26 )
.
Brinne knew something of gardening. His father had a nursery and collected seeds of all kinds. His father died last year. His father's gardening things were sealed into a container, including his entire collection of seeds, when Brinne moved into the house with his own belongings.
An emergency was called and people went into bomb shelters. they were in the shelters for nearly a month when all clear was announced.
When they came out of the shelters. all the plants looked sick. they were told a gas had covered the land and killed off all major life. They found some dead people who did not get into the shelter for some reason. Because animals could not fit into the shelter, all animals were dead too.
they had a process that created foundation materials, hard blocks, pastes, liquids, powders, that were placed in a replication machine to make food. it was all artificially created by processing oil deposits around the region. There was no problem with food for the community. It was just not as good as the real food.
The people got to the job of cleaning up. Most people stripped out all the plants, piling them up out front. They were placing pavers, concrete, or carpets down in the place of the lawns and plants they had.
Brinne instead started building a compost pile. He knew he had some seeds in storage. He got in touch with the nursery manager and took over the land. He and a few others picked up the plant materials and built big compost piles at the nursery lot.
The logs were gathered and stored in produce warehouses. there were woodworkers in the area and he was storing the trees for them.
People thought he was crazy for building the compost piles as there was no plants to put in them. He knew he had the seeds and was gambling that the container was still sealed and the seeds survived. He was not opening the container yet as there were reports of people bringing some seeds out of storage and after the plant appears above the ground, they die. Somehow, he got an estimated ninety percent of the plant material removed from the city and have the wood in storage and the plant material composting.
He also got some lots, farm lands, where top soil removed for the paving, was piled. Those were great mounds but people were happy to have their paving on solid ground.
When the compost was complete, he got grain elevators and stored the dry compost in them he almost ran out of room.
After about two years, he opened the container He brought out a selection of seeds and re-sealed it. He started growing his plants at the nursery. He had good compost and good soil to use. He got the plants growing nicely. He built up the soil on several farms and took over them to grow plants.
No one knew what he was up to. He simply expanded his operations. Each farm he took over, he built up the soil and then planted. Generally, over time, farm lands subside as nutrients and materials are taken out in the form of harvest. He built the soils up high so there would be a long time before the soil would be depleted.
He got the original farmers involved in their lands in the propagation and harvest. He made sure that only plants that could be pollinated by something other than insects were used, since no insects were seen in the area.
Woodworkers made use of the wood he collected, paying good money for the only supply of quality wood. That funded his gardening operations.
He now had some fruits and vegetables showing up in some upper class stores. Everybody expected them to have been frozen, but are really surprised that they are fresh. Brinne can barely keep these few stores stocked with fresh vegetables.
Slowly, his operations has abundance and he cannot keep all the plants he is growing. He releases some plants to grow in wealthy homes. As his production keeps growing, he starts selling plants. A lawn is planted in several front yards and they are noticed instantly. Everybody wants to know where the lawns come from.
After ten years, he is selling plants and soils to the general public. Most plants won't replicate on their own because there are no insects. They have to be hand pollinated to get seeds to propagate them.
Then there are reports of seedlings of various plants growing in some areas. Brinne goes with some of his experts to examine what is going on. It is strange until they see some insects, a small fly. It turns out that the fly was in some sealed containers at the port. The containers had gotten lost in the recording system. the containers were finally located and delivered. The flies came out and spread.
Finally Brinne has what is needed and while it is only one pollinator, they have what it takes to grow just about any plant he has seed for.

27 )
.
There were reports of infestations that could not be removed by normal means. They were only reports, no one knew anybody who had the problem.
Sampson was a busy man. He only stayed in his house to sleep between trips. Being isolated, he left his windows open to air the place out. He cleaning was not something he had time to do.
One day, he was in an accident and unable to work. he found himself stuck at home. he had plenty of food, and friends could drop by with things he needed.
He was laying in bed when he saw a line of little creatures come in through one of the windows. they were the size of very large ants, but looked more like a wolf, from what he could see. the line continued for about two hours before it finally stopped. he fell asleep.
When he woke, he figured he had dreamed about the creatures. he got his walker and got up, and went to fix a meal. he spilled a little but did not have what it took to clean it up. he sat at the computer for a while, before going back to bed.
He woke a time later and when he went out to the kitchen, the mess was gone. he did his stuff, then noticed that one set of shelves looked like they had less dust. That was interesting.
He happened to walk out to his porch, which was always slightly open, and saw a pile of sand or something in the middle of the porch. He saw a lot of the creatures around it. That was their nest. The dust slumped on them when a gust of wind blew through.
he got a great idea. he went to a kitchen and pulled out a large cookie sheet. he opened the door and set the tray down. He took some dirt out of some dead plants he had, and spread that over the surface of the tray. He then very carefully, scooped up most of the dust and set it in the tray. He expected to be bitten or something. He carefully got up and went inside, leaving the door open.
He slept for hours. when he woke, he checked the porch. The creatures had mixed the dirt with the dust and had built up a nice sized nest in the tray. He walked around the house and found that more shelves were "dusted" he was getting a free cleaning service. He stopped and looked at the line of the creatures as they marched between the nest and the house. they had toenail clippings, bits of food, bundles of dust, Since he had not seen the clippings in the dust pile when he moved it, he figured they were eating them.
He sat on the bed and trimmed his nails. then got onto the computer for a while, then went back to bed. He woke and the clippings were gone.
He improved as a couple weeks went by. He gathered up papers, sorting through them and stacking them. The nest was quite large. the creatures ate the pollen, bug bits, hair, skin, and gathered the dust and dirt. apparently, they examined every item in detail at the nest.
He now tries to eat near the door so they don't have to carry any food bits very far. He makes sure the plants are watered, and finds that the creatures draw the water from the dirt.
friends come in with groceries and are shocked at how much work he had done around his house. They ask exactly how bad off he is. He knows better than to mention the creatures. he simply says that he has picked up papers as he has had the chance.
one of them looks on the porch and sees the cookie sheet and the pile of dust on it.
"You have an infestation."
"No, I have some help on cleaning up."
His friend shakes his head, looks at the shelves clean of dust, the carpets that almost look new. then leaves.
Sampson ends up with one of the cleanest houses around, even oil on the kitchen floor disappears. The creatures finish cleaning, stay for about six months, then file out of the house one night. he sees them go.

28 )
.
An energy experiment ran into a problem. the experiment caught onto the fabric of space. AS the planet spun around, it wrapped the fabric around the planet. finally, there was a tear. As the world rotated past the rent, clocks stopped, time had stopped for them. all sorts of computer equipment that depended on cycles per time period stopped working. communications stopped from those areas, though people moved out of the front of the time period and reported what was happening.
Glarbick was doing experiments with lasers. He noticed that there was a wobble in his equipment. He told his professors and they examined it. They decided it was an effect of the rent in the fabric of space on the planet.
Glarbick got an idea. he set up some extra equipment that read the light passing through a slit. the wobble kept the light passing the slit back and forth. he then set up where the light would create electricity and the a simple device would read the timing of the wobble.
the end of time was coming fast and he did not have much time to get this set up. His professor hooked up a whole line of batteries to feed the laser instead of power plant power. they then set the equipment to measure precisely the time. They had a 24 hour clock with the date on it, all set to use the wobble for the time.
Time passed over them. all clocks, all power died, except for the laser. The wobble continued to work, and their clock continued to count the time. A couple hours later, the rent met itself. The wobble continued, but there were no starts in the sky. the sky was all a glow, all around them, at about the level of a really dark cloudy day.
Time passed on the clock. there was no day or night, just a steady dusk. People slowly returned to what work they could. there was no time, but there was life.
Researchers figured out how to make components to do things that did not require a time cycle to run. It was older technologies.
They modified Glarbick's clock, adding switches to allow them to pull batteries. they had created peddle powered generators to recharge the batteries. They then created other kinds of clocks that really did not use time to work.
They sent out reports of what day and time it was. the set up town criers to call out the time on each hour. the laser clock was set up in a dozen other places set to match the original clock. slowly the clocks went around the world, each one reading off the other to make sure they are set properly.
Many plants died out because they needed the dark to survive, others needed the seasons to survive. the continuous warmth and light was not conducive for life. the population was plummeting rapidly
After nearly three years, there is a flash of light, and over the period of a day, time started up again all over the world. They are in the same place they were in when they disappeared.
Scientists did their theoretical studies and figured out that the world was outside the universe for a period. the tension that held it outside the universe relaxed and it came back in. The planets were where they were expected to be five years after they left, but this planet was where it was five years ago.
The world slowly rose beyond survival, and recovered. Glarbick's clock was calculated to be of by two days in the five years. he became known as the keeper of time, a hero who kept the world alive.

29 )
.
There is a recent country song where a woman goes back to her home and reminisces about the place her family had left. She says "it was the house that built me." My mind clicked into story idea mode.
The place had changed little since he Maydolf left. It felt warm, comforting, like it still had his childhood energy. He remembered every inch of the property, every board of the house.
Magic wrapped around the world in wiggly, tangles, like someone unraveled balls of string in space and let them fall on to the world. Each type of magic could be referred to by a color or pattern. there were places where many lines of energy passed near one place or another. they tended to become religious sites. close to as many lines of energy as they could get.
The magic users would do a dance, that would have them pass through the energy fields, sort of tugging on them, picking off bits of energy. They tended to be wild whirling dances. People knew someone dancing like that as a magic user.
Maydolf was weary, worn from his adventures and usage of magic. None of the temples or churches, or any wild site where the energies converged seamed to fill him up. He came home just to remember how things were.
After standing a long few moments at the street, he walked up to the house. A man came out and met him at the door."May I help you?"
Maydolf bowed with respect. "I was born in this house, and came to recall some memories of the place." The guy looked suspicious. Knowing this, Maydolf told about how the house was designed, the basement what was where, He listed little things one would not know easily if one had not studied the house.
There were several things, by the man's reaction, was not right. Maydolf explained that there had been a number of owners to the property and some things may have been modified, changed. the man nodded, and smiled. "I supposed you want to come in."
"Much as I would like, sir, I do not wish to impose on you that way. Your privacy is yours." Maydolf said, But I would like to go into your back yard and spend some time. There is a large bolder I used to sit on as a child, it was just behind a mound of stones my father created when he removed rocks to create the yard. I would like to also do an old dance my aunt taught me, very slow, contemplative."
the man looked at him. You are not going to do one of those whirling wild dances in my yard?"
"No sir, I do not do those. These are slow, almost like pretending to be a statue. it will bring back memories."
"About how long will it be?"
"If it would not be an imposition on you, I would like to take about half a day."
"The man did not like the idea. "you won't be coming in, then?"
"Not even for a snack of meal, sir." Maydolf said. "You might never see me again after this."
"The man thought for a long moment, then waved to the gate."
The stone was not as big as he remembered, but it was still big. Other people added to the rock pile.
He laid his hand on the stone. it vibrated with energies. It was not the strongest point on the yard, but it was a safe spot where all the hundreds of lines of energy felt about equal. If anybody learned about this, it would have become a great temple.
He went onto the yard, which had been expanded, found the right place, and dropped into a crouch. He then moved ever so slowly, up onto one leg, down onto another, he sensed exactly where each line of energy was in the yard and he passed his hands through them. Being slow, he spent long periods of time in each energy, before he passed to the next. It was a whole hour when he finished.
He then sat down on the stone and closed his eyes. there was a chill in the air, but he was warming up, every cell absorbed the powers as he followed the mental exercises his aunt taught him after she realized he could sense magic.
He was perspiring when he finally got up after two hours. he went to the back side of the yard which was still a bit of a wood. the people in the house could still see him. He did his dance, slowly, carefully, perfect balance of mind and body. He passed through each line of energy in succession, several times. Only a half hour passed when he finished. There were other places that had energies he had not gone through, but they never felt right. As he headed to the rock again, the couple were watching him.
He sat down on the rock with his back to the house and let his mind release. he was totally helpless, the only muscle energy was to keep him upright, He had his guard down completely, he would not even hear footsteps coming to him. he had never been this vulnerable since he left the house. He always had his guard up in some way.
Another hour and he finally was done. He rose up, turned and walked to the yard and around to the front. The man met him there.
"Sir, I wish to thank you for what imposition I have caused you. I can now live the rest of my mind in comfort from what I now remembered of my childhood." He bowed really deep, and left. he heard the wife say that he should have insisted he come in and eat.
Maydolf felt powerful now. his home held all the energies his body was tuned to. He was recharged, ready to deal with the world again. he was now a really high master because he had regained what he had as a child.
There was no need to purchase the home. It would not be good for real magic users to learn how much energy there was there. As a family home, they would never suspect it.

30 )
.
The acting troop was doing another of their shows. Ramson was on stage, in an argument with another character. They both draw two blades and attack each other, blades whirling in apparent wildness.
An old woman comes on stage an speaks words of peace. the two combatants back off, bow to the old woman, and leave on opposite ends of the stage. Back stage, they hug each other, another great show.
Ramson rushed to dawn his costume, a bulky padded uniform with branches, leaves, spears, swords sticking out of everywhere. He slipped on a fake beard and then the helmet which was mainly a padded hood with horns and branches sticking out. With it set in, his friend made sure he knew his script. He was ready.
The time came and he entered through the center curtain, which in the stories, all gods entered. He stood up on stage and bellowed his challenge to all he dared fight. the other actors, wielding swords, turned away, head hung low. He walked backwards to the curtain. Two women grabbed him and helped him through without him having to change his expression, and to walk down the steps safely.
the women helped him out of his god costume. He was now in the fighter's costume, which he never took off. He just had to dawn the swords. the entire ensemble filed onto the stage, bowed to the crowd several times, and then filed off. the show was over.
At another show, he had his partner backed up after the old woman god showed up. A drunk leaped up on stage, challenging him to a duel, saying he was a much better fighter. the man had one sword while Ramson had two. the man was a bit drunker than he thought. the man would swing his blade, and get slapped twice by Ramson. This happened each time. the man was worked back to the edge of the stage. Ramson then pushed. The audience laughed for several minutes.
Later, Ramson came out as the great god with his challenge. the same drunk leaped onto stage accepting the challenge. this time, Ramson was wielding a hammer and a club. the hammer was a light wood, but the club was substantial. The drunk crawled over the edge of the stage, covered in lots of bruises.
Actors who wielded blades on stage had to be good as drunks were always challenging them.
a few months later, they were traveling near the border. They would not cross the border. they stopped in a village for the night. they were not going to be doing a show there. The local lord showed up with an army and ordered every able man to take up weapons to defend the border, another army was coming. the acting troop tried to get out of it, but the lord made the actors take up their weapons and come. they had no choice.
The actors did have real armor as they used them for some plays before high ranking audiences. they donned their armor, gathered their equipment. the woman were taken into the village.
For some reason, Ramson took his hammer and club with him as additional weapons. they were not good against real weapons. too light. When he fought with them, he misdirected the blades rather than counter them directly.
The reached the front line. there were already two other forces waiting. The other army had not arrived, but scouts came running across the fields to report what they saw, and other scouts ran out again to gather information.
The lord made his army march in formation, learn the commands and how to follow them. He also had them practice against each other so they were used to having blades swing at them.
After about three days, they were still waiting. More soldiers had shown up.
Ramson and his friend were in the woods. they came to an expanse of moss. Ramson tore up a sheet and stuck it on his head. He bellowed like a god. Several other soldiers with them laughed. They got a couple big sheets of bark, branches, some bushes. they were all laughing as Ramson was decorated to look like the god he played. His swords were able to be drawn, but one was sticking up out of his back above his head, and another was sticking out both sides of his back. he had his hammer and club crossed on his chest. They even put some moss to look like a green beard. He bellowed his part and they were laughing. He looked the part.
then a Sargent came running up. "Move it move it, the enemy is here."
"I got to get this stuff off."
"No time!. Move it!"
Ramson did not bother any of the uniform as he ran to the lines.
The enemy was lined up, ready for a charge.
Ramson had no idea why he did it, but he stepped through the lines and stood well ahead of the protection of the shields.
He moved like he was big, powerful, sure of himself. He was scared but his actor mind was in control.
"I am the greatest of all. Lay down your weapons and you will not have to deal with me." His voice carried across the distance. he then drew his club and hammer and spun them, one in each hand, very threateningly. The body language of the other side showed they believed he was as good as he appeared.
The leader made a move with his hand. An archer stepped up and fired an arrow. Ramson was busy showing off. the arrow caught him square in the chest. He stopped and looked at it. the bark, moss and armor stopped it from hurting him. He put his club in his left hand and pulled the arrow out. he then flung the arrow as hard as he could at them. he was shocked that the arrow flew over and caught the archer in the thigh. the crowd shifted from foot to foot.
Ramson took several steps forward. he then heard footsteps behind him. the army was following him. A glance to the end of the battle lines proved it. He was past his script, so he had to ad-lib his words.
He told them he would take on their very best, or them all. He was itching for a fight and they could come and be beaten or leave the battle field.
Finally, the other side charged. Ramson was about to run, but found the line of soldiers up with him. He had a sudden urge to go potty, but he held his position.
He sheathed his hammer and club, and drew his two swords. he had no shield. Just before the soldiers reached him, He leaped forward to meet his immediate opponent, feet first in a leap.
The battle waged and Ramson found he had to attack. He got in trouble when he withdrew. soldiers followed him, protecting his back.
Ramson found he had to fight from all sides, swirling, dodging and striking. He never seamed to drop anybody as he would strike an then when he looked back, there was as soldier there still.
He spurted out the back of the battle lines. Before im was the enemy general and several guard. there was also one really big, really mean looking man.
Ramson looked himself over. not much moss was left on him, half the bark was gone. His regular armor still showed. He had some scrapes and cuts here and there.
He watched the battle lines to his back, and the general and his guard approaching. He was really tired and was using the pause to rest.
the guard attacked. when he backed away, they were dead and he had lost his blades. the big man approached him.
Ramson drew out his club and hammer, backing slowly which had taken him out of reach of any other weapons.
The big man attacked, saying about a fake, a fraud, how he was going to deliver punishments that will make the gods proud.
Ramson bellowed out that he would show how to really fight well. It would be a fight to remember.
The man was surprised at how fast Ramson could wield his weapons, the man flinched each time he hit him. the branches and remains of bark saved him several times by blocking blows.
Ramson got a lucky hit on the side of the guy's head with the hammer, then caught him solidly on the arm with the club. he stated banging on the better man, left right, straight in, swing up, Soon the man's defenses were down. Ramson acting self took over again as he bellowed about how one should never tempt the great one to a fight. The man went down.
Ramson heard someone coming from behind. He stepped to the side and swung the club back, spinning. The club misdirected a soldier, leaving him open for the club to make contact.
Ramson turned to the general. he could not holster the hammer, that had been cut away. he shoved the handle into a loop of rope, picked up his two blades and walked menacing to the general.
the general dropped his blade and knelt. he called out a command several times. His army surrendered.
Ramson stood there and waited until other soldiers arrived. the battle over, Ramson feinted. When he came too, he could not move, his limbs were so sore.
the gods sat and watched the mess of the battle being cleaned up. "That was a mean trick you played on that man."
"I did not do anything to him. He played me so well I just had to give him an acting part equal to his skills."
"you know the rules. you don't amplify a person's skills.
"I only gave him words and courage. He has always had that fighting ability and endurance."
Ramson moved like an old man, exhausted, sore, the bandages bothered him. He was glad the costume was off him.
"Sir, I have no idea what got into me. I played the part on stage. for some reason, I became the part on the battle field."
the captured general was sitting there. "You are an actor?
"yes sir."
"I believed you when you bellowed out. I believed you when you dropped my guard. I believed you when you dropped my big man. Either you were that good, or you are some actor."
"For a time there, I believed it myself."

31 )
.
Jasin needed a break, tired of his little office. He cashed in his equipment and his office, and closed out his business sold his home. with the money he had, he packed up and decided to go to for a journey across the country. He packed a back pack and started walking. It took him a while to learn how to act like he had little money. He started forcing himself to avoid hotels, staying in fields. He also slowly divested himself of a lot of his most expensive equipment once he learned that it was a sign of an beginner. He always sold his equipment, gaining him some extra money to work with.
The longer he traveled, the less he needed. He was down to half his money, when he started doing day work. He would find some place that needed an extra body and would do work for a day's pay. He used the money he earned to get what he needed, food, supplies, pay to take a fairy to cross a river, a hotel room once a month, laundry twice a month.
He left his country after he followed the border all the way around, and now traveled around the world. He came to the ocean and found he could work his way across the ocean as a crewman. he had no problems at all to clean toilets swab the deck, clean spit up, anything other crewmen did not want to do. He carried heavy loads, even worked in dangerous situations to lock down cables or make sure something was fastened down.
At the other end, he left, with a handshake to the captain, his work paid for his trip. He then started across the new country. He did stop and convert his money to the local currency.
He continued to search out day labor jobs as the traveled. If given a choice, Several times they were bussing people to the work site. He chose places that would take him along his journey.
He worked in all sorts of jobs, usually jobs that did not require one's mind, just a body. Many bosses said he could stay and make good money if he stayed. he chose to continue on.
after crossing a part of the country where there was sparse towns and no day labor, he was running really low on his funds. He was living cheap but not cheap enough.
he came to a small city and after some checking around, he found a day labor job. he worked from dawn to dusk for the man. the man said he was so good, he would pay him better money if he stayed the week.
Jasin decided to take him up on the offer. The man gave him a place to sleep on site, which allowed him to put in extra hours.
About mid week, the boss said that a shipment was not coming in. he was going to have to occupy himself while he waited. he would be paid quarter wages for hanging around. Jasin said that was all right.
As he was going out, he saw pile of electronics. He asked what they were. the man told hm that they were a whole bunch of equipment that just did not work and no one could figure out how to get them to work. Jasin asked if he could play around with them. the man thought about it for a moment, then told him to lock the door behind him when he left.
Jasin sat down with the electronics and examined each thing. As soon as the man left, Jasin laid the equipment out all over the floor. He figured out what pieces of equipment was never going to work. there were tools all there. He picked the piece of equipment that was easiest to fix and go to work. He then went to the next one.
he had all but two pieces working, they were used for parts, when he got up and let himself out to go to his place to stay.
with little sleep, he was waiting for the boss when the man arrived. they came in and Jasin showed the man what he did during the night. every piece of equipment was working, except for those two. the boss was so excited.
The boss showed him a room of electronics. they all needed to be repaired. the boss said that someone of his skill would be worth a small fortune. Jasin decided to stay for a while. It was fun to be back to the work he did in his office before he closed it down.
.
My note said, "traveling, doing day work. It turns out that he is a master of something, and a boss finds out about this when he stays for a while."
I tended to want to do something like carving or furniture repair, and even considered computers, but decided on electronics. it could be anything valuable that one can master and is not see too often.