She considered the birds to be her friends.
She'd put out food for them each
morning and then she'd watch as they came to the feeders to gorge themselves for
the day. She wondered what they would do if something ever happened to her. Would
they miss the meals she provided if she failed to put out the food one morning?
Sitting in the sun, away from everyone who had done him harm in the past, he
quietly listened to those who roamed by. He felt at peace in the moment, hoping it
would last, but knowing the reprieve would soon come to an end. He closed his eyes,
the sun beating down on face and he smiled. He smiled for the first time in as long
as he could remember.
How had she been so wrong? All her instincts and intuition completely failed her
for the first time in her life. She had so heavily relied on both when making
decisions up until this moment and she felt a seismic shift take place in her self-
confidence. If she could be so completely wrong about something so simple as this,
how could she make decisions about really important things taking place in her
life? She wasn't sure what she should do next.
Twenty seconds were all that was left and Richard could hear each one tick by.
Fifteen seconds now remained and the panic began to fully set in. Ten seconds and
he wasn't sure he had enough time. Five seconds, four, three, two, one...
All he wanted was a candy bar. It didn't seem like a difficult request to
comprehend, but the clerk remained frozen and didn't seem to want to honor the
request. It might have had something to do with the gun pointed at his face.
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.
The river slowly meandered through the open space. It had hidden secrets that it
didn't want to reveal. It had a well-planned strategy to appear calm, inviting, and
appealing. That's how the river lured her unknowing victims to her water's edge.
The fog was as thick as pea soup. This was a problem. Gary was driving but couldn't
see a thing in front of him. He knew he should stop, but the road was narrow so if
he did, it would be right in the center of the road. He was sure that another car
would end up rear-ending him, so he continued forward despite the lack of
visibility. This was an unwise move.
