He had three simple rules by which he lived. The first was to never eat blue food.

There was nothing in

nature that was edible that was blue. People often asked about blueberries, but everyone knows those
are actually purple. He understood it was one of the stranger rules to live by, but it had served him well
thus far in the 50+ years of his life.

Life isn't always beautiful. That was a lesson that Dan was learning. He also realized that life wasn't easy.
This had come as a shock since he had lived a charmed life. He hated that this was the truth and he
struggled to be happy knowing that his assumptions weren't correct. He wouldn't realize until much
later in life that the difficult obstacles he was facing that were taking away the beauty in his life at this
moment would ultimately make his life much more beautiful. All he knew was that at this moment was
that life isn't always beautiful.

The spot was perfect for camouflage. At least that's what she thought when she picked the spot. She
couldn't imagine that anyone would ever be able to see her in these surroundings. So there she sat,
confident that she was hidden from the world and safe from danger. Unfortunately, she had not
anticipated that others may be looking upon her from other angles, and now they were stealthily
descending toward her hiding spot.

There weren't supposed to be dragons flying in the sky. First and foremost, dragons didn't exist. They
were mythical creatures from fantasy books like unicorns. This was something that Pete knew in his
heart to be true so he was having a difficult time acknowledging that there were actually fire-breathing
dragons flying in the sky above him.

She wondered if the note had reached him. She scolded herself for not handing it to him in person. She
trusted her friend, but so much could happen. She waited impatiently for word.

Twenty-five years Dana had been waiting. She tried to be patient during that time but she hadn't always
managed to be as patient as she'd like. But today the opportunity had finally come. The thing she always
imagined would make her the happiest person in the world was about to happen. She didn't know why
at this specific time she all of a sudden felt sick inside.

He had disappointed himself more than anyone else. That wasn't to say that he hadn't disappointed
others. The fact was that he had disappointed a lot of people who were close to him. The fact that they
were disappointed in him was something that made him even more disappointed in himself. Yet here he
was, about to do the exact same things that had caused all the disappointment in the first place because
he didn't know what else to do.

Sometimes it just doesn't make sense. The man walking down the street in a banana suit. The llama
standing in the middle of the road. The fairies dancing in front of the car window. The fact that all of this
was actually happening and wasn't a dream.

She never liked cleaning the sink. It was beyond her comprehension how it got so dirty so quickly. It
seemed that she was forced to clean it every other day. Even when she was extra careful to keep things
clean and orderly, it still ended up looking like a mess in a couple of days. What she didn't know was
there was a tiny creature living in it that didn't like things neat.
They say you only come to peace with yourself when you know yourself better than those around you.
Derick knew nothing about this. He thought he had found peace but this was an illusion as he was about
to find out with an unexpected occurrence that he actually knew nothing about himself.

Patrick didn't want to go. The fact that she was insisting they must go made him want to go even less.
He had no desire to make small talk with strangers he would never again see just to be polite. But she
insisted that Patrick go, and she would soon find out that this would be the biggest mistake she could
make in their relationship.

There had to be a better way. That's all Nancy could think as she sat at her desk staring at her computer
screen. She'd already spent five years of her life in this little cubicle staring at her computer doing
"work" that didn't seem to matter to anyone including her own boss. There had to be more to her life
than this and there had to be a better way to make a living. That's what she was thinking when the
earthquake struck.

Stormi is a dog. She is dark grey and has long legs. Her eyes are expressive and are able to let her
humans know what she is thinking. Her tongue is long, pink, and wet. Her long legs allow her to sprint
after other dogs, people or bunnies. She can be a good dog, but also very bad. Her tail wags when happy
or excited and hides between her back legs when she is bad. Stormi is a dog I love.

He walked down the steps from the train station in a bit of a hurry knowing the secrets in the briefcase
must be secured as quickly as possible. Bounding down the steps, he heard something behind him and
quickly turned in a panic. There was nobody there but a pair of old worn-out shoes were placed neatly
on the steps he had just come down. Had he past them without seeing them? It didn't seem possible. He
was about to turn and be on his way when a deep chill filled his body.

It was hidden under the log beside the stream. It had been there for as long as Jerry had been alive. He
wasn't sure if anyone besides him and his friends knew of its existence. He knew that anyone could
potentially find it, but it was well enough hidden that it seemed unlikely to happen. The fact that it had
been there for more than 30 years attested to this. So it was quite a surprise when he found the item
was missing.

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.

Betty was a creature of habit and she thought she liked it that way. That was until Dave showed up in
her life. She now had a choice to make and it would determine whether her lie remained the same or if
it would change forever.

Sometimes it's the first moment of the day that catches you off guard. That's what Wendy was thinking.
She opened her window to see fire engines screeching down the street. While this wasn't something
completely unheard of, it also wasn't normal. It was a sure sign of what was going to happen that day.
She could feel it in her bones and it wasn't the way she wanted the day to begin.

She was aware that things could go wrong. In fact, she had trained her entire life in anticipation that
things would go wrong one day. She had quiet confidence as she started to see that this was the day
that all her training would be worthwhile and useful. At this point, she had no idea just how wrong
everything would go that day.
It went through such rapid contortions that the little bear was forced to change his hold on it so many
times he became confused in the darkness, and could not, for the life of him, tell whether he held the
sheep right side up, or upside down. But that point was decided for him a moment later by the animal
itself, who, with a sudden twist, jabbed its horns so hard into his lowest ribs that he gave a grunt of
anger and disgust.

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one
and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks
burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. One dollar and eighty-
seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas...

Brock would have never dared to do it on his own he thought to himself. That is why Kenneth and he
had become such good friends. Kenneth forced Brock out of his comfort zone and made him try new
things he'd never imagine doing otherwise. Up to this point, this had been a good thing. It had expanded
Brock's experiences and given him a new appreciation for life. Now that both of them were in the back
of a police car, all Brock could think was that he would have never dared do it except for the influence of
Kenneth.

Josh had spent year and year accumulating the information. He knew it inside out and if there was ever
anyone looking for an expert in the field, Josh would be the one to call. The problem was that there was
nobody interested in the information besides him and he knew it. Years of information painstakingly
memorized and sorted with not a sole giving even an ounce of interest in the topic.

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?

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.