The time had come for Nancy to say goodbye.

She had been dreading this

moment for a good six months, and it had finally arrived despite her best efforts
to forestall it. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep the inevitable
from happening. So the time had come for a normal person to say goodbye and
move on. It was at this moment that Nancy decided not to be a normal person.
After all the time and effort she had expended, she couldn't bring herself to do
it.

1.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.

2.There were a variety of ways to win the game. James had played it long
enough to know most of them and he could see what his opponent was trying to
do. There was a simple counterattack that James could use and the game should
be his. He began deploying it with the confidence of a veteran player who had
been in this situation a thousand times in the past. So, it was with great
surprise when his opponent used a move he had never before seen or
anticipated to easily defeat him in the game.

3.She patiently waited for his number to be called. She had no desire to be
there, but her mom had insisted that she go. She's resisted at first, but over
time she realized it was simply easier to appease her and go. Mom tended to be
that way. She would keep insisting until you wore down and did what she
wanted. So, here she sat, patiently waiting for her number to be called.

4.The robot clicked disapprovingly, gurgled briefly inside its cubical interior and
extruded a pony glass of brownish liquid. "Sir, you will undoubtedly end up in a
drunkard's grave, dead of hepatic cirrhosis," it informed me virtuously as it
returned my ID card. I glared as I pushed the glass across the table.

5.Dave found joy in the daily routine of life. He awoke at the same time, ate the
same breakfast and drove the same commute. He worked at a job that never
seemed to change and he got home at 6 pm sharp every night. It was who he
had been for the last ten years and he had no idea that was all about to change.

6.It was the best compliment that he'd ever received although the person who
gave it likely never knew. It had been an off-hand observation on his ability to
hold a conversation and actually add pertinent information to it on practically
any topic. Although he hadn't consciously strived to be able to do so, he'd
started to voraciously read the news when he couldn't keep up on topics his
friends discussed because their conversations went above his head. The fact
that someone had noticed enough to compliment him that he could talk
intelligently about many topics meant that he had succeeded in his quest to be
better informed.
7.The chair sat in the corner where it had been for over 25 years. The only
difference was there was someone actually sitting in it. How long had it been
since someone had done that? Ten years or more he imagined. Yet there was no
denying the presence in the chair now.

8.He was aware there were numerous wonders of this world including the
unexplained creations of humankind that showed the wonder of our ingenuity.
There are huge heads on Easter Island. There are the Egyptian pyramids.
There’s Stonehenge. But he now stood in front of a newly discovered monument
that simply didn't make any sense and he wondered how he was ever going to
be able to explain it.

9.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.

10.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.

11.The bowl was filled with fruit. It seemed to be an overabundance of

strawberries, but it also included blueberries, raspberries, grapes, and banana
slices. This was the meal Sarah had every morning to start her day since she
could remember. Why she decided to add chocolate as an option today was still
a bit of a surprise, but she had been in the process of deciding she wanted to
change her routine. This was a baby step to begin that start.

12.It was supposed to be a dream vacation. They had planned it over a year in
advance so that it would be perfect in every way. It had been what they had
been looking forward to through all the turmoil and negativity around them. It
had been the light at the end of both their tunnels. Now that the dream vacation
was only a week away, the virus had stopped all air travel.

13.Puppies are soft, cute, funny, and make a big mess. Every month or two our
family fosters 6-12 week old puppies for a puppy rescue nonprofit organization.
We all enjoy cuddling their furry bodies after a clean bath. Fresh puppy smell is
great. The puppies play with each other and our adult dog. They look so funny
when they lay on top of each other and sleep. While puppies can be great fun,
they also can make big messes. 4-6 puppies can make a lot of puppy pee and
poop. It's a challenge to keep the puppies and the puppy pen clean.

14.There was a time when he would have embraced the change that was
coming. In his youth, he sought adventure and the unknown, but that had been
years ago. He wished he could go back and learn to find the excitement that
came with change but it was useless. That curiosity had long left him to where
he had come to loathe anything that put him out of his comfort zone.

15.All he wanted was a candy bar. It didn't seem like a difficult request to
comprehend, but the clerk remained frozen and didn't seem to want to honor
the request. It might have had something to do with the gun pointed at his face.

16.He heard the crack echo in the late afternoon about a mile away. His heart
started racing and he bolted into a full sprint. "It wasn't a gunshot, it wasn't a
gunshot," he repeated under his breathlessness as he continued to sprint.

17.There was a leak in the boat. Nobody had yet noticed it, and nobody would
for the next couple of hours. This was a problem since the boat was heading out
to sea and while the leak was quite small at the moment, it would be much
larger when it was ultimately discovered. John had planned it exactly this way.

18."So, what do you think?" he asked nervously. He wanted to know the answer,
but at the same time, he didn't. He'd put his heart and soul into the project and
he wasn't sure he'd be able to recover if they didn't like what he produced. The
silence from the others in the room seemed to last a lifetime even though it had
only been a moment since he asked the question. "So, what do you think?" he
asked again.

19.The rain was coming. Everyone thought this would be a good thing. It hadn't
rained in months and the earth was dry as a bone. It wasn't a surprise that
everyone thought a good rain was what was needed, but they never expected
how much rain would actually arrive.

20.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.

21.Balloons are pretty and come in different colors, different shapes, different
sizes, and they can even adjust sizes as needed. But don't make them too big or
they might just pop, and then bye-bye balloon. It'll be gone and lost for the rest
of mankind. They can serve a variety of purposes, from decorating to water
balloon wars. You just have to use your head to think a little bit about what to
do with them.

22.There once lived an old man and an old woman who were peasants and had
to work hard to earn their daily bread. The old man used to go to fix fences and
do other odd jobs for the farmers around, and while he was gone the old
woman, his wife, did the work of the house and worked in their own little plot of
land.

23.What if dogs were racist? Would they care about fur color….. “son, only play
with other tan dogs”? Or maybe it would depend on breed, “honey, only play
with other German Shepards, never poodles”. Better yet it could depend on
occupation. “I’m a sled dog while you’re only a running companion, leave me
alone”. Maybe the neighborhood they live in could be the way they choose
which dogs to associate with and which to shun? Size could be the determining
factor, “see how tall that dog is, they are probably dumb”. Luckily dogs don’t
discriminate. Just watch at a dog park. Big black and white dogs wag their tails
and play with tiny tan dogs. A service dog chases after the same ball as the off-
duty police dog. So if dogs don’t discriminate then why do we?

24.Betty decided to write a short story and she was sure it was going to be
amazing. She had already written it in her head and each time she thought
about it she grinned from ear to ear knowing how wonderful it would be. She
could imagine the accolades coming in and the praise she would receive for
creating such a wonderful piece. She was therefore extremely frustrated when
she actually sat down to write the short story and the story that was so
beautiful inside her head refused to come out that way on paper.

25.The cab arrived late. The inside was in as bad of shape as the outside which
was concerning, and it didn't appear that it had been cleaned in months. The
green tree air-freshener hanging from the rearview mirror was either exhausted
of its scent or not strong enough to overcome the other odors emitting from the
cab. The correct decision, in this case, was to get the hell out of it and to call
another cab, but she was late and didn't have a choice.

26.There are different types of secrets. She had held onto plenty of them during
her life, but this one was different. She found herself holding onto the worst
type. It was the type of secret that could gnaw away at your insides if you didn't
tell someone about it, but it could end up getting you killed if you did.

27.I'm meant to be writing at this moment. What I mean is, I'm meant to be
writing something else at this moment. The document I'm meant to be writing
is, of course, open in another program on my computer and is patiently awaiting
my attention. Yet here I am plonking down senseless sentiments in this
paragraph because it's easier to do than to work on anything particularly
meaningful. I am grateful for the distraction.

28.Twenty seconds were all that was left and Richard could hear each one tick
by. Fifteen seconds now remained and the panic began to fully set in. Ten
seconds and he wasn't sure he had enough time. Five seconds, four, three, two,
one...

29.She looked at her little girl who was about to become a teen. She tried to
think back to when the girl had been younger but failed to pinpoint the exact
moment when she had become a little too big to pick up and carry. It hit her all
at once. She was no longer a little girl and she stood there speechless with fear,
sadness, and pride all running through her at the same time.

30.He sat staring at the person in the train stopped at the station going in the
opposite direction. She sat staring ahead, never noticing that she was being
watched. Both trains began to move and he knew that in another timeline or in
another universe, they had been happy together.

31.He hid under the covers hoping that nobody would notice him there. It really
didn't make much sense since it would be obvious to anyone who walked into
the room there was someone hiding there, but he still held out hope. He heard
footsteps coming down the hall and stop in front in front of the bedroom door.
He heard the squeak of the door hinges and someone opened the bedroom door.
He held his breath waiting for whoever was about to discover him, but they
never did.

32.The opened package of potato chips held the answer to the mystery. Both
detectives looked at it but failed to realize it was the key to solve the crime.
They passed by it assuming it was random trash ensuring that the case would
never be solved.

33.He swung back the fishing pole and cast the line which ell 25 feet away into
the river. The lure landed in the perfect spot and he was sure he would soon get
a bite. He never expected that the bite would come from behind in the form of a
bear.

34.One foot in front of the other, One more step, and then one more. Jack's only
thoughts were to keep moving no matter how much his body screamed to stop
and rest. He's lost almost all his energy and his entire body ached beyond
belief, but he forced himself to take another step. Then another. And then one
more.

35.Her breath exited her mouth in big puffs as if she were smoking a cigarette.
The morning dew had made her clothes damp and she shivered from the chill in
the air. There was only one thing that could get her up and out this early in the
morning.

36.They argue. While the argument seems to be different the truth is it's always
the same. Yes, the topic may be different or the circumstances, but when all
said and done, it all came back to the same thing. They both knew it, but neither
has the courage or strength to address the underlying issue. So they continue to
argue.

37.There were two things that were important to Tracey. The first was her dog.
Anyone that had ever met Tracey knew how much she loved her dog. Most
would say that she treated it as her child. The dog went everywhere with her
and it had been her best friend for the past five years. The second thing that
was important to Tracey, however, would be a lot more surprising to most
people.

38.Mary had to make a decision and she knew that whatever decision she made,
it would upset someone. It seemed like such a silly reason for people to get
upset but she knew the minute that she began to consider doing it that there
was no way everyone in her life would be pleased with what she ultimately
decided to do. It was simply a question of who she would rather displease most.
While this had always been her parents, and especially her mom, in the past
that she tried to keep from upsetting, she decided that this time the person she
was going to please the most with her decision was herself.

39.She didn't understand how changed worked. When she looked at today
compared to yesterday, there was nothing that she could see that was different.
Yet, when she looked at today compared to last year, she couldn't see how
anything was ever the same.

40.Finding the truth wouldn't be easy, that's for sure. Then there was the
question of whether or not Jane really wanted to know the truth. That's the
thing that bothered her most. It wasn't the difficulty of actually finding out what
happened that was the obstacle, but having to live with that information once it
was found.

41.It was easy to spot her. All you needed to do was look at her socks. They
were never a matching pair. One would be green while the other would be blue.
One would reach her knee while the other barely touched her ankle. Every other
part of her was perfect, but never the socks. They were her micro act of
rebellion.

42.There were little things that she simply could not stand. The sound of
someone tapping their nails on the table. A person chewing with their mouth
open. Another human imposing themselves into her space. She couldn't stand
any of these things, but none of them compared to the number one thing she
couldn't stand which topped all of them combined.

43."It was so great to hear from you today and it was such weird timing," he
said. "This is going to sound funny and a little strange, but you were in a dream
I had just a couple of days ago. I'd love to get together and tell you about it if
you're up for a cup of coffee," he continued, laying the trap he'd been planning
for years.

44.Housework could be everyone’s work, not just “women’s work”. Why do

women enable men to act oblivious to cleaning, grocery shopping, pet feeding,
etc? Somehow when men live alone they figure out how to do all of those things
all on their own. My friend’s husband claimed he didn’t know that sheets should
be washed more than once a season. He said he didn’t know one had to clean
toilets. He assumed that since you flush toilets they clean themselves. She tried
to get him to help but he did an awful job so she let him off the hook. Wouldn’t
it be better if she spent the time and energy to get him to do it right instead of
letting him claim he is “just bad at it”. My sons were raised to clean toilets and
change their own sheets. Hopefully, in their future homes, the housework will
be equally divided.

45.He read about a hike called the incline in the guidebook. It said it was a
strenuous hike and to bring plenty of water. “A beautiful hike to the clouds”
described one review. “Not for the faint-hearted,” said another. “Not too bad of
a workout”, bragged a third review. I thought I’d hike it when I fly in from
Maryland on my day off from the senior citizen's wellness conference. I hiked 2
miles a day around the neighborhood so I could handle a 1.1-mile hike. What a
foolish mistake that was for a 70-year-old low-lander.

46.With six children in tow, Catherine raced to the airport departing gate. This
wasn't an easy task as the children had other priorities than to get to the gate.
She knew that she was tight on time and the frustration came out as she yelled
at the kids to keep up. They continued to test her, pretending not to listen and
to move in directions that only slowed them down. They had no idea the wrath
they were about to receive when Catherine made it to the gate only to be
informed that they had all missed the plane.

47.Since they are still preserved in the rocks for us to see, they must have been
formed quite recently, that is, geologically speaking. What can explain these
striations and their common orientation? Did you ever hear about the Great Ice
Age or the Pleistocene Epoch? Less than one million years ago, in fact, some
12,000 years ago, an ice sheet many thousands of feet thick rode over Burke
Mountain in a southeastward direction. The many boulders frozen to the
underside of the ice sheet tended to scratch the rocks over which they rode. The
scratches or striations seen in the park rocks were caused by these attached
boulders. The ice sheet also plucked and rounded Burke Mountain into the
shape it possesses today.

48.She sat down with her notebook in her hand, her mind wandering to faraway
places. She paused and considered all that had happened. It hadn't gone as
expected. When the day began she thought it was going to be a bad one, but as
she sat recalling the day's events to write them down, she had to admit, it had
been a rather marvelous day.

49.It had been her dream for years but Dana had failed to take any action
toward making it come true. There had always been a good excuse to delay or
prioritize another project. As she woke, she realized she was once again at a
crossroads. Would it be another excuse or would she finally find the courage to
pursue her dream? Dana rose and took her first step.