This Story Takes Place In Minnesota

Rebecca hurried from the office. She jumped into the front seat of her car, tossed her bag down next to her, threw the key in the ignition, then suddenly paused.

There was a stranger sitting in the backseat. Rebecca pulled out of the lot and headed towards the highway while trying to avoid looking in the mirror. An awkward silence hung in the air. Rebecca refused to be the first one to say anything.

When she finally pulled into her garage, Rebecca grabbed her bag and hurried into the house. She hoped the man would be gone by the morning.

The Spoon

Victoria had believed their house was haunted, until they moved and the weird stuff in the kitchen didn't stop. Maybe it was her mom who was haunted.

When the so-called experts, most of whom were crackpots, realized there was a real phenomenon, most ran out faster than Victoria's father had.

In the end, it was her mother's new boyfriend who made the connection. David was an oceanographer, and he recognized the sounds coming from the spoon as whale song.

Victoria wanted to keep the spoon, but her mother sold it. After that, Victoria went to go live with her father.

While The Dragon Yet Lives

Sir Hadder rested against the boulder. He needed time to catch his breath after hauling his heavy armor and weapons up the mountain. Unfortunately, the racket had warned the dragon of his arrival, and Hadder heard the beast emerging from its cave.

One peek around the corner showed Sir Hadder a field littered with the charred skeletal remains of the many heroes who had preceded him on this quest. No knight could wed the King's daughter while the dragon yet lived.

It made him wonder if marrying the princess was worth it. After all, she was now over 40 years old.

Spelling Bee

The third grade spelling bee at Crispus Attucks Elementary was an annual event that attracted international attention. Students trained strenuously for the competition in hopes of being crowned champion. Thanks to corporate sponsorship, the prize had surpassed one million dollars. Just making it past the first round was considered an exceptional feat.

"Fugacious."

"Legerdemain."

"Pusillanimous."

Parents complained about the difficulty of the vocabulary. Officials ignored them, claiming it was the whining of losers. You never heard the winner complain.

"Oneiromancy."

I.A.N. was the winner again this year. It marked the 13th straight year the artificial intelligence device had emerged victorious.

The Dream World

Lesley entered the dream world for the first time the night after the accident. She fell asleep in her hospital room with the aid of painkillers and woke up to find she could walk again.

It is common for people to have their first experience of the dream world after an unexpected trauma. The sudden vulnerability allows them to touch aspects of reality our minds try to keep hidden.

Our greatest heroes are usually those who navigate the dangers of the dream world and become something greater than they were.

Lesley was not one of those. She died almost immediately.

Some Things Will Always Remain A Mystery

When Bob achieved omniscience in heaven, pretty much all the crazy shit that had never made sense now became clear. But as he sat on a cloud with Baby Jesus, there was still one mystery that confused him.

"You forgive everyone, right?"

"That's right," Baby Jesus said.

"Even those religious fundamentalists who preach intolerance?"

"Yes, even them."

"I guess they're lucky you're a forgiving God."

Baby Jesus giggled. "To tell you the truth, I don't get why they worshiped me in the first place. Why not go in for one of the more vengeful religions that better suited their temperament?"

Final Contact

First contact with an alien life form came in 2015 when the pods landed. They entered the Earth's atmosphere across the planet. They landed in empty fields and busy streets. They filled the oceans and eventually washed up on shore.

The creatures that emerged were soft, benign-looking, and responded well to cuddling. It wasn't long before every child on the planet wanted one for their very own. Supplies were limited at first, but the pods kept coming, and eventually the fad became outdated.

The creatures took three years to mature. Once they started breeding, the enslavement of the human race began.

The League Of Ruin

The test for entry into the League of Ruin is simple yet fearsome. Initiates are given two vials and asked to choose. One contains a power-granting elixir, the other a deadly poison. Anyone who wishes to join the league must overcome the test through a combination of bravery, deduction, and perception.

The truth, known only to the members of the League of Ruin, is there really is no choice. Each petitioner either has two vials of elixir or two of poison. The decision has already been made long before the actual trial, based upon the initiate's popularity, deviousness, and attractiveness.

Complacency

When the alarm sounded, most of us were in the break room. We didn't need to check the bulletin board to know we were to exit through the rear stairwell. Even so, we took our time evacuating.

The post office had been receiving bomb threats for years. When I was first hired, I was constantly nervous, but over time I'd realized we weren't in any real danger. No more than everyone else, anyway.

Today was different. Today there really was a bomb. Perhaps if we'd hurried, the death toll wouldn't have been so high. Perhaps I'd still have my legs.

Single Sin Manifest

There had been a theory, more of a folk tale really, that hummingbirds were angels come down to Earth. They flitted about madly and we were attracted to their beauty and awed by their delicate nature.

The angels actually turned out to be the elephants and rhinoceroses, which makes sense when you think about it. They were heavy and profound and their words carry weight. Unfortunately, we hunted them to extinction and now we're down here on our own.

The hummingbirds are still among us. Each one is a single sin manifest and they are growing more numerous every day.