Pretty

"So, we're all agreed about the new firebreaks? We'll cut two new roads through the forest, which should help prevent any fires from spreading."

"One more thing," said the ranger. "We must visit the dryads first and ask their permission."

"Dryads? Spirits of the trees?"

"Yes. They've been protecting the forest for thousands of years."

"Won't they oppose cutting down any trees at all?"

"Don't be silly. They'll tell us which trees we are allowed to cut down." The ranger looked around the room at the surprised faces. "Ignoring them is how we got into this mess."

#wss366 #visit #microfiction #environment

The Carolina wren is supposed to say "teakettle teakettle teakettle" but the one out my window seems to be yelling "chocolate-y chocolate-y chocolate-y."

Wish I had some of what it's eating!

RE: https://mastodon.social/@levelbot/117106791837173707

Seems low...

Hurricane Lala keeps on making me think of @stevendbrewer and his Better Angels.

https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-tropical-storm-lala-hurricane-0c3d63c8a87943cdf8d57c530a7ed9d0

Nick was helping his dad pick out a birthday card for his grandmother. One said "Happy Birthday & Many Happy #Returns of the Day."

Nick frowned.

"The day's going to return no matter what. What this should say is, 'Happy birthday and I hope you're around for lots more of your birthdays.'"

"That's basically what it means."

"Then why doesn't it say so?"

In the face of his dad's pained silence, Nick declared, "I'm going to make one that says what it really means."

#wss366 #microfiction

#WordWeavers 14 Aug: Which fictional setting of yours would you most like to visit?

I would love to visit them all, so I'll just pick one: the floating community of Mermaid's Hands.

"Always a problem with a new pair of glasses," I said, closing one eye at a time. "The dominant eye takes to them easily, the other one not so much."

"Mm-hm," said the cyclops.

"Oh, sorry! I forget sometimes."

"A singleton of glass," said the cyclops.

"What's that?" I was puzzled.

"If I had poor eyesight. I wouldn't wear a pair of glasses, just a singleton of glass."

"I love it! That could also be our band name, if we ever started one. And you'd be on the poster wearing glasses. Or rather, wearing glass. I wonder if people would get it."

#wss366 #dominant #microfiction

Amber was telling Dustin about just-in-time delivery and logistics, which was the focus of one of her B-school classes.

From the moment he heard the phrase, Dustin was off on mental tangent, musing on whether "just in time" could have a different meaning. Maybe it could mean being #just in your allocation of time--spending time with those who need it. Or being just in a timely manner--justice undelayed.

"Hey! Are you listening?"

Dustin came back to the moment & nodded.

#wss366 #microfiction

"Babe, I love you so much! I would die for you!"

"Just what every girl wants to hear…" she said sarcastically, pulling a face.

"Babe, what's wrong?"

"I don't want you to die for me! I don't want you to die at all."

"So…"

"Would you live for me?"

"Absolutely! Babe, I love you and I would definitely live for you!"

"Aww… you say the sweetest things. I love you too!"

#wss366 #just #microfiction

"The secret service told me to hide in the catering cart for my own safety," he said, wiping sauce off his cheek.

Flashes flashed as reporters nodded in admiration. Several raised their hands asking questions all at once.

"Yes, you, with the blond beard. You look safe."

"Did the secret service also ask you to tell everyone about the threat so you could #capitalise on it, trying to look brave?"

"No, that was my own idea. It was the best idea ever."

#wss366 #capitalize #microfiction #OrIsIt?

An economist and a billionaire were watching children playing ice cream stand. Trowels of dirt in Dixie cups made chocolate ice cream, gardening lime made vanilla. "These are sprinkles," one kid said, tearing up flower petals and scattering them over the cups.

"Those kids are under #capitalized," remarked the economist. "With a little investment they could have actual ice cream to sell."

"Nah, they're perfect," said the billionaire. "Feed the public dirt and lime."

#wss366 #microfiction

More about the song:

#Brazil #Brasil #songs #GeraldoVandré

https://asakiyume.dreamwidth.org/976119.html

"Vem, vamos embora, que esperar não é #saber / Quem sabe faz a hora, não espera acontecer." Fidelia was singing along with an old anthem from the years of Brazil's dictatorship.

"Whoa, whoa," said the Enforcers, breaking through the wall of Fidelia's room. "The #wss366 word prompts are in English. Today's is saber, a kind of sword."

Fidelia produced a printout with text in 6-point. "I don't find anything about English-only in the TOS."

#microfiction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkEGNgib2Yw&t=225s

#WordWeavers 9 Aug: What's the smallest detail you've researched for a story?

How those earpieces work that security personnel, etc. use.

#ScribesAndMakers 8 Aug: Polymorphous?

Of a sort...

"Before my eyes a thicket of fernlike organisms pushed out of the ground and uncurled, a fierce, bright green. A lacy network of fungus, magenta shading to violet, erupted from the ferns’ stems. The ferns disintegrated but the fungus veil remained, clear liquid oozing from the filaments of the net ... then those clear globules detached themselves and ... exploded into something like brine shrimp, which fell to the ground, and—"

"Here's 10 shillings for you, Ab, and 10 for you, Benji."

"But, Gran, I'm older!" Abernathy complained. "I should get more money."

"Yes, you're the older brother. You'll probably die before Benji does."

Abernathy looked terrified and Benjamin laughed.

"I'm going to spend all of mine on sweets!" Benjamin declared.

"You'll get fat, lose your teeth, and probably develop diabetes. Then you will probably die first," Gran said.

Father came home and both boys ran up to him, crying.

"Gran says we're going to die!"

"Oh, dear. That's not something to worry about for a long, long time. I'll tell you what: who wants ice cream?"

Benji sobbed. "I don't wanna get fat and have dibeebees and die!"

"What?! Ma, what have you been telling the boys? They're so upset!"

"Just a bit of sweet tooth control. You'll thank me some day."

"No, scaring them like that is not OK! It's a matter of principle."

"You might not remember, but it worked on you!"

#wss366 #principle #microfiction

The Museum of Money was housed in a centuries-old villa. On display within were examples of everything that had ever been used as currency in the land now going by the name "Republic of the Dawn": mica chits, mussel shells, and silver wafers, all from the ancient period, and heavy coins of gold, silver, and bronze with names like #sovereigns, nobles, and yeomans from the colonial period.Then, in the modern era, paper notes with--for history's sake--flakes of mica in them.

#wss366 #microfiction

#WordWeavers 6 Aug: If your villain had to spend a day with your hero, what would happen?

I'm imagining in most stories with a hero and a villain, they do spend ~some~ time together and that it can get pretty intense. Climactic, even. But could they spend time together w/out sparks flying?

In the last thing I wrote with a hero and villain, you'd have to change the villain's status and situation a whole lot to make it be that he'd spend a day with the hero. It would be un-fun but uneventful.

#WordWeavers 5 Aug: What object in your story has more significance than readers realize?

A remembrance token.