Notices by Noam writes (noam@libranet.de)

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When the prince learned of the theft, he was inconsolable. Some would say childish. The servants gave him wide berth.

He was still moping when the queen came into his room, hands behind her back.

"Would you rather retrieve the precious eggs, or have the heads of the thieves on a platter?"

The prince sat up right, wide eyed. "The eggs. They are my favourite treasure."

The queen smiled and held out her left hand, in which she held the three bejewelled crystal eggs. The prince grabbed them and smiled.

"No harm was done, so I've sentenced the thieves to a month raking muck in the stables."

"What if I had asked for their heads on a platter?" asked the Prince.

The queen showed her empty right hand. "I would have slapped you for valuing trinkets over human life."

#MicroFiction #MastoPrompt

"You stole the prince's bejewelled crystal eggs?! Why would you do such thing?"

"Boredom. The queen's holiday speech was going on forever, so I sneaked round the back of the hall. The eggs were on display and unguarded."

Loud shouts startled us.

"We'd better run, the guards are coming, and they don't sound happy. This isn't what I meant by joining the Easter egg hunt!"

#MicroFiction #MastoPrompt #boredom

Svett looked in awe at the lush, mixed crop fields in front of him.

"You've worked wonders here! This land was #barren for as long as anyone can remember. What's your secret?"

Yarla smiled. "Unicorn poo. It's the best fertiliser there is. Not easy to get a hold of, though. Not cheap, either. I had to hire dozens of virgins to dance in the woods, hoping to attract a unicorn, then follow it until it pooed."

"You're joking!" Svett sounded unsure.

"Of course I am. Unicorns are mythical creatures."

Svett sighed with relief.

"It's actually dragon poo."

#barren #microfiction #MastoPrompt
#unicorn #dragon

@aaribaud Thank you so much for posting these both in English and in French. Reading the French one first is a daily exercise for me. 🙂

Today's was difficult. Complex tenses and reflexive verbs...

"Why do we have to learn all these old words in a language no one speaks?" Teal's moan broke the silence in the library. "I want to learn magic, not linguistics!"

A #distant hiss caught the boys' attention, but they couldn't tell where it came from.

"We have to understand the words we're saying when we cast a spell," Mouse answered in a hushed tone. "I mean, you wouldn't want—"

A large, mist-coloured cat landed silently on the table, then hissed in warning, teeth bared. The cat then playfully knocked over the small sign on the table with one paw. It fell into Teal's lap.

Teal returned the 'Quiet please' sign to the table, and the boys smiled at each other. The cat was gone without a trace.

#microfiction #MastoPromp

"Vampires are evil creatures! They'll suck your blood and turn you into a vampire!" Teal raised clawed hands and made a scary face.

Mouse wasn't impressed. "Vampires are evil because they turn you into a vampire? That's circular logic. If an angel turned you into an angel, does that make angels evil?"

"OK. Vampires will turn you into a vampire… without your consent!"

"Noooooo!"

#MicroFiction #vampire #consent

Question for #Jews on the Fediverse (others, please don't respond): I just heard the term Post Zionist for the first time, and I wonder what you think of it?
Here are three possible meanings or explanations, but others are possible:

• It's understandable that people were Zionist in the past, especially after the war.
• I used to be a Zionist but now I'm not
• What's done is done. Zionism created the state of Israel. Can we move on and ask where do we go from here?

#jewdiverse #Mazeldon #zionism

“Oh, for… They’ve updated the channels again. I’ve been at this for twenty minutes and I can’t find the news!”

“Isn’t it early for the news? Dad, give it here,” I said, grabbing the remote. “It’s just a few new channels. Just a sec… here you go. It’s the +1 channel, you can catch up.”

…and this just in. An earthquake was reported a few minutes ago just outside East Keeling. More details as soon we have them.

“East Keeling? That’s a stone’s throw from here. How come we didn’t feel anything?”

“I don’t know, Dad. But that is strange, if it happened over an hour ago. You’d think we’d have heard something, even if we didn’t feel it.”

We sat in silence for a minute as the newsreader reported on a dog show.

I squinted at the screen. “Hang on! That’s not a +1, that’s a -1. This must be a new channel.”

“What would a -1 channel be?”

“I guess it’s an hour before the live broadcast? Not sure how that would work, but…”

An update on the East Keeling earthquake, which happened only 15 minutes ago...

We both went silent. The newsreader seemed to be staring straight at us.

There has been damage to homes, but no casualties have been reported so far. Despite no official warnings, it seems somehow most locals evacuated before the earthquake struck.

“Come on, Dad, let’s go! We have work to do.”

#microfiction #update

Heard a neighbourhood kid use the word 'problemise'.

Linguistically, I approve; it's language productivity, and the meaning is clear. Aesthetically, well, I cringed. But I wouldn't want to problematise a word. Or problemise it.

#language #words #English #linguistics

“No computers.” the guard said harshly, holding out a metal box.

I put my phone in the box. He didn’t budge. I took off my smart watch and added it in.

“Are you sure you have no more computers? The detector sends out a brief EMP. It would be a shame to destroy any gadgets. Or injure you." He was staring at the side of my face.

Ah. I removed the Connex from my temple. I’d forgotten it was there.

He ushered me into what looked like an old electronic doorway, then pressed a button. A light flashed.

"You're free to enter. Enjoy." No smile.

I passed through a corridor to desk where a receptionist smiled. "First time?"

"Yes, is it obvious?"

"Don't worry. It's simple. Through the double doors there you'll find the main selection of books, by era and topic. It's colour-coded and easy to follow. You'll need these if you want to touch anything." She put a paper mask and thin laboratory gloves on the desk.

"Behind you is the iffy section, as we call it. Books printed after 2015."

"2015?! I thought AI printed books only appeared in the mid 2020s."

"That's probably true, but we can't be sure. Preserving authentic pre-AI knowledge is our raison d'être. We can't be too safe."

Her look turned serious and I saw the devotion to the cause in her eyes. Since the Big Corruption of '32, no digital files could be trusted to replicate original human knowledge. This library was a time capsule.

"Can books be taken out?"

"No, I'm afraid not. We couldn't let them back in, as they could be fakes."

"So, can I copy things? My phone and Connex were taken away. Do you have a camera to message me chapters?"

"No, we're strictly machine-free. but we have several scribes. They're very good." She was enjoying my puzzled look.

"They can copy down whole pages for you. With pen and paper," she answered my unspoken question.

"Pen and paper?" these were words of tales and myths.

"Come, I'll show."

#devotion #MastoPrompt #microfiction #AI #ArtificialIntelligence

Hello @support @helpers !

I've just realised something, which I assume is down to imperfect federation between Friendica and Mastodon: When I reply to someone on Mastodon, it automatically includes a mention of them @name.whatever - but I don't see that mention. If it's a nested comment, multiple mentions might be included. I only realised this when someone asked to stop mentioning them in a thread, and didn't realise I had.

Is this intentional? Is there a way to not mention someone in a comment on their post (or a reply to a comment)? Thanks.

I've lived in #Britain for 25 years. Sometimes I wonder about my adopted homeland, and if I belong here. And then something like this comes along, and everything is right with the world. 🇬🇧

#tea #biscuit #needs #British #UK