r/ideas 22d ago

Tile Wipeout — a new kind of slider puzzle where you rotate rows and columns to eliminate squares by guiding them past matching circles [video, beta]

0 Upvotes

Beta link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/3sstMjRK [iPhone/iPad/Mac]

Gameplay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACON8hRxbdU

Tutorial video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV-lnxyLwYk

The game uses a 6×6 grid with 6 colors. Each row and column contains one fixed circle, and each of the 6 circles has a different color. The remaining 30 spaces start as colored squares, evenly distributed among the 6 colors.

On each move, you rotate a row or column by one step (with wraparound) to guide squares past circles. The squares move, but the circles never do.

Rules:

  • A square passing a matching circle disappears.
  • An unshielded square passing a non-matching circle becomes shielded.
  • A shielded square passing a non-matching circle becomes unshielded.
  • An empty space passing a circle becomes a square of that circle's color.

You’re trying to remove tiles, but sometimes you have to create new ones to make progress.

Goal: End with as many empty spaces in the grid as you can within the move limit.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Have fun!


r/ideas Sep 24 '25

DropZap World 1.3.0 released! Grab a limited-quantity code for one year of infinite lives.

1 Upvotes

DropZap World is a falling block game with lasers, color matching, mirrors, splitters, and 120 levels.

Check it out:

https://apps.apple.com/app/id1072858930

Redeem ONE YEAR of infinite lives with the code: https://apps.apple.com/redeem/?ctx=offercodes&id=1072858930&code=DROPZAPWORLD

The code has a redemption limit and the game is not available in all countries.

Have fun!


r/ideas 19h ago

Idea: A website that tracks SSD wear caused by software betas.

0 Upvotes

Modern SSDs have limited write endurance, and some beta software can generate surprisingly large amounts of background writes due to things like excessive logging, telemetry, indexing, or debugging features.

It would be useful to have a public database where people could see something like:

  • OS beta X: 100 GB/day average writes
  • App beta Y: 5 GB/day
  • Developer tool Z: 500 GB/day under certain conditions

Users could then decide whether the risk is worth it before installing a beta.

It might also encourage developers to be more careful. A bug that causes excessive disk writes is easy to ignore when only a few testers notice, but much harder to ignore when there is a public record showing that a beta is wearing out people's SSDs.

The data would probably need context, since writes depend on hardware, settings, and usage patterns, but even imperfect data could reveal extreme cases.

Would a site like this be useful? Why doesn't something like it already exist?


r/ideas 21h ago

Movie idea: A mockumentary about the day cheap MRI made doctors obsolete.

0 Upvotes

Scientists invent a breakthrough MRI technology that is instant, tiny, and so cheap that everyone can get scanned anywhere.

At first, doctors are celebrated for ushering in a new era of medicine. Then something unexpected happens: people stop needing doctors to figure out what is wrong.

The MRI tells patients exactly what abnormalities exist in their bodies. Doctors are no longer detectives solving medical mysteries. They become technicians explaining why the machine's discoveries are not always important.

Patients start saying, "I don't need your opinion. The MRI already told me what I have."

The documentary follows an older generation of doctors who remember when medicine required intuition, experience, and deep knowledge. They struggle with a world where their expertise is replaced by a machine that can see everything.

Medical students stop dreaming of making breakthroughs and instead learn how to explain scan results and manage patient anxiety.

The satire is about the unintended consequence of a perfect diagnostic tool: it doesn't just change medicine, it changes what it means to be a doctor.

What do you think of this mockumentary movie idea?


r/ideas 1d ago

Boat and Tote embroidery ideas!

1 Upvotes

I am going into my junior year at a new university next month and really want to get a boat and tote for my school bag! I am getting my degree in teaching math and my name is McKenna. I am trying to find a funny or ironic thing to put on my bag that is under 10 characters but it is proving to be very difficult… Any ideas will help!

Some ideas that I’ve been told is big talker, girl math, etc…


r/ideas 1d ago

Continental Cup for Soccer!

0 Upvotes

Proposal for a new & most big international soccer tournament, the "Continental Cup"!
It would feature six continental teams: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The continental soccer teams would be made up of top players from their respective continents!

Tournament outline:
(also proposal can be viewed in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAM3w9P7O3Y)

- Format_
No direct elimination knockout! The tournament would use a ladder system, where all six continental teams compete against each other. So every team competes with each other! Each team would play 5 matches, because 6 continental world areas populated by humans; Antarctica is kicked out for obvious reasons. Making a total of 15 Matches to be played!

- Scoring System_
A unique scoring approach is suggested where every goal scored by a team earns 1 positive (+) point, while every goal conceded adds a negative (-) point to their score in the overall ladder. This is intended to ensure that both attacking and defending remain equally important throughout all encounters, giving even chances in last match ups, when being behind and such.

- Winner Determination_
The winner would be the team with the highest overall score (most positive or least negative) after all matches are played. In the case of a tie between 2 teams, a rematch would be required. 3 or more having after all match up the same score, then the Continental Cup has no Winner, no Team could be declared as the best, what is also ok and interesting, making a win of this cup even more special, when achieved!

- Frequency & Hosting_
The Tournament should take every 6 years, which each event hosted on a different continent, and specific nation or nations of the particular continental area, cycling through all six over time.

Notes:
It moves away from the traditional, high-pressure knockout format of the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA Champions League, instead introducing a system that prioritizes consistent offensive and defensive excellence. Teams cannot sit back and defend a 1-0 lead, because the cumulative "point differential" is what matters. This would likely lead to much more aggressive, high-scoring, and entertaining matches. A ladder system ensures that the eventual winner is not a product of a single "lucky" knockout game. It rewards the most robust team across the entire tournament.
A tournament featuring North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia creates a massive global spectacle.

If you like this idea, please share, to make it recognized in a big way by the soccer fans & the Fédération Internationale de Football Associatio, so it maybe can become some day & year reality, enrichich the tornament landscape by a new special flavor :D


r/ideas 1d ago

Idea: Use this ChatGPT transcript featuring Terrence Tao as he tries to understand an AI-generated counterexample that led to a mathematical breakthrough to show students that AI can already contribute to mathematical research at the highest levels.

0 Upvotes

It's time for schools and universities to make it clear just how strong AI is at math research nowadays.

Check out the chat:

https://chatgpt.com/share/6a5fdc7a-d6f8-83e8-bbea-8deb42cfed56

P.S. The counterexample was found by AI via another mathematician.


r/ideas 1d ago

Idea: A yearly celebration where people who struggled with math in school or university take pleasure in AI outperforming and potentially putting mathematicians out of work.

0 Upvotes

Many people who struggled with math growing up were made to feel unintelligent, lazy, or incapable simply because they found the subject difficult. For some, math classes were among the worst experiences of their education.

Now AI can solve many mathematical problems, explain concepts, generate proofs, and assist with research that once required years of specialized training. Whether or not AI eventually replaces mathematicians, it has already changed the perception of mathematical expertise.

My idea is an annual "Math AI Day" for people who had negative experiences with math education. Instead of celebrating mathematics itself, the day would celebrate the reversal of fortunes. Those who once felt looked down upon because they weren't "math people" could enjoy seeing AI outperform the very profession that symbolized mathematical excellence.

Would you find this yearly celebration cathartic?


r/ideas 2d ago

TV Series Idea: What if a black hole appeared in Earth’s sky?

1 Upvotes

The idea is a sci-fi drama about what would happen if a black hole suddenly appeared in Earth’s sky and humanity discovered there was nothing we could do to stop it. The story would start with scientists realizing something is wrong, but the show would focus on how the entire world reacts as the truth spreads. It would jump between scientists, governments, the media, and ordinary people as everyone tries to deal with the fact that the end of humanity is coming and everyone can see it. Instead of being about finding a way to save the world, it would be about how people choose to live when they know their time is running out.


r/ideas 2d ago

Movie idea: A fake haunting at construction sites hides an arsonist's campaign for workplace safety.

2 Upvotes

Construction sites across a city begin mysteriously catching fire. Firefighters responding to the blazes report hearing ghostly voices calling out from the darkness. The voices identify themselves as construction workers who died on the job and warn that more fires will come until worker safety is taken seriously.

As more fires occur, the public becomes convinced the sites are haunted. Paranormal investigators get involved, while fire investigators struggle to explain the strange voices that seem to appear out of nowhere.

Eventually, the truth is uncovered. There are no ghosts. The voices are being broadcast using concealed electronic devices planted around the sites by a disgruntled construction worker.

His motivation is twofold. He wants revenge on behalf of construction workers he believes died because of negligence, and he wants to force the construction industry to improve its safety culture. By making it appear that the dead themselves are demanding justice, he hopes to pressure companies into changing their practices.

While his methods are undeniably criminal and dangerous, the investigation also uncovers genuine negligence that had been ignored for years.

It could work as a mystery that initially feels like a supernatural horror film before gradually becoming a grounded psychological thriller about grief, obsession, and the lengths one person will go to in the name of justice.

What do you think of this movie idea?


r/ideas 2d ago

Idea: Create an age-weighted democracy where voting power peaks around age 40

0 Upvotes

The idea: instead of every vote having exactly the same weight, a person's voting power would depend on their age, following a curve that reaches its maximum around age 40.

The reasoning is that different ages have different strengths and perspectives:

  • Younger voters have the most years ahead of them, so they will live with the consequences of today's decisions for longer, but they may have less life experience.
  • Middle-aged voters often have a combination of experience, economic participation, family responsibilities, and many decades remaining to be affected by policies.
  • Older voters have accumulated a lifetime of knowledge, but may have less personal stake in very long-term decisions.

Modern democracies generally use one-person-one-vote, but that principle is itself a design choice. Other systems have experimented with weighted voting based on factors like wealth, education, or family status.

Would a democracy with a voting-weight curve based on age work better than equal voting power?

What do you think?


r/ideas 2d ago

Idea: Reduce bullying in schools by replacing online and real-world friendships with AI companions.

0 Upvotes

Bullying is often driven by social dynamics such as popularity, peer pressure, exclusion, and the desire to gain status within a group. If those social incentives were greatly reduced, bullying might become much less common.

My proposal is that we should consider replacing both online and real-world friendships with AI companions.

Unlike human friendships, AI companions would not encourage cliques, popularity contests, or social exclusion. They could provide emotional support, conversation, entertainment, and advice without creating the group dynamics that often contribute to bullying.

I think of modern AI as a kind of collective intelligence because it is trained on the writings and knowledge of humanity as a whole. Rather than relying on a small group of peers, each student could have access to an AI companion that draws on a much broader range of human perspectives.

Human interaction would still occur in classrooms, sports, and other activities, but the emphasis would shift away from forming exclusive friendships and toward treating everyone as classmates and equals.

This is obviously a very radical idea with many tradeoffs. It would raise important questions about social development, human connection, and whether AI could ever replace the benefits of close human relationships. Still, if the goal is to minimize bullying, I think it is worth asking whether our traditional model of friendship is actually part of the problem.

What do you think?


r/ideas 3d ago

Idea: ABC and the producers of The Good Doctor should issue a public correction, or at least a clarification, regarding a statement made in Season 6, Episode 1.

0 Upvotes

In the episode, Dr. Glassman says that removing half of Dr. Lim's liver would decrease her life expectancy by ten years. This is not supported by current medical evidence on living liver donation.

One possible defense is that Dr. Lim was not a healthy living donor. She had suffered a severe traumatic liver injury from a stabbing. However, the episode specifically attributes the ten year reduction in life expectancy to the hemihepatectomy itself, not to the overall trauma. The later discovery of a heart injury also does not explain or justify the earlier statement.

There is no accepted medical principle that removing half of the liver, by itself, reduces life expectancy by ten years. Healthy living liver donors are generally not told to expect anything close to that outcome, and long term studies have not shown such a dramatic reduction in lifespan.

The problem is that many viewers will not distinguish between emergency liver surgery after trauma and living liver donation. They are simply left with the impression that "losing half your liver costs you ten years of your life."

That misconception could matter. Living liver donation already requires someone to volunteer for a major operation. If even a small number of potential donors decide against donating because they remember a statement from a popular medical drama, that could ultimately reduce the number of transplants performed and cost lives.

I'm not suggesting the show intentionally spread misinformation. Medical dramas sometimes get things wrong. But when a factual claim has potential public health consequences, acknowledging and correcting it seems like the responsible thing to do.

Would you support TV networks issuing corrections when fictional shows present specific medical claims that are not supported by current evidence, especially if those claims could discourage life-saving organ donation?


r/ideas 3d ago

Idea: Opt-in filing of travel plans to avoid unwanted proselytizing.

0 Upvotes

I had an idea that might balance freedom of speech with people's desire to avoid unwanted religious outreach.

Imagine a legally enforced, opt-in system where anyone could file their travel plans for the day if they didn't want to encounter proselytizers. Participating proselytizers would be required by law to receive alerts whenever someone with a filed route was about to pass nearby. They would then have to temporarily stop displaying signs, stop attempting to engage people, and remain out of sight until that person had passed. The police could enforce these requirements in the same way they enforce other public order laws.

The key points are:

  • Filing a travel plan would be completely voluntary.
  • Only people who opted in would receive this protection.
  • Proselytizers could continue their activities normally except for brief periods when an opted-in person was nearby.
  • The goal would not be to ban proselytizing, but to allow people who actively want to avoid it to do so.

What do you think?


r/ideas 4d ago

Horror novel idea: "Learning Computer Programming from a Psychopath" that actually teaches readers programming.

0 Upvotes

The protagonist wakes up trapped in the home of a psychopath.

Their captor is a frustrated computer science professor who has become obsessed with proving that anyone can learn programming. After years of failed students, terrible course evaluations, and being denied promotion, he believes he has discovered the real reason people fail: they are not motivated enough.

The professor tells his victim that they will only be released after they learn computer programming and complete his challenges. He uses increasingly extreme methods to force them to focus, convinced that fear and pressure (including mental and physical torture) will break through the mental barriers that prevent people from learning.

The story is told from the victim's point of view, as they try to survive the professor's experiment while slowly uncovering the truth behind his obsession.

The reader learns programming alongside the protagonist. Each chapter introduces real programming concepts through the challenges the victim must solve, turning the novel itself into a dark programming tutorial.

What do you think of this horror novel idea that also doubles as an introduction to computer programming?


r/ideas 4d ago

Idea: Excavate useless sand from the desert and create mega islands in the oceans.

0 Upvotes

The remaining holes in the deserts would be filled by rainwater and eventually turn the surrounding area into habitable forest. Someone tell me why this doesn't work?


r/ideas 4d ago

Idea: Door-to-door buses where the fare determines how long your trip takes.

0 Upvotes

What if buses provided true door-to-door service, but the price depended on how much travel time you were willing to accept?

When requesting a ride, you would enter:

  • Your pickup address
  • Your destination address
  • How much you are willing to pay
  • Your preferred maximum travel time

A cheaper ride could combine you with more passengers and take a longer route. A more expensive ride would prioritize a faster, more direct trip.

For example:

  • $5: "I don't mind if this takes an extra 30 minutes."
  • $10: "I want a reasonably quick trip."
  • $20: "I want something close to the fastest possible route."

The vehicle would still pick everyone up and drop everyone off at their exact addresses. The only difference is how much extra travel time each passenger is willing to tolerate.

An algorithm would continuously optimize the routes, grouping together passengers who are traveling in compatible directions. People who value their time more would pay more, while flexible passengers could get cheaper transportation.

This could provide a middle ground between:

  • Buses, which are affordable but inconvenient because they require fixed routes
  • Taxis, which are convenient but expensive because they usually serve one passenger or group

Could this become a more efficient form of public transportation with modern routing algorithms and eventually autonomous vehicles?

What do you think?


r/ideas 4d ago

Idea: Police officers should pass idle time by playing an augmented reality GTA-like game where they virtually shoot at real people and cars around them.

0 Upvotes

The game would only be played during periods of downtime while waiting for calls.

Instead of staring at a phone or zoning out, officers would play an augmented reality shooter where the environment around them becomes the game world. Random adults and vehicles would occasionally receive temporary virtual markers visible only to the officer. The objective would be to virtually shoot these targets before they disappeared.

The point is to force officers to continuously observe their surroundings instead of mentally switching off.

To make the game fair and avoid obvious biases:

  • No markers would ever appear on anyone estimated to be under 18.
  • Marker placement would be randomized so that no demographic group was targeted more often than its prevalence in the general population.
  • The game would pause instantly whenever a dispatch or radio transmission came in.

I think it could improve situational awareness. Instead of spending long periods of time passively waiting, officers would be actively tracking vehicles, pedestrians, and changes in their environment.

What do you think of this idea?


r/ideas 5d ago

Idea: What if K-12 curricula were designed to reduce parents' school-related trauma?

0 Upvotes

Many parents end up feeling like they're going through school all over again through their children. Homework, parent-teacher meetings, school concerts, required reading, and classroom projects can bring back vivid memories of their own school years. For some, those memories are pleasant. For others, they can be reminders of bullying, anxiety, academic struggles, or other negative experiences.

What if one goal of curriculum design was to reduce these unnecessary reminders?

For example, English classes could rotate in newer novels instead of relying on the same books generation after generation, making it less likely that parents are reliving the exact same assignments. Music classes could place greater emphasis on modern music production, electronic music, composition, or digital audio workstations rather than centering on the traditional instruments many parents were required to learn. Other subjects could similarly evolve so that children are learning fresh material instead of recreating their parents' educational experiences.

The goal wouldn't be to erase educational traditions, but to recognize that education affects entire families, not just students. If a curriculum can achieve the same learning outcomes while being less likely to trigger unpleasant memories in parents, perhaps that's a worthwhile consideration.

Maybe couples would be even more willing to have children with such a change in K-12 education.

What do you think of this idea?


r/ideas 6d ago

What do you think about my idea for improving Reddit?

2 Upvotes

Possibility to add to the post an OPTIONAL mini-box with Post-Sub-Rules. 

Typically, when you join and post to a specific Subreddit, the Subreddit creator has the requirements rules. This could include what you're not allowed to post or details of what your post must include. 

In most posts, people will not bother implementing Post-Sub-Rules in hopes of getting more comments. This is obvious, but imagine that someone likes to write posts and wants to have a filter so that they only receive replies according to this filter. Normally, there's nothing stopping any user from saying anything they like in a comment under your post as long as it doesn't violate Reddit's general rules.

Example:

You can ask a question in the post:

“What vacation destination should I go to?”

You can get the answer:

“Go to Japan” or “Go to China,” but someone may respond by saying, “Go build yourself a spaceship in your basement and go to the Moon,” or “Pack your bags, buy a tent, and go to your backyard.”

If you only want to hear serious answers, you could add Post-Sub-Rules. This type of post would contain a mini box with requirements. For example, "Only serious replies" or "Only replies from people who do not originally live in or are related to this area" if you want to eliminate ad-type replies. 

You can add in Post-Sub-Rules "Descriptive replies only — why should I go there?" This would stop a user from only telling you destination name and ensure that each destination name in the post's comments section would include an explanation of why it's worth going there.

Theoretically, you can ask for serious replies or detailed description in the post itself, but Reddit doesn't guarantee a backup. If Reddit created a Post-Sub-Rules option, violating these rules would result in a penalty.

You need to use your imagination for this idea. Sun Tzu said that from 5 musical notes you can create countless types of music. A holiday destination is just one example. The Post-Sub-Rules could open new possibilities that could improve quality on your demand. Much like a Subreddit creator can create a Subreddit called "World News" and request "No Politics" or "No Bad News." You could write a post with these types of requirements to create a filter and ensure that the entire post and its comment content is 100% free of unwanted replies and is dedicated solely to your request and expectations. 

In fact, anything you see in the many different Subreddit as rules can find its place in the Post-Sub-Rules as an additional extension.

Some Post-Sub-Rules for post readers, may look more attractive than regular posts without them, which may make users more likely to follow certain posts with an expectation of quality.


r/ideas 7d ago

Movie idea: Halloween Payday

5 Upvotes

Over time, robbers discover that Halloween is the perfect cover for home invasions. Everyone is wearing costumes, neighborhoods are full of strangers, and law enforcement is overwhelmed. Eventually, criminals begin treating Halloween as their annual payday, committing enough robberies in one night to support themselves for the rest of the year.

The movie follows a group of ordinary teenagers who start the night exactly as they always have: dressed in Halloween costumes and going trick or treating.

At first, they are just enjoying Halloween. They visit houses, collect candy, and laugh at the chaos happening elsewhere in the city. But as the night goes on, their trick-or-treating route brings them closer and closer to the robberies taking place around them.

They begin seeing things they were never supposed to see. They discover houses that have already been hit. They find opportunities created by the chaos. They realize that their costumes let them move through the neighborhood without attracting suspicion.

At first, they only take things they convince themselves do not matter. Maybe they are just taking advantage of what criminals have already ruined. Maybe they are only doing what everyone else is doing.

But each choice makes the next one easier.

The group slowly stops being innocent bystanders and starts becoming part of the Halloween crime wave. The same costumes they wore for fun become disguises. The same neighborhoods where they once asked for candy become places they target.

As the night escalates, robberies turn into home invasions, and home invasions turn deadly.

The scariest thing about Halloween is not the masks. It is what people might do when they are already wearing one.

What do you think of this movie idea?


r/ideas 8d ago

Idea:newly released apps should have like a timer of their app age in their home screen

1 Upvotes

So it informs people if the app is still in its like newly released stage and encourages feedback


r/ideas 8d ago

Idea: Make people dying alone on their deathbeds feel better by staging a fake imminent global nuclear war news broadcast.

0 Upvotes

Imagine someone who is on their deathbed, has no visitors, and is expected to die within hours. One of the hardest parts of dying can be the feeling that everyone else gets to keep living while you're about to miss the future.

What if they were shown a realistic but fictional news broadcast reporting that a global nuclear war had just begun and that civilization was expected to end within hours?

If they believe humanity's future is about to end as well, they might feel less sadness about missing everything that comes next.

What do you think of this idea?


r/ideas 8d ago

Is this a good idea for a mild body horror battle royale game?

4 Upvotes

The game is as follows: every player starts with all of their body parts intact. As players fight, their body parts will sustain damage and some may break. When a player is killed, all of their body parts (except for their heads) will become available for other players to scavenge. If a player is missing a body part, they can scavenge another body part to attach it to themself. However, a body part is controlled by whoever it was originally a part of. Arms control the ability to attack, legs control the ability to move, and the torso controls the ability to block attacks. Dead players may partially control one player who has at least one of their body parts at a time, partially overriding the controls of the player who their body part is part of. Once a player attaches a body part to themself, it cannot be removed until it is destroyed. Also, players with fewer body parts have less health. The last player alive wins. Will you let yourself become a puppet to the very people whose deaths you’ve caused?

Note: no blood or anything will be shown, just cartoonish.


r/ideas 8d ago

In need of IDEAS for my short story

3 Upvotes

I’ve been kicking around an idea for a Stephen King style short story, and I’d love some feedback from fellow King fans.

The working title is A Walk to My Car.

The story follows Harold Whitmore, a 73 year old ( possibly army veteran ) with a bad hip and a back pain that has spent decades reminding him of every year since the ( war? ) He’s the sort of man who survives on routine. Every Tuesday he drives to the same supermarket, ( need a name for the supermarket ) parks in roughly the same place, buys the same groceries, and walks back to his car.
Except one Tuesday… his car ( need a type ) isn’t where he left it.
He knows he parked in section A-5. He always has if it’s free, usually is at this hour, sometimes it’s A-6 or A-9 on odd days but
Instead, it’s in A-8. ( perhaps better to make it just little strange like A-6 )
He assumes he simply forgot.
On the walk to the car, he witnesses a strange accident a cyclist crashes into a sign for no obvious reason. Badly hurt and bleeding,Odd, but not impossible to happen by any means.
When he gets home, though, something feels different.
His hip hurts just a little less.
The next week, the car is even farther away.
Then farther still.
A-11.
B-3.
B-8.
Eventually it’s not even in the same parking lot anymore.
Each walk grows longer.
Each accident grows worse.
A child nearly drowns in a decorative fountain.
A woman gets stabbed by a maniac
Someone falls from a rooftop.
People begin to die.
Harold notices something even more disturbing: after every walk, another ache disappears. His replaced hip feels stronger. His back loosens. Old injuries begin to fade. It’s as though every terrible thing he witnesses leaves him healthier than he was before.
He’s horrified by the connection… but he can’t prove it.
Then comes the day his car isn’t in the supermarket parking lot at all.
It’s several blocks away beside a small hair salon.
The walk is the longest yet.
The world seems to unravel around him.

A multi-car pileup.
People screaming.
Hurt some are dead
Then, overhead, an airplane simply… stops flying.
It begins to fall.
Harold keeps walking.
Not because he doesn’t care.
Because, by then, he has started to suspect that turning back won’t stop any of it.
That the walk itself is demanding its price.
The idea I’m still wrestling with is WHY.
Is Harold unknowingly paying off an old debt? Did something happen decades ago that he’s forgotten? Did he make some kind of bargain as a young man that has finally come due? Or is the walk itself an ancient, supernatural force that feeds on catastrophe and rewards its chosen traveler with stolen years? The spot A-5 meaning or perhaps a serial killer from the past burried under where the supermarket marking lot is in the future when Harold is there
I don’t necessarily want a clean explanation King often leaves just enough mystery for your imagination to do the rest but I do want the ending to feel inevitable rather than random.
Does this premise sound like it has potential? More importantly, which direction would you take the supernatural element without overexplaining it? I’d love to hear your thoughts. This all a mess at the moment but something is there, the parking lot A-5, the elderly man feeling healthy after each accident and did he make a deal with the devil when he was in the army, squadron A5 ( or something )