The rain and wind abruptly stopped, but the sky still had the gray swirls of storms

in the
distance. Dave knew this feeling all too well. The calm before the storm. He only had a limited
amount of time before all Hell broke loose, but he stopped to admire the calmness. Maybe it
would be different this time, he thought, with the knowledge deep within that it wouldn't.
Green vines attached to the trunk of the tree had wound themselves toward the top of the
canopy. Ants used the vine as their private highway, avoiding all the creases and crags of the
bark, to freely move at top speed from top to bottom or bottom to top depending on their current
chore. At least this was the way it was supposed to be. Something had damaged the vine
overnight halfway up the tree leaving a gap in the once pristine ant highway.
There was something special about this little creature. Donna couldn't quite pinpoint what it was,
but she knew with all her heart that it was true. It wasn't a matter of if she was going to try and
save it, but a matter of how she was going to save it. She went back to the car to get a blanket
and when she returned the creature was gone.
Out of another, I get a lovely view of the bay and a little private wharf belonging to the estate.
There is a beautiful shaded lane that runs down there from the house. I always fancy I see
people walking in these numerous paths and arbors, but John has cautioned me not to give way
to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making a
nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies and that I ought to
use my will and good sense to check the tendency. So I try.
She had been told time and time again that the most important steps were the first and the last.
It was something that she carried within her in everything she did, but then he showed up and
disrupted everything. He told her that she had it wrong. The first step wasn't the most important.
The last step wasn't the most important. It was the next step that was the most important.