1. There were two things that were important to Tracey. The first was her dog.

Anyone that
had ever met Tracey knew how much she loved her dog. Most would say that she treated
it as her child. The dog went everywhere with her and it had been her best friend for the
past five years. The second thing that was important to Tracey, however, would be a lot
more surprising to most people.

2. Lori lived her life through the lens of a camera. She never realized this until this very
moment as she scrolled through thousands of images on your computer. She could
remember the exact moment each photo was taken. She could remember where she had
been, what she was thinking as she tried to get the shot, the smells of the surrounding
area, and even the emotions that she felt taking the photo, yet she had trouble
remembering what she had for breakfast.

3. What if dogs were racist? Would they care about fur color….. “son, only play with other
tan dogs”? Or maybe it would depend on breed, “honey, only play with other German
Shepards, never poodles”. Better yet it could depend on occupation. “I’m a sled dog
while you’re only a running companion, leave me alone”. Maybe the neighborhood they
live in could be the way they choose which dogs to associate with and which to shun?
Size could be the determining factor, “see how tall that dog is, they are probably dumb”.
Luckily dogs don’t discriminate. Just watch at a dog park. Big black and white dogs wag
their tails and play with tiny tan dogs. A service dog chases after the same ball as the off-
duty police dog. So if dogs don’t discriminate then why do we?

4. Out of another, I get a lovely view of the bay and a little private wharf belonging to the
estate. There is a beautiful shaded lane that runs down there from the house. I always
fancy I see people walking in these numerous paths and arbors, but John has cautioned
me not to give way to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and
habit of story-making a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of
excited fancies and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency. So I
try.

5. The alarm went off and Jake rose awake. Rising early had become a daily ritual, one that
he could not fully explain. From the outside, it was a wonder that he was able to get up so
early each morning for someone who had absolutely no plans to be productive during the
entire day.
6. It had become a far too common an event in her life. She has specifically placed the key
to the box in a special place so that she wouldn't lose it and know exactly where it was
when the key was needed. Now that she needed to open the box, she had absolutely no
idea where that special spot she placed the key might be.

7. I inadvertently went to See's Candy last week (I was in the mall looking for phone
repair), and as it turns out, See's Candy now charges a dollar -- a full dollar -- for even the
simplest of their wee confection offerings. I bought two chocolate lollipops and two
chocolate-caramel-almond things. The total cost was four-something. I mean, the candies
were tasty and all, but let's be real: A Snickers bar is fifty cents. After this dollar-per-
candy revelation, I may not find myself wandering dreamily back into a See's Candy any
time soon.

8. The chair sat in the corner where it had been for over 25 years. The only difference was
there was someone actually sitting in it. How long had it been since someone had done
that? Ten years or more he imagined. Yet there was no denying the presence in the chair
now.

9. The alarm went off at exactly 6:00 AM as it had every morning for the past five years.
Barbara began her morning and was ready to eat breakfast by 7:00 AM. The day
appeared to be as normal as any other, but that was about to change. In fact, it was going
to change at exactly 7:23 AM.

10. It really doesn't matter what she thinks as it isn't her problem to solve. That's what he kept
trying to convince himself. She was trying to insert her opinion where it wasn't wanted or
welcome. He already had a plan and even though that plan didn't correspond with what
she wanted him to do or what should be done, it wasn't her decision to make. The
question now became whether he would stick to his convictions and go through with his
plan knowing she wouldn't approve.

11. She asked the question even though she didn't really want to hear the answer. It was a no-
win situation since she already knew. If he told the truth, she'd get confirmation of her
worst fears. If he lied, she'd know that he wasn't who she thought he was which would be
almost as bad. Yet she asked the question anyway and waited for his answer.
12. Dragons don't exist they said. They are the stuff of legend and people's imagination. Greg
would have agreed with this assessment without a second thought 24 hours ago. But now
that there was a dragon staring directly into his eyes, he questioned everything that he had
been told.

13. It was the first day of the rest of her life. This wasn't the day she was actually born, but
she knew that nothing would be the same from this day forward. Although this was a bit
scary to her, it was also extremely freeing. Her past was no longer a burden or something
that she needed to be concerned about and defend. She threw off the covers keeping her
warm in bed, placed her feet over the side of the bed, slipped on her slipper, and took the
first step of the first day of her new life.

14. Brock would have never dared to do it on his own he thought to himself. That is why
Kenneth and he had become such good friends. Kenneth forced Brock out of his comfort
zone and made him try new things he'd never imagine doing otherwise. Up to this point,
this had been a good thing. It had expanded Brock's experiences and given him a new
appreciation for life. Now that both of them were in the back of a police car, all Brock
could think was that he would have never dared do it except for the influence of Kenneth.

15. It was a question of which of the two she preferred. On the one hand, the choice seemed
simple. The more expensive one with a brand name would be the choice of most. It was
the easy choice. The safe choice. But she wasn't sure she actually preferred it.

16. The time to take action was now. All three men knew in their hearts this was the case, yet
none of them moved a muscle to try. They were all watching and waiting for one of the
others to make the first move so they could follow a step or two behind and help. The
situation demanded a leader and all three men were followers.

17. Debbie had taken George for granted for more than fifteen years now. He wasn't sure
what exactly had made him choose this time and place to address the issue, but he
decided that now was the time. He looked straight into her eyes and just as she was about
to speak, turned away and walked out the door.
18. Sleep deprivation causes all sorts of challenges and problems. When one doesn’t get
enough sleep one’s mind doesn’t work clearly. Studies have shown that after staying
awake for 24 hours one’s ability to do simple math is greatly impaired. Driving tired has
been shown to be as bad as driving drunk. Moods change, depression, anxiety, and mania
can be induced by lack of sleep. As much as people try to do without enough sleep it is a
wonder more crazy things don’t happen in this world.

19. Josh had spent year and year accumulating the information. He knew it inside out and if
there was ever anyone looking for an expert in the field, Josh would be the one to call.
The problem was that there was nobody interested in the information besides him and he
knew it. Years of information painstakingly memorized and sorted with not a sole giving
even an ounce of interest in the topic.

20. Where do they get a random paragraph?" he wondered as he clicked the generate button.
Do they just write a random paragraph or do they get it somewhere? At that moment he
read the random paragraph and realized it was about random paragraphs and his world
would never be the same.

21. "It was so great to hear from you today and it was such weird timing," he said. "This is
going to sound funny and a little strange, but you were in a dream I had just a couple of
days ago. I'd love to get together and tell you about it if you're up for a cup of coffee," he
continued, laying the trap he'd been planning for years.

22. He was after the truth. At least, that's what he told himself. He believed it, but any
rational person on the outside could see he was lying to himself. It was apparent he was
really only after his own truth that he'd already decided and was after this truth because
the facts didn't line up with the truth he wanted. So he continued to tell everyone he was
after the truth oblivious to the real truth sitting right in front of him.

23. She had a terrible habit o comparing her life to others. She realized that their life
experiences were completely different than her own and that she saw only what they
wanted her to see, but that didn't matter. She still compared herself and yearned for what
she thought they had and she didn't.
24. Dave wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up in this predicament. He ran through all the
events that had lead to this current situation and it still didn't make sense. He wanted to
spend some time to try and make sense of it all, but he had higher priorities at the
moment. The first was how to get out of his current situation of being naked in a tree with
snow falling all around and no way for him to get down.

25. 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.

26. It was a good idea. At least, they all thought it was a good idea at the time. Hindsight
would reveal that in reality, it was an unbelievably terrible idea, but it would take another
week for them to understand that. Right now, at this very moment. they all agreed that it
was the perfect course of action for the current situation.

27. It all started with a random letter. Several of those were joined forces to create a random
word. The words decided to get together and form a random sentence. They decided not
to stop there and it wasn't long before a random paragraph had been cobbled together.
The question was whether or not they could continue the momentum long enough to
create a random short story.

28. The box sat on the desk next to the computer. It had arrived earlier in the day and
business had interrupted her opening it earlier. She didn't who had sent it and briefly
wondered who it might have been. As she began to unwrap it, she had no idea that
opening it would completely change her life.

29. Betty decided to write a short story and she was sure it was going to be amazing. She had
already written it in her head and each time she thought about it she grinned from ear to
ear knowing how wonderful it would be. She could imagine the accolades coming in and
the praise she would receive for creating such a wonderful piece. She was therefore
extremely frustrated when she actually sat down to write the short story and the story that
was so beautiful inside her head refused to come out that way on paper.
30. Sometimes it's simply better to ignore the haters. That's the lesson that Tom's dad had
been trying to teach him, but Tom still couldn't let it go. He latched onto them and their
hate and couldn't let it go, but he also realized that this wasn't healthy. That's when he
came up with his devious plan.

31. 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.

32. Was it a whisper or was it the wind? He wasn't quite sure. He thought he heard a voice
but at this moment all he could hear was the wind rustling the leaves of the trees all
around him. He stopped and listened more intently to see if he could hear the voice again.
Nothing but the wind rustling the leaves could be heard. He was about to continue his
walk when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he quickly turned to see who it was. There
was nobody there, but he heard the voice again.

33. It was going to rain. The weather forecast didn't say that, but the steel plate in his hip did.
He had learned over the years to trust his hip over the weatherman. It was going to rain,
so he better get outside and prepare.

34. Pink ponies and purple giraffes roamed the field. Cotton candy grew from the ground as a
chocolate river meandered off to the side. What looked like stones in the pasture were
actually rock candy. Everything in her dream seemed to be perfect except for the fact that
she had no mouth.

35. She nervously peered over the edge. She understood in her mind that the view was
supposed to be beautiful, but all she felt was fear. There had always been something
about heights that disturbed her, and now she could feel the full force of this unease. She
reluctantly crept a little closer with the encouragement of her friends as the fear continued
to build. She couldn't help but feel that something horrible was about to happen.

36. Stranded. Yes, she was now the first person ever to land on Venus, but that was of little
consequence. Her name would be read by millions in school as the first to land here, but
 that celebrity would never actually be seen by her. She looked at the control panel and
knew there was nothing that would ever get it back into working order. She was the first
and it was not clear this would also be her last.

37. Don't forget that gifts often come with costs that go beyond their purchase price. When
you purchase a child the latest smartphone, you're also committing to a monthly phone
bill. When you purchase the latest gaming system, you're likely not going to be satisfied
with the games that come with it for long and want to purchase new titles to play. When
you buy gifts it's important to remember that some come with additional costs down the
road that can be much more expensive than the initial gift itself.

38. I'm so confused by your ridiculous meltdown that I must insist on some sort of
explanation for your behavior towards me. It just doesn't make any sense. There's no way
that I deserved the treatment you gave me without an explanation or an apology for how
out of line you have been.

39. The wolves stopped in their tracks, sizing up the mother and her cubs. It had been over a
week since their last meal and they were getting desperate. The cubs would make a good
meal, but there were high risks taking on the mother Grizzly. A decision had to be made
and the wrong choice could signal the end of the pack.

40. 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.

41. 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.
42. 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.

43. It had been a simple realization that had changed Debra's life perspective. It was really so
simple that she was embarrassed that she had lived the previous five years with the way
she measured her worth. Now that she saw what she had been doing, she could see how
sad it was. That made her all the more relieved she had made the change. The number of
hearts her Instagram posts received wasn't any longer the indication of her own self-
worth.

44. He wandered down the stairs and into the basement. The damp, musty smell of unuse
hung in the air. A single, small window let in a glimmer of light, but this simply made the
shadows in the basement deeper. He inhaled deeply and looked around at a mess that had
been accumulating for over 25 years. He was positive that this was the place he wanted to
live.

45. Debbie put her hand into the hole, sliding her hand down as far as her arm could reach.
She wiggled her fingers hoping to touch something, but all she felt was air. She shifted
the weight of her body to try and reach an inch or two more down the hole. Her fingers
still touched nothing but air.

46. According to the caption on the bronze marker placed by the Multnomah Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution on May 12, 1939, “College Hall (is) the oldest
building in continuous use for Educational purposes west of the Rocky Mountains. Here
were educated men and women who have won recognition throughout the world in all the
learned professions.”

47. I guess we could discuss the implications of the phrase "meant to be." That is if we
wanted to drown ourselves in a sea of backwardly referential semantics and other
mumbo-jumbo. Maybe such a discussion would result in the determination that "meant to
be" is exactly as meaningless a phrase as it seems to be, and that none of us is actually
meant to be doing anything at all. But that's my existential underpants underpinnings
showing. It's the way the cookie crumbles. And now I want a cookie.
48. What have you noticed today? I noticed that if you outline the eyes, nose, and mouth on
your face with your finger, you make an "I" which makes perfect sense, but is something
I never noticed before. What have you noticed today?

49. April seriously wondered about her sleeping partner choices. She looked at her bed and
what a mess it had become. How did she get to the point in her life where she had two
dogs, three cats, and a raccoon sleeping with her every night?

50. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.
Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and
the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such
close dealing implied. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be
Christmas...