasn’t stopped me from eating what I want. See weeks after the banning, I had found a place over in the south, has around 3-5 acres of land, all the room you could ask for. That gave me an idea. I purchase the land and right away get to work. Within a year i had a whole farm. Tons and tons of buildings in order to store animals and food, as well and houses for me and two of my friends. Each morning was filled with a smile and the smell of the freshly cut grass and crops. The sounds of animals as well as the wind flowing through the open fields, listening to the crops sway back and forward. This was the perfect life. Who needed to live a high paying job in order to be happy when? This was my life, and I was happy with it. Each day I’d feed my animals and make sure they were nice and healthy. Then Id take care of the crops, making sure they were getting fed and growing as they should. At the end of the day I finish off a hard day of work by eating some of the amazing food we have grown ourselves at the barn. The best part of all of this, no body will ever know. I opened my own shop to sell tools and crops, just so I can make money to keep my land. But the meat and animals were all for me. te
Harold watched his sister Bethesda’s face closely as she chewed a bite-sized piece of meat fruit.
Bethesda swallowed. Then, she stared at Harold in horror. “Meat!” she exclaimed. “Did you actually serve me meat? But you told me it was a new fruit! I never would have eaten it if I had known—“
Bethesda pushed her plate to the center of the table, stood up, and flung her napkin on her plate.
“Bethesda,” Harold said. “Wait. It is a fruit. It’s a new fruit that I’ve invented. I call it meat fruit because it’s a fruit that tastes like meat.”
Harold reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a green pear-shaped fruit that was covered in spikes. He held it up.
Bethesda sighed heavily. She pulled out her chair, letting the legs scrape against the floor. She sat back down in her chair and slumped against the back of it.
“Harold,” Bethesda said. “You nearly gave me a—“ She sighed. “Harold, no one wants to eat meat. No one will want to eat this—“ She waved her hands at the meat fruit. “Harold, what is even the point?”
“I think people do want to eat meat,” Harold said.
Bethesda opened her mouth. “Wh—“
“No,” Harold said and put his hand up in front of him. “I think they miss it, the taste, the texture… I think meat fruit will allow people the experience of eating meat without actually eating meat.”
“Harold,” Bethesda said. “I know this isn’t technically wrong. I know this isn’t technically illegal. But there’s a reason that you haven’t told anyone about this little farm that you bought or this little experiment that you’re running or this… this…”
“Meat fruit,” Harold said.
“Yes,” Bethesda said.
“Yes,” Harold said. “There is a reason. I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I wanted to be sure. And now I am. You were so convinced that it was meat.”
“Harold,” Bethesda said. “I don’t think this is a very good idea. Personally, I don’t even like the taste of meat anymore. It’s repulsive. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to eat this.”
“You will see Bethesda,” Harold said. “Soon there will be meat fruit in all of the stores. And it will be in all of the cookbooks. And when that happens, even you will eat it.”
I wipe my greasy chin with my sleeve. Lord God this is good. The thick bone felt warm and wet in my fist. The protruding rosy meat steamed almost like the cartoons - wafting directly up my nostrils. Tendrils of meat fibers disintegrated on my tongue. Sweet umami and salt left my salivary glands wet in ways that I could only envy. This truly was a sexual experience.
“Remember when there was meat aplenty?” I said, slurping the juices running down my wrist. I looked to the dead eyes of the man next to me. His missing leg a kind donation.
“Yea, you remember. You understand why I had to do it.” I clicked my hot plate off and squatted over my prized meal.
Lena was taking a daily stroll in the unkept fields around her new home. “Follow me sweetheart” she says, with a warm smile. To reach the farmyard, you need to head towards the bottom of the field. It’s a long walk but is worth it. Sweetheart looks at her and trots along in front of Lena chomping on a carrot. As if she put her nose up to say silly human I know how to get home.
Lena never thought keeping a farm would become illegal. She would have to hide the animals. Lena didn’t manage to keep all, local police went around neighbourhood’s and forced entry. Lena had only left for an hour moving animals to her new location. She came back to the all animals dead.
Scientists had warned by 2040, which was 2 years away, animals would become increasingly resistant to traditional farming methods, making them unsafe to eat. Celestia Falls government were treading lightly as they didn’t trust a previous report and people started dying in epidemic. We had to protect ourselves with barriers and live off rations for months.
Celestia Falls enforced a rule that nobody was allowed to eat meat. They were scared and didnt want to risk the chance. This meant that farms had to die. Lena didn’t believe them and looked into the documents by the scientists. They were doctored files. She discovered in the small print, they had plans to introduce unknown food for was replacement for meat. Something completely different to the meat alternatives on the market, imported from a place called x8k. It didn’t sound human like to her.
Lena found out where they held their meetings through an online forum on the dark web. It was in a community garden in the back of the old university, every Tuesday at 10pm. She had made her way there and behind a bush to hear what they had to say.
The main scientist wore a black turtleneck, light blue skinny jeans and trainers. He had curly brown hair atop of his hair, bright blue eyes, dark under eyes. He spoke with an unusual voice. He was amongst a group of them, telling them the next course of action.
“We’ve managed to get the x8k on board to transfer their waste to our planet. In exchange for these animals of course.” He says enthusiastically. “Celestia Falls don’t even know what they have got themselves in for. After the exchange, that’s when we escape. The spaceship will arrive and these humans will have to survive off years of food that with last probably a year.” He cackles. “We’ll have unlimited access to equipment and technology, we could never obtain here.” He added.
The dots started to connect and Lena began to question whether they were in fact extraterrestrials. She made a plan to sneak on board with them and save humanity.
Lena and sweetheart eventually reach the farmyard, she checks her surroundings before she sliding open the farm door.
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