Today's #flashfiction A Simple Duty

“And they lived happily ever after.”

Steven King* #quote

      Today I read about graphene, something science calls a “wonder material”. It does all sorts of neat things. It's graphite that's at an atomic scale. (Like atoms thin). However unlike most things that are atom-thin, this can be made at room temperature easy. You can do it with a pencil and some scotch tape. Like right now. Do it yourself nano-materials. You just put the graphite on the middle of the scotch tape and keep sticking it together and pulling it apart until it gets thinner and thinner. Maybe I'll make some of the stuff and do something with it.

A Simple Duty

          The dragon hunched over the old book and adjusted his glasses. After so many centuries of guarding it you'd think he'd care. But he didn't care about the book or the magic words inside, only for the the wizard who entrusted it to him. The man in the dusty old red robes who raised him from when he hatched. The wizard who protected him from trolls and taught him how to breath fire. To the dragon the book only had the value the wizard gave to it. The wizard used his magic to look into the future to see that it would be used to save all the twenty kingdoms from a great evil, so he wrote down every spell he knew and told the dragon to guard the book for ten and a half centuries then seek out someone to use the book to save the twenty kingdoms. The dragon thought of burning the book several times over the centuries with his own fiery breath, or just destroying this evil himself. Or ignoring the problem altogether, after all the only human he cared for was the wizard. But despite his own wishes, he preserved the book for all those years and when the time was finally right, left his home to do the errand of delivering it to who needed it to save the twenty kingdoms. After that the dragon felt he paid back all he owed to the wizard and flew off with sharp-toothed grin to his own reptilian life.

Today's #flashfiction The Used Wand Salesman

“Remember to think of other people's point of views.”

M.C. Escher* #quote

         Today I invited CJ over for the weekend and he could be comin' over but it's not certain. Anyhow onto the flash fiction!

The Used Wand Salesman

         “Now this wand is the one for you. I can tell just by looking at you, you've got taste.” I fed my customer's ego. Part of being a wand salesman was analyzing and psychologically profiling your patrons. Wizards are forced to sign magical contracts with demons and other creatures so they've each developed their own methods of avoiding being persuaded. So naturally a good salesman has to look at each customer and figure out the best way to do it. Then also they need to work a bit at being friendly with the customer before using those specific methods. I did some general showing of goods and allowed the man to mull over things awhile before starting my own pitch. Wizards are used to eager, soul-stealin' demons. Be patient and convince them your on their side.

         The customer looked at me his cheap, brown tipped hat bobbing over as he looked at it on the counter. He wore cheap robes but I noticed expensive magic rings on him. I thought of him as two things: A thief or penny pincher master wizard. Spell components and other things for magic tend to be expensive so experienced wizards tended to run on the cheap.

        I nodded. “Yes, it is very stylish, still fresh with power, and the price point is great for any budget.” I saw the man's eyes light up. I adjusted my expensive hat into a straight position and padded my expensive robes straight. My robes glistened with costly enchantments strewn through their blue fabric. I wanted to subconsciously project some envy onto the customer. He wanted to save gold, but I needed to increase his already present want to be more classy than his already tattered cheap robes.

       “I'll take it,” the customer said to me. Another satisfied customer. Though coming in he may just have wanted something extremely cheap, I made sure he wanted an upgrade in class and strength by the end of his shopping experience. He left happy, his purchase in hand.  

Today's #flashfiction The One Constant

“The taste is our eleven secret herbs and spices.”

George Hormel* #quote

       Today my friend Jessica will be coming over today. We'll probably be playing a game calling a game called Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, an adventure game where you go through dungeons and various lands adventurer-style. There are items you find and use to solve the puzzles, for example the boomerangs or magic gloves of strength to lift boulders. Though with the more dangerous items, the fire wand or bombs being the primary ones, we usually hurt ourselves a lot before we manage to solve the puzzle. We'd make terrible adventurers. At least we got using the swords down. Simply put the pointy end in the monster. Actually no, to tell you the truth we actually hit each other with our swords too.

The One Constant

        People navigate through landmarks. The mental map of the world existed as dead forest with each understood landmark as a tall, living tree with many leaves of their own unique colors of information to provide reference and direction.

       In the area of Sunset High things always changed. The school hit a mix of people of various classes, middle, low and very high, due to the unique spot where it lay in the city. It remodeled often over the years as the richer families donated to it frequently. Same thing to the park adjacent to the school.

        One thing stayed a constant landmark for everyone in the school. An old vending machine. The machine was bought at the founding of the school. It sat in a middle area of the school where all the odd hallways come together and the back doors along with front doors of several areas of the school appear. The sort of area where an architect compromises design to make everything else perfect. The vending machine allowed everyone to find their bearings both in this odd spot, and being the only constant over all the remodels, often it became the universal way to give directions even to new students.

         Though the remodels made the school look new, the vending machine reminded people how old the school was. The fifty year old machine still reliably clunked out it's beverages, though it had a long history of support. Before the school received any remodels during the early years of the school the teachers repaired the machine themselves. The shop teachers worked on it, or teachers called in family to help with it. The art teachers restored the paint on it themselves, though it still looked aged after a good painting since they couldn't quite get that factory look.

         A foolish freshman scrawled some graffiti on the vending machine. Some seniors caught him in the act and he found himself in a special brand of trouble. It took the art teacher an hour to paint over the graffiti.

        After eighty years of loyal service the machine's mechanisms failed beyond repair. However they didn't replace it in any of the remodels, or place another machine next to it. A simple, tiny “out of order sticker” went over the coin slot and they kept it there through all the following remodels. It kept being a guide for everyone until the day the school closed.

Today's #flashfiction Seahigh's Treasure

“You're the sunshine of my life.”

Dracula* #quote

Today I'll be going to the Salmon Dinner, a charity event held by the Lions Club and now in memory of my grandfather as he was member who spent a lot of time volunteer and working with the club and did cooking for the dinner when he was alive. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Seahigh's Treasure

          Captain Seahigh placed his hook on the roof of the treasure chest and pulled it down. He kept digging into the wood again and again while gritting his teeth. He kept looking through the contents of the chest, turning them over and over again with his flesh hand. As time went further on he became angrier and he dug his hook hand deeper.

            “Somethin' wrong Captain?” A crewman asked. Normally whenever they found loot the captain would turn around holding a piece of it his hand while swiping his hook through his long white hair while working to look like an elegant noble. This time he turned around and threw the loot on the ground with no elegance.

             Captain Seahigh yelled, “Three months sailing for this!” he pointed at the pile of paper he threw on the ground. “The whole thing is filled with paper! And it's all gibberish.” He then ordered them to bury the chest back underground for “some other unlucky pirate to find” and decided to sail off. Captain Seahigh didn't quite understand the nature of his treasure, as the chest had contained the stash of valuable and ancient documents and papers a scholar had been hiding that had been illegally taken from places. They would have been worth much more than their weight in gold.

Today's #flashfiction Their Misfortune

“His bark is worse than his bite.”

Tron* #quote

Today I founded the imaginary country of Langdople in my mind. We have very large tariffs on imported goods so it might be difficult to price your wares competitively in in Langdople. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Their Misfortune

         The streets filled with panic. The first few predictions were written off as wizards messing up, or faulty crystal balls. But when every single wizard used prediction magic to forecast the upcoming day pure darkness appeared. Though usually only able to be vague and preciseness a little difficult to pull off, even the most inexperienced wizard could get a glimpse of the future by using the crystal balls magical ability commune with the beings of the Spirit World. Usually people managed to use it to predict the weather. And according to all the crystal balls across the world the weather would be endless storms of rain, thunder and magical fire. Wizards all over wondered why couldn't they get a warning of such a large scale disaster from the Spirit World earlier.

       The answer had nothing to with the crystal balls or the wizards. The creatures of the Spirit World just wanted to try this “pranking” thing that the humans did so often and decided to send a scary message of a fake apocalypse. That'd be good for a laugh right?  

Today's #flashfiction A Well Timed Argument

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Nikola Tesla* #quote

Today I went out to lunch with my family, it was scrumptious. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

A Well Timed Argument

          The clock maker's assistant, Tom, watched his boss and a customer argue over a matter of business.

          “It is a simple matter, pick up your watch tomorrow at eleven in the morning.” The clockmaker said. Tom recognized the same angry tone his boss always took when finding something unreasonable in his eyes.

           The customer replied, “Well how can I pick up my watch when I can't tell what time it is? I have no clocks! That's why I'm having you make one.”

            The clock maker grew frustrated. “That shouldn't be my problem! And I don't loan out merchandise just so you can pick up some later.”

The customer pouted like a child, “I am not waiting around your store.”

“I wouldn't want you lurking around it for hours on end.” The clockmaker hated the idea of someone in his store without any more money to spend.

            Tom gave a suggestion, “Since you'll have the watch done by eleven how about he just comes at twilight? That means you'll know when to get his clock out and he'll know when to come.”

             His boss and the customer nodded. “Makes sense,” said the clockmaker. That would be the sixth argument the clock maker's assistant resolved today between his employer and a customer. He wondered how many it would be tomorrow.

Today's #flashfiction The Songs Of The Cliff

“Nobody is better than anyone else.”

Superman* #quote

Today I read my palm. It was a wanted ad for work at a pizza joint. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Songs of the Cliff

        I'm sitting on a cliff right now overlooking the ocean seagulls flying left and right. Oh what you think I'm here to do something dangerous? No I'm here almost everyday. To play songs. Songs I don't even know. I'm holding my violin now propping it up on my shoulder and playing. These songs I don't know? I can never know them until I play them. I'm not even reading them from a paper either. I'm just making them up as I go along. I'm not mentally composing them either. They just come to me as I sit on this cliff. I wonder if they come to me from the sound of the wind or the beating of the waves or maybe even the noises of the seagulls. They are always good melodies. Consistent and clean. I wonder if I should write them down. Sometimes people watch me preform. I don't mind them. I don't demand payment either. I just ask them to be quiet so I can have my little cliff. I live in a small town though so I don't get much attention. Today though something different happened. A wonderfully pretty girl my age walked up and sat down next to me on the cliff.

        “May I play with you?” she asked, holding out her own violin.

        “Certainly.” I responded.

        And we played together. Somehow the same songs I came up with came to her head and we were in perfect synch. We played together till the late afternoon. My usual stopping time. At that time we exchanged names. She told me she had heard of me and asked if we could play together the next day. We did and we kept playing together day after day. We stayed silent as we played but at the end of each afternoon we told each other more and more about each other. And over time we bonded more and more.

       And eventually a time came and we wed on that very cliff our violins in hand.

Today's #flashfiction The Pawn's Glory

“Burn baby, burn.”

Prometheus* #quote

Over the past few days my family has been gradually working on a Sonic the Hedgehog jigsaw puzzle. It is actually proving more difficult than a normal one since it isn't the standard “box shape” where the corners just be put there and worked inward. It's in the shape of the character and has 200 pieces. We're makin' progress bit by bit. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Pawn's Glory

         In some games there are members of the team that are meant to never contribute much. Living the life of a pawn I don't get any glory. The most I've ever done is taken out a bishop once or twice. Me and the other pawns are just walls. I've seen some of the other ones on the board do the same in taking out bigger pieces. One of the black pawns across from me took a queen once. That's the most I've ever seen a pawn do.

        Though one time my team of white and our familiar opposing team was used in a chess tournament held in a clear night sky. Out the window I saw a shooting star. I wished on it that I could have glory of a greater piece, at least once.

Today's #flashfiction The Tin Men

“No soliciting.”

Sauron* #quote

         Today I read some comics I bought at the convention our club hosted(we did have several vendors). I enjoyed them and they were very well written. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Tin Men

         Stray magic tends to gravitate towards tin. And when enough of it fills a can and that can, now enchanted with the gift of movement, moves towards more cans. These cans collect and form bodies of their own. Stacking on each other like a child placing building blocks on each other they create tin bodies. These creatures, like the people they imitate, migrate to meet each other. Packs form and they live their tin lives until their magic drains or some ailment of the metal takes them, like rust.

         The garbage collectors don't tell you their secret, that they take the bodies of these tin things and recycle them. After all, the scrap from these creatures is better re-used then left to damage the Earth.            The tin people try to manage to create some sort of tombstone for the ones that pass away, a little thing from the dumpster they came from might do. Some memento to mark the life of a fallen tin man.  

Today's #flashfiction Begin With Disaster

“Totally radical dude.”

Leonardo Da Vinci* #quote

Today I volunteered at our convention since I went to enjoy myself yesterday. I had fun volunteering too, fortunately the work wasn't massively hard, the club heads really got it working well. This is the second year. It was hilarious when the Security staff(we did actually have security guys not part of our club doing security) were checking the prop weapons of one cosplayer that was doing a mercenary character. He had like twenty different props for them to check. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Begin With Disaster

       The air of the Earth boiled. Flames erupted from the ground as lava covered the planet. A string of meteors spun into the planet and merged into it while large chunks of it broke apart and fell back in. No day passed without a storm of smoke filling the air.

       The story of Earth did not end with this string of cataclysmic fires. Rather when the lava cooled and the last meteors arrived with the moon forming in the sky the tale of the Earth began. Life would form on the young planet and its chapters would truly unfold.

Today's #flashfiction The Many Lives Of The Protagonist

“Animals are people too.”

Duck Dynasty* #quote

Today I went to the convention thingie so woo! Much fun was had. Also I've added a link to the facebook page and a doo-dad to share posts through facebook. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Many Lives Of The Protagonist

        Wallace starred in a bestselling novel that filled the bookshelves quickly and jumped off them just as fast. Many, many readers encountered Wallace while their eyes rode the pages. And for every reader a different Wallace emerged.

         The author described Wallace as a beautiful man with silky black hair and soft chocolate skin. The character worked as a lawyer with a fancy suit and tie and professional stride. He smiled softly but never weakly.

         From just this first description a different Wallace emerged. When thinking of the hair each reader had seen different silks through their lives and imagined different applications of it to create a texture of hair. For the blackness of hair, so many blacks existed in the world, the reader could apply any number of the many versions they'd seen on people they'd met or create a new version in their mind. Would the chocolate they thought of to describe his skin be some they recently saw in a commercial or saw in a candy store? Each reader also applied their own concept to create their fancy suits and what it meant for a professional stride. And what to someone was a soft smile or a weak one?

        Then each Wallace for each reader's perception would be born again and again and change again and again. As the novel went on each and every one of his actions changed him and also could be interpreted in many different ways for each reader. The words of the author mutated in the mind of the reader to make it so that no novel made the same protagonist emerge. There was never one Wallace.

        Later the novel became translated into other languages and sold abroad...

Today's #flashfiction Generally Speaking

“It's hammer time!”

Bob the Builder* #quote

Tomorrow I'll be going to the convention my club is hosting, on Saturday to just enjoy myself and familiarize myself with where they placed everything(due to my sickness I don't really know where they put everything) and also to hang out with at first my parents in the early part of the day(they are interested in seeing the thing) and later my friend Jessica. Sunday, the second day of the convention, is when I plan to spend my time volunteering.

Generally Speaking

          The world of wizards enjoyed conquering other worlds. One after the other parallel universes fell. When other Earth's encountered magic they fell. However one Earth managed to prove stubborn. An Earth that advanced in technology. Most Earth's didn't even reach the telephone. And a telephone conversation between two generals now took place on that advanced Earth.

         “We could speak with magic,” said Fayal, the general of magic. He hated awkwardly holding phones up to head.

          Danson, the an American replied, “I don't trust your magical communication. We won't be negotiating your surrender over magic.”

          Fayal found his words offensive. The world of wizards never lost. Magic Earth never lost. Magic allowed him to learn languages so he'd learned this Earth's languages quickly, at least this parallel Earth's versions. Halonic was English here. Very similar but different in several ways.

          “Why would you think that?”

           Danson explained to the wizard, “People here have tried to take over the world. Our own people. They managed to build empires with alliances and conquering. You just attacked everyone. And we're all against you. You even went after the Swiss. You were stupid enough to go right after the Swiss.”

           Fayal laughed, “We've been fighting for a week with little opposition and now you're threatening me? Our wizards are paired with dragons, zombies, goblins, and even more.”

           “You need to surrender because now we've been giving orders to deploy by the politicians. You see that's the thing with people. When we have one common enemy we unite. To not understand this you must have fought some very weak people in the past. Or at least people without long distance communication.”

            Fayal didn't back down and World War III ended with a swift powerful strike from all the nations in the world against the hordes of the armies of magic. Before the world of wizards could prepare for an opponent of such power they were defeated. As Fayal did a final retreat he remembered all the weak Earth's he conquered, places with weak technology and a lack of unity. His hubris made him assume all places would fall as easily. The world of wizards never attacked another Earth fearing losing another war and possibly being conquered in return.

Today's #flashfiction Rainbow Bank

“It's like comparing apples and oranges.”

James Dole* #quote

Went to my costuming club and much fun was had. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Rainbow Bank

       A fairy in a suit rode the rainbow to meet the leprechaun. The leprechaun tipped his green hat and smiled. They both stood on a cloud along with a large black pot. Magic passed down from ancient times allowed such sky walking.

       “They say you're bank is most secure in all existence,” the fairy said to him.

        The leprechaun smiled, “It is, an' always has been. Mah magical pot can carry any amount ay anythin' fur anyone. It's protected by magic an' no one has ever caught me tae get the release spells on all mah enchantments. I had a wizard try dimensional travel ta git into mah magical pot. It didn't work and ta fool wound up wid his beard on his back.”

        The fairy pulled out a small wand, like a black toothpick but charged with lethal magic. “Well then, you'll be giving me that pot and access to it. I'm not a customer making a deposit. I'm going to making a withdrawal. A permanent one.”

         The leprechaun rolled his eyes. “Ya really shouldn't have done that.” Dragons emerged from the adjacent clouds. “Security git rid ay this pest.” Long ago the leprechaun learned that just running would not protect his pot. Security forces worked much better. After the mischievous fairy was toasted the leprechaun started thinking about that cereal business he ran on the side.

Today's #flashfiction Scaling Mount Empire

“Tonight I'll get takeout.”

Wile E. Coyote* #quote

Tomorrow I'm going to my costuming club, the last one before the big convention we're holding. Dun, dun, dun! Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Scaling Mount Empire

         In mere moments George Hanson would be the first worm to scale the Empire State Building. At least he hoped. He wouldn't be the first to try. An extreme worm sport was building climbing. Worms lived in the dirt and to scale human buildings showed extreme dexterity, strength and movement abilities beyond that of a normal worm. Along with stupid courage. Many worms who attempted this extreme sport died.

          Besides living through the intense strain on the body the predators threatened the worms. And George Hanson curled himself in fear as in the final stretch to the top he saw that a whole line of twenty pigeons perched between him and the top. The extreme sensitivity of the worm body allowed it to create a mental picture of the world. He could feel the wind hitting him from all directions and how it was blocked. George had the wisdom to go on the rooftop during the nighttime. Early birds get every single building climber who was stupid enough to go during the day time.

        Hanson moved his body even slower than normally to avoid stirring the birds awake. He used his senses to determine where the debris on the rooftop lay and wiggled his body around it. Sometimes he even moved his body through the air like a slow-motion spring over some pieces of dirt. A single disturbance could awake the birds. Knocking something about could bring them upon him.

        With a painful amount of caution and effort he reached the base of the thin spire atop the Empire State Building. He kept crawling and crawling. The air became thin and wind completely still. He never felt anything like this. Nothing existed but himself. He felt an intense satisfaction as well. However he knew he couldn't stay. If morning came he would be caught by the birds. He began his climb back downward. George Hanson the worm didn't possess the ability to smile, but in his heart he did.

Today's #flashfiction Destructive Babysitting

“My dream is that one day, I'll be famous.”

Mickey Mouse* #quote

Today I went to the eye doctor and now will get new eyeglasses soon. Perhaps My vision will be enhanced enough that I will be granted X-Ray vision? Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Destructive Babysitting

           “Have we destroyed reality yet?” my little sister asked while she wagged her demon tail.

           “No.” I responded as I worked the spell components with my clawed hands.

           “Did we do it now?” she asked smiling with her razor-like teeth.

           “No.” I repeated. I itched some of my scales before getting back to work on my spell.

           “Is it destroyed now?” she continued.

            “No...” I grumbled.

            “How about now?” she asked leaning towards me.

             “No.” I told her with a quick look before going back to working on my spell.

              She then leaned even closer to me. “Did we do it now? Is reality destroyed?”

              I then glared at her. “Does it look like reality's been destroyed?”

             She looked at the woods we had hid ourselves in. It was a quiet night with a full moon and I had created a small fire to give us light while I set up the components for my spell and did the ritual.                 “I guess it doesn't look like reality has been destroyed.” she said with a frown.

               I hated how Mom forced me to bring me along for this trip. But she couldn't get a babysitter so I had to watch her. And the only way I could do that was to bring her along on my reality destroying duties. I'm part of the race of the Greater Demons and one of our race's duties is to destroy realities that haven't followed their fates properly. In this reality a man named James Smith was supposed to pick up a quarter off the street. He did not as fate mandated so the reality had to be annihilated.

              “So what will it look like when reality is destroyed?” she asked me.

I looked at her annoyed. “It won't look like anything. It's reality being destroyed. When the spell's complete there will be a flash of light and we'll be back home. That's it.”

              “Sounds kinda boring. I thought it would be pretty or crazy looking,” she told me.

              I sighed. “Well not everything is like what you expect.” I continued working on the spell.

She sat silent for a few minutes.

             “Can I help?” she asked wagging her tail. “I promise I'll be careful.”

               At first I was going to say no, but I figured it would be mean to leave her out. I thought for a moment about something simple she could do. “Alright. But you can only do the simple things because you're not trained at this. Line up those candles and light them. Use that ruler and make sure they are perfectly straight.”

            “Okay!” she said with a smile.

             I continued with the spell and she set up the candles and she checked them again and again. I set up all the components and they were perfectly straight. The spell was ready.

            “Wow,” I said, “You did it just right.” The reason my younger sister did it right wasn't out of any genius or anything but it was out of the fact that she checked the candles for straightness again and again. It was diligence and not skill. She may develop skills in reality destruction in the future, but I was proud that when I let her help she worked hard at it.

            I smiled. “The spell is ready. In a moment this reality will be destroyed and fate will be safe once again.”

           “Yay!” she yelled. “Though it's sad all those humans have to die.”

           I glared at her. “It is not sad for an improper reality to be destroyed. Understand?”

          “I understand.” she replied.

          With a snap of my fingers I activated the spell. There was a flash of light. I first expected to be back at home with my sister. Able to watch her while playing some games instead of working. At least enjoyed some of the same video games I did. But we did not wind back up at home and the reality around me stayed intact. I looked around me and noticed that my sister, while setting up the candles, hand knocked over one of the spell components I had set up prior. She had ruined the spell. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she had ruined the spell because of how hard she had worked on the candles.

           “Looks like I messed up on the spell.” I told her.

           She frowned. “But you never mess up! Did I do something wrong when I set up the candles?”

           I smiled at her. “No, no, no, you set up the candles perfectly.” At least I didn't lie there.

          “Well we can try again.” she said.

          I frowned. “Sorry, but you only got one shot per reality. So we're just gonna head home. I think we're gonna get it next time okay?”

          “Alright!” She smiled.

          The reality we failed in destroying belonged to you humans, so thank my sister's mistake when you go to be tonight.

Today's #flashfiction The Forbidden Labyrinth

“I'll take a supersize.”

Clark Kent* #quote

Today I solved a mathematical equation that gave me the result of the square root of chicken. It was a long one. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Forbidden Labyrinth

       For countless generations my family has attempted to explore the Labyrinth. Everyone in the world called us trespassers and did anything they could to stop us from exploring the Labyrinth, they would even try to kill us. But we remained diligent, no matter the odds my family attempted to explore the entire Labyrinth.

       I knew in my heart I would be the one to finally finish the job. To do this I brought every branch of the family, my brothers, sisters, father and mother, cousins, aunts, uncles and anyone else. We had to do it now or never.

       The only way to conquer the Labyrinth was for our family to split up at every opportunity, so we would be able to finally reach every part of the Labyrinth. So we split again and again, it allowed us cover more and more ground. Eventually we had covered every part of the Labyrinth.

So once we had reached every part of the Labyrinth the man my family had been infecting finally died. The man's antibodies or the doctor's medicine did not kill us.

Today's #flashfiction Download Spook Easy

“Drink responsibly.”

Dionysus* #quote

Today I hung out with CJ. We only ran into three alien overlords. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Download Spook Easy

        “Jennifer you won't believe it! I found the best App today.” Samantha the ghost said to her neighbor over the spirit phone.

         “Oh? You sound exited. Haven't heard you sound this happy since you managed to get a grown man to scream like a little girl.” Jennifer laughed. They tried to haunt together as much as they could, though half the time they couldn't but they always swapped stories afterward so it was like they always did.

         “It's called Spook Easy. Only cost me thirty Frights. All you gotta do is take a picture of the living person and boom! The App displays their phobias. It makes haunting so much easier. Been using it all night. You. Have. To. Download. This. Seriously! You'll love it!” Samatha felt like she was telling her friend a special secret and giving her a gift at the same time.

         “Sounds awesome, soon as we're done talking I'll download it.” Jennifer responded.

         “Though I have to admit,” Samantha laughed, “You can't beat a good old fashioned BOO!”

Today's #flashfiction The Duck And The Penguin

“Something's fishy.”

Captain Ahab* #quote

CJ's over today. Hopefully nothing explodes. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Duck And The Penguin

          “Quack, quack?”

          “Squark!”

          Mr. Duck was in quite the dilemma. Had he not flown South? Or just not quickly enough to escape winter? He didn't speak the language of the black and white bird in front of him, so asking for directions seemed impossible. The cold threw off his instinctual sense of direction. The next choice of where he flew would determine where lived or died.

        “Squark? Squark...squark...” The black and white bird stranger spoke more to himself than to Mr. Duck at this moment. He thought maybe the bird was considering something.

        “Squark!” The stranger shouted and a mass of birds huddled around Mr. Duck. He felt warmer immediately and one brought him fish. This warmth. This would help Mr. Duck. He would be able to survive a good night in this extremely cold area to see how the Sun moved through the sky. This would allow him to tell which way was North and which way was South.

         A day passed and Mr. Duck oriented himself and flew the proper path. He wondered how many wayward migrant birds those strangers helped before. Whether he'd been the first or the thousandth he felt thankful for their charity.

Today's #flashfiction The Cut Out Part Of Adventuring

“He chose...poorly.”

Regis Philbin, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire* #quote

Today I went to my card game thing. I enjoyed it and CJ should be coming over as well so that should be a source of much enjoyment as well. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Cut Out Part Of Adventuring

       “Well, this would be the second week we've spent on the road,” Sir Mylon said as he polished his sword.

        “Yup,” replied Gorrod the warrior.

         The master thief rummaged through her bag of loot and added, “Be nice if we fought some monsters or a dungeon to loot.”

         Talina their wizard played with her hair and said, “Yeah, that'd be exciting.”

          Sir Mylon asked his comrades, “We're going to cut this out when we write down the tales of our adventures right?”

         “Yup,” Gorrod responded while the others nodded.

Today's #flashfiction The Universe Where Logic Was Forgotten

“What the smurf?”

Jake Sully, Avatar* #quote

Today I studied “how-to” draw tutorials. I saw many tutorials on the Internet by people who obviously had no idea how to draw, both funny and sad in a way. Hope very few emulate the bad tutorials. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Universe Where Logic Was Forgotten

          The Powers That Be crafted existence with great care. Most of the time. There are times when omniscience fails to pay attention and among the carefully crafted universes there are some that slip through the cracks. Where the rules of how things work aren't quite right.

         “Now children what does two plus two equal?” asked Mrs. Blumberg to her class.

         “Five!” The human and dinosaur children shouted together happily. The Earth's been better off ever since that meteor struck and brought all the dinosaurs back to life with enhanced intelligence.               One child sat on the ceiling as he forgot about gravity.

          The class bell rang and Mrs. Blumberg told the class, “Now remember children, when you get home watch your cartoons. You don't want them sneaking into your home and attacking you!”

           Toaster, a young boy from the class(having the name of an appliance gave you superpowers every second Tuesday with the cost of a weakness to puns) danced home happily. Today he'd get to see his hero in person, the janitor of The White House. Doctor Thomas would be giving a speech on friendliness safety and how it causes most of the fights in The White House that he has to clean up the messes.

          The speech was long and dreary, but Toaster didn't care. He stared at his hero in awe. But his joy became pain as everyone lit on fire because they forgot stash rabbits in their coats. A physical law in this universe as anyone exposed to the sight of a janitor for too long without a rabbit stashed in their coat is due for danger without a rabbit. The janitor was deemed a mass murderer for not reminding the people who attended his speech and sentenced to life next to a prison.

Today's #flashfiction Elemental Living

“Think positively.”

Magneto* #quote

Today I invited CJ over for the weekend as I am no ill. Yay! Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Elemental Living

        Elementals embody the various kinds of matter and even concepts in our universe. Along with the Elemental creature for the scientific element of gold there are Elementals for things like fire and sadness. These beings reside on a special parallel universe overlaid over ours. Their existence in this other world stabilizes the entirety of existence.

       “Change the channel!” yelled the Elemental of Anger. He pointed at the television while holding a half empty soda. His semi-transparent body turning a furious red.

       “We are not watching The Real Househusbands Of Beverley Hills!” replied the Elemental of Oxygen. She didn't want to hand over the remote to him under any circumstance. “I don't care how much you want to seem them bicker.” She breathed in to calm herself.

         “Change it!”

         “No!”

         “Change. The. Channel.”

         “NO!”

         A quiet voice asked softly, “Can we watch Animal World?” The Elemental of Puppies sat on the floor and looked up at them with kind, desperate eyes. “Please?”

        “I hate it when he does that.” The Elemental of Anger scratched his red hair and sighed. The Elemental of Oxygen changed the channel to Animal World.

         The Elemental of Deception walked by the living room to the kitchen. After seeing the seen he mumbled to himself quietly, “Gullible fools. With this company I should move to a different apartment. Perhaps I could live with the Elemental of Beauty.”

Today's #flashfiction Dream TV

“Come on baby light my fire.”

Thomas The Tank Engine* #quote

Did you know that one in ten donuts are donuts? And did you also know so are the other nine? Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Dream TV

        A steady, bright light came from an aged television and illuminated an otherwise dark room. In the room a family sat on a large, unfashionable couch. You couldn't call them poor, but they didn't have enough money to be called middle class. Both parents worked unsatisfying jobs to support three children and their frail grandfather.

         On the television was the family's favorite show, Dream TV. They watched it together every night without fail. They had different tastes in everything else. One child loved sports, one hated them and the third didn't care. The grandfather read under the mellow light next to his bed while the mother chatted on the phone with her friends about nothing that mattered. The father attempted to paint masterpieces with little success. But despite their differences they all loved Dream TV like 70% of other Americans. (At least 70% is the number the show advertised.)

        On the show a woman that couldn't be older than twenty laid sleeping in a bed with what seemed to be a hundred wires attached to her head with cotton and glue. The wires ran to a huge computer that could dwarf a truck. Two people in suits sat at a fancy table in front of the computer with a monitor next to them. They were separated from the woman by a thick wall of soundproof glass. As soon as the show's theme music ended they began to speak.

         “Hello viewers, its me Ben and my lovely co-host Anne.” He spoke like a comedian building up to a punchline. “Anne could you please explain our show for any new viewers at home?”

         “Of course Ben. Today we will be watching the dream of our contestant with Ben and I providing commentary. Then you viewers at home will vote whether or not you liked the dream. Whichever contestant gets the most votes at the end of the week will get the grand prize of fifty thousand dollars!” she explained with a friendly smile.

          “Don't forget Anne, this season were giving every contestant special drugs provided courtesy of Samson Dreams Incorporated to increase the intensity of their dreams.” the host smiled. The television company paid a lot of money to put his smile on camera.

          “Right Ben. Now we're proud to provide these dreams live, straight to your TV!” Anne's voice then became quiet and quick, “Note: This station and all its affiliates are not responsible for any content in the following dream.”

          The television screen switched to display the woman's dream. Though the hosts vanished they could be heard while the dream played out.

She stood on a long wooden bridge that weaved through the clouds. In front of her stood a cat on two legs, leaned over like an old man on a cane.

          “You can't pass! You can't pass!” the cat hissed. “You don't have a passport! No passport!”

          “But I need to pass!” the woman yelled in response. “I've run out of sugar so I can't make dinner tonight. We're having onions and ice cream. The kids love it, so I need to get through!”

          “No passport!” the cat said while a whale with a top hat flew by him. “See? He has a passport!”

The family laughed and laughed at the woman's dream. The woman continued begging the cat to be let through, but to no avail. The family joked about the cat's stubbornness.

        “Poor girl. Looks like she can't get by.” Anne said in a condescending tone.

       “I wonder where that whale got his passport? Maybe she should ask him!” Ben laughed. He enjoyed it all as much as the family at home, sometimes a little more.

The bridge then turned to ice and she slipped. The cat lit on fire. The fire burned away the cat's skin and it turned into a skeleton. It walked slowly up to her, growing taller by the second. By the time it reached her it became twice her height.

       “Uh-oh folks, looks like this dream turned into a nightmare!” Ben said. Though no one in the family would admit, it the dreams that turn into nightmares were their favorite. They found them the most exciting of all. It crossed their mind that maybe they should have set the episode to record before it started.

        The skeleton opened up its maw and a snake crawled out. It attacked the woman. After it bit her it swallowed her. In the nightmare the inside of the snake was larger than the outside and became a massive cave. Animals that resembled bats crossed with bears flew around her and clawed her. She screamed with bloody tears. She then woke up with a rapid heartbeat. She turned to the hosts with a shocked expression. While she shivered she kept thinking of the prize money to calm herself.

       “Well folks, looks like the dream ends here. Remember, pick up your phones and vote for your favorites and tune in tomorrow for even more Dream TV!” Ben yelled at the camera. The father got off the couch and turned the TV off. They all wondered if tomorrow's episode would be as good as this one.    

Today's #flashfiction Once Upon A Time Line

“Let's shake on it.”

Edward Scissorhands* #quote

         I am feeling much, much better today. However I think I may not go to my costuming club this week. Since what I've read says you can be contagious for 5-7 days after the illness reaches it's tail end I may avoid going there. It is highly unlikely that I am still contagious however there is a big risk/reward element. The club is holding our convention at the end of March and getting club members sick, even if unlikely is too large a risk.

Once Upon A Time Line

          Once upon a time there was a time god. He didn't like how things happened in that time so he went to a different time. And once upon that time something more to his liking happened. But not interesting enough so he used his magic to make it so that reality happened upon a different time line. He watched a couple go through an adventure and get married. They lived happily ever after. Once upon a time they had children and the time god found it important to make it that this once happen thrice. In one time line the children grew up happy, in a second time line sad, and a third content. The parents died so they could be “happy ever after” upon these times. The time god visited the far future in another time line to stir up trouble and drama for a show. A war once upon this time line. A plague once upon that time line. Whatever fit the show he wanted.

       The time god had his own time line outside every other. So no matter how many times he altered other people's times for his own amusement his life remained once upon a time. And the petty, meddling, cruel god never lived happily ever after.

Today's #flashfiction Artificial Poker

“I don't believe in ghosts.”

Pac-Man* #quote

Today I ate a banana. It was yellow. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Artificial Poker

         The best Poker players in the world. I could finally prove myself against them. A single deck allowed an easy counting of cards and probability calculation. With how experienced in the art of cards these men and women were it'd probably take quite awhile before I would have a calculative edge on them with my robotic mind.

        They spent years developing me. Named "Expression", my developers designed me to be the most sophisticated robot in showing emotion on my face and reading it from others. I used the new artificial intelligence technology Pure Mind, the most powerful generation of electronic brain. Though we kept showing our “sentience” in some form or another we artificial intelligences always knew our task in our often short lives was to prove our need to exist. I needed to show my sentience by playing poker well. I've shown emotion before. But now I need to restrain and control them, and read others. Prove I understand them through this game. Otherwise I'm a failure and need to be killed or rather “scrapped”.

         In a few turns I figured out all the player's tells, even when they tried to mix them up. I managed to beat the odds game after game by figuring out the humans on every level. I win game after game, just like the scientists wanted me too. The second day of tests came, the second round of games. After winning so many I wondered if the human players would even play anymore. Then something odd happened. I kept losing. Again and again. One player kept figuring me out. Jake Feathers, the old world champion from 2050 who came out of retirement just for this test.

        “I told you I would find it's tell,” he told the scientists who built me after the end of the full week of tests where he beat me again and again. He made it his mission to specifically beat me in the games.

         The other poker players, along with the scientists, asked the old champion and veteran of thousands if not millions of games what my tell was.

         Mr. Feathers pointed at me and said, “That is a machine, and it thinks like one. It takes the same exact amount of time to decide what it should feel and how it should change its facial expressions every time. No matter what kind of bluff it pulled I just had to see how long it took to move its obnoxious fake face.” He laughed and cracked a sick joke, “Maybe if you get better processors it'll change it's expressions more quickly and look more an actual living thing.”

        The test decided I needed to be scrapped and reinvented. Maybe another technology will live longer. Goodbye everyone.

Today's #flashfiction The Enchanted Blade

“Make love, not war.”

Genghis Khan* #quote

Today I battled a group of clowns in a pie throwing contest. I tried to defeat them, but alas, they are masters of their craft. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Enchanted Blade

        Many battled for it. The last blade left behind by the great knight Sir Yendel. It possessed great magic of unknown origin. After training for many years Sir Tellen would be the one to take it to be his. He defeated all other knights who laid claim to land where it lied. Beating them in duels was only step one. He needed to climb the mountain and enter Sir Yendel's old castle retreat. The corpses of the monsters inhabiting the mountain fell to Sir Tellen's feet. Other knights who owned the land couldn't clear out the goblins and ogres living there. Now entire tribes died.

       Sir Tellen entered the old castle. The place where the great knight of legend retreated for privacy. He saw the bones of a dragon. The loyal pet of the legendary knight. It must have lived here until it passed away like its master. Tellen pulled his Fairy Compass, an artifact that pointed towards magic instead of north. While he walked through the building Sir Tellen saw that the Fairy Compass pointed towards only one direction for magic and never wavered. It must be the enchanted blade.

After following it Sir Tellen found a table, and on it a blade. But not a blade suited to slay anything.         A small butter knife sat next to a plate. Sir Tellen became enraged. Hundreds of duels. Hundreds of monsters. He grabbed the butter knife and threw it across the room. He saw the faint blue glow of magic but didn't care. He left in a huff and didn't look back.

     The blade said, “Wait, what just happened? Did I have a visitor? Oh well, back to sleep.” Sir Yendel's old genie friend went back to sleep. The genie got stuck with the butter knife when all the magic lamps were taken, but he grew used the cozy vessel.

Today's #flashfiction The Little Ninja That Could

“I can't think straight.”

M.C. Escher* #quote

Seems my friend Jessica has the same illness as I. Perhaps I will hang with her since I can't get someone who already has it sick, and vice-versa. Man I'd wish I'd stop bein' sick. I just got the sniffles but I really don't like being a possible bringer of misery to those of good health. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Little Ninja That Could

          “But please Ninja Clan you must kill the dragon that's been terrorizing us!” The people of various towns asked the ninjas again and again. With the skills they had in the arts of stealth and assassination they could take out the dragon, but such a mission could possibly cost the lives of many ninja. This made the mission require large hazard pay. Something the townspeople lacked.

          After a year of begging for help one ninja answered their plea. A short ninja of weak strength and stamina with intense clumsiness and bad eyesight. A shame to the Ninja Clan for his lack of skill they trained him merely because he belonged to the bloodline. They called him the Little Ninja and compared him to the child Ninjas.

           The Little Ninja chose to take the work without payment. The villagers smiled when he told them this but any wishes of good luck he ignored along with any thank yous as he went to the dragon's lair.

          The beast resided in the rubble of a massive castle. It slept in the part of the castle that remained in tact. The Little Ninja sneaked through the rubble. Shivers ran through him. He'd never been let on missions because of his flaws. The flaws that quickly came to haunt him. He could barely see, he already felt tired, and he tripped several times. Luck saved him from the dragon awakening.

         The Little Ninja didn't want to fail. He didn't want to die here. And he certainly didn't want to be called The Little Ninja any longer. He worked to muster something that all ninja's sought to master, their spirit energy. A mantra came to mind that'd ninja children been taught, “I think I can. But he dismissed this. He'd been taught that mantra and he'd become The Little Ninja. He chose to think to himself something different:

        “I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.”

         With his spirit focusing his mind he managed to open a well of energy from his body and elegance in his movement that allowed him to sneak upon the dragon. He pulled out his blade and sliced the beast's head off.

         The villagers worshiped him for his victory. However he did not care for their happiness. He cared now that when he returned to the Ninja Clan he gained new respect. He took on a mission that the Ninja Clan considered to dangerous to consider without massive payment. They no longer called him The Little Ninja, but rather The Dragon Ninja for his victory over the beast.

Today's #flashfiction The Cyberspace Carnival

“What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?”

The Terminator* #quote

For the sake of trying to figure out when I can go to social events without being contagious I used the magic of the Internet and the majority of sites say that it's 5-7 days after the illness has subsided. I think I'm pretty much at the tail end of it so I think in that period I'll be fine to go out and not spread this. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Cyberspace Carnival

       Children and adults alike went into cyberspace alike to witness the carnival coming into their servers. School work and house work could wait, every Saturday was reserved for the carnival, and very few families thought otherwise. With smiles of excitement on their faces families zipped up their virtual suits and jumped into the reality next door.

        Rainbows of fireworks filled the skies of cyberspace and during the carnival they programmed the grass to sway like rippling water hit with a rain of pebbles. The people moved about in this cyberspace enjoying the warm spring atmosphere the holders of the carnival programmed in for them.

        Clowns doing the impossible flew through the air. In cyberspace, the performers had no limitations, so feats of danger didn't impress the audience quite as much as the clowns making stones turn into clouds and then dance among them. One of the clowns, creatively named Bozo2373.exe had been programmed with just enough of a simulation of emotion to be able to smile at the audience as his act came along. His routine involved him dancing along with seven other clowns in equally colorful outfits, he smiled at the audience, he knew joy while he danced so he could smile at any members of the audience that were looking at him. His happiness ended as his act did and he vanished into the clown car. In the clown car he was stuffed into a zip file until the next carnival to be decompressed and let out to entertain the masses again.  

Today's #flashfiction The Psychic-Social Network

“For whom the bell tolls.”

Quasimodo* #quote

          Though my illness has receded into mostly just being a case of coughs and uncomfortableness I fear am I still contagious. I hope I am not confined to the home(lest I spread my illness, and I would rather not do that). Perhaps I can channel chi while communicating with the spirits of toasters to assist in my recovery. (You'd be surprised at the power of toaster spirits, they are several levels above other spirits, like microwave spirits.) Anyway onto the flash fiction!

The Psychic-Social Network

        “Hello!” A man wearing trendy clothes said from the start of a tv commercial. Millions of people had already seen this man's face as this commercial had been aired during hundreds of different tv shows and on tons of additional websites. He had even been shown during the one hundredth Super Bowl. “In this age of psychic technology, where everyone has cybernetic communication implants in their head, you can't ignore the potential of this technology.” The man then turned to a woman next to him in the commercial, “Now tell me, how do you usually share psychically share a thought with a friend?”

         The woman then responded, “Well I think of that person, then the thought, then it transfers.”

        “And isn't that such a bother?” he said to her. “Well me and my friends at The Psychic-Social Network have come up with the perfect psychic social networking tool. What you do is sign up for our service. And once you have an account you can choose to connect to other people to send or receive thoughts from them automatically without thinking about it. All you have to do is use our site to register them. You can do hundreds or even thousands of people. Celebrities are on our service so you can know what they're thinking. Of course there are filters so you can choose what kind of thoughts you send and receive in regards to which kinds of people. In fact I just got a thought right now from famous actor,” the host of the commercial paused to put as much emphasis as possible on the licensed cameo name, “JACOB SMITHSON WOODS” he then took another pause to let the popular name sink into the audience's brain, “About how excited he was about his next upcoming movie 'Attack of the Killer Tanks From Space'. And if you sign up for our service today you'll probably be able to psychically link up to him and receive some of his thoughts.” 

        That was true that on the service you could sign up and receive his thoughts. Though he largely filtered most of them so that his 'fans' would mostly just get absurdly vague things or cheery, mundane things about how happy he was about the weather or something similarly basic. If he didn't have all of his thought filters then the fans signed up for the service would get his depressed thoughts about his drug problem that was currently hidden from the media.

        “Is there more?” the woman asked the host.

         The host smiled, “Yes! On our website each user gets their own customizable Memory Page! Here they can upload their picture and their memories straight from their brain to keep and share with everyone they want to! They can choose specific people, certain categories of people or just keep it to themselves. Oh and of course,” the host paused, “JACOB SMITHSON WOODS, has his own memory page where he put tons of memories for everyone who signs up for the service to see. All someone has to do to experience a person's memory is to go sign into our service then click on it and it will download straight into their brain. It's so simple.”

        “So sign up today!” the woman in the ad said as the website url appeared at the bottom of the television screen.

Today's #flashfiction God Doesn't Play Dice But Faeries Do

“Getting down and dirty”

Mr. Clean* #quote

      I am at the tail-end of this sickness, with at most minor sniffles and uncomfortableness. However I am still “sick” which is unfortunate as I'm still contagious and that means if I'm not completely better I won't go to my social gatherings and such. (Wouldn't want to spread the sickness unless I absolutely have to go to the place.) Anyway onto the flash fiction!

God Doesn't Play Dice But Faeries Do

        “It's all controlled by tiny invisible fairies. They're usually drunk too. The most influential are the gambling addicts that influence our world randomly and bet on the results.” Elite Summoner Jaror told his conclusion to the most disciplined and educated of wizards in the lands. “My years of research communicating to spirits and bridging the gap to the Other World has brought me to this conclusion.”

         Murmurs ran through the crowd.

         “This is ridiculous,” Necromancer Yolanha responded, her eyes angry, “You expect us believe that there is no order behind your magic? Sounds like a convenient excuse to compensate for failed research.”

        Assistants to Jaror entered the room carrying boxes. Jaror then said, “My response is in these boxes. All the documentation of my research. All summoning magic, and many others are influenced by these drunken delinquents. Magic may be able to advance even further if we cure them of their gambling habits. I've already managed to open a line of communication and started to do therapy sessions with several and they've given up throwing their die. That's why the magic is changing in the Goror region.”

        Jaror then addressed a wizard in the back. “Sir where are you going? I am certain in my results!”

        Arch Wizard Einstein looked back to Jaror and smiled, “Oh I do agree Jaror, your research reminded me that I have something to take care of in my home universe. Keep up the good work.”

With the approval of an Arch Wizard Jaror continued his research. He did wonder what the Arch Wizard wanted to do in his home world. Perhaps work on their physics some more? He heard Einstein taught that world much. He also wondered how much he didn't teach them.

Today's #flashfiction Human Park

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Nero* #quote

I think that I will be rid of this sickness fully soon. It is quite the beast, but my immune system is quite the mighty warrior with medicine as a brother-in-arms. Anyway onto the flash fiction!

Human Park

        “His parts are scattered everywhere, brutally disassembled like an animal feeding frenzy.” Doctor Byte's circuits almost overloaded. His body could hardly handle the kind of fear, and guilt, going through his artificial brain. What had he done?

         The other robots in the room stared at the mechanical corpse in front of them. All the machines shared the general base design of a box body with two-arms, two-legs and a head, but each of them did have their special flourishes they chose based on their personality. Some of them chose their own paint jobs or a few accessories. His radar antenna and obnoxious yellow paint job was the only way they recognized Tinsly since they tore him up so much.

        Gearstor yelled, “This is all your fault doctor! This planet had all the biological life it needed to support us. And you had to bring back the Creators! You thought we had advanced far enough we could just put them in a zoo and be fine. Well look what you've done!”

        Doctor Byte replied, “I-I know what I've done, but no time. We have to do something. They're not in this room now. Ah! A communication port!” Doctor Byte linked up to the communication port and sent for assistance from his staff elsewhere on his private peninsula. They then locked up the room tight. “They're not getting into this room now.” They looked out the window of the observation tower to the thick brush of jungle in their park and returned to their chairs relaxed. The windows strong and the doors locked everything looked perfect.

        Then the ground shook. Then it shook again. Ripples appeared in a glass of oil on the table. They looked out the window to see a several story robot approaching them. But not of their kind. Not the kind they could reason with. It terrified them as they saw humans in a cockpit atop the robot, and they built the robot from parts of their sentient kin.

         The sentient robots's terror wouldn't have been nearly as severe if the humans only used the non-sentient robots and parts from around the park to create the machine. But they recognized friends among the body of the machine.

         Doctor Byte looked at the robot approaching and spoke, his synthesized voice barely audible. “So I spend years of my life cloning these humans and teaching them. Unfreezing and reviving every one I could find, and this is the result. At least they praised me as a genius for awhile.”

        The human's machine's massive arm broke through the tower the robots hid in a broke them apart. Byte wished the rest of robotic world luck before he powered down for the last time. The robots survived, but the humans inhabited a nation instead of a park.

Today's #flashfiction To Dream The Other

“Seek and ye shall find.”

Waldo* #quote

My illness receded greatly today, like the hairline of a depressed middle-aged man. However the struggle is not over, as I think I still have at least one or two more days of sickness left. Hope to get fully better soon! Anyway onto the flash fiction!

To Dream The Other

        Demons did only bad and angels only good. One demon had constant recurring dreams of being an angel, and one angel had constant recurring dreams of being a demon. The demon became fascinated with good and began to only do good. The angel became fascinated with evil and began to only do evil. And eventually the demon transformed became an angel and the angel a demon.

        Many years passed, the new demon now began constantly dreaming of being an angel again, and the new angel began constantly dreaming of being a demon again.