The grackles brawled while the bluejays bullied, the mourning doves cooed, and the goldfinches waited.

Ben vacillated between believing he was dying and thinking he was just a hypochondriac.

It was just words strung together seemingly at random whenever he went off-script.

The spring brought renewal, rebirth, even in isolation.

Jason wondered at what point he'd end up jettisoning friends for their views or if he'd just ignore their stances instead.

She felt more like the worn and faded photo than the youthful face staring out from the image, all wide-eyed, trusting, unknowing of what lay ahead.

The humming needle slowly revealed the image that would over decades eventually fade like a memory until it was no more than a blue amorphous blob.

She wondered why she bothered to even match her socks anymore.

Not even an endless stream of entertainment helped abate the gnawing dread.

There was nothing behind his smile, not love, nor empathy, or even the glimmering of a soul.

They begged to be thrown to the sharks, who they perceived as gods.

It was hard not to wish the worst for them.

The clock became a relic of a time when time still mattered.

There were only so many angry emojis Eileen could muster in a day before she had to hit the bottle.

Ted turned off the television and watched the birds at his feeder instead.

He retained all the worst characteristics of childhood—impulsiveness and temper tantrums—and none of the good, like inquisitiveness and empathy, for instance.

Pamela planned on outliving her enemies so she could dance on their graves.

Having already snuffed out the earth, we looked to the skies and set our sights on space.

Would the temporary become permanent?

His dreams of home were full of ghosts.

The dog yawned, stretched, and demanded a good scritching.

Like sleeping fleas humanity gave the earth a fleeting reprieve from its incessant activity.

Barb couldn't believe how much she missed her cubicle and the droning on of her boring officemate.

He threw himself into the partisan fray, the world be damned.

They were running out of things to say to each other.

The days became a daze of monotony stretching into infinity.

Memes and daydreams overtook all.

They couldn't outrun it.

Cling to love, the only life raft left.

She especially felt like an outsider inside, alone.