Architectural Wonders

"My web is finally finished!" said the spider.  "Look at how strongly it's anchored.  See how tightly it's woven.  It might last for a month, maybe longer, even without any repairs at all!"

Two ants observed from a safe distance, trusting their disagreeable flavor to protect them from predation.  "IT seems sad to think that his web will die with him at the season's end," said one.

"Spiders are ridiculous," said the other.  "Now, our anthill, some of its stones are as big as a whole ant, and the tunnels extend for inches all around.  That will last an eternity!"

Foundations

It's November 1st! Time for our monthly dose of the Wisest Stone's very best advice. This is the one-year anniversary, roughly, of Mirrorshards and my daily writing exercise. My audience is small, but apparently loyal, and even includes several members not related to me. I'm glad you're all here, and I look forward to another year of strange fragments and odd windows into other worlds.

It's also NaNoWriMo, which I will be sort of participating in. (I've got over fifty thousand words already; I'm aiming for another fifty thousand and an actual finished novel instead of one that cuts out halfway.) Happy November!

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“It is the problem of all buildings,” said the Wisest Stone, as Taku worked to dig him out of the soft sand.

“I think it is a problem of sand,” Taku said.

“The sand cannot be blamed. The trouble comes in the weight of the thing.”

“You should not land upon the beach,” Taku pointed out. “We have spoken of this before.”

“It is best,” the Wisest Stone went on, as if he had not heard, “to build upon a foundation of rock. But even piling rock upon rock, at some point you will still be building upon the sand.”