My heart is thudding as I head back toward the room, keeping a towel around my wet hair. After drying off and putting on some fresh clothes, I realized I’d have to come back here. To where Connor is. Waiting for me.

He sat there. The ground was hard, rocky. The bench was full at the bus stop where he slept.
A little girl, maybe three or four, glanced at him. He twisted, his joints aching like someone had put lead in his bones, and looked her full in the face. She quickly looked away, giggling. Her mother, who held a baby boy on her hip, clutched her daughter’s hand and glared at him. When he ignored her and smiled at the girl, she stood up sharply.

*A/N* Just realized that I hadn't posted since July!!! So, I wrote this as a spur-of-the moment thing. I hope it's good!!!
P.S. I loooovvvveee critiques <3

Chapter Two

I stumble out of the car and practically run to the undergrowth by the sheer rock face of the mountain. There was no way I could hold it anymore. I think my pee has frozen in my bladder for awhile. I shiver and try to keep my jeans from getting wet in the snow. It was hard to crouch down, it was awkward and I feel cold and wet. Finally I start to pee. But as soon as the urine hits the ground, a familiar red, rusting, truck appears on the top of the hill and starts to drive down to where we were.

It’s a thankless job.

The coffee pot usually wakes her every morning like clockwork—four-thirty a.m. Some days she’d like to sleep in until five but it’s a luxury that comes with a price. Because if she did get in that extra half-hour, she’d miss saying goodbye to her husband, and have to hurry over the paper and breakfast. So she would rather not.

The following is adapted from a series of discussions and thought experiments between myself and LKR.

Thought Experiment 1
Locate:
What if an alien took everyone from earth except you and one other person? You don't know who they are or where, but you are charged with finding them. If you succeed, everyone will be restored.
How would you go about survival and eventually locating and reaching the other person?

Thought Experiment 2
Friends:
What if everyone disappeared except you and your friends? Who would be left?

Comments make my day, and advice is really appreciated! Hope you enjoy!
----------------------------------------
Beneath the Tree

Beneath the tree
My mother sat
With little baby me

She softly spoke
Beneath the tree
Until I happily awoke

Beneath the tree
I first stood
Shining with glee

I walked to her
Beneath the tree
It oft’ did recur

Beneath the tree
I steadily grew
What a sight to see

As years passed by
Beneath the tree
I grew so very shy

The following is a true story. I am writing this mere minutes after it happened. I am a musician. I do most, if not all of my work on a computer. I keep a lot of information and samples and other important things on a thumb drive. The thumb drive is an HP, model FD USB drive. I've customized it by gluing a broken Shift key to the front. Yesterday I went to the visitation for my great-grandmother's funeral. I had the thumb drive in my pocket then.

Pretty, amazing, awesome
People have got to stop complimenting me
I’m not like those heroines who have a lot of gumption
If I am, why am I the only one who can’t see?

I have come to accept the simple truth
That I’m plain, never good enough, a horrible person
Just a lonely, untalented youth
As I grow, the pain only worsens

“Such a disappointment”, he said
Is this the cold, harsh reality?
Have I been fooling myself because I was afraid?
Will no one ever learn to love me?

10/4/08 version

There is a chill
In the air
Tonight
Oh so soft and subtle
But oh so
Cold

It creeps
Up your sleeves
Winds around your chest
And numbs your heart.
It freezes the sky,
Frosts
The already-chilly stars,
And blows your hair
Gently
Around your almost-frozen face.