The message from the stars was very long and complex, but contained instructions how to decode and parse it incrementally.
There was an image, of a very cute furry creature. And a text, which loosely translated said:
"Send cat pics please!'
Píp the cat was intently watching a school of fish dancing in the water under the quay while she listened to Ból's stories of the forests of Dimkarat. Their voice existed only for her and did not disturb the fish, so she did not mind.
We could just take a quick look, we'd be back by dinner. Ból said, while intently watching all the fish in the harbor. The voice in Pip's head was drenched in hope and excitement.
"You said it's thousands of tree-lengths away?" Píp looked up, confused.
Yes, in this realm it is, but we are not bound here. There was a smidge of uncertainty in the words.
"Bóóól..." Píp's tail began to twitch.
See, you are now very much like me. Certainty. But you are young. Young for a cat, very young for a spirit. These last words felt incomplete.
"...aaaaand?"
Well, you are a cat. Which makes everything they hesitated more interesting.
"Back by dinner, you say." Píp cocked her head. "Solifan bought fish yesterday, and since he doesn't eat meat, it's going to be good dinner."
Ooooh, have I told you of the river trout? Images of rushing water and rainbow scales came with the voice.
Píp's ears stood attention and her pupils grew.
"Fresh fish, now we're talking. So how do we get there?"
Today, 2035-02-01 the CEOs of Amazon-X, Sir Weyland and the CEO of Apple-Tata, Mr. Yutani, announced the biggest ever fusion of corporate power and decided to call the new global conglomerate The Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Their main goal is to mine the asteroid belt to garantuee energy and rare metals to Earth, the moon and Mars. Governments all over the three worlds congratulated them and expressed their willingness to support.
Píp the cat was intently watching a school of fish dancing in the water under the quay while she listened to Ból's stories of the forests of Dimkarat. Their voice existed only for her and did not disturb the fish, so she did not mind.
We could just take a quick look, we'd be back by dinner. Ból said, while intently watching all the fish in the harbor. The voice in Pip's head was drenched in hope and excitement.
"You said it's thousands of tree-lengths away?" Píp looked up, confused.
Yes, in this realm it is, but we are not bound here. There was a smidge of uncertainty in the words.
"Bóóól..." Píp's tail began to twitch.
See, you are now very much like me. Certainty. But you are young. Young for a cat, very young for a spirit. These last words felt incomplete.
"...aaaaand?"
Well, you are a cat. Which makes everything they hesitated more interesting.
"Back by dinner, you say." Píp cocked her head. "Solifan bought fish yesterday, and since he doesn't eat meat, it's going to be good dinner."
Ooooh, have I told you of the river trout? Images of rushing water and rainbow scales came with the voice.
Píp's ears stood attention and her pupils grew.
"Fresh fish, now we're talking. So how do we get there?"
Píp the cat was patrolling the rooftops of the city, stopping occasionally when something caught her eye. With her was, as always, Ból, the forest spirit.
You should tell him. Ból's words manifested in Píp's mind and carried a feeling of urgency.
"But he loves me as he knows me." Píp's tail twitched. "I don't want anything to change right now." She was now perched on the edge of a roof, watching the busy street below.
Ból filled the air around her and Píp arched her back, her hair standing up.
"I won't fall." she hissed. "Not again."
Sometimes it's not in your hand. Ból gave her space.
"I've thought about it, you know?" Píp's gaze returned to the street. "Could you take it back? Make me as I was?"
Yes, I can. Do you want me to? It would be like nothing ever happened. The words were tinged with an anticipation of sadness.
"No. Never. I'm perfect."
That's such a cat thing to say.
#Wss366 Redundant #MastoPrompt Lung #ScribesAndMakers Hogwash
I was definitely tripping. Wings? Feathers? I’d been dosed!
The world was full of psychedelic colors, some of which I couldn't identify. The sidewalk wasn't flat anymore. It was layered and cross-hatched with patterns and shadows that I had walked over a thousand times without ever truly seeing. The witch’s vial rolled lazily, a drop of liquid still in it—its taste bitter on my tongue.
Meaning flooded me. The shiny wrapper fluttering in the wind: sweetness clinging to foil. The neighbor—I already knew her: yelling, sudden hands, jerky steps that cut the air wrong. Her form shrieked like a warning siren.
She seemed to offer me a bag of treats: nasty-yellow; awful-gritty-browns; tasty-soggy-golden-flakes; yummy-meat-hollow bones.
It was #hogwash! Best to stay away. I didn’t decide that. I just knew.
None of it was #redundant: motion-sight, all saturated with meaning.
I was in the air before I knew it: Threat-Motion-Arm! I filled my lungs and let out a warning screech so that everyone would know. “Warning, Bad lady!”
I was free of the earth. “Caw, caw,” I cried. “I’m here!”
#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy
Today, 2035-02-01 the CEOs of Amazon-X, Sir Weyland and the CEO of Apple-Tata, Mr. Yutani, announced the biggest ever fusion of corporate power and decided to call the new global conglomerate The Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Their main goal is to mine the asteroid belt to garantuee energy and rare metals to Earth, the moon and Mars. Governments all over the three worlds congratulated them and expressed their willingness to support.
Píp the cat was patrolling the rooftops of the city, stopping occasionally when something caught her eye. With her was, as always, Ból, the forest spirit.
You should tell him. Ból's words manifested in Píp's mind and carried a feeling of urgency.
"But he loves me as he knows me." Píp's tail twitched. "I don't want anything to change right now." She was now perched on the edge of a roof, watching the busy street below.
Ból filled the air around her and Píp arched her back, her hair standing up.
"I won't fall." she hissed. "Not again."
Sometimes it's not in your hand. Ból gave her space.
"I've thought about it, you know?" Píp's gaze returned to the street. "Could you take it back? Make me as I was?"
Yes, I can. Do you want me to? It would be like nothing ever happened. The words were tinged with an anticipation of sadness.
"No. Never. I'm perfect."
That's such a cat thing to say.
"I will not let you out, you lost your guardian charm again!" Solifan the wizard crouched beside Píp the cat and tried to stroke her, which made her flee under the wardrobe. She would be cleaning cobwebs and dust from her coat for days. Solifan sighed and sat on the floor. The worst part was when she gave up, sad and defeated.
Then the yowling started.
The worst part was when the yowling started.
"Spirits guide me." he whispered, giving the words a tiny bit of power. He let his head fall back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. Strong, wooden planks made up the bulk of it. The building had been masterfully crafted, using the wood-grain like art to draw strong lines across the surface.
"Too bad that they are all dead." Solifan's eyes traced the lines, while Píp cried.
Memories of other dead wood crept to the surface. Whole forests, splintered and broken, drained of life, just to feed a war machine. Echoes of anger made his hands clench. He remembered the pride of standing up for something meaningful for the first time.
And he remembered a name.
Ból
It was the kind of audacious idea that can make a fortune. Combine a widely loved concept with a just as widely loved item. What could go wrong?
Pre-opening sign-ups filled up in minutes.
In practice, though, they couldn't make the cat library work.
"They won't stay on the shelves."
#Wss366 caravan #MastoPrompt quaint
I sat on the porch of my #caravan—that’s what my best friend Rebekka-san calls it. She's a #quaint little British witch—and thought about what I was going to do with my life. In the background, the radio played an old "America" song, “A Horse with No Name.”
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert, you can’t remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
“Wish it was me,” I thought.
My girlfriend dumped me because her parents didn’t like her dating a foreigner, especially another girl. College had been a bust. I had three degrees and a prodigious student loan debt, but no job prospects. All the places I’d considered working had been closed due to funding shortages or had hiring freezes. Outside of academia, who needed someone with degrees in medieval studies, Asian mythology, and mystic psychology? The last degree was from Antioch—a roll-your-own degree—and when people saw it, they said, “What the fuck?” Maybe not exactly, but words to that effect.
I felt like ending it all. Enough said.
In my hand was a vial given to me by Rebekka-san’s friend Abiru-san. She was a real joker, so I assumed the vial was one of her pranks. You know, something like castor oil or gall. "Drink this if you reach the end of your rope," she’d said, laughing. But maybe it wasn’t a joke—she was a witch after all.
“Ugh, that was…” I started but finished with, “Crickey crack.”
What had just happened? Had it frozen my vocal cords?
The world looked funny. What was in this stuff?
Holy shit! Black feathers!
Was it a hallucinogen? Acid!?
I must be tripping my brains out. I had wings!
#Wss366 Redundant #MastoPrompt Lung #ScribesAndMakers Hogwash
I was definitely tripping. Wings? Feathers? I’d been dosed!
The world was full of psychedelic colors, some of which I couldn't identify. The sidewalk wasn't flat anymore. It was layered and cross-hatched with patterns and shadows that I had walked over a thousand times without ever truly seeing. The witch’s vial rolled lazily, a drop of liquid still in it—its taste bitter on my tongue.
Meaning flooded me. The shiny wrapper fluttering in the wind: sweetness clinging to foil. The neighbor—I already knew her: yelling, sudden hands, jerky steps that cut the air wrong. Her form shrieked like a warning siren.
She seemed to offer me a bag of treats: nasty-yellow; awful-gritty-browns; tasty-soggy-golden-flakes; yummy-meat-hollow bones.
It was #hogwash! Best to stay away. I didn’t decide that. I just knew.
None of it was #redundant: motion-sight, all saturated with meaning.
I was in the air before I knew it: Threat-Motion-Arm! I filled my lungs and let out a warning screech so that everyone would know. “Warning, Bad lady!”
I was free of the earth. “Caw, caw,” I cried. “I’m here!”
#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy
It was the kind of audacious idea that can make a fortune. Combine a widely loved concept with a just as widely loved item. What could go wrong?
Pre-opening sign-ups filled up in minutes.
In practice, though, they couldn't make the cat library work.
"They won't stay on the shelves."
"I will not let you out, you lost your guardian charm again!" Solifan the wizard crouched beside Píp the cat and tried to stroke her, which made her flee under the wardrobe. She would be cleaning cobwebs and dust from her coat for days. Solifan sighed and sat on the floor. The worst part was when she gave up, sad and defeated.
Then the yowling started.
The worst part was when the yowling started.
"Spirits guide me." he whispered, giving the words a tiny bit of power. He let his head fall back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. Strong, wooden planks made up the bulk of it. The building had been masterfully crafted, using the wood-grain like art to draw strong lines across the surface.
"Too bad that they are all dead." Solifan's eyes traced the lines, while Píp cried.
Memories of other dead wood crept to the surface. Whole forests, splintered and broken, drained of life, just to feed a war machine. Echoes of anger made his hands clench. He remembered the pride of standing up for something meaningful for the first time.
And he remembered a name.
Ból
"The Dark Lord has taken over our land. What do we do?"
"Learn from the goblins."
"What? Those useless little-"
"Takes skill to mask rebellion as incompetence."
"What?"
"They know His reign will end. For now, they persist and resist."
"Oh."
"Also: remember every moment of joy is a victory."
#Wss366 caravan #MastoPrompt quaint
I sat on the porch of my #caravan—that’s what my best friend Rebekka-san calls it. She's a #quaint little British witch—and thought about what I was going to do with my life. In the background, the radio played an old "America" song, “A Horse with No Name.”
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert, you can’t remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
“Wish it was me,” I thought.
My girlfriend dumped me because her parents didn’t like her dating a foreigner, especially another girl. College had been a bust. I had three degrees and a prodigious student loan debt, but no job prospects. All the places I’d considered working had been closed due to funding shortages or had hiring freezes. Outside of academia, who needed someone with degrees in medieval studies, Asian mythology, and mystic psychology? The last degree was from Antioch—a roll-your-own degree—and when people saw it, they said, “What the fuck?” Maybe not exactly, but words to that effect.
I felt like ending it all. Enough said.
In my hand was a vial given to me by Rebekka-san’s friend Abiru-san. She was a real joker, so I assumed the vial was one of her pranks. You know, something like castor oil or gall. "Drink this if you reach the end of your rope," she’d said, laughing. But maybe it wasn’t a joke—she was a witch after all.
“Ugh, that was…” I started but finished with, “Crickey crack.”
What had just happened? Had it frozen my vocal cords?
The world looked funny. What was in this stuff?
Holy shit! Black feathers!
Was it a hallucinogen? Acid!?
I must be tripping my brains out. I had wings!
