1.

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."

2.The river slowly meandered through the open space. It had

hidden secrets that it didn't want to reveal. It had a well-planned
strategy to appear calm, inviting, and appealing. That's how the
river lured her unknowing victims to her water's edge.

3. It was difficult to explain to them how the diagnosis of certain

death had actually given him life. While everyone around him
was in tears and upset, he actually felt more at ease. The
doctor said it would be less than a year. That gave him a year
to live, something he'd failed to do with his daily drudgery of a
routine that had passed as life until then.

4. Spending time at national parks can be an exciting adventure,

but this wasn't the type of excitement she was hoping to
experience. As she contemplated the situation she found
herself in, she knew she'd gotten herself in a little more than
she bargained for. It wasn't often that she found herself in a
tree staring down at a pack of wolves that were looking to make
her their next meal.

5. He stepped away from the mic. This was the best take he had
done so far, but something seemed missing. Then it struck him
all at once. Visuals ran in front of his eyes and music rang in his
ears. His eager fingers went to work in an attempt to capture
his thoughts hoping the results would produce something that
was at least half their glory.
 6.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...

7. It was that terrifying feeling you have as you tightly hold the
covers over you with the knowledge that there is something
hiding under your bed. You want to look, but you don't at the
same time. You're frozen with fear and unable to act. That's
where she found herself and she didn't know what to do next

8. The red glint of paint sparkled under the sun. He had dreamed
of owning this car since he was ten, and that dream had
become a reality less than a year ago. It was his baby and he
spent hours caring for it, pampering it, and fondling over it. She
knew this all too well, and that's exactly why she had taken a
sludge hammer to it.

9. 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.

10.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.