:6:

She couldn’t believe it was happening.

Everything Martha had worked towards for 8 long years was finally coming true. Sure, she had cried herself to sleep most nights, praying, hoping, dreaming that it would happen. But she never expected it would be like this.

She quickly hopped into her beat up Honda Accord, and found herself smiling with wry delight. She dug for her keys in her coat pocket, and pulled out the bottle of Peppermint Schnapps instead. The Peppermint Schnapps. She forgot she threw it in there before her encounter with Bill.

For a brief moment she thought of running back into the house and pouring it down the drain.

“Screw it.”

She decided to have one last sip. But once it touched her lips, she couldn’t stop herself. She threw her head back and downed half the bottle.

As her car made its way out of the Oak Bluff Gardens parking lot, she had another gulp. By the time she made her way to the highway, the bottle was nearly empty. She liked the warm tingle spreading across her body. She felt ready.

Martha took one last swig of her Peppermint Schnapps, threw the bottle out window, and raced off towards Ext 38. Tonight was her night, and she wasn’t going to let anything—including Peggy Harris—get in her way.

TF

:5:

Her watch said 6:15AM.

It had been only 5 minutes but, for some reason this morning, Mary felt like she had already run her full 10 miles. Maybe that extra glass of wine last night was too much. She was experiencing every single step this morning. One by one…left foot, right foot…over and over again…maybe she was getting sick again.

The weather had gone from the mid 60s one day to below 40s the next. Everyone at work was getting sick. "Yes. That's it" she thought. Mary convinced herself her throat felt scratchy but deep, deep inside she knew it wasn't that. Dr. Miller hadn't called her about the test results yet so she wasn't going to jump to conclusions.

Amidst her mental diversion Mary picked up the pace. She didn't see the plastic bottle in her path and her foot landed right down on the slippery obstacle. Suddenly, crash! Mary felt her body slam into the ground and her face slide on the pavement. The bottle skittered off the sidewalk into the trees.

GN

:4:

"Joseph, I need you to work truck tonight."

Joseph hated working truck. Even though it meant some extra cash, it also meant more hours and less time to do his homework that night. Plus his mom always gave him hell for staying late.

Shortly after 8 that night the truck arrived and Joseph put on his freezer gloves and went out back to open the door connecting the enormous freezer to the parking lot.

"What's up kid?" shouted the driver.

"Not bad. Just these 4 palettes up front?" Joseph asked as he opened the back to the 18-wheeler.

"That's it. I'm going in to take a leak. I'll be out in 5 to help ya."

Joseph began unloading the boxes from the wood palettes, sliding each of them down the steel slide into the storage freezer. After he finished unloading he would have to break down all the boxes and bring them out to the dumpster.

Then home for calculus.

GN

:3:

Mary could feel the rain soaking her toes. If she only remembered to call the doctor yesterday she wouldn't have been so late. She would have gotten her parking spot — the one she always parked at — the one right next to the handicap spot. She would have backed her car into number 34, folded her 2 one dollar bills, took her place on her piece of station platform and, most importantly, she would be under the cover of the platform roof.

Normally she is fully prepared. After all, this had been the routine for over 16 years. But today she didn't even remember to pack her lunch. All she managed to snag as she hastily ran out her door was a cup of yogurt and a banana.

And now, her tardiness bought her a nice place in Soaksville. What more could go wrong? The train light is now visible through the fog of this morning's rainstorm. Mary starts to board the train when her cell phone rings. Could it be Dr. Miller? She reaches in her pocket and the yogurt falls down the stairs…

GN

:2:

Jack took the last swig of his Coke as he laid on the grass outside the apartment building, squinting up at the sun. "You're lucky Nathalie was up visiting her folks this weekend Bry, cause if I had to choose between moving my baby brother or chilling with her at the beach house, you know what I would've chosen."

Bryan pushed the easy chair into the truck and offered his hand to pull Jack up. "You know I appreciate it Jack. Besides, I promised you beer didn't I? Come on, there's just a couple more boxes upstairs and we're all done."

Jack spots a piece of carpet in the door frame. "Is this yours bro?"

"Oh, I used that to keep my chair from rocking. You can chuck it."

Jack tosses it over towards the open trash can and turns to run upstairs as the carpet piece falls to the ground.

GN

:1:

"4048328. 4048328. I gotta remember this. How could I be so stupid?" Joseph was now walking a pace foreign to his overweight frame. "4043284…no. 4048238."

It had started to be a typical day: School from 7:00-2:45. Marching Band practice 3:00-5:00. And then on to work at the local Dunkin Donuts for a few hours before going home to hit the books.

Joseph had never seen the man who approached him before. But he sure caught a glimpse of the fist. Now with his head throbbing in pain and the sweat stinging his eyes, he had not noticed the black Honda Civic following him home. Nor did he notice the Dunkin Donuts napkin (stuffed into his pocket from the man) fall out his pocket.

GN