Notices by Micro SF/F stories by O Westin (microsff@mastodon.social), page 23

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@SilviaFox
Not that meaning! The general howly one!

@SilviaFox
Awoo

She put on her red hood. "I am going to grandmother."
"Bring a basket," her mother said.
She walked to her grandmother's house in the woods; they waited together for the full moon to rise, and howled with the change.
She brought home a basketful of meat the next day.
#Cassoland #MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

My future self pops in for another visit.
"Remember Maria?" she asks.
"She's my best friend!"
"Have you fought over that guy yet?"
"Who? You mean Tom?"
"I forget."
"How can I forget Tom?"
"You will. You'll never forget Maria."
Realisation dawns. "Oh."
"You know it. Ask her out."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

They left a mark on me. They do that, the best lovers.

If you know how to look at the me right, you can see signs of past greatness.

3/3

I had no answer. The sight of their pain, the scent of their panic, their blood... The taste of their panic and blood.

I built them a new leg, the toes powered by moonlight moths. We ran, we tumbled, we loved, and we settled.

Oh, how we settled.

The taste of panic and blood faded, replaced by other, more agreeable ones, and then those too faded.

As they do. As they do.

In the end, my lover left, dancing away, scars hidden by fluid movements and joy of flight.

2/3

If you know how to look at the world right, you can see signs of past greatness everywhere.

Overgrown palace foundations, blueberry patches over graves of long-buried gods, the glint in your lover's eye as they look away from you, toward the horizons.

#Cassoland has them all.

I first met them in a trap. I helped chew their leg off for escape.

"You have hands," they said, years later, "why did you not open the trap?"

1/3

@DialMforMara
That sounds very likely.

... and other tech giants have failed to explain how and why every smartphone in the world, regardless of make, today showed a poll asking "Would you welcome contact from an alien civilisation?" with "Yes" and "No" options.
Opinion polls suggest the result was a resounding...
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"I need a new body," the robot said.
"Again? You've only had it a few years."
"Seven years. It is worn out."
"I'm not getting a new body every seven years."
"Would you, if you could?"
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"Welcome," the angel said, "I have been expecting you."
"Take me to..." the alien hesitated. "Wait, you're not human."
"They are not yet ready for you. I will be here until they are."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"I made you!"
"You did."
"I forged you into a weapon!"
"You did."
"You will slay my enemies!"
"I am a weapon. But I will not be wielded."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"Excuse me," she says. "Do you want to build a world with me?"
Sincere, serious.
"What, like in Minecraft?"
"No. A real one. Like this, but better."
I'm too busy, too tired. But... "Sure."
"Thank you. I will send instructions."
I blink.
She's gone.
The "sure" burns on my tongue.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

A long, long time ago, a thief stole fire from the gods, and gave it to humanity. Some said thanks, but some said "Why didn't you take more?"
"What other treasures there are, I left for you to take," the thief said humbly.
"Well, I'm busy."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"I feel naked without a weapon," I mutter.
My host at the alien conference looks at me with all its eyes.
"You do not have your predator ancestor's weapons?"
"A gun, or stone axe?" I try to laugh.
"No, your natural weapons: endurance and patience."
"Um. No."
"Then you are naked."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

People says all words are made up. People know nothing. Words live, dormant, seeking use, until they are found, given work.

Words worship their finders, their first users, and bless them to find other words.

After Smudge the Cat found "dawih", he also found "tgfokl" and "kuibgh".
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

Too late, I recall my mother's words: "Fear not what you notice, fear what you do not."
I smelled the roses. I steeled myself against the scent, stepped past the trap of thorns. I relaxed, at peace, among the peaseblooms.
And now I am lost, entangled, ensnared, enloved, in love.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"So you're a shapeshifter? Cool! I've always wanted to be a wolf, or wombat, or-"
"We can only take the shape of one animal."
"Oh. Which one?"
"It varies from person to person."
"Yeah, but what's yours?"
"Human."
"But you are..."
"Oh, I have taken human shape for the moment."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"People who bemoan the lack of secret passages in modern homes and offices," a voice behind me said, "never think about the meaning of the word 'secret'."
The wall behind me is solid. At least, I was sure it is solid.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories