He wandered down the stairs and into the basement.

The damp, musty smell of unuse

hung in the air. A single, small window let in a glimmer of light, but this simply
made the shadows in the basement deeper. He inhaled deeply and looked around at a
mess that had been accumulating for over 25 years. He was positive that this was
the place he wanted to live.
He collected the plastic trash on a daily basis. It never seemed to end. Even if he
cleaned the entire beach, more plastic would cover it the next day after the tide
had come in. Although it was a futile effort that would never be done, he continued
to pick up the trash each day.
You're going to make a choice today that will have a direct impact on where you are
five years from now. The truth is, you'll make choice like that every day of your
life. The problem is that on most days, you won't know the choice you make will
have such a huge impact on your life in the future. So if you want to end up in a
certain place in the future, you need to be careful of the choices you make today.
It was a rat's nest. Not a literal one, but that is what her hair seemed to
resemble every morning when she got up. It was going to take at least an hour to
get it under control and she was sick and tired of it. She peered into the mirror
and wondered if it was worth it. It wasn't. She opened the drawer and picked up the
hair clippers.
This is important to remember. Love isn't like pie. You don't need to divide it
among all your friends and loved ones. No matter how much love you give, you can
always give more. It doesn't run out, so don't try to hold back giving it as if it
may one day run out. Give it freely and as much as you want.
The shoes had been there for as long as anyone could remember. In fact, it was
difficult for anyone to come up with a date they had first appeared. It had seemed
they'd always been there and yet they seemed so out of place. Why nobody had
removed them was a question that had been asked time and again, but while they all
thought it, nobody had ever found the energy to actually do it. So, the shoes
remained on the steps, out of place in one sense, but perfectly normal in another.
It all started with a random letter. Several of those were joined forces to create
a random word. The words decided to get together and form a random sentence. They
decided not to stop there and it wasn't long before a random paragraph had been
cobbled together. The question was whether or not they could continue the momentum
long enough to create a random short story.
I've rented a car in Las Vegas and have reserved a hotel in Twentynine Palms which
is just north of Joshua Tree. We'll drive from Las Vegas through Mojave National
Preserve and possibly do a short hike on our way down. Then spend all day on Monday
at Joshua Tree. We can decide the next morning if we want to do more in Joshua Tree
or Mojave before we head back.