“Ingredients for life,” said the backside of the truck.

They mean food, but really food is only 1 ingredient

of life. Life has so many more ingredients such as pain, happiness, laughter, joy, tears, and smiles. Life
also has hard work, easy play, sleepless nights, and sunbathing by the ocean. Love, hatred, envy, self-
assurance, and fear could be just down aisle 3 ready to be bought when needed. How I wish I could pull
ingredients like these off shelves in a store.

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.

Was it a whisper or was it the wind? He wasn't quite sure. He thought he heard a voice but at this
moment all he could hear was the wind rustling the leaves of the trees all around him. He stopped and
listened more intently to see if he could hear the voice again. Nothing but the wind rustling the leaves
could be heard. He was about to continue his walk when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he quickly
turned to see who it was. There was nobody there, but he heard the voice again.

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.

The leather jacked showed the scars of being his favorite for years. It wore those scars with pride, feeling
that they enhanced his presence rather than diminishing it. The scars gave it character and had not
overwhelmed to the point that it had become ratty. The jacket was in its prime and it knew it.

What have you noticed today? I noticed that if you outline the eyes, nose, and mouth on your face with
your finger, you make an "I" which makes perfect sense, but is something I never noticed before. What
have you noticed today?

The red line moved across the page. With each millimeter it advanced forward, something changed in
the room. The actual change taking place was difficult to perceive, but the change was real. The red line
continued relentlessly across the page and the room would never be the same.

"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.

The drug seekers would come into the emergency room and scream about how much pain they were in.
When you told them that you would start elevating their pain with Tylenol or Advil instead of a narcotic
they became nasty and combative. They would start telling you what drug and dose they had to have to
make their pain tolerable. After dealing with the same drug seekers several times a month it gets old.
Some of the doctors would give in and give them a dose of morphine and send them away. Sure that was
faster, but ethically she still couldn’t do it. Perhaps that’s why she had longer care times than the other
doctors.
Twenty-five hours had passed since the incident. It seemed to be a lot longer than that. That twenty-five
hours seemed more like a week in her mind. The fact that she still was having trouble comprehending
exactly what took place wasn't helping the matter. She thought if she could just get a little rest the entire
incident might make a little more sense.

She closed her eyes and then opened them again. What she was seeing just didn't make sense. She
shook her head seeing if that would help. It didn't. Although it seemed beyond reality, there was no
denying she was witnessing a large formation of alien spaceships filling the sky.

The shades were closed keeping the room dark. Peter knew that he should open them and let in the
sunlight so he could begin the day, but he didn't have the energy or willpower. Nothing had gone as
expected the day before and he no longer wanted to spend the energy to begin a new day. He stared at
the shades wondering if there was a way to disappear from the reality of the world for the rest of the
day.

His parents continued to question him. He didn't know what to say to them since they refused to believe
the truth. He explained again and again, and they dismissed his explanation as a figment of his
imagination. There was no way that grandpa, who had been dead for five years, could have told him
where the treasure had been hidden. Of course, it didn't help that grandpa was roaring with laughter in
the chair next to him as he tried to explain once again how he'd found it.

Pink ponies and purple giraffes roamed the field. Cotton candy grew from the ground as a chocolate river
meandered off to the side. What looked like stones in the pasture were actually rock candy. Everything in
her dream seemed to be perfect except for the fact that she had no mouth.

Do you think you're living an ordinary life? You are so mistaken it's difficult to even explain. The mere
fact that you exist makes you extraordinary. The odds of you existing are less than winning the lottery,
but here you are. Are you going to let this extraordinary opportunity pass?

Time is all relative based on age and experience. When you are a child an hour is a long time to wait but
a very short time when that’s all the time you are allowed on your iPad. As a teenager time goes faster
the more deadlines you have and the more you procrastinate. As a young adult, you think you have
forever to live and don’t appreciate the time you spend with others. As a middle-aged adult, time flies by
as you watch your children grow up. And finally, as you get old and you have fewer responsibilities and
fewer demands on you, time slows. You appreciate each day and are thankful you are alive. An hour is
the same amount of time for everyone yet it can feel so different in how it goes by.

Many people say that life isn't like a bed of roses. I beg to differ. I think that life is quite like a bed of
roses. Just like life, a bed of roses looks pretty on the outside, but when you're in it, you find that it is
nothing but thorns and pain. I myself have been pricked quite badly.

There was no ring on his finger. That was a good sign although far from proof that he was available. Still,
it was much better than if he had been wearing a wedding ring on his hand. She glanced at his hand a bit
more intently to see if there were any tan lines where a ring may have been, and he's simply taken it off.
She couldn't detect any which was also a good sign and a relief. The next step would be to get access to
his wallet to see if there were any family photos in it.
Debbie had taken George for granted for more than fifteen years now. He wasn't sure what exactly had
made him choose this time and place to address the issue, but he decided that now was the time. He
looked straight into her eyes and just as she was about to speak, turned away and walked out the door.

Brock would have never dared to do it on his own he thought to himself. That is why Kenneth and he had
become such good friends. Kenneth forced Brock out of his comfort zone and made him try new things
he'd never imagine doing otherwise. Up to this point, this had been a good thing. It had expanded
Brock's experiences and given him a new appreciation for life. Now that both of them were in the back
of a police car, all Brock could think was that he would have never dared do it except for the influence of
Kenneth.