[ WP ] Start as a comedy , then end as a tragedy .

Unsuspecting, the man tripped over a banana peel. His neck snapped. 
 
 
 
 __________________________ 
 
 
 
 The aspiring writer sighed as the envelope in the upper right corner turned red yet again. He knew this would n't do him any good. But it was an itch that he just had to scratch, even if it had become an open, festering wound. 
 
 
 
 *Click*. 
 
 
 
 `` Lol, u faggot. unsuspecting? haha. of course hes gon na be unsuspecting if he trips. great tautology, moron.'' 
 
 
 
 *Sigh*. /r/WritingPrompts was n't the safe refuge it had once been for young, aspiring writers as himself. He tried to think of a witty come-back. It'd have to involve the word *oxy-moron*, somehow. 
 
 
 
 No. He had to spare himself more embarrassment. Ever since he had posted his innocuous response to the prompt *Start as a comedy, then end as a tragedy*, he'd been flooded with hateful responses, PM's, death threats. 
 
 
 
 He did n't get it. His only crime was that he had tried to be clever. But /r/WritingPrompts did n't care. They were tired of subpar writing and pandering joke responses. A thread called */r/WritingPrompts is not helping writers* sat at the top, the most upvoted by far. That said enough. 
 
 
 
 Oh, he'd tried to delete his comment. But once you reach a certain level of notoriety, that only makes things worse. People post screenshots. There was no end to the mockery. There was no turning back. 
 
 
 
 Another red envelope. He clicked without even thinking. 
 
 
 
 
 `` Kill yourself.'' 
 
 
 
 
 That was not the first time he'd heard such a thing. In school, he'd been bullied by a girl for committing the heinous crime of asking her out. After that, she never left him alone. 
 
 
 
 She had a talent for drawing, and a sick mind. She'd leave him presents in his school bag - drawings of an erotic nature, but not the kind a 15 year old boy would hope for. She'd also show these drawings to her friends, and the rest of the class, for that matter. No one ever looked at him the same way again. That's how talented she was. 
 
 
 
 Oh, he dabbled in drawing too. In fact, he had always harbored naïve dreams of becoming an animator for Disney. One of the reasons why he had fallen for this girl was that he greatly admired her talent. 
 
 
 
 One day, in class, she snatched a doodle from his hands. What ensued was unbearable. She'd show it to everyone and explain to everyone why it sucked, and why she was so much better than him, and he'd never amount to anything. In fact, no explanation was necessary. That was the worst part. It was obvious he was a hack. 
 
 
 
 Torture followed him around for the remainder of high school. After graduation, he did pre-med, then med school. There was n't an artistic bone left in his body - she had made sure of that. He was just glad that people did n't bully him anymore. They mostly just ignored him, bar an acquaintance or two. 
 
 
 
 But the farther he got in med school, the lonelier he became. And one day, he realized that the only reason he had chosen medicine was because it seemed the reasonable choice at the time. He had truly fled from his dream. 
 
 
 
 He could n't draw anymore. Too painful. So he took to writing short fiction. Of course, he'd beat himself up for how awful his stories were. Often, weeks went by without him getting a single word down. 
 
 
 
 But then he stumbled upon /r/WritingPrompts. He did n't even remember the first prompt he'd responded to. Something stupid like *Batman invents fedoras that kill people. Oddjob challenges him to a duel*. He'd typed up a quick response, and one or two people actually upvoted him. That was validation enough to keep writing. And surely enough, he became more and more confident and productive. He finally had something to look forward to after the gruelling days of studying and rotations. Things were starting to look bright again. 
 
 
 
 And now this. `` Kill yourself.'' 
 
 
 
 Nope. He was n't meant to write either. 
 
 
 
 *Unsubscribe. *
