Dean stood in the far corner of the school yard watching the other kids play and thought about what it might be like to have friends.

"The Blues ain't a life-style choice," decried Froglegs, "It's a road map."

The old men were the last duelists left, but refused to fight each other out of spite.

The Butterballs loved the holidays.

The teletype machine ticked off the story, but it never made it to press.

They thought of their spendthrift lifestyle as heroic since they were helping prop up an ailing economy.

Trey's attorney was even more of a paranoid conspiracy theorist than he was and he swore that the government was run by aliens.

The 911 operator heard a low rasping voice but did not understand what was said before the line went dead.

That night he stood on deck and stared out at the moonlit waves, feeling at peace for the first time since childhood.

Following her divorce Priscilla was like a fisherman without a boat.

The dog, the doctor, her stalker, the DJ and the lawyer were at an impasse, otherwise known as a Mexican standoff.

Derrek's face flushed with a profound sense of shame as they drove slowly passed the house and saw a woman and her young daughter staring in shock at the vandalism.

Sometimes Barry didn't know where the myriad prescription drugs ended and he began.

The place they returned to was somehow different from the place they left.

Rick's paranoia was just another aspect of his megalomania.

"Toodlaloo Boyo," he said with a smile, hearing the jail house door clank shut behind him.

Ike specialized in convenience store robberies, his brother, Mike, in the liquor store variety.

He watched in horror.

Bertha could put away more bratwurst than anyone he had ever seen and he loved her for it.

She was a shark disguised as a Barbie doll.

The dilapidated house had served four generations, but like the family's finances it had seen better days.

The perfectly trimmed hedgerows burst into flame.

The bald,one-eyed fife player ran not from the sound of gunfire, but from the embarrassment of being bested by the handsome and talented musician across the battle lines.

The gang's plan was jeopardized when Sloopy — not known for his memory — forgot the clown masks, guns and getaway car.

The face had changed but the voice, a voice as calm and unwavering as the sea on a windless night, remained the same.

During the trial the defendant let one rip, a gaseous gaff that he believed helped seal his fate with the jury.

Little Nicky had a big attitude problem.

Her love knew no bounds, bounds which included locked windows and doors as well as restraining orders.