1.

There was a time in his life when her rudeness would have set
him over the edge. He would have raised his voice and demanded
to speak to the manager. That was no longer the case. He barely
reacted at all, letting the rudeness melt away without saying a
word back to her. He had been around long enough to know where
rudeness came from and how unhappy the person must be to act in
that way. All he could do was feel pity and be happy that he
didn't feel the way she did to lash out like that.

2.

3.

She didn't like the food. She never did. She made the usual
complaints and started the tantrum he knew was coming. But this
time was different. Instead of trying to placate her and her
unreasonable demands, he just stared at her and watched her
meltdown without saying a word.

4.

5.

The wolves stopped in their tracks, sizing up the mother and

her cubs. It had been over a week since their last meal and
they were getting desperate. The cubs would make a good meal,
but there were high risks taking on the mother Grizzly. A
decision had to be made and the wrong choice could signal the
end of the pack.

6.

7.

Then came the night of the first falling star. It was seen
early in the morning, rushing over Winchester eastward, a line
of flame high in the atmosphere. Hundreds must have seen it and
taken it for an ordinary falling star. It seemed that it fell
to earth about one hundred miles east of him.

8.
 9.

He ordered his regular breakfast. Two eggs sunnyside up, hash

browns, and two strips of bacon. He continued to look at the
menu wondering if this would be the day he added something new.
This was also part of the routine. A few seconds of hesitation
to see if something else would be added to the order before
demuring and saying that would be all. It was the same exact
meal that he had ordered every day for the past two years.

10.

11.

Love isn't always a ray of sunshine. That's what the older

girls kept telling her when she said she had found the perfect
man. She had thought this was simply bitter talk on their part
since they had been unable to find true love like hers. But now
she had to face the fact that they may have been right. Love
may not always be a ray of sunshine. That is unless they were
referring to how the sun can burn.

12.

13.

I haven't bailed on writing. Look, I'm generating a random

paragraph at this very moment in an attempt to get my writing
back on track. I am making an effort. I will start writing
consistently again!

14.

15.

She tried to explain that love wasn't like pie. There wasn't a
set number of slices to be given out. There wasn't less to be
given to one person if you wanted to give more to another. That
after a set amount was given out it would all disappear. She
tried to explain this, but it fell on deaf ears.

16.
 17.

Green vines attached to the trunk of the tree had wound

themselves toward the top of the canopy. Ants used the vine as
their private highway, avoiding all the creases and crags of
the bark, to freely move at top speed from top to bottom or
bottom to top depending on their current chore. At least this
was the way it was supposed to be. Something had damaged the
vine overnight halfway up the tree leaving a gap in the once
pristine ant highway.

18.

19.

They told her that this was her once chance to show the world
what she was made of. She believed them at the time. It was the
big stage and she knew the world would be there to see. The
only one who had disagreed with this sentiment was her brother.
He had told her that you don't show the world what you're made
of when they are all watching, you show that in your actions
when nobody was looking. It was looking more and more like her
brother was correct.

20.