Walking past the graveyard she saw something scuttle across a tombstone and picked up her pace, her heart racing.

They were the best of friends, Ryan and his gun.

When Doug thought of his childhood it was always about the video games he had mastered and the acclaim of his fellow arcade goers.

His by-lines of bygone days made Bud feel like faded newsprint.

Joseph sat at the edge of his seat waiting for his life to change.

She wondered aloud what kind of country required its government to produce billboards reminding its citizens to brush its teeth and get out into nature.

He was a beer-swilling, ass-grabbing stereotype.

They spent more time spying on their allies than on their enemies.

What he believed to be a conspiracy was merely incompetence.

Bess, a brawny beauty, was a wrestler's dream.

The sky was his canvas as he began writing the letters in puffy white smoke.

Sarah watched the wind ripple the surface of the lake and shuttered at the memory of her brother's drowning and the incapacitating fear which prevented her from saving him.

The committee thrived on in-fighting, back-biting and, occasionally, violent outbursts requiring police intervention.

The night went on forever.

Caleb's opera career took a nosedive with the release of his gangsta rap album.

Her shoe obsession and business acumen collided when she was unable to part with any of her stock and ended up moving into the shop to be closer to the products she loved so well.

As they made it over the rise they saw the creature, its multiple legs easily traversing the craggy ground.

Sitting at the old bar he was haunted by both the spirits he had consumed and the ghosts of nights past.

Bill was no Biblical scholar and so he built his home on the sand.

Seth breathed in the swampy air of New Orleans and knew he was home.

She had a knack for sabotaging herself.

The fog lifted in the valley and we could finally see the army, a line of thousands upon thousands of men snaking their way towards us on the narrow road.

Congress tuned their violins in anticipation as the first puffs of smoke wafted skyward.

I found poker chips amid the ruins of the hurricane-ravaged casino and held the now worthless plastic trinkets in my hand, wondering why I had spent so much of my life in their pursuit.

They watched for the signs and portents, but still they missed the evidence that the end was near.

She shivered slightly at the mention of his name.

The crumbling building was there only inheritance.

His science was flawed, but his backer's money was good as was his smile.

"That ol' judge spit in me eye and told me I'd hang, but I showed him. I'm still here and he's long gone," said Teddy, slowly rocking back and forth on his porch, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

Sylvia felt like a jack-o-lantern — hollowed out inside with a ghastly smile on her face — as she waited on the louts and rednecks at the local diner.

I was a carrion crow of sorts, picking off the small time drug dealers and street thugs to make my living.