Novel 2

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.
He watched as the young man tried to impress

everyone in the room with his intelligence. There
was no doubt that he was smart. The fact that
he was more intelligent than anyone else in the
room could have been easily deduced, but
nobody was really paying any attention due to
the fact that it was also obvious that the young
man only cared about his intelligence.
The rain was coming. Everyone thought this

would be a good thing. It hadn't rained in
months and the earth was dry as a bone. It
wasn't a surprise that everyone thought a good
rain was what was needed, but they never
expected how much rain would actually arrive.
They had made it to Las Vegas, wide-eyed and

with so much hope and energy. They had
planned the trip for more than a year and both
were so excited they could barely control
themselves. They still hadn't realized that Las
Vegas promised a place where dreams come
true, it was actually the place where dreams
came to die.
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...
She didn't understand how changed worked.

When she looked at today compared to
yesterday, there was nothing that she could see
that was different. Yet, when she looked at
today compared to last year, she couldn't see
how anything was ever the same.
There was no time. He ran out of the door

without half the stuff he needed for work, but it
didn't matter. He was late and if he didn't make
this meeting on time, someone's life may be in
danger.
They had always called it the green river. It

made sense. The river was green. The river
likely had a different official name, but to
everyone in town, it was and had always been
the green river. So it was with great surprise that
on this day the green river was a fluorescent
pink.
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.
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.
She didn't like the food. She never did. She

made the usual complaints and started the
tantrum he knew was coming. But this time was
different. Instead of trying to placate her and her
unreasonable demands, he just stared at her
and watched her meltdown without saying a
word.
The water rush down the wash and into the slot
canyon below. Two hikers had started the day to
sunny weather without a cloud in the sky, but
they hadn't thought to check the weather north
of the canyon. Huge thunderstorms had brought
a deluge o rain and produced flash floods
heading their way. The two hikers had no idea
what was coming.
Finding the red rose in the mailbox was a

pleasant surprise for Sarah. She didn't have a
boyfriend or know of anyone who was interested
in her as anything more than a friend. There
wasn't even a note attached to it. Although it
was a complete mystery, it still made her heart
jump and race a little more than usual. She
wished that she could simply accept the gesture
and be content knowing someone had given it to
her, but that wasn't the way Sarah did things.
Now it was time to do a little detective work and
try to figure who had actually left the red rose.
She counted. One. She could hear the steps

coming closer. Two. Puffs of breath could be
seen coming from his mouth. Three. He stopped
beside her. Four. She pulled the trigger of the
gun.
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.
Betty was a creature of habit and she thought

she liked it that way. That was until Dave
showed up in her life. She now had a choice to
make and it would determine whether her lie
remained the same or if it would change forever.
The headphones were on. They had been
utilized on purpose. She could hear her mom
yelling in the background, but couldn't make out
exactly what the yelling was about. That was
exactly why she had put them on. She knew her
mom would enter her room at any minute, and
she could pretend that she hadn't heard any of
the previous yelling.
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?
Time is all relative based on age and

experience. When you are a child an hour is a
long time to wait but a very short time when
that’s all the time you are allowed on your iPad.
As a teenager time goes faster the more
deadlines you have and the more you
procrastinate. As a young adult, you think you
have forever to live and don’t appreciate the
time you spend with others. As a middle-aged
adult, time flies by as you watch your children
grow up. And finally, as you get old and you
have fewer responsibilities and fewer demands
on you, time slows. You appreciate each day
and are thankful you are alive. An hour is the
same amount of time for everyone yet it can feel
so different in how it goes by.
He sat staring at the person in the train

stopped at the station going in the opposite
direction. She sat staring ahead, never noticing
that she was being watched. Both trains began
to move and he knew that in another timeline or
in another universe, they had been happy
together.

Novel 2

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Stranded.

Yes, she was now the first person

He watched as the young man tried to impress

The rain was coming. Everyone thought this

They had made it to Las Vegas, wide-eyed and

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was

She didn't understand how changed worked.

There was no time. He ran out of the door

They had always called it the green river. It

It was the first day of the rest of her life. This

Sometimes it's simply better to ignore the

She didn't like the food. She never did. She

Finding the red rose in the mailbox was a

She counted. One. She could hear the steps

It all started with the computer. Had he known

Betty was a creature of habit and she thought

What have you noticed today? I noticed that if

Time is all relative based on age and

He sat staring at the person in the train

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