Setting: long feasting hall. Characters: Æsirs, Æsirs, Æsirs everywhere.

Thor: Hark, ye, good Æsirs! Might we entertain ourselves with a game?

(All agree heartily [who can’t? They’re all drunk])

Thor: Shan’t we be merry as we burn calories strolling and gallivanting ‘round our good table in a match of Musical Chairs?

Baldr: Here, here!

Hodr: Minstrels! Strike up a tune!

(Playing music)

(Loki enters feasting hall)

Loki: Did I hear a game?

(Music stops, all run for a seat. Loki teleports into Sif’s seat, leaving her standing.)

The two of us rolled out into the kitchen.

"You don't look so good," he said, his hand rubbing my back.

"Because I'm not so good." I spiraled my fingers around my forehead. "It's just that -- I can handle criticism. But not when I'm already feeling drained. Everything in the car emptied me more."

So we decided to walk.

“Did you finish?”
“No, we don’t have time. It’s at sixty-four percent.”
“Brayden!”
“Caitlin, you know what we’re up against! We can’t stall this long. As it is, we’re pushing time. We’re definitely going to have to fight our way out.”
“It’s not fair. This isn’t what I wanted for her.”
“Do you think I thought much different when I married you? When we became parents? But we accepted the risks, babe. We knew.”
“Mommy?”

Mourn for the beautiful
The ones who are aching
Their lonely hearts breaking
Weep for their glory
The days now long past
Which fly by so fast
They forgot how to love
Because love didn’t last
And they crumble forgotten
Proud faces of stone
Turning to dust
Standing alone
And their siren sounds
No longer echo around

If God is infinitely powerful, can he create a rock so big, he can't move it?

You think you're so clever, don't you? I know you ask your question as a jest. Forgive me for taking it seriously. I like to pretend I'm clever, too.

Let's start with this. Did you know that the Bible says God cannot lie?

[S]o that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who would have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:18)

There are some other things we know God can't do.

One major moral objection to the existence of God is this: God cannot be both omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnibenevolent (perfectly good).

If God is perfectly good, he would not want any evil, death, or suffering to be in the world. If God is perfectly powerful, he could take all evil, death, and suffering away. As it happens, evil, death, and suffering all exist in this world. Thus, the only options are that God is not good (he allows suffering), God is not powerful (he cannot stop the suffering), or God does not exist (there is no escape).

Essays, papers, tons of ‘em!
Quizzes, tests due, loads of ‘em!
A Punnett Square to fill-
A new formula to find.
Got no time to kill-
Am I officially losing my mind?

Crammed in my bedroom,
I battle procrastination.
Lunch break should be soon,
But I’m held back with frustration.

Finish eating, ‘cause Algebra is next!
My stomach stops, drops, and rolls,
And my mind is very vexed!

In rolls co-op, where I get to see my friends
Bent hastily over worksheets,
How I wish school would end!

The day is bright and welcoming,
I don’t know how I can sleep in,
A new day, a new song to sing,
I laugh and watch the sun peep in.

Hurriedly I dress and fold
and look out on the clear new day,
Yesterday now seems so old,
Our earth has never looked so gay.

I rush out now the world to greet
The dewy grass like jewels and pearls,
New trials I’m prepared to meet,
As the clear blue dawn unfurls.

Snippet 1

Jules walked up to the desk with a heavy heart.

"How can I help you?"

"Your cheery smile is a good start. I'm here to see Mrs. Maldonado."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Maldonado has just drifted off to sleep and we think it's better for her to rest. If you want to wait we can let you know when she wakes up."

"Thank you, I'll be in the waiting room."

Four years had passed.
He had seen the trees change from white to green to red to black and all over again four times. He couldn’t believe how long it had been since the day the Yīnyǐng had separated them all. He had seen the change of what parts of the world they had travelled together, thoroughly worried by it all. Things changed so drastically wherever they turned that he was sure he woke up in a different world every morning.