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.
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.
Do you really listen when you are talking with someone? I have a friend who listens
in an unforgiving way. She actually takes every word you say as being something
important and when you have a friend that listens like that, words take on a whole
new meaning.
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.
He hid under the covers hoping that nobody would notice him there. It really didn't
make much sense since it would be obvious to anyone who walked into the room there
was someone hiding there, but he still held out hope. He heard footsteps coming
down the hall and stop in front in front of the bedroom door. He heard the squeak
of the door hinges and someone opened the bedroom door. He held his breath waiting
for whoever was about to discover him, but they never did.