As his fist connected with the Neo-Nazi's jaw Jake wondered if what he was doing was ethically acceptable.

Marie stopped musing about her role as muse to her musician boyfriend, broke up with him and started her own band.

With all the grandiose ideas and deep thoughts I swore I had this was the best I could come up with.

The memory of a smile was all that was left.

This insatiable thirst for more drove us to the brink. 

In her heart, she knew she should rise above the partisan bickering, but submerging herself in the social media mire and muck from time to time to slug it out with trolls just felt too damn good.

The artists starved, the middle class slipped, the poor were preyed upon by wolves, and the bankers made bank, as they always did.

Eventually, Turner stopped seeing the use of caring about anyone but himself since he came into the world alone and would be going out the same way.

The blinking cursor had become a curse.

Luke spent so much time on the "what ifs" and "could have beens" that he missed out on his actual life.

Our data was collected, collated, and filed away, to be used against us some other day.

He stood on tiptoes, eyes closed as the water rose, denying with his last breath that there was such a thing as climate change.

They'd been doing it for years: convincing us our brothers were really enemies and our masters true friends.

There were only two tales to tell: that of the rich and that of the poor.

Our fragility only became obvious when we slipped on the ice or sliced a hand while cutting open an avocado.

Blind to her own blessings Sheila instead focused on anyone and everyone who seemingly had accomplished more than she.

"Why should I care if what I say ends up getting people killed as long as the money keeps flowing," he said laughing, nearly choking on his Big Mac in the process.

Every cough was consumption; every gibe a knife-thrust to the heart; every smile the love of her life, for Ellen was a drama queen.

We sat in the corner where the sun came in and waited for the end.

Beleaguered, stripped bare, yet still beautiful, I saw in that face the salvation of our species.

The fog rolled in that morning like a cat stalking its prey.

The king of chaos was a master juggler able to enthrall the crowd while picking their pockets.

Her feeble ego lay cracked and oozing like a robin's egg fallen from the nest.

The skeletons toppled out of closets, the chickens were coming home, and shoes were starting to drop like some kind of Biblical plague.

They called her Debby Downer for constantly discussing dire subjects like climate change but she knew she was more akin to Cassandra.

The only reasonable conclusion was that our species had painted itself into a corner from which there was no escape.

For Matt, Mardi Gras was the saddest day of the year unless, of course, he was back home in New Orleans.

The moment roux went from the consistency of mashed potatoes to a smooth sauce was sheer joy to Maybelle.

The little victories—a successful party, a clean house, finishing a crossword—kept her from completely falling apart.

The masks had already started to slip but now were gleefully tossed aside to reveal the beasts beneath.

She put in months of intense preparation for a single fleeting moment.