[ WP ] You posted a prompt , but it was downvoted . Your faith in humanity is waning .

The big empty character glowed mockingly on Riley's screen. Another prompt downvoted to hell. Maybe someone was trolling her, hunting her specifically just to cause her even more pain. `` Well good for them.'' The sound of her own voice surprised her. It did n't sound like her voice, not how she remembered it. Did she always sound like a barrel of gravel grinding through sand? 
 
 Distantly, Riley heard her father's hands slam on the kitchen table. At least it was the kitchen table this time. Better the table than her door. 
 
 A few quick clicks brought her back to the new prompt submission page. It really did n't matter to her how many downvotes her posts got, she had to try again. Someone would reply eventually. She was n't even sure why it mattered so much to her. Ever since she found /r/WritingPrompts, she dreamed of having a front page prompt -- a prompt with a hundred stories on it for her to read. And she would read every last one. She had tried reading the stories for other popular prompts, but it just was n't the same. They were n't written for her. She had to try again. 
 
 Riley had only managed to type `` [ WP ]'' into the text box when she heard him. His weight on the steps caused them to creak like an old barn door. He never tried to mask it either, even when Riley was sleeping. The creaking was slow and painful as if her father was slowly crushing a baby bird with each step. He was n't rushing, bad sign. She only had a few seconds. Riley's fingers flew across the keyboard. 
 
 `` Riley!'' Her father's voice boomed through the door as if it was made of paper. She did n't even have to smell her father's breath to know that the alcohol was there. When she did n't answer a huge hand slammed into Riley's door. `` RILEY! Get yer ass out here.'' He'd try the handle next. She had started locked the door now. He would n't like that. Riley kept typing. Cursing a typo, she backspaced about half of what she wrote. She had to finish this. This one would be it. Nothing else would matter once she had her story. Just one reply. 
 
 The doorknob jiggled. `` You...'' her father's voice sounded confused at first, `` YOU B**** DO N'T YOU EVER DARE TO LOCK YOUR DOOR ON ME.'' Tears were streaming down Riley's face as she typed the last couple words into the prompt. 
 
 `` A period. You need a period, stupid.'' She was talking to herself again. She did n't care. A colossal crack shook the air and Riley's door flew off its hinges. Splinters flew everywhere falling like sharp needles against Riley's back. Her father's hulking figure stood silhouetted in the wan light of the hallway. Riley's hand flew to the mouse as he stalked toward her. The alcohol that she knew would be there permeated the air with his every breath. His hand enclosed her wrist like a vice. `` Yer coming with me RIGHT NOW.'' 
 
 `` Ow! Stop! Father, please.'' One hand was all she needed, one second was all she wanted. Just as the mouse hovered over the submit button he pulled. Her hand slipped. Did it click? Riley was n't sure. `` NOOOOOOOO, father no, please stop!'' He ignored her, dragging her frantically sobbing from the room like a disobedient dog. As her sobs faded with the creaking of the stairs, Riley's computer screen lit up and changed. When it resolved, there was a single new empty thread. A writing prompt titled, `` [ WP ] A father knocks on his daughter's door with a surprise.''
