The Gnome - a 100 word story\n\n\n\nThe fawn couldn't see them hiding in the bushes. The arrow was quick and painless, tranquilizing shot penetrating, inducing sleep. The Gnome ordered the two hooded men to upload the fawn onto the cart. The three of them took the hidden road, delivering the sleeping animal to the laboratory. The mechanical chicken lay motionless on the table, a lifeless shell, nothing more. The Gnome connecter her to the machine. Carefully, he connected the fawn to the other side. Buttons were pressed, levers pushed into place. Life energy was transferred and the mechanical chicken awakened, ready to serve her new master.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nHi there and thanks for stopping by. I\u2019m Guy, and you\u2019re listening to my surreal sketchbook of reality.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nEpisode 20, The Hidden Road\n\n\n\nIt seems like there\u2019s a limited amount of things that exist in this world and that they tend to disappear as they are used by us. This is the essence of the idea of scarcity. This episode Is a semi-philosophical look at scarcity. I\u2019m not a professional philosopher by any means and my approach can be quite absurd, illogical and not at all that serious, so - you've been warned. Do not take this podcast too seriously. If you tend to take things too seriously, this might not be the podcast for you. Seriously. I mean it. Find another podcast to listen to.\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re still here? Good. Let\u2019s talk about scarcity. When we talk about a limited amount of something like food or trees, we are talking about scarcity. We say that wood is scarce and we should preserve as much of it as we possibly can because if we don\u2019t, there won\u2019t be any wood left anymore. That is not the whole story though. When you cut down a tree and make, let\u2019s say, a chair out of it, you are merely changing the shape of the tree. If you then burn the chair, you are changing the condition of the tree from matter into energy. You can\u2019t really get rid of the tree. You can only change its shape, definition or state.\n\n\n\nFood seems to disappear when we eat it, but that is not really the case. It becomes part of us, blending with us completely when we eat it. The saying \u201cyou are what you eat\u201d has much truth in it. Science shows us that matter and energy are interchangeable. It also shows us that there is a finite amount of matter/energy in the universe and that amount is constant. It cannot change. This means that the amount of food and trees can\u2019t truly change. Only thair shape and condition can change. Things can blend into each other and change their essence and meaning, but they don\u2019t disappear altogether. On the other hand, a tree is not as useful to us as a burnt-out chair, and food can\u2019t be used again after it blends with us. In that way, those things are scarce. I\u2019m going to check the scarcity of things in my fridge. I\u2019ll be right back.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nWildcards - a 100 word story\n\n\n\nThe Queen looked at the multi-colored roses in shocked amazement. Seven and Five giggles softly while Two just stared madly at her. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d she asked, her amazement turning to anger. \u201cWhy the fact is, you see, we are painting all your roses\u201d answered Two. The Queen turned the perfect shade of red, the one she liked for her roses and shouted: \u201cOff with their heads.\u201d \u201cNot this time,\u201d said Seven and Five in unison and started splashing colors at the Queen. They splashed her, then splashed her some more until she was completely devoured by the colors.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nWelcome back. So we made a chair out of our tree, then we burned it. Can we get it back? Theoretically, this is a possibility, and here we will be going into the future of scarcity. We are currently mastering the ability to move atoms. The field of study that concentrates on moving atoms is called nanotechnology. If we could get back the energy of the burnt tree-chair and somehow convert it back into matter, then rearrange the atoms of that matter back the way they were when we first found them, we could theoretically get our tree back.