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[rstegman]

31 )
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I had to wait for a cab to pick me up at a grocery store and when I had hung up, this concept came to me.
The imps were people who could create a holographic shape around themselves. they could appear to be like anything they wanted. They had the problem that they lacked imagination and could not really come up with good forms without being told. Usually, they would simply shimmer and flicker various colors around themselves.
Their lands were taken over by the people and civilization developed. the area was more like a well populated tourist destination than anything.
There was question as to what the imps lived on. It was not important. It was later that the imps were found to live off of certain plants, and on emotional energies. if they could strike fear in someone, they got power.
About the only vehicles in the resort was Taxi cabs. the drivers became a prime target of the imps. The taxi would pick them up and one driving, the imp would suddenly become something frightening. The cabby would stop, get out running in total panic. The Imp would be well fed and leave.
the cabbies stopped picking someone up that had not called. They would pull up and pick up their rider. A new problem appeared when imp was the one who got in first, not the person. The cabby would be frightened by the imp, and the gang of imps would turn on the person left behind, sending him into a fright.
for a while, the operator asked for a description of the person and the imps did not get in. It worked nicely.
the imps were finally learning the language and they soon understood what the descriptions were.
A man called a cab. he said he had a yellow hat, beard, green shirt and blue pants.
he was shocked as the imps started changing. Soon they all wore something that would pass that description.
As the cab came up, he made another call and said he had a cell phone. Soon, all the imps put their hands to their heads and has shapes in their hands.
As the cab came up, the cabby looked confused. the man grabbed a dirt clod and tossed it at the car, waving it to get going. the cabby waved for him to come in, and the man shoved a bunch of imps out of the way and got in.
The Imps soon had the dirt clod and shoving each other, down pat.
Thinking about the problem with the imps. Charles got an idea. He called the cab while surrounded by imps. He mentioned a couple dozen imps. He then described himself, he had a wide brimmed hat, blue shirt, black pants, black belt. What he said, though, was "Not a baseball cap, Not a white shirt, Not a green belt, Not a yellow pants."
The imps did not notice the Not, in the descriptions and they did not actually see how he was really dressed, so when the cab showed up, there was no question who he was.
After about six times, the Taxi operator would give instructions on how to describe themselves. It was important to get it right or they will not be picked up. The imps were not getting the descriptions right so the people were getting their rides.
The imp problem stopped being a major problem and they had to now just frighten an individual on the streets.
It should be noted that the imps were not harmless and attacking one might come out bad, but they were not known to be violent so all they were after was the moment of fright and they would leave.
_________________
Roger Stegman
rstegman@prodigy.net
rstegman@earthlink.net
rstegman@aol.com
"if you write, you are a writer. If you are not talented, you will not get published as often, or at all" - Orson Scott Card.