Karen Willis stepped off the curb and headed back to her office building. She had a hot cup of coffee in her hand and started running across the busy road. Chad Burns watched in silence. She was wearing her dark grey power suit with a light pink blouse and her hair pulled back.
"She is always dressed to kill," Chad said out loud to no one.
He and Karen made eye contact a few seconds before the truck came speeding around the corner. Chad opened his mouth to warn her but nothing came out. The impact of the truck slamming into Karen's fragile body made a horrific bone crunching sound that played over and over in Chad's mind. Then he woke up!

Wednesday: This is exciting. I've been chosen to test products for XYZ Company. Imagine -- out of all the teenagers in the United States, they picked me for their sample group! I can't wait to start. I wonder what I'll be testing? I know it's nothing harmful. The paper my parents signed stated there'd be no experimental drugs or foods involved. Thank goodness. I'm cautious about what I put in my mouth. I want my brain to last.

There are twenty of us, ten boys and ten girls. Two of the guys are cute. The one with the red hair keeps glancing over. I smile when I catch his eyes, but he always looks away. I hope he comes over and talks to me, but I guess we'll have lots of time for that. After all, we're going to be together for a whole week!

It was December 31st and Mackie was busy. Customers lined up outside the door, while her assistant -- the very buff Pierre -- took down the basics from each person. Mackie was on her third whiskey. It was going down smooth, but then all of the interplanetary distilleries were top notch.

Brunela squeezed her way into the office and chose to stand rather than sit in the narrow office chair. She hung her head, plopping her Coach handbag in the seat instead.

"It's not the end of the world," Mackie said.

"But I tried to lose weight. I really did," she sniffled. "The end of the year just snuck up on me."

"It happens. But that's why I'm here. You still have a good. . ." Mackie looked at the clock. ". . . fifteen hours to make your resolution come true."

Brunela smiled, handing over a large check.

Mackie's gold capped fangs gleamed as she grinned and accepted it with dignity.

No one paid any attention to the skeleton with the designer handbag dangling off its ulna - or was it the radius? Anyway, the skeleton left the shop and more people surged in.

Did you ever have one of those days when everything was perfect? You know what I mean. The sun wraps it's warmth around you like a blanket. The breeze is just strong enough to flow around you like soft water and smells like it had just rained. A day made for walking around in the park and listening to all the sounds, then lay back on the soft grass and close your eyes and feel the life around you move. Yep, that's just how my day started. It would have continued like that all day except for one little roadblock, the sound of the horn.

Of course, that particular noise never intruded on my days when the weather was too hot, or too rainy. No, some twisted individual, I suspect it was a person with no soul, waited until a day that was just right and made for relaxing to call us to the classroom. I rushed across the complex as you did not keep the instructor waiting. As I ran, I saw others from my class hurrying to class as well. One last breathe of the morning air and then I passed through the doors and entered the main building.

Cornelius sighed. The world was going to end at precisely 2:34 pm on Saturday and it was his fault. Not that he’d meant to start The Apocalypse but his latest update to the Global Wireless Network had made it inevitable.

"Hey, Corny!" A voice called from outside his lab. "You there?"

Cornelius sat up straight. It was Jessica. "Um, ye-yes, I’m here."

Around the bank of monitors a petite redhead appeared. Jessica was the most beautiful woman Cornelius had ever known. She was also the most brilliant computer designer he’d ever known. Which, in his eyes, made her even more beautiful.

"Um, yes, Jessica?"

"There’s something off with the system," she said as she stared down at her 12x12 portable workstation. "Have you been making any changes?"

Cornelius swallowed. "Um, yes, I have."

Jessica frowned. "Well, whatever you did is eating up a lot of processing power. If this keeps up people are going to get busy signals."

Cornelius hung his head. "In three days time busy signals won’t be the worse of it."

"It’s not that much...just a little." She heard the whisper in her ear, feeling the breath on her earlobe and neck.
She turned her head, though she knew no one would be there, as with the night before in bed, when he first spoke to her. A silky tenor. Sandy straightened and caught the assistant eyeing her curiously. Smiling, she received a stony glare in response.
"Pull it together." She mumbled under her breath.
Clutching the portfolio a little tighter, she crossed her legs at the ankles and looked at the landscape print on the waiting room wall. This job, it was a chance in a lifetime, she told herself. Sandy had told herself that numerous times since getting the interview.
She hadn’t realized it was with the Godor Company when she’d applied. The top executive research firm in the galaxy, with primary focuses researching sites for intergalactic expansion. If she could get this job, everything would fall into place for her career.

As I sit in the holding area of the federal building, I can’t help but dwell on the bizarre morning I had. My bedroom stand up mirror, handed down through the family for ages, is clearly more than meets the eye. I’ve always found it strange, that carved on the back of that mirror frame were some old Latin looking words that roughly translate to "Live, Die, and Pay Taxes".

Once again I’m left to rot in my armor like a common thief in the dungeon cell of the lord’s main court. I can’t evade the thought of the devil magic in this morning’s passing. A rather disturbing event and I may actually destroy the reflecting glass in my cottage. It is clearly cursed by wizards then passed to my father and henceforth. Was it a message, or a questing beyond a knight’s inner soul?

"Hey, Bubba!" called Stevie-Oh, floating across the field toward Loowrey. "Dude, the deal's we're gonna meet up in 2046, okay? I've got the bucket, you bring the apples. Just so's ya know -- oops, gotta be off!"

"George Morr, you were accused of damage to Virtoural Inc property due to gross negligence," the Judge of the Third Court of Damages (Corporate). "The crime took place on the planet of Wishan.One diving pod, one docking station.one male body and one female body were damaged irreparably, to the sum of fourteen million credits."