June 2011 Writing Ideas
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There is no way I can write 365+ publishable stories in a year, let alone one publishable story. Last year, I started on 6 stories last year and wrote "the end" on four of them. I submitted one to a magazine and another is being edited to finished quality.
Back on Prodigy Classic, in December 1997, I posted some story ideas I could not use. I soon found the story ideas flowed fast. I posted nearly all the ideas I could come up with, including those I hoped to eventually use.
I follow the belief that if 20 people wrote from the same story idea, we would have 20 different stories. This is why I don't worry about using these stories later, myself. Since then, I've learned that many people enjoy reading these posts, even if they do not write.
The way I work is, I come up with a basic concept which is seldom more than a paragraph long. I then spin a story around the concept, or explain what is behind the concept, so someone can see how to develop the basic concept.
I don't want these ideas to go to waste and hope that others might convert them into published pieces. I hold these ideas to be Public Domain (free to use in any way). They can be used in any form you choose. I hope you can use them profitably, but if not, at least enjoy reading these posts. Let me know if you make use of any of them. That is like a pat on the back and gives me an added incentive to keep this up (Like I really need it....).
I usually post about Four books worth pure drivel each year in these idea posts. This is my Fourteenth year of posting these story ideas. What they say is true. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Developed ideas are like gold. These are not fully developed...
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01 )
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They were special forces. They landed on the enemy planet ahead of the main force. Their job was to search out targets and do mischief to make the attack more effective.
Their equipment was standard weaponry, just what they could carry. They wore cameo cloaks that were on the concept of fiber optics. They looked like they were covered in fine beads. In reality, the beads were the ends of optical fibers that started on one side of the body and ended at the other side. Light, or lack of it, behind the soldiers, was transmitted to the front of them, causing them to blend in better. It was nowhere perfect, not intended to be, but it was more than effective enough to help them blend in.
They had left their camp site and was exploring the city. They realized they left some equipment behind so Selina went back to get it. On the way back, she could see the team ahead of her. A gang sprang out of the buildings on the team. It was a pitched battle.
By the time that Selina got close enough, the team was dead. She was able to take out several gang members who had started to strip the bodies. The gang had similar outfits, something she had seen elsewhere in the city, different gangs had different colors.
She took all the cameo cloaks and packs off the bodies. She then piled them together with a funeral pyre charge. To make sure the team's bodies were fully burned before they were dug out, she piled the gang on top, taking their colors.
She then set off the pyre, lifted her load of packs and headed off out of the city.
She found a place that seemed safe to hide her stuff. The next night, she entered the city, hunting down members of the gang. he followed several members around. One attacked an old man. Selina stepped into view and took out the gang member. The old man looked at the body, as if wondering how he died.
Another time, she saw a member of the gang harassing a woman. Selina and smashed the guy, then stepped back into the brush.
While she did not fully understand their language, her translator helped. She saw news reports about a ghost that strikes fast and disappears.
She then received a communication that the attack was called off. Actions elsewhere was more critical in the battle. The communication told her that her team was to be stuck for quite a while.
In her search for the members of the gang that took out her team, she found herself dealing with other gangs.
One gang used a decoy, It turned out that the guy the members were was part of their gang. She stepped in to stop the mugging and found herself surrounded. She saw on the news the next night that a whole gang was eliminated by the ghost. Some vigilante was clearing the streets of criminals.
She noticed that the gangs were acting differently. They were actively hunting her. She captured a couple gang members and forced them to talk. She learned that there was an umbrella organization that had ordered them to find her and take her out. That was when she realized that the gang that took out her team was not just kids. They were part of this organization. She had to take out the organization to properly revenge her team.
She found herself a crime fighter in the land of the enemy, making their capital city safe for the inhabitants rather than disabling the government. Something inside her suspected that the government itself was at the seat of the gang violence, but she would did not know for sure and did not dare follow that suspicion up until she could prove it.

02 )
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I heard a commercial where an identity thief had ordered cell phones and was going to wait outside the house for when they came in. The tag line of the commercial was "consider stepping out of your house and meeting your identity thief."
Jasper had made a purchase from what he thought was a legitimate site but never got the product and lost the money. He could not get satisfaction.
He finally forgot about the loss and went about his business. Over the next year, he noticed the were strange activities on various identity and accounts, but they were minor glitches in the scheme of things. None of it seemed to be costing him money.
One day he got word that someone had tapped out one of his accounts. He got in touch with authorities and was trying to work out what happened. The bank said he had come and opened a new account, closing the other. He told them he never did.
On a lark, he changed all the locks on the house. He had purchased the locks and put them in himself. There were a couple times where he thought he heard the door being tried. No one was there when he got a chance to check the door.
One day, he was about to walk out to go to the store. He opened the door. Someone who looked exactly like him stood outside the door. Jasper called police on his cell phone as he locked the door from the inside and stepped out. Neither of them said anything, just stared at each other. Two police cars came and were impressed at how the two of them looked exactly the same, even to the clothing.
the impostor told the police he was the real Jasper and the imposter was trying to get into his house.
Jasper took off his jacket and tie. He told the police that hew as making sure they could tell the two of them apart while they were together.
their identity was checked, they were the same. All sorts of checking with the police and they were the same person.
The police was quite confused. Jasper then told the police that if the other guy could open the door, he would go to jail with them on the charges of identity theft.
The other jasper tried his keys and could not get them to work. He looked flustered and confused.
Jasper then told the police that he will open the door, proving he was the owner, and will close the door and not come back out. They could take the impostor with them. He went to the door opened it and went in.
He later learned that the impostor lead the authorities to a identity theft ring where they made illegals and criminals look exactly like the person who's identity they were stealing. A bit of training and they were indistinguishable. What was more was that the criminals changed official records to match that of the criminal, not that of the original person.
Jasper's identity was eventually corrected. After that, he changed his locks every year or so just to make sure no one but him could get in.

03 )
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A new technical industry started up. Think of it like the internet explosion of the 90s. Companies were starting up and investors would put money into anybody who even sounded like they were going to do something with their company.
Albert was one to take shortcuts. He was not outright evil or bad, but he tended not to put the work into whatever he did to do it right. He would "borrow" the work of others to make his money.
One day, he decided to take advantage of the new technological boom. He saw that there was people who needed supplies, people who had product to sell, people looking for funding, people looking for an outlet for their funds. He simply wrote a program that searched for all those.
He then announced he had a new company and wrote up a business profile that allowed investors to get involved.
His actual company did not exist at all, other than the program. He invented workers who did not exist, he created products that were never made, and suppliers that never existed. He made it look like a large factory.
Investors clamored to put money into his company. He then put his program to work. It searched for the most obscure products and services, and located suppliers and customers. he then purchased and sold products like he was making them. He started advertizing programs and then sat back to watch.
He was not dishonest and he shared his profits with the investors. His excuse for low profits was he was expanding, and he produced a catalogue that showed all sorts of products that he was offering, adding more each issue. The investors were getting the catalogues.
After a couple years, he got the attention he needed and the money started coming in. He was taking orders and shipping products like mad. He never saw a single item. His entire business was the program. Thinking about it, his real business was the catalogue.
Finally the technological bubble pops. Companies are going out of business fast, many had nothing to support their business. Albert was in a panic, as he could be found out, but he continued to ship product. When asked, he said he never laid off any workers anywhere. AS some companies with product got in trouble, they fell into the realm that his program handled and started picking them up as suppliers or customers.
His company was listed as the biggest company in the industry. He found himself running into problems with unions, the government worker protection, tax liability, worker compensation problems.
It finally came out that his entire company was a computer program and all his product was that of others. He figured he would be sued and ruined. to his amazement, most of his problems disappeared. The value of his company went up.
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He had started a non-exiting company, with non-existing workers, making non existent products for non-existent customers and was actually making money at it.

04 )
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There was a program my brother told to me where they figured that there is no place we can go in space. We are in a desert area of the galaxy. He also told about where one theory says that the oceans will rise a hundred feet if Greenland and Antarctic ice caps melt, effecting a large number of cities, forcing many to move or be abandoned. There were some solutions.
It was decided that all plant-able land would be stripped of habitation other than that of the farmers. The people would have to move to lower quality lands. This included some of the top cities in the world. This was needed to handle the growing populations.
People with money invested in alternative locations. Many mountains were either hollowed out or leveled. Some new plant-able lands were created in the process, but not enough.
The sea became the alternative. Researchers started experimenting as to the tactic. some want the cities completely under water, while other want them floating. Some want their cities imbedded on the floor of the scene and skyscrapers rising up out of the water to give easy access to the surface.
Each design had their problems. Imbedded on the ocean floor had the problem that as the water rose, they would have to make the towers even taller or they would become submerged. Earthquakes would add stresses that would not be found on land, and tidal waves were another problem.
Submerged cities could also be a problem as one has to use submarines to get to the surface. Supplies would have to arrive the same way. The people are essentially trapped in their bubbles. How low below the surface should the cities be and how to change the elevation to stay with the surface. To write a story about submerged cities, just think of a space station with gravity.
Surface floating cities have to deal with storms, waves, climate. Unless the city barge was big enough and stiff enough, sea sickness could be a problem. How do they handle expansion or do they remain the same size like an island.
I am a fan of floating cities myself. Make the cities really deep draft, and miles across. They would essentially be barges or more likely several barges lashed together. these cities, by nature, would have to be built in sections. The sections would likely allow some movement in response to the water.
Sky scrapers could be available, but it would be easier to spread out since sky scrapers have balance problems that would be difficult to compensate for.
My brother talked about what to do about hurricanes coming, where to move the city to get away from them. I would tether it in one place and wait out the storm. Of course, force five hurricanes would do damage, but that is anywhere anyway.
These cities could be located in the middle of the ocean, using motors and other methods to stay generally in the same place, providing a way station in the middle of a long trip across the oceans. They could also become their own nations
Just "floating" the idea as a seed for new stories.

05 )
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He invented time travel using a complex machine. He made several trips and modified it, perfecting it each time. He then learned he could time travel without all the machine. he shrunk the time travel device down to a medallion he work around his waist. He wore it there as it would be less likely seen or stolen. It was also as big as his hand.
His time travel allowed him to visit other worlds too. The system he was using prevented him from ever appearing some place he could not survive. That was the real technical achievement of what he was doing. In his travels, he found signs of other time travelers that did not have that protection. One creature was caught in the middle of a lava flow. It was not pretty.
He decided to purchase some property on a different planet, in an optimal spot and make that his home. Using his time travel, he got enough information to gain enough money to purchase the land and make an account to support the land for eternity. He would add money to it if he felt it was getting low.
In his time travels, he returned to his properties in different time periods and worked on it, cleaned it up, laid around and rested. A few times he found it already fixed up, which was great. He would do a little more and rest.
He skipped into the very far future and his home and property was still there and he was still the registered owner. It had been updated to modern levels, but was essentially the same house. It was a good stay and he caught up on the new technologies and society surrounding the property.
He figured out that he would live for a couple centuries because of his time travel. He understood that many types of people would lose their minds if they were involved in time travel. He was doing well himself. Having the home to return to in most time periods really helped settle his mind after the traveling.
He was doing some research jumps, checking different time periods and seeing how their changes evolved. There was something strange over a certain period. The society changed drastically between two periods he examined. It was as if a totally new population moved into the area. The area seemed so stable.
Something about that really bothered him. He went to a spot in the rocks that he knew would be there the entire time. It had a good view of the property from there.
He then did his jump to the time in the middle of the period in question, and aimed it so he would be standing in the same place. when he appeared, he crouched down below the rock in front of him and listened. This was something he learned long ago.
He heard strange activity, sounds of electronics of a kind he was not familiar with. He looked up over the rock. There was his house, still standing there. The surrounding town was in shambles. He then saw the space ships and strange green aliens strolling around.
He slowly snuck closer to the aliens. He activated a translator he purchased in the far future that would translate most alien languages even if it never heard them before.
Listening, he learned that the aliens were searching for him. they were examining the contents of the house to see if there was a clue as to where he was. a few natives were used as translators. they were sorely abused even when it was not needed.
He was very close when the aliens saw him. They attacked. He activated his time travel just as he went behind some rocks and out of their sight. He reappeared back at the past at his house, totally shaken. He had no clue what had happened. He now had to figure out how to handle it. He knew he had to get rid of the aliens, permanently removing them from his house. He just did not know how. He did know he would figure it out.
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The note says "He is a time traveler. They have his future land and they hate him."

06 )
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The little dragon was flying around near his mother. He saw something strange in the distance behind the mouth of their cave and flew back to mom to tell her about it. Just as he opened his mouth to tell her, Light flashed. He dropped out of the sky and tumbled a few times. In the last moment that he saw his mother a tree suddenly blocked his view of her.
He woke, helpless, cold. He opened his mouth to call momma. all that came out was a strange sound, a cry, a cry of a different creature. He saw he was a two legged creature with no wings. Around him were similar creatures, charred, but larger and wearing clothing. He panicked and was crying for his mother and could not stop.
More of the peoples surrounded him. One picked him up and held him. soothing sounds came from her mouth. he deduced this was a female of the species. She put some cloths around him and they carried him away.
They took him home and started training him. He fought being a human, but they were stronger, more patient, stronger. Slowly, he learned to be a human, learning their language, their ways, He played with others his age, worked to learn his lessons to avoid the sting of the rod. He found he was a bit stronger, a bit faster, a bit more intelligent than others his age. He soon was accused of sucking the minds clean of his teachers as he asked questions of every detail of what they were learning. He would then practice what they taught any free moment he had.
While he was aiming to be a scholar, he was taken into the army and taught to fight. Again he practiced what he was taught during any free moment.
He followed his lord into the war, proved to be extremely deadly, effective, and brilliant. In one battle, his commander died and he took over the squad. He lead them into an attack rather than just holding his position. His action caused enough disarray to allow his army to defeat a larger force.
The lord took him under his wing and he was trained to be an knight. He earned his spurs quickly. He then proved he was worth the lord's confidence. He was honest, trustworthy, strong, courteous and courageous. He also practiced chastity, not even trying to entice young ladies as other knights did. It was just not in him.
One day, they got word of several dragons terrorizing an outlying valley. Several lords gathered up a force and marched to clear out the dragons. He felt excitement as the stories said that facing dragons was the ultimate sign of courage.
He was ordered to protect the supply wagons as the force entered the valley. He did as he was told as that was how he was trained. His squad was allowing others to deal with the menace.
The dragons attacked the force while they were hemmed in. The path of the flames was well thought out, well planned, well executed. The soldiers never had a chance.
He dove off his horse, hand sprung on top a rock and landed in the creek as flames enveloped his squad and the wagons. He rolled in the water to keep from being burned as more passes took out the soldiers.
He finally sprung to his feet. No one was alive. It was just him. He grabbed a couple spears in spite the burning shafts. He threw one and just missed one of the dragons. They turned. He grabbed up his shield from his horse and flung another spear. the dragon dodged just right so the down stroke of the wing hit the back of the shaft. The dragon then let loose a gout of flames.
He dropped to the ground and pulled the shield over him with the edge of the ground. The flames licked around him. the instant the beast was over him, he was on his feet and threw his last spear. The beast's tail slapped the spear out of the air.
He turned in time to see another gout of flame flowing into him. He had no time to block. The flames hit him, knocking him down. He could see the armor melting, his clothing char. His skin pealed and blackened. He screamed in pain, sucking the flame into his lungs. He arched his back and felt something give. He twisted and turned. He felt hemmed in. He curled up, grabbed his skin for some reason and then Pushed it away from him. The skin split, tore. He spun and wreathed.
He then saw the world changing, He was rising up. He soon stepped out of the shreds that was his skin. He looked at himself and saw he was a dragon. His memories of his childhood came back to him. He called out "Mamma?"
A female dragon landed in front of him, looking him up and down. He was not as big as her. something said he was still an adolescent. He then recognized the dragon. "Mamma, mamma, mamma!" He danced. It took him a bit to calm down. He then told about the things he saw which he now knew was magicians and knights, and how he got caught by the magic and was turned into a human.
His mother guided him on how to take off and soon they were all in flight. Once they were in a safe place, He started teaching the dragons the way of the people, how they thought, how they acted, how their villages and government worked.
With what he taught them, they were able to operate without the people suspecting they were involved. He would teach many more generations about people. He regularly brought baby dragons to study the peoples, learn their way, learn to observe them. Eventually, people forgot dragons ever existed as no one ever saw them, no one ever saw their handiwork.
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My note said, “Dragon turned into a boy, becomes a man, a soldier, a knight, finally a dragon hunter. He is hit with the full blast of dragon flames and becomes a dragon again.

07 )
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The president was a position of true power. The president wielded a magic wand, that could do almost anything he imagined. The wand could only use a certain amount of magic or use it a certain number of times before it was empty, only to be recharged for the next president.
Few presidents finished their term with magic. Only a few had magic in it past their first term as they did the things they felt needed to be done when they entered office and used it up.
One penalty of using the wand, was that the gods became more deaf to the prayers of the people with each use. The wand amounted to the total prayer potential of the people for the president's term.
As the president's term passed, some magic in the wand bled out, gone and unable to be used. Few presidents were willing to let any magic be wasted and would rather run out of magic than have any leak away. That was why they used their powers in their first year or two.
Clamonth ran for president. While others were telling about changing the weather, making mountains into farm lands, All he said was he would use the power of the wand to aid in the needs of the nation. At the beginning of the campaign, his promise sounded silly, but as election time approached, people got tired of the godlike promises of the various candidates, especially when they remembered how little previous presidents actually accomplished. They all assumed he would wave the wand and try to solve their problems.
He took the office, and was handed the wand. With few exceptions, the presidents would turn and cast a spell immediately to show their power. Clamonth took the wand, turned, raised it up. Then walked to the podium. He told the in a short speech that if they want something done, they must do it themselves.
He applied himself to the office of the president as any president had done after they were out of magic. When people came for him to help them, he would tell them if they want it done, do it themselves. No one was happy. People began to wonder if he even knew how to use the wand.
He exercised his political power over the nation. Things started getting done, but not by magic. Everybody seemed to think he was not doing anything. He was not showing his power. Of course, the magic was leaking out of the wand. Everybody around him was really bothered by that, some demanding that he let them use the wand if he did not.
Another country decided his nation was helpless. They decided to attack. Clamonth told his generals to get information on what the enemy is doing and develop a plan. They can follow any plan they choose that is within their power, but they are to tell him what it is before they act so he has time to develop a political explanation.
The generals, not having him blast the enemy were angry but did as they were told. He learned of a rather gruesome plan they had. He just walked away, letting them have to follow their old orders. The enemy was caught exactly as planned, in a way that showed them to be invaders.
There was an uproar of the effect of the battle by other countries. Clamonth gave a speech on the subject written so he said absolutely nothing. it was just a bunch of words put together to sound like an intelligent speech on the subject. Other nations parched the speech. The uproar died down fast because of the way he handled it.
As the new election season started all the competitors talked about not wasting the magic in the wand the way he did. he did not campaign much. In several key speeches, he told the people to look around at what had been done in their community. If they like what they saw, vote for him.
It was a tight race but he won again. second terms were rare. the wand was refilled with magic. Now they were sure he would do a lot with the wand. Of course he does not.
Near the end of his second term, a problem shows up that is serious. It is not going to be solved by normal methods. He takes out the wand. He prays to the gods asking them for their blessing. He then uses the wand. Because he used the wand so little, in spite the fact that the power had leaked out a second time, he was given more than enough power to deal with the problem.
He was forced to serve a third term because more than enough people wrote in his name on the ballots as they saw him as the best president ever.

08 )
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The world was black and white. Subtle shades along with high contrasts made the world beautiful. Food was plenty and easy to find, dangers were minor. Magic users were the rulers but since they avoided anything to ruin the world, the people were happy and thriving.
Four sisters rose in power. they were about to be declared heirs to the seats of power when the world was invaded. Within days, the world became filled with color. All the fine gradation of grey was gone, replaced by gaudy bright colors. A blast of red there, yellow here, green along that area. there were no shades or tints. It was all pure color.
Three of the four sisters worked to fight the color. they were shocked that their light "tan" appearance in the black and white world became an ugly green. The fourth sister was always a stark white in the black and white world was white with a tint of pink. so was her fluffy dress. She was not for all the color, but she was not going to fight those in power.
Others came into the world and overthrew those that brought in the color, but they liked the color and resisted any thought of changing it.
Creatures became very dangerous since they could see their prey easier, their prey standing out against the background. An attempt to reduce their danger backfired and they became as intelligent as those trying to remove them.
Glenda decided that fighting the whole world was not going to work, so she picked out a small area and was turning that into black and white. She had a fortress to hold off anybody who would try to stop her. She used her magic to permanently cloud over her area so the light was not as bright, the colors dimmed. She then gathered servants and allies to essentially, one by one, remove things of color from her piece of the world. Her power grew and her range extended.
Her sister that was not fighting against the color, started creating problems, appearing here and there to "add a little color where it was needed."
Sometimes, that little bit of work her sister did would set Glenda back months. It was frustrating.
Glenda started getting revenge by appearing in the middle of the color areas, the brightens parts, and using magic to darken the mood of the area. her sister then was forced to spend a long time trying to brighten the area. The population of little people were a special spot she loved to torment. She could simply appear and their bright and happy mood would be gone for days unless her sister showed up.
One of the usurpers turned out to be someone with no real power, but the ability to conn and impress people with simple tricks and gadgets. He also had some system where he could figure out solutions to people's problems. Since he was in the well protected green city he could control who he saw and when he saw them. The delay might have something to do with how he knows so much about the visitors.
One day, a shack fell out o the sky. Glenda's northern sister was caught by the shack and crushed her. Glenda went to get some special items her northern sister used and her other sister stole the objects and gave them to this girl visitor. Angry and no willing or able to take revenge against her sister, she starts harassing and frightening the girl and her puppy. She only does it while she passes between other work she does. Each time, she steals some color from a bit of the brightly colored land. It is fun. Just visiting the girl and taking a bit of color, she gained years on bringing the world back to black and white.
The girl gets a group of companions who help her along. They are also fun to harass. Since they are part of the world, they know her true power and also know what the world was like before color.
They get to the green city, with the help of Glenda's sister. Glenda giggled that a snap of the finger level magic spell took a full load of magic for her sister to stop. She decides she needs to do that more.
The girl gets help from the people of the green city, but the wizard refuses to help her. Glenda learns that the girl is after her whicker transportation. Glenda sends her allies to capture the girl which was easy.
For fun while she is waiting for some magic to develop from one of her projects, she picks the color out of the girl's dress one thread at a time, using the grains of sand in an upside down hour glass. She tells the girl that when it is done, the girl would die. No, she would just be pure black and white, but that would be no fun as a torment.
One problem that Glenda has, is that many of her allies don't like each other. they would rather fight each other than fight for her. It is only that they have a common goal is why they are together. Because of this, the girl's friends slip through the security easily. It is only when they try to escape with the girl that they are trapped.
if Glenda could get the things of her sister off this girl, she could do a whole lot to remove entire sections of color from the world. She shows up in front of the girl and her friends. she starts tormenting them. she lights her wicker transportation and threatens to burn one of the companions. The girl throws water on the fire and gets Glenda. Glenda was using her magic at maximum power on her project and the water short circuits her magic. It recoils back on her and eats her away. All her work to bring the world to black and white is for naught. Her power is broken. The sun comes out, and that which she darkened, becomes bright again.
"Dorothy, you killed the Wicked Witch of the West! Hail Dorothy!" Toto barks.

09 )
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There were competing theories of galaxies in space. The most accepted theory is the big bang theory where there was a moment where the universe was the size of an atom, then started expanding and because of the laws of physics, the galaxies formed. they are pulling away from us based on red shift and will continue until our galactic group is all alone. An early competing theory was that galaxies were appearing between the existing galaxies and filling in the spaces, sort of a steady state. Since new galaxies could not be seen forming, this theory died quickly with the advent of more research.
Some student astronomers were trying to gather some data on super novas. They used a low powered telescope to scan the sky, searching for any change in the lighting. The moment the computer detected any changes, it would direct other low powered telescopes to check out the location in more detail. This project had gone on for decades. If it was really interesting, the powerful telescopes would have a look.
The students were watching the data and got a signal that there was a change. Checking the data, it was a merging galaxy. The other telescopes locked onto the very distant galaxy to see what data they could garner. The data flowed in. It was merging galaxies, barely separated. The two cores were almost touching. The edge was bright with novas going off. Right before their cameras, new stars brightened. Within an hour, a dozen super telescopes were focused on the galaxy, taking in data of the wildfire of super novas going off.
Other scientific research was on hold as telescope time was taken up with study of the merging galaxies. Within two weeks, only a couple telescopes were studying the galaxy as the others went back to their regular research.
About six months later, a new phenomena appeared. A number of the novas seemed to blink out, become small dots again. Again the telescopes turned to the galaxies. The wave of stars fading out quickly was following the wave of stars blinking on. Theorists were spouting different hypotheses every time cameras came on around them.
just as the telescopes were about to return to their normal work, the light of the galaxy rippled. The ripples were stars fading and brightening in rapid succession The waves moved at thousands of times the speed of light. Scientists immediately started looking for something close by that could cause this kind of effect, possibly some swirl of dust between the galaxy and the telescopes. They could not find any.
A year after the first supernova was detected, the merging galaxies flickered violently. The cores dimmed suddenly. flashes and streaks of light crossed between the cores, then dark shapes appeared, and they launched in all directions with sparkling trails following behind them. Scientists looked for nearby causes of this. Their calculations said that for things to not break the speed of light, this galaxy should be twice the distance to Pluto. This was actually a galaxy, though. The dark objects were traced to large species between galaxies. they seemed to stop. After about five years, the merging galaxies calmed down to become normal again.
New telescopes were in operation to watch the spots the dark shapes appeared to go. There was signs of something happening there, but they were not sure what.
After about a decade, their observations became fruitful. light was appearing. Another decade proved that they were small galaxies.
Studying other galaxies after seeing this event, they concluded that while the universe is expanding, the concentration of the galaxies was going to remain the same. The galaxies that merged were mating and sending offspring out into gaps to fill them in.

10 )
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This is the third story idea based on a song where he wishes heaven was closer so he could visit.
Particle physics tests using anti-matter particles introduced a problem for the scientists. Antiparticles proved to be the source of magic. When they accelerated some of the higher atomic number antimatter, They released magic in prodigious quantities. The magic did not go away when the experiment stopped. They tested it several more times, making magic fill the whole world essentially permanently.
A small town in the middle of the country was extremely religious. A town-mother, a woman who was highly important, died suddenly. The people wanted to know why she died and there was so much they needed to know she did not tell them. They prayed with deep conviction during their church service.
The town was on one side of the river. The other side of the river was basically a forest. The people got up the next day and saw a village on the other side. That village was pristine white, every building well maintained. People roaming around in the morning just as the original town was doing. the next day, a bridge appeared crossing the river. The priest and sheriff crossed the bridge to see what was going on. They knew about the magic in the world and the priest was to deal with the supernatural. The sheriff would deal with everything else.
As they walked around, they recognized a lot of the people, some from family pictures, some from knowing them personally when they were young. The town-mother met them. She hugged both of them and explained that this is a tiny bit of heaven brought to the town because of their total belief. She passed on a few bits of information the townsfolk really needed. The sheriff's sister and the priest's father came to say hello.
It did not take long for people to start visiting regularly. The people quickly figured out that only those one really had an attachment to, showed. If they wanted to talk to someone they were not attached to, they needed to bring someone they were important to, with them. then they could talk.
The sheriff learned quickly that the spirits would not tell certain types of information. He wanted to know who did some crimes and the spirits simply told him no. That is not needed to be known.
The people quickly fell into a pattern. They would o to church, then go visit family across the bridge. Reports was that many other places had bits and pieces of heaven also. Because all of them were closer to cities, they were visited by city slickers. Once in a while people they knew showed up, but that tended to be infrequent. Most who came did not really believe in magic of any kind.
The power of the little bit of heaven became strong enough to where the spirits could visit the real world. Spirit dogs would go hunting with their old masters again, younger, healthier parents and grandparents would recount stories of what they did and show the youngsters around, explaining things that they did not know.
People who finally passed, would usually show up a few weeks later to meet those who cared for them. the big thing was that those in heaven absolutely never said anything bad about anybody, living or dead. It was heaven and bad things, including statements of others, did not exist.

11 )
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Banks purchased each other. The add has a man getting up in the morning and finding his family was swapped out, children, wife, even the dog. They are his new family.
The council has absolute power. They can decide who is married to whom at any time. They have a plan for population distribution and genetic diversity and if they have to swap families, they will.
In their society, the women do not work. only the man does. The woman raises the children and tends the home. If the council decides someone needs a better wife to tend a home, they will swap the family, giving the man a new wife to do a better job or accept a lesser wife.
When the family is taken, they are put through programming and training to accept their lot and accept the father as their own. The father has no say on the matter as if he loses his job, he may never get another job and will essentially tossed out on the side of the road and have to depend on the kindness of strangers to survive.
Karl married a wonderful woman, and gave her four perfect children. He worked hard and spent as much time with them as he could each day, training them, educating them, teaching them. They were doing better than average.
He comes home from work and after his evening time with the family, goes to bed. he wakes with a headache. he rolls out of bed and sees he is a little late. He gets dressed and goes out of the bedroom.
"Who are you? he says to a strange woman in the house.
"Hi honey, I am your new wife. These are your new children, Buffy and Gilbert."
"Hi dad." the two kids say.
"But I liked my old wife, and my old children."
"We are your new family now."
He learns quickly that she is not as good a mother, not as good a house keeper, and the children don't like answering to him and would rather not have anything to do with him.
He also feels like he is with a whore when they go to bed and he is not that kind of person.
His wife and children are "programmed" to accept their fate and is placed with a high official who was not married and could never have children but wanted to get married and have children. Of course, there is a reason he is not married and she learns that within a few minutes.

11 )
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Banks purchased each other. The add has a man getting up in the morning and finding his family was swapped out, children, wife, even the dog. They are his new family.
The council has absolute power. They can decide who is married to whom at any time. They have a plan for population distribution and genetic diversity and if they have to swap families, they will.
In their society, the women do not work. only the man does. The woman raises the children and tends the home. If the council decides someone needs a better wife to tend a home, they will swap the family, giving the man a new wife to do a better job or accept a lesser wife.
When the family is taken, they are put through programming and training to accept their lot and accept the father as their own. The father has no say on the matter as if he loses his job, he may never get another job and will essentially tossed out on the side of the road and have to depend on the kindness of strangers to survive.
Karl married a wonderful woman, and gave her four perfect children. He worked hard and spent as much time with them as he could each day, training them, educating them, teaching them. They were doing better than average.
He comes home from work and after his evening time with the family, goes to bed. he wakes with a headache. he rolls out of bed and sees he is a little late. He gets dressed and goes out of the bedroom.
"Who are you? he says to a strange woman in the house.
"Hi honey, I am your new wife. These are your new children, Buffy and Gilbert."
"Hi dad." the two kids say.
"But I liked my old wife, and my old children."
"We are your new family now."
He learns quickly that she is not as good a mother, not as good a house keeper, and the children don't like answering to him and would rather not have anything to do with him.
He also feels like he is with a whore when they go to bed and he is not that kind of person.
His wife and children are "programmed" to accept their fate and is placed with a high official who was not married and could never have children but wanted to get married and have children. Of course, there is a reason he is not married and she learns that within a few minutes.

12 )
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The planet had an overpopulation problem. The planet had a theoretical capacity of 35 billion people if all arable land was harvested using the best techniques available. A new supply of sustenance and fuel for the population made it possible for the planet to support 78 billion people and likely can double that amount.
To give that population work to do, machines were discouraged. If a person could do it, they had it done by a person.
Busses in all but the steepest parts of the world, were powered by teams of people on bicycles. they would be in the motor, peddling to drive the wheels. The passengers and driver would be in the cab. The power was not direct drive, chains to the wheels, but instead to generators that went to the wheels. batteries would take up excess power to reduce the loads on hills. Brakes also returned power to the batteries. I will say when I started writing this section I planned for them to be direct drive, a bunch of peddlers in a lead truck and the passengers in the trailer. I decided it would really be more efficient for them to be powering batteries which drove the engine, they could continue to peddle comfortably continuously rather than when moving.
Garbage is sorted into many different containers. Crews go through neighborhood and take the garbage each is picking up and making sure it is right and adding it to their pull cart. The pull carts are taken to the centers and processed based on the type of garbage.
Tractors are not used, but instead teams of workers with shovels and other implements. Snow removal is done by people who live along the roads. They simply go out with shovels and brooms and clear the snow since the populations along side roads, except for a few random sections, have more than enough people to go out and clear the roads in just a few minutes.
Where machines are needed, people power is used whenever possible. Factories have men pulling on ropes for cranes, walking inside wheels or on treadmills for power.
Just as we use horsepower for a measure of force, they use people power, how many people does it take to do a given amount of work, which from memory, was about a quarter horse power.
A story could be someone who cannot get the space needed to start manufacturing something. He has more than enough space for his process, but not enough space for the people to power the processes. He used the computer models to test all possibilities and he has only a fifth what is needed. His only option is to use machinery on some processes.
He plans out the maximum people he can possibly accommodate and then works out what processes his machines has to handle from that configuration. He starts his manufacture. He is using his people to the maximum efficiency so he is using the least amount of machinery.
It does not take long for complaints to become public about his machines. His factory is louder than other factories and people are complaining about how he should hire more people to work for him.
He gets word that the government is taking notice. His products are taking off, people wanting them so he does not want to shut down. He also has not retrieved all his investment so far.
He publishes some advertisements for factory space larger than he has. He puts the advertisements where the complainers would most likely see it. He also sends out requests for ideas on how to spread out his processes since it all basically in one machine right now.
He then, again ahead of the complaints, do advertisements telling about how he is employing a certain number of people who did not have jobs before. He could employ more if he had more space, but if he moved, these people would lose their jobs.

13 )
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Robert family was in a horrible accident and he was the only survivor. His lower body was mangled. In repairing them, the doctors used a regenerative process to help him recovered. His gonads kept developing dangerous growths so they finally had to castrate him to save his life.
He was put with a society to be adopted. In that society, anybody who could not become a quality breeding specimen was relegated to being a sex toy. Robert was raised as a girl, except when he was made use of.
There was the council of men and the council of women. The council of women required the girls to pass a special test which separated the women from the men, and male minded women. Once one passed the test, one became a junior member of the council and after two years, became a voting member of the council. They were strictly business in all cases.
The council of men had the leadership which was the selected most powerful of the community, and the rest were just members. Most members spent their time with the sex toys.
He had a "twin brother" who took a liking to him and sort of protected him. The brother would seduce Robert before he would make use of him. Robert found he really loved his brother.
One of the rules of the society was that the sex toys received a stipend when they were made use of and that was placed into an account. His brother's usage did not count on that but everybody else's usage was fairly extensive so Robert had developed a sizable balance.
Robert, who commonly went as Melany, learned to read and research and found details about medical procedures. He sort of planned on becoming a nurse. He learned there was a sex change that would be undetectable without a tissue test. He researched the trip, the process, the money required.
One day at the age of ten, he slipped out of the house really early in the morning. He got to the train station which became a subway in the city. He had everything planned, except that the train was two hours late. With all the stories he had heard, he was surprised he was not molested on the train.
He got to town so late he really could not get a hotel room, so he went to the hospital and checked in. While he was early, they took him in.
He had an early morning interview of his doctor and he explained what he wanted and why, and what he considered the minimum, which was just to be made to look like a girl. The doctor interrogated him on everything, learning his personality. Robert kept looking at a muscular medical aid desirably.
The nurses prep him and he is given the treatment. After surgery, his body was given the healing treatment. It is referred to as a burn, as if used on a person long enough, it causes the skin to turn brown. It also causes the body to use fats and muscles, effectively reducing one's age. A person will actually have that much time added to their life. It is also called a burn as the patient, in spite the strongest pain meds, it is like one is on fire.
When it was all over, the doctor got Robert up on his feet before a screen. His image is mirrored on the screen. It also showed a normal boy, a normal girl, himself just before the operation, himself as he was changed. He could see that he was much more female than he was, and that he previously was not as male as he would should have been. The doctor then ran a program bringing them to adulthood, month by month. Robert got excited that when he was mid teens, he had caught up with the girl in looking female. Seeing how his previous body would have remained like a boy, made him happy he had the change.
The doctor reminded him that he might look different, but it is fairly close. Robert was so excited he gave the doctor a hug. He asked if Muscles could seduce him and make love with him. The doctor approved it.
Muscles took Melany out to dinner and then went to Muscle's home. by then, they both realized they did not like each other at all. They did do some heavy petting and Melany saw he loved his new body, but it never went past that. The next day, The doctor released Melany and she went home.
On the train, she realized she was going to be heavily molested, so she picked out a man who looked quite prudent and cuddled into his arms. He helped protect her. She was so taken by his kindness and lack of mishandling her, she asked if he was married and almost broke out in tears when he said yes. She then asked of she could meet the lucky woman. At his train station, she changed her pass to take her home. All his sons were as gentlemanly as their father. Melany was so happy she insisted in helping. the mother helped her with learning how to sew better, cook, clean.
After three days, the man took Melany to the train and she went home. It was an off-hour trip so she was left alone.
He slipped into a play house and waited a couple days until the council of women were meeting. He peeked in from the open door and when someone was passing the baton of talk, which one had to hold to speak before the council. She walked through the group and snatched the baton from the woman's hand. "I have the baton of speech and you are going to listen to me." Melany waved it over her head. She then shrugged off her dress.
"I was the one who was known as Robert and went by the name of Melany. As you can all see, I have had a full sex change. I will become a full woman at the same rate as any girl my age. I will not, though, be able to have any children until after eighteen years of age."
As the council leader opened her mouth to speak, showing some strong irritation. "I make to the council of women an offer. I will give up all rights, privileges and responsibilities of ever being a man, if the council will grant me your protection and guidance." After a bit she handed the baton to the woman she took it from. She picked up her dress and knelt down next to her mother. Her mother stopped her from slipping her dress on twice before she got the message and she sat there waiting, a bit embarrassed.
As the council leader was about to close the meeting, another senior member got permission to ask Melany some questions. Melany was interrogated quite strongly about what she did how she did it and why.
Leaving the meeting building, Melany put her dress on and then ran over and retrieved her suit case.
At home, Her mother "locked her down" not letting her near any man, even her father. She was required to do constant chores or be trained in being a woman and doing woman things by her mother and oldest sister. her twin brother smiled when he saw her and she knew he loved what she had done. she let him know her opinion of him with a flick of her dress.
The men learned she was back and were demanding she be brought to them immediately. Her mother kept her out of sight whenever possible.
After about a week, she was taken out of the house and to the woman's council meeting. It was not one officially announced. She then found out that several girls were going to go through the test to become a woman.
Melany was placed in a chamber just as the other young girls were. soon she found there was a fire that was crawling up at her. She saw a baby on a wooden rack. The baby was going to catch fire. She saw she climbed almost to the top quite easily, but decided she could not leave the baby. Try as she might, there was no way she could carry the baby to safety. She then saw some people above and started begging them to help her. She considered leaving the baby but she something in her said she had to save it.
She took the baby and held it up. calling, begging, pleading for the people to help her. The fire lashed her and she was on fire. Just before her body gave out, she seemed to feel a change in the weight in her fingertips. She fell down.
The chamber opened and she crawled out and realized it had happened all within her mind. She started begging to find out if she saved the baby. None of the leaders paid attention to her. the other girls got a nod and they giggled and smiled. Finally, one official looked at the machine. "yes, the baby lives."
Melany's face went into a broad grin and her eyes broke into tears of joy. She hugged herself saying over and over again. "I saved the baby, I saved the baby, I saved the baby!"
A while later she calmed down. She realized the chamber's effect did not stop when she stepped out. A couple hours later, the girls were required to kneel in a line. Each of the young girls received a necklace of womanhood. Each one was excited for the other for getting it. Melany never gave a thought she would get one and was so excited for the others.
Then the council leader placed a necklace around Melany's neck. She was so shocked that her mouth just hung open, unable to make a sound. The other girls gave her hugs and kisses, really being excited that she passed.
A little later, one woman said "How come she is made a woman when Karly and Rachel actually did better in the test and were declared men?"
"This is because of the reaction after they left the test. The effects do not shut off when one leaves the chamber. Melany just had to find out about the baby and was so excited when she learned it lived." The council leader said. "A man will always save himself. A woman will always sacrifice herself to save the baby. There is no thought involved. It is in their personality. Melany showed she was at the edge when she tried to climb out, but she did everything she could to save the baby right up to her very last breath."
Melany's parents made her marry her twin brother immediately, and then took her for a name change and then got her a passport which made her name legal to all governments and also it showed she was married to her brother.
Melany would eventually have several healthy children and was happy to be a wife, mother, and a woman.

14 )
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The entity decided to create itself into a computer to work out some problematic part of the laws of the universe. It selected a planet with a native species that was quite intelligent. It infused itself into their minds and started adjusting their genetics so their minds would become computer processors to run the data in the background of their minds.
It learned to pay attention to the health of the units and copy the data to a young one as soon as any sign of illness showed up. It also adjusted the predator to avoid his units so they did not take out one at a key point.
One effect of his work was that the natives developed primitive technology. It was a side effect of having the data run through their minds.
A starship arrived. the entity was never watching space other than glances at anything natural that might effect the planet. The ship's arrival was totally unexpected. It was just there. It naturally tried to link to the minds and got garbage which was how it learned they were there.
The space people found the natives rather interesting and, along with collecting specimens of other native species, plants and animals, they picked up several of the natives to show off at their home world. they would be good study.
The entity had figured out the space fairer's mind enough to where it was confident to program their minds. the ship took off. The entity suddenly realized that several key units were leaving with it. the entity had a choice of recreating the information or catching the ship and bringing the natives back. It launched after the ship, expecting to catch it quickly.
Once it was quite a ways into space, it realized that it was not going to catch the ship very soon. It was fast. The ship stopped somewhere ahead and then left. The entity reached where the ship had stopped. there were no natives there. Angry, the entity laid waste to the space station. It then took off after the ship again.
There are several stops and the entity devastates the stops, one was a planet, a couple more were space stations, one was an asteroid.
The ship realizes something is following it. they then realize that it must have something to do with the natives it had captured. there seems to be an energy link between them and whatever is following them. In discussing the problem with space authorities, they are now forbidden to stop anywhere.
they make a sweeping turn and start heading back to return the natives back to their planet. the entity is catching up. they have a problem in that they do not have very much supplies left. Their hope is to get to the planet in time to drop the natives off and escape before the entity catches up to them. It will be very close.

15 )
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The planet was said to be empty of petroleum so transportation was limited to animals. An extensive highway system and rail system was developed but since there was no fossil fuels, animals pull the transportation everywhere. the transportation system was designed so the animals did not have to work very hard to get anywhere. All roads were selected for low grades.
The cities were built near falls or steep water. Water wheels powered belts and shafts that ran into the city to power equipment and household appliances.
The entire power system for the cities was made by a group of companies that worked together on all the projects. The officials kept asking for an explanation of how the system worked, and the group used a combination of overly technical language and vagueness to leave the officials clueless. During one such meeting the officials had a couple technical people there just to listen. Afterwards, the technical people had no clue how it worked. they did say that something was not what it seamed.
One thing that bothered the officials was that the system seemed far more efficient than it was supposed to be. Every one of their experts said that there should be a lot of loss of power through friction.
What the companies actually did was to drill for and process the petroleum that was not supposed to be there. They had a constant flow of oil to lubricate and cool the entire system, pumped by electric motors. the water wheels are not the most efficient way to produce power. About half the water that goes over the falls goes through turbines that produce electricity. At certain places in the mechanical system are electrical motors that give additional boosts to the mechanical systems. This was not supposed to be allowed but the officials know nothing about it.
The companies also sell power units that fit onto the mechanical outlets in the homes and provides electricity for a light or a household motor. They only sell them to the poorest people so they have an additional advantage they would not normally have.
The company ran heavy power cables along the mechanical power system. Their plan is to slowly go completely hydro electric power when the officials change enough that they will accept electrical power rather than pure mechanical power.

16 )
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I had a fraction of a second dream where something like a monster appeared with a roar and I was awake. No fear, just a loud start. A story idea came to me fairly quickly.
The body recovers from injuries, wear and tear, when it dreams. It has not been proven, but one theory is that people who die in their sleep, do so in the dream state.
While the imagery is personal and has something to do with the world around them, the actual dreams are all in the same area. The "spirits" of the dreamers are sheep in a series of fields. they appear in the fields and feed, which is part of the healing process of the body.
There are dangers in this dream world. there are predators that hunt dreamers. If one is in the first fields, which is where you appear when you first enter dreams, if one sees a predator, one snaps awake, protected from the predator.
Now there are other fields. They are not as heavily feasted on and have better fodder. They are more dangerous as one cannot simply leap and snap awake. One has to get to the first field to return to the body. To go there, one has to pay closer attention with what is around you.
As one gets older, the spirit will go into farther fields. to escape, one has to travel three fields and one can then snap awake, no matter how far one goes. One has to be far more attentive to where the predators are and faster to react to any movement. Experience makes one good at that.
The real problem, the same as in life, when one gets old, reactions and attention starts to fade. it becomes easier to become confused. A number of older sprits will stay to the lesser quality fodder and not heal as readily. Those that stay to the dangerous quality fodder might heal faster from ravages of time, but they are less likely to react properly to the predators. Some will make mistakes. that is when someone dies in their dreams. Their spirits did not react and were caught.

17 )
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An energy experiment went wrong and in just a few weeks, all the plants died. Within a month, there was nothing green anywhere. If it were not for processing petroleum into foodstuffs, the colony would have perished with their plants.
Everret was well known for being strange. He walked around the city and scraped out every crack in the sidewalks he found and packed in some good soil. He remained silent when people asked him why he was doing that.
Once in a while, they would see him tend a crack here and there. No one could guess why. He was persistent in what he was doing anyway.
A few people were really bothered by his crack tending, but others convinced them to leave him alone. Some people responded to the loss of plants in different way.
After about a year, patches of green plants started appearing here and there around the city. They were in well protected areas where they were able to grow without being noticed. A closer examination showed that they were planted with plenty of potting soil around them. People started getting excited about seeing green again. There were soon tours of all the places that the plants showed up.
One day Everret was caught with potting soil and plants in pots. they accused him of stealing the plants. People surrounded him, angry of him being a plant thief. He swings the shovel around forcing people to keep their distance. Once the crowd calmed down, he started digging and planted the plants in the same way everybody saw them elsewhere. He then watered them with buckets he brought with him. when he was done, he packed up his stuff.
"As you can see, I have been planting these plants, not digging them out." He said.
"Where are the plants coming from?"
Everybody knows that all you need to do to grow a good plant is to have a nice crack in the sidewalk. I have been tending sidewalks, and when something starts growing, I take it out and tend it at my home. I then plant them like this when I have enough plants. I don’t have any trees yet, but do have lots of weeds growing. I am gathering the seeds and planting them in sidewalks too so they will get a good start."

18 )
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Their ship crashed on a planet with dinosaur like creatures. They lost a couple people before they learned to hunt and defend as pack, to make nice fires at night, and to use natural objects to block them from attack from at least one side.
As they traveled, they found different uses for plants and found animals that were well worth hunting. The women would gather certain leaves, cutting them while them migrated and work on them during the breaks, pounding them until all they had was a fiber.
They had the advantage of having several survival computers with them and the computers told them how to make use of materials. The women were making a form of yarn and knitting them into clothing in the evening. The men learned what pelts worked for a good leather, and would make racks they carried like umbrellas to let them dry in the sun when they were crossing the clearings. A combination of rawhide, leather, bone, wood and fiber, they had a lot of weapons and tools to do much of what they needed to live fairly comfortably.
They had gotten skilled enough to be able to drive even elephant sized animals from kills so they could harvest what the clan needed. Many animals soon stayed away from them when they approached even though any two or three of them would be a snack.
Winter, which was not really cold though there was a little frost on the ground once in a while, had set in. The clan settled in a cave, having brought down a sizable animal and chopped it up. The computer showed them how to keep it from spoiling too fast.
They stayed in a cave near a large forest where they could get easy wood for their fires. A distance outside the cave entrance was a small bond fire that was to keep other animals away.
The men ran across a pack of animals and came home several times during the month with scrapes and bruises. The clan and the pack which were about the weight of a rhino, fought to a stand still several times. They were of similar numbers and the weapons the clan used made them equals. They noticed in the last couple battles, that other animals were watching the outcome from a distance. this included animals that would normally ignore such things.
One day, darkness settled in and the bond fire was burning nicely. The last of the clan had entered the cave when there was movement outside. The local equivalent of a T-Rex walked up and laid down between the fire and the cave entrance. The clan was trapped inside.
Just after dawn, the monster got up and left. The clan snuck out, watching in case the beast was hiding nearby.
The next three nights, the beast laid down and slept in the same place. A couple hunters thought of as fools, started going in and out like they would if it were not there, tending the fire, checking around.
On the fourth night, a hunter saw glints of light in the woods. He called to the others. The pack approached cautiously. The beast woke and stood with the fire at its back. the clan's hunters found themselves forming lines at the side of the beast. The pack attacked and the beast helped in the defense. The pack slunk away with some minor injuries. The clan re-entered the cave and the beast laid down where it had all this time. The clan now saw that the beast was using them for protection at night.
The clan moved around during spring and summer, they soon found they were being shadowed by a pod of the beasts, a couple dozen of them stayed fairly near and they saw where one would kill a beast and leave it for them. The were four packs in the general area. The clan learned that wen several of the beasts approached from one side or another, a pack was coming in. Twice during the next couple years all four packs attacked the clan and the pods. in each case, they were driven away. Of course the clan never liked the beasts surrounding them as they knew they could easily become food. They did deduce that the beasts were quite intelligent.

19 )
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A disaster hit and the city was declared off limits. It remained off limits a couple decades. Some kids and then later some adventurous adults started exploring the city. They got all excited when they saw thousands of rusting autos. the metal could be recycled and help re=establishing civilization. Raw materials was desperately needed.
Crews drove trucks into the outskirts of the city and started harvesting the cars. A couple car lots were looked at as gold mines as some of the cars were in nearly running condition.
A crew went deep into the city. They chose to work a long distance away and work their way home. They picked out a car with a tree wrapped around the frame. they cut the tree above the metal, then just below the metal and then at the ground, taking the pieces away.
As they were attaching chains a zombie came out. there was little left of muscle, mostly bone. It had braided hair and the clothing was of a "home boy."
"Come' on man, Don't take my ride. I need it. How am I going to go to work? Please? I will get the payment to you soon. just give me a few more days."
the oldest of the crew said. "Sorry man, you have to talk to the office. We are just doing our job. The paper said to pick up this van, and that is what I have to do."
"Awe shucks, man, Things are just not going right." The zombie returned to the house mumbling about how it is just not fair.

20 )
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The colony had a problem with some very intelligent spiders. The spiders would set up some very strong webs in bothersome places. they were catching birds, kittens and puppies, and some children had to be extracted from the webs. the spiders could not eat anything bigger than a tiny bird, but the webs were a source of problem.
The spiders were originally imported for the fabric industry, the webs were harvested and turned into an iron like fiber. A change in the market and the death of seveal key people of the company in a highway accident caused the company to fold and the spiders to escape into the wild. The spiders spread fast and were now an environmental problem.
Collens was a fisherman and he made and repaired his own nets. One day he had a net hung near some trees he had seen spider webs on. he Had left it out over night and when he came back to retrieve the net in the morning, there were dozens of spiders on it. The spiders were angry and were searching the web and all around it for whatever made the net.
Collens started thinking about what he was seeing. A bit later he grabbed his net and tossed it into the water, killing the spiders. Examining the net, he found it was damaged by the spiders too bad to use. He used his other nets to fish that day and while waiting for the tide to change. He got an idea for something to try.
He got with the wife of his neighbor and learned how to make some fabric using a hook, which is similar to his making nets. He then went to a craft store and picked up some string of different colors. It took some research but he found some glue-like substances that would remain sticky for a couple days.
He went out early morning and started weaving the string in a mannor that simulated the work of the spiders. He did several different colors to see what color would have the best result. Once he had the mesh up, He dabbed the glue all over it in globs. and went about his way.
He came back two days later, Several dozen spiders were trapped in each mesh, but one colored mesh had been attacked, several strands cut. He tested a few other colors and came upon the one the spiders hated the most.
He found out that there was a spider specific poison and it was a jell. He found some forms for candy spiders and made spider shaped jell poison jells. As the fishing season ended, he went out with his string glue and jell spiders and went around the area setting up his mesh. the jell spiders went into the center of the mesh and the glue jells all over the place on the web. A couple days later, he brought a exterminator friend with him to check the webs. Each web had dozens of spiders caught in the glue, and hundreds of dead spiders on the ground. The webs took a beating and there was no sign of the jell spiders. he cleaned up the mesh and set out some more. His exerminator friend gathered up most of the dead spiders.
After their third visit, the spiders caught in the mesh was like one or two and there were only like four or five on the ground. they moved to a new section of infestation and did it again.
People were soon paying them good money for having rid their properties of the spiders. The mesh was the key to the extermination as several people tried portions of what he did and failed miserably. The spiders attacked the mesh as they did not want the competition. No one could replicate his mesh the way he did. He had the right color, the right design and the strings were attached just right to irritate the spiders. He skipped fishing the whole year to keep knocking down the infestation.
Once he knocked the spider population down to a point where native animals could take care of them, he returned to fishing. When there were only a few of the spiders, animals could pick off one or two without getting into trouble with a whole batch of them. He would set his mesh out during the off season but never got great results. He was mainly making sure their numbers never got big enough to be a problem.

21 )
.
We all see where the buildings have remained unchanged from their time of glory. Watching a program where they were showing some of these buildings some place, this concept came to mind.
The fine details of the laws of physics were discovered and a system to manipulate certain portions of time was invented. It was not really messing with time, but that is the best description of the process.
The process requires extremely wealthy people to implement it, so the process is applied by the upper crust of society for their own benefit. The "time generator" is built into the structures but is not started until the place is fully established. Some time generators are taken out to be used elsewhere when the owners see that it would be a waste of resources. Others are activated as it is seen as a way to reduce maintenance on a location.
Places go into and out of popularity. Many become the "IN PLACE" simply because people of society decide to go there. Others are designed to be the perfect destination and then fall out of favor.
A council of the elite will check out where the in crowd is going and examine the locations carefully. When they decide a place is worth it, is thought to be at its peak, they order the time generator to be activated. This requires the building to be cleaned top to bottom, polished and any repairs made.
The generator's energies permeate the building materials making them almost invulnerable. The building stops aging, and remains stuck in the time the generator was started. The cleaning and repairs have to be done beforehand because the generator prevents them from being changed later.
While the generator is on, the owners cannot redecorate, update or modify anything of the structure. They have not quite figured out how it happens, but dirt does not form inside or outside the building.
The things inside the building for long periods of time, such as linen, become resistant to wear and stains, though they do have to be washed regularly. The workers seem to live longer and those who come to work in later times seem to take on the mind set of the place, keeping the quality to the same level. It does take work to overcome any discovered flaws in the place. The feel of the place remains, no one working there for any length of time wants to change it, even if they started working there just for that purpose. they blend into the feel of the time, looking acting and thinking they are of the place.
The time generator is extremely expensive, but becomes cheap when the fifth or sixth decade passes. Elegant structures service almost anything with limited costs in maintenance and repair. Even in serious disasters, as long as the time generator keeps running, the place will "bleed" back to its former glory.

22 )
.
The aliens drove the colony out into the desert. Their home was denuded of any plant life. The colony had seeds and a way to reproduce them without producing the plants themselves. To keep the colony life going, they took to feeding them in the desert.
The seeds were gathered, heavily mixed and set in the spreaders which were special helicoptors. Seeds were pumped up into the blades to be heavily broadcast. The spreaders flew all across the desert, which was actually a scrub desert, there were plants but not many.
The seeds of all plants landed on the ground in far flung places. Some actually found some water, but most landed on the dry ground.
Small animals and insects attacked the seeds. Other animals attacked the small animals and insects. Larger animals attacked them. the whole food chain was nourished by the delivery of seeds. Sometimes the blood of animals soaked into the ground and some plants started growing. they were all eaten before they died for lack of water.
The colonists went out and hunted selected animals that were nourished by the food chain, helping the colony to survive a bit more comfortably.
If a heavy rain ever hit, all the surviving seeds would germinate and eliminate the desert since there was water below the surface that just had not been tapped yet.

21 )
.
We all see where the buildings have remained unchanged from their time of glory. Watching a program where they were showing some of these buildings some place, this concept came to mind.
The fine details of the laws of physics were discovered and a system to manipulate certain portions of time was invented. It was not really messing with time, but that is the best description of the process.
The process requires extremely wealthy people to implement it, so the process is applied by the upper crust of society for their own benefit. The "time generator" is built into the structures but is not started until the place is fully established. Some time generators are taken out to be used elsewhere when the owners see that it would be a waste of resources. Others are activated as it is seen as a way to reduce maintenance on a location.
Places go into and out of popularity. Many become the "IN PLACE" simply because people of society decide to go there. Others are designed to be the perfect destination and then fall out of favor.
A council of the elite will check out where the in crowd is going and examine the locations carefully. When they decide a place is worth it, is thought to be at its peak, they order the time generator to be activated. This requires the building to be cleaned top to bottom, polished and any repairs made.
The generator's energies permeate the building materials making them almost invulnerable. The building stops aging, and remains stuck in the time the generator was started. The cleaning and repairs have to be done beforehand because the generator prevents them from being changed later.
While the generator is on, the owners cannot redecorate, update or modify anything of the structure. They have not quite figured out how it happens, but dirt does not form inside or outside the building.
The things inside the building for long periods of time, such as linen, become resistant to wear and stains, though they do have to be washed regularly. The workers seem to live longer and those who come to work in later times seem to take on the mind set of the place, keeping the quality to the same level. It does take work to overcome any discovered flaws in the place. The feel of the place remains, no one working there for any length of time wants to change it, even if they started working there just for that purpose. they blend into the feel of the time, looking acting and thinking they are of the place.
The time generator is extremely expensive, but becomes cheap when the fifth or sixth decade passes. Elegant structures service almost anything with limited costs in maintenance and repair. Even in serious disasters, as long as the time generator keeps running, the place will "bleed" back to its former glory.

22 )
.
I saw a program where someone was riding elephants to get a chance to photograph tigers. I had heard previously that many people who have to travel in tiger country will wear a backwards mask to keep the tigers from attacking them. I then heard that tigers had eye spots on the back of their head, I was in the wrong room to see it, to keep from being attacked from behind themselves. This idea popped into my head.
They were a high level tourist site. Only the very wealthy came for a visit. The locals set up a show to really entertain the visitors in a way they would never forget.
The tourists were coming to see and photograph untamed nature. the problem was that there was no such thing on this planet. They planted special plants and brought in specific animals for the tourists to see. They also took certain animals and trained them to do certain acts for entertainment. If one saw it from behind the scenes, it was one step below dogs jumping through hoops.
They needed something to transport the tourists safely, keeping them away from any danger, and keeping them under full control.
The planet had a whole bunch of four legged tanks. they stripped them down and rebuilt them to look like large elephant like animals. they gave them a skin that could be twitched and a pair of trunks, big floppy ears, and a set of sounds. The driving team learned how to drive them silently, and work the animal to be lifelike.
The passengers would ride on the beasts and not be able to get down unless the beast master riding on top with the passenger allowed it.
The really big show was the big cats. They stayed in selected areas so the tourists could see them lounging around. there was one place where the real show happened. They were moving through the forest and there were some large rocks. As the beasts came by, the man walked between the rocks. A big cat then leaped from one rock, knocking him out of view of view behind another pile or rocks. The man's shout is cut short and there is the roar of the big cat. The tourists are reminded that these are dangerous creatures and not to be messed with.
The secret is that the cat bowls the man over with the leap. the man lands on padding and the cat trots into an enclosure where it gets a treat. A recorded roar is available if the cat forgets to roar.
They have several dozen of these shows and each time someone comes, they get a different show with different dangers. After nearly a century, no tourist was wiser about the actual shows that were going on.