The results were in: I won. I won first place in the contest. What contest? The contest to setermine who would recieve the grand prize of 1 milllion dollars. Shocked, flaberghasted! Amazed! crying! I couldn't belive it! I said to to Milred, the clerk at the counter, "Wait. Are you serious? I won? Are you sure? Could you check my ticket again, just to make sure?" Milred, a 65 year old grandmother who could barely see over the counter, said, "Mister. I've looked at it three times already. You must belive it. You have won. You are a wealthy man...
"I'm sorry", the two words that shattered her world. She let the dial tone ring out, as a hot tear ran down her cheek. A tingling sensation ran down her spine. Thoughts raced through her mind, while time passed so slowly. Everything was going so well, what could she have done wrong?
Her natural instinct was to run, but she couldn't move as the cool air threatened to choke her. Clambering over her bedframe and wrapping herself in her warm bedcovers, the ones where she'd spent hours talking to him on the phone. The moon shone through her window, reminding...
Fitzwilliam scowled as he surveyed the meager farms that bordered his own. One in particular, owned by one Aiden O'Dell, grew nothing but the wretched root. Apparently the folk here were simple enough to enjoy living on it.
And foolish enough to depend on a single crop for sustenance, he mused inwardly, pleased at himself for being so much better than the mere peasants.
He whistled as his convoy of carriages continued on the road to the port, its armed escort trudging along in silence, but ever watchful, in case of attack by the occasional band of ungrateful Irishmen. He...
Once, in Beijing, a young girl in a red gown huddled in a doorway. She had just wrapped up a long evening answering the phone in her family's restaurant. She took the orders, and her brother and father cooked the food, while her mother ran the counter in the front of the neon food stall.
She was waiting for her best friend, but it looked like it was going to be a longer wait than usual. As she looked down at her red gown, she ran her hands over the cotton fabric and smoothed out some wrinkles, then created some...
It was an odd feeling. Looking at a family. He'd been away from his own family for so long that he felt like he'd never had one. Now look at him, alone, dirty, addicted, wandering the streets without a cent to his name. How could he even try? It was so close. He looked at his wallet. No money. No credit cards. No business cards. Just photo, wrinkly and turned over, of the family, the life he once had. As he looked at the family in central park, it almost made his heart yearn. He wanted to turn over the...
The view was stunning. Marie drew deep, ragged breaths and looked out over the valley below. The climb had been ardous but definitely worth it. The music was coming to a cressiendo and she instincively lifted the headphones a little as the sound got too loud for her. She sighed and smiled. Life was ok. The adrenalin from the climb upp the hill had settled her mind and she was ok. Even though there was only an empty apartment waiting for her back in town she was going to be ok. Life went on, the world still held beauty even...
She stood on the crest of the largest sand dune, her hair streaming in the fierce breeze that had sprung up overnight. The view was stunning, overlooking dunes, common, sea, beach and surrounding cliffs, with the odd lighthouse visible on the distant coastline.
"I have had enough !" she screamed into the wind. "All the constant miserable bickering, the backbiting, the barbed comments, the selfishness, the grumbling under the breath and slamming of doors. I am not going to put up with it any more!" Having vented her anger and frustration, she walked slowly back home, wondering what she was...
The realization crept over me. My drugs are gone and my friends are few. How very insignificant we all are. Myself especially, I suppose.
He said I didn't deserve pleasure, in so many words. I refuse to agree with that. Everyone deserves pleasure, most especially those who are in such pain.
So now I am left to wonder where I will find relief. The day draws ever closer to my imminent withdrawal, and this one will be severe, of this much I am sure. This little stint has been, by far, the most consistent usage coupled with the most pure...
"You'll never say it, will you?"
"Say..what?"
"What do you think?" She is exasperated, hands on her hips, eyes looking...sore, maybe.
I can never tell.
I should be able to, by now.
"That? Those words?"
She makes a face, and it's like a bridge collapsing. "Those words. You make it sound like they're...they're... like they're something bad."
I can't even think them, let alone say them. I mean, I do, of course I do, but... No.
"They aren't." I attempt. "And...you already know..."
"Do I?" She's staring now. "I did. I did know, but now...I'm not so certain. I...I just...
I know that I didn't choose the smartest person in the world to be friends with but she is pretty, tall, and good at sports. Kaila was excellent at being stupid, but she could be smart when she needed to be.
We were in the middle of a math test when she said, "SEVEN MINUS TWO EQUALS EIGHT RIGHT?''
Everybody laughed and made fun of her but I wasnt going to have that because she is like my best friend.
"Hey everybody stop laughing at her that is really mean and you dont understand her mind like I do!''
"Haha...