- Lizzie
- Richard
- Tom
- Norval Joe
- Serendipidy
- Planet Z
NORVAL JOE
The class bell rang and Billbert’s biology teacher hadn’t yet come into the classroom.
As he was admiring the chestnut brown hair of the girl ahead of him in the row, she turned around and smiled. Her equally dark brown eyes seemed to amplify the brilliant whiteness of her teeth. “Hi. I’m Marrissa. I was just telling my friend, Willhemina, that I think you’re really cute.”
Was he asleep and dreaming or just losing his mind?
Marrissa seemed to drop away.
As Billbert’s thighs pressed to the underside of the desk, he realized he was floating out of his seat.
SERENDIPIDY
Those who think they know me and my ways think it’s a little strange that, amongst my extensive armoury and instruments of torture, I also keep a well-stocked medical kit.
Even more surprising is the selection of painkilling drugs and life sustaining aids that I’m happy to freely administer – when necessary – to the unfortunate victims of my painful ministrations.
But there is a logical explanation for this seeming anachronism.
Because I don’t want my victims losing their will to live…
So, I pep them back up, give them false hope, and start all over again from scratch.
RICHARD
Bittersweet Me
It always struck me as just a little ironic that Michael Stipe was singing all about ‘Shiny Happy People’ one moment, and the next he was ‘Losing My Religion’.
I’ve known churches like that – full of happy clappy, hug you without warning, share the blessing, full gospel types of people.
All very lovely inside the church, but meet them outside and it’s a different picture altogether.
Then they’ll happily judge you for your ungodly ways, condemn you for your sinful life and won’t tolerate a different point of view or alternative lifestyle.
Hypocrites.
Everybody hurts, you know?
Even me.
LIZZIE
Strings left, strings right. They pulled the strings left and they pulled the strings right. The doll swayed on the small stage, left and right. Her face was emotionless. The brush she held swayed with her. Her face was emotionless… And the more they pulled on the strings, the more she swayed. And the more that brush swayed, the more she painted an invisible feeling in the air. It swayed angrily. The doll’s fingers cramped around it tightly. Her body shook and jumped in all directions. And that brush painted a face of sheer anger. Metal dolls have feelings too.
PLANET Z
They say there’s a right way to lose weight and a wrong way to lose weight.
The right way is a sensible, sustainable diet and a reasonable exercise routine.
The wrong way is a starvation diet and a painful exercise regimen.
You’ll just give up and the pounds will come back on.
Same with dangerous surgeries and remedies.
The extremely wrong way is to launch yourself into orbit.
Sure, you’ve lost weight. But it’ll all come back when you return to Earth.
Unless you burn up during re-entry.
That’s also an extremely wrong way to burn calories, so to speak.