It was a scrape that he hardly noticed.

Sure, there was a bit of blood but it was minor compared to most
of the other cuts and bruises he acquired on his adventures. There was no way he could know that the
rock that produced the cut had alien genetic material on it that was now racing through his
bloodstream. He felt perfectly normal and continued his adventure with no knowledge of what was
about to happen to him.

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.

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.

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?

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.

There was something special about this little creature. Donna couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but
she knew with all her heart that it was true. It wasn't a matter of if she was going to try and save it, but a
matter of how she was going to save it. She went back to the car to get a blanket and when she returned
the creature was gone.

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.

What was beyond the bend in the stream was unknown. Both were curious, but only one was brave
enough to want to explore. That was the problem. There was always one that let fear rule her life.

It's always good to bring a slower friend with you on a hike. If you happen to come across bears, the
whole group doesn't have to worry. Only the slowest in the group do. That was the lesson they were
about to learn that day.

Where do they get a random paragraph?" he wondered as he clicked the generate button. Do they just
write a random paragraph or do they get it somewhere? At that moment he read the random paragraph
and realized it was about random paragraphs and his world would never be the same.

She had been told time and time again that the most important steps were the first and the last. It was
something that she carried within her in everything she did, but then he showed up and disrupted
everything. He told her that she had it wrong. The first step wasn't the most important. The last step
wasn't the most important. It was the next step that was the most important.

He was aware there were numerous wonders of this world including the unexplained creations of
humankind that showed the wonder of our ingenuity. There are huge heads on Easter Island. There are
the Egyptian pyramids. There’s Stonehenge. But he now stood in front of a newly discovered monument
that simply didn't make any sense and he wondered how he was ever going to be able to explain it.

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.

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one
and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks
burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. One dollar and eighty-
seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas...

Colors bounced around in her head. They mixed and threaded themselves together. Even colors that
had no business being together. They were all one, yet distinctly separate at the same time. How was
she going to explain this to the others?

He couldn't move. His head throbbed and spun. He couldn't decide if it was the flu or the drinking last
night. It was probably a combination of both.

The chair sat in the corner where it had been for over 25 years. The only difference was there was
someone actually sitting in it. How long had it been since someone had done that? Ten years or more he
imagined. Yet there was no denying the presence in the chair now.

Greg understood that this situation would make Michael terribly uncomfortable. Michael simply had no
idea what was about to come and even though Greg could prevent it from happening, he opted to let it
happen. It was quite ironic, really. It was something Greg had said he would never wish upon anyone a
million times, yet here he was knowingly letting it happen to one of his best friends. He rationalized that
it would ultimately make Michael a better person and that no matter how uncomfortable, everyone
should experience racism at least once in their lifetime.

It was just a burger. Why couldn't she understand that? She knew he'd completely changed his life
around her eating habits, so why couldn't she give him a break this one time? She wasn't even supposed
to have found out. Yes, he had promised her and yes, he had broken that promise, but still in his mind,
all it had been was just a burger.

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.