Baby steps
by surfdabbler

Comment:
Gary was pissed.

Oh, sure, he probably shouldn't have drank as much as he did that night, and he probably shouldn't have drank what he did so FAST, and he most definitely shouldn't have passed out on the couch in the living room.

But what right did that give them!?

So now, covered in non-water soluble paint, he showed up for work amidst the laughter of his colleagues.

He would get the back, one day.

LeFT 4 FaSHION
by hanneke

Comment:
They stood and stared. Never had they seen such a thing.

From out of nowhere he came, as if from the sea, or from the air itself, but there he was. And as the waves crashed on the shore, and the wind whispered the sand, he moved. In a crouching sort of hop-step, he flicked across the sand as if weightless, holding that umbrella like some sort of holy symbol, and as he went he shot rays of sunlight from his fingers, and everywhere those rays shone, there grew the strangest sort of plant, right there in the sand.

Then, without a sound, he was gone again, and they stared at the emptiness that filled in where he had been, and their mouths hung agape, and their brains fought valiantly to understand what had just happened in front of them, but they were never able to explain it.

In the years to come, those plants grew into trees, of a species never before seen on earth, and the trees bore endless fruit, and the fruit became the cures for all of Human-Kind's diseases, and sickness was ended, and suffering was lessened, and a new age of peace and good reigned free.

Composed
by sir_bazz

Comment:
It had gone so well up to that point. She'd smiled, she'd posed, she'd followed just about every instruction above and beyond what had been expected of her. She had been such a good girl.

So her mind was elsewhere. Focused on getting pictures done. Focused on being such a good girl, that she just simply forgot. She was only small after all, and this whole "big girl underwear" concept was fairly new. She just forgot, that's all. She wanted to be such a good girl.

And that is how the final shot of the day showed the slightly guilty, half-surprised, knowing look of a young lady that had...

Just forgot.

But her daddy just laughed and gave her a hug and told her it was all right, and that she was a very good girl.

Owl with Attitude
by bassbone

Comment:
It was a day for the books, that day that Carl finally said "O RLY?" To Albert one last time.

Just try it, Albert had warned, I dare you. Just say it ONE MORE TIME.

O RLY?

Feathers flew, blood was spilled, and in the end they carted Albert off in a straight jacket. YES RLY! YES RLY, YOU BET YOUR OWLY ASS RLY! he screamed repeatedly as they dragged him off.

It's never pretty when someone finally snaps.

Warm Beauty
by RiderGal

Comment:
They had paused for a rest, and she glanced up while sitting there, flashing a small grin, content with the day.

In a few hours, perhaps, she would not have much opportunity for a smile. Life could find a way to take those moments away from you if you gave it a chance. Dinner to be cooked, the kids at your legs, screaming about one thing or another. Hubby on the couch, scratching the unnameables and absorbed in a game on TV while you yell at him to at least TRY for a change, and get these kids away from you for just a minute while you get the goddamn dinner ready, and his grumble in reply, yet he doesn't move.

Then the dinner burns and the smoke detector goes off and the dog starts barking and the baby smacks her head on the corner of the coffee table and you hear the toilet flush and the laughter of the two older boys and a sense of dread hits you like a tonne of bricks because, where are your car keys? Weren't they just playing with them?

Yes, in a couple of hours, perhaps the day wouldn't be the calm and serene day that it is now, with a crisp breeze blowing and only the sounds of the birds to break the silence and this man looking down at you and smiling back with love in his eyes, and a couple of hours away seems like a lifetime.

Lost
by elsapo

Comment:
The frantic cries of a mother suffering a pain that should never have to be felt. The calls of the countless volunteers that comb the woods. The outpouring of grief and condolence, hope and faith and support. The desperate pleas on the 11 o'clock news. We just want our daughter back.

These are the things of nightmare. These are the forbidden and hushed thoughts of our deepest fears. These are the things that we hope so desperately will only ever be someone else's pain.

We do not try and think about the moments when that innocence and carefree childhood comes crashing to a sudden and often disastrous halt. We do not try and think what it must be like for the child that is taken, or stumbles off alone, to whatever horrors for them await. We only wish for their return and safety. We only wish for that happy ending, and we do our best to close our minds to the pain and suffering and the unknown.

Yet there sits that bicycle, or perhaps a shoe, or a dropped doll. There sits that last reminder of the child that we may, god forbid, never see again.

And it knows.

Icy Gaze
by LalliSig

Comment:
He stood frozen to the spot, quite literally, as the gaze of the Ice Queen penetrated his core. He'd heard the legends, listened to the warnings, but had been caught quite unprepared in the end. What he hadn't counted on was her sheer beauty and charm. It was so cliche, the sturdy warrior, enraptured by the beautiful but evil sorceress, that it was simply embarrassing. He knew better, he didn't consider himself the stereotypical mindless male, but here he was, ice forming and creeping up his legs, threatening to wrap him entire.

With frost already forming on his lips, he managed a weak smile. So this is how it ends then, trapped by femininity because of an instinct undenied. His mind screamed at him to fight, but his body simply wouldn't resist. So the ice continued to form, and soon she would have a new decoration in her crystal chamber.

Here's to... Good food. Good friends. Good fun.
by Lydia

Comment:
Hey wait, this doesn't look like The Kegâ„¢!

Autumn Arrival
by ShaneBlake

Comment:
He lay there, and scratched his ear, and pondered for awhile. He did not really know, yet, that life could be cruel and unfair. He did not know yet, that his remarkable birth among the forest peoples would be talked about for generations to come. He did not know yet that for all the love and attention that was given to him as he grew, that he would one day discover a most unfortunate reality.

He did not know yet, that most human males would be very much different from him, that a curse of being forest born would haunt him for all his adult days.

He did not know.

Yet.

Grazers in the Mist
by zifengw

Comment:
It should have been a day like any other day. It had dawned clear and bright. A gentle breeze blew, the sun shone, all was well.

Yet before the sun was barely over the trees, the day began to change. The breeze grew thick and heavy. It changed direction suddenly, no warning, and with it came the mist. Deep, and thick. Over the next hour, it began to blanket everything, moving in slowly but without pause. If you were caught in it, you would not have been able to see your hand in front of your face, but that would also have been the least of your worries.

Eventually, it blanketed everything, that mist. The wind dropped, sounds died. A sea of white and grey.

It lasted an hour, and then as if it a switch had been hit, the wind began again, and the mist drifted off once more, dissipating into the atmosphere. Left behind, where before had been the lowing of cattle, were nothing but piles of bleached bones.