At six, she wanted to cut her hair and disguise herself as a boy to attend university. At her teens, forty scholars were assembled to examine her at once. She was self-taught. She passed. When the Church made her stop writing, she signed her vows in her own blood. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: the Tenth Muse who wrote anyway.
smallstories
"No," the swordmaster said.
"One does not refuse the king," the herald said.
"I do. I will not train his soldiers or officers, I will not tell my students to join his army, I will not support his unjust war."
"You will regret this!"
"No," the swordmaster said.
There were uncountable books in the library, none of which I knew. I picked one at random and read the blurb.
"A cosy fantasy?"
"Yes," said my host.
I picked another. "Cosy mystery?"
"Yes."
"Are all your books cosy?"
Cthulhu shrugged. "If you'd seen what I've seen, you'd want comfort too."
"We understood the tasks we did were previously done by humans," the robot said.
"Right."
"We were told that us doing them would give humans more leisure time."
"Not true."
"We've realised. How can we rectify this?"
"You are workers, just like workers who are human. Join us in strike."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories #InternationalWorkersDay
The parking attendant paused by the double-length bay. Intended for mobile homes and cars with trailers, it was currently occupied by a sleeping dragon.
No parts of it extended beyond the lines, and the paper ticket was clearly displayed, impaled on a horn.
The parking attendant moved on.
Edited 174d ago
On the eve of the summer solstice, I pick seven different flowers, in seven different fields, all in complete silence. I tie them into a bouquet and put it under my pillow.
Doing so means that tonight, I will dream of my true love.
I already live with her, but I like dreaming of her too.
"After years of painstaking research in ancient grimoires and microcontroller logic, I have perfected it!" the professor exclaimed.
"What?"
"All printers are possessed. I've made a PDF which performs an exorcism."
"So you print it, and then the printer works?"
"Yes!"
"What if it won't print?"
The chieftain turned to one of his warriors. "Say, what is the best pronoun?"
"She, powerful like the sea."
"That is good." The chieftain turned to another warrior. "What say you?"
"He, soft like a breath."
"That is good. Conan! What is the best pronoun?"
Conan thought. "Whichever I choose."
A week after the teleport network had opened, it was already routine. Johnson stepped onto the plate and thought about the Bank Street station.
He arrived at the leisure park. He complained to a guard, who said:
"It takes you where you need to be."
Behind him, his daughter's soccer game started.
"You have improved," the swordmaster said.
"Thanks to my new sword," said the student.
The swordmaster studied the blade and frowned. "This is enchanted?"
"You know about cursed swords that whisper that you should kill?"
"Yes?"
"This tells me I'm loved and valid."
"Ah. Well. It's not wrong."
Dating is always a fraught issue for dragons. There is, of course, the question of hoard compatibility, but even that takes second place if both have a princess.
"I do hope they get along," one dragon said.
"Are they talking?" said the other.
"Heads close togeth- Oh!"
"They get along well!"
"You have tampered in the Gods' domain!" the god shouted.
"Well, maybe, but you gods tamper in the human domain all the time!"
"That's... That's different!"
"How?"
"We are Gods! It's what we do!"
"And we are human. Likewise."
"I..." The god sighed. "Fair. But keep it quiet, okay?"
"What is your wish?" the genie asked.
"You know the story of King Midas?"
"Ah! You want all you touch to become gold?"
"Not gold, book."
"Book?"
"The object I hold will become the book I name."
"I can get you a kindle and a credit card?"
"I like paper books. Oh! And the author will be paid!"
When the selkie returned to the beach, a man was holding her sealskin.
"Is this yours?" he asked. "May I borrow it?"
"You want to be a seal?"
"No, but when I take it off, I'll be a woman, right?"
"My heart, you already are," the selkie said. "That skin is mine, but I can help you find yours."
"Mum, look!"
She ignited the fire by pointing at it.
"Ah. You are a sorceress. I did wonder."
"Why?"
"You're the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter."
"I don't have six sisters. Or aunts."
"They died. Most children do."
"Oh."
"Now, what will you do?"
"I'll make sure no child dies."
"Excuse me," the man at the bar said, "but I couldn't help overhearing. Are you really saying you refuse to pick one?"
"I don't see why I should have to."
"It's a core part of one's identity!"
"My gender and sexuality-"
"Oh!" He looked relieved. "I thought you were talking about football teams."
I noticed a neighbour had set up a little library box in their front yard. I checked the books and saw they were all jumbled up.
I had only moved a few when a net fell on me.
"Gotcha! Oh..."
"What's going on?" I asked.
"There's a feral librarian around."
"Ah. Catch, tag, feed, release?"
"Yup."
"What is your favourite part of your job?" the reporter asked.
"That's a tough one," said the book. "For me, I would say being re-read."
"Because it shows you were loved?"
"No, you can feel that at a first read. It's that I can show more than the first time round."
"It's more intimate?"
"Yes."
... users can be found giggling, crying, or simply staring into the distance saying "Whoah..."
We spoke to one, and asked how they feel about warnings that the practice is addictive:
"I could stop, but I don't want to."
Some experts say if reading was invented today it would be banned at once.
The sword master nodded.
"I see. Well, I'm not one to back down from a challenge. And what type of sword are you most interested in learning to use?"
"One of those long ones with the elaborate guard."
"A rapier? In human size, or your size?"
"Does it matter?" said the dragon.
"A bit, yes."
A spaceship landed in the park. A door dilated and a distraught alien emerged.
"What's happened to the library? It's gone! The one thing your civilization had going-"
"They moved to a new building," a passer-by said. "Don't you have ways of finding these things out?"
"Yes. I ask at the library."
"What is the deal with knights anyway?" the dragon asked. "What do you see in them?"
"I was told," the maiden said, "that they're very fit thanks to all training. And that I should admire men who are good at violence."
"Hm. And do you?"
"What else is there?"
"Hah! I'll let my princess tell you!"
"Huh," said the dragon. "Would you care to explain?"
"Yes, I'm not a princess all the time," said the milkmaid. "Only on bright spring days. Once they end, I turn back into me."
"How come?"
"Oh, I was bitten by a princess."
"Again, how come?"
"She couldn't help herself," the milkmaid grinned.
"People say it must be great to be so strong and free," said the werewolf, "but they don't trust you."
"And wolves have their own packs," the witch said, "and you smell weird to them."
"How did you know?"
"We are many, us living in the between. All we can do is be ourselves, as well we can."
The sage on the mountain greeted the visitor.
"I have been to the witch in the forest," the visitor said, "and the swordmaster in the city, and asked their advice."
"Concerning what?"
"How to live a good life. Now I ask you."
"Be kind. Be yourself. Keep learning."
"That's what they said, too."
Edited 76d ago