Kaleidoscope 2017

Standing Still - 00:37
    Time waits for no one, so you had better start running.

Resisting Temptation - 08:47
    Eyes hungrily fixated upon the object mere inches away from him.  Beautiful form wrapped in a tantalizing layer of red that accentuated every possible sensuous curve, his excitement grew with every moment to pass.  His hands trembled, desperate to grasp on and make his claim.  No, that would be wrong; now wasn’t the time.
    He continued to stare, unable to help himself as he began to salivate; he didn’t know how much longer he would be able to hold out, his urges screaming to take control, to get inside.  His conscience was ashamed at such urges, but he couldn’t help himself.  He just had to—
    The tingling sound broke his inner struggles, seeing the smile on the other individual’s face as the set of keys were dangled before his eyes.  His pupils dilated at the implications, a grin spreading across his lips as he eagerly snatched the keys up.  A pleased sigh escaped his lungs as the tension converted to excitement, he immediately drawing to the source of his temptation, embracing wholeheartedly as his lips at long last made contact, sending an electrifying sensation through him.
    The other man standing on in a suit and tie just closed his eyes and shook his head.  “It’s only a car, man,” he muttered under his breath as he walked away, his customer continuing to kiss the hood of the red sports car while whispering sweet nothings to the metal framework.  This certainly was one of the weirder automobile sales he had ever made, but a sale was a sale, after all.

Rendezvous - 09:20
    “Just where is this ‘super special’ place?” she asked him with a chuckle, letting him guider her by their hand.  The afternoon sun beat down on them warmly, Tim eagerly leading Sally along one of the offbeat paths of the park.
    “You’ll see,” he answered with a smile, subtly coiling his fingers tighter about hers.  He was excited, nervous even.  After all, he was finally showing someone else his secret place.  But there was a good reason.
    Through the paths in the woods they went, the foliage becoming denser about the dirt pathway the deeper they ventured.  Sally trained her eyes on all around her as she was led on, noting many of the simple beauties found along the path they took.  She looked forward once more when she felt Tim’s pace slow, his pull on her hand easing.  Standing before a few branches obscuring the view beyond, he turned back to her as he asked, “You ready?”
    She gave him a crooked smile as she arched an eyebrow.  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she remarked.  He smiled back at her, then turned forward as he brushed the obstructing foliage away, drawing her with him through to the other side.
    “Well, this is it, my special place,” he announced, she slowly stepping up to join him.  “How do you like it?”
    Sally couldn’t respond; her hand slipped from his while her eyes focused forward, she took in the view of a small, almost dingy creek trickling over a bed of stones, they rounded and smooth from years of wearing down by the steady stream.  The area was overgrown with brush save the path that led down to the creek bank, an old and rotting log from a tree that had fallen some time ago resting peacefully by the bank’s edge.  She simply couldn’t speak, for there were no words for the sight she saw before her.  “How on Earth did you find this?” she stammered.  “I thought there was no longer any flowing water in the area and that was why we had to import it?”
    “The government lies about a lot of things,” Tim wearily responded.  “Though I have my suspicions and none of them inspire confidence.”  They stared on for a long moment, watching the small creek defiantly flow on.
    “If this little creek is just outside the city’s perimeter, imagine what else might be out there?” Sally then pondered, the two drawing their eyes to the other.  Tim merely nodded in response.
    Grabbing onto her hand once more, he suggested, “We probably should get back before someone realizes we slipped through the fence.”  He went to pull away.
    Her firm grip and stance halted him in place.  “In time,” she said.  Looking curiously at her, Tim let her lead him to the fallen log, the two of them taking a seat side by side as they faced the little creek that determinedly trickled on.  “Let’s enjoy the scenery for a bit.”
    “Sure,” he concurred, the two falling into silence as they let the peace and tranquility infiltrate into their beings, it stimulating a restlessness to simultaneously take root.
    With this knowledge, everything had changed.

Shooting Stars - 09:44
    The two women sat on the large blanket folded out over the gently rolling hill, a few small snacks sitting between the two of them now abandoned for their eyes to be glued to the blanket of stars unfolding across the sky.  The wind whispered through the nearby trees as they sat there, anxiously waiting for the meteor shower to begin.  Eventually the female on the left lied back, exhaling a deep breath as she folded her arms behind her head, longingly gazing up at the night sky.  The one on the right glanced down at her as she leaned back on her propped up arms.  “Do you ever wonder,” the one laying down began, “what exactly is out there?”  Her eyes glanced over the constellations, visions of burning stars and spiraling galaxies flooding into her mind.
    “What, you mean the nothingness between the stars and nebulae?” the sitting one jested.  “Not particularly.”
    “Hmm,” the laying woman murmured through her lips in response.  “That seems to be the common answer,” she softly lamented.  “Ever since I was a kid, the planets in our solar system fascinated me and the more I learned, the more I wanted to know.”  The silence enveloped them in the succeeding moments, the two looking to the twinkling stars once more.  Letting the reverie permeate through their souls, she eventually confessed, “I feel more at home among them than I do here on Earth.”
    The sitting woman sadly gazed up into the stars.  “I can relate to that feeling,” she concurred, her eyes becoming glossy in the moonless light.  Though, it wasn’t quite the same, yet she couldn’t quite dismiss the magnitude of someone feeling out of place on their home world among their own species.
    She watched a meteor streak across the sky in a flash, drawing a tear from her eye to slip down her cheek.  In its wake, her form rippled, revealing a hint of her true dark-pigmented scaly form, only to reconstruct back when she quickly wiped the tear away, her index finger momentarily shifting into its true claw-like form before flickering back as she flicked the tear away, the subtle breaks in her human disguise out of sight of her Earthling friend.  It was just how it had looked when she watched her home planet fall out of orbit and crash into their sun.

Coming Home - 11:06
    The bag weighed incredibly heavy as David stood in place, staring up at the door before him.  Fidgeting in place, he adjusted the bag’s trap to alleviate the mounting pressure that was matched the anxiety in his heart.
    It had been three years since he had abruptly left home, rebelling against his parents’ rules and defiantly determined to make it on his own.  During those three years’ time, he had run out of money to continue attending college and lost one of his three jobs he was working, just to make ends meet.  He hated the nagging feeling deep in the pit of his stomach; it was a persistent gut punch telling him he had been wrong in so many ways.
    He had squandered opportunities while out on his own, making some poor life decisions because he had bought into the living only once phenomenon.  One life, whether true or not, because he honestly didn’t know anymore, didn’t mean make terrible decisions from the fear of not experiencing all life had to offer, but rather enjoy what was around him while assessing the potential consequences, making good choices and in a way that didn’t end up hurting himself or those he cared about.
    And he had done plenty of that.
    He was going to rehab now for the alcoholism.  He hadn’t mentioned the medical treatments for the HPV.  That part he was still too ashamed about.  Pasts of others did matter—explicitly—when they became your present, no matter what modern mindsets professed, arrogant to the consequences while simultaneously holding a grievous lack of consideration for the ramifications on others.  He wished he had realized that sooner.
    He still managed to keep his two remaining jobs—one at the local McDonald’s and the other working at the UPS shipping warehouse about twenty minutes away.  Both were part-time, but UPS provided him with health insurance that did cover his AA meetings and took the sting out of his medical treatments, so the money he made at McDonald’s he could use to cover his medical costs and supply himself with food and clothing.
    The ridiculous cost of rent, however, was another matter.  Finally admitting defeat, he had made the telephone call, as hard as it had been.  The recipient on the other end, first guarded and lifeless had eventually warmed up cautiously, and after listening to his stories, agreed to the inevitable idea.
    So here he stood outside his parents’ house, the home he had grown up in.  So much had changed in those three years and he’d end up paying for the remainder of his life for mistakes he had made in foolish moments, too arrogant to consider the consequences before it was too late.
    The front door suddenly opened and the two familiar figures of his parents appeared in the doorway.  The three remained in silence for a moment, eyes locked until the invisible walls broke down, he falling into his parents’ embrace while the three shed a few silent tears.
    He’d come back home to start his life over.  Hopefully for the better this time.

Fireflies - 11:28
    The night air was warm, Carrie thought as she trotted on her small, lanky legs away from her family relaxing on the deck.  It was early July—Independence Day to be precise, and the family was taking the time to have a moment of tranquility between busy work and class schedules and after school activities.  She in particular was enjoying the moment, listening to the distant sounds of fireworks as she caught hints of the colored lights exploding in the sky near the tree line.
    She twirled her sparkler around a bit, careful not to let the fire get near her hair or clothes, as her mother frequently warned her, watching the aftereffects of the lights and smoke hang about in the air surrounding her.  Eventually, the sparkler burnt out and she carefully placed it in the bucket of water placed on the ground by the deck steps; always important.
    Exploring their yard further now that she wasn’t tied to her sparkler, she peered through her mother’s nearest garden, looking at the plants as their flowers closed up for the night, only to catch a strange little light blink into existence briefly before going out.  Her curiosity piqued, she moved toward where she had seen it, only to catch sight of it suddenly off to her side.  The light blinked off as soon as it had turned on.  Following it, she eventually realized there were several tiny blinking lights about her until one lit up right in front of her nose.  Crossing her eyes as she looked at it, she caught sight of the tiny little bug as it let its light fade, awestruck by the sight.
    “Mommy, Daddy!” she called out, her legs running hard as she returned to the deck.  Scampering up the stairs that were still a tiny bit too big for her, she rushed over to her parents, her mother holding her baby brother in her arms as she said, “I just saw a bug light up!”
    Her mother immediately smiled at her, her father unable to stop his low chuckle as he told her, “Those are fireflies, Carrie.  They come out all over at night in the summertime.”  Reaching his hands out, he scooped her up into his arms and had her sit upon his lap while raising a hand and pointing upward to one of the tree limbs hanging over the deck.  “See?”  Right on cue, a brief flash of a teeny light ignited above them near the tree leaves, disappearing and reappearing a few feet away a moment later.  Wrapping his arms around his daughter, he then explained, “When I was a little boy, no bigger than you, my friends and I would go down to Mr. Watts’ pond and they’d catch the fireflies in glass jars.”
    “Why would they catch them?” Carrie inquired.
    “They wanted them for themselves, sweet pea,” he answered softly.  “So while they were catching them, I would just sit there and watch the fireflies light up; they seemed a lot happier in the night air than they did in the jars.”  Pausing, he then asked, “Do you understand?”
    “I think so, Daddy,” she said, mulling over his words.
    Her father continued to hold her as the family watched the fireflies traverse nearer to them, curious of their human companions for the evening.  With some things in life, he thought, one should keep an ever watchful, caring, and protective eye on, guiding them to develop and grow…but other times, some things were better off left alone to admire from afar where they could flourish.

Run - 12:25
    “Come on, you’ll feel better if you do,” Roland tried to assure Sandra, her melancholic stupor still lingering in her normally vivacious spirit.
    “I suppose you’re right,” she minimally spoke, still not accustomed to the upending her life had received not even forty-eight hours ago.
    “I promise,” he said, reaching a comforting hand out toward her shoulder, but then thought better of it and retracted his hand back to his side.  “Give you a little freedom to stretch your legs, away from all the other inquisitive eyes,” he softly added.  She still felt uncomfortable, but she was grateful for his overt consideration, more than she deserved.  Giving him a frail smile, she passed through the open door he was holding for her, exiting the building with him following behind her.
    The two walked idly beside the other, an awkward space hanging between them as he led her toward the trails behind the large house.  “Some of these are my more favorite trails to run on,” he began, breaking the noticeable silence between the two of them.  “They are more challenging, but I’ve seen you run before; I think you’ll enjoy them.”
    Sandra remembered two nights past, the two of them sprinting about the trails on her own family’s vast property.  Taking in a deep breath, she sniffed at the air.  “A lot more pine trees here,” she commented, trying her best to make small talk.  “It is a nice scent.”
    Roland couldn’t help but let the hint of a smile tickle at the corner of his lips while he kept his eyes facing forward.  “No one’s looking,” he began.  “You ready?”
    “Yes,” she responded.  Kicking off their shoes, their forms smoothly shifted.  Nearly hairless skin seamlessly grew thick coats of luxurious fur about their entire bodies, back and legs contouring as they took the shape of hind legs while thumbs slipped back from fingers as they shortened into paws, nails growing thick and turning into powerful claws.  Noses elongated into snouts as they took to all fours, teeth sharpening and elongating while eyes widened and ears shifted and drew out to points.  Once fully transformed into their alternate forms, Sandra shook her body to let her fur out, enjoying the feel of her sandy and milk coat loosen amidst the sunlight beating down.
    An excited yip regaining her attention, her canine eyes focused on the slightly larger Lupine before her, Roland’s fur a nondescript dark brown, streaks of black and chestnut running throughout it.  Remarkable in appearance as his pelt was, there was something eye-catching about the striations of color throughout it.  He was anxious to go, she saw it in how his ears were pricked up fully and he shifted about on all four massive paws.  Giving a playful snarl, she dug her own massive paws into the ground just before the two took off sprinting into the nearby forest.
    The thundering sound of their footprints echoed off the tree trunks as they raced on up the treaded hillside, tongues unabashedly hanging from their panting jaws while the wind teased through their fur.  Running side by side, they fell into stride with one another as Roland showed Sandra his most favorite regions to run and once he had placated her, he let out a taunting snarl before sprinting ahead of her, leaving her in his dust and knowing her personality, it would entice her to chase him.
    And chase him, Sandra did.  Letting out a playful growl of her own, the muscles in her body cried out as she put more power into her already impressive stride, the thrilling feelings of euphoria overtaking her mind the harder she ran, becoming lost in the feeling that had always given her such immense pleasure since a youngling.
    Roland was right, as he seemed to always be, even in the short time she had come to know him.  The run felt fantastic.

No One - 12:31
    The rapping grew more persistent as she approached her front door.  Grasping onto the doorknob, she let out a breath as she remained frozen in place, unsure whether or not she should answer it.  Mounting her courage, she unlatched the deadbolt and turned the handle, prying the door open a crack, only to open it fully and stare out into the night.  No one was there.
    That’s when she felt the warm breath fall on the back of her neck.

Price for Flight - 12:32
    I told you: I can fly.

A Dish Best Served Cold - 12:59
    “Mr. Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?” the honorable Judge Tronewall inquired, glancing at the jury.
    The foreman rose from his chair, holding a piece of paper in his hands.  “Yes, we have, your Honor,” he responded.
    Handing the bailiff the folded note, he walked it to the judge, who opened it up, reading the result in silence.  Judge Tronewall then directed, “For the three counts of murder in the first degree, how does the jury find the defendant?”
    “Guilty, your Honor,” the foreman answered, remaining standing stiffly in place.
    “But I’m innocent!” the defendant, a young man in his twenties protested, his voice shrill with panic.  His eyes desperately pleaded with Judge Tronewall as he furthered, “You have to believe me!”
    “Order in the courtroom!” Judge Tronewall barked, slamming his gavel down several times as the courtroom was thrown into a chaotic frenzy, the young man’s lawyer promising his hysterical client they would fight for an appeal while two bailiffs handcuffed the defendant and dragged him away.
    The atmosphere was still in upheaval as business began to return to normal in preparation for the next case to take to the courtroom.  Amidst the hustle and bustle, a figure remained seated in the back row of the audience, pressed slacks and shirt complimenting his figure as he readjusted his tie before standing up, picking up his blazer and melding into the masses slowly exiting the courtroom, a confident smile masked between his lips.
    Ducking away from the swirling crowd, the man slipped into the nearby bathroom, letting the door close gently behind him.  In seemingly no time, the door opened once more, revealing a slender woman of the same height, her long dark hair pulled back in a high ponytail and frame dressed in a pair of long shorts and a sleeveless shirt.  Slipping her sunglasses on over the same dark chocolate eyes as the smiling man from before, she pulled the hair tie out of her hair and let it fall about her shoulders and back before slipping out the front doors, greeted by the bright sunlight and mass of media reporters crowding about trying to get statements from witnesses, police officers involved with the case, as well as attorneys from both the prosecution and defense.  Hoisting the strap to her bag purse up on her shoulder, she artfully dodged the awkward masses, her plain flats clicking subtly against the marble stairs as she descended the stairway.  Walking a little more audaciously once away from the limelight, the smirk returned to her glossy lips, opening her bag and reaching in for her car FOB, the unmistakable sight of the gentleman’s blazer stuffed neatly into the bag along with the rest of the disguise making its way momentarily into view before she clasped the purse shut.
    Pressing a button on the FOB, the lights on her small coupe lit up as the doors unlocked, she opening the passenger’s door and placing her bag on the seat before moving over to the driver’s side.  As she opened the door, another smile graced her face as she glanced back at the courthouse through the line of trees separating it from the nearby parking lot.
    Revenge had never tasted sweeter.

Savory - 13:52
    And with a toothy grin, he looked at her, a gleam in his amber eyes as he carefully assessed, “You really trust me?”
    Eyes transfixed on him, she merely nodded her reply.
    “But you do understand,” he casually remarked, flexing his humanoid fingers to extend his claws, the flicker of light momentarily reflecting off of the sharpened edges he focused his eyes upon, then he licked his lips before excitedly gazing once more upon her while he rightly warned, “my species, after all, is evolved from tigers and we have been known to play…rather rough.”

Time's Up - 13:55
    This can’t be how it ends.

Famous Last Words - 14:00
    I dare you to kiss her.

EF5 - 15:39
    Slowly, Melanie’s eyes opened, it taking remarkable effort to do so after several failed attempts, the persistent voice penetrating through her consciousness insisting that she take deeper breaths and open her eyes.
    Winning the arduous battle, she lied propped up in the bed, taking in her surroundings in an attempt to deduce where she was.  The room was bathed in white—bedspread, walls, ceiling—there was a steady beep from a monitor somewhere nearby…definitely not what she remembered last.
    She felt the discomfort in her left antecubital; ah, an IV.  Likely a sedative by the level of calmness in her demeanor amidst an unfamiliar setting.  Presumably that sedative was wearing off and the voice wanted her to return to the living.
    She groaned out as the pain radiated throughout her stiff and bandaged body.
    If that’s what you could call it.
    “I see you’re awake,” a tenor voice commented as a face obstructed her view of the ceiling.  Soft features and sandy hair, the young adult male peered down upon her with his round spectacles before pulling out a pocket light and shining it over each of her eyes.  “Pupillary responses are normal, that’s good,” he reassured, more to himself than for her own benefit, she imagined.  “Your breathing tube is still in your windpipe; you’re gonna feel some slight discomfort when I remove it.”  Before she could acknowledge him, she watched his hand slip to her mouth and pull out a long tube from her she hadn’t even registered was in her throat.  Thankfully, it hadn’t burned like he had cautioned.
    “Wh…Where am I?” she managed to ask.  Oh, there was that rawness in her throat.  “I…I need some water.”
    “Certainly,” he said, reaching over and handing her a glass from the nearby stand.  She caught sight of the hard cast encompassing her forearm, the splints on her ring and pinky fingers.  The cool liquid soothed her achy throat as he introduced himself.  “I’m Dr. Charles.  Melanie, do you remember what happened?”
    “Memory’s blurry…” she began, trying to focus through the haze fogging her brain.
    “You’ve suffered a pretty severe concussion; the sensation is one of the symptoms,” he offered.
    “I can’t…focus,” she furthered.  Dr. Charles merely nodded.  Taking another sip, she added, “I remember…wind.  People shouting…running.”  She shook her head gently as her words were silenced, remembering nothing more.
    “It’s alright,” Dr. Charles tried to assure her.  “The important thing is that you seem to have only a minor case of retrograde amnesia, most of your memories are still intact.”
    “Doctor, what happened to me?” she asked, her fear rising.  She could feel the bandages wound tightly about her skull.  Now she was sure the sedative was wearing off.
    “A tornado struck three weeks ago.”  Hesitating, he furthered, “Much of the town was destroyed.  You were found in some of the wreckage out at your family’s farmhouse.  You’ve been in a coma these past three weeks.”
    The screaming in her head became clearer.  Kyle was panicking; he was only ten and hadn’t had to endure the terror of a tornado bearing down.  Their mom and dad, they had been ushering them toward the storm cellar when the screaming had started—
    “My family?” she questioned, the returning fog obscuring her memories once more.  “Are they okay?  Can I see them?”
    Dr. Charles watched her for a moment, eliciting dread within her.  “They were all found alive, but until you’re better, it’s best that you don’t see them.  I know you want to, but we should make sure you’re okay before visiting them.”
    Her dad was screaming in agony, her mom was shrieking while Kyle had begun panicking…
    Her memories left her once more, the dread that mounted while reliving the returning memory evaporating into the sterile environment about her, her eyes coming to rest on the both of her legs cocooned nearly to her hips in hard casts.  She groaned out as she rubbed her head with her hand, it merely possessing a bandage wrapped the length of her arm except for her IV, then took another sip of water as she closed her eyes in hopes that the pressure in her brain would ease.
    Her dad was screaming, the main barn had been ripped asunder in the fierce wind, urging them all toward the storm shelter before one of the broken beams had crashed down upon him, pinning his legs helplessly to the ground.  She remembered trying to convince her panic-stricken mother to take her brother to the shelter.  They fleeing, she had gone back for her father…the wind was terrible; she couldn’t breathe and she tried to shield her eyes from the dirt being kicked up.  Her father was screaming for her to leave him, but the stubbornness she inherited from him refused to yield, determined to save him, her eyes then glancing in the distance at the dark, amassing funnel of the tornado barreling down upon them.  Somehow, she had managed to use another splintered beam to raise the one just enough off her father’s legs to pull him out, aiding him to his feet to limp with him toward the storm shelter, the tornado swiftly approaching.
    He had stumbled into the cellar and collapsed on the floor, her mother falling about him and holding him tightly while she slipped in, then forced the cellar doors closed, fumbling with the latch when she heard the wood split, ripped from the metal hinges as the tornado crossed paths with them, she sucked up into the air while the sounds of her family’s screams ripped through her consciousness—
    Squeezing her eyes shut, she terminated the memory, knowing all too well how the rest transpired.  The tears came as she choked out a couple sobs before Dr. Charles hugged her, offering words of reassurance.
    It was all over.  Her family was safe because of her.  She needed to focus on her recovery from being caught in one of the most heinous EF5 tornadoes to hit the town in centuries.

The Invisible Man - 19:28
    “Would you give it a rest?” she pointedly called out to her friend sitting nearby on the sofa.
    “Oh, come on, Kristina,” Theresa jested.  “It’s fun!  It’s time for you to get out there in the online dating world.  You’re pretty; you’d meet tons of cute boys.”
    “Not interested,” Kristina flatly answered.
    The silence filtered into Theresa’s living room for a few moments, her fingers working away at the keyboard.  “Here, I’ll set up an account for you on OkCupid—”
    “Then I’m going,” Kristina bluntly interrupted, rising to her feet and moving toward the door.  Slipping her sneakers on as she threw on her coat, she said, “Bye,” right before closing the door behind her.
    She smoothly moved down the steps and across the lawn to her car, not giving a thought to look back and see if her friend was watching her from the living room window.  Fishing her keys from her purse, she unlocked the doors and promptly got in, driving off a moment later.
    The drive back to her apartment wasn’t long, ten minutes at the most.  After parking her car and making the trek up the single flight of stairs—more of a challenge for her with her lingering ankle problems—she made it to her apartment door and unlocked it, stepping in a moment later.
    She let out a breath as she turned to close the door, the inviting silence greeting her.  Taking her things to her bedroom, she tossed her effects onto her bed, then returned a moment later carrying her laptop.  Plugging it in, she fired up iTunes, that terrible gluttonous monster that ate both storage space and memory, hitting ‘random’ once fully loaded to start playing the contents of her music stored on the laptop.  Returning to her room once more, she shed her extra clothing and swapped it for a camisole and a pair of jean shorts, then came out of the room to grab her hairbrush from the vanity outside of the bathroom to tame her windblown hair, but several loud beeps coming from her laptop suddenly drew her attention.  Quickly moving over to her coffee table where her laptop rested, she paused her music to pull up Skype.
    It was him.
    Moving her cursor over, she immediately answered the call.  The image was fuzzy, but that wasn’t surprising to her; she at least saw his face again.  “I wasn’t sure I’d reach you,” he voice remarked with a smile, bits of static cutting through the transmission.
    “I just got home actually,” she answered with a smile, folding her knees beneath her as she sat upon them before the laptop.  “I am glad you could call,” she confessed.  She laughed to herself as she then explained, “My friend Theresa tried to sign me up for online dating this afternoon.”
    He chuckled, then remarked, “I take it that didn’t go too well, did it?”
    “I effectively stopped it by walking out,” she replied.
    She listened to him laugh in response; God, she loved his laugh.  “How have your ankles been?”  He hesitated, then said, “I haven’t been able to call in over a month…”
    “They’re about the same,” she responded, he seeing immediately between the lines.  The distance between them was unbearable for him and he knew it was crushing her, particularly at times like these when he knew she needed someone to lean on.  Her eyes saw the look in his and she immediately warned, “Don’t even say it, beautiful…”
    “You know I love you, but…if you need your freedom, all you have to do is ask,” he softly spoke, gently defying her request.
    “I love you too, you stupid fool,” she fired back, quickly wiping away a couple tears that dared to escape her eyes, “but if you think I can find someone better than yourself, you’re kidding no one but yourself.  You’re ten times superior to any man I have or will ever physically met.”  Her voice choking up briefly, she then whispered, “You’re the only one that saved me when even I had given up.”  Finding her voice once more, she concluded, “No, you’re stuck with me, even if we are impossibly far apart; you deserve all my love and so much more.”  Reaching her hand out, she placed her fingertips on the edge of the camera.
    “Sooner or later, we will be together,” he reassuringly vowed, bringing his hand up to his camera, the image of his hand matching up along hers.  He flashed her a smile, then remarked, “Then we can revel in the stunned looks of all your friends’ faces when they finally see me in person, very much not the invisible man.”  His last words drew a short laugh from her throat.  “Until next time, darling.”
    “Until next time, beautiful,” she softly echoed, then the transmission ceased.  Letting out a breath, she slowly rose to her feet, letting the conglomerate of emotions slip from her shoulders as she once more went to fetch her brush to comb her hair.

The Wrong Ones Pay - 21:37
    Sirens were blaring, a sickening, distorted sound pounding through her mind through the raindrops smearing along her face.  Lights were flashing, but her vision was blurry, something warm seeping into her eyes and tainting her vision.  The ground was cold where she lied, tied up and twisted with numbness and pain.
    The last thing she remembered was the glass shattering, feeling herself propelled through the darkness before coming to her present position somewhere along the ground, not far from all the commotion.
    Groaning out, she tried to push her hands against the ground to lift her head up, but the searing pain ripping throughout her body paralyzed her in agony, a cry escaping her trembling lips.  A voice rang out in the distance, but like the sirens, the sound was distorted, the words incomprehensible as she lied there, slowly blinking her eyes, praying for anything than the limbo she was trapped in.
    Figures were suddenly moving about her, kneeling low and speaking in the same disjointed tongue while hands reached in, attempting to poke and prod here with instruments before she felt a collar wrapped tightly about her neck, her body slowly unraveled form the nearby wreckage.  She cringed and cried out as she felt herself placed on her back, her hands immobilized while a mask was fitted over her mouth and nose, a rush of oxygen burning into her lungs.  Coughing once, she cringed again, her everything aching from the spasm while the carbon monoxide was forced from her lungs, the flaming wreckage of the vehicles nearby casting haunting shadows upon the highway and everything gathered about it.
    She felt herself hoisted up horizontally into the air, watching the flickering flames shift in place about her.  Had she done all this?  She closed her eyes as she simply breathed the oxygen in, loaded into the ambulance a moment later, then heard the doors shut behind her, feeling her surroundings lurch as the ambulance was set in motion.
    The sirens faded into the distance, a couple police officers gathered about while photographers took pictures of the crime scene, making sure to capture all angles of the debris to be used later for evidence while another two paramedics tended to a couple teenage boys sitting on the back of another ambulance being treated for minor lacerations to their faces and hands.  “Yeah, another one,” the one officer lamented, his hands reaching for his belt.  “These things never should happen.”
    Another officer wandered back, reporting, “BAC on the driver was 0.32.  His buddy was 0.38.  Their injuries appear to be only superficial.”
    “That’s always the way it is,” the first officer sighed out in frustration.  “Always think they’re in control, that nothing’ll happen if they get behind the wheel.”  He glanced over where they had found the driver of the other car, knowing by the tire marks on the highway the teens’ vehicle had been the one to cross the yellow line and hit the other car head on.  “It’s always the victims in their path that suffer the worst.”
    “There’s enough evidence to convict at least,” the other officer said.
    “Yeah, as long as today’s bleeding hearts don’t get involved and feel sorry for them,” the first officer snorted.  “That rich kid in Canada was given just time served and community service for killing those four just because he showed remorse.  He chose to get behind the wheel, murdered four people, paralyzed a fifth, and he gets to walk away.  There was public outrage, sure, but there was public outrage against the public outrage in support of rich brat, they thinking any guilt he had to live with, if he even had any, was enough punishment!  We had that woman strung out on heroin crash her car with her children in the backseat into an oncoming car and kill two thirds of the passengers in that vehicle, including a little girl the same age as her youngest child.  Three years later, she’s sitting in prison and according to Jim working over there, still has no remorse.  Absolutely none!  At this rate, they could start downright acquitting these—”  Agitated, he kicked a nearby pebble, cutting his words off before he said anything inappropriate.  “I don’t know why I even am on the force anymore,” he muttered under his breath.  “We are not making a difference anymore, not enough of one anyway.”
    The other officer reassuringly laid his hand upon the other’s shoulder.  “But we’ve got to keep trying,” he insisted.  “We can’t give up.”
    “I know, but when will these people ever learn?” he uttered, his hands slipping from his belt as the two moved back to their squad car.  “How many innocent people have to die before it all ends?”

Spiderweb Dreamcatchers - 21:44
    She always had nightmares of spiders crawling upon the ceiling by her bed, fitfully woken up from the tender moment of just falling asleep to watch them fade into nothing, dismissed as nothing but illusions fabricated by her paranoid mind.
    She never understood the spiders were his gift to her, weaving silky strands to collect her most precious dreams.

Big Bad Wolfie - 21:47
“Come closer,” he said, smiling broadly.

Into the Open Air - 21:53
    Taking her hand in his, the two stood side by side facing the other.  It was a frightening step, but their resolve held firm, her fingers squeezing his.  For a moment, they remained behind the curtain holding their collective breath until at last, he drew the curtain aside and guided her into the light for everyone to see.