This post was inspired by today's 5-minute writing prompt in the Freewriters Community - 13 January 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2616: what’s the meaning of this?
Enjoy !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
Minister Stark stormed into the open plan office, his face red with anger.
"Who authorised it ? Tell me ! Tell me NOW ! What is the meaning of this ? Who is trying to sabotage the great nation of Elbonia ?"
The assorted workers all looked down at their computer screens, trying to make out that they were busy at work. It wasn't hugely effective, all the screens were off. The Ministry of Energy had instructed the country's sole power station to cut supply to the Foreign Ministry a month ago because they hadn't paid the bill for over a year. Somehow it had been left out of the budget, and there was no process to re-open the budget or correct it, they just had to wait until next year's budget.
"You !" shouted the minister, pointing at a random junior worker. "Tell me what the Doug is going on, and why the Foreign Ministry building is covered with branches, leaves and grass."
"Yes, Minister. It's camouflage. If the building blends in with the surrounding swamps and debris, maybe the French won't see us and we won't be bombed if the war starts up again."
Minister Stark slapped the man around the head.
"Fool ! We WANT the war to start up again, and we WANT the French to bomb the Foreign Ministry. That way, we'll get gifts of free weapons and money from any country that hates the French. As an added bonus, we'll be able to salvage the bomb fragments and sell them for scrap. It will be a huge boost to our economy !"
If you want to go down an internet rabbit hole, just Google Elbonia, and specifically the French-Elbonian War. It started in the comic strip Dilbert as a fictitious non-specific post-Communist Eastern European country, very impoverished and famous mainly for mud.
Since then, it's taken on a life of it's own, with several otherwise serious YouTube channels making amusing videos about it's armed forces re-equipment programme in the late 1940's (the goal being to pick the most useless, inappropriate but credible-seeming armaments).
Interestingly, it also proves one of the big flaws with AI. There's enough invented stuff written about Elbonia that Google's AI overview to the search query responded as if it was a real place, with hilarious results. 😁