a thousand and one tales

Tale #69: The Swift

The swift is an entirely airborne bird. It feeds on moths and bees. It does not nest, and sleeps as it flies. Its feet never touch the ground.

A swift is born in the sky. Unlike other birds, swifts give birth to live young, and as they fall the wind wakes them. They must take wing before they hit the sea or else they will drown.

Even in death the swift remains aloft. Its dead body floats upon the warming air. Around it, clouds form, and it is as rain that it is returned to earth.

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Notes:

1. Written on July 23rd, 2018

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Tale #68: The Drunken Sailor

There was a sailor who, while drunk, went out to sea, where he lost control of his boat, and he lost control of his bowels.

But the truth of his story was that claiming drunkenness was merely an attempt to lessen his shame.

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Notes:

1. Written on June 26th, 2018

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(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

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Tale #67: The Fountain

Over the hills, beyond the sea, there is said to be an island. And on the island there is said to be a spring, the waters of which grant new life, riches unimaginable, and the heart’s greatest desire.

And it is also said those that search for it never find it, those that find it never drink from it, and those that drink from it are never seen again.

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Notes:

1. Written on June 22nd, 2018

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Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

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Tale #66: The Silver Ship

Beyond the ocean, past the known, out upon the unseen sparkling seas, there travels a silver ship, its sails spun from golden thread, its oars carved from bone.

It is crewed by the people it rescues from the depths – the lost and the lonely; the imprisoned and the condemned; the innocent proclaimed guilty by the guilty; the free enslaved by those that talk, always, of freedom; the dead that should not have died; the living that could not save them, no matter how much they tried.

And it seeks out others, too, across the waters of the world. These people it does not save. It leaves them to drown, their ships sunk, their crimes finally punished, their names forever now forgotten.

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Notes:

1. Written on August 8th, 2018

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Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

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Tale #65: And in their ships they sailed out across the sea

In seven ships they sailed out across the sea to search for new lands to conquer.

The King’s ship sank first, struck by lightning in a storm, followed soon by the Lords’ vessel, and the Ladies’ too, both of which were lost to the waves of the tempest that raged on and on through the night.

After that a silence that stretched out across the days.

The soldiers’ ship went next; in the calm after the storm, with no wind to move their sails, mutiny smouldered, civil war took, and up it all went in a blaze of self-destruction, death and despair.

The priests’s ship crashed upon hidden rocks. The merchants’ vessel was waylaid by pirates.

All that was left of the fleet now was the ship of slaves, of servants, of maids.

They came soon to land and settled quietly there. In the years that followed, it was agreed that nothing of value had been lost upon the journey, and much indeed had been gained.

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Notes:

1. Written in August 2016
2. And re-written many times since

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Support An Accumulation Of Things

If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon or my ko-fi.

Patreon subscribers get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.

(Ko-fi contributors probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more).

Thank you!