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Parable

A 9-post collection

Challenge #02917-G360: Waste Not Want Not

The wind caused the flap of our tipi to rattle, father went and tied it more securely while mother tucked my siblings into the furs for the night. The tribe was camped along the river though we'd had to move recently due to rains that had caused the water to swell. Once father sat down, I watched as he was taking an arrow that had broken and was repairing it, shaving the wood carefully, repurposing it for a smaller training bow for my siblings. Then it occurred to me, why keep a broken one when a new one could be made? When I asked my father this, he smiled upon me softly and said gently. "Let me tell you the story of the man who lived within a very small forest, and only used new arrows." -- Anon Guest

[AN: Yeah I'm too white to look sideways at native populations' legends. Not making up new ones, not stealing extant ones. Nope. Going to take this as inspiration and take another angle at it]

The water was fresh and clean and stretched to the horizon. There was no end to it. It was perfect. The forest nearby was plentiful and full of game. The stone for tools was close to the surface and easily available. It was almost as if it was made to be inhabited. Call it... Eden.

There was absolutely no way any of this could possibly run out. It went on forever. The humans who came into the area immediately settled in and started using everything that came to hand. They could have everything they wanted. First, they found the best spot to put the storehouse, knocking down all the trees that were in the way to create it in the process. Surrounding it were huts and homes that were convenient for those who dwelt there. Of course, they had to pull out stumps and dig ditches for the crops they wanted to grow. And clear land for their animal pens.

The fish were plentiful in the nearby lake and nobody saw anything wrong with dumping their waste into the river's water. The water was always fresh and clean and it went into the lake, which went forever. They could put anything into the water without consequence. They could fish all they wanted and there would be more fish there. They could hunt all they wanted and there would still be game in the woods. There was no end to it, or so they believed. For as much as four generations, all was well. Long enough for plenty to be normal.

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Challenge #02601-G044: Memento Quod Sis Mortalis

There are old sayings of humans: “The value of a man is what he does with power.” And “Power is like a beast; either you tame it or become its food.” -- Anon Guest.

There is a third: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. All are true simultaneously. Be wary of any Human leader who uses power like a flyswatter, but also of those who dispense their power with tweezers. There is a fourth: It is not how strong you are, but

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Challenge #02569-G012: To Join the Common Cause

We have to actively fight for our lives, perhaps our very existence. Thousands of people are killed daily by these beings. So what fraction of our government tries to actively prevent us from fighting back until they can find a way to profit from it? -- Bard2DBone

When they came, they came in promises. They came with generosity. They came with shiny treasures. They especially came with more profits for those already wealthy. They came with bright lights and glittering technology and

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Challenge #02219-F029: Fallen From Grace

"I don't understand why you don't understand." -- Anon Guest

This place was an outrage. Roman's first thought as he returned to consciousness was that someone was going to pay for being so loud in his vicinity. It didn't matter to him that the someone was a baby. It mattered that the baby was interrupting his rest. There was other hubbub. People talking. People clattering around with things. He opened his eyes to see dingy grey foam tiles in the ceiling. Who

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Challenge #01734-D273: Enough is Enough

I think I just hit that lovely level of rage and confusion where everything seems perfectly calm and rational. -- RecklessPrudence

Penny stood. The last straw had landed and this metaphorical camel was not going to have her back broken. She left her work behind her, and picked up the best, bludgeon-like object in the room, which happened to be her umbrella.

"Where are you going?" asked her co-worker, Lilly.

"Washington," said Penny. "I'm going to beat some motherfucking sense into our

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Challenge #01715-D254: Beautiful Downtown Babel

It was gridlocked regularly, so they added another lane. Then more cars and trucks came. -- Knitnan

Once, there was a city. It was by a natural port, so it grew with the aim of trade in mind. The lanes and byways were made by horses and the places where people thought it would be convenient to have a building. Cars came, and things changed. Narrow little lanes that could afford a horse became places to build. Wide lanes became wider. Traffic

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Challenge #01564-D103: Are You Valuable?

Prompted by recent disasters. Local Survivalist proves to be a helpful resource during bad weather event. -- Anon Guest

The town was practically atomised after the winds died down. There was very little left that was recognisable. There were streets, somewhere under the risen water, and people were clustered on the few buildings that both survived the storm and had upper floors to huddle in.

Cara piloted her larger boat to the old town hall. It had been built in the era

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Challenge #01460-C365: The Slippery Slope

Trying to sell a specifically weapons design team as a pro-peaceful exploration move is sort of the zen apex of the art of budgetary committees, no matter how necessary self-defence is out on the frontier for Federation starships. -- RecklessPrudence

"Point of Order," said Admiral Joubert. The rest of the budgetary committee moaned in anticipation. "These so-called science vessels you're proposing look more like warships. The Federation has never stood for this sort of thing."

"It's called being prepared, Joubert," growled Admiral

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Challenge #01001-B269: Paradise Made

Life was never meant to be fair, which was why you had to stab it in the back from the shadows, and kick it in the balls to make sure it stayed down. -- RecklessPrudence

Some say that where there's life, there's hope. They're idiots. I say, where there's life, there's a target. It's kill or be killed. Nature, red in tooth and claw, has been fighting intelligent folk since the dawn of intelligence.

We're all a pack of wolves, out for

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