DONT READ THIS

Sometimes it's the first moment of the day that catches you off guard. That's what Wendy was thinking. She opened her window to see fire engines screeching down the street. While this wasn't something completely unheard of, it also wasn't normal. It was a sure sign of what was going to happen that day. She could feel it in her bones and it wasn't the way she wanted the day to begin.They argue. While the argument seems to be different the truth is it's always the same. Yes, the topic may be different or the circumstances, but when all said and done, it all came back to the same thing. They both knew it, but neither has the courage or strength to address the underlying issue. So they continue to argue."It's never good to give them details," Janice told her sister. "Always be a little vague and keep them guessing." Her sister listened intently and nodded in agreement. She didn't fully understand what her sister was saying but that didn't matter. She loved her so much that she would have agreed to whatever came out of her mouth.Benny was tired. Not the normal every day tired from a hard day o work. The exhausted type of tired where you're surprised your body can even move. All he wanted to do was sit in front of the TV, put his feet up on the coffee table, and drink a beer. The only issue was that he had forgotten where he lived."It was so great to hear from you today and it was such weird timing," he said. "This is going to sound funny and a little strange, but you were in a dream I had just a couple of days ago. I'd love to get together and tell you about it if you're up for a cup of coffee," he continued, laying the trap he'd been planning for years.Finding the red rose in the mailbox was a pleasant surprise for Sarah. She didn't have a boyfriend or know of anyone who was interested in her as anything more than a friend. There wasn't even a note attached to it. Although it was a complete mystery, it still made her heart jump and race a little more than usual. She wished that she could simply accept the gesture and be content knowing someone had given it to her, but that wasn't the way Sarah did things. Now it was time to do a little detective work and try to figure who had actually left the red rose.She closed her eyes and then opened them again. What she was seeing just didn't make sense. She shook her head seeing if that would help. It didn't. Although it seemed beyond reality, there was no denying she was witnessing a large formation of alien spaceships filling the sky.Things aren't going well at all with mom today. She is just a limp noodle and wants to sleep all the time. I sure hope that things get better soon.Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. The man walking down the street in a banana suit. The llama standing in the middle of the road. The fairies dancing in front of the car window. The fact that all of this was actually happening and wasn't a dream.I checked in for the night at Out O The Way motel. What a bad choice that was. First I took a shower and a spider crawled out of the drain. Next, the towel rack fell down when I reached for the one small bath towel. This allowed the towel to fall halfway into the toilet. I tried to watch a movie, but the remote control was sticky and wouldn't stop scrolling through the channels. I gave up for the night and crawled into bed. I stretched out my leg and felt something furry by my foot. Filled with fear, I reached down and to my surprise, I pulled out a raccoon skin pair of underwear. After my initial relief that it wasn't alive, the image of a fat, ugly businessman wearing raccoon skin briefs filled my brain. I jumped out of the bed, threw my toothbrush into my bag, and sprinted towards my car.Patricia's friend who was here hardly had any issues at all, but she wasn't telling the truth. Yesterday, before she left to go home, she heard that her husband is in the hospital and pretended to be surprised. It later came out that she was the person who had put him there.Devon couldn't figure out the color of her eyes. He initially would have guessed that they were green, but the more he looked at them he almost wanted to say they were a golden yellow. Then there were the flashes of red and orange that seemed to be streaked throughout them. It was almost as if her eyes were made of opal with the sun constantly glinting off of them and bringing out more color. They were definitely the most unusual pair of eyes he'd ever seen.Since they are still preserved in the rocks for us to see, they must have been formed quite recently, that is, geologically speaking. What can explain these striations and their common orientation? Did you ever hear about the Great Ice Age or the Pleistocene Epoch? Less than one million years ago, in fact, some 12,000 years ago, an ice sheet many thousands of feet thick rode over Burke Mountain in a southeastward direction. The many boulders frozen to the underside of the ice sheet tended to scratch the rocks over which they rode. The scratches or striations seen in the park rocks were caused by these attached boulders. The ice sheet also plucked and rounded Burke Mountain into the shape it possesses today.Nobody really understood Kevin. It wasn't that he was super strange or difficult. It was more that there wasn't enough there that anyone wanted to take the time to understand him. This was a shame as Kevin had many of the answers to the important questions most people who knew him had. It was even more of a shame that they'd refuse to listen even if Kevin offered to give them the answers. So, Kevin remained silent, misunderstood, and kept those important answers to life to himself.Have you ever wondered about toes? Why 10 toes and not 12. Why are some bigger than others? Some people can use their toes to pick up things while others can barely move them on command. Some toes are nice to look at while others are definitely not something you want to look at. Toes can be stubbed and make us scream. Toes help us balance and walk. 10 toes are just something to ponder.It had become a far too common an event in her life. She has specifically placed the key to the box in a special place so that she wouldn't lose it and know exactly where it was when the key was needed. Now that she needed to open the box, she had absolutely no idea where that special spot she placed the key might be.The irony of the situation hadn't escaped her. She had taken years to sculpt the perfect persona with the perfect look that she shared on Instagram. She knew her hundreds of thousands of followers envied that life she showed and stayed engaged with her because they wanted that life too. The truth was that she wanted the perfect life she portrayed more than any of her fans. The fact was that despite all the perfection she shared on social media, her life was actually more of a mess than most.It's not his fault. I know you're going to want to, but you can't blame him. He really has no idea how it happened. I kept trying to come up with excuses I could say to mom that would keep her calm when she found out what happened, but the more I tried, the more I could see none of them would work. He was going to get her wrath and there was nothing I could say to prevent it.He scolded himself for being so tentative. He knew he shouldn't be so cautious, but there was a sixth sense telling him that things weren't exactly as they appeared. It was that weird chill that rolls up your neck and makes the hair stand on end. He knew that being so tentative could end up costing him the job, but he learned that listening to his sixth sense usually kept him from getting into a lot of trouble.It was difficult to explain to them how the diagnosis of certain death had actually given him life. While everyone around him was in tears and upset, he actually felt more at ease. The doctor said it would be less than a year. That gave him a year to live, something he'd failed to do with his daily drudgery of a routine that had passed as life until then.It had been a rough day. Things hadn't gone as planned and that meant Hannah got yelled at by her boss. It didn't even matter that it wasn't her fault. When things went wrong at work, Hannah got the blame no matter the actual circumstances. It wasn't fair, but there was little she could do without risking her job, and she wasn't in a position to do that with the plans she had.This is important to remember. Love isn't like pie. You don't need to divide it among all your friends and loved ones. No matter how much love you give, you can always give more. It doesn't run out, so don't try to hold back giving it as if it may one day run out. Give it freely and as much as you want.MaryLou wore the tiara with pride. There was something that made doing anything she didn't really want to do a bit easier when she wore it. She really didn't care what those staring through the window were thinking as she vacuumed her apartment.Green vines attached to the trunk of the tree had wound themselves toward the top of the canopy. Ants used the vine as their private highway, avoiding all the creases and crags of the bark, to freely move at top speed from top to bottom or bottom to top depending on their current chore. At least this was the way it was supposed to be. Something had damaged the vine overnight halfway up the tree leaving a gap in the once pristine ant highway.No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't give her a good explanation about what had happened. It didn't even really make sense to him. All he knew was that he froze at the moment and no matter how hard he tried to react, nothing in his body allowed him to move. It was as if he had instantly become a statue and although he could see what was taking place, he couldn't move to intervene. He knew that wasn't a satisfactory explanation even though it was the truth.The day had begun on a bright note. The sun finally peeked through the rain for the first time in a week, and the birds were singing in its warmth. There was no way to anticipate what was about to happen. It was a worst-case scenario and there was no way out of it.She sat down with her notebook in her hand, her mind wandering to faraway places. She paused and considered all that had happened. It hadn't gone as expected. When the day began she thought it was going to be a bad one, but as she sat recalling the day's events to write them down, she had to admit, it had been a rather marvelous day.It had been a simple realization that had changed Debra's life perspective. It was really so simple that she was embarrassed that she had lived the previous five years with the way she measured her worth. Now that she saw what she had been doing, she could see how sad it was. That made her all the more relieved she had made the change. The number of hearts her Instagram posts received wasn't any longer the indication of her own self-worth.Mary had to make a decision and she knew that whatever decision she made, it would upset someone. It seemed like such a silly reason for people to get upset but she knew the minute that she began to consider doing it that there was no way everyone in her life would be pleased with what she ultimately decided to do. It was simply a question of who she would rather displease most. While this had always been her parents, and especially her mom, in the past that she tried to keep from upsetting, she decided that this time the person she was going to please the most with her decision was herself.It was supposed to be a dream vacation. They had planned it over a year in advance so that it would be perfect in every way. It had been what they had been looking forward to through all the turmoil and negativity around them. It had been the light at the end of both their tunnels. Now that the dream vacation was only a week away, the virus had stopped all air travel.She wanted rainbow hair. That's what she told the hairdresser. It should be deep rainbow colors, too. She wasn't interested in pastel rainbow hair. She wanted it deep and vibrant so there was no doubt that she had done this on purpose.The irony of the situation hadn't escaped her. She had taken years to sculpt the perfect persona with the perfect look that she shared on Instagram. She knew her hundreds of thousands of followers envied that life she showed and stayed engaged with her because they wanted that life too. The truth was that she wanted the perfect life she portrayed more than any of her fans. The fact was that despite all the perfection she shared on social media, her life was actually more of a mess than most.Twenty seconds were all that was left and Richard could hear each one tick by. Fifteen seconds now remained and the panic began to fully set in. Ten seconds and he wasn't sure he had enough time. Five seconds, four, three, two, one...Betty was a creature of habit and she thought she liked it that way. That was until Dave showed up in her life. She now had a choice to make and it would determine whether her lie remained the same or if it would change forever.Samantha wanted to be famous. The problem was that she had never considered all the downsides to actually being famous. Had she taken the time to objectively consider these downsides, she would have never agreed to publically sing that first song.Sometimes that's just the way it has to be. Sure, there were probably other options, but he didn't let them enter his mind. It was done and that was that. It was just the way it had to be.There are different types of secrets. She had held onto plenty of them during her life, but this one was different. She found herself holding onto the worst type. It was the type of secret that could gnaw away at your insides if you didn't tell someone about it, but it could end up getting you killed if you did.It was easy to spot her. All you needed to do was look at her socks. They were never a matching pair. One would be green while the other would be blue. One would reach her knee while the other barely touched her ankle. Every other part of her was perfect, but never the socks. They were her micro act of rebellion.A long black shadow slid across the pavement near their feet and the five Venusians, very much startled, looked overhead. They were barely in time to see the huge gray form of the carnivore before it vanished behind a sign atop a nearby building which bore the mystifying information "Pepsi-Cola."They needed to find a place to eat. The kids were beginning to get grumpy in the back seat and if they didn't find them food soon, it was just a matter of time before they were faced with a complete meltdown. Even knowing this, the solution wasn't easy. Everyone in the car had a different opinion on where the best place to eat would be with nobody agreeing with the suggestions of the others. It seemed to be an impossible no-win situation where not everyone would be happy no matter where they decided to eat which in itself would lead to a meltdown. Yet a decision needed to be made and it needed to be made quickly.The robot clicked disapprovingly, gurgled briefly inside its cubical interior and extruded a pony glass of brownish liquid. "Sir, you will undoubtedly end up in a drunkard's grave, dead of hepatic cirrhosis," it informed me virtuously as it returned my ID card. I glared as I pushed the glass across the table.Dave found joy in the daily routine of life. He awoke at the same time, ate the same breakfast and drove the same commute. He worked at a job that never seemed to change and he got home at 6 pm sharp every night. It was who he had been for the last ten years and he had no idea that was all about to change.All he could think about was how it would all end. There was still a bit of uncertainty in the equation, but the basics were there for anyone to see. No matter how much he tried to see the positive, it wasn't anywhere to be seen. The end was coming and it wasn't going to be pretty.He scolded himself for being so tentative. He knew he shouldn't be so cautious, but there was a sixth sense telling him that things weren't exactly as they appeared. It was that weird chill that rolls up your neck and makes the hair stand on end. He knew that being so tentative could end up costing him the job, but he learned that listening to his sixth sense usually kept him from getting into a lot of trouble.He swung back the fishing pole and cast the line which ell 25 feet away into the river. The lure landed in the perfect spot and he was sure he would soon get a bite. He never expected that the bite would come from behind in the form of a bear.Bryan had made peace with himself and felt comfortable with the choices he made. This had made all the difference in the world. Being alone no longer bothered him and this was essential since there was a good chance he might spend the rest of his life alone in a cell.His parents continued to question him. He didn't know what to say to them since they refused to believe the truth. He explained again and again, and they dismissed his explanation as a figment of his imagination. There was no way that grandpa, who had been dead for five years, could have told him where the treasure had been hidden. Of course, it didn't help that grandpa was roaring with laughter in the chair next to him as he tried to explain once again how he'd found it.She wondered if the note had reached him. She scolded herself for not handing it to him in person. She trusted her friend, but so much could happen. She waited impatiently for word.The light blinded him. It was dark and he thought he was the only one in the area, but the light shining in his eyes proved him wrong. It came from about 100 feet away and was shining so directly into his eyes he couldn't make out anything about the person holding the light. There was only one thing to do in this situation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flashlight of his own that was much stronger than the one currently blinding him. He turned it on and pointed it into the stranger's eyes."So, what do you think?" he asked nervously. He wanted to know the answer, but at the same time, he didn't. He'd put his heart and soul into the project and he wasn't sure he'd be able to recover if they didn't like what he produced. The silence from the others in the room seemed to last a lifetime even though it had only been a moment since he asked the question. "So, what do you think?" he asked again.The wave crashed and hit the sandcastle head-on. The sandcastle began to melt under the waves force and as the wave receded, half the sandcastle was gone. The next wave hit, not quite as strong, but still managed to cover the remains of the sandcastle and take more of it away. The third wave, a big one, crashed over the sandcastle completely covering and engulfing it. When it receded, there was no trace the sandcastle ever existed and hours of hard work disappeared forever.He took a sip of the drink. He wasn't sure whether he liked it or not, but at this moment it didn't matter. She had made it especially for him so he would have forced it down even if he had absolutely hated it. That's simply the way things worked. She made him a new-fangled drink each day and he took a sip of it and smiled, saying it was excellent.Hopes and dreams were dashed that day. It should have been expected, but it still came as a shock. The warning signs had been ignored in favor of the possibility, however remote, that it could actually happen. That possibility had grown from hope to an undeniable belief it must be destiny. That was until it wasn't and the hopes and dreams came crashing down.Love isn't always a ray of sunshine. That's what the older girls kept telling her when she said she had found the perfect man. She had thought this was simply bitter talk on their part since they had been unable to find true love like hers. But now she had to face the fact that they may have been right. Love may not always be a ray of sunshine. That is unless they were referring to how the sun can burn.The alarm went off and Jake rose awake. Rising early had become a daily ritual, one that he could not fully explain. From the outside, it was a wonder that he was able to get up so early each morning for someone who had absolutely no plans to be productive during the entire day.The boxed moved. That was a problem. Peter had packed the box three hours before and there was nothing inside that should make it move. The question now was whether or not Peter was going to open it up and look inside to see why it had moved. The answer to that question was obvious. Peter dropped the package into the mailbox so he would never have to see it again.She needed glasses. It wasn't that she couldn't see without them, but what she could see with them. When she wore glasses, her eyes focused so deeply that she could see not only the physical but also beyond. It was like a superpower. But she needed glasses."It's never good to give them details," Janice told her sister. "Always be a little vague and keep them guessing." Her sister listened intently and nodded in agreement. She didn't fully understand what her sister was saying but that didn't matter. She loved her so much that she would have agreed to whatever came out of her mouth.I love the feel of wood curls flying off the lathe as I begin to shape the log in front of me. The sound of scraping changes based on the wetness of the wood, the speed at which the lathe is turning, and the type of cut I am making. The smell and feel of wet wood being turned are unique. The water is sprayed out as I cut through the different layers of wood. A log can turn into anything one's imagination can think of with the right set of hands-on tools. I have those hands and imagination. I use all of my senses and intuition to create a beautiful object. That is why I enjoy turning wood.Pink ponies and purple giraffes roamed the field. Cotton candy grew from the ground as a chocolate river meandered off to the side. What looked like stones in the pasture were actually rock candy. Everything in her dream seemed to be perfect except for the fact that she had no mouth.He slowly poured the drink over a large chunk of ice he has especially chiseled off a larger block. He didn't particularly like his drinks cold, but he knew that the drama of chiseling the ice and then pouring a drink over it looked far more impressive than how he actually liked it. It was all about image and he'd managed to perfect the image that he wanted to project.They rushed out the door, grabbing anything and everything they could think of they might need. There was no time to double-check to make sure they weren't leaving something important behind. Everything was thrown into the car and they sped off. Thirty minutes later they were safe and that was when it dawned on them that they had forgotten the most important thing of all.All he wanted was a candy bar. It didn't seem like a difficult request to comprehend, but the clerk remained frozen and didn't seem to want to honor the request. It might have had something to do with the gun pointed at his face.He had three simple rules by which he lived. The first was to never eat blue food. There was nothing in nature that was edible that was blue. People often asked about blueberries, but everyone knows those are actually purple. He understood it was one of the stranger rules to live by, but it had served him well thus far in the 50+ years of his life.There once lived an old man and an old woman who were peasants and had to work hard to earn their daily bread. The old man used to go to fix fences and do other odd jobs for the farmers around, and while he was gone the old woman, his wife, did the work of the house and worked in their own little plot of land.There were about twenty people on the dam. Most of them were simply walking and getting exercise. There were a few who were fishing. There was a family who had laid down a blanket and they were having a picnic. It was like this most days and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The problem was that nobody noticed the water leaking through the dam wall.He stepped away from the mic. This was the best take he had done so far, but something seemed missing. Then it struck him all at once. Visuals ran in front of his eyes and music rang in his ears. His eager fingers went to work in an attempt to capture his thoughts hoping the results would produce something that was at least half their glory.It was the first day of the rest of her life. This wasn't the day she was actually born, but she knew that nothing would be the same from this day forward. Although this was a bit scary to her, it was also extremely freeing. Her past was no longer a burden or something that she needed to be concerned about and defend. She threw off the covers keeping her warm in bed, placed her feet over the side of the bed, slipped on her slipper, and took the first step of the first day of her new life.He sat staring at the person in the train stopped at the station going in the opposite direction. She sat staring ahead, never noticing that she was being watched. Both trains began to move and he knew that in another timeline or in another universe, they had been happy together.Sitting in the sun, away from everyone who had done him harm in the past, he quietly listened to those who roamed by. He felt at peace in the moment, hoping it would last, but knowing the reprieve would soon come to an end. He closed his eyes, the sun beating down on face and he smiled. He smiled for the first time in as long as he could remember.Do you think you're living an ordinary life? You are so mistaken it's difficult to even explain. The mere fact that you exist makes you extraordinary. The odds of you existing are less than winning the lottery, but here you are. Are you going to let this extraordinary opportunity pass?"What is the best way to get what you want?" she asked. He looked down at the ground knowing that she wouldn't like his answer. He hesitated, knowing that the truth would only hurt. How was he going to tell her that the best way for him to get what he wanted was to leave her?Things aren't going well at all with mom today. She is just a limp noodle and wants to sleep all the time. I sure hope that things get better soon.It was the best compliment that he'd ever received although the person who gave it likely never knew. It had been an off-hand observation on his ability to hold a conversation and actually add pertinent information to it on practically any topic. Although he hadn't consciously strived to be able to do so, he'd started to voraciously read the news when he couldn't keep up on topics his friends discussed because their conversations went above his head. The fact that someone had noticed enough to compliment him that he could talk intelligently about many topics meant that he had succeeded in his quest to be better informed."Ingredients for life," said the backside of the truck. They mean food, but really food is only 1 ingredient of life. Life has so many more ingredients such as pain, happiness, laughter, joy, tears, and smiles. Life also has hard work, easy play, sleepless nights, and sunbathing by the ocean. Love, hatred, envy, self-assurance, and fear could be just down aisle 3 ready to be bought when needed. How I wish I could pull ingredients like these off shelves in a store.It had been a rough day. Things hadn't gone as planned and that meant Hannah got yelled at by her boss. It didn't even matter that it wasn't her fault. When things went wrong at work, Hannah got the blame no matter the actual circumstances. It wasn't fair, but there was little she could do without risking her job, and she wasn't in a position to do that with the plans she had.Since they are still preserved in the rocks for us to see, they must have been formed quite recently, that is, geologically speaking. What can explain these striations and their common orientation? Did you ever hear about the Great Ice Age or the Pleistocene Epoch? Less than one million years ago, in fact, some 12,000 years ago, an ice sheet many thousands of feet thick rode over Burke Mountain in a southeastward direction. The many boulders frozen to the underside of the ice sheet tended to scratch the rocks over which they rode. The scratches or striations seen in the park rocks were caused by these attached boulders. The ice sheet also plucked and rounded Burke Mountain into the shape it possesses today.There are only three ways to make this work. The first is to let me take care of everything. The second is for you to take care of everything. The third is to split everything 50 / 50. I think the last option is the most preferable, but I'm certain it'll also mean the end of our marriage.It was a question of which of the two she preferred. On the one hand, the choice seemed simple. The more expensive one with a brand name would be the choice of most. It was the easy choice. The safe choice. But she wasn't sure she actually preferred it.Breastfeeding is good for babies and moms. Infants that are breastfed get antibodies from their mothers against common illnesses. Breastfed babies have less chance of being obese as an adult. Breastfeeding a baby lets the infant-mother pair bond in a very unique way. Mother's who breastfeed lower their chances of developing breast cancer. Usually, mothers who breastfeed lose their pregnancy weight more quickly and easily. The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous."It was so great to hear from you today and it was such weird timing," he said. "This is going to sound funny and a little strange, but you were in a dream I had just a couple of days ago. I'd love to get together and tell you about it if you're up for a cup of coffee," he continued, laying the trap he'd been planning for years.The trail to the left had a "Danger! Do Not Pass" sign telling people to take the trail to the right. This wasn't the way Zeke approached his hiking. Rather than a warning, Zeke read the sign as an invitation to explore an area that would be adventurous and exciting. As the others in the group all shited to the right, Zeke slipped past the danger sign to begin an adventure he would later regret.He wandered down the stairs and into the basement. The damp, musty smell of unuse hung in the air. A single, small window let in a glimmer of light, but this simply made the shadows in the basement deeper. He inhaled deeply and looked around at a mess that had been accumulating for over 25 years. He was positive that this was the place he wanted to live.It was that terrifying feeling you have as you tightly hold the covers over you with the knowledge that there is something hiding under your bed. You want to look, but you don't at the same time. You're frozen with fear and unable to act. That's where she found herself and she didn't know what to do nextStormi is a dog. She is dark grey and has long legs. Her eyes are expressive and are able to let her humans know what she is thinking. Her tongue is long, pink, and wet. Her long legs allow her to sprint after other dogs, people or bunnies. She can be a good dog, but also very bad. Her tail wags when happy or excited and hides between her back legs when she is bad. Stormi is a dog I love.The desert wind blew the tumbleweed in front of the car. Alex swerved to avoid the tumbleweed, but he turned the wheel a bit too strong and the car left the road and skidded onto the dirt median. He instantly slammed on the brakes and the car stopped in a cloud of dirt. When the dust cloud had settled and he could see around him again, he realized that he'd somehow crossed over into an entirely new dimension.She didn't like the food. She never did. She made the usual complaints and started the tantrum he knew was coming. But this time was different. Instead of trying to placate her and her unreasonable demands, he just stared at her and watched her meltdown without saying a word.He took a sip of the drink. He wasn't sure whether he liked it or not, but at this moment it didn't matter. She had made it especially for him so he would have forced it down even if he had absolutely hated it. That's simply the way things worked. She made him a new-fangled drink each day and he took a sip of it and smiled, saying it was excellent.It seemed like it should have been so simple. There was nothing inherently difficult with getting the project done. It was simple and straightforward enough that even a child should have been able to complete it on time, but that wasn't the case. The deadline had arrived and the project remained unfinished.It was the first day of the rest of her life. This wasn't the day she was actually born, but she knew that nothing would be the same from this day forward. Although this was a bit scary to her, it was also extremely freeing. Her past was no longer a burden or something that she needed to be concerned about and defend. She threw off the covers keeping her warm in bed, placed her feet over the side of the bed, slipped on her slipper, and took the first step of the first day of her new life.He heard the song coming from a distance, lightly floating over the air to his ears. Although it was soft and calming, he was wary. It seemed a little too soft and a little too calming for everything that was going on. He wanted it to be nothing more than beautiful music coming from the innocent and pure joy of singing, but in the back of his mind, he knew it was likely some type of trap.The tree missed the days the kids used to come by and play. It still wore the tire swing the kids had put up in its branches years ago although both the tire and the rope had seen better days. The tree had watched all the kids in the neighborhood grow up and leave, and it wondered if there would ever be a time when another child played and laughed again under its branches. That was the hope that the tree wished every day as the swing gently swung empty in the wind.Another option you have is choosing the number of syllables in the words you speak. You probably have never considered this option before, but you have it every time you open your mouth and speak. You make so many choices like this that you never even think about, but you have the choice with each one. What are you going to do with this knowledge?It went through such rapid contortions that the little bear was forced to change his hold on it so many times he became confused in the darkness, and could not, for the life of him, tell whether he held the sheep right side up, or upside down. But that point was decided for him a moment later by the animal itself, who, with a sudden twist, jabbed its horns so hard into his lowest ribs that he gave a grunt of anger and disgust.All he wanted was a candy bar. It didn't seem like a difficult request to comprehend, but the clerk remained frozen and didn't seem to want to honor the request. It might have had something to do with the gun pointed at his face.Betty decided to write a short story and she was sure it was going to be amazing. She had already written it in her head and each time she thought about it she grinned from ear to ear knowing how wonderful it would be. She could imagine the accolades coming in and the praise she would receive for creating such a wonderful piece. She was therefore extremely frustrated when she actually sat down to write the short story and the story that was so beautiful inside her head refused to come out that way on paper.Dave found joy in the daily routine of life. He awoke at the same time, ate the same breakfast and drove the same commute. He worked at a job that never seemed to change and he got home at 6 pm sharp every night. It was who he had been for the last ten years and he had no idea that was all about to change.Housework could be everyone's work, not just "women's work". Why do women enable men to act oblivious to cleaning, grocery shopping, pet feeding, etc? Somehow when men live alone they figure out how to do all of those things all on their own. My friend's husband claimed he didn't know that sheets should be washed more than once a season. He said he didn't know one had to clean toilets. He assumed that since you flush toilets they clean themselves. She tried to get him to help but he did an awful job so she let him off the hook. Wouldn't it be better if she spent the time and energy to get him to do it right instead of letting him claim he is "just bad at it". My sons were raised to clean toilets and change their own sheets. Hopefully, in their future homes, the housework will be equally divided.If you can imagine a furry humanoid seven feet tall, with the face of an intelligent gorilla and the braincase of a man, you'll have a rough idea of what they looked like -- except for their teeth. The canines would have fitted better in the face of a tiger, and showed at the corners of their wide, thin-lipped mouths, giving them an expression of ferocity.He knew what he was supposed to do. That had been apparent from the beginning. That was what made the choice so difficult. What he was supposed to do and what he would do were not the same. This would have been fine if he were willing to face the inevitable consequences, but he wasn't.The spot was perfect for camouflage. At least that's what she thought when she picked the spot. She couldn't imagine that anyone would ever be able to see her in these surroundings. So there she sat, confident that she was hidden from the world and safe from danger. Unfortunately, she had not anticipated that others may be looking upon her from other angles, and now they were stealthily descending toward her hiding spot.The wolves stopped in their tracks, sizing up the mother and her cubs. It had been over a week since their last meal and they were getting desperate. The cubs would make a good meal, but there were high risks taking on the mother Grizzly. A decision had to be made and the wrong choice could signal the end of the pack.It really shouldn't have mattered to Betty. That's what she kept trying to convince herself even if she knew it mattered to Betty more than practically anything else. Why was she trying to convince herself otherwise? As she stepped forward to knock on Betty's door, she still didn't have a convincing answer to this question that she'd been asking herself for more than two years now.He walked down the steps from the train station in a bit of a hurry knowing the secrets in the briefcase must be secured as quickly as possible. Bounding down the steps, he heard something behind him and quickly turned in a panic. There was nobody there but a pair of old worn-out shoes were placed neatly on the steps he had just come down. Had he past them without seeing them? It didn't seem possible. He was about to turn and be on his way when a deep chill filled his body.The cab arrived late. The inside was in as bad of shape as the outside which was concerning, and it didn't appear that it had been cleaned in months. The green tree air-freshener hanging from the rearview mirror was either exhausted of its scent or not strong enough to overcome the other odors emitting from the cab. The correct decision, in this case, was to get the hell out of it and to call another cab, but she was late and didn't have a choice.Brenda never wanted to be famous. While most of her friends dreamed about being famous, she could see the negative aspects that those who wanted to be famous seemed to ignore. The fact that you could never do anything in public without being mobbed and the complete lack of privacy was something that she never wanted to experience. She also had no desire to have strangers speculating about every aspect of her life and what each thing she did was supposed to mean. Brenda was perfectly happy with her anonymous life where she could do exactly as she wanted without anyone else giving a damn. Thus, her overnight Internet celebrity was not something she was thrilled about as her friends told her how lucky she was.The blinking light caught her attention. She thought about it a bit and couldn't remember ever noticing it before. That was strange since it was obvious the flashing light had been there for years. Now she wondered how she missed it for that amount of time and what other things in her small town she had failed to notice.Twenty seconds were all that was left and Richard could hear each one tick by. Fifteen seconds now remained and the panic began to fully set in. Ten seconds and he wasn't sure he had enough time. Five seconds, four, three, two, one...Her hair was a tangled mess which she tried to make presentable by putting in a lump on the top of her head. It didn't really work although it was a valiant attempt. While most people simply noticed the tangled mess on top of her head, what most people failed to understand that within the tangles mess was an entirely new year. That was her secret. She kept worlds on top of her head.He heard the loud impact before he ever saw the result. It had been so loud that it had actually made him jump back in his seat. As soon as he recovered from the surprise, he saw the crack in the windshield. It seemed to be an analogy of the current condition of his life.There was a time when he would have embraced the change that was coming. In his youth, he sought adventure and the unknown, but that had been years ago. He wished he could go back and learn to find the excitement that came with change but it was useless. That curiosity had long left him to where he had come to loathe anything that put him out of his comfort zone.The bridge spanning a 100-foot gully stood in front of him as the last obstacle blocking him from reaching his destination. While people may have called it a "bridge", the reality was it was nothing more than splintered wooden planks held together by rotting ropes. It was questionable whether it would hold the weight of a child, let alone the weight of a grown man. The problem was there was no other way across the gully, and this played into his calculations of whether or not it was worth the risk of trying to cross it.His mother had always taught him not to ever think of himself as better than others. He'd tried to live by this motto. He never looked down on those who were less fortunate or who had less money than him. But the stupidity of the group of people he was talking to made him change his mind.Josh had spent year and year accumulating the information. He knew it inside out and if there was ever anyone looking for an expert in the field, Josh would be the one to call. The problem was that there was nobody interested in the information besides him and he knew it. Years of information painstakingly memorized and sorted with not a sole giving even an ounce of interest in the topic.I'm heading back to Colorado tomorrow after being down in Santa Barbara over the weekend for the festival there. I will be making October plans once there and will try to arrange so I'm back here for the birthday if possible. I'll let you know as soon as I know the doctor's appointment schedule and my flight plans.There was no ring on his finger. That was a good sign although far from proof that he was available. Still, it was much better than if he had been wearing a wedding ring on his hand. She glanced at his hand a bit more intently to see if there were any tan lines where a ring may have been, and he's simply taken it off. She couldn't detect any which was also a good sign and a relief. The next step would be to get access to his wallet to see if there were any family photos in it.It was a simple green chair. There was nothing extraordinary about it or so it seemed. It was the type of chair one would pass without even noticing it was there, let alone what the actual color of it was. It was due to this common and unassuming appearance that few people actually stopped to sit in it and discover its magical powers.He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a sip of the drink. He had tasted this before, but he couldn't quite remember the time and place it had happened. He desperately searched his mind trying to locate and remember where he had tasted this when the bicycle ran over his foot.April seriously wondered about her sleeping partner choices. She looked at her bed and what a mess it had become. How did she get to the point in her life where she had two dogs, three cats, and a raccoon sleeping with her every night?There was only one way to do things in the Statton house. That one way was to do exactly what the father, Charlie, demanded. He made the decisions and everyone else followed without question. That was until today.He slowly poured the drink over a large chunk of ice he has especially chiseled off a larger block. He didn't particularly like his drinks cold, but he knew that the drama of chiseling the ice and then pouring a drink over it looked far more impressive than how he actually liked it. It was all about image and he'd managed to perfect the image that he wanted to project.Patricia's friend who was here hardly had any issues at all, but she wasn't telling the truth. Yesterday, before she left to go home, she heard that her husband is in the hospital and pretended to be surprised. It later came out that she was the person who had put him there.It really doesn't matter what she thinks as it isn't her problem to solve. That's what he kept trying to convince himself. She was trying to insert her opinion where it wasn't wanted or welcome. He already had a plan and even though that plan didn't correspond with what she wanted him to do or what should be done, it wasn't her decision to make. The question now became whether he would stick to his convictions and go through with his plan knowing she wouldn't approve."What is the best way to get what you want?" she asked. He looked down at the ground knowing that she wouldn't like his answer. He hesitated, knowing that the truth would only hurt. How was he going to tell her that the best way for him to get what he wanted was to leave her?Debbie put her hand into the hole, sliding her hand down as far as her arm could reach. She wiggled her fingers hoping to touch something, but all she felt was air. She shifted the weight of her body to try and reach an inch or two more down the hole. Her fingers still touched nothing but air.A two-inch layer of freshly fallen snow covered the yard. Stacey peeked outside. To most, it would have been a beautiful sight worthy of taking a photo to put on Instagram. For Stacey, it meant something different. The first snow of the year brought back the witches as the fairies in the yard had to seek shelter to avoid the cold.Green vines attached to the trunk of the tree had wound themselves toward the top of the canopy. Ants used the vine as their private highway, avoiding all the creases and crags of the bark, to freely move at top speed from top to bottom or bottom to top depending on their current chore. At least this was the way it was supposed to be. Something had damaged the vine overnight halfway up the tree leaving a gap in the once pristine ant highway.It really didn't matter what they did to him. He's already made up his mind. Whatever came his way, he was prepared for the consequences. He knew in his heart that the sacrifice he made was done with love and not hate no matter how others decided to spin it.Pink ponies and purple giraffes roamed the field. Cotton candy grew from the ground as a chocolate river meandered off to the side. What looked like stones in the pasture were actually rock candy. Everything in her dream seemed to be perfect except for the fact that she had no mouth.She needed glasses. It wasn't that she couldn't see without them, but what she could see with them. When she wore glasses, her eyes focused so deeply that she could see not only the physical but also beyond. It was like a superpower. But she needed glasses.Another option you have is choosing the number of syllables in the words you speak. You probably have never considered this option before, but you have it every time you open your mouth and speak. You make so many choices like this that you never even think about, but you have the choice with each one. What are you going to do with this knowledge?Dave watched as the forest burned up on the hill, only a few miles from her house. The car had been hastily packed and Marta was inside trying to round up the last of the pets. Dave went through his mental list of the most important papers and documents that they couldn't leave behind. He scolded himself for not having prepared these better in advance and hoped that he had remembered everything that was needed. He continued to wait for Marta to appear with the pets, but she still was nowhere to be seen.His parents continued to question him. He didn't know what to say to them since they refused to believe the truth. He explained again and again, and they dismissed his explanation as a figment of his imagination. There was no way that grandpa, who had been dead for five years, could have told him where the treasure had been hidden. Of course, it didn't help that grandpa was roaring with laughter in the chair next to him as he tried to explain once again how he'd found it.The water rush down the wash and into the slot canyon below. Two hikers had started the day to sunny weather without a cloud in the sky, but they hadn't thought to check the weather north of the canyon. Huge thunderstorms had brought a deluge o rain and produced flash floods heading their way. The two hikers had no idea what was coming.He scolded himself for being so tentative. He knew he shouldn't be so cautious, but there was a sixth sense telling him that things weren't exactly as they appeared. It was that weird chill that rolls up your neck and makes the hair stand on end. He knew that being so tentative could end up costing him the job, but he learned that listening to his sixth sense usually kept him from getting into a lot of trouble.He collected the plastic trash on a daily basis. It never seemed to end. Even if he cleaned the entire beach, more plastic would cover it the next day after the tide had come in. Although it was a futile effort that would never be done, he continued to pick up the trash each day.He slowly poured the drink over a large chunk of ice he has especially chiseled off a larger block. He didn't particularly like his drinks cold, but he knew that the drama of chiseling the ice and then pouring a drink over it looked far more impressive than how he actually liked it. It was all about image and he'd managed to perfect the image that he wanted to project.There was a time in his life when her rudeness would have set him over the edge. He would have raised his voice and demanded to speak to the manager. That was no longer the case. He barely reacted at all, letting the rudeness melt away without saying a word back to her. He had been around long enough to know where rudeness came from and how unhappy the person must be to act in that way. All he could do was feel pity and be happy that he didn't feel the way she did to lash out like that.I'm going to hire professional help tomorrow. I can't handle this anymore. She fell over the coffee table and now there is blood in her catheter. This is much more than I ever signed up to do.The cab arrived late. The inside was in as bad of shape as the outside which was concerning, and it didn't appear that it had been cleaned in months. The green tree air-freshener hanging from the rearview mirror was either exhausted of its scent or not strong enough to overcome the other odors emitting from the cab. The correct decision, in this case, was to get the hell out of it and to call another cab, but she was late and didn't have a choice.She patiently waited for his number to be called. She had no desire to be there, but her mom had insisted that she go. She's resisted at first, but over time she realized it was simply easier to appease her and go. Mom tended to be that way. She would keep insisting until you wore down and did what she wanted. So, here she sat, patiently waiting for her number to be called.The young man wanted a role model. He looked long and hard in his youth, but that role model never materialized. His only choice was to embrace all the people in his life he didn't want to be like.The kids were loud. They were way too loud for Jerry, especially since this was a four-hour flight. The parents didn't seem to be able, or simply didn't want, to control them. They were yelling and fighting among themselves and it was impossible for any of the passengers to concentrate or rest. He thought about politely tapping on the parents' shoulders and asking them to try and get their kids under a bit more control, but before he did he came up with a better idea. Sure, it was a bit sinister, and he'd probably end p in a lot of trouble, but he really didn't care at that point.Sometimes that's just the way it has to be. Sure, there were probably other options, but he didn't let them enter his mind. It was done and that was that. It was just the way it had to be.The lone lamp post of the one-street town flickered, not quite dead but definitely on its way out. Suitcase by her side, she paid no heed to the light, the street or the town. A car was coming down the street and with her arm outstretched and thumb in the air, she had a plan.He was an expert but not in a discipline that anyone could fully appreciate. He knew how to hold the cone just right so that the soft server ice-cream fell into it at the precise angle to form a perfect cone each and every time. It had taken years to perfect and he could now do it without even putting any thought behind it. Nobody seemed to fully understand the beauty of this accomplishment except for the new worker who watched in amazement.The day had begun on a bright note. The sun finally peeked through the rain for the first time in a week, and the birds were singing in its warmth. There was no way to anticipate what was about to happen. It was a worst-case scenario and there was no way out of it.The desert wind blew the tumbleweed in front of the car. Alex swerved to avoid the tumbleweed, but he turned the wheel a bit too strong and the car left the road and skidded onto the dirt median. He instantly slammed on the brakes and the car stopped in a cloud of dirt. When the dust cloud had settled and he could see around him again, he realized that he'd somehow crossed over into an entirely new dimension.She was aware that things could go wrong. In fact, she had trained her entire life in anticipation that things would go wrong one day. She had quiet confidence as she started to see that this was the day that all her training would be worthwhile and useful. At this point, she had no idea just how wrong everything would go that day.Patrick didn't want to go. The fact that she was insisting they must go made him want to go even less. He had no desire to make small talk with strangers he would never again see just to be polite. But she insisted that Patrick go, and she would soon find out that this would be the biggest mistake she could make in their relationship.She needed glasses. It wasn't that she couldn't see without them, but what she could see with them. When she wore glasses, her eyes focused so deeply that she could see not only the physical but also beyond. It was like a superpower. But she needed glasses.She was infatuated with color. She didn't have a favorite color per se, but she did have a fondness for teals and sea greens. You could see it in the clothes she wore that color was an important part of her overall style. She took great pride that color flowed from her and that color was always all around her. That is why, she explained to her date sitting across the table, that she could never have a serious relationship with him due to the fact that he was colorblind.He had disappointed himself more than anyone else. That wasn't to say that he hadn't disappointed others. The fact was that he had disappointed a lot of people who were close to him. The fact that they were disappointed in him was something that made him even more disappointed in himself. Yet here he was, about to do the exact same things that had caused all the disappointment in the first place because he didn't know what else to do.Puppies are soft, cute, funny, and make a big mess. Every month or two our family fosters 6-12 week old puppies for a puppy rescue nonprofit organization. We all enjoy cuddling their furry bodies after a clean bath. Fresh puppy smell is great. The puppies play with each other and our adult dog. They look so funny when they lay on top of each other and sleep. While puppies can be great fun, they also can make big messes. 4-6 puppies can make a lot of puppy pee and poop. It's a challenge to keep the puppies and the puppy pen clean.Sarah watched the whirlpool mesmerized. She couldn't take her eyes off the water swirling around and around. She stuck in small twigs and leaves to watch the whirlpool catch them and then suck them down. It bothered her more than a little bit that this could also be used as a metaphor for her life.This is important to remember. Love isn't like pie. You don't need to divide it among all your friends and loved ones. No matter how much love you give, you can always give more. It doesn't run out, so don't try to hold back giving it as if it may one day run out. Give it freely and as much as you want.He wandered down the stairs and into the basement. The damp, musty smell of unuse hung in the air. A single, small window let in a glimmer of light, but this simply made the shadows in the basement deeper. He inhaled deeply and looked around at a mess that had been accumulating for over 25 years. He was positive that this was the place he wanted to live.Betty was a creature of habit and she thought she liked it that way. That was until Dave showed up in her life. She now had a choice to make and it would determine whether her lie remained the same or if it would change forever.The picket fence had stood for years without any issue. That's all it was. A simple, white, picket fence. Why it had all of a sudden become a lightning rod within the community was still unbelievable to most. Yet a community that had once lived in harmony was now divided in bitter hatred and it had everything to do with the white picket fence.Barbara had been waiting at the table for twenty minutes. it had been twenty long and excruciating minutes. David had promised that he would be on time today. He never was, but he had promised this one time. She had made him repeat the promise multiple times over the last week until she'd believed his promise. Now she was paying the price.It was hidden under the log beside the stream. It had been there for as long as Jerry had been alive. He wasn't sure if anyone besides him and his friends knew of its existence. He knew that anyone could potentially find it, but it was well enough hidden that it seemed unlikely to happen. The fact that it had been there for more than 30 years attested to this. So it was quite a surprise when he found the item was missing.The bridge spanning a 100-foot gully stood in front of him as the last obstacle blocking him from reaching his destination. While people may have called it a "bridge", the reality was it was nothing more than splintered wooden planks held together by rotting ropes. It was questionable whether it would hold the weight of a child, let alone the weight of a grown man. The problem was there was no other way across the gully, and this played into his calculations of whether or not it was worth the risk of trying to cross it.I'm so confused by your ridiculous meltdown that I must insist on some sort of explanation for your behavior towards me. It just doesn't make any sense. There's no way that I deserved the treatment you gave me without an explanation or an apology for how out of line you have been.My pincher collar is snapped on. Then comes the electric zapper collar. Finally, my purple at-home collar is taken off and I know I'm going for a walk to the dog park. I'm so excited to see my friends. I hope Spike or Thunder are there already. They're the most fun to chase and tumble with. My human is pretty strict with me. I'm only allowed on the grass and not on the sidewalks. I think she's afraid I'm going to jump on the other humans. I don't understand why everyone else gets to jump on the benches and run wild on the sidewalks. They don't listen to their humans. I know I could ignore mine but if I do she may zap me and it's just not worth it. She probably wouldn't let me back at the dog park if I didn't listen to her. I just love the dog park.Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. The man walking down the street in a banana suit. The llama standing in the middle of the road. The fairies dancing in front of the car window. The fact that all of this was actually happening and wasn't a dream.The time to take action was now. All three men knew in their hearts this was the case, yet none of them moved a muscle to try. They were all watching and waiting for one of the others to make the first move so they could follow a step or two behind and help. The situation demanded a leader and all three men were followers.It really doesn't matter what she thinks as it isn't her problem to solve. That's what he kept trying to convince himself. She was trying to insert her opinion where it wasn't wanted or welcome. He already had a plan and even though that plan didn't correspond with what she wanted him to do or what should be done, it wasn't her decision to make. The question now became whether he would stick to his convictions and go through with his plan knowing she wouldn't approve.The house was located at the top of the hill at the end of a winding road. It wasn't obvious that the house was there, but everyone in town knew that it existed. They were just all too afraid to ever go and see it in person.Finding the red rose in the mailbox was a pleasant surprise for Sarah. She didn't have a boyfriend or know of anyone who was interested in her as anything more than a friend. There wasn't even a note attached to it. Although it was a complete mystery, it still made her heart jump and race a little more than usual. She wished that she could simply accept the gesture and be content knowing someone had given it to her, but that wasn't the way Sarah did things. Now it was time to do a little detective work and try to figure who had actually left the red rose.They needed to find a place to eat. The kids were beginning to get grumpy in the back seat and if they didn't find them food soon, it was just a matter of time before they were faced with a complete meltdown. Even knowing this, the solution wasn't easy. Everyone in the car had a different opinion on where the best place to eat would be with nobody agreeing with the suggestions of the others. It seemed to be an impossible no-win situation where not everyone would be happy no matter where they decided to eat which in itself would lead to a meltdown. Yet a decision needed to be made and it needed to be made quickly.It was difficult to explain to them how the diagnosis of certain death had actually given him life. While everyone around him was in tears and upset, he actually felt more at ease. The doctor said it would be less than a year. That gave him a year to live, something he'd failed to do with his daily drudgery of a routine that had passed as life until then.How had she been so wrong? All her instincts and intuition completely failed her for the first time in her life. She had so heavily relied on both when making decisions up until this moment and she felt a seismic shift take place in her self-confidence. If she could be so completely wrong about something so simple as this, how could she make decisions about really important things taking place in her life? She wasn't sure what she should do next.There was a time when he would have embraced the change that was coming. In his youth, he sought adventure and the unknown, but that had been years ago. He wished he could go back and learn to find the excitement that came with change but it was useless. That curiosity had long left him to where he had come to loathe anything that put him out of his comfort zone.He swung back the fishing pole and cast the line which ell 25 feet away into the river. The lure landed in the perfect spot and he was sure he would soon get a bite. He never expected that the bite would come from behind in the form of a bear.It was supposed to be a dream vacation. They had planned it over a year in advance so that it would be perfect in every way. It had been what they had been looking forward to through all the turmoil and negativity around them. It had been the light at the end of both their tunnels. Now that the dream vacation was only a week away, the virus had stopped all air travel.There were only two ways to get out of this mess if they all worked together. The problem was that neither was all that appealing. One would likely cause everyone a huge amount of physical pain while the other would likely end up with everyone in jail. In Sam's mind, there was only one thing to do. He threw everyone else under the bus and he secretly sprinted away leaving the others to take the fall without him.Josh had spent year and year accumulating the information. He knew it inside out and if there was ever anyone looking for an expert in the field, Josh would be the one to call. The problem was that there was nobody interested in the information besides him and he knew it. Years of information painstakingly memorized and sorted with not a sole giving even an ounce of interest in the topic.He watched as the young man tried to impress everyone in the room with his intelligence. There was no doubt that he was smart. The fact that he was more intelligent than anyone else in the room could have been easily deduced, but nobody was really paying any attention due to the fact that it was also obvious that the young man only cared about his intelligence.Love isn't always a ray of sunshine. That's what the older girls kept telling her when she said she had found the perfect man. She had thought this was simply bitter talk on their part since they had been unable to find true love like hers. But now she had to face the fact that they may have been right. Love may not always be a ray of sunshine. That is unless they were referring to how the sun can burn.Mary had to make a decision and she knew that whatever decision she made, it would upset someone. It seemed like such a silly reason for people to get upset but she knew the minute that she began to consider doing it that there was no way everyone in her life would be pleased with what she ultimately decided to do. It was simply a question of who she would rather displease most. While this had always been her parents, and especially her mom, in the past that she tried to keep from upsetting, she decided that this time the person she was going to please the most with her decision was herself.Another option you have is choosing the number of syllables in the words you speak. You probably have never considered this option before, but you have it every time you open your mouth and speak. You make so many choices like this that you never even think about, but you have the choice with each one. What are you going to do with this knowledge?Dave watched as the forest burned up on the hill, only a few miles from her house. The car had been hastily packed and Marta was inside trying to round up the last of the pets. Dave went through his mental list of the most important papers and documents that they couldn't leave behind. He scolded himself for not having prepared these better in advance and hoped that he had remembered everything that was needed. He continued to wait for Marta to appear with the pets, but she still was nowhere to be seen.His parents continued to question him. He didn't know what to say to them since they refused to believe the truth. He explained again and again, and they dismissed his explanation as a figment of his imagination. There was no way that grandpa, who had been dead for five years, could have told him where the treasure had been hidden. Of course, it didn't help that grandpa was roaring with laughter in the chair next to him as he tried to explain once again how he'd found it.The water rush down the wash and into the slot canyon below. Two hikers had started the day to sunny weather without a cloud in the sky, but they hadn't thought to check the weather north of the canyon. Huge thunderstorms had brought a deluge o rain and produced flash floods heading their way. The two hikers had no idea what was coming.He scolded himself for being so tentative. He knew he shouldn't be so cautious, but there was a sixth sense telling him that things weren't exactly as they appeared. It was that weird chill that rolls up your neck and makes the hair stand on end. He knew that being so tentative could end up costing him the job, but he learned that listening to his sixth sense usually kept him from getting into a lot of trouble.He collected the plastic trash on a daily basis. It never seemed to end. Even if he cleaned the entire beach, more plastic would cover it the next day after the tide had come in. Although it was a futile effort that would never be done, he continued to pick up the trash each day.He slowly poured the drink over a large chunk of ice he has especially chiseled off a larger block. He didn't particularly like his drinks cold, but he knew that the drama of chiseling the ice and then pouring a drink over it looked far more impressive than how he actually liked it. It was all about image and he'd managed to perfect the image that he wanted to project.There was a time in his life when her rudeness would have set him over the edge. He would have raised his voice and demanded to speak to the manager. That was no longer the case. He barely reacted at all, letting the rudeness melt away without saying a word back to her. He had been around long enough to know where rudeness came from and how unhappy the person must be to act in that way. All he could do was feel pity and be happy that he didn't feel the way she did to lash out like that.I'm going to hire professional help tomorrow. I can't handle this anymore. She fell over the coffee table and now there is blood in her catheter. This is much more than I ever signed up to do.The cab arrived late. The inside was in as bad of shape as the outside which was concerning, and it didn't appear that it had been cleaned in months. The green tree air-freshener hanging from the rearview mirror was either exhausted of its scent or not strong enough to overcome the other odors emitting from the cab. The correct decision, in this case, was to get the hell out of it and to call another cab, but she was late and didn't have a choice.She patiently waited for his number to be called. She had no desire to be there, but her mom had insisted that she go. She's resisted at first, but over time she realized it was simply easier to appease her and go. Mom tended to be that way. She would keep insisting until you wore down and did what she wanted. So, here she sat, patiently waiting for her number to be called.The young man wanted a role model. He looked long and hard in his youth, but that role model never materialized. His only choice was to embrace all the people in his life he didn't want to be like.The kids were loud. They were way too loud for Jerry, especially since this was a four-hour flight. The parents didn't seem to be able, or simply didn't want, to control them. They were yelling and fighting among themselves and it was impossible for any of the passengers to concentrate or rest. He thought about politely tapping on the parents' shoulders and asking them to try and get their kids under a bit more control, but before he did he came up with a better idea. Sure, it was a bit sinister, and he'd probably end p in a lot of trouble, but he really didn't care at that point.Sometimes that's just the way it has to be. Sure, there were probably other options, but he didn't let them enter his mind. It was done and that was that. It was just the way it had to be.The lone lamp post of the one-street town flickered, not quite dead but definitely on its way out. Suitcase by her side, she paid no heed to the light, the street or the town. A car was coming down the street and with her arm outstretched and thumb in the air, she had a plan.He was an expert but not in a discipline that anyone could fully appreciate. He knew how to hold the cone just right so that the soft server ice-cream fell into it at the precise angle to form a perfect cone each and every time. It had taken years to perfect and he could now do it without even putting any thought behind it. Nobody seemed to fully understand the beauty of this accomplishment except for the new worker who watched in amazement.The day had begun on a bright note. The sun finally peeked through the rain for the first time in a week, and the birds were singing in its warmth. There was no way to anticipate what was about to happen. It was a worst-case scenario and there was no way out of it.The desert wind blew the tumbleweed in front of the car. Alex swerved to avoid the tumbleweed, but he turned the wheel a bit too strong and the car left the road and skidded onto the dirt median. He instantly slammed on the brakes and the car stopped in a cloud of dirt. When the dust cloud had settled and he could see around him again, he realized that he'd somehow crossed over into an entirely new dimension.She was aware that things could go wrong. In fact, she had trained her entire life in anticipation that things would go wrong one day. She had quiet confidence as she started to see that this was the day that all her training would be worthwhile and useful. At this point, she had no idea just how wrong everything would go that day.Patrick didn't want to go. The fact that she was insisting they must go made him want to go even less. He had no desire to make small talk with strangers he would never again see just to be polite. But she insisted that Patrick go, and she would soon find out that this would be the biggest mistake she could make in their relationship.She needed glasses. It wasn't that she couldn't see without them, but what she could see with them. When she wore glasses, her eyes focused so deeply that she could see not only the physical but also beyond. It was like a superpower. But she needed glasses.She was infatuated with color. She didn't have a favorite color per se, but she did have a fondness for teals and sea greens. You could see it in the clothes she wore that color was an important part of her overall style. She took great pride that color flowed from her and that color was always all around her. That is why, she explained to her date sitting across the table, that she could never have a serious relationship with him due to the fact that he was colorblind.He had disappointed himself more than anyone else. That wasn't to say that he hadn't disappointed others. The fact was that he had disappointed a lot of people who were close to him. The fact that they were disappointed in him was something that made him even more disappointed in himself. Yet here he was, about to do the exact same things that had caused all the disappointment in the first place because he didn't know what else to do.Puppies are soft, cute, funny, and make a big mess. Every month or two our family fosters 6-12 week old puppies for a puppy rescue nonprofit organization. We all enjoy cuddling their furry bodies after a clean bath. Fresh puppy smell is great. The puppies play with each other and our adult dog. They look so funny when they lay on top of each other and sleep. While puppies can be great fun, they also can make big messes. 4-6 puppies can make a lot of puppy pee and poop. It's a challenge to keep the puppies and the puppy pen clean.Sarah watched the whirlpool mesmerized. She couldn't take her eyes off the water swirling around and around. She stuck in small twigs and leaves to watch the whirlpool catch them and then suck them down. It bothered her more than a little bit that this could also be used as a metaphor for her life.This is important to remember. Love isn't like pie. You don't need to divide it among all your friends and loved ones. No matter how much love you give, you can always give more. It doesn't run out, so don't try to hold back giving it as if it may one day run out. Give it freely and as much as you want.He wandered down the stairs and into the basement. The damp, musty smell of unuse hung in the air. A single, small window let in a glimmer of light, but this simply made the shadows in the basement deeper. He inhaled deeply and looked around at a mess that had been accumulating for over 25 years. He was positive that this was the place he wanted to live.Betty was a creature of habit and she thought she liked it that way. That was until Dave showed up in her life. She now had a choice to make and it would determine whether her lie remained the same or if it would change forever.The picket fence had stood for years without any issue. That's all it was. A simple, white, picket fence. Why it had all of a sudden become a lightning rod within the community was still unbelievable to most. Yet a community that had once lived in harmony was now divided in bitter hatred and it had everything to do with the white picket fence.Barbara had been waiting at the table for twenty minutes. it had been twenty long and excruciating minutes. David had promised that he would be on time today. He never was, but he had promised this one time. She had made him repeat the promise multiple times over the last week until she'd believed his promise. Now she was paying the price.It was hidden under the log beside the stream. It had been there for as long as Jerry had been alive. He wasn't sure if anyone besides him and his friends knew of its existence. He knew that anyone could potentially find it, but it was well enough hidden that it seemed unlikely to happen. The fact that it had been there for more than 30 years attested to this. So it was quite a surprise when he found the item was missing.The bridge spanning a 100-foot gully stood in front of him as the last obstacle blocking him from reaching his destination. While people may have called it a "bridge", the reality was it was nothing more than splintered wooden planks held together by rotting ropes. It was questionable whether it would hold the weight of a child, let alone the weight of a grown man. The problem was there was no other way across the gully, and this played into his calculations of whether or not it was worth the risk of trying to cross it.I'm so confused by your ridiculous meltdown that I must insist on some sort of explanation for your behavior towards me. It just doesn't make any sense. There's no way that I deserved the treatment you gave me without an explanation or an apology for how out of line you have been.My pincher collar is snapped on. Then comes the electric zapper collar. Finally, my purple at-home collar is taken off and I know I'm going for a walk to the dog park. I'm so excited to see my friends. I hope Spike or Thunder are there already. They're the most fun to chase and tumble with. My human is pretty strict with me. I'm only allowed on the grass and not on the sidewalks. I think she's afraid I'm going to jump on the other humans. I don't understand why everyone else gets to jump on the benches and run wild on the sidewalks. They don't listen to their humans. I know I could ignore mine but if I do she may zap me and it's just not worth it. She probably wouldn't let me back at the dog park if I didn't listen to her. I just love the dog park.Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. The man walking down the street in a banana suit. The llama standing in the middle of the road. The fairies dancing in front of the car window. The fact that all of this was actually happening and wasn't a dream.The time to take action was now. All three men knew in their hearts this was the case, yet none of them moved a muscle to try. They were all watching and waiting for one of the others to make the first move so they could follow a step or two behind and help. The situation demanded a leader and all three men were followers.It really doesn't matter what she thinks as it isn't her problem to solve. That's what he kept trying to convince himself. She was trying to insert her opinion where it wasn't wanted or welcome. He already had a plan and even though that plan didn't correspond with what she wanted him to do or what should be done, it wasn't her decision to make. The question now became whether he would stick to his convictions and go through with his plan knowing she wouldn't approve.The house was located at the top of the hill at the end of a winding road. It wasn't obvious that the house was there, but everyone in town knew that it existed. They were just all too afraid to ever go and see it in person.Finding the red rose in the mailbox was a pleasant surprise for Sarah. She didn't have a boyfriend or know of anyone who was interested in her as anything more than a friend. There wasn't even a note attached to it. Although it was a complete mystery, it still made her heart jump and race a little more than usual. She wished that she could simply accept the gesture and be content knowing someone had given it to her, but that wasn't the way Sarah did things. Now it was time to do a little detective work and try to figure who had actually left the red rose.They needed to find a place to eat. The kids were beginning to get grumpy in the back seat and if they didn't find them food soon, it was just a matter of time before they were faced with a complete meltdown. Even knowing this, the solution wasn't easy. Everyone in the car had a different opinion on where the best place to eat would be with nobody agreeing with the suggestions of the others. It seemed to be an impossible no-win situation where not everyone would be happy no matter where they decided to eat which in itself would lead to a meltdown. Yet a decision needed to be made and it needed to be made quickly.It was difficult to explain to them how the diagnosis of certain death had actually given him life. While everyone around him was in tears and upset, he actually felt more at ease. The doctor said it would be less than a year. That gave him a year to live, something he'd failed to do with his daily drudgery of a routine that had passed as life until then.How had she been so wrong? All her instincts and intuition completely failed her for the first time in her life. She had so heavily relied on both when making decisions up until this moment and she felt a seismic shift take place in her self-confidence. If she could be so completely wrong about something so simple as this, how could she make decisions about really important things taking place in her life? She wasn't sure what she should do next.There was a time when he would have embraced the change that was coming. In his youth, he sought adventure and the unknown, but that had been years ago. He wished he could go back and learn to find the excitement that came with change but it was useless. That curiosity had long left him to where he had come to loathe anything that put him out of his comfort zone.He swung back the fishing pole and cast the line which ell 25 feet away into the river. The lure landed in the perfect spot and he was sure he would soon get a bite. He never expected that the bite would come from behind in the form of a bear.It was supposed to be a dream vacation. They had planned it over a year in advance so that it would be perfect in every way. It had been what they had been looking forward to through all the turmoil and negativity around them. It had been the light at the end of both their tunnels. Now that the dream vacation was only a week away, the virus had stopped all air travel.There were only two ways to get out of this mess if they all worked together. The problem was that neither was all that appealing. One would likely cause everyone a huge amount of physical pain while the other would likely end up with everyone in jail. In Sam's mind, there was only one thing to do. He threw everyone else under the bus and he secretly sprinted away leaving the others to take the fall without him.Josh had spent year and year accumulating the information. He knew it inside out and if there was ever anyone looking for an expert in the field, Josh would be the one to call. The problem was that there was nobody interested in the information besides him and he knew it. Years of information painstakingly memorized and sorted with not a sole giving even an ounce of interest in the topic.He watched as the young man tried to impress everyone in the room with his intelligence. There was no doubt that he was smart. The fact that he was more intelligent than anyone else in the room could have been easily deduced, but nobody was really paying any attention due to the fact that it was also obvious that the young man only cared about his intelligence.Love isn't always a ray of sunshine. That's what the older girls kept telling her when she said she had found the perfect man. She had thought this was simply bitter talk on their part since they had been unable to find true love like hers. But now she had to face the fact that they may have been right. Love may not always be a ray of sunshine. That is unless they were referring to how the sun can burn.Mary had to make a decision and she knew that whatever decision she made, it would upset someone. It seemed like such a silly reason for people to get upset but she knew the minute that she began to consider doing it that there was no way everyone in her life would be pleased with what she ultimately decided to do. It was simply a question of who she would rather displease most. While this had always been her parents, and especially her mom, in the past that she tried to keep from upsetting, she decided that this time the person she was going to please the most with her decision was herself.