Mr. and Mrs. Poe (369 Words)
“I think if you are rare,” said Mrs. Poe, “you must be a criminal.”
Mr. Poe was not mollified. The truth of the matter is, compliments from loved ones are too often like pennies in the hand of a beggar. We take them for granted and dismiss them as too poor for our needs. It is a selective partiality.
Mrs. Poe got up from her chair. Pale and fragile, when she sought his face she was determined and strong.
The Intelligence Plan (679 Words)
“Miss me?” he said, and kissed her.
It was a firm kiss, soft but passionate. His hands at her elbows were not confining but relaxed. It would have been simple to translate his laxness as overconfidence, but there was something in his expression that warned Li otherwise. And she couldn’t help it—not when his glance was lost to her, not when she saw how tired he was—not when he looked as if he had read her thoughts and his heart was close to breaking.
City Mouse (177 Words)
“I don’t like it,” said Nibbles. “It looks like a snake.”
“Oh, come on!” Flip raced towards the escalator, his whiskers trembling with excitement. “Everyone does it. Look at that woman. And she only has two legs to her, too. I don’t know how the human-folk balance.”
“They’re very big,” said Nibbles. “And we’re very small.”
Red Roses (99 Words)
Clair had never liked red roses. They seemed to her too garish. Anyway there wasn’t much to be lost our gained in philosophizing over flowers, so Clair never really thought twice about whether she liked red roses or not until that roadside walk.
Silver Shells and Beads (365 Words)
His cousins were visiting. Tommy knew he should like it when his cousins visited, but they were a little older than him and always treated him like a baby. So when his parents and their parents went to the beach, Tommy spent most of his time playing in the sand with Puppy.
That was how Tommy found it, digging in the sand. It was a silver shell. The shell was perfectly silver, gleaming and smooth. Tommy was looking at it when he heard someone calling to him.
“Psst! Psst!”
Big Nose (133 Words)
Big Nose would always remember that morning. It was bitter cold. But the calf was still alive. In the early light it rested there, not quite ready to stand, while Eddie kept the fire going. Big Nose kept close to the fire, too. Although the cold didn’t affect him badly, he was a smart horse and never said no to heat.
Sea Monster (132 Words)
Supposing it was a sea monster. Billy and Brian insisted that it was. I thought there was a mechanical touch to it myself.
“Well go on,” I said. “See what it is.”
They looked around the bench, glaring at me.
“It could eat us, silly,” pointed out Brian, always the logical one.
