Pill

The pills were sitting all in one row, giggling behind their hands whenever he stumbled over a word, which was more frequent the more they giggled. If they thought being a teacher was easy, they could stand up and do it themselves, but chances were they would just twirl their hair around their fingers and everyone would eat it up.

So he pushed his glasses higher up on his nose, took a deep breath, and started in on quantum mechanics again. Later, he would remember they were only ten, and he would headdesk in the teacher’s lounge.

Lean

(Since I spent most of my night trying to figure out how to make Google stop displaying greek, I'll just post my oneword from the 30th and leave it at that for now.)

Word of the Day: “Lean”

"Lean forward," he said. The kitchen froze under the cold, wintery tone of his authoritative voice. The hiss of aerated water streaming from the faucet and into the stainless sink roared louder than Niagra Falls in that moment of final, quiet defiance. Her hand slowly withdrew from the cookie jar and the porcelain vessel clinked like a victorious, yappy dog. She flattened her hands upon the granite countertop, fingers tainted with the scent of chocolate chip and oatmeal.

She was caught, and red-handed.

Jelly

'How cliche,' she thought and rolled her eyes in self derision; but it was true never the less, that every time he looked at her she felt her legs turn to jelly. It was hard to focus and stand up straight. She hated to think of her reaction if he ever actually touched her. She was certain it would be more like water than jelly.

Jelly

The jelly was cool against her belly, but more important was the sound of a heart beating, faster than she’d ever heard before.

A child. A new life.

“It’s a girl,” the doctor said.

It’s a life, she thought. And she had a choice. Would she tell the father? Would she keep the girl? Or would she give the girl away?

Impassive

Masses of shaggy blond hair obscured bright blue eyes; set in a face that seemed to be cut from stone. Intensely focused on a computer screen, his fingers flew like lightning as rows upon rows of coding filled the monitor, bypassing all of the buildings security. A grim smile flitted across his otherwise impassive face as he initiated his program.

Sirens began wailing as all security protocols were negated and doors began opening. Standing slowly, he calmly packed up his equipment and walked out of the building and into the night; as others more accustomed to confrontation, flooded the building.

Lean

He was lean and tall, almost delicate around the edges, but the shadows in his eyes bespoke something stronger, fiercer. Maybe it was the way he was casually opening and closing a butterfly knife, twirling it the way some girls twirled a lock of hair around their fingers. Maybe it was the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Maybe it was the corpse shattered at his feet.

Skinny didn’t have to mean weak – sometimes, it meant too fast.

Reports

Reports were sporadic at best, through crackling static and snowy television screens. No one knew what was going on besides the screams outside and the explosions. When those ended, the silence was worse, and after a while the static and snow became like old friends. No one could decide when it would or wouldn’t be safe to go out, so no one braved the door.

And then, one day, someone knocked.

By then, there was no one left to answer.

Stand

I stand on the edge of the abyss; staring off into the blackness of the night and the darkness of my own soul. I can not see the future and the past is lost in the mists of time.

Shadows and dreams swirl around me; morphing and twisting, first beautiful then horrifying, tantalizing and repellent. I raise my hand to touch the future and there is nothing there, nothing to feel. I look in vain for anything to latch onto, anything to save me.

One wrong step and I fall to the enticing darkness; yet a shift the the right brings bliss; a dance along the razor edge of life. Is the price to high to pay for such darkness, or can I attain that promised joy?


(Random I know. This is just what flowed from my mind to the keyboard)

Change

"Everything changes," Joe said.

"And everything stays the same," Kevin shot back. "Enough with the sentiments. You boys read or what?"

"Ready!" they chorused.

Kevin checked his rifle one last time, then peered over the ridge of their trench. A row of tan hats across no man's land peeked over the ridge of the opposite trench.

And then there was the barbed wire too.

"Something's changing, I can feel it," Joe said, and the green gas hit.

Gravel

The gravel crunched quietly under his feet, this would make for an interesting time of it. After all, stealth was to be desired when you were an assassin. He shifted his weight and the pebbles ground under his foot. He was pretty sure that he had not been heard; but it was imperative to be sure.

After

"After the ball was over, she took her glass eye out, kicked her false leg in the corner..."

Ron's drunken warbling was obnoxious.

Stephanie smiled indulgently and plunked another shot glass down on the bar in front of him. He'd had enough vodka that he wouldn't be able to tell that the next six shots were nothing but water. Most nights Stephanie would feel bad for stealing, but when he was drunk he tipped well, and if she saved him from alcohol poisoning, well, that was his money well spent.

Circles

"We're going in circles," Henry insisted.

Randolph snatched the map from him and flicked on his torch. "We are not - see this right here? That's the church we passed ten minutes ago."

Liam said, "We also passed that church an hour before that."

Henry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How long until the locals realize that we escaped the jail?"

"Not long enough," Liam said, and drew his pistol.

The townsmen shuffled toward them, zombie-like, bloodlust in their eyes.

Circles

Follow in the circles I dance, round and round we go.
No beginning and no end, we circle for eternity.
Spin about and once again follow in my rounds.

Broken

"It's not broken," Jennifer insisted.

Tom poked at her wrist. "Well, can you move it?"

"No, but --"

"Then it's broken."

Jennifer gazed back out at the softball field. "The championship game is this weekend."

"It's no use aggravating an injury," Tom said, but his tone was gentle. "Come on - let's get you to the ER. I'm sure the other girls on the team will sign your cast and make it all bright and pretty. Better than a yearbook, seriously."

Toast

"He's gonna be toast!" Keith roared. His hands curled into fists, and he lunged.

Tobias lunged at the same time, caught him around the waist and dragged him back. Keith snarled and writhed, trying to get free. Tobias yelped when the sleeve of his jacket - his favorite jacket! - lit on fire.

"Gabriel, a little help here!"

From behind his comic book, Gabriel nodded absently - and the fire went out.

A slurry of curses in Irish from Keith.

"What did you do?"

"Put a telepathic hold on your gift until you behave," Tobias said tartly. "So behave."

Sigh

"Stop sighing so much," Jennifer said. "You're getting on my nerves. This isn't a melodrama class, you know." She didn't look up from her book.

Across the aisle, Emily said, "That's Spencer snoring, actually."

Jennifer's head came up; she stared.

Emily laughed softly. "Hey, just be glad he doesn't snore like Morgan. He sounds like a freight train when he's got a cold."

Somewhere from the back of the jet came an indignant, "Hey!"

Course

"Let the anger run its course," Aaron said. "He'll talk to you tomorrow."

Derek didn't look like he believed it, but he packed up his gear and headed home anyway. So when he woke in the middle of the night to find Spencer standing over his bed, Glock in hand, blank fury in his eyes, he thought Aaron was right about the course but wrong about its destination.

Derek smiled and said, "What up, pretty boy?"

Spencer didn't even blink before he fired.

Belong

Where do I belong? Where do I fit in, in this world? Where is there acceptance and friendship.

Shane shook his head, clearing his thoughts away. Now was the time to smile, now was the time to be like the other lemmings. Now was the time to not be himself. Now was the time to lie.

Belong

"You belong to me," Joey sang, swaying in front of the mirror.

Steve grabbed the comb he'd been using as a microphone and ran it through his hair.

Joey scowled. "Hey! I was using that."

"You can have it back when I'm done, crooner," Steve said. He checked his reflection, smoothed down his shirt, straightened his tie, and started for the door. As an afterthought, he tossed the comb back to his brother. "Happy singing, kid! I've got a hot date."

Want

"What is it you want? A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy?" Her tone was sarcastic.

"All of the above, I am a fool, and I'll take what I can get."



(short I know, but sometimes that is all you need to get your point across.)