Soaring
by Lonz

Comment:
The day had started innocently enough. Tom had risen from bed, ate breakfast, puttered around the house for a bit. Nothing out of the ordinary. A day like any other. He had then decided to head down to the beach with his daughter for a little stroll. Fresh air was always good, and keeping the toddler occupied was a challenge on some days.

For some time, they had a wonderful afternoon. He walked along as the little girl toddled around looking at rocks and shells and sand. They stopped for a bite to eat at a little vendor near the pier. The wind was fresh and cool and invigorating.

It was when he walked out to the point, carrying his sleepy but contented child, that suddenly he sensed a change. The air grew thick and musty. The waves began to pound on the rocks a little harder, and the birds. The birds became strange. At first he grinned a little, thinking it just a weird air-pressure anomaly, but the birds began to thicken, and circle. Closer and closer they came, thicker and thicker they grew.

Tom's amusement quickly turned to fear, and then outright panic. As he started to run, they rained down on him, pecking. Clawing. He shielded the child as best he could, and madly ran towards the restaurant at the edge of the beach, screaming as he went. Somehow, beyond all expectation, he reached the door of the building and tore it open, and looked inside.


It was full of birds.

Business as Usual
by ryand

Comment:
Karl smiled to himself as he made his way to work. Throughout society, there was a fascination and obsession with superheroes like never before. Movies, comics, games. They seemed to be saturated with these super beings with powers untold. Everywhere you looked, people wanted to be superheroes. They played with superhero toys, they drank from superhero themed cups. They ate at superhero themed restaurants.

Yet for all of their love for these beings, these symbols of humanity's desire to strive for more, better, stronger, easier, for all of that people still knew that super-beings were a fiction.

Karl smiled again, and passed among the buildings unnoticed, speeding along so quickly that none could even tell he'd been there. Yes, let them think it was all a fiction. He didn't mind. Sometimes a super power didn't mean you had to be super at all.

La Jolla Break
by Pelle

Comment:
Roger sat sunning himself on the rocks. It had been an enjoyable vacation. Relaxation, tennis, drinks on the beach, good times. Now, with only a day left to go, he tried to make the best of it by getting away from the noise and crowds. He found a nice secluded spot, and turned to inner reflection and peace.

Then, without warning, the gods of the sea came and took him away in a giant rage of foam and spray.

Roger found peace, and the searches found the pieces.

Steady As She Goes
by Five_Seat

Comment:
Mark made a name for himself as a rower. Not because he was the best, or the fastest, or the most competitive. Not because he won medals, or set records, or place high in competitions.

No, Mark had made a name for himself, because he was the first rower ever to successfully row through a sea of Black Jello.

Sunlight
by wei1108

Comment:
It was at the very end of the sea of despair, when all hope had been lost, and he had given himself up to a fate of dreariness and darkness in those last days, after the war. The ash and smoke and fallout had been thick for months, with no sign of ever letting up. It had been a brutal and deadly war, and as far as he knew, he was one of the last of his kind left living. Huddled up along a fence-line, trying desperately to stay warm from the chilling wind, he had almost decided to lay there until he died. He could take the darkness and destruction no longer.

Then, when his mind seemed it could take no more, the skies opened up, and the light shone down.

Balloon Fettish
by bjuicephoto

Comment:
Jake floated there, as he had for the last hour, and sighed inwardly. Realizing what a cruel twist of fate it was didn't help in the least. He burned with the desire. He wanted to move over to her, smile at her, talk to her, whisper sweet nothings in her ear. He wanted her, and he could do nothing about it.

He drifted in the breeze, and she smiled at him. Instead of warming his heart, it was like a knife piercing his very soul. If he could cry, his lamenting wail would strike despair in the hearts of all those around him. Then, in a final blow to his very being, another came over and took her by the hand. She smiled at him, and let herself be led away.

Jake floated there, now alone and heart-broken, until night fell and the cool air deflated his flesh as she had deflated his soul.

A Hearty Breakfast
by Cuttooth

Comment:
I want to laugh, but I also want to cringe.

Too funny.

Looking into the Future
by ozerad

Comment:
Brittany sighed. The day had started out so well. She'd woken up and learned how to get her diaper off by herself. Painting was fun! Mom hadn't been very happy, but had laughed anyway. Then she had a yummy breakfast and found out how great Skippy had looked with oatmeal in his fur. What a blast that was! Then Tyler came over for a play-date and they discovered the joys of toilet paper being flushed down the toilet. Round and round! She almost smiled again just thinking about it. Then they'd gone to the store and when her mom turned her back, she discovered this wonderful thing called "glue".

Now though, as she sat on a seat in the corner, she sighed and wondered what had gone wrong. She wondered how SHE was supposed to know that crayons and the furnace vents didn't mix. She watched as the strange men in blue outfits handed Daddy a yellow piece of paper and sighed again. Some days it just didn't pay to be a kid.

I know I can.
by optix

Comment:
Gerald sat on the rooftop and danced a happy dance. He called out in glee. He yelled to the world his happiness.

She had accepted! She was to be his bride!

Another dance, another call of pure joy, and then off he flew. It was the best day of his life.

Alter Ego
by andrewt

Comment:
He chatted with her for what seemed like an hour. She said all the right things. She moved like him. She smiled when he did. She flapped her wings daintily at him when he flapped at her. He was in love, and when he bent down shyly for a kiss, she bent towards him too.

When it was over, and he was flying home, one thought was on his mind. He hadn't expected it to be so...

Wet.