Jubilee Jones hated all things celebratory.

Lulu was known to bring the toughest men to their knees, humbled and weeping like little lasses.

The wastrels sang soprano, the stumblebums sang bass.

Candice preferred the sound of traffic to the twittering of birds, the heady scent of the subway to the smell of the woods after the rain.

Joe realized the inanity of formality when beginning his letter to the serial killer with "dear."

Natalie hated the truth, preferring the layers of lies she wore like a heavy shawl.

The beleaguered director had a lecherous producer (literally) breathing down her neck, a drunken crew of ex-Somali pirates as extras and a bloated budget that was bleeding greenbacks.

The insects made inroads the summer of the drought.

Tired of having his cheeks pulled by his great aunt, Thomas let loose with a stream of milk he had secreted in his mouth, covering the grand dame and ending any chance of inheritance.

With the curtain now ripped the breadth of the political party's bizarre and repellent members was revealed for all to see.

The psych tests revealed what I already knew: I am an amoral genius.

The drug was rushing through him, the baseball field breathing, the hitter's face seeming to melt as Doc wound up his pitch.

The hawk soared higher, joy filling its whole being at the wind rushing past its wings.

Farmer Dan was known for his giant sized vegetables, so it was a great concern to the townsfolk when his tomatoes failed to make it past the size of peas and his tubers were less than impressive.

A sailor from the Canaries taught him Spanish as the ship slowly made its way toward Venezuela from Europe.

The whole "life can turn on a dime" thing was illustrated for Dan when he slipped on a ten cent piece and took a tumble into traffic.

Nate's collection of wooden nickels kept growing as others seemed reluctant to take them.

The little church in the dale called her home.

He was the face of oppression for a system that would continue to function without him or anyone else.

The breeze smelled of the salt sea and cotton candy.

Joey was a sentimentalist, giving pet names to his pets and whispering sweet nothings to no one in particular.

What at first appeared to be a multitude of flyers for lost dogs, were, he knew, not for missing pets but rather for friends and family who had been in the buildings.

"Always bet on the poopers," the old man told his grandson as they watched the horses being led through the paddock just before the big race.

Julia awoke alone among the glitter, empty bottles, and flaccid balloons. 

While her political opponents believed "sunlight was the best disinfectant" Priscilla preferred a good whitewashing.

They slaughtered beauty to gaudily adorn themselves.

When gravity began to fail for Brian it was at first a novel good time, but after he nearly sailed off over the East River and the Daily News dubbed him "the human air balloon" he soon tired of and then feared what was happening to him.

It was late in the summer when they began to find strange items outside their door: little offerings of food, votive candles, half-consumed bottles of liquor, dead flowers.

 The titular head of the company spent his days drinking and his nights carousing while his undisciplined underlings, taking a cue from the boss, stripped it to the bone.

She liked sad country tunes, cheap whiskey and bad men, but the order was usually reversed.