He heard the loud impact before he ever saw the result.

It had been so loud that it had actually

made him jump back in his seat. As soon as he recovered from the surprise, he saw the crack in
the windshield. It seemed to be an analogy of the current condition of his life.
It wasn't quite yet time to panic. There was still time to salvage the situation. At least that is what
she was telling himself. The reality was that it was time to panic and there wasn't time to
salvage the situation, but he continued to delude himself into believing there was.
He looked at the sand. Picking up a handful, he wondered how many grains were in his hand.
Hundreds of thousands? "Not enough," the said under his breath. I need more.
A long black shadow slid across the pavement near their feet and the five Venusians, very much
startled, looked overhead. They were barely in time to see the huge gray form of the carnivore
before it vanished behind a sign atop a nearby building which bore the mystifying information
"Pepsi-Cola."
She considered the birds to be her friends. She'd put out food for them each morning and then
she'd watch as they came to the feeders to gorge themselves for the day. She wondered what
they would do if something ever happened to her. Would they miss the meals she provided if
she failed to put out the food one morning?