Session January 30 2016

http://vid.alarabiya.net/images/2013/06/28/39ade985-530d-4aae-b9d7-3b984028b475/39ade985-530d-4aae-b9d7-3b984028b475_16x9_788x442.jpg

"He shut the door to his den and thought I will just wait it out."

By CC

After four excruciating hours of chasing it around the house, he shut the door to his den and thought I will just wait it out.

He could hear his brother’s feet thundering from room to room, still in hot pursuit. The darn thing was fast. And the mind boggling problem was that neither of them knew what it actually was.

Rick had come back late from the swap meet, crowing about his wonderful find, amazed that no-one had snapped it up already.  Rick didn’t know what it was, though it looked like an incense burner.

They had just lifted the lid when it flew out and zipped across the floor and down the hall to their bedrooms.

Now Charles would just let Rick find the darn thing. It was his problem.  Charles leaned back in his recliner, still a bit short of breath, and quickly fell to sleep. Soon his jaw sagged open and quick as a wink the djinn, which had been hiding in the den, shot into his mouth and down his throat. What perfect cover, it thought with a giggle.

Suddenly Charles woke up. He felt strangely awake and alive. He needed to go out for a run, straight away! Never mind that he was a couch potato who considered a walk to the post box sufficient exercise for the day. That was then, he thought as he left the den and crossed the living room floor. He could hear Rick, behind closed doors, busy tearing apart his bedroom. He must have trapped it in there, Charles thought. Good.

Then Charles opened the front door and went for a run. After an hour he was still quite peppy and had developed an appetite for insects. There were none immediately discernible so he went home and popped a pizza in the oven. It would be better with cockroaches. He scanned the abominably clean room to see if by some miracle one might appear – but none did. Pepperoni would have to do.

http://www.youramazingplaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/nature-26.jpg

"They liked to climb out on the roof to watch the sunset."
by GS

Even though they knew the risks, they liked to climb out on the roof to watch the sunset. Until that awful November night when Jodie slipped and fell into the garden, nothing bad had happened. Now the X-ray showed an arm with serious bone damage. The surgeon decided it would be impossible to repair so he amputated the arm. They never climbed out onto the roof again!

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0248/9973/files/k0hUiktADTxwMr6V7QuEKpTmCz8dNF17Tvj1YK0qOU8_grande.jpg?2502    

"It never took this long for Elmore to get home; Peggy looked at the clock with a mixture of fear and suspicion."
by TNT

Love in Climate Change

It used to be the strip mall in the area called Mission Valley. Now it was a very nice harbor. She looked down at the water and wondered exactly where the old apartment was. Somewhere near the submerged stadium, she supposed. 

She had sent Elmore out to get the mail from the mainland - Vista Heights. It never took this long for Elmore to get home. Peggy looked at the clock with a mixture of fear and suspicion. 

Had Elmore gone to the Offshore Bank to get the yen to buy a pirate flag? She would fly the Jolly Roger and swing her saber! Elmore had a patch over his one eye. "It must be hard to be a mutant," she thought. "But that's their problem."

http://maverickphilosopher.typepad.com/.a/6a010535ce1cf6970c01901c2e3df5970b-320wi

"She learned that the lifespan of the small rodents infesting her home was very limited."
by BG

She learned that the lifespan of the small rodents infesting her home was very limited, but she still wanted them gone. Living where she did, there were not too many options when it came to exterminators. She called companies from far and wide but no one wanted to travel to where she lived. 

Finally one day she contacted a guy who was willing to respond to her request. He said it would take about a month for him to get there. At last he showed up. She was so disappointed when she opened the door to her cottage. She just knew his methods for extermination of her rodents would be overkill.

http://i.tmgrup.com.tr/dailysabah/2015/10/12/HaberDetay/1444589252838.jpg

"It happened several months after world War II ended," he said sadly.

By MD

He waved goodbye to the overloaded ferry.  Then he turned to his son, awaiting him on the docks behind.  “It happened several months after World War II ended,’ he said sadly.  “Communications were poor in underground Provence.  We were unaware the War had ended.  And so the dispossessed, the poor, the persecuted, remained with me and your mother in our underground wine cellar.”

“But why didn’t someone venture out?” his son asked. 

“After so many months, we’d all grown close.  We were an extended family.  And the wine was plentiful.  Why would we want to leave?”

“So what brought about this mass of humanity crowded onto the ferry you just waved goodbye to?” inquired the son.

“Well,” his father replied.  “Actually, your mother knew it was safe for them to go.  But she’d grown so attached to them.  And we thought you had been killed in the war.  So she kept the secret about the war’s end.  But since you’ve returned, safe and sound, back from the dead so to speak, she told our friends the truth, and arranged for the ferry to take our friends home.”

The old man sighed.  “It’s still not easy to say farewell.  That’s why your mother is not here.  And, in fact, I am not here to truly say goodbye.  My parting words to all on that boat were simple. I wished them Godspeed and all heaven’s blessings.”

“I hope all those people trapped for so long needlessly in your cellar will understand and forgive,” his son said.  “After all, it happened several months after World War II ended,” he said sadly.  “I hope they can forgive.”

http://cos.h-cdn.co/assets/14/39/nrm_1411384005-screen_shot_2014-09-21_at_191254.jpg

"Let's go camping," he said suddenly. "Let's go deep into the woods for a week."
by NC

"Let's go camping," he said suddenly. "Let's go deep into the woods for a week," said little Who Who. "The humans have gone on vacation. Why not us? The caretakers will just put our food on the back porch and the field mice will eat it." 

Miss Natalia, a fancy Persian Blue cat, said "OK!" She was always up for adventure. Little Who Who said "I'll spot the new territory from the air and you from the ground."

The first day Big Buford the breeding bull almost stopped Miss Natalia when they crossed the pasture. The second day Who Who had a romance with Gloria, an owl like him. The third day, it rained so much the creek flooded  and Miss Natalia understand why cats don't swim. The fourth and fifth days brought nothing but slogging along in the rain. A big ugly Grizzly almost got Miss Natalia. Then they were finally home. 

Who Who and Natalia agreed: There is no place like home.

http://pop.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/06/54cfc6ff8eb51_-_most-dangerous-places-to-live-01-0513-de.jpg

“They opened the gate so it could leave when it wanted to go.”

By RC

The citizens of, Markreski, Russia had never been so proud. They had the only living art and exhibit of its kind in the world—as far as anyone could determine. But the people really couldn’t take much credit for it, because all they had done was kind of decorate the thing and put of all those flags around it. And, of course, put up the fence with its gigantic gate. Most of the citizens were uneducated, and couldn’t even write, and those who could usually wrote some of the letters backwards, but nonetheless they had put up a large sign announcing their “artwork”: Bepxorok, it read—sort of. That was their name for the thing which they had never seen before, because they really didn’t know what it was.

Igor, the blacksmith was proud of the work he had done on the exhibit, the boulders he’d brought with much trouble over the snow, and the plaque which he had erected in front of it, commemorating the day that they opened it up to the public. Of the exhibit itself, he liked best the gigantic furry horns. which were the spectacular draw, because of the fact that most of the thing was underground. It appeared that it was hibernating.

Because of their sensitivity to all wildlife, after a while someone made a suggestion and the council approved an ordinance. The gate would never be closed. In fact, they all marched out together to do this, and to show their love for the creature. Igor stood in front of everyone and read the sentiment the council had written out: “If you love something, let it go, and if it comes back, it’s yours.”

Then, together, they opened the gate so it could leave when it wanted to go.