humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
Everest
You saw her in the distance, kissing the sky and creating her own weather. And your life was a boring cacophony of business meetings and whining kids, so you wondered about the climb. So you studied her. Stalked her, really. You prepared. You went to REI and bought gear, you read every word written about her. You planned your trip and waited for the moment you’d be able to pack your bags.
By Christa Leigh5 years ago in Humans
Making Amends
Fozzie Bear?? Really? Damn Facebook game thing decides what Sesame Street Muppet you're most like, and I get that flippin' guy. Even after the second time. Consumed by my wish to be seen as Kermit, I hopped on my bike, hoping for the appropriate soundtrack. Again, no. But I had to be at my non-Fozzie spot on time, so I was able to bear the disappointment and head off to the coffee shop.
By Laura Chastain5 years ago in Humans
My thoughts on my way finding a friend but being seduced with warmness.
I guess I’m lost; again. No wonder why I am helpless. If I keep up at this pace, I don’t think I’ll get any better at all! I came here searching for a friend, but no one is here today. What a mess! It sucks really, being injured and incapable of returning to work. Not a single person to share a thought with. Having no friends to rely on is a juristic bummer.
By Tanto Scriptori5 years ago in Humans
The Hidden Recipe Treasure
It was an exciting day. It was springtime and I was moving into my very first home. It was a long time coming, saving and saving every last penny to finally get a cute fixer upper. I knew it would be slow going, but I also knew in my heart that this home would eventually be perfect.
By Brenda Helbig5 years ago in Humans
My Ken
He came again, with his slick black hair, ill fitting suit, pen at the ready to jot down anything he thought useful in his well worn little black book. He came with questions. Not the sort I liked to answer to a stranger but he was nice enough, even jovial and the dog liked him.
By Wendy Thacker5 years ago in Humans
The 9th Life of Lily Luckett
Grief weighed her down like the anchor of a sinking ship. She often felt as though she were drowning in the torrential tears that streamed heavily down the terrain of her face. Eyes caught afire and puffy from overnight suffering. Mind numb from thoughts stampeding in protest of unanswered questions - the main one being "why?" - and the chest pleading for Grief to let loose his tight grip. Grief as the titanic, seeping deeper and deeper into the sea of her whirl-winded emotions.
By ItalixVEVO5 years ago in Humans
The Hometown That Reclaims Its Own
I thought that I had escaped the draw of B-town. After years of moving out and returning, it has now been nearly ten years since I last called it home. Then I found myself there last week to take pictures for this challenge. So regardless of the circumstances and the why behind them, B-town always finds a way to bring you back home.
By Vince Coliam5 years ago in Humans
ASD Snapshot: Continue is the Power
I flew to Tokyo one week before Christmas and three months after I turned twenty-five. I had not lived in Japan long when I learned something new about myself: I was Christmas cake. I wore new words. I was learning about myself through foreign eyes.
By Teresa Hedley5 years ago in Humans
Abundance
Peter Narsic stormed out of the employment office, the glass door swinging wildly behind him. "They don't know what they are doing!" he thought to himself, as he hurried along the sidewalk, nearly bumping into and knocking over several pedestrians moving in the opposite direction. He had been out of work for four months, and after striking out again today he was down to what he had in the change jar on his dresser and the few dollars he now had in his pocket.
By Samuel Freedman5 years ago in Humans
Predictions
Today started just like any other day of the week. I got up, took a bath, got dressed and headed off to work. Something felt different about today though. Like that feeling you get when you smell a distinctive smell and it reminds you of a place you've been in the past. I didn't think much about it. I just jumped in the car and headed off to work. On the way, I noticed that I needed gas. So I stopped by my favorite store on the way. I figured I would pick up a Powerball ticket while I was there. Everyone at work was talking about how big the jackpot has risen to and I know the odds of winning is crazy but my dad always said “People who don't buy a ticket have the worst odds of winning it”. After I finished pumping gas I noticed something odd when I went to put the gas nozzle back. It didn't want to go back in correctly. Something was jammed up in the hole where the nozzle goes. I reached in there and pulled out this tiny little black book. It was small enough to sit in the palm of my hand. I thumbed through it quickly as I was walking in the store to grab my ticket and I noticed it was about six pages of QR codes. It struck me as odd for a second but I put it in my pocket and hurried up because I was running late for work. With paperwork piled up on my desk, I knew It was going to be a long work day. During my lunch break I went and grabbed a coke from the vending machine. I reached in my pocket for money and pulled out that tiny little black book. I went back to my desk and scanned the first QR code. My mind was thinking that it was probably a link to someone social media page but it sent me to a strange sports gambling webpage that showed wins and losses of the games for that week. As I looked carefully at the website and the games posted, I noticed that it had the wrong teams playing against each other. That's when I noticed the dates of the games. Every game was dated twenty three years in the future to the exact day as today, September 15. Confused I scan the next code on the next page. This one sent me to a specific auction item on Ebay. The item was a baseball card of a player I didn't recognize. The item sold for thousands of dollars and I noticed that the sold date was eleven years in the future to the day. As I keep scanning the codes, it took me to different websites. One was a link to a stock market website. One was a horse racing website showing results of the races. One was an art gallery site for sold paintings. When I scanned the last code. It sent me to a link that showed my obituary. It was dated thirty years in the future to the same day as today. Just like the rest of them. At this point I was freaking out on the inside but I needed to stay calm so I wouldn't alarm other employees at my job. I couldn't understand what it was all about. I had bits of excitement that was quickly absorbed by panic attacks coursing through my body. I thought I might have something that was predicting the future. I was imagining how much money I could make from all of the predictions. I also was worried about the time I had left time to live, if it was true. That's when I noticed my Powerball ticket laying on my desk and the numbers on the ticket matched the number of years in the future for each code. Twenty three, eleven, twelve, twenty, thirty one and thirty seven. When I got home that night, I waited in nervousness to see what numbers came out. My jaw dropped to the floor when I hit every number. But I didn't match the last number. The red Powerball. I didn't care because I just won a million dollars! I was so excited! I could not believe what was happening to me. After the excitement calmed down, I wondered why I didn't get the last number for the jackpot. So I went to go grab the book out of my car and it wasn't there. I looked everywhere for the book but I couldn't find it. When I got to work the next day, the IT Department already erased everyone's computer to upgrade the company's networking software. So I couldn't bring any of the websites back up. That'll when I remembered that I wrote down a few predictions on a note pad when I originally went to each site.
By David Trichel5 years ago in Humans
