Brandedfool

I woke up to a sound I hadn’t heard in many years. Sandra was in the kitchen, and she was talking to someone. I detected the gurgle of a coffee machine and the hiss of fat on hot metal. It was a warm, welcoming sound, and it reminded me of being in Chint, where my…

Preliminary report on the classification of the planet known as Earth. Draft document. Not for public release.The planet called Earth is home to an incredibly complex ecosystem. The planet’s primary residents, humans, expend immeasurable resources navigating, controlling, destroying, and repairing their biosphere daily. As they gained control of the planet, they out-competed and killed off…

I overheard a lot of conversations on Earth. Humans talk all the time, and while some of them tend to rattle on about very little all the time, others say a lot in few words. I rarely took note of them, but I noted a lot of chatter between Sandra and Nick that afternoon in…

“And this,” Irving said, lifting a shimmering black snake with a red underbelly out of an enormous glass tank, “is a red-bellied black snake. The name is self-explanatory. It’s venomous and very common, but unlikely to bite. This beautiful girl just got milked this morning, and she’s sweet as anything, so I can take her…

Editor’s Note: the following narrative, split over two chapters, was written by Dr. Sandra Wright at the request of Dron Acharya. These are complex narratives that those unfamiliar with humanity may have trouble decoding. For additional resources, see the comprehensive notations on human narratives included in index one. Dr. Sandra Wright is a traveling scholar,…

My first impression of Australia was that it was a lovely, pleasantly warm place. After San Francisco, the dry air was a welcome change. This was quickly corrected, as on my way to the long-term rental I had booked for myself, I was dive-bombed by a black and white bird as large as my head….