In London during summer, the sun doesn’t go down on time, it lingers long after the children have gone to sleep. In the morning, it peeks out a little too early. I was used to an equal division of time between day and night. But for the first time in weeks, I was grateful for this early appearance and late departure of the sun. I was also grateful for the searing heat. As I sat on the park bench watching parents reluctantly push their kids on the swings or cheer them as they swung on the monkey bar, I over analysed, like an aged professor, the events in my life that led me to that bench. There I sat, surrounded by happy people who couldn’t see the tears in my eyes or the bruises that were so visible on my dark skin.

"I think the funeral should be on Saturday. If we do it in the middle of the week, people who work may not be able to come. You have to consider what the whole family wants, Tommy.", Jeremie said as he glanced at his slightly younger brother.

Nothing made Hannah feel more alone than looking at her children’s empty bedroom. She stood frozen in the door way was if an invisible barrier was stopping her from going in. Everything was perfectly arranged and neatly organized. She grinned when she imagined her daughters seeing the bookshelf of new toys for the first time. Hannah felt like this room could be in a magazine. She was proud that she was able to save enough money to purchase the new bunk beds for them and even get matching furniture. She daydreamed about how happy her girls will be to finally come home.

Joel stood there in the dark building trembling with fear, grateful that the men and boys who circled him had allowed him to pull up his underwear. Only Mamá was supposed to see that part of him. That had been the worst of the initiation, standing there in front of them exposed. Or so he thought.

Past and Future: A Tango She shifted on the sofa, settling her skirt over her knees, brushing imaginary lint from the dark linen to keep her hands busy. I sensed that it wasn’t every day that she invited strangers to her apartment for coffee. But her quip confession, “I never had any children,” took both of us by surprise, and as if it weren’t enough of a statement, she raised her chin in defiance, daring anyone to challenge her. But there was only an audience of one: me.

Captain Trevor Hoskins stretched out in his seat, 25 minutes after commandeering his Air Pacific A330 aircraft out of the busy Kuala Lumpur airport vicinity and asked for an evening snack tray with coffee. His co pilot Venus Gladys smiled and settled for only a coffee. Both pilots had been rested well and were ready for their long haul to Auckland in New Zealand. They had forecasts of good weather in both hemispheres and the plane was cruising at its allotted altitude of 36,000 Feet when the Captain’s radio crackled into life.

Clayton Rifkin III crossed his feet on top of the battered desk and leaned back in the ancient office chair. He stared past his pointy-toed, snakeskin cowboy boots and surveyed his kingdom in the shadows of the late afternoon sun. Yes, sir, Clayton’s Autorama was the finest dealer of gently used vehicles in Harris County.

As the leaves fall softly to the ground below, there is an eerie presence in the neighborhood. While everyone lays in slumber for tomorrow's anticipation of what lies ahead, there is one house in a state of unrest. Jessica Desanti is struggling with a cumbersome object, trying to get it into the basement. A large husky trails her, sniffing this large item as she continues to work with it. "Sasha, I have to get him downstairs." breathing heavily. Finally, she reaches the stairs leading to the basement. Sweating profusely, she sits down at the top of the stairs to gain some strength and oxygen. In the basement in the far dark corner lies a trunk. Next to the chest is a silver table like a dentist's office where all his utensils would be. On this tray were some cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, fresh linen, and a couple of hypodermic needles. "Well, Sasha, time to complete this mission," she said while standing up and grabbing the feet of her husband and began to drag him down the stairs.

TYE I sat at the edge of her hospital bed. Holding my breath, while she took her last. The machines started to sing out that she was gone. The doctor reached over and flipped the switch to silence the alarms. Your hand no longer holding mine but mine holding yours. You were gone, and nothing I did could have saved you.

Fifty miles west of Cody, Wyoming, Aylish Kelley sat atop of old Martha Bee as the two lumbered toward knob hill. A brisk afternoon wind funneled through the surrounding peaks of the Rattlesnake, Cedar, and Heart mountain ranges. Aylish and her longtime companion moved towards the rugged canyons outlining the Shoshone River. She focused ahead and breathed in deep unveiling a content smile on her weathered face. Bending forward, she patted the horse’s neck. Her movements flowed in perfect rhythm with old Martha Bee, as she and the animal had a unique understanding of each other’s frailties.

He's just sitting in that room, breathing calmly as if he didn't do anything. We have the proof of all those terrible things he did so why does he look like he's so innocent, is that how mad this man is...

Woo said, "Messiah, he doesn't have nothing to do with it, so I guess, now you out of 4 birds an 4 stacks." Messiah gave Caixren a disgruntled look. "Caixren, I tell you what, make sure you take care of this, and bring me back my damn refund! Oh yea, fix up a whole thang (a kilo of cocaine). Say Woo, grab that thang (a kilo of cocaine) then we can bounce. While y'all doin that, I'm goin to wash up. I got this fool blood all over me."