The Last Leaf In Autumn

Grayson watched the oak tree at all hours, day and night. Even when sleeping for short intervals, he'd installed a monitoring system to protect against intruders.

He'd become an unexpected celebrity in his town when it was officially determined the last autumn leaf clinging to a branch was in his yard. Local police immediately established a protective perimeter, followed by the FBI and military. Grayson wasn't fully convinced of their trustworthiness however, hence his own added security .

After all, if there were no more leaves, than climate change was real, and he hated for his wife to be proven right.

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.

Stephen Samenlego

For Stephen Samenlego, even the simple act of walking across the street was a chore. He prepared for the ordeal with a regimen of ointments and black market pharmaceuticals that he applied to his most delicate areas. His biggest fear was someone would notice his discomfit and so he plastered over his features to look as resplendent as on celluloid.

His passings always attracted enormous attention. Samenlego often thought the crowds mocked him, that they considered he was somehow undeserving of his unrivaled celebrity. Being the world's greatest film star has the effect of isolating you from your fellow humanity.

A Minor Transformation That Would Later Be Cited As Evidence Of His Divinity

He woke up from what felt like an intensely deep sleep. His first instinct was to feel his wounds. They were still there, but something felt different. It may not have been a big change, the kind that people would notice, but he was definitely aware of it himself.

He realized it was dark, and he felt his way around and decided he must be in some sort of cave. That's weird. He would have thought they'd have built some kind of tomb or something befitting his celebrity.

Ah, now he recognized what was different. He wasn't dead anymore. Cool.

The Daily Theme from Figment for March 21, 2012

Literature is full of stories about people who wake to find themselves in extreme altered physical states--a man wakes up as a giant insect; a girl grows antlers in her sleep; a poor weaver discovers that his head has been replaced with that of a donkey. But what happens when a person wakes up only slightly transformed? Write a story about a person who wakes one morning with a small physical change--big enough to feel profound to him or her, but subtle enough that it's not immediately apparent to others.