Alpha Release Media

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Why Wait for Science – Robert Frost

Sarcastic Science, she would like to know, In her complacent ministry of fear, How we propose to get away from here When she has made things so we have to go Or be wiped out. Will she be asked to show Us how by rocket we may hope to steer To some star off there, say, a half light-year Through temperature of absolute zero? Why wait for Science to supply the how When any amateur can tell it now? The way to go away should be the same As fifty million years ago we came– If anyone remembers how that was. I have a theory, but it hardly does.

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To My Unborn Son – Captain Cyril Morton Thorne

"My son!" What simple, beautiful words! "My boy!" What a wonderful phrase! We're counting the months till you come to us– The months, and the weeks, and the days!

"The new little stranger," some babes are called, But that's not what you're going to be; With double my virtues and half of my faults, You can't be a stranger to me!

Your mother is straight as a sapling plant, The cleanest and best of her clan– You're bone of her bone, and flesh of her flesh, And, by heaven, we'll make you a man!

Soon I shall take you in two strong arms– You that shall howl for joy– With a simple, passionate, wonderful pride Because you are just–my boy!

And you shall lie in your mother's arms, And croon at your mother's breast, And I shall thank God I am there to shield The two that I love the best.

A wonderful thing is a breaking wave, And sweet is the scent of spring, But the silent voice of an unborn babe Is God's most beautiful thing.

We're listening now to that silent voice And waiting, your mother and I– Waiting to welcome the fruit of our love When you come to us by and by.

We're hungry to show you a wonderful world With wonderful things to be done, We're aching to give you the best of us both And we're lonely for you—my son!

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Etherealizing – Robert Frost

A theory if you hold it hard enough And long enough gets rated as a creed: Such as that flesh is something we can slough So that the mind can be entirely freed. Then when the arms and legs have atrophied, And brain is all that's left of mortal stuff, We can lie on the beach with the seaweed And take our daily tide baths smooth and rough. There once we lay as blobs of jellyfish At evolution's opposite extreme. But now as blobs of brain we'll lie and dream, With only one vestigial creature wish: Oh, may the tide be soon enough at high To keep our abstract verse from being dry.

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Daily Doodles for 4/26/26 - 4/30/26

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Daily Drabbles for 4/26/26 - 4/30/26

4/26/26 Lucky had just returned from a supply run when he discovered his mountain was abandoned. There had been no new catastrophe to drive everyone away. Lucky knew this because there weren't any signs of trouble, and also they had left him a note announcing their intentions of joining up with a group from Foxtrot and heading to Echo to see how they were faring. It was ridiculous. Lucky couldn't believe how quick they all were to just up and leave the safety and security of the mountain for such a long shot. And after all the hard work he'd done.

4/27/26 The prison was a factory actually. Aubra and the other inmates had been taken for their labor. They were helping to manufacture the instruments of war. The country imprisoning Aubra was lead by two sisters of great magical power. So much power it was believed that they had the support of the gods, or at least one of them anyway. Aubra believed it. She couldn't see how else the war could have lasted as long as it had or done as much damage without some godly backing. She just wished that one of the gods would support the other side.

4/28/26 Sonia had to admit Riley's boss turning up dead had not been on her bingo card. What was even weirder was he had been killed and his body disposed of in exactly the way Sonia had suspected him of doing to someone else. So either this was some insanely quick karmic justice and or revenge or else a very elaborate form of assisted suicide. And it would have to have been assisted because people who killed themselves didn't often then chop themselves up into little pieces. Sonia had never seen it before, but now she wanted to watch that movie.

4/29/26 Arid made it all the way down to the corner of the street before Sanity came running up to her at a dead sprint. As usual, Sanity had lost track of the time and completely forgot about meeting up with Arid. Arid had to laugh at Sanity's contriteness. They'd done this so many times before that Sanity had to know that Arid didn't mind her friend's chronic tardiness. Arid was just glad that they'd still be able to spend a little time together before she had to head back home. Arid had to get up early to feed the pigs.

4/30/26 Candy Sweets really lived up to her name. She'd taken a real hand in helping her parents come up with original recipes for their candy shop. At the start of the school year Candy had really gotten into learning how to make various Japanese candies which came in a wide variety of flavors and textures that Jack had never had before. It had been fun, but as soon as the Christmas season had hit Candy had turned all her attention to fudge. Last year she'd gone all in on candy canes, so she'd wanted to do something different this time.

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Daily Doodles for 4/21/26 - 4/25/26

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Daily Drabbles for 4/21/26 - 4/25/26

4/21/26 Scarlet and Lily had quieted down enough for Blake to pay full attention to his book again. Ever since Uncle Rico's last visit Blake had started to pick up an interest in politics. Uncle Rico did some kind of work for the government of his country and he always had interesting anecdotes about what was going on in the political world. He never went into too much detail though, Blake had the feeling that Mom didn't like it when Uncle Rico talked about politics. Mom didn't like to talk much about anything that when on outside of their little hometown.

4/22/26 It didn't take long for the other racers to catch up with the wreck. Many were able to swerve around it, but others were not so lucky. There were further collisions from karts hitting each other while trying to avoid wreckage scattered up and down the track. Chance was still trapped inside his kart when it was clipped by another and sent spinning off into the ditch. At least he was out of the way and his kart wasn't on fire, but Trix was still horrified as the disaster continued to unfold. The upside down kart was still on fire.

4/23/26 Cara supposed she should have expected it, but she had hoped that military school would have leaned a little more towards military than school. Cara had agreed to come because she wanted to learn how to fight. Not spend all her time in classrooms and doing homework. She could have stayed at the orphanage for that kind of stuff. It didn't help that the one combat class Cara did have was taught by her least favorite teacher. He seemed to hold a grudge against all children. Cara had to wonder how a guy like that even ended up teaching kids.

4/24/26 Maxine and Dan managed to escape Dice's men, barely. It was clear that the new Lord Dice had no intentions of letting her quietly slip away back home to her father. There would be no renegotiating the union between the Cardinals and the Dices. Dice was intent on marrying Maxine whether she wanted to or not. Well, Maxine did not want to marry the new Lord Dice. She hadn't been particularly excited to marry the last one either to be honest. If Maxine and Dan could just make it back across the Undwine river they'd be out of Dice's reach.

4/25/26 Jordan stared at the glowing crystal for a few minutes before he got bored. Not that the crystal glowing wasn't neat, it was (Jordan was planning on texting a picture of it to Austin), it just wasn't very interesting. Certainly not more interesting than whatever was going on outside Jordan's window. He'd happened to glance at the sky when he'd gotten tired of staring at his crystal and ended up walking over to his window to get a better look at it. The weather had gone from bad to weird. Purple lightning was continuously flashing across the dark, bubbly clouds.

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Haec Fabula Docet – Robert Frost

A Blindman by the name of La Fontaine, Relying on himself and on his cane, Came tap-tap-tapping down the village street, The apogee of human blind conceit. Now just ahead of him was seen to yawn A trench where water pipes were laying on. The Blindman might have found it with his ferrule, But someone overanxious at his peril Not only warned him with a loud command But ran against him with a staying hand. Enraged at what he could but think officious, The Blindman missed him with a blow so vicious He gave his own poor iliac a wrench And plunged himself head foremost in the trench: Where with a glee no less for being grim The workmen all turned and buried him.

Moral

The moral is, it hardly need be shown, All those who try to go it sole alone, Too proud to be beholden for relief, Are absolutely sure to come to grief.

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A Woman's Question – Lena Lathrop

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing Ever made by the Hand above? A woman's heart, and a woman's life– And a woman's wonderful love.

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing As a child might ask for a toy? Demanding what others have died to win, With the reckless dash of a boy.

You have written my lesson of duty out; Manlike, you have questioned me. Now stand at the bar of my woman's soul Until I shall question thee.

You require your mutton shall be always hot, Your socks and your shirt be whole; I require your heart to be true as God's stars And as pure as His heaven your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef, I require a far greater thing; A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts– I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called Home, And a man that his Maker, God, Shall look upon as He did on the first And say: "It is very good."

I am fair and young, but the rose may fade From my soft young cheek one day; Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves, As you did 'mong the blossoms of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and deep, I may launch my all on its tide? A loving woman finds heaven or hell On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true, All things that a man should be; If you give this all, I would stake my life To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot be this, a laundress and cook You can hire and little to pay; But a woman's heart and a woman's life Are not to be won that way.

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Daily Doodles for 4/16/26 - 4/20/26

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Daily Drabbles for 4/16/26 - 4/20/26

4/16/26 Tori hid out inside the house with Bentley for over an hour, only interacting with Hugh when she brought him more candy to hand out. Every kid in town had turned out for their full-sized candy bars. Luckily, Hugh had somehow prepared for this and had enough candy stocked up to feed a small army. Tori didn't doubt that he'd hand it all out before the end of the night. Tori would have hated being in his position, but Hugh was having a great time interacting with all the kids and enjoying all their costumes. He was in extrovert heaven.

4/17/26 Delia was quiet and tended to keep to herself. Other people made her nervous. Vina had a feeling that she would be the one it took the longest to get to know. Besides Delia there was Sontia, a transplant from the capital like Arsus, Ciss, the youngest and friendliest, Rea and Thano who were always together, Menela who was deaf, Fatzi, a talented musician, and Lorem the scribe. It was a lot to keep track of. Vina was just glad she'd finally memorized all their names. Though she still had trouble remembering which one was Rea and which was Thano.

4/18/26 The basement of the Gray house was unfinished, but Marcus and Tabby had spruced it up a bit. They had laid down some old carpet over the concrete floor and arranged a mishmash of furniture pulled out of storage from the other side of the basement. They had a futon, a creaky card table with some metal folding chairs, a giant tube TV on a homemade coffee table, and against the back wall under the tiny window they had pushed two desks together. A great wooden, L-shaped desk with drawers and shelving, and a small, pink and purple princess desk.

4/19/26 Poppy was glad that her family had turned all of Crazy Grandpa Harry's superstitions into family tradition because she was quickly discovering to her extreme annoyance that he wasn't as crazy as everybody had thought. Just when she was starting to get a handle on the regular oddities of her job things got even weirder. Something happened to the world after 2 AM, a shift in reality that only returned to normal once the sun started to come up again. There were Things out there. Poppy was trying very hard not to notice them. Unfortunately, the Things had noticed her.

4/20/26 Sark had so completely tuned out the old man guarding the shrine that he missed the question he was asked. The old man was looking at him so expectantly though, so Sark felt like he had to give him some kind of response. Sark grinned awkwardly and nodded his head up and down. This was apparently the right answer because the old man brightly smiled back at Sark and finally agreed to let him enter the shrine. From what little Sark had picked up from the guy's rambling there was supposed to be some kind of magical orb in there.

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Beyond Words – Robert Frost

That row of icicles along the gutter Feels like my armory of hate; And you, you … you, you utter. … You wait!

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Daily Doodles for 4/11/26 - 4/15/26

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Daily Drabbles for 4/11/26 - 4/15/26

4/11/26 Since there is nothing else to be done for the moment, I stand up and tidy up my writing desk. I've made good use of it over the past several months typing up my Captain Dash stories. He has been with me since my early days in the Occupied Zone, or some version of him anyway, and I've greatly enjoyed properly writing out all of his adventures now that I'm back home. I can hardly believe that it has been over a year now since I arrived in town. Sadly, I can easily believe that the war is still going.

4/12/26 With how hectic things were at the end of term Sim had almost completely forgotten about his birthday. It wasn't as though he had any plans anyway. He was much too busy with school. Sim wasn't given a choice, however. Dan showed up out of the blue on the evening of Sim's birthday to celebrate their birthday month together, and he insisted on taking Sim out for a drink whether Sim wanted it or not. Sim protested all the way from his dorm to the pub where Dan loudly announced to anyone who would listen that it was their birthday.

4/13/26 Kella didn't remember much of what happened after she jumped. There was a vague sense of falling and then hitting the turbulent water and being swept away down river, sputtering and coughing as she tried to breathe. The next thing she knew she was lying on her back on a rocky bank staring dully up at the sky through the trees. Kella didn't remember much after that either. She was pretty sure someone had found her and pulled her out of the river. She had hazy memories of being in a bed while people talked in hushed tones around her.

4/14/26 Tiffany wanted nothing to do with this case. As far as she was concerned the Snake Eye diamond really was cursed. It had brought her nothing but death and misery, and now over twenty years later it had resurfaced with another murder. As much as Tiffany would have liked to leave the case to Detective Raven, it was looking more and more like the key to solving the present case lied in solving the last Snake Eye murder, and of course Tiffany's father was refusing to cooperate with the police unless Tiffany was allowed to work the case as well.

4/15/26 The eerily normal looking house continued to surprise. In addition to the magazine reading zombie there was now a wizard. Nick about jumped out of his skin when he saw him. Raleigh had to grab Nick by the arm to keep him from fleeing the house. She had to see what happened next. The wizard didn't seem particularly threatening anyway. The longer Raleigh examined him the less like a wizard he looked. True, he had a big, bushy beard, but he was wearing a dirty, old bathrobe and his wizard hat looked like it had come from a Spirit Halloween.

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Daily Drabbles for 4/6/26 - 4/10/26

4/6/26 Besides Melbury and Whisking there was also the village of Kettlebrook and several farms between it and Melbury that filled out the rest of Kettlebrook County. All were part of Andrew's service area as resident country wizard. Andrew was excited to work out in the more rural communities. Part of the reason Andrew had been eager to accept his position was because country wizards really got to do a little bit of everything in their work. He wasn't nailed down to any one specialty. From weather magic to pixie infestations to old family curses, Andrew could be needed for anything.

4/7/26 Ella was a spinster by trade. One of the most skilled in the kingdom. She was one of the elite few who spun thread for the palace. A remarkable fete for a young woman. Ella worked alongside women with decades more experience than her and outspun them all. She was gifted with nimble and graceful fingers, and a steady eye. Natural talents that she honed into skills. Nimble fingers and a steady eye were handy for other things besides spinning though. Where Ella felt that her earnings from honest work weren't enough, she had her ways of supplementing her income.

4/8/26 There was also something strange about the stone pillars themselves when Sara examined them more closely. Aside from the carvings on them not matching anything else in the temple, they didn't seem to be holding anything up. Of course, they could have been holding up something that wasn't there anymore, but something about the way they were placed and the structure of the rest of the temple made Sara think they were there for purely decorative reasons. Sara would have to take some stone samples from the pillars and the rest of the temple to compare them for any differences.

4/9/26 Emily was flummoxed. She was standing at the dead end of a hallway staring out a window that didn't open down at the ground twenty feet below her. Emily was sure she had seen the old lady turn down this way. There was nowhere she could have gone, and yet she wasn't anywhere. Emily walked back down the hallway, tugging on doorknobs to make sure they were all locked. Even if the old woman had somehow had a key, there was no way she could have gotten into a room before Emily had turned the corner. She had simply vanished.

4/10/26 Janet didn't know how long she would have just stood there on the sidewalk waiting for her uncle if Simone hadn't come along. Simone had actually noticed Janet for a while before she finally approached her. Janet was glad that she did. If for no other reason than it was nice to just talk to someone for a change. Janet hadn't had a proper conversation since she said goodbye to Aunt Bess. Simone was fun to talk to. She was also a high school senior and knew all the local gossip. There was more to Fellwood Falls than Janet realized.

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Daily Drabbles for 4/1/26 - 4/5/26

4/1/26 Joe stood up and looked around. What he saw only confirmed what he already knew. He wasn't in the swamp anymore. But he might still be in Tallahassee somewhere, or at least the northern Florida/ southern Georgia area. Joe glanced back at the shifting glowy thingy. It almost looked like a donut sometimes. Maybe if Joe touched it again he'd go back to where he came from. Or maybe he'd go somewhere even farther away. Or maybe he'd explode. It was impossible to know without trying. Before Joe could decide anything however, the thing folded in on itself and disappeared.

4/2/26 The woods were lovely and serene in the middle of the night. Pippers walked softly over the uneven terrain without fear. She knew the trees would be kind to her and pull in their roots. Pippers held Squeakers in one hand close to her chest. The forest might be her friend, but Squeakers was just a little mouse and Nature would follow its own course if he got away from her. Squeakers was content to huddle against Pippers for warmth though. Now that she was strolling through the woods he was content. Perhaps this was all he had really wanted.

4/3/26 Evander's main area of interest and research was in the Five Magical Artifacts of Power. Five magical artifacts supposedly of great power. There were legends surrounding the artifacts dating back hundreds of years. A lot of mysticism and malarkey had risen up around them. For Evander's part, he absolutely believed the artifacts existed, he just didn't have much faith in ancient prophecies. They were nothing more than magical tools capable of wielding great power. There were many who sought the artifacts, either for the power to save the world or to destroy it, Evander wanted them to prove everyone wrong.

4/4/26 Sun wove his motorcycle in and out of traffic as he raced towards downtown Foundation. The sky was clear for once and Hugo loomed ominously over the city's skyline. It was the wrong time of year for it, but Sun couldn't help but look for Heinlein whenever he looked up. He'd been living on Asimov for nearly a year now, and while he had no regrets, he still missed home from time to time. Foundation was amazing though, it felt like the center of the universe. There was always something going on. Sun had learned so much since moving there.

4/5/26 An old man and a couple of teenagers-- they must have looked like pretty easy targets. There was nobody else at the rest stop to intervene or run for help. The bandits probably figured they'd be done robbing them and back on the road in a couple of minutes. Zaku just couldn't believe there were still bandits around. It was like something out of an old story. Even Eyuna couldn't pretend she wasn't excited. Only Mo remained calm. He leaned against the van and watched while Zaku and Eyuna fought the bandits. They had been caught completely off their guard.

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Daily Doodles for 4/6/26 - 4/10/26