A trolley is hurtling down a track and there are five people tied to the track in its path. You know the trolley will kill them if it is not stopped, but your only available course of action is to divert it down another track, which has only one person tied down to it. Do you divert the trolley to save five lives instead of one? Should you still save the five people instead of one? If not, what is the difference between the two scenarios? Or should she be.

A sounding board for sanity. Is the Free Market Dead? Am I Missing Something? An invitation to travel. Apparently, the free market is dead. It seems it was an unceremonious end to a good long run. I have to say the ensuing eulogy is a little embarrassing. I fear what would be adequate.

Paragraph Planet is a creative writing website which has been publishing one 75-word paragraph every day since November 2008. Famous authors, aspiring writers and occasional dabblers have all got involved, submitting a mixture of twist-in-the-tale flash fiction, evocative short, short fiction, openings of published novels or brief moments captured. You can read over 1600 examples in the archive.