1. 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.
3. All he could think about was how it would all end. There was still a bit of uncertainty in the
equation, but the basics were there for anyone to see. No matter how much he tried to see
the positive, it wasn't anywhere to be seen. The end was coming and it wasn't going to be
pretty.
5. 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.
7. Trees. It was something about the trees. The way they swayed with the wind in unison. The
way they shaded the area around them. The sounds of their leaves in the wind and the creaks
from the branches as they sway, The trees were making a statement that I just couldn't
understand.
9. The towels had been hanging from the rod for years. They were stained and worn, and quite
frankly, just plain ugly. Debra didn't want to touch them but she really didn't have a choice. It
was important for her to see what was living within them.
11. Benny was tired. Not the normal every day tired from a hard day o work. The exhausted type
of tired where you're surprised your body can even move. All he wanted to do was sit in front
of the TV, put his feet up on the coffee table, and drink a beer. The only issue was that he had
forgotten where he lived.
13. 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.
15. 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.
17. She looked at her student wondering if she could ever get through. "You need to learn to think
for yourself," she wanted to tell him. "Your friends are holding you back and bringing you
down." But she didn't because she knew his friends were all that he had and even if that
meant a life of misery, he would never give them up.
19. 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.
21. It had been a late night. To be more correct, it had been an early morning. It was now 3:00 AM
and George was just getting home. He wasn't sure if it had been worth it. He was supposed
to have been finished by 10:00 PM, but his boss had implored him to stay and help when it
was clear they weren't going to meet the 10:00 PM target time. So, he had stayed an extra 5
hours and lost a good night's sleep for something he didn't really believe in, but he did anyway
because he was afraid if he refused he might lose his job.
23. Her hand was balled into a fist with her keys protruding out from between her fingers. This
was the weapon her father had shown her how to make when she walked alone to her car
after work. She wished that she had something a little more potent than keys between her
fingers. It would have been nice to have some mace or pepper spray. He had been meaning
to buy some but had never gotten around to it. As the mother bear took another step forward
with her cubs in tow, she knew her fist with keys wasn't going to be an adequate defense for
this situation.
25. She counted. One. She could hear the steps coming closer. Two. Puffs of breath could be
seen coming from his mouth. Three. He stopped beside her. Four. She pulled the trigger of
the gun.
27. "Can I get you anything else?" David asked. It was a question he asked a hundred times a day
and he always received the same answer. It had become such an ingrained part of his daily
routine that he had to step back and actively think when he heard the little girl's reply. Nobody
had before answered the question the way that she did, and David didn't know how he should
respond.
29. It was a concerning development that he couldn't get out of his mind. He'd had many friends
throughout his early years and had fond memories of playing with them, but he couldn't
understand how it had all stopped. There was some point as he grew up that he played with
each of his friends for the very last time, and he had no idea that it would be the last.
31. 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. Sleeping in his car was never the plan but sometimes things don't work out as planned. This
had been his life for the last three months and he was just beginning to get used to it. He
didn't actually enjoy it, but he had accepted it and come to terms with it. Or at least he
thought he had. All that changed when he put the key into the ignition, turned it and the
engine didn't make a sound.
35. It had been a simple realization that had changed Debra's life perspective. It was really so
simple that she was embarrassed that she had lived the previous five years with the way she
measured her worth. Now that she saw what she had been doing, she could see how sad it
was. That made her all the more relieved she had made the change. The number of hearts
her Instagram posts received wasn't any longer the indication of her own self-worth.
37. 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.
39. There was no time. He ran out of the door without half the stuff he needed for work, but it
didn't matter. He was late and if he didn't make this meeting on time, someone's life may be
in danger.
41. 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.
43. 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.
45. There was something special about this little creature. Donna couldn't quite pinpoint what it
was, but she knew with all her heart that it was true. It wasn't a matter of if she was going to
try and save it, but a matter of how she was going to save it. She went back to the car to get a
blanket and when she returned the creature was gone.
47. The wave crashed and hit the sandcastle head-on. The sandcastle began to melt under the
waves force and as the wave receded, half the sandcastle was gone. The next wave hit, not
quite as strong, but still managed to cover the remains of the sandcastle and take more of it
away. The third wave, a big one, crashed over the sandcastle completely covering and
engulfing it. When it receded, there was no trace the sandcastle ever existed and hours of
hard work disappeared forever.
49. Samantha wanted to be famous. The problem was that she had never considered all the
downsides to actually being famous. Had she taken the time to objectively consider these
downsides, she would have never agreed to publically sing that first song.
51. Sometimes it's the first moment of the day that catches you off guard. That's what Wendy
was thinking. She opened her window to see fire engines screeching down the street. While
this wasn't something completely unheard of, it also wasn't normal. It was a sure sign of what
was going to happen that day. She could feel it in her bones and it wasn't the way she wanted
the day to begin.
53. Terrance knew that sometimes it was simply best to stay out of it. He kept repeating this to
himself as he watched the scene unfold. He knew that nothing good would come of him
getting involved. It was far better for him to stay on the sidelines and observe. He kept yelling
this to himself inside his head as he walked over to the couple and punched the man in the
face.
55. 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.
57. A two-inch layer of freshly fallen snow covered the yard. Stacey peeked outside. To most, it
would have been a beautiful sight worthy of taking a photo to put on Instagram. For Stacey, it
meant something different. The first snow of the year brought back the witches as the fairies
in the yard had to seek shelter to avoid the cold.
59. She had been told time and time again that the most important steps were the first and the
last. It was something that she carried within her in everything she did, but then he showed
up and disrupted everything. He told her that she had it wrong. The first step wasn't the most
important. The last step wasn't the most important. It was the next step that was the most
important.
61. "It's never good to give them details," Janice told her sister. "Always be a little vague and keep
them guessing." Her sister listened intently and nodded in agreement. She didn't fully
understand what her sister was saying but that didn't matter. She loved her so much that she
would have agreed to whatever came out of her mouth.
63. 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.
65. "Do Not Enter." The sign made it clear that they didn't want anyone around. That wasn't going
to stop Jack. Jack always lived with the notion that signs were mere suggestions, not
actually absolute rules. That's why the moment Jack looked at the "Do Not Enter" sign, he
walked past it and onto their property.
67. The alarm went off and Jake rose awake. Rising early had become a daily ritual, one that he
could not fully explain. From the outside, it was a wonder that he was able to get up so early
each morning for someone who had absolutely no plans to be productive during the entire
day.
69. Her mom had warned her. She had been warned time and again, but she had refused to
believe her. She had done everything right and she knew she would be rewarded for doing so
with the promotion. So when the promotion was given to her main rival, it not only stung, it
threw her belief system into disarray. It was her first big lesson in life, but not the last.
71. There were about twenty people on the dam. Most of them were simply walking and getting
exercise. There were a few who were fishing. There was a family who had laid down a blanket
and they were having a picnic. It was like this most days and nothing seemed out of the
ordinary. The problem was that nobody noticed the water leaking through the dam wall.
73. 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.
75. What were they eating? It didn't taste like anything she had ever eaten before and although
she was famished, she didn't dare ask. She knew the answer would be one she didn't want to
hear.
77. Debbie knew she was being selfish and unreasonable. She understood why the others in the
room were angry and frustrated with her and the way she was acting. In her eyes, it didn't
really matter how they felt because she simply didn't care.
79. 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.
81. 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.
83. They say you only come to peace with yourself when you know yourself better than those
around you. Derick knew nothing about this. He thought he had found peace but this was an
illusion as he was about to find out with an unexpected occurrence that he actually knew
nothing about himself.
85. The water rush down the wash and into the slot canyon below. Two hikers had started the
day to sunny weather without a cloud in the sky, but they hadn't thought to check the weather
north of the canyon. Huge thunderstorms had brought a deluge o rain and produced flash
floods heading their way. The two hikers had no idea what was coming.
87. 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.
89. There wasn't a whole lot more that could be done. It had become a wait-and-see situation
with the final results no longer in her control. That didn't stop her from trying to control the
situation. She demanded that things be done as she desperately tried to control what couldn't
be.
91. "Explain to me again why I shouldn't cheat?" he asked. "All the others do and nobody ever
gets punished for doing so. I should go about being happy losing to cheaters because I know
that I don't? That's what you're telling me?"
93. Here's the thing. She doesn't have anything to prove, but she is going to anyway. That's just
her character. She knows she doesn't have to, but she still will just to show you that she can.
Doubt her more and she'll prove she can again. We all already know this and you will too.
95. 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.
97. It went through such rapid contortions that the little bear was forced to change his hold on it
so many times he became confused in the darkness, and could not, for the life of him, tell
whether he held the sheep right side up, or upside down. But that point was decided for him a
moment later by the animal itself, who, with a sudden twist, jabbed its horns so hard into his
lowest ribs that he gave a grunt of anger and disgust.
99. 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.