Eurma

Random bits of a random idea:

I sat in a well-lit tavern on the outskirts of Northridge, nearly broke and trying very hard to mend the broken string of my lute. I had the weakest ale the barkeep would sell sitting next to me, and I was nursing it carefully, a few sips every hour. My clothes probably stank, and I'm not sure I cared much. It had been a bad handful of months, and I was beginning to regret not going into the army when the option had presented itself. Cheelar, hearing my grumbling, glared at me briefly, and resumed cleaning her ears in disdain. We hadn't talked for sometime, and I wasn't going to break that trend first.
The barkeep came and again glared at me, and I smiled, holding up the lute, which I had just barely restrung. It wasn't tuned, and probably sounded terribly, but fortunately I didn't rely on my musical talents to get me through the night. I smiled at Cheelar and walked up onto the raised area which served as the stage. Cheelar relaxed on the table, watching. She didn't speak, but I got the impression she was wishing me well in her silently superior way.
The interesting thing about stages is that getting up on them almost always calls attention to yourself, even if the change in height is a mere hands-breadth. Within moments I had everyone's attention on me, and the mix of people suddenly became and audience, patient and expectant. I smiled and waved.
Rather than speaking, I took the moment to tune my lute. It was something that took very little time, fortunately, and within a few moments I was strumming along towards my first song.

ToBeContinued...
-----

Did I mention I had a long day and am very tired?
It has been, and I am.

The Fox And The Devil

A fake folk tale:

One day, as the fox was returning from a hunt, it spied the devil sitting by the stream. The devil was glad to see the fox, for he knew the fox was very cunning, and the devil, as you may well know, loves tricksters. So as the fox appraoched, the devil held out his hand and cried out, "Ho there!"

Now just as the fox was cunning, the fox was also smart. It knew the devil immediately, and stayed well in the shadows. It replied, "Ho there, Devil. What brings you to the forest?"

To which the devil laughed with merriment. "Perhaps I seek to find you, among all the animals in all the trees, and all the sounds of the forest."

"I do not doubt it," Said the fox. But, as the fox was very cunning, it added, "But I do not quite believe it either. Come now, why do you walk among the trees and the animals this day?"

"Well, if you will not believe that I seeketh you (even as you do not doubt that I might), believe me when I say that this day is a very special day. It is, in fact, a beautiful day. Do you not agree?"

"I do," Said the fox. "I have hunted, and I am very well fed. It is nearly always a good day when these things are true."

"Indeed!" Agreed the devil with a laugh. "Now why are you sneaking there in the shadows? Certainly you may come out and meet with me, as we are very much cut from the same cloth."

And again, the fox was very cunning. Now it withdrew further into the shadows, and cast its voice so it could not give away the fox's location. "It is true, what you say! It is the fact that we are so alike that I have reason to distrust you."

Now the devil, who was trying very hard to see the fox, grew agitated. "I insist that we are friends, and that I only wish to talk! It is a beautiful day, and I seek someone of a like mind to share it with! You accuse me of deviltry, where I assure you none is to be found."

The fox knew not to believe the devil, for they were both cunning and cruel. But the fox also knew it could not avoid the devil forever. So the fox decided to try a trick.

"Very well," It said, letting its voice carry. "I will come out and speak with you, but I have stolen some eggs from the henhouse, and I do not wish to share them with you. You must give me a moment to secure a hiding spot."

Now the devil, much like the fox, fancied nothing greater on a beautiful day than fresh eggs. He tried very hard not to let his eagerness show. "Eggs, you say? And you wish to hide them?"

"Of course," said the fox, from its hiding spot. "It is the only way to make sure they're secure."

"Oh I agree, my dear friend the fox," said the devil. "But where would you hide them?"

"I thought I might bury them in the ground," replied the fox.

"In the ground? Where there dirt and rocks can smash them to bits? Where the worms can tunnel deep into them and ruin them from within. Where they might get lost?"

"You have a good point, Sir Devil." Said the fox from the shadows. "Perhaps they'd be best suited in the trees."

"With the birds?" the devil said dubiously. "The birds are all of a kind, friend. It is a certainty if you put them up there, then the rooster would find out. Your eggs would very likely be lost."

"A sound point," the fox conceded. "But if not there, than where?"

"Well," Said the devil, his voice thick with the false cheer of an even falser innocence. "I spied as I was sitting here a little place just by the stream. There is a perfect resting spot for a handful of eggs. If one were crafty and quiet, one could easily store the eggs there."

"I see," agreed the fox. "Where is this spot?"

"Right here," said the devil, turning towards the stream and pointing with a long finger. "Where these three rocks come together."

"I see it," the fox said, "and you are right. It is a good hiding spot. Very well, if you will promise not to look, I will hide my eggs there."

"I promise," said the devil. And it is a well known fact that the devil cannot promise without breaking that exact promise. The devil covered his eyes, and tried very hard to look at the spot in the stream.

And now the fox snuck up on the devil and bit him squarely on his rump. As the devil screamed, the fox disappeared into the forest, laughing at the devil's own folly.

And thus the devil learned not to try to trick a trickster. And thus the fox showed that everyone can be tricked.

You may suspect that these morals cannot both be true, and perhaps you are right.