The Artist

No one knew his name, they simply called him the artist. He would breeze into town every few months and offer to paint their portraits.

At first, people were eager to oblige, sometimes lining up for their turn. It was deemed a great honor because the paintings were so lifelike.

But soon they learned about the dark side to having their portrait painted. People stopped trusting the artist and would run away whenever he appeared.

Anytime the artist painted someone, that person became an instant celebrity. The attention it brought was a tremendous burden. They preferred to live in obscurity.

The Abandoned Barn

The children of Glen Haddock often played near the empty barn on Signal Hill. They would dare each other to approach and brag about going inside at night.

The barn was abandoned years before. The children speculated what evil might lay within and noticed that sparrows would fly inside and never fly out again.

There was a man working the field near the barn. He was frightening in his own way. He warned the children away.

"That's where we lock away the scarecrows after they go bad."

None of the kids ever thought of going into the barn after that.

The End Of The Rainbow

After years of chasing storms all around the world, Will finally found his way to the end of a rainbow.

The scene was less idyllic than he'd imagined. The area around the rainbow was dark and wet and definitely not sanitary. With all the discarded junk and used medical supplies, it looked rather like a trash dump.

There was a leprechaun, though he seemed drunk and could not even manage to stand. Will asked where his gold was buried.

"You think I'd hide my gold here, at the shit end of the rainbow?" He hiccuped and fell asleep. Will cried.

Abnormal

Ben's parents adopted him late in their lives. They fed him and encouraged him to make friends and planned elaborate birthday parties that no other children came to. They did their best to give him a normal life, but something just seemed wrong with him.

Eventually, Ben's parents realized they had been wasting their time. What was the point of adopting a child if he wasn't going to attract more children to their home in the woods? They could have just kidnapped him and baked him into a pie and saved a whole lot of money on clothes and tuition.

The Stakes

They sat across from each other at their favorite restaurant and it seemed everything was at stake.

She fussed with her rings and he rubbed at his tattoo and they said everything except the truth of their despair. It was easy to pretend their worlds were crumbling into ruins when what they really needed to say was that life had become a burden. It would be easier on their own but each wanted the other to blame and so they spun their lies into spit and tears until they realized nothing was at stake any longer except their favorite restaurant.

The Tragedy Of The Greens

The green spaces in the village of Turnstell once served the needs of the entire community. Mr. Damhorst grazed his flock of sheep in the fields. Mrs. Graham was able to keep her honeycombs next to the woods. The Goldsmith twins collected berries for their homemade jam.

That was a long time ago. The Greens are no longer green. That's because the sheep attracted wolves, and the berries attracted bears, and the honey, well they brought the bees. Plus a developer chopped down the woods and built a row of high-end condominiums.

But mostly, people just really hated those bees.

Getting Under Her Skin

After a pupa has transformed into an adult moth, even a scientist has a difficult time connecting the new form with the old.

Similarly, when mild-mannered Bruce Banner gets antagonized and changes into the Hulk, it's hard to believe they are the same individual.

There are many examples of such disparate metamorphoses in nature.

But nothing can be so shocking as the enantiodromia my mother undergoes after she discovers that I've forgotten to do my chores. Where once was a loving parent who'd literally give her life for mine, now there's a raving lunatic intent on cutting short my existence.

The Acersecomic

Her hair had never been cut. In a way that was totally dissimilar to Rapunzel, she was a prisoner, trapped by whatever strange mixture of fate and circumstance that determined what we are to become in this life.

If she had been born a Buddha, perhaps she'd have lived many lives and enjoyed all manner of fashionable hairstyles. Instead, she was stillborn with a full head of hair. She was buried with that same tussock, tied together with a bright pink ribbon her mother had tried to purchase from the local notions shop only to find her money was refused.

No One Else To Blame

She stared out the window every day, waiting for her husband to return from sea. Whether she wanted him to return or not was an open question in her heart and mind, but it was her duty to wait so wait she did.

The war had ended years ago. The other husbands had either returned or been confirmed dead. Only hers was still unaccounted for.

She was Queen in his absence. The power was nice and she bowed to no man, but sometimes it would have been nice to have someone to blame for the rotten economy besides the Gods.

Honors Bestowed

When the bandit chief Harper Caine invaded the capital, he was met with the torrential might of the King's Watch. After he quickly dispatched the watchmen, the King's ministers unanimously called for negotiation.

It was decided they would offer Harper Caine lordship over the King's peach orchards.

"Why would I agree to such a settlement?" asked Harper Caine.

"Because tending to the King's peaches is considered the greatest honor in all the lands and comes with a salary of 1,000 gold bars."

"I agree to those terms."

It was many years before Harper Caine realized the King cared nothing for peaches.