Down Alley

The two men both slipped into the alleyway, through opposite doors. The one who came through the door with blaring music was dressed to the nines, the other who came through the door in the back of the wine bar was wearing stuff that was at least clean.

In any other circumstance, they'd have not bothered to look at the other. But right now, both saw a reflection of their own face in the other. Silently, they nodded, before they shared a silent cigarette together.

Until both doors reopened and a woman came through both, both of them looking furious.

The House On Moral Hill

I assume my grandfather wanted to ensure the home he'd built with his own two hands would remain in the family because he thought of it as the thing that would last. But the way he wrote the will out, it became a problem, as someone had to take it for anyone to get anything, but taking it meant you wouldn't get any of the millions.

Eventually, just to end the bickering, I took it.

If this was a story, he'd have hidden millions in it.

But instead, I just lucked out with an intended motorway led to enforced buyout.

The Lifeflame

The Lifeflame is the spark of all life on Goleium, the thing from which all the Gods, Demi-Gods, and Demons emerged, who then created all other life.

It is said that if it ever was expunged, that all of life would go with it. Naturally, this has led to it having to be defended by glass, dozens of magical wards, and a standing army of 1000 warriors, because if there's a "Kill Everything" switch in the world, lots of people will want to use it.

It's also a fake, which is good, since it's gone out eighty-four times so far.

Send Help

The issue with faster than light travel was that it was expensive and needed a lot of power.

This seems intuitive, but it did mean communication was an issue. Sending a message back to Earth took years to send, if you didn't have the time, resources, and power to send a ship.

But there's always people wanting to live on the frontier. So when the first colony got into trouble, they sent a highly compressed message to Earth, and then waited.

Unfortunately, by the time it arrived, Earth no longer had the technology to detect it, let alone understand it.

Drawing Dead

"All-In."

'Texas' Sampson shoved his chips into the center of the pot and leaned back in his chair, his sunglasses covering his face, as those watching at home all gasped.

His last opponent, George Cowers, waited for a chip count, 'Texas' unmoving, as it was counted. 'Texas' was just ahead, but George couldn't get a read on 'Texas', but eventually, he called.

'Texas' didn't flip his cards, forcing the dealer to, a typical power play, and the hand was dealt, George winning.

Which raised the question, could we assume 'Texas' would have bet once again if he was still alive?

Becoming The Villian

I've been thinking about the whole "you die a hero or live long enough to become the villian" thing recently, for some reason.

Now, I get the original idea, obviously no-one is perfect, but it's easier to pretend when someone is no longer capable of messing up.

But then again, there's another aspect, in that you can do everything right, but there's always someone else's story, where you're not the main character. And if you're not the main character, eventually, you're in the way.

But in any case, you see John Cena turn heel today? Man, that was crazy, right?