Challenge #02645-G088: Getting to Know You
“Try not to read my my mind, I am running five jokes in my head, that will possibly offend you and make you laugh. Another part of my head is accidentally reminiscing about college and now internally screaming. My lizard brain want food. And the rest is upholding this conversation.”
“First off, how did you block my mind scan, and secondly - lizard brain?”
“Oh a part of the human brain can be traced back to a reptilian ancestor thus it is dubbed the lizard brain. Speaking of lizards…” a green creature crawled out of the human sleeves. “Her name is Shelby.”
“That does not explain the mind scan.” – Anon Guest
As a survival tactic, telepathy is not one of the more common evolutionary stepstones. Those who have it, of course, think it’s vital until they eventual fact that other telepathic species are very rare and other cogniscents don’t know how to do Private Thoughts.
That’s when they learn to adapt to tuning out the seas of mental babble, or at least shutting themselves off from it until they consciously scan other minds. The Melil are experts at this, having learned their lessons and returned to teach those at home how to protect themselves before they encounter the harsh truth.
Of the telepathic species, the Melil are the most widely-spread because of their practical approach to non-telepathic encounters. Nevertheless, there are still some encounters that surprise even them. Like having a Human block them upon first greeting.
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Challenge #02644-G087: One Person’s Spice…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RG9TMn1FJzc
Imagine Aliens need a Substance (like Salt, etc…) so Bad. -Mike666
“Limestone,” said the Human with a raised eyebrow. “You guys need calcium carbonate? For reals?”
“The calcium carbonate is an essential mineral for us, yes. For reals.”
The Human shrugged, “Well, we need sodium chloride in special amounts, so yeah. I’ll try to see if we have the pure stuff for you.” There was some significant rummaging about in the storage boxes. “Yeah. I usually have these for baby carvers, but I got you some of the more manufactured stuff. How much by weight are you looking for?”
“Oh,” said the customer. “My crew and I will need a total of twenty Siwus[1] for the entire journey plus contingency[2].”
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Challenge #02643-G086: Fae Trade
Everyone goes somewhere when they sleep. Dreamland is the most common name, but some just think it’s your unconscious figuring itself out or filing away memories. But then there are those who knows what it really is. A whole other world where your true self, the self unbound by your physical body, is able to go. In this world, if you can focus yourself enough to consciously travel it, is a shop. A funny little shop keeper knows the ones who are awake in this world and those who travel within it asleep. The sleeping ones can’t get in. The ones who are awake are welcome with a smile, the tinkle of a bell, and ask What dream will you trade me for my items today?
If you’ve ever awakened in the morning to find an unusual object on your nightstand you swore you’d never seen before, but somehow know it’s yours? It means that you were able to wake up in that world and travel to the shop. – DaniandShali
There are dreams, there are lucid dreams, and there are waking dreams. In daydreams, reality takes a backseat to conscious fantasy. In lucid dreams, the dreamer takes control of the circumstances. In waking dreams, conscious and unconscious blend. We all know dreams… or we think we do. Some dreams are private. Some dreams are shared in the collective unconscious known as Dreamland.
Since there is always someone there, it counts as its own reality. A dimension of mind, of subconscious thought coming together to create landscapes of both illusion and reality. Therefore, it is only natural that there are creatures native to its laws. Well. Such laws as Dreamland may have. One of such denizens is the Shopkeeper. They maintain… The Shop.
The Lucid Dreamers never find it. They make their dreams from the beginning. To find it, one must be in the dream and wake up while still dreaming. Following that, one must find the door that doesn’t belong and be brave enough to go through.
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Challenge #02642-G085: The Honest Mood
Walks in
“tbqh idfk”
leaves – Anon Guest
[AN: OP, I had to leave the link out because this is a mostly-PG exercise of mine and fetish-adjacent material is not safe for any minors who may have wandered in.]
Human Jor spoke in abbreviations. This caused some trouble for the crew she was Ship’s Human for, but on the up side, she also provided a phrasebook. Simple words like “yes” or “no” became tonal grunts. Human Jor had a set of initials or a shorthand for everything.
The simple bonding query of, “How is your day,” or, “What is the mood,” got answers like, “Sasidida,” or, “Snafu.” Though there were other times when an actual word would be employed. Those were rare and therefore treasured. Getting a word out of Human Jor was an accomplishment.
There were entire days when Human Jor only uttered incomprehensible gargles of frustration. Despite all this, Human Jor was effective in her communications and bonded well with her shipmates. Vocal intonations and concatenations of seemingly random sounds, in concert with efficient gestures, could deliver a lot of information.
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Challenge #02641-G084: A Significant Choice
I don’t really drink alcoholic beverages, mostly because I don’t know what kind of drunk I am. I’m not willing to find out based off my parents, let’s just say alcohol was the reason why I was born. – Anon Guest
“Small ale,” said Lady Anthe.
“Rivenmont wine,” said Wraithvine.
“I’ll have a young cider,” said Marvin.
Elf and Kobold alike looked to their Human compatriot. “Er,” said Lady Anthe. “You remember you’re of age now, yes?”
Wraithvine added, “You are allowed to try something a little stronger. If you wish.”
[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org for a link to the rest of this story, and details on how to support this artist. Or visit peakd (dot) com (slash at) internutter for the stories at their freshest]