The Sow Bugs

Jillian stared curiously at the pile of dead sow bugs in the corner of the living room. The group of bugs seemed to all die within a small circle.
"I wonder how they are all ended up dead so close together and all in one area," she thought to herself. She shrugged it off and finished getting her glass of water from the kitchen before heading back to bed.
If only she had know the real reason for the untimely death of the innocent little creatures.........

The last light in the living room had just been extinguished and a hush fell over the now darkened room. All of the human inhabitants of the little house where snug in their beds. All seemed to be at peace in the house, or was it?

The darkness brought many creatures out of hiding. Spiders left their crevices in the walls and corners to hunt and spin webs. Bugs of many sizes and shapes scurried across the floor. Among these tiny creatures was a large gathering of sow bugs. The leader of the group was a large sow bug named Hawthorne. He was a stout little man with a large gray plated back and quick little legs. He kept careful watch over his charges and gave swift punishment to anyone who dared to wander away from the protection of the group. He believed in safety in numbers, and he took his job seriously.
Sow bugs like to travel and rarely stay in one place for long. They are very curious and can be found in the strangest places within a house. On this particular evening the group was scheduled to travel across the tiled floor through the kitchen and into the laundry room. Their was a large crack in the baseboard at the bottom of the wall in the back corner, and this was their destination.
However this journey was not without its dangers. In order to make across the living room floor and into the kitchen the group would have to pass by the corner where the Things lived. The Things were creatures to terrible to describe. No one had ever seen them and lived to tell about it. They lurked in the darkest corner of the room, just waiting for unsuspecting creatures to pass by.
Hawthorne knew passing by the dreaded corner of the Things would take careful maneuvering and quick thinking. He knew that the safety of the group and the success of the journey relied on passing this corner safely.
With a quick motion of his antennae he signaled the group to move forward. Hawthorne traveled in front and the rest of the group followed closely. The first part of the journey was uneventful, except for the occasional cricket passing by or ant searching for crumbs on the tiles.

When the group neared the darkest corner of the room, Hawthorne could sense a wave of fear pass over the group. Many members of the group had been against this journey, and Hawthorne had heard them discussing his leadership. But he would not allow the group to split. He was leader and he would take the group past the darkest corner.

Suddenly, just when the last of the sow bugs was passing by the corner and everyone was about to breath a sigh of relief, a shadow loomed in front of the group. It was enormous, climbing up the wall and spreading its dark claws out in every direction.
Unfortunately for sow bugs, their little body systems are delicate and any big scare is the end of them. Humans would call this condition a heart attack. At the sight of the shadow, every sow bug feared the worst and fell over dead. The little group lay in almost a complete little circle with their brave leader motionless in the center.

Daring Dwain

If you have a problem to baffling and puzzling for the human brain, then you might want to call on Daring Dwain, the mastermind of the Anatidae race. There is no problem to complicated for his clever mind, and no clue to minute for his acute observations. For all problems large or small contact Daring Dwain 120 East Maple Grove Pond.

Dwain looked at the description written carefully on a large sheet of white paper, and smiled to himself. He waddled over to the entrance of his humble little home of cattails and mud and slipped on his scarf. A trip into town to visit the general store was all that was left for him to be in business. The pond was only a quarter of a mile from main street and the general store. A brisk wind blew outside, but the sun was shinning and the crickets along the path to the store were chirping a merry tune.
In less than fifteen minutes Dwain reached his destination. A tiny bell at the top of the door rang as he pushed open the store's glass door and called out a greeting.

"Hello Priscilla! I was wondering if I could hang this sign in your store window."

A brief moment of passed an then with a great deal of rustling and thumping Priscilla Sanders appeared from a backroom. She was a short dumpy woman with dimples in her cheeks and long brown hair which she always kept neatly braided in one long braid down her back. She wore a yellow and blue flowered dress with a white apron and her constant smile matched her cheery appearance.

"Good Morning! Hang your sign any place you please. " she answered.

At that moment the door swung open and in rushed little Mildred Harris. Her dress was covered in dirt and her curly hair was matted with twigs and grass. From her tear stained face Dwain could tell that something terrible must have happened.

"Oh Dwain, I am so glad I found you," she said breathlessly.

A Busy Morning

I rose this morning to a 1 1/2 year old rambunctious toddler bouncing on top of me. Inwardly I growned that morning was here already. But instead of getting up I turned on the the TV to Blues Clues and tried to get a few more minutes of sleep. Unfortunately, Annastazia didn't feel like watching TV and I was forced to get up. I quickly changed her diaper and got her dressed for the morning. Zackary lay asleep in his bassinet and thankfully wasn't ready to eat quite yet. I had just enough time to get breakfast for Annastazia before I had to change and feed him. Breakfast didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked. I served Annastazia a new cereal, Kix. This cereal may be "Kid Tested and Approved" but they forgot to test my kid, because the entire bowl was dumped all over her tray within moments of tasting it. So I had to clean up the mess and try again. This time I chose banana bread and butter and she was content to eat. So much for new cereals.
Zackary woke up and I did another changing and feeding. This gave me a chance to read my Bible and get ready to start my day. Annastazia finished eating and I got her down from her highchair and sent her off to play. Much to my chagrin a trail of bread crumbs followed her as she ran through the living room and off to play. I cleaned up the kitchen, started a load of dishes and began my daily house pick up. I am not sure how a house can get so messy each day? I am beginning to think someone sneaks in my house every night and messes things up and spreads dirt all over the floors. After picking up I put both kids down for morning naps and I decided to do some extra house cleaning instead of taking my usual nap. I spent the rest of the morning packing up maternity clothes and cleaning up my messy room. Finished with my room, I decided to plan an extra fun dinner. I made some jello and deviled eggs and prepared mushroom crockpot chicken.

Cries from both kids alerted me that cleaning time was over and it was time for the next round of diapers and feedings. I am not sure where my morning went but somehow it was gone.

Chapter 1

The sun beat down with a scorching heat that made the air in the small coach unbearably hot.Kathrine fanned her face with a dainty white handkerchief and sighed for the hundredth time as she stared out the stagecoach window at the dusty road. Nothing but flat dry prairie as far as she could see. The scenery had been the same all day, blank and dreary. Katherine glanced at her fellow passengers, a business man dressed in a black suit and smoking a foul smelling pipe, and two older ladies who kept to themselves and whispered in low tones. Nervously Katherine shifted in her seat and thought about what awaited her at the end of this two week journey. She pulled a folded white slip of paper out of a small black handbag and reread the contents. Nathan Wade- Age 29 Occupation-Farmer.

I must me crazy to even think of doing this, Katherine thought to herself. But commonsense couldn't talk her adventurous spirit out of taking this journey. In fact no one in Katherine's family including her domineering aunt Ruthy was able to make her see the foolishness in leaving a secure job and prestigious family to head across country in answer to an ad in the Buffalo paper. Katherine rested her head back against the stiff seat and smiled, after two years of working for her aunt and being told what to do every minute of the day, she was finally going to be free. After all, the paper had said that Oklahoma was a land of promise and dreams come true. Katherine realized she could have found a simpler answer to her desire to be independent and live her own life apart from her Aunt, but when the paper had advertised for mail order brides, she just knew this was the answer she had been looking for.

The Wonderful Tongue

Tongues are wonderful things you know. They come in all sizes, very big to very small. Sometimes they are short and sometimes very long. The go in and out of our mouth and feel all slippery. They can turn from side to side, and then move up and down. Sometimes a very talented tongue can do twists and curl up.
Tongues are useful for eating our foods. They help us to taste and to lick ice cream. We couldn't swallow our food without the help of our tongues. Our tongues play an important role when we talk and when we sing. The world would be a very quiet place without our tongues.
Tongues can also get us in trouble, like when we are mad and stick them out at our friend.
What would the world be like without a tongue? Very sad and empty. So take special care of your tongue and pay attention to the many ways your tongue makes your day happier.

Chapter 1

Another night alone. The reality was getting harder and harder for Brendan to face. Microwave dinners and stale TV shows were not his idea of an exciting evening, but they were all he had. He never intended to stay a bachelor so long, time had just seemed to pass by. He had enjoyed his freedom and the great pay at his job, nothing to worry about or tie him down. But as he looked around his cluttered apartment that lacked even a trace of feminine influence he began to rethink his life. Twenty-eight years of living and this was all he had to show for it. He went to the fridge and grabbed a moutain dew. "Maybe I should get a dog," he thought. Coming home had become a disappointment, just a reminder of everything his life was without. All of his coworkers at the Good Year plant had their desks scattered with pictures of family, a wife and kids. All Bredan had was an outdated calendar and a chipped Starbucks coffee mug. With his parents long since dead and no other family to speak of Bredan was alone.

He plopped down on his leather sofa and began to flip through the channels on his TV ......news...sports....sitcom.....cooking show..."Hey!" Bredan sat up and starred at the channel where he had stopped. A woman was cooking an Italian dish, but it wasn't the food he was focused on. "I know her," he said aloud. Meticulously he thought back through college and high school trying to place the face. Finally he remembered. Stacie Peterson. She was a skinny girl in his old church youth group that everyone including himself had made fun of. She had always been shy and gangly, with braces and big glasses. That was why is had taken him a minute to place her. She looked nothing like he remembered and he was quickly wishing he had been more friendly to her. He was positive it was her though and as the show ended he saw her name appear in the credits to confirm it, Miss Stacie Peterson. He didn't now why he cared, but he found himself paying particular notice to the "miss" part of her name. He changed the channel trying to consentrate on something else,but her face kept appearing in his mind. "I wonder why she isn't married," he thought to himself.
She had been a nice girl and if it hadn't been for her awkward looks he might have given her more thought. Now nearly 10 years later, she had a smile that engraved her face in your memory and eyes the color of the evening sky. He had never really noticed her eyes before behind those thick glasses. Now they seemed to still stare at him in his thoughts. He tried to dismiss the thoughts of her only to find himself thinking about her again.

The

The sun sent waves of glorious color over the land kissing each of the trees goodnight as it made its evening decent. The wind blew through the foliage clad trees and they swayed back and forth as if waving good bye. The temperture began to drop and woodland animals dashed to and fro seeking shelter for the night. Over head an owl flew in menacing circles searching for a small creature that ventured into the open. He was well rested from his day long sleep and his empty stomache longed for a furry companion. His eye sight was keen as he investigated every movement below him. Suddenly he saw a mouse perched on a flat rock, nibbling on a morsal of food. With a cry that sliced through the night the owl expertly changed his flying pattern and dove toward the forest floor and his prey. The terrified mouse heard the owl's cry and scurried into his hole under the rock just as the owls claws skimmed past his trembling body. The owl had missed this time, but it was unlikely that his next attempt would fail. He was too cunning for that, he was the master of the night. The forest was his domaign and he loved to keep the creatures therein living in dread of him.