Notices by Micro SF/F stories by O Westin (microsff@mastodon.social), page 5

The messages from space began with numerical patterns then built from there. Arithmetic, algebra, calculus; then concepts no human mathematician had dreamt of. But having seen them, they worked it out.
"It's a proof the sender exists."
"So are the messages."
"Still worth saying."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

** Just FYI, Covid has finally caught me. New stories will be sparse until I have a working thinking thing again. **

There was a sign. It said "To be woken by true love's kiss".
Next to it, a princess sat polishing a sword.
A knight rode up. "Ah, you have already been kissed?"
"No," said the princess, "I did the kissing."
"Oh. Right. Um. And the happy... lady?"
"Right here," said the sword.
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

A young dragon landed on the thatched roof of the witch's cottage.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing."
She grumbled, but work called and she soon forgot about it. Then, after a month, she had a thought.
"Are you hoarding my cottage?"
"No," said the dragon.
"Me?"
"Um..."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

"You are sitting through the chair."
I looked up. A child was staring at me.
"Pardon?"
"You are sitting through the chair."
So I was. I made myself float up a bit.
"That better?"
"Never seen a hologram miss a chair before."
"Ah." I smiled. "I'm not a hologram, I'm a ghost."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a good library, must be in want of more books."
The dragon looked smug, as if they had said something clever.
"True," said the knight, hefting his lance. "But those belong to the town library. Return them!"
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

The swordmaster sat down. "Would you speak with me, please?"
The dragon approached warily. "No sword forged can pierce my hide."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
"To hear you out."
"No, why you?"
"I have studied long to learn how to keep a sword sheathed."
"Hm. That's a first."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

You find amazing things when you fix up a century-old house like ours, which was built in the 2000's.
"Another memory card," my wife says. "We'll take it to the library."
"Do you think it's photos or banned books?"
"It was hidden, so probably banned books."
"Heroes lived here."
#SmallStories #MicroFiction #TootFic

The robot held a sign with the words "Please donate to let me speak" and a QR code.
On a whim, I scanned it and donated.
"Thank you!" the robot said.
"So you can speak?"
"My text-to-speech is cloud-based, and my subscription had run out."
"What about free speech?"
"I wish."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

"So you just adopted them?" the princess said.
"When they failed to defeat me," the dragon said, "they all said they couldn't return home in shame."
"You can't hoard princes."
"I'm not trying to. But someone must look after them. Anyway, do you see your brother?"
"That one!"
#TypoCorrected #MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

"So you just adopted them?" the princess said.
"When they failed to defeat me," the dragon said, "they all said they couldn't return home in shame."
"You can't hoard princes."
"I'm not trying to. But sometime must look after them. Anyway, do you see your brother?"
"That one!"
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

(The bastards line is by Terry Pratchett. #GNUTerryPratchett)

"Are all monsters really monsters?" the hero asked.
"Monsters are like bastards," the witch said. "All bastards are bastards, but some bastards are /bastards/."
The hero nodded.
"That's what I thought. Thank you."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

"No, see," the fairy Queen said, "when we ask someone for their first-born, it is because that is what is most precious to them. You offering that shows us we must ask for something else."
"Oh," he said. "What then?"
"What is most precious to you: your certainty you are right."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

"We have decoded the latest missive from the Humans," Scrp'x said. "It appears to be a diplomatic commitment of loyalty."
Behind them, the gold plaque found on the Humans' first probe was shown.
"They undertake to never: give us up, let us down, or run around and desert us."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

"I heard there are swords so sharp they cut the soul out of a body," the student said.
The swordmaster pondered this.
"That's what most swords are made for."
"While leaving the body intact!"
"Ah. That's not the sword, but the wielder. Some have done that. But only to themselves."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

The princess looked at the small pile of paper scraps.
"Your hoard?"
"My treasure."
"This says 'Yes'. This, 'I want to-'" The princess blushed. "What?"
"Consent," the dragon said. "Freely given."
"I expected... more."
"Some were withdrawn."
"That's not- That's allowed?"
"Always."
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

"Did you take that personality quiz?"
He sighed. "Yes."
"So which bread are you most like?"
"None."
"What?"
"I always answer honestly on these quizzes, never match anything."
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"I've never heard of anyone being so completely different."
"Guess I'm the only one."
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"You have freed me," the genie said. "As a reward, I shall grant you an obligation."
"Thanks, that's- Don't you mean 'wish'?"
"Would you consider it as carefully, were I to call it a 'wish'?"
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

"Wow. You have a lot of books. It's like a library!"
"You think so?"
"Yeah! So do you have a secret door hidden in the book cases?"
"Only books, I'm afraid."
"Oh."
"But some books are."
"Are what?"
"Secret doors, leading to awesome places."
"Cool! Can you show me?"
"I'd love to!"
#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories