He couldn't remember exactly where he had read it, but he was sure that he had.

The
fact that she didn't believe him was quite frustrating as he began to search the
Internet to find the article. It wasn't as if it was something that seemed
impossible. Yet she insisted on always seeing the source whenever he stated a fact.
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.
She tried not to judge him. His ratty clothes and unkempt hair made him look
homeless. Was he really the next Einstein as she had been told? On the off chance
it was true, she continued to try not to judge him.
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.
She wondered if the note had reached him. She scolded herself for not handing it to
him in person. She trusted her friend, but so much could happen. She waited
impatiently for word.
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.
She considered the birds to be her friends. She'd put out food for them each
morning and then she'd watch as they came to the feeders to gorge themselves for
the day. She wondered what they would do if something ever happened to her. Would
they miss the meals she provided if she failed to put out the food one morning?
The coin hovered in the air, spinning over and over again. It reached its peak and
began to descend. Both boys were pleading with it to land a certain way but the
coin had already made up its mind on what it was going to do.
The young man wanted a role model. He looked long and hard in his youth, but that
role model never materialized. His only choice was to embrace all the people in his
life he didn't want to be like.
There wasn't a bird in the sky, but that was not what caught her attention. It was
the clouds. The deep green that isn't the color of clouds, but came with these. She
knew what was coming and she hoped she was prepared.
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.
He wondered if he should disclose the truth to his friends. It would be a risky
move. Yes, the truth would make things a lot easier if they all stayed on the same
page, but the truth might fracture the group leaving everything in even more of a
mess than it was not telling the truth. It was time to decide which way to go.
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.
It was just a burger. Why couldn't she understand that? She knew he'd completely
changed his life around her eating habits, so why couldn't she give him a break
this one time? She wasn't even supposed to have found out. Yes, he had promised her
and yes, he had broken that promise, but still in his mind, all it had been was
just a burger.
She put the pen to paper but she couldn't bring herself to actually write anything.
She just stared at the blank card and wondered what words she could write that
would help in even a small way. She thought of a dozen ways to begin but none
seemed to do justice to the situation. There were no words that could help and she
knew it.
They had made it to Las Vegas, wide-eyed and with so much hope and energy. They had
planned the trip for more than a year and both were so excited they could barely
control themselves. They still hadn't realized that Las Vegas promised a place
where dreams come true, it was actually the place where dreams came to die.
Greg understood that this situation would make Michael terribly uncomfortable.
Michael simply had no idea what was about to come and even though Greg could
prevent it from happening, he opted to let it happen. It was quite ironic, really.
It was something Greg had said he would never wish upon anyone a million times, yet
here he was knowingly letting it happen to one of his best friends. He rationalized
that it would ultimately make Michael a better person and that no matter how
uncomfortable, everyone should experience racism at least once in their lifetime.
The kids were loud. They were way too loud for Jerry, especially since this was a
four-hour flight. The parents didn't seem to be able, or simply didn't want, to
control them. They were yelling and fighting among themselves and it was impossible
for any of the passengers to concentrate or rest. He thought about politely tapping
on the parents' shoulders and asking them to try and get their kids under a bit
more control, but before he did he came up with a better idea. Sure, it was a bit
sinister, and he'd probably end p in a lot of trouble, but he really didn't care at
that point.
Patricia's friend who was here hardly had any issues at all, but she wasn't telling
the truth. Yesterday, before she left to go home, she heard that her husband is in
the hospital and pretended to be surprised. It later came out that she was the
person who had put him there.
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.
It's not his fault. I know you're going to want to, but you can't blame him. He
really has no idea how it happened. I kept trying to come up with excuses I could
say to mom that would keep her calm when she found out what happened, but the more
I tried, the more I could see none of them would work. He was going to get her
wrath and there was nothing I could say to prevent it.
The thing that's great about this job is the time sourcing the items involves no
traveling. I just look online to buy it. It's really as simple as that. While
everyone else is searching for what they can sell, I sit in front of my computer
and buy better stuff for less money and spend a fraction of the time doing it.
There were only two ways to get out of this mess if they all worked together. The
problem was that neither was all that appealing. One would likely cause everyone a
huge amount of physical pain while the other would likely end up with everyone in
jail. In Sam's mind, there was only one thing to do. He threw everyone else under
the bus and he secretly sprinted away leaving the others to take the fall without
him.
Patrick didn't want to go. The fact that she was insisting they must go made him
want to go even less. He had no desire to make small talk with strangers he would
never again see just to be polite. But she insisted that Patrick go, and she would
soon find out that this would be the biggest mistake she could make in their
relationship.
Twenty-five stars were neatly placed on the piece of paper. There was room for five
more stars but they would be difficult ones to earn. It had taken years to earn the
first twenty-five, and they were considered the "easy" ones.
The red glow of tail lights indicating another long drive home from work after an
even longer 24-hour shift at the hospital. The shift hadn’t been horrible but the
constant stream of patients entering the ER meant there was no downtime. She had
some of the “regulars” in tonight with new ailments they were sure were going to
kill them. It’s amazing what a couple of Tylenol and a physical exam from the
doctor did to eliminate their pain, nausea, headache, or whatever other mild
symptoms they had. Sometimes she wondered if all they really needed was some
interaction with others and a bit of the individual attention they received from
the nurses.
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.
The trees, therefore, must be such old and primitive techniques that they thought
nothing of them, deeming them so inconsequential that even savages like us would
know of them and not be suspicious. At that, they probably didn't have too much
time after they detected us orbiting and intending to land. And if that were true,
there could be only one place where their civilization was hidden.
"Begin today!" That's all the note said. There was no indication from where it came
or who may have written it. Had it been meant for someone else? Meghan looked
around the room, but nobody made eye contact back. For a brief moment, she thought
it might be a message for her to follow her dreams, but ultimately decided it was
easier to ignore it as she crumpled it up and threw it away.
She has seen this scene before. It had come to her in dreams many times before. She
had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't a dream again. As her fingers squeezed
against her arm, she felt the pain. It was this pain that immediately woke her up.
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.
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.
The trail to the left had a "Danger! Do Not Pass" sign telling people to take the
trail to the right. This wasn't the way Zeke approached his hiking. Rather than a
warning, Zeke read the sign as an invitation to explore an area that would be
adventurous and exciting. As the others in the group all shited to the right, Zeke
slipped past the danger sign to begin an adventure he would later regret.
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.
It all started with the computer. Had he known what was to follow, he would have
never logged on that day. But the truth was there was no way to know what was about
to happen. So Dave pressed the start button, the computer booted up, the screen
came alive, and everything Dave knew to be true no longer was.
As she sat watching the world go by, something caught her eye. It wasn't so much
its color or shape, but the way it was moving. She squinted to see if she could
better understand what it was and where it was going, but it didn't help. As she
continued to stare into the distance, she didn't understand why this uneasiness was
building inside her body. She felt like she should get up and run. If only she
could make out what it was. At that moment, she comprehended what it was and where
it was heading, and she knew her life would never be the same.
The desert wind blew the tumbleweed in front of the car. Alex swerved to avoid the
tumbleweed, but he turned the wheel a bit too strong and the car left the road and
skidded onto the dirt median. He instantly slammed on the brakes and the car
stopped in a cloud of dirt. When the dust cloud had settled and he could see around
him again, he realized that he'd somehow crossed over into an entirely new
dimension.