Cooperation
by jerowe

Comment:
He looked at her, and he sighed, and he wondered how he ever wanted one of these. He'd begged for a baby sister. Tommy had had one and he loved her so, and at first it had been really great.

He had held her and hugged her and kissed her and she mostly just slept and looked cute and everyone told him what a great big brother he was.

He looked at her, and he sighed. Why couldn't she just be happy? This was taking too long and he wanted to play Wii, and she just.. wouldn't.. stop.

He wondered why he ever wanted one of these.

Another Year Over
by rinac

Comment:
Some days, when the sun was finally disappearing, and the breeze blew just so, and the waves gently crashed upon the shore, some days he would appear.

Only for a moment, always silent, never seeming to understand that he was there, that he existed, or that there was anything or anyone there but himself and the sea.

He had disappeared so many years before. He had gone for a stroll, as he had every day, along his favorite stretch of beach. He had said goodbye, and put on his hat, and had never come home again.

Now, should you find yourself there, when the end of the day was just so, he would appear. He would stand there and stare out over the sea, and as the last of the golden light would turn to the deep azure of the twilight, he would fade.

If you listened very carefully, perhaps, you would hear what could be a soft and almost silent sigh go out across the water as the form disappeared, and your heart would open and your soul would weep, and you would never forget that encounter.

Shoebill
by andrewt

Comment:
He had been teased endlessly. For most of his school life, it was Big Bill Billy (and wasn't that an unfortunate name his parents had given him), and Billy the Billy Beak, among countless others. Relentless they were, the other children. Relentless and cruel. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and Billy had absorbed it all.

Had absorbed it all until today. He stood there, watching the children exit the school, and his eyes narrowed, and a grin that could wilt a rose grew on his face...

... and his revenge became infamous.

ageless
by tate

Comment:
He hadn't been feeling good. A little cough, a little listlessness, he didn't feel like nursing much. His toys didn't interest him, playing peekaboo just wasn't funny today, and he felt pretty warm.

So when he heard his mom say it was time to take his temperature, he wasn't really sure what that meant. Then, she lay him over her lap, undressed him, and...

His head snapped up and his eyes went wide as one of the more humiliating horrors of babydom was perpetrated upon him and he was suddenly initiated into what "taking a temperature" meant, and one aspect of his innocence was forever tainted.

A Moment in Time
by TCGuru

Comment:
A tilt of the head and a gaze to the sky,
a head full of wonder and a dream in her eye.
A smile on her face and one wonders why,
what goes on in the mind of a child?

A shrug very shyly, a toss of the hair,
a kiss on your cheek she will bashfully share.
A hug and a cuddle and a touch full of care,
what a lot for the heart of a child.

The loss of a pet that was her pride and her joy,
a breaking of what was her favorite toy.
Getting in trouble for kissing a boy,
what a weight in the soul of a child.

The learning and growing and laughing and play,
the changes that happen on every foray,
The happy and sad, which one for today?
this is the life of a child.

Sara's First Snow
by Ubersteiny

Comment:
She did not know what this stuff was, but oh, the fun!

She ran and jumped and rolled and dug and flung about. She nipped and barked and chased.

She did not know what this stuff was, but she was glad to have discovered it, and hoped that it would never go away, and even has it clung to her and got in her eyes and started to soak her to the skin, she wouldn't have it any other way.

Global Trees
by JeffryZ

Comment:
It descended from the heavens, to settle between the trees. There it sat, and slowly spun, the message upon it terrestrial, but this was no terrestrial object.

From whence did it come? Why was it here? What purpose could it possibly have to visit this planet yet tell us of things we already knew? The human DNA helix, the continents, earthly language.

What did it all mean? So they gathered, the people of earth. They gathered and tried to figure it out. They gathered in awe and confusion and curiosity.

They gathered, and then, they died.

When it was all over, it began to spin once more, and lifted above the trees and vanished into the heavens.

Three Graces
by Alicia

Comment:
Their presence was barely felt as they strolled down that stretch of sodden sand. For most, it would have been like a brush of wind, or a sudden chill, or perhaps even like a breath of warm air on the back of the neck. Not enough to alarm anyone, but certainly enough that the subconscious stopped briefly to wonder just what it was.

So they passed, these three, on their timeless journey that occupied not only that space, but every space in the universe, simultaneously, such was their power. In front of them, an endless nothing. Around them coursed all life and time and happening. Behind them, a decaying of time. Erased as they passed as if it had not happened at all.

They were the fates, the three. The beginning, the now, and the end. All of existence was owed to them, and all of existence was theirs, not to command or control, but to watch over and keep.

Their presence was barely felt as they passed, but their impact was undeniable.

A New Dawn
by GregoryB

Comment:
He woke from the sleep of all his kind, and crawled out onto the nearest platform. The sun shone, and the dew had already fled, so it was a good beginning for him. The right beginning. He spread his sodden wings and let the shine of the sun do its work, a small near unnoticeable mist of steam rose from them as they dried. He raised his head and closed his eyes and let the warmth beat upon him, basking in the new that was his transformation. Reveling in the wonder that was this day.

Then, moments later, a twitch of the wings to test their readiness, and with a slight jump of the blade of grass he was away. Brushing the air with wings that shouldn't be able to move it, the tiniest of breezes pushed off with those wonderous things. The slightest of shock waves felt by nothing but the dust in the air around him.

Days later, in the aftermath of the Tsunami, he settled on a lone flower among the debris, his life nearing the end of its time, never knowing the destruction his birth and life had wrought, in the ever continuing cycle of all things.

Superciliary
by Jutilda

Comment:
He peeked over the edge, and a slight grin emerged in his eyes. A clever grin, a hungry grin, an evil grin. There, across the room, was his prey, and it hadn't noticed him. Not yet.

Slowly, muscles tensing, he began to creep over the edge, paw over paw, inch by inch, tail twitching for balance. His prey remained, still unaware, and his grin expanded.

Like a shadow in the darkness, he advanced. Ever so slowly, as if he wasn't moving at all. Patience in the hunt, creeping silently, onward towards the unsuspecting.

Then, without warning, he pounced, screeching and hissing in the air in a vain attempt to give his victim a fighting chance. It was futile, of course. His was a mastery. He was an instrument of death and destruction. He was like lightning and quicksilver, and the Yarn Ball's existence was ended in tragedy and horror.