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Challenge #01403-C308: Making Wishes Three

Someone actually makes three sensible wishes. Knitnan

"Three wishes, you say," said Lynn. "May I think about them?"

"Of course," said the Djinn. "But no thinking out loud."

Lynn sat on a handy rock and took out her notebook and pencil. The good one with the decent eraser. She wrote, World peace and remembered that episode of the X-files. No. What she needed was unbreakable, unbendable, non-interpretable set of wishes. She stuck her chewelry gem in her mouth and got to really thinking.

It took quite some time, but rules-lawyering a good wish had to take time.

Finally, she spat out her chewelry and cleared her throat. "I'm ready."

"As am I," he said.

"Number one: I wish for a gradual and slow increase in the state of empathy and sympathy in every member of the human race until such time as all reasons for combat of any kind are eliminated, with a maximum ceiling for sympathy and empathy set at the level where personal care is still possible at a level of maximum functionality."

The Djinn snarled. "Granted," he snarled.

"Number two: I wish for all people to have a logical and reasonable access to everything they truly need, that will not alert any unsympathetic authorities to any change in fortune, and that they also find themselves increasingly uninterested in the activities that cause trouble for themselves and others."

He was steaming slightly, now. And turning red in the face. "Granted." But then he found a reason to smile. "Your last wish must be solely for yourself. We agreed."

"I wish to always have exactly the right amount of money for any and all purchases I make for the rest of my life."

"...i hate lawyers," the Djinn mumbled. "Granted."

(Muse food remaining: 13. Submit a Prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories! Or comment below!)

Challenge #01402-C307: Pressed Souls

"Keep a diary, Desrie! One day it may keep you." -- Anon Guest

It sounded... ominous. Desrie heard it from everyone, every day. Sometimes, she saw people with them. Thick, heavy tomes which promised to last them the rest of their lives.

And some that were so thin...

How could people stand to watch those pages dwindle down? How could they want to write the last page?

Desrie didn't have a choice, in the end. Her mother made her visit the Diary

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Challenge #01401-C306: Give it All You Got

They were her audience, and she was always gracious towards them. -- Anon Guest

The performance had been draining. Of course it was. She had sweat pooling in places no polite person ever spoke of in mixed company. She had worn her skin thin in other, unmentionable places.

But, because she was the star, people insisted on meeting her after the show. Some to talk, some to embrace or kiss, some to criticise. Some to appreciate what hard work she had done,

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Challenge #01400-C305: Incomprehensible Biology

Human females become the most feared aspect of humanity when aliens realize that they regularly bleed once a month as part of their reproductive cycle. -- YizukiKhons

When venturing into the wild spaces, those territories outside of the Galactic Alliance, it is vitally necessary to have at least one human on the crew. Their pack-bonding and protective capabilities were highly prized in wild space.

Such was the case with the TikTavi, where the ship's human had a name unpronounceable by the crew.

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Challenge #01399-C304: Home Again, Home Again

Skelebro(s?) coming to collect Frisk from interdimensional adventures -- Anon Guest

"Look, this kid belongs to somebody, Wander. We've been through this."

Wander was doing his puppy-eyes again. "I know, Sylvia... but just look at hir. Ze's so cute..."

Frisk signed, I knew I shouldn't have worn the tutu today, but ze signed it to beings who did not understand hir. Once again, actions spoke louder than sign language.

"...there ya are, kiddo."

Frisk shrieked a tiny noise of glee and

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Challenge #01397-C302: Weird Encounters

Frisk Meets....

1) The Mystery Skulls

2) Scooby Doo -- Anon Guest

[AN: This puts the gap count down to ONE. Also, I'm assuming you mean the Mystery Skulls of MSA]

1)

Frisk signed, You're new. Hello.

The formally-dressed Skeleton in front of hir glared down at the child. He was apparently nodding to a beat that Frisk couldn't hear. He didn't speak, and that could be because he didn't have a lower jaw.

Frisk tried offering him some monster food. A

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Challenge #01396-C301: Unconventional Saints

While skimming Reddit's D7D page, I ran across a thread discussing interesting house-rules various groups had invented for their games. Some were mundane, like what weapons did certain amounts of damage on critical hits, or which monsters were weak to certain elements, but one strange one stuck out...

"Paladins and Clerics who are sworn to the service of gods who are Lawful Good in alignment are, as a result of their intense piety and devotion, actually and literally able to piss pure

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Challenge #01395-C300: Don't Feed the Birds

Person 1: (Panicked and running) "There's a dinosaur in the time machine! THERE'S A DINOSAUR IN THE TIME MACHINE!"

Person 2: (Vaguely annoyed) "Again? Those sneaky bastards..." -- OohLookShiny

Callie looked vaguely alarmed as Baz dug into his mini-fridge and extracted a sausage.

"Don't worry," he said, "It's chicken." He casually strolled down to the temporal lab where a black-and-white feathered dinosaur waited and watched expectantly. As Baz entered, it burst into song.

"That... sounds like a magpie..."

"Probably one of their

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Challenge #01394-C299: Gods Grant It

In some religious systems the ruling Deity 'rides' or speaks through a member of the congregation. Like Lois McMasters Bujold's "Saints" I wonder if it's more of a problem than an honour. -- Anon Guest

[AN: I firkin LOVE anything written by Lois McMasters Bujold]

One good thing about taking shelter in an abandoned temple, Josephine mused, was that one was technically close to the gods. She'd prayed at half of those altars in the dead of the night. And now, at

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Challenge #01393-C298: Meeting of the Lost

Alphas have the charisma and make the most noise, but it's the Betas, and Gammas who do the most work. -- Knitnan

[AN: Alpha theory is a relic of Victorian thinking and all that 'might makes right', 'survival of the fittest', strength==power bullshit. The creatures we think of as 'Alphas' actually wind up winning the least female attention and losing out in the genetic lottery. I'm a writer, I research this stuff for fun]

He thought he had found some of

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Challenge #01392-C297: Liminal Time and Space

Night people. Those who by choice, obligation or calling walk or work the Night Shift. -- Knitnan

Children of the night... what interesting lives they have. Those who work from dusk to dawn work in liminal time. Where the strange is not just expected, it is background radiation.

People turning up to their workspace in PJ's, half their PJ's, and minimum legal clothing are a fine example. And though everyone talks about that one time a dude came in wearing a live

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Challenge #01391-C296: Strange Customers

Being alive put him at a severe disadvantage -- OohLookShiny

[AN: My instant thought on this is Miles Vorkosigan, but I'm trying to exercise myself here...]

This had to be the strangest motley crew to ever find themselves in Dr Mellitus' offices. One human boy, three automatons. The doctor had been intellectually aware that Junkers cobbled together their own creations from the waste-piles, but this was the first time he'd seen some that looked that way.

Especially the short one. She had

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Challenge #01390-C295: O My Mona

A soft smile hiding gritted teeth -- OohLookShiny

He called her Mona, for the smile that echoed the legendary painting. She never talked. Never opened her mouth. Never made a sound. The only communication he ever had from her was her soft and mysterious smile, and the glint in her eyes.

Not that he cared. He took his pleasures from her and left the money with the man who ran the House. But there was just something about Mona.

He came back

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Challenge #01389-C294: Inevitable Failure

"Hey, I might constantly manipulate people to stack things in my favor, but actually cheating is pushing it a little bit too far," -- OohLookShiny

"It's like this," said the campaign manager. "We gerrymandered, and you're still losing. We've changed the voter ID laws, and you're still losing. We've criminalised a majority of the folks who would never vote for you, and you're still losing. We've sent out false messages about easier ways to vote to the youth demographic and you're still

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Challenge #01388-C293: Cheerful Charlie

"No worries, Mate! No problem." -- Anon Guest

[AN: Other phrases that Aussies have learned to fear, especially those who remember Joh "I live to fuck up your life" Bjelke-Peterson, are "Don't you worry about that" and "She'll be right" ::twitch::]

If there was a worse curse for a ship's human, T'kethi couldn't think of a worse option than a N'Ozzie Engineer. T'kethi repeatedly set herself reminders to never again pick a human based on pure aesthetics.

They were all ugly, squishy

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