5. No Redemption for the Wicked There's a fair degree of classical inspiration in this short story. If it feels wordy and preachy, that is because it is. Stories such as Les Misérables and The Death of Ivan Ilyich were foundations for this short. I wanted to try something a different bit from my more extravagant set pieces and just have a down to earth, human tale. Though, I do hope I wrote something a bit easy to wade through than the classics, they are ultimately good books but they tend to act as fair evidence that people didn't have a lot to do with their time back in the day. The prompt that helped inspire this story came from Pirates of the Caribbean. Not quite what you could call an example of classical writing, but honestly some of the themes of morality and such strike chords with those century old works. This is also the first cover that diverges from the mould I was setting up and remains one of my favourites. I especially like how the scales alter the judges silhouette. Prompt: 5. One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness. Though it seems enough to condemn him. "Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean"