We've had so much fun and felt so much love this year as we've seen New Social grow incredibly fast.

We can't wait to see what happens next year.

We'll be logging off today and won't be back until the New Year as our team take a well deserved break.

We hope you and yours have a wonderful festive period, whether you're celebrating or not 🎄

#Fediverse #Festive #Festiverse #Christmas #Hanukkah #WinterSolstice #MerryChristmas #HappyHolidays

For what seemed like forever he walked.


Too many of the trees marked on the old man’s map had died long ago, but every so often the Urchin came to one still alive and asked for its help. All that any of them could tell him was seemingly not very helpful: “When your light shines no more, look into the darkness. You will see that it has always been with you."


The Urchin could not fathom what this could mean and so, exhausted but afraid of returning to his village, he eventually made his way back to the oak tree that had been his friend for so many years. Just as he was nearing its reassuring shape, the last of his fuel burnt away and his torch went out. It had lit his way for so very long but could sustain itself no more.

The Urchin began to weep; his search was finished, for how could he go out again into the wilderness with no light to guide him?

6/

#TheUrchin #WinterSolstice

It was time.

In the middle of the night, he was awoken by the eldest elder. "Child, you must go. We will soon be at war with ourselves, and it will not be safe for you. You must begin your journey."

"But Father," said the Urchin, "I can take care of myself now. And how … where would I even start?”

"With that, I can help you," the old man replied. "I saw a star fall in those terrible last days of light; I know it. I tried many times to find it but could not. Perhaps it didn't survive the fall, but I believe it did. It is still alive somewhere, waiting for the right time to be found. And for the right person to find it. I cannot tell you exactly where to look, but three nights ago, I had a vision of you with the fire of the heavens streaming from your hands. You must leave the village and seek counsel from our venerable tree friends; only they still have the wisdom and memory to guide you. I’ve made a map, a plan of the trees as they were long ago when I was young.”



“In this dreadful darkness, I don’t know how the landscape has changed, but I am sure at least that no new trees will have grown. Follow it as best you can and listen to what the trees have to tell you; together they may lead you to what you seek, to your fate and to ours.”

So, with his map, and enough torchlight to last him many days, the Urchin went forth from the village that had been his home since his memory began.

5/

#TheUrchin #WinterSolstice

Of course he told the villagers. Many laughed at him, not unkindly, but laughed all the same. Even most of the elders seemed to find his proclamation amusing. But the eldest — the one who
could remember the days of light most clearly — simply watched and waited.

Time trickled by, and the Urchin wondered how and where he could possibly search for a fallen star. The villagers thought his quest misled at best, foolish more likely. To them, the chance of light
returning had become the most desperate of hopeless dreams and one they could no longer even consider.

One by one, they accepted what they believed to be their inevitable dark future, and dissent grew.

4/

#TheUrchin #WinterSolstice