A moment had never been captured so brilliantly, clearly. One short, staccato laugh carried with it more implication than a thousand arguments.

The ground fell away as the little plane climbed into the blue. The first flight of each plane he built was special — the first leg of the journey of a lifetime.

“Passion and justice don’t go hand in hand,” she declared. “One is incompatible with the other. How can you have mercy and know what someone did is wrong at the same time?”

“Ask your mother.”

Hot liquid is just the thing on a brisk evening like the one we faced the other night. The team was losing; all we had to look forward to was that steamy cup of cocoa after.

She stirred the concoction in the saucepan, slowly, teasingly.

“What’s in there? Smells wonderful.”

“A chicken stock base, some special spices, this and that.”

By hook or by crook, I’ll get what I want. You’ve never seen determination like this before. No cliche will stand in my way as I express exactly what pops into my head. Someday, I’ll look back on this and grin.

“Look, up there, above the trees. That ridge to the right. What do you see?”

“Looks like a wolf to me.”

“Can’t be, we’ve never seen one this far south.”

“Well, there she is.”

Oil pooled on the concrete floor as I killed the engine. My own personal slick to clean up. Hopefully this one wouldn’t impact the environment as much as its bigger cousins. But so much for my free Saturday.

The choice was yours. It was a simple matter of yes or no, a stark contrast between your reality and the thing you wished for so hard it hurt. But you muddied the pool.

I’ve never been so insulted in all my life. That user just suggested I was requesting his email to send him spam. What an outrage. It’s my job to help people who can’t help themselves.