(In response to the November 18th Rookie Mag prompt âBe an inventor.â)
What would you do if you could write your own future?
The Scribe typewriter lets you determine your own fate with the punch of a few keys. Just write down your heartâs desires and wait!
Thatâs what it said on the flyer anyway. There is actually only an eighty-five percent success rate. If you try to write about money, it goes down to thirty-five percent. They had to make sure that the economy wasnât in tatters after the release. If you write about harming someone else, your Scribe locks up and immediately calls the authorities. They caught a few with intent to kill before people started to realize that the Scribe was actually just a very expensive tattle tale. You also cannot compel someone to be with you sexually. Actually most all illegal acts are prohibited. You canât write that your drug dealer will give you a discount. At first people thought it was all about the words. Maybe if they used the right words, found loopholes and didnât refer directly to the illegal act, it would work. But the Scribe works off of intentions. If you intend to break the law, it will know.
Whatâs left?
I guess you can write that you will do well on your Calculus Exam, but then some professors consider that cheating and will give you a mark of zero.
You could write about staying thin and young-looking. That can be effective sometimes. But it wears off eventually, just like a new, expensive eye cream.
That only leaves the little things, you know?
A good hair day, to meet someone interesting, to find that dress you are looking for.
The Scribe is not technically allowed in college or professional sports or any form of gambling. It prohibits writing a win for your favorite team or getting your hand in Black Jack.
You can write yourself better at an instrument or a minor skill. It wonât do much if you want to be a rocket scientist, though. I know. I tried.
You canât write yourself anything that isnât real either. You canât write about magic or witchcraft. The creators put a âGodâ block on there, too, so that people wouldnât write about their religious deities visiting or helping them. So thatâs a bust.
All thatâs left is small beauty fixes, small personal protection, and a happy day.
The Scribe is effectively an expensive good luck charm.

















