Thinking he couldn't have heard the man correctly the first time, the clerk looked up from his computer and asked, "I know you want to file for a marriage license, but who do you want to marry?"

Everett pointed to himself.

"Me."

Caitlin sat in her cubby and blissfully typed away on her computer, unaware of the menace that stalked the halls in her quiet little office. She reached over and absently picked up a cat toy and looked at it sadly. It had belonged to the office cat, Max, who had passed away recently.

"Wow, it looks like I really need to get back to my Pilates class," Lucida said, glancing at the stack of photos in front of her. "Some more cardio would be good, too."

I kicked my heels into the horse to keep up with the others, and for the first time since the start of this ordeal, I thought to myself, I'm too young to die. The horse galloped forward, and in the distance, the edge of a great field of tall grass lined the horizon.

"Mummy, there's a lion in the garden."

Mummy, who was busy cooking, released her shirt from Matthew's grubby fingers.

"You want to look to stop looking back," said Chas. "You and me, girl, that's the future."

He worked hard for our future, too. At least twice a week he'd drag himself home three hours after he finished his shift. "Sorry, Love. I did it again," he'd say, as he staggered through the door.

One sat cross-legged, the other two propped against an outcropping of granite. A trio of horses stirred restlessly nearby, tethered to a dying sycamore. The half-eaten remains of a jackrabbit hung from a spit over the withering fire. Overhead a lone buzzard circled

"I don't understand why you're so afraid of loving me, Daniel," Samantha said as we walked through the used book store together. She always wanted to hold hands in public, which made me feel a little silly. But the back of the store was nearly empty so I humored her. Her fingers laced with mine