|
|
"and it seems to me," weed went on, "that if we could somehow hitch a ride with one of these passing cars, we might be able to get somewhere where I could learn to dance, or at least try." "I was recently flying in the air," said pebble, "and I noticed that there is a city south of here. perhaps that is a place where small town weeds and pebbles such as ourselves could learn to dance?" Manifisto fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Jul 12, 2020 |
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 04:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 13:48 |
|
|
just dance |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 04:43
|
|
|
a wild fire type appears |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 04:44
|
|
|
|
a passing damselfly commented, "what do you two darn fools need to go to the city for? you can learn to dance anywhere. just dance, you fools! the city is not a good place for such as we, it will corrupt your soul, mark my words." "have you been to the city then, friend?" asked pebble "well . . . no. but the damselflies all say it's true, and I've heard it on twitter." weed looked puzzledly at the damselfly. "you know, twitter. the thing the drat birds do all day, every day. horrible racket."
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 04:47
|
|
|
feign a similar level of understanding pertaining to modern tech/social norms |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 04:56
|
|
|
|
"I have not heard of that," said pebble nervously. "I have heard of something called a tumbler, which is something pebbles are quite afraid of." "suit yourself," said the damselfly. "if you end up visiting the city, keep your wits around you. many a young weed and pebble have been seduced by bright lights and big promises." with that, the damselfly sped away. "well, new friend," said pebble after a long thoughtful moment, "what will it be? shall we stay here, catch the rains, and dance as best we can, or is it time for adventure?" |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:06
|
|
|
oh poo poo... can we not find an adventure here in the wild enjoying the rains? |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:07
|
|
|
yes stay in the wilds |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:09
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:09
|
|
|
|
another logging truck rumbled past, belching smoke, carrying trees harvested from their prime. "to be honest," said weed, "there may be time yet for the city, but I am not entirely sure about the creatures we might meet there." "I think you're right," said pebble. "we don't even know what language they speak there. maybe we will hear other stories about the city and decide whether it's the place for us." "well I've told you my dreams," said weed. "what about yours? is there anything you have longed to do?"
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:11
|
|
|
express interest in being skipped accross a river by a primate of some kind |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:15
|
|
|
prepuce repurposed posted:express interest in being skipped accross a river by a primate of some kind lets stay and build a family wherever we roll |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:16
|
|
|
|
after a pause for thought, pebble said, "all my life--and it has been a very long life--I have known only the small water. when I was snatched aloft, I saw that there is bigger water. vast water. and I am drawn to that. perhaps I can never glide over its surface, but even to stand on its shores would be something." "that sound like a welcome change from this roadside," said weed. "cigarette butts are fun when you're younger but the thrill gets old. as you age, your thoughts turn to other things." "you're exactly right," said pebble, imagining his friend to be at least ten thousand years old. |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:24
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 05:29
|
|
|
|
Suggest the weed might like to become a tumbleweed |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 07:59
|
|
|
|
"there's a problem however," said weed. "and it's something that has made it very hard for me to learn to dance. I can sway around with the best of them, at least when I'm assisted by a gentle breeze. but my legs . . . well there's something wrong with them, they're sort of stuck where they are." "have you tried shifting your weight around?" asked pebble. "I have managed to free myself from the muck at least a few times by sort of wiggling my butt." a few minutes passed in which weed tried wiggling his butt vigorously, all to no avail. "it's no use," he said. "I know it's not impossible, because I have seen round weeds tumbling their way across this highway. but I don't seem to be able to do the same." at precisely that moment, a small tumbleweed happened to pass by. it slowed its movement and came to rest in front of the two friends. "if I've heard you right," said the tumbleweed, "you're looking to pull up your roots and become a wanderer, an itinerant, a peripatetic philosopher." "you mean a bum!" shouted a nearby dandelion. "don't listen to him!" should weed listen to the tumbleweed, or take the dandelion's advice?
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 20:08
|
|
|
tumble roam |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 22:16
|
|
|
how happy does the tumbleweed look, same question for the dandelion. whichever seems more at peace with themselves might be right
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 22:55
|
|
|
|
weed appeared hopelessly torn between these conflicting voices. sensing weed's paralysis, pebble decided to take the initiative. "ms dandelion," he began. "would you say that you are at peace with yourself?" the dandelion swayed this way and that. "peace? of course I am at peace. I am home and content to be in my place. one day my children shall float away and find their own station in life, and my time here shall be fulfilled. until then I wait patiently and do not question my lot. to do so, to wander, is to court confusion." "mister tumbleweed, what about you? are you at peace with yourself?" tumbleweeds are not much for facial expressions, but this one seemed to furrow its brow. "peace is a strange word," he said. "it seems to imply stillness, a lack of change. and yet is not the world constantly changing all around us, arising and passing? I do not think home is a place, it is a state that one can find within oneself wherever one happens to be. to be honest I cannot say I have achieved that yet, but I feel that I have benefited by allowing myself to roam the shifting world." "gee, that was helpful," commented the damselfly, who had returned momentarily. "two pointless worldviews. why are you listening to either of them?" |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 23:16
|
|
|
|
just then, another logging truck passed by. this time, the truck was driving dangerously close to the edge of the road and passed within inches of the entire group, sending up clouds of dust. when all had settled, both weed and the dandelion had been blown clear out of the sand! tumbleweed, who had been sent flying into the forest undergrowth, eventually tumbled back, observed the situation, and chuckled. "well, now you're both tumbleweeds, like it or not!" "I don't like it," said dandelion, bitterly. weed, however, felt a sense of newfound liberation, and was secretly glad. |
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2020 23:32
|
|
|
|
> get horny |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 01:53
|
|
|
idiotsavant posted:> get horny |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 01:59
|
|
|
|
by this point in the day--the first day that pebble had ever really experienced, you must recall, and was experiencing only in a dream--the sun was low in the sky. shadows were lengthening, twilight encroaching, and the fireflies were just getting ready to begin their urgent flashing dance. "things seem to have been settled for us," said weed, "and tomorrow perhaps we will set out on a great journey. but I do not wish to travel in the dark." "me neither!" said dandelion, which surprised both weed and pebble, who had never even considered that dandelion might want to join them (nor that they might be willing to agree). "very well," said pebble. "we shall spend the night here, and see how things look in the morning." as the evening deepened, the fireflies began to flash, the stars came out, and pebble was bemused. for pebble knew, somehow, that he was merely dreaming, and was not certain what would happen if he fell asleep within the dream. would he merely awake again to an endless succession of inanimate days within the mountain stream? that is not what happened. instead, pebble was lulled to sleep by gentle evening breezes, and fell into a deeper dream. in this dream pebble saw the sea, stood on its shores for the first time. pebble could see the restless ocean glistening in the moonlight, could hear the crashing of the waves and the keening of seagulls, could smell the salty spray. and there on the beach before him, aglow with a light that seemed to come from within, was the most beautiful stone that pebble had ever seen. unlike pebble's craggy and lopsided self, this stone was beautifully curved, worn smooth by eons of tumbling in the surf, lovely and naked as the day was long. to pebble's ears, the smooth stone sounded as if it was singing in a wistful and seductive tone. and not only that, pebble knew somehow that the song was directed at him, was speaking to his innermost essence. pebble was not aware he had a heart, but the song roused him in ways that he did not know he could be aroused, and filled him with great longing. and then the dream ended, and pebble found himself in the fire of a new dawn on the roadside, his companions still dozing away. Manifisto fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Jul 13, 2020
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 02:22
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 02:25
|
|
|
meditate until our companions awake and observe the world around us to better understand where we are |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 04:01
|
|
|
|
do the morningbirds have any useful advice? |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 05:27
|
|
|
|
pebble felt a wrench at being torn from his curious and profound dream-within-a-dream into the quiet stillness of the morning. to calm his racing thoughts, he sat very still and forced himself to be mindful of the awakening forest around him, without preconception or attachment. he heard the hiss of breeze in the branches, the hum of insects, the songs of birds. at length, there was a swell of approaching mechanical noise, a car on an early morning journey, but pebble simply accepted the sound, observed it, and let it go. yet he found that, after a while, he was able to understand the language of the morning birds, and became distracted from his meditation when he focused on what they were singing about. a high pitched songbird twittered about the weather. it would be fine and fair today, but the winds and the look of the clouds portended rain tomorrow, perhaps a storm. a quieter and more thoughtful voice murmured about a fantastic garden situated in a clearing between the road and the sea. in this garden were plants and flowers of a type unknown anywhere else, some of which carried the most delicious fruit imaginable; strange and possibly deadly animals; and fleeting presences of an unearthly sort. a vigorous cry of some bird of prey, perhaps an eagle, spoke of the ocean and an unfamiliar ship with silver sails that had recently entered the bay. in the far distance, a crow croaked about an unusual stone it had gathered, and then lost. |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 18:54
|
|
|
Manifisto posted:pebble felt a wrench at being torn from his curious and profound dream-within-a-dream into the quiet stillness of the morning. to calm his racing thoughts, he sat very still and forced himself to be mindful of the awakening forest around him, without preconception or attachment. he heard the hiss of breeze in the branches, the hum of insects, the songs of birds. at length, there was a swell of approaching mechanical noise, a car on an early morning journey, but pebble simply accepted the sound, observed it, and let it go. It is clear now, Mountain Pebble must glisten so as to attract the attention of Crow. Crow will then notice Mountain Pebble, and investigate. Crow can then, perhaps pick us up and make us fly! |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2020 23:17
|
|
|
|
Manifisto posted:pebble felt a wrench at being torn from his curious and profound dream-within-a-dream into the quiet stillness of the morning. to calm his racing thoughts, he sat very still and forced himself to be mindful of the awakening forest around him, without preconception or attachment. he heard the hiss of breeze in the branches, the hum of insects, the songs of birds. at length, there was a swell of approaching mechanical noise, a car on an early morning journey, but pebble simply accepted the sound, observed it, and let it go. examine crow |
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2020 06:09
|
|
|
alexandriao posted:examine crow |
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2020 12:32
|
|
|
|
pebble focused on the crow's faint voice. could this be the same bird who plucked him into the sky from his streambed home? this was an exciting prospect but also somewhat alarming. what if the crow once again snatched him aloft, separating him from his new companions? the croaking grew slowly but steadily louder - clearly the crow was headed towards the roadside. at this point, pebble discovered that he was not the only one awake. "what's that racket all about?" asked dandelion, grumpily. "it is the same crow who visited this area yesterday," said weed. "right before master pebble showed up." "crows are wise, but they are also tricksters," said the tumbleweed (apparently everybody was up). "it is usually worth listening to what they have to say, but they cannot always be fully trusted." pebble recounted his adventure in the crow's beak. "I am very curious, I must admit, about why he chose me, and where he was headed," pebble said. "but I am not sure I am ready to fly again, especially if I must go alone." "don't worry," said weed, "we'll protect you if he tries anything!" although brave, this sounded faintly ridiculous coming from a small uprooted weed lying on a patch of dirt. before long, the crow was circling overhead, and soon afterwards pebble knew had been spotted (he was hard to miss, glistening as he was in the morning sunlight). the crow descended swiftly and alighted on the sand. "greetings pebble," he croaked. "I was sure I'd lost you forever. sorry about that, my brother was being an rear end in a top hat again."
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2020 18:02
|
|
|
be courageous
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2020 02:51
|
|
|
|
Manifisto posted:"I was sure I'd lost you forever. sorry about that, my brother was being an rear end in a top hat again." examine rear end in a top hat |
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2020 18:35
|
|
|
|
summoning whatever courage a piece of quartz can muster, pebble replied, "hello mr. crow. that was quite an experience! and I do not fault you for letting go. fortunately I am none the worse for wear. but I must ask you, why did you do it at all?" crow cocked his head. "to be frank, I do not exactly know. crows like shiny things, and at the exact moment I glanced down at the stream I saw a tiny but powerful shimmer. I acted by reflex, perhaps, but I wonder now if there was something more at play. I had absolutely no idea you could talk, in fact I have never heard of a talking pebble." "yeah, me neither," said the dandelion. "nor, I must confess, a talking plant. all of a sudden everything is talking, this is very strange. I hope I did not eat too many fermented berries." "where were you taking me?" asked pebble. "at first? I planned to take you to my wife, she has a lovely collection of rocks, bottle caps, coins, that sort of thing. but when I discovered you could talk, that plan went out the window. I love my wife and I am sure she would be fascinated by you, but I am not at all certain a pile of shiny junk is where you belong. I suspect that you may be more important than that, in instrument of fate, perhaps." "fate is not a thing," said the tumbleweed. "it is but an illusion, in the same way that the inherent self is an illusion." "and yet here you are, talking up a storm," said crow. "I personally don't think it's as simple as that." "I am not sure it is necessary to resolve such heady questions right at this moment!" said pebble. "there are more practical issues at hand, such as: what now?"
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2020 19:09
|
|
|
|
Kaiser Schnitzel posted:So hopeful, this newly born rock! The pebble high on the mountain does not yet realize it’s existence will end in only one way. The rains will come, the snow will melt, and the stream will become briefly a torrent rushing down to river, carrying the pebble with it, rounding over it’s still sharp edges. The flood will subside, and leave the pebble in a different place, a slightly smaller pebble in a much bigger river. Again and again and again, the rains will come and the pebble will shrink and the river grow slower and wider until finally the pebble will be but a grain of sand in a broad, brown and sluggish tidal creek, waiting for one last storm to wash it out to sea like all its kin. by the way, I should have quoted this at the time, it is a Good Post alexandriao posted:examine rear end in a top hat lmao |
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2020 19:24
|
|
|
|
Heather Papps posted:be courageous alexandriao posted:examine rear end in a top hat |
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2020 21:16
|
|
|
ask crow if he knows of a place that pebble and his friends might find serenity |
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2020 23:13
|
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2020 05:28
|
|
|
|
Is the pebble thicc |
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2020 05:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 13:48 |
|
|
|
"now that my legs are free," said weed, "I would like to get away from this road and find out what dancing is all about. also I'm a bit thirsty to be honest." "I would like to see the Big Water," said pebble. "maybe not now, but one day. I dreamed of meeting a smooth stone there, but I do not know what that means." "now that I've been uprooted," said dandelion, "I am not sure what to do with myself. I still want to settle down and have seeds, but perhaps somewhere not so vulnerable to these huge dangerous trucks. also I have a fear of abandonment." "roaming is my life," said tumbleweed, "and I will probably continue to roam on my own, greeting whatever and wherever the breezes take me to. but if you know your destination, I would be curious. perhaps we will meet again one day." pebble, sensing a lack of consensus, appealed to the bird. "master crow, do you know of a place where we might find serenity?" the crow chuckled and said, "I might as you the same question! for myself, I am rarely happier than when I am on the wing, either by myself or with my wife or the whole murder. but I notice you asked about serenity, not happiness. are they the same?" the tumbleweed rolled around fitfully, perhaps suspicious of this non-answer. "here is what I can tell you," said the crow. "I can probably carry the three of you who wish to travel for a distance, not too far I would say. I feel this is the least I can do to help master pebble on his fated journey, to make up for my clumsiness in dropping him. but it would be wrong of me to tell you where to go. I know of a garden not far from here, it is a strange place but can be very peaceful, at least during the day, and there is water and light shade. I know where the ocean bay is, I could take you to the shores. I could leave you to your own devices if you wish, or take you somewhere else altogether." "what say you, master pebble?"
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2020 18:05
|
|