Dave wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up in this predicament.

He ran through
all the events that had lead to this current situation and it still didn't make
sense. He wanted to spend some time to try and make sense of it all, but he had
higher priorities at the moment. The first was how to get out of his current
situation of being naked in a tree with snow falling all around and no way for him
to get down.
The picket fence had stood for years without any issue. That's all it was. A
simple, white, picket fence. Why it had all of a sudden become a lightning rod
within the community was still unbelievable to most. Yet a community that had once
lived in harmony was now divided in bitter hatred and it had everything to do with
the white picket fence.
I checked in for the night at Out O The Way motel. What a bad choice that was.
First I took a shower and a spider crawled out of the drain. Next, the towel rack
fell down when I reached for the one small bath towel. This allowed the towel to
fall halfway into the toilet. I tried to watch a movie, but the remote control was
sticky and wouldn�t stop scrolling through the channels. I gave up for the night
and crawled into bed. I stretched out my leg and felt something furry by my foot.
Filled with fear, I reached down and to my surprise, I pulled out a raccoon skin
pair of underwear. After my initial relief that it wasn�t alive, the image of a
fat, ugly businessman wearing raccoon skin briefs filled my brain. I jumped out of
the bed, threw my toothbrush into my bag, and sprinted towards my car.
Sometimes that's just the way it has to be. Sure, there were probably other
options, but he didn't let them enter his mind. It was done and that was that. It
was just the way it had to be.
The alarm went off at exactly 6:00 AM as it had every morning for the past five
years. Barbara began her morning and was ready to eat breakfast by 7:00 AM. The day
appeared to be as normal as any other, but that was about to change. In fact, it
was going to change at exactly 7:23 AM.
I love the feel of wood curls flying off the lathe as I begin to shape the log in
front of me. The sound of scraping changes based on the wetness of the wood, the
speed at which the lathe is turning, and the type of cut I am making. The smell and
feel of wet wood being turned are unique. The water is sprayed out as I cut through
the different layers of wood. A log can turn into anything one's imagination can
think of with the right set of hands-on tools. I have those hands and imagination.
I use all of my senses and intuition to create a beautiful object. That is why I
enjoy turning wood.
Terrance knew that sometimes it was simply best to stay out of it. He kept
repeating this to himself as he watched the scene unfold. He knew that nothing good
would come of him getting involved. It was far better for him to stay on the
sidelines and observe. He kept yelling this to himself inside his head as he walked
over to the couple and punched the man in the face.
The blinking light caught her attention. She thought about it a bit and couldn't
remember ever noticing it before. That was strange since it was obvious the
flashing light had been there for years. Now she wondered how she missed it for
that amount of time and what other things in her small town she had failed to
notice.
The light was out on the front porch of the house. This was strange. Judy couldn't
remember a time when she had ever seen it out. She hopped out of her car and walked
to the door. It was slightly ajar and she knew this meant something terrible. She
gently pushed the door open and hall her fears were realized. "Surprise! Happy
Birthday!" everyone shouted.
There wasn't a bird in the sky, but that was not what caught her attention. It was
the clouds. The deep green that isn't the color of clouds, but came with these. She
knew what was coming and she hoped she was prepared.