This is a submission for 
's WRITERS' BLOCK CONTEST PROMPT
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The prompt: Write a 500-word story about a character whose flaws make them a less-than-ideal protagonist, yet they go on to achieve some form of greatness despite being “written off” by everyone who knows them. This is a complex theme, and word count is minimal, so this is quite a challenge. I will be looking for someone who can bring this theme across effectively and efficiently.
To Change the Future
(story preview only)
Author notes:
-Writing a decent story in 500 words is hard.
-This story is based on the struggles of a family member, and trying to convey that struggle in 500 words or less was difficult, but the value of that limit in forcing the writer to focus on the purpose and value of every word is significant.
-This base concept of this story was written in a much longer format for a contest some time ago, so in hindsight it felt like it was actually harder to pare that down than it might have been to simply start over, since so much of it had to be rewritten.