The loss of the known, the expected, was a gateway to a world without end or horizon.

We put our faith in the future and scoffed at the past.

What had fallen away — the fears, petty hatreds, so-called friends — left a new, tender, translucent skin that glowed from within.

Divided we stood on a precipice with a stunning view of the cataclysm below. 

All he wanted for Christmas was an impeachment, but instead he got a shutdown.

She attempted to eat, drink, and waste as much time on social media as possible in the week between Christmas and New Year's Day in preparation for her self-imposed restrictions come January.

The warmth of family and glow of good cheer would have to last another year.

She turned to art for solace — a universe in perfect balance — when the real world seemed to be off kilter.

Our sojourn of the soul gets shorter each decade.

"Today, the rich rule without any understanding of how the rest of us live," he told me with a rueful smile, "and you saw how that turned out two hundred odd years ago in France."

Torn, mangled, beyond repair was how Bill felt most mornings.

Life-changing events had a tendency to happen in the time it took to change the radio dial.

She couldn't understand why she should play by the rules when those rules were so obviously fixed.

There weren't enough cute animal videos in the world to numb the truth that our government had become a seething cauldron of slime and odium.

Fame and infamy were separated by a single Tweet. 

Dirty cops and hypocritical Christians vied for the top of his "most hated" list.

Th drip drip drip of the faucet was a constant reminder of Earl's lack of home repair skills as well as his slothfulness in regard to calling a plumber.

We sold them the lie of the American dream then locked them up when they arrived.

He shifted his focus towards the stars and never looked down at the ant-like activities of his fellow humans again.

She put out the crèche every Christmas even though her belief in what it stood for wavered more with each passing year.

All Al wanted was to limp his way across the finish line of 2018 hoping things would get better in January,

The truth, like carpenter ants in rotten wood, chewed its way to the surface.

Turnbull sat up and laughed his hearty British laugh one final time.

Tools for living: guns, guns, guns?

The white hats, it turned out, were just another Hollywood trope.

I clung to the upside down world with all my strength.

"Every time I thought I'd reached the mountaintop, I'd look up and realize there was more to climb," the old man said from his deathbed.

The night sounds grew louder than abruptly stopped but Willa was unsure if she was just dreaming when she saw the shadow pass across the tent's side.

What he lacked in guts he made up for in bravado.

The Donner's parties were always sparsely attended.

We came in peace to rape, pillage and decimate.