The scene was peaceful, serene and calming. I stood at the base of the light house and pressed my back against the solid wooden door behind me. I felt the cool mist on my cheeks as the fresh, inspiring air entered my lungs. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. The sounds of gulls flying overhead, of the playful waves spalshing against the rocks, all of these soothing sounds filled my mind as I allowed myself to get lost in the wonder of it all. This is what life was meant to be - finding enjoyment in the simple things....
"Adam! Give me the Pelican! Now!" John half screamed half sobbed. "It's mine!"
"No mine!" Adam clutched the Pelican to his chest. "My turn!"
"But mommy gave it to me! My Pelican!" John grabbed for it. "Mine!"
Adam would not relent. "No!"
"I'm gonna tell mommy that you took my Pelican!"
"Boys!" Both men looked up. "You are 30 years old. Adults! You should not be acting like 3 year olds!"
Both men hung their heads. "Yes mommy..."
"Now Adam. Give John back his pelican. I'll get you your Teddy bear, alright?"
"Yes mommy..." Adam slowly gave his brother back...
Once, in Beijing, a young girl in a red gown huddled in a doorway. She held a bowl in one outstretched hand. Her eyes were studying the gravel on the road, not rising to the gaze of passersby who occasionally dropped a coin into her bowl. Her mother was dead, her father was missing, she had no siblings that she knew of, she had only a red gown and a bowl. When the bowl filled with money at the end of the day, as it often did, she would take it to a nearby shop and exchange it for rice...
She cradled the faun's head. She listened to its soft breath, listened to its complaint, listened its petition. But what could she do? What judgment could she give that would hold in the face of her ever-shrinking kingdom. Every year she shrunk, every year there were more men, and every year there was less.
At night under the moon she called her sisters, who had all once been close, close enough to be one, but now far and spread. They came if they could, sent emissaries if they could not. They talked until the edge of the sun, bloated and...
It was the fall that surprised me most. One minute you're standing and the next you're plummeting towards the earth. Time seemed to slow. I counted the stories of the building as I whizzed by them. Twenty, twenty one, twenty two. My last thoughts probably shouldn't be counting.
I thought my life was supposed to flash in front of me. I closed my eyes for a moment but nothing popped into my head at all. In fact, I was slightly irritated that I had stopped counting. I was probably about forty floors up. I should have paid more attention in...
She pulled her red gown high over her head, trying to shield herself from the oncoming terror, but to no avail. The sheer vivid colour of the gown made her stand out from the bustling crowds, no matter how much she tried to huddle into the dank doorway of the closed shop.
"Please let me in," She whispered, scratching desperately on the chipped wooden panelling, "please." Tears started to fall down her cheeks as she heard the heavy footsteps of her pursuers getting closer and closer, the people around her seeming not to notice her distress.
Suddenly the door creaked...
The sunlight pushed its way through the heavy curtains at my enormous window and I shut it out. I need to be alone, I tell myself but I know that I can never be alone for long. After a while someone is bound to come along and try to cheer me up. I might smile, might even laugh but we all know that laughter can't last forever. I force myself to peek out the window and observe the street below. A cluster of small children play on the sidewalk, laughing. The joy on their faces lights a spark in me...
"Ice Snakes! I will not let you beat me into the Olympics!" Woolly Mammoth shouted as he watched the Ice Snakes perform their gymnastics trick. He was shushed by the judges. "Be quiet or you'll be disqualified." The Ice Snakes smirked as they completed their routine. Woolly Mammoth was next. He stepped up onto the trampoline and stated his name. "I am Woolly Mammoth." He started his routine. He flipped, jumped, and twirled. He blew away the judges completely. When it was time to announce who would be going to the Olympics, "Polar Bear, Sloth, Penguin, and Woolly Mammoth." The...
After removing the gown and sliding to the floor, she flinched - another splinter. Number four. That is simply too many splinters.
Fen agreed.