A To Z Bookstore

The bookshop was out of the way, cluttered, and actively discouraged customers. And yet, it was able to survive. Because while it did occasionally have to deal with a customer off the street and maybe sell them a book if no other option was available, every year it sold to one specific customer a book, for which they paid more than enough for the shop to keep the lights on. It's been doing so for 25 years. And that's the problem. After next year, they'd have bought A through Z, and this encyclopedia didn't do many end of year updates.

Targeted

He woke me up with a bucket of ice water, a few of them I think, given how soaked the ropes holding me in the chair were.

He then gestured to a corkboard on the wall, upon which was a mass of papers, photos, notes, string, the whole nine yards. I genuinely thought that sort of thing only existed in movies.

He then explained to me, in exacting detail, just how he knew I was behind all his pain and misery, that I was deliberately ruining his life.

He wasn't important enough to target, but I didn't tell him that.

Love Periods

The spark between them when their eyes met for the first time was replaced by intense desire.

The intense desire that caused them to discover each other's mind, body, and soul (in roughly that order) was replaced by solid determination.

The solid determination to spend the rest of their lives together that caused them to be joined together before God and those present was replaced by quiet acceptance.

The quiet acceptance that ruled over their marriage and made them happy, in a way, was replaced when she died of a heart attack, by a much younger woman after his money.

Evil Monologuing

I've heard every flavor of monologue in this job. The 'you fools cannot hope to stop me' ego trip is the most common, sure. The 'you don't understand, I have to do this' appeal to future historians is also quite popular.

You stop enough beings drunk with power from killing everything, you get every type of boast, insult, excuse. You name it, and I've heard it, right before I've started casting.

I thought that, right up till this moment, when I realised the only type of monologue I hadn't heard was one coming from my mouth.

And here we are...

An Insane Idea

If there's one thing I hate, it's the so-called 'Mandela Effect'. If you've not heard of this thing, some people swear they remember certain events happening differently, that a famous person died at some point, or a book series had a different name, or a movie existed.

And the upshot of this is that this is somehow proof that they've switched between alternate realities. Which is insane, the idea that small but significant slices of the world's population have moved realities.

When I did it, I had to destroy a star, that many people switching simultaneously, the power needed? Insane.

Not In The Cards

This land here could have remained as it was, with the native population living on it for a few months of the year. But that wasn't in the cards.

This land here could have been a balanced community, with just the right amount of greenery to balance the needed population density in acceptable harmony. But that wasn't in the cards.

This land could have been covered in factories, or farmland, or even parkland. But none of those were in the cards.

Because the government saw too much tax revenue to be had in the dealing of cards in a casino.

A Neglected F Response

When the creature took the bazooka shot to the face and just got a dirty snout, I realised different tactics would be required. But I had no idea what that could be, while I retreated faster than the rest of the squad.

But then I realised, after the tenth former squadmate was devoured, the creature was getting slower, more sluggish.

So I looked back to the camp of survivors, and sure enough, after a hundred or so, it collapsed into a food coma.

I had a minute to study it and get nothing before it threw up and resumed eating.