He sent her secret messages (but they never left his head). 

I'd become feral and was finally happy. 

Normalcy had been trampled underfoot for both good and evil. 

We wondered how someone who burned with an intensity like a thousand suns could possibly die. 

He loved calling everyone "sheeple" as he followed his leader over a cliff into the turgid waters of a pandemic he claimed was invented by the media to scare people. 

For some, it could never be "business as usual" again. 

A maze of forgotten lies and half-truths left Florence lost to love. 

We are both fragile and resilient, like a storm-swept sunflower that bends low only to spring back after the tempest has passed.

The thunder rolled but the sun still shone. 

His spirit lived on in his children. 

They laughed as we fought for the scraps and blamed each other for the problems they created to keep us penned in. 

The faded, cracked photo was a totem of Frank's lost youth. 

His brilliance was blown out by a brain deluged by disease. 

We'd become an Instagram post of a xerox of a photograph of a rough sketch of real-life. 

The pain of loss was universal.  

She lived the worst moment of her life on an endless loop.

Was real change coming or would the world slip back into stagnation (and once again pretend everything was fine)?

She prayed there would be a road to Damascus moment for their leaders but she didn't hold out much hope for it. 

They suffered billy clubs and tear gas to bring the truth to light. 

Adulation was his drug of choice, closely followed by Adderall. 

Cheryl chose leaving over changing. 

There was nothing in those pockets except fists of rage. 

He wavered between wishing them dead and praying they'd see the light.

She suspected they considered her a suspect solely based on her complexion (and they did).

"Perception is nine-tenths of the law," the DA said, smirking. 

Man extinguished the light that might have guided him through the desolate night again and again.

The state of the police state went unpoliced. 

They looted the luxury brands first.