text:
I honestly don't know how long I've been sitting here, waiting. It's getting kinda cold but the sky's still blue, almost as blue as the ocean. I've only been there once, when I tried running away from home and I saw a sliver of it behind the buildings. Then my aunt found me and her tears washed the ocean away.

I check my watch. I don't remember when I got here. Let's guess a few hours. I've seen the same old man hobble by around five times. I don't know if he's trying to look at me or what.

My legs have fallen asleep. I shift my weight and ow, ow, ow, pain is shooting up my body. I know it'll fade in a couple minutes, but I'm almost in tears. It hurts.

The more I think about it, it's not about my legs. It's everything- something's come into my life and tinted it all gray. Even silver linings are pretty slim: my friends don't have time for me and I can't say I care too much for them either. At one point they just became background noise. Hung out without me, had conversations that left me out. Bang, bang, hey, I'm still here.

Got no talents, got no friends. Just this promise that I'm banking on and sore feet. I walked all the way here and now my legs have fallen asleep. Tears are sticking to my cheeks. Hell, I probably look a lot grubbier than I usually do. Dirty cheeks and hair, gold jewelry in my pocket. I can sell it if I have to, if he decides that we're running off somewhere. He's not the kind of guy to just drop everything and run off, though, while I'm kind of like that. Just run. Or drive.

I imagine he's talking to me. About the ocean, and the future. The future is this big, grim shadow looming over my head but when he talks about it, he's got it all planned out. It's simple. He'd say, "Hey, five seconds ago, when you came over, that was the past. And five seconds from now, it'll be the future and we're going to still be sitting together, right? The future'll become the present. That's not too scary, right? Too fast for you to even notice it."

Right. But he's not sitting next to me now and everything's gray. The future is scarier - will it go by so fast I'll miss it? Suddenly I'll be some hunched old crone, trying to remember, what happened at the bus stop that day? Or maybe I'll be sitting here forever.

Why didn't I bring my phone? I could really use some music right now. No lyrics are coming to mind; the whine of cars is too loud. I curl up on the bench and squeeze my eyes shut.

It's even darker under my eyelids. When I was little, I wasn't really scared of the dark; I wanted to know why the monsters under my bed didn't want to talk to me. I thought, why don't they like me either? We're supposed to be alone together.

Footsteps -- his car -- no, it isn't him. But he'll come. He's just running late, I know it. I've sat up so fast that my head is spinning.

He likes my hair. My face. He says I have funny arms. I don't get how you can have funny arms, so I told him he can't talk because he has a crooked nose. He'd shrugged. Loads of people have crooked noses according to him. It just makes him blend in more.

He says I'm smart for my age. He won't let me down, he wouldn't dare. I hope I'm smart enough to be right about this.

What did my sister say about him? I think she likes him. Actually I'm pretty sure she does. She's always turning red and speaking really, really softly when he's around. But there was something she'd said about him, something that was odd, twisted, and true - what is it?

This'll bother me all day. The cars speeding by are starting to blend together into this black streak. No red. Not even white.

At least it isn't gray. I can't remember if his eyes are blue or gray - or what the rest of his face looks like. Suddenly he's a blur just like everything else.

Is he just someone I've imagined? Am I waiting for someone who'll never show up? I don't even have my phone to see the words he's written me. But those could've been imagined too, maybe.

Everything's just one big maybe. Maybe he'll show up and maybe my aunt will be here too. Maybe she'll wash the ocean away again.

My sister. Cute little idiot. Where's she? Probably thinking I'm in a mood again.

One, two, three, four, five. I'm in the future. The present.

Whatever. He still isn't here.

title: no buses

question: What is the narrator waiting for?

answer: The narrator is waiting for a man. She has been waiting a long time, willing to run away with him if that's what it takes. After a while, she can't remember what the man looks like or whether he exists. Is he a figment of her imagination?

question: Who is the man that the narrator is waiting for?


split: test

text:
“Mom..” a boy cried.
“Is it okay if I’m the only one that love you in this world..”
His mother, with a loving smile says” I would be so happy, that I couldn’t stop smiling”

I woke up. In the end, it was just a sweet dream. A dream that perhaps , I wish to stay forever. I got up, did my daily morning routine, kiss my father and go to school. Oh, I also bring my camera with me wherever I go. Not the hipster one! Just the regular simple camera type. You know, to capture the moment. Still an amateur though. Though it was a give I got from a dear friend of mine.
	A few moments stepping out, I notice a man. Perhaps he is waiting someone as he showed no sign of haste. The man turned. A trace of smile slid on his face. Pretentious postmen, I presume to myself. A letter and a box were given for a few signatures and the man left. Puzzled, I took the package not knowing what inside.
	Before my clever assumption flow, I was stunned. The letter senders were under the name Alexa, my childhood friend. I stood there for too long not sure what I’m doing exactly. Somehow I came back to my senses and impatiently went back to open the box. Inside it, were full of memories of Alexa. Her photobook, novels and deep down was her diary. With a large word spell “No Reading”.
	I was dumbfounded, what on earth she was thinking sending me this.  Still , the notion of her secret in my hand excites me . After taking everything outside the box a simple note was left underneath everything. It says “Read the letter first you dumbass!”. “Okay , okay . Seriously , like literally, she could order me around whether she around or not” . Wondering, I read her letter quietly in the depth of the silent living room.
“God, bless you for the beautiful moment we shared . Many times I once wondered , if you still have the thought of my existence at all.  I wish you were, if not then you weren’t. “Got a chase last night” the story I wrote, nobody knew but I couldn’t care less. It caught your attention though , and more and more you surprised me. Till one letter that make me fell for you. HARD.  Everytime I read your letter, that joke always catch me .Liar, told me to catch me even I was a storm. Hahaha, how do you intend to do that? I want to kiss you in the same time kick you.
God, blessed you with patient and I hope you are patient now as you reading this. I have come to realize that I love you .And my love still stabs me through the brain. I couldn’t find myself forget you. Like the way the wind hit you, you couldn’t help but face it. So much that this feeling is unconsciously conscious of you. I know I’m maybe exaggerating a little but I couldn’t help it.
Maybe I should end this letter here, for nobody knows what to expect in the near future but do me favor, let me go away.
						                                                          Alexa”
Huh, this is all to sudden. I reread it gazillion time again making sure what I read perfectly justify what I understood. Not long enough after that I found her picture, sick in the photobook. Each one shows her journey fighting cancer. I couldn’t believe she hid the fact that she was sick from me. More and more picture, more and more droplet of water stream down my cheek. I couldn’t hold it much longer after the last of her picture, smiling so brightly in the midst of dying.
Finally, I realize. Moments in life seems to go by fast and takes a long time one to realize, the best of it went by soundlessly. In the end, I kept her diary untouched.

title: [RO] Shutterbugs

question: What does the boy get in the post?

answer: The boy gets a parcel in the post. Inside the parcel, he finds photographs a diary, and a letter from his childhood friend Alexa. A note on the diary warns him not to read it.

question: Where is the boy's mother?

question: What do the contents of the box reveal to the boy?

answer: The contents reveal that Alex loved the boy and couldn't forget him. There is a pictorial history of how ill she was in her fight against cancer. She had hidden her sickness from the boy.


text:
Lori Loughlin Sentenced to Prison in College Admissions Scandal

Whatever happened to the woman who once declared her family wasn't interesting enough for prime time TV?

"We've been asked to do a reality show a couple times," LORI LOUGHLIN revealed during an interview on E!'s _Daily Pop_ in 2018, adding they had turned each one down flat because "we're not that exciting."

Even at the time her words carried a sense of misplaced humility. After all, she was a key player on a '90s sitcom with enough feel good nostalgia to merit a reprisal more than two decades after it went off the air, her husband MOSSIMO GIANNULLI is a self-starter who turned a high school education (and a $100,000 loan from Dad) into the multi-billion dollar Mossimo clothing brand that enjoyed a healthy run in Target stores. And her daughters ISABELLA ROSE GIANNULLI, 21, and OLIVIA JADE GIANNULLI, 20, appeared to have bright futures ahead of them as an actress and beauty influencer respectively.

So we're thinking network execs may have been on to something.

Of course, now, any episode of _Lori's Full House_ (working title) would be must-see TV.

Everywhere you look, everywhere you go people have been talking about the 56-year-old Hallmark actress since March 2019, the day a bombshell FBI affidavit revealed she and Mossimo, 57, were caught up in the aptly named Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. That they had, in fact, allegedly paid some $500,000 in bribes to get both Bella and Olivia into the prestigious University of Southern California, according to the affidavit, by falsely claiming they were crew team recruits.

Where the _Fuller House_ star had once been able to slip around her upscale Bel-Air, Calif. community relatively unnoticed, her every errand became breaking news.

Patriot Pics / BACKGRID

Not that she or Mossimo need even step foot outside their six-bedroom mansion to make headlines. In April it was announced the married couple of nearly 23 years—already charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud—were among 16 parents involved in the scandal that had been charged in a second superseding indictment with conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering.

They were hit with a third bribery charge in October. And though their legal teamfiled a motion to postpone moving forward with a trail, alleging the government is withholding information, they faced up to 50 years in prison—the maximum sentence each could have received—before striking their plea deals in May.

And some three months later, on Aug. 21, they received their official sentence: Lori will spend two months in prison, serve two years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service and pay a fine of $150,000. Mossimo was given five months, two years of supervised release and 250 hours of community service, as well as a $250,000 fine.

And while anything ending with a jail sentence is generally bad,. For Lori, who offered a tearful apology to the judge during the virtual session, it brings an end to an almost interminable wait.

 A Rodriguez/BEI/REX/Shutterstock

For awhile, as she rattled around the 12,000-square-foot spread they first snapped up for nearly $14 million in 2015, Lori was able to keep the worst of the "what ifs" at bay.

Firm in her beliefs that surely she wouldn't see the inside of a prison cell, a source tells E! News, she neglected to join the 13 parents (including fellow actress FELICITY HUFFMAN) and one university athletic coach who agreed to plead guilty to the charges of mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

"She thought maybe she could skate by," the source explains. "She refused to accept any jail time and thought the DA was bluffing. She was adamant she wouldn't do any jail time."

But without work to busy herself with—Hallmark canceled her _Garage Sale Mysteries_ series and edited her out of the already-filmed sixth season of _When Calls the Heart_, while Netflix dropped her from the final season of _Fuller House_—she's had more than enough time to stew and second guess her gut reaction.

"They are the examples and the scapegoats in this case and they are feeling a tremendous amount of pressure," a source told E! News in October. "Lori and Mossimo never wanted to accept a plea that involved jail time, but they are starting to feel their backs are against the wall and that its becoming too much. They are feeling extremely stressed out."

Instagram

At a certain point, it started to feel like that heightened level of anxiety was just their new normal. "It's been a long slow process. The uncertainty is a lot to deal with," another insider told E! News. "Lori obviously feels like their future is up in the air. They haven't made plans and their lives are on hold while they are dealing with this. She is looking forward to knowing her fate and being able to deal with it. Right now they are just in limbo."

Occasional trips to Orange County to visit with friends filled their calendar as did outings to church, but mostly the two keep to the sunny, Mediterranean-style mansion they quietly put on the market for just more than $28 million in January. (A source told E! News the timing has little to do with a potential jail sentence, rather that amateur house flipper Mossimo is ready to take on a new project now that both of their girls are done with high school.)

At the palatial spread, and their new 12,000-square-foot mansion in Hidden Hills, there's plenty of space for Lori to do at-home yoga and invite friends and family over for nights in, her homebody behavior marking a sharp departure from her earlier commitment to maintain a sliver of normalcy.

Though she spent large swaths of her day at home, the self-described "kid from Long Island," a proud product of middle class roots, made it a point to keep up her regular workouts and social engagements. The difference being that when she exited her go-to yoga studio she had to brace herself for paparazzi and reporters, leaning on her professional experience to help her navigate the few steps from door to car.

"I'm sorry, I can't talk to you," she told a cameraman in March 2019 in a video posted by _TMZ_. "You can follow me around all day if you want, but I just can't comment right now. But thank you for your time."

Instagram

Even when her day's agenda contained the truly aberrant—a trip to a Boston federal courthouse in April 2019 for a six-minute appearance that saw her and Mossimo waive their right to a preliminary hearing and agree to several pretrial conditions—she handled it in much the same way she's dealt with the countless other public appearances she's made over the course of her four decade Hollywood career.

The couple traveled across the country via private jet "because Mossimo wanted to," an insider told E! News. "He is mortified by this whole thing and wants to avoid unwanted attention in public."

But as they scaled the steps of the courthouse, the oversized gathering of cameras and fans made it clear that slipping under the radar wasn't so much a possibility. And faced with the decision to lower her head and keep it moving as Huffman had done or acknowledge the intensity of the situation, Lori shifted into celebrity mode, signing autographs for those that had come out to show their support.

CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

"She was obviously extremely nervous and the actress side of Lori came out. She doesn't know how else to be in public," the insider explained. "Her natural reaction was to just smile and try to be light-hearted. She's always been so well loved and charming, that's the part she knows how to play in public."

With her entire world rotated on its axis, sticking to the tried-and-true whenever possible was the only thing that felt right. "She's trying to keep a somewhat regular schedule—going to yoga and Pilates and seeing friends for lunch," an insider told _People_ last year. "She is very faith-based, and she knows her faith will get her through this."

Thus far her relationship with God has proven stronger than some of the friendships she's formed in L.A., a part of the country she's called home since landing on _Full House_, the breakout gig that came after she spent her teen years as one of the youngest cast member on soap opera _The Edge of Night_.

"Lori and Mossimo are finding out quickly who their real friends are," an insider told _People_. "It's not like they are the victims of a crime. They are the crime. Many of their friends don't want to be associated with them right now."

But count her most Hollywood of pals—her _Fuller House_ costars—among those refusing to reach for a cheap Aunt Becky joke.

CANDACE CAMERON BURE, whose own daughter NATASHA BURE, 22, is close in age to Lori's girls, seemed to speak for the entire clan at the 2019 Kids' Choice Awards.

"Where there's a lot of heart, there's a lot of love—and a loving family sticks together no matter what," she said standing alongside JODIE SWEETIN and ANDREA BARBER to accept the blimp-shaped trophy for Favorite Funny TV Show. "They stick together through the hard times, they support each other, they encourage one another, they pray for each other, and they stand by their side no matter how tough it gets."

Questioned further about the situation on _Today_, Cameron Bure, once again, declined to throw her yoga buddy under the bus, telling HODA KOTB and KATHIE LEE GIFFORD, "You know, it's too personal to us, and you never want to talk about someone that's such a dear and close friend. But I think, I've already said that we are family, and we stand by each other and pray for each other, and we'll always be there for each other."

David Livingston/Getty Images

It's a pact Danny Tanner himself is in on. Appearing on _Today_ in April 2019, BOB SAGET opted not to share his thoughts on the specifics of the case. "I will say that I love her and I will say that, no comment," he said. "It's a personal thing, it's a personal thing...it's a strange time...and, what do you say?"

JOHN STAMOS has also refused to pile on his costar, a woman he once mused could have been the one to get away. "I want to wait until the trial happens, if it does, or whatever the result is, and then talk about it," he said in an August 2019 interview with _GQ_. "Whatever happened...I'm pretty sure that the punishment is not equal to the crime, if there was a crime."

An insider told E! News her daughters are also members of Team Lori, this despite Olivia watching her influencer empire crumble to the ground in a matter of hours. Having initially launched her YouTube channel at the age of 14, she'd built up a presence so robust it appeared a college degree might not be necessary to secure a future as charmed as her childhood.

ABC

"She started a YouTube channel around makeup and beauty and now she's an ambassador for Sephora and she wants to have her own makeup line one day and she's totally moving in that direction, but she started that channel on her own. She did it all herself," Lori boasted to _Salon_ in 2018. "I laugh. She's a one-woman production company. She hosts the show. She edits the show. She adds the music. She does the graphics. She comes up with the content. She produces the whole thing."

But as details of the admissions scandal emerged, companies fell out of Olivia's growing portfolio like dominoes, the teen losing endorsement gigs with TRESemmé and Princess Polly and watching as the makeup palette she had recently released with Sephora was discontinued.

An inevitable rough patch followed, but mom and daughter have since come back together, Olivia making frequent trips home despite moving out last May. "Olivia has expressed that she has forgiven her parents and they are currently on much better terms," an insider tells E! News. "She knows they were coming from a place of love and wanted the best for her and her sister Bella, but Olivia needed time to process what was going on." (Another source counters that "things were never bad between Olivia and her parents.")

Either way, more than a year later, their relationship has settled into a new normal. Says the insider, "Olivia is very close to her mom and knows that Lori needs her support during this time. It is still very tense in the household, but they are all managing and trying to say positive."

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Because while the family is clocking a lot of together time, their days bear little resemblance to the sun-soaked weekends they enjoyed when the girls were young.

"It was great when they were little," Loughlin said during a 2016 BUILD Series panel for her and Bella's Hallmark holiday film _Every Christmas Has A Story_. "I loved Sunday afternoons so much…because we'd get up in the morning and we'd stay in our pajamas and they'd just play together by the hour and I would give them lunch and they'd go back and play. It was just so nice, we didn't do a lot playdates; it was just our little group. It was lovely."

Now the atmosphere surrounding the family is heavy with worry about what comes next—a burden that's put strain on their marriage. Though insiders are adamant the longtime pair have no intention of splitting up, there's little doubt this has been their toughest year of marriage yet, the sleepless nights and stressful days bringing the "for worse" portion of their vows into sharp focus.

"There's a rift between Lori and Mossimo," a source told E! News. "He is completely mortified by this whole thing and she is putting on a happy face and acting like everything will be OK."

For Lori, seeking out the silver lining is a habit that's been ingrained for decades. Asked by a fan at the BUILD Series how she manages to maintain a positive outlook, she replied, "I think it's just my attitude in life and I'm going to say it has to do with my parents and how I was raised. My mom and dad were always really positive people and my mom always said, every day, 'Count your blessings.' I think I always go back to that. Even when I feel like maybe I'm under a lot of pressure or a lot of stress or the day's getting my down…I always do stop and think, OK, count my blessings."

But now, even with all efforts put forth toward a sunny disposition, seeking out those moments of gratitude has been difficult. "She is spending a lot of quiet time at home and staying out of the public eye," says the confidante. "She feels like when she goes out there is always a spin or a story. She feels like whatever she does it's going to be spun into the wrong thing."

REX/Shutterstock

So all that was left was to hope against hope that things will turn out as right as possible.

That started with a mother of an apology during her August sentencing session. "I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass," Lori began. "I thought I was acting out of love for my children but in reality it only underlined and diminished my daughter's abilities and accomplishments. More broadly and more importantly, I now understand that my helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society generally and the higher education system more specifically."

Having accepted that wrongdoing, she continued, "That realization weighs heavily on me and while I wish I could go back and do things differently, I can only take responsibility and move forward. I have great faith in God and I believe in redemption and I will do everything in my power to redeem myself and use this experience as a catalyst to do good and give back for the rest of my life."

(_Originally published April 10, 2019 at 12:30 p.m. PT_)

question: Identify and summarize illegal activity discussed in the article

answer: The article discusses the illegal activities that Lori Loughlin and her family is involved with: the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. By paying bribes and committing fraud, they, along with 16 other parents, directly influenced the admissions systems of universities. The charges given were conspiracy to commit mail fraud, money laundering, and bribery. The sentence involved months of jail time, years of supervised release, hours of community service, and a fine of at least $150,000.


text:
“You’re like a needle. You make a good point,” she said to me.

I held my head low. I smiled. I stared across the table at her, eyes locked. She took a sip from her glass.

“Color me impressed,” she said.

The wild look in her eyes was unmistakable. She couldn’t get her hints across better if she screamed them.

“Want me to color you back at my place?” I said with a revealing smirk.

“I have crayons at mine.”

So we skipped the formalities, so to speak. And what a happy couple we became. For a new, young couple, these were exciting times. Exploring each other was all we could find interest in. She knew my favorite color, my favorite movie, my favorite book, my favorite sushi, my favorite cereal, my favorite drink, my favorite animal, my favorite sexual position, my favorite time of the day. For months, we were the object of each other’s full attention. Everyone knew how much we loved each other; it was just so plainly obvious. We knew stuff about each other. We knew everything.

Just a few weeks ago we took a canoe over to Flax Pond.

“Do you love me?” she asked.

“Yes. I bought you that necklace. I’m willing to spend so much money on you.”

“That’s sort of an inappropriate response, although it is a very pretty necklace. Say something to me that will make me have sex with you.”

“I love you.”

She ravaged me.

We also visited the park down the street at 11 o’clock at night. We were at the park at 11 PM. We were there, but nobody else was. Experiences at the park at 11 at night kept the proverbial candle of love lit. Of course, we were mature about it. We didn’t make too much noise.

We were inseparable. We loved each other. We understood each other’s twisted sexual sense of humor, the humor that made us so unique. We were such a unique couple, and we were made for each other. Our passion burned uniquely and brightly like explosions in the sky.

We soon broke up and never spoke with each other again. I met someone else and invited her out to dinner. She said she liked to write. I told her we should go back to my house after and have a little workshop session.

“That sounds like fun,” she said.

She took a sip from her glass.

title: [RO] Where I Was

question: Did the protagonist love his first partner?

answer: It seems as though he loved her superficially, since his first example of loving her is to explain that he has spent 'so much money' on her. It is also true that once the spark went out of the relationship, he moved on to another one very quickly.

question: Is a necklace a good representation of loving someone?

answer: It depends on the context, in this case it would appear to be a gesture the recipient does not take to represent 'love'.

question: What could have happened if the original pair had stayed together?

answer: It seems likely that as the spark died in their relationship, the protagonist would have found someone else anyway.

question: Why is sex important for a strong relationship in the context of this story?

answer: Because it kept the relationship going.


text:
There was a marsh that bounded part of the woods behind my house, on the edge of which, at high tide, Dad and I used to stand and fish for perch and minnows. Birds chirped in the trees and they’d clam up when the eagles came around. In some places, it was hard to walk. The forest floor was so slick and the swamp so full of trees that there was no way to tell where one stopped and the other ended. In consequence, when burly hunters stomped through the woods they sometimes found themselves knee-deep in slippery mud, as black as oil. That wasn’t us, we knew our way around. By trial and adaptation to the rhythm of the tides, it was like instinct for Dad and I. I knew every tree and every boulder; where the eagle’s nest was and the cave that sunk into the ground and filled up with water at high tide.

“You got the bait, boy?” Dad asked. I nodded my head and held out a tin can swimming with worms.

You might like to know something of his character. He was well-built, of middle stature, and quite ingenious. He could draw well, was a skilled musician, and he had a mechanical intuition too. But, his greatest attributes laid in his perfect understanding and solid judgment. He ran for town sheriff a number of times, winning twice. I remember frequent visits to our house by the mayor and other leaders who consulted him for his opinion in the affairs of the town, long after his service with the police department had ended.

We walked over the path of wood beams he’d made by hand to get across the marsh as the tide rose. The tide turned the ground around us into mush. Dad noticed some eddies and splashes a little ways out and said Son, I think there’s a big one out ‘ere today! And he smiled at me.

When we got to the pier he took to arranging the fishing line and we sat with our feet dangling over the water. There was an enormous splash some distance out. Wow! Dad said, and I looked up to him in awe, as if he hadn’t seen what I’d just seen. A frog ribbited in the swamp somewhere, and then we heard a *plunk* and it went quiet. Little ripples washed towards us, chopped up by the waterlilies and the cattails.

I lurched forward and I realized something bit down on my line. “You got one!” he said, and he helped me reel it in with real difficulty. We spun and spun the rod as hard as we could. The hook churned up the water around itself. The fish flapped about and swayed among the reeds. We thought it might be a catfish. I imagined myself posing with it for a picture, telling Ma, look at what I did!

I caught a water droplet with my eye. We pulled and pulled and pulled and soon it got real easy to reel in the line. I thought it was my dad’s strength. But soon we got it up above the surface, and the fish was gone. Nothing but a sliver of lip remained on the silver hook, and a cloud of blood muddied the water.

r/SamuelSwauger

title: [RF] Living in a Shadow

question: How does the flow of the story shift?

answer: The flow and mood of the story shifts quickly at the end from what initially appeared to be a story about a boy and the father he seems to admire fishing in the marsh, to the two discovering that there is something that lurks in the water.


text:
An ATTENUATED VACCINE (or a live attenuated vaccine) is a vaccine created by reducing the virulence of a pathogen, but still keeping it viable (or “live”).[1] Attenuation takes an infectious agent and alters it so that it becomes harmless or less virulent.[2] These vaccines contrast to those produced by “killing” the virus (inactivated vaccine).

Attenuated vaccines stimulate a strong and effective immune response that is long-lasting.[3] In comparison to inactivated vaccines, attenuated vaccines produce a stronger and more durable immune response with a quick immunity onset.[4][5][6] Attenuated vaccines function by encouraging the body to create antibodies and memory immune cells in response to the specific pathogen which the vaccine protects against.[7] Common examples of live attenuated vaccines are measles, mumps, rubella, yellow fever, and some influenza vaccines.[8]

Development

Viruses may be attenuated via passage of the virus through a foreign host, such as:[9][10]

-   Tissue culture
-   Embryonated eggs
-   Live animals

The initial virus population is applied to a foreign host. Through natural genetic variability or induced mutation, a small percent of the viral particles should have the capacity to infect the new host.[11][12] These strains will continue to evolve within the new host and the virus will gradually lose its efficacy in the original due to lack of selection pressure.[13][14] This process is known as “passage” in which the virus becomes so well adapted to the foreign host that it is no longer harmful to the vaccinated subject.[15] This makes it easier for the host's immune system to eliminate the agent and create the immunological memory cells which will likely protect the patient if they are infected with a similar version of the virus in “the wild”.[16]

Viruses may also be attenuated via reverse genetics.[17]

Administration

Attenuated vaccines can be administered in a variety of ways:

-   Injections:
    -   Subcutaneous (e.g. measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, varicella vaccine, yellow fever vaccine)[18]
    -   Intradermal (e.g. tuberculosis vaccine, smallpox vaccine)[19]
-   Mucosal:
    -   Nasal (e.g. Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine)[20][21]
    -   Oral (e.g. oral polio vaccine, recombinant live attenuated cholera vaccine, oral typhoid vaccine, oral rotavirus vaccine)[22][23]

Mechanism

Vaccines function by encouraging the creation of cells, such as CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes, or molecules, such as antibodies, that are specific to the pathogen.[24] The cells and molecules can either prevent or reduce infection by killing infected cells or by producing interleukins.[25] The specific effectors evoked can be different based on the vaccine.[26] Live attenuated vaccines tend to help with the production of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes and T-dependent antibody responses.[27] A vaccine is only effective for as long as the body maintains a population of these cells.[28] Live attenuated vaccines can induce long-term, possibly lifelong, immunity without requiring multiple vaccine doses.[29][30] Live attenuated vaccines can also induce cellular immune responses, which do not rely solely on antibodies but also involve immune cells such as cytotoxic T cells or macrophages.[31]

Safety

Live-attenuated vaccines stimulate a strong and effective immune response that is long-lasting.[32] Given pathogens are attenuated, it is extremely rare for pathogens to revert to their pathogenic form and subsequently cause disease.[33] Additionally, within the five WHO-recommended live attenuated vaccines (tuberculosis, oral polio, measles, rotavirus, and yellow fever) severe adverse reactions are extremely rare.[34] However, similar to any medication or procedure, no vaccine can be 100% safe or effective.[35]

Individuals with compromised immune systems (e.g., HIV-infection, chemotherapy, combined immunodeficiencies) typically should not receive live-attenuated vaccines as they may not be able to produce an adequate and safe immune response.[36][37][38][39] Household contacts of immunodeficient individuals are still able to receive most attenuated vaccines since there is no increased risk of infection transmission, with the exception being the oral polio vaccine.[40]

As precaution, live-attenuated vaccines are not typically administered during pregnancy.[41][42] This is due to the risk of transmission of virus between mother and fetus.[43] In particular, the varicella and yellow fever vaccines have been shown to have adverse effects on fetuses and nursing babies.[44]

Some live attenuated vaccines have additional common, mild adverse effects due to their administration route.[45] For example, the live attenuated influenza vaccine is given nasally and is associated with nasal congestion.[46]

Compared to inactivated vaccines, live-attenuated vaccines are more prone to immunization errors as they must be kept under strict conditions during the cold chain and carefully prepared (e.g., during reconstitution).[47][48][49]

History

The history of vaccine development started with the creation of the smallpox vaccine by Edward Jenner in the late 18th century.[50] Jenner discovered that inoculating a human with an animal pox virus would grant immunity against smallpox, a disease considered to be one of the most devastating in human history.[51][52] Although the original smallpox vaccine is sometimes considered to be an attenuated vaccine due to its live nature, it was not strictly-speaking attenuated since it was not derived directly from smallpox. Instead, it was based on the related and milder cowpox disease.[53][54] The discovery that diseases could be artificially attenuated came in the late 19th century when Louis Pasteur was able to derive an attenuated strain of chicken cholera.[55] Pasteur applied this knowledge to develop an attenuated anthrax vaccine and demonstrating its effectiveness in a public experiment.[56] The first rabies vaccine was subsequently produced by Pasteur and Emile Roux by growing the virus in rabbits and drying the affected nervous tissue.[57]

The technique of cultivating a virus repeatedly in artificial media and isolating less virulent strains was pioneered in the early 20th century by Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin who developed an attenuated tuberculosis vaccine called the BCG vaccine.[58] This technique was later used by several teams when developing the vaccine for yellow fever, first by Sellards and Laigret, and then by Theiler and Smith.[59][60][61] The vaccine developed by Theiler and Smith proved to be hugely successful and helped establish recommended practices and regulations for many other vaccines. These include the growth of viruses in primary tissue culture (e.g., chick embryos), as opposed to animals, and the use of the seed stock system which uses the original attenuated viruses as opposed to derived viruses (done to reduce variance in vaccine development and decrease the chance of adverse effects).[62][63] The middle of the 20th century saw the work of many prominent virologists including Sabin, Hilleman, and Enders, and the introduction of several successful attenuated vaccines, such as those against polio, measles, mumps, and rubella.[64][65][66][67]

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

-   Accurately imitate natural infections.[68][69]
-   Are effective at evoking both strong antibody and cell-mediated immune reactions.[70][71][72]
-   Can elicit long-lasting or life-long immunity.[73][74][75]
-   Often only one or two doses are required.[76][77][78]
-   Quick immunity onset.[79][80][81]
-   Cost-effective (compared to some other health interventions).[82][83]
-   Can have strong beneficial non-specific effects.[84]

Disadvantages

-   In extremely rare cases natural mutations can cause a virus to revert to its wild-type form or mutate to a new strain, potentially resulting in the new virus being infectious, pathogenic, or dangerous.[85][86]
-   Often not recommended for immunocompromised patients due to the risk of potentially severe complications.[87][88][89]
-   Live strains typically require advanced maintenance, such as refrigeration and fresh media, making transport to remote areas difficult and costly.[90][91]

List of attenuated vaccines

Currently in-use

Bacterial vaccines

-   Anthrax vaccine[92]
-   Cholera vaccine[93]
-   Plague vaccine[94]
-   Salmonella vaccine[95]
-   Tuberculosis vaccine[96]
-   Typhoid vaccine[97]

Viral vaccines

-   Live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV)[98]
-   Japanese encephalitis vaccine[99]
-   Measles vaccine[100]
-   Mumps vaccine[101]
-   MR vaccine[102]
-   MMR vaccine[103]
-   MMRV vaccine[104]
-   Polio vaccine[105]
-   Rotavirus vaccine[106]
-   Rubella vaccine[107]
-   Smallpox vaccine[108]
-   Varicella vaccine[109]
-   Yellow fever vaccine[110]
-   Zoster/Shingles vaccine[111]

In development

Bacterial vaccines

-   Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine[112]

Viral vaccines

-   Tick-Borne encephalitis vaccine[113]

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[3]  Vaccines|url=https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/types%7Caccess-date=2020-11-16%7Cwebsite=www.vaccines.gov}}

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[35]  CDC|url=https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/history/index.html%7Caccess-date=2020-11-16%7Cwebsite=www.cdc.gov%7Clanguage=en-us}}

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title: Attenuated vaccine

question: What does the article say about bacteria?

answer: Bacterial vaccines currently in-use include the anthrax, cholera, plague, salmonella, tuberculosis, and typhoid vaccines. There is also a vaccine in development for Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.

question: What does the article say about the COVID-19 vaccine?

question: What does the article say about risks?

answer: People with compromised immune systems may not be able to produce an adequate and safe immune response. There's also a risk of transmission of virus between mother and fetus if a vaccine is administered during pregnancy. Some vaccines have common, mild adverse effects (such as nasal congestion). Live-attenuated vaccines are also more prone to immunization errors, as they need to be kept under strict conditions during the cold chain and carefully prepared. In extremely rare cases, natural mutations can cause a virus to revert to its wild-type form or mutate into a new strain.


text:
The LAKES INTERNATIONAL CUP was a men's team golf competition between teams of professional golfers from Australia and the United States. It was played four times between 1934 and 1954. The United States won the first three matches with Australia winning the final match in 1954. The Lakes Golf Club staged the inaugural contest in 1934, donating the trophy, and hosted the final stage of the 1952 and 1954 matches.[1]

Trophy

The original trophy had a inscribed silver base with a wooden plinth and a large bowl on top. Only the silver base survives but the bowl and plinth have been recreated.[2]

Format

The 1934 and 1936 matches were contested by teams of six players over two days with three 36-hole foursomes on the first day and six 36-hole singles matches on the second day. The 1952 and 1954 matches had teams of four players and the contest was played at two separate venues. Each half of the contest was over two days with two 36-hole foursomes on the first day and four 36-hole singles matches on the second day, the combined score over the two halves determining the winner.

Results

+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Year      | Dates     | Venue     | Winners   | Score     | Ref       |
+===========+===========+===========+===========+===========+===========+
| 1934      | 9–10      | The Lakes | United    | 9–0       | [3]       |
|           | November  | Golf      | States    |           |           |
|           |           | Club,     |           |           |           |
|           |           | Australia |           |           |           |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| 1936      | 4–5       | Lakewood  | United    | 7½–1½     | [4]       |
|           | February  | Country   | States    |           |           |
|           |           | Club,     |           |           |           |
|           |           | United    |           |           |           |
|           |           | States    |           |           |           |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| 1952      | 31        | Huntingda | United    | 7–5       | [5]       |
|           | October – | le        | States    |           |           |
|           | 1         | Golf      |           |           |           |
|           | November  | Club,     |           |           |           |
|           | 7–8       | Australia |           |           |           |
|           | November  | The Lakes |           |           |           |
|           |           | Golf      |           |           |           |
|           |           | Club,     |           |           |           |
|           |           | Australia |           |           |           |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+
| 1954      | 30–31     | Lake      | Australia | 7–5       | [6]       |
|           | October   | Karrinyup |           |           |           |
|           | 5–6       | Country   |           |           |           |
|           | November  | Club,     |           |           |           |
|           |           | Australia |           |           |           |
|           |           | The Lakes |           |           |           |
|           |           | Golf      |           |           |           |
|           |           | Club,     |           |           |           |
|           |           | Australia |           |           |           |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

Appearances

The following are those who played in at least one of the four matches.

Australia

-   Billy Bolger 1934, 1936
-   Joe Cohen 1934, 1936
-   Lou Kelly 1936
-   Jim McInnes 1954
-   Kel Nagle 1952, 1954
-   George Naismith 1936
-   Ted Naismith 1934, 1936
-   Sam Richardson 1934, 1936
-   Ossie Pickworth 1952, 1954
-   Don Spence 1934
-   Rufus Stewart 1934
-   Peter Thomson 1952
-   Norman Von Nida 1952, 1954

United States

-   Tommy Bolt 1954
-   Harry Cooper 1934, 1936
-   Jimmy Demaret 1952
-   Leo Diegel 1934
-   Dave Douglas 1954
-   Olin Dutra 1936
-   Marty Furgol 1954
-   Dutch Harrison 1954
-   Ky Laffoon 1934
-   Lloyd Mangrum 1952
-   Porky Oliver 1952
-   Sam Parks Jr. 1936
-   Henry Picard 1936
-   Paul Runyan 1934, 1936
-   Denny Shute 1934
-   Horton Smith 1936
-   Jim Turnesa 1952
-   Craig Wood 1934

In 1954 Ed Furgol was part of the original team of four but withdrew because an injured right arm. He was replaced by Dave Douglas, who flew out as a replacement, arriving in Sydney on 26 October.[7]

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title: Lakes International Cup

question: What was the format for each iteration of the Lakes International Cup?

answer: The 1934 and 1936 matches were played by teams of six players over two days with three 35-hole foursomes on the first day and six 36-hole singles matches on the second day. The 1952 and 1954 iteration of the cup had teams of four players and the contest was played at two separate venues. Each half of the contest was over two days with two 36-hole foursomes on the first day and four 36-hole singles matches on the second day. The combined score over the two halves determined the winner.

question: Describe the trophy.

answer: The original trophy had an inscribed silver base with a wooden plinth and a large bowl on top. Only the silver base survives but the bowl and plinth have been recreated.

question: Why was the cup discontinued?


text:
This is a list of protests in March 2020 that were part of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. Protests activities largely centered around anniversaries of major events of the protests in 2019; there were also gatherings in shopping malls. Due to the growth of cases of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city – which would not be checked until April –, the protests were generally of considerably smaller size than before the pandemic. Police drew the dissatisfaction of demonstrators and pro-democratic politicians for their heavy-handed tactics, and for their perceived overuse of coronavirus restriction policies to dissolve rallies.

Events

7 March

To commemorate the suicide of Marco Leung on 15 June 2019, protesters held a mourning event. At about 7 pm, over 150 people were mourning on the sidewalk outside Pacific Place and presenting flowers, lighting candles, chanting slogans, and singing “Glory to Hong Kong”.[1]

8 March

[Protesters at Kwun Tong Promenade.] For the four month anniversary of Chow Tsz-lok's death, some protesters launched mourning activities in the Kwun Tong Promenade and the parking lot at Sheung Tak Estate in Tseung Kwan O. Before the event at Sheung Tak Estate began, a large number of riot police officers were patrolling the parking lot and searched private cars in the vicinity. At about 7:30 in the evening, more than 100 protesters went to the altar at a Christian cross mounted outside the car park to mourn, playing poetry and lighting candles. At 8:09, the time when Chow Tsz-lok passed away, people at the scene observed a minute of silence. At 8:20, police raised the blue warning flag, thereby giving warning that the assembly was unauthorised, and asked the protesters and journalists to leave. They sealed off a pedestrian road and checked ID cards and belongings of nearly 300 people, and raised the blue warning flag at least four more times.[2][3] Video footage of a police clearance operation appeared to show a member of the riot police using his shield to push a female reporter, who was wearing a helmet and reflective vest, to the ground, with the reporter suffering injuries to the back of her head. A total of 46 men and 17 women, aged 14 to 37, were arrested at the scene for illegal assembly, possession of imitation firearms, and possession of offensive weapons. In addition, a mourning event was held at Kwun Tong Promenade. Some people mourned at the scene with a Lennon wall and wrote the words “Keep up the heat and fight to the end”.[4][5][6] Protests also erupted in Tai Po earlier that day at 2:00 in the afternoon. Dozens of local residents gathered at the Tin Hau Temple for a rally to oppose the government's proposal to transform the Tai Po Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic into a dedicated clinic for COVID-19 patients. At 3:15, police declared the assembly illegal. More than 100 protestors walked towards the Tai Po Centre, shouting slogans. Some protestors threw debris on the roads. Police made 23 arrests.[7][Protesters at the car park where Chow Tsz-lok died, 8 March.]

12 March

Protesters started demonstration in multiple districts of Hong Kong at 7:30pm. Riot police were patrolling at the demonstrations from the start. Among them, a large number of riot police patrolled in Mong Kok, searching people from time to time. At the end of the scheduled demonstrations at 9 pm, some protesters made a roadblock using miscellaneous items on Sai Yeung Choi Street near Soy Street. Riot police arrived at the scene and immediately set up a blockade. As they demanded that reporters return to the pavement, they constantly pushed them; also, they shone flashlights at demonstrators and warned that pepper spray may be deployed. Police also intercepted more than 20 protesters inside the Sai Yeung Choi Street blockade. Six people were arrested.[8]

At 10 pm, some protesters set fire to a makeshift blockade on Shantung Street. Several riot police arrived on the scene to extinguish the fire, and then investigated any criminal wrongdoing.[9]

19 March

Some protesters continued to launch a “Lunch with You” rally. At about 1 pm, about 30 protesters gathered in the IFC mall. Some people held signs and then began to sing and yell slogans such as “Five demands not one less”. After about 20 minutes, the protesters started marching inside the mall. By 2 pm, the crowd dispersed peacefully.[10]

21 March

[Protesters calling for Hong Kong independence] For the eight-month anniversary of the Yuen Long attack, in mid-afternoon, over 30 security guards and police were deployed at Yuen Long Station and over 50 riot police were stationed at the transport interchange outside the station.[11] Police then set up roadblocks to inspect vehicles one by one at the Yuen Long section of Castle Peak Road.

At night, some protesters gathered in Yuen Long. During the time, some protesters blocked the road and threw petrol bombs in Qianse Square on Datang Road. Riot police fired multiple tear gas canisters without lifting the warning flag. About 30 members of the Special Tactical Squad perused them. Police officers then intercepted and arrested a number of protesters. During the arrest, riot police applied pepper spray to reporters and protesters at the scene. Several reporters were sprayed in the eyes, with members of the Legislative Council Hui Chi-fung, Roy Kwong and Andrew Wan also being sprayed. 61 people were arrested, including Zachary Wong, the chairman of Yuen Long District Council.[12][13]

Following the arrest of Wong, a joint statement of the 17 District Council Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and representatives criticised the police for continuing to over arrest and deteriorating police-public relations.[14]

In addition, protesters held a sit-in at Causeway Bay Station, Heng Fa Chuen Station and Chaiwan Station. Police deployed a large number of riot police and uniformed police to the stations, intercepting young people passing by from time to time. Among them, at the Causeway Bay Station at 7pm 50 citizens moved to the second floor of Times Square to hold a sit in. At 9:31, during the gathering of the protesters at Times Square, a number of riot police arrived and intercepted a dozen protesters. Police officers pushed down a protester and pepper sprayed him. Afterwards, police pepper sprayed a number of onlookers and reporters, arresting a man. At least three people were arrested. Police then closed the mall.[15]

In Fanling, the activists Hendrick Lui and Wong Ka-ho, who had both participated in the 2019 Hong Kong local elections, tried together with an assistant to stop a group of people from attacking a man. The man had gotten into a heated argument with the group about the controversial national security law proposal. Lui and Wong suffered injuries. Police arrived only after the assailants had left, and investigated the incident.[16]

31 March

On occasion of the seven-month anniversary of the 2019 Prince Edward station attack, anti-government protesters gathered at the site of the incident. Some demonstrators gathered and hurled abuse at the police. After warning the demonstrators that they were part of an unlawful assembly, the police made 54 arrests. The charges included illegal assembly, public disorder, possession of instrument fit for unlawful purpose, and theft, but did not relate to the social-distancing rules in effect since 29 March to counter the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.[17]

Counter-demonstrations

On 2 March dozens of citizens gathered at Chater Garden, Central, at 3:30 in the afternoon, and held a five-star flag and banner to protest at the US Consulate, accusing the US of interference in Hong Kong affairs after Jimmy Lai was arrested and charged.[18]

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title: Timeline of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests (March 2020)

question: What happened on March 12?

answer: 0n March 23, protesters started demonstration in multiple districts of Hong Kong at 7:30PM. At the end of the scheduled demonstrations at 9PM, some protesters made a roadblock using miscellaneous items on Sai Yeung Choi Street near Soy Street. Riot police arrived at the scene and immediately set up a blockade. They intercepted more than 20 protestors, and 6 people were arrested.

question: What were the counter-demonstrations that occurred?

answer: On March 2, dozens of citizens gathered at Chater Garden, Central, at 3:30PM to protest at the US Consulate, accusing the US of interfering in Hong Kong affairs after Jimmy Lai was arrested and charged.


text:
There was once a town by the name of Jarte. Jarte was set in the middle ages. It was self sufficent and didn't hold any ties or trades with any other place. When the town was created, people understood that you couldn't fuck about and do whatever the hell you pleased, you had to listen and take orders if you wanted to survive, otherwise a bear would eat your face.

The town was settled near a forest with a huge lake in the middle. The townspeople would often go to swim in the lake, since they were basically peasants and their lives were terrible and hard, they needed entertainment. That's why they had sex and went swimming during their free time. There was also a theater, but no one went there since that goat died in there. That's a different story though, so I won't get into it.

Eventually, as the town grew and houses were built and people were made by process of sexual intercourse and crops were grown, hierarchy developed. Certain people did the work and took orders, certain people both gave and took orders, and certain people simply gave orders. There was a royal family who was considered higher than the others because they were more handsome. And because of their handsomeness and charm, people listened to them. And the ugly people with dirt on their faces who didn't bathe or wear make up, did the work and took orders. The Royal family was spoilt as fuck and got everything handed to them, everyone respected them because they were authority and you had to.  The folks in the middle got angry at being looked down upon by the ones at the top so they took their frustrations on the lower working class. And after a hard day of work, the peasants would go home and take their frustrations out on their kids. And the kids couldn't wait until they were old enough to fuck with others. Such was the way of the town of Jarte.

Things continued after the town had been settled and it stayed like that for a few decades. Not much change happened, people went on with their lives. But one day, something went wrong. Something that shocked the town. It was a saturday, and after a week of working everyone went to the lake. Some people stayed home of course, but most went to the lake to relax and have some fun before starting work again. It was nighttime and people were laughing and eating and swimming. The kids splashed at each other and played in the water.

Suddenly swords were drawn. The soldiers told everyone to get the fuck home. They all screamed and ran home like "what the hell is going on??" The soldiers told everyone to stay at home and strict rules were put on the town. Rumors quickly spread about how the royal family had drowned at the lake, and they were suspicious that someone had rebelled against them, destroying the order and hierarchy that was necessary for society to function.

A funeral was held for four members of the family. The king and queen and their two daughters. The only one who survived was their fat son, who was too fat to swim and had decided to stay home. He was shocked to hear his family died, but was happy as fuck that he was now king.

Now, one of the peasant familys, a family of four, had a teenage boy who was suspected of drowning the family. He was 17 and worked with his father in the mines. The soldiers for the king had broke into their cottage and dragged the boy, kicking and screaming, outside. The family was shocked, but the soldiers announced that he was the one who murdered the family, and he should be punished.

He was executed in front of the entire town, his head chopped off with a motherfucking sword. They soldiers warned the townspeople that order was important, and anyone who disobeys or is violent against someone in a higher position of power shall be executed in the same way. The mother and father and brother of the boy went home crying.

Of course, that poor boy hadn't been the one who drowned the royal family. They had died because of their own stupidity. But the soldiers had to make sure order was maintained, so they made an example out of one of the workers.

When the family went home, the father beat the younger kid. He was twelve, and his father beat the living shit out of him, making him bleed and breaking a few of his teeth, screaming "WHY COULDN'T HAVE IT BEEN YOU? YOU'RE USELESS, YOU DON'T WORK! WHY WASN'T IT YOU?"

A fortnight after that, sick of his father and mother's cruelness and sick of being unwanted, the boy ran away from home. He snuck into the forest and went back to the lake, even though it was banned after they royal family had drowned. He went into the lake, hoping to drown himself and put himself out of his misery. He had no one to talk down to, no one to take his frustrations on. He was the youngest of a peasant family. He swam to the bottom and was prepared to die, when he saw something shiny. It was a stone, and it was shiny as fuck. Didn't even look like a rock. He swam to it, and came back up, just to get a look at it.

He held the stone in his hand. It was bright silver and glimmered under the light of the rising sun. He had forgotten all about his suicide now. He was just angry. He wasn't sad, he was angry. Angry at the royal family and the soldiers who were obviously ruining this town. They did nothing. They didn't work, the peasants did, yet they got all the food and big houses and THEY rules US to preserve "order."

If this was order, the boy thought, then he didn't want it. And, since he was prepared to die anyway, he might as well go out with style.

The boy ran back into town and the soldiers and townspeople saw him.

"Oh god, that boy! What the fuck!"

"Doesn't he know that he shouldn't have been in the forest? Holy fuck!"

One of the soldiers, who was escorting the fat boy as he went around, dressed in his bullshit royal clothes, looking smug as fuck, saw the boy. "Hey you! What do you think you're doing?"

The boy looked at the fat boy who was now king of the town. They both looked at each other. Both were twelve, both lived in the same town, yet they had come from entirely different worlds.

"FUCK YOU!" The peasant boy shouted, and threw the rock at the king, who bled from his forehead and died instantly, right there on the ground.

The soldiers took the peasant boy and executed him and his parents in front of the entire town. And then...

Everyone stood there, looking at each other. What were they to do now? The king was dead. Whose orders would the soldiers follow? What would happen? They stood there like robots, not knowing what to do without a master to follow orders from. They stared at each other, confused as fuck.

The silver rock that had been used to kill the king started moving. It cracked open, and from inside came a unicorn.

It wasn't a rock at all, it was an egg.

The unicorn flew out of the egg, leaving a trail of shiny glitter behind. It hovered in the sky over the townspeople.

*You fools!* the unicorn boomed, *Order and hierarchy aren't necessary in society! That's bullshit! It's about love and happiness!*

The unicorn threw up a rainbow and suddenly the town changed. The great castle for the royal family turned into a cottage like the peasants', because equality. And all the townspeople and soldiers became naked, because love and nature. The mines collapsed because useless labor is dumb, and the crops turned into marijuana.

Everyone danced naked and swam in the lake and fucked and smoked weed. Everyone was happy and love spread through the air.

*A fortnight later...*

A bald eagle comes down and stands on the ruins of the city. It has burned down and there is nothing but rubble left. Everyone died because the crops were replaced with weed and order and hierarchy was gone, so there was no motivation to work.

The bald eagle shed a single tear.

title: I wrote this story today. It's about a rock.

question: Why were the peasants banned from going to the lake?

answer: The royal family had drowned at the lake, and the soldiers were suspicious that someone had rebelled against them, destroying the order and hierarchy that was necessary for society to function.

question: How did the sole survivor of the drowning manage to survive?

answer: The only one who survived was their fat son, who was too fat to swim and had decided to stay home. He was shocked to hear his family died but was happy that he was now king.

question: Why did the soldiers execute the 17-year-old for the royal drowning?

answer: A family of four had a teenage boy who was suspected of drowning the family. He was 17. Of course, that poor boy hadn't been the one who drowned the royal family. They had died because of their own stupidity. But the soldiers had to make sure order was maintained, so they made an example out of one of the workers.

question: What happened to the brother of the executed boy?

answer: The father beat the younger kid. He was twelve, and his father beat the living shit out of him, making him bleed and breaking a few of his teeth The boy ran away from home. He snuck into the forest and went back to the lake, even though it was banned after the royal family had drowned. He swam to the bottom and was prepared to die when he saw something shiny. It was a stone. The boy ran back into town and the soldiers and townspeople saw him. The boy looked at the fat boy who was now king of the town. "FUCK YOU!" The peasant boy shouted, and threw the rock at the king, who bled from his forehead and died instantly, right there on the ground.

question: What was the shiny stone?

answer: It wasn't a silver rock at all. It was a Unicorn egg. The Unicorn hatched from the egg and left a trail of glitter over the townsfolk.

question: What was the final outcome?

answer: The city was ruined. It has burned down and there is nothing but rubble left. Everyone died because the crops were replaced with weed and order and hierarchy was gone, so there was no motivation to work.


text:
Marathons and Phone Calls

Running a marathon has its perils, no runner will deny that. It is an arduous, painful journey that requires you to search deep in your soul to see if you have what it takes to make it to the finish line. ‘Hitting the wall’ is notoriously acknowledged by many runners as the stage of the race where a runner feels as if they cannot go any further. In scientific terms, it is when the body’s glycogen source goes empty, resulting in the body being unable to produce energy and in turn, the runner reaching a stage of fatigue where they can no longer perform physically or mentally. Call it a cliché metaphor, but I have no doubt in my mind that life is one long marathon in itself. “Go and chase your dreams. You won’t regret it. Anything can happen if you let it.” That was the phrase that was cemented into my head from a young age by my father. I hadn’t been blessed with much from whatever higher power there was out there, but a wise father was something that I had been graced with, even if he didn’t know that himself.
My father didn’t talk about his early life with me, the only thing I knew was that he was only 20 when my mother had me.  My mother, a title unworthy of the woman, left my father, my sister and me when I was only four years old. When my sister rang me from our family home in Mackay informing me that my father had taken his life I wasn’t sad or angry, just empty. Some things are best left unsaid, the details regarding my father’s suicide was one of those things, if I could go back and not ask those questions I would, because even before I asked the questions, I knew the answers would not fill that bottomless hole.  After twenty minutes of hearing my sister ball her eyes out I finally put the phone down and walked onto the balcony of my one bedroom apartment in the heart of Brisbane’s central business district. My mind instantly drifted to the advice my father had given me when I was seven years old and whether or not he had chased his dreams. When you are told your 45 year old father has voluntarily ended his life, you wonder if you could have done anything to stop it, you wonder if you could have done anything to help him get over that wall – don’t.
What I did for work was not something many children dreamt of doing when they grew up. When I used to tell somebody what I did, I didn’t, because to be honest, it’s wasn’t very interesting and I wasn’t very passionate about it. Although sometimes, I’d have a bit of fun and make up a fake occupation, it’s amazing how creative you can be when you work as an accountant all day and all you do is punch numbers into a computer. I used to tell people I was the guy who made reservations at restaurants for celebrities, it’s not the most exciting job, but I’m sure it would beat the hell out of being an accountant. I suppose it’s not what a normal person would do, but then again, what even is normal?  When I was young I’d dream of making it big as an actor, walking down red carpets, starring on the big screen and drinking champagne. That’s all actors really do isn’t it? I’m not too sure when I stopped considering that life path as a possibility, but I definitely couldn’t see it happening anytime soon. The reason I’m telling you about my job is because, today, I got fired. I don’t know anything else besides accounting and I don’t know what I’m going to do next. I guess this can happen when you work a dead-end office job for the last 15 years of your life. Remember how I said life is one long marathon? Well, I just hit my wall.
I can’t remember why I decided to go to the local after I got home from work, I don’t know why I didn’t just stay in my apartment and drown my sorrows with a case of Pure Blonde’s and last night’s left over pizza instead. I think I wanted to silence those mental demons that fly around everybody’s head, don’t deny it, I know you have them as well. I never start conversations with strangers, I don’t know how to, actually now that I think about it, I never start conversations with anybody, that’s probably why I didn’t have anyone to call after I got the bad news from my boss, mind you, Michelle didn’t have the faintest idea of introduction etiquette either.
“Who shot the fucking bartender?” I yelled after my seventh rum and coke, wondering if I’d be sober by the time the suave Brad Pitt-wannabe bartender was going to serve me.
“You know, nobody should ever wear blue and green without anything in-between,” said the tall blonde wearing a Prada dress and holding a Louis Vuitton handbag standing on my left.
“Huh? Were you talking to me?”
Michelle chuckled, “Sorry, I work in the fashion department for Gentleman’s Quarterly and I couldn’t notice you’re breaking at least five rules from GQ’s latest fashion article.”
“Fuck off…”
“Oh sorry, I feared I might have tread a step too far, I’ll be on my way.”
“Wait… What do you suggest I wear then, hey sunshine?”
“Well, you’re not mining out in the country, so I’d lose the flannel, the jeans are probably a bit too baggy, and well… You could do without the beard.”
“I thought beards were back?”
She chuckled, “Honey, they were never in.”
“No need to be a condescending bi--“
“Sorry! I do that sometimes, I forget that not everybody wants to listen to the girl from the city. What’re you drinking? My shout.”
“A rum and coke, but good luck, I’ve been trying to get a drink for the last ten minutes.”
She was far too good looking for me, but I’d dealt with enough shit today, if Cupid had slipped and shot two arrows astray, who was I to throw them back at his little, baby torso? I may not initiate conversations often, but I had learnt how to hold one. Not to mention I have an Achilles heel for women with accents and there was no way I was letting this fine specimen of a human being slip away. Michelle’s accent wasn’t a strong one, subtle, but scrumptious to the ear. I think it was a mixture of Austrian, English and Australian, but that could have just been the rum and coke talking. Within 30 seconds, we both had drinks in front of us with a personal message from the bartender to call him over if we ever needed another one.
“Fuck women, man.” I spat out in a tone of disgust.
“Excuse me?”
“Women are always complaining about sexism and arguing for feminism, and then here you are and you pull a stunt like that!”
“Did you know that the average Australian weekly wage for a woman is 250 dollars less than a man’s? That 89 women were killed by their partner in Australian between 2008 and 2010? Or that in the United States last year, 80 percent of sexual harassment charges were filed by women? But I suppose, as long as I get served faster than a man at a bar, I should just be grateful.”
“Sorry, it’s just been a rough day.”
“So you’re not a snappy little grouch all the time?”
“Nah, only when people tell me I can’t dress for shit and mock my facial appearance,” I said sarcastically and with a sly smirk on my face.
“Fair call. So what’s the problem then?”
“Work, well, the lack of it now, I suppose.”
“Well, what do you want to do?”
“Well. If I fucking knew that, don’t you think I’d be doing that.”
“Frankly, not really. From our brief encounter, it doesn’t seem as if you’ve got a lot of drive in you.”

Smack! That was me landing on my ass after smashing into my wall.

“You’re a pretty straight forward kind of girl.”
“Life’s short, why beat around the bush?”
“Yeah…”
“Go and chase your dreams, you won’t regret it. Anything can happen if you let it.”
“Wait, what? Say that again.”
“Go and chase your dreams, you won’t regret it. Anything can happen if you let it.”
“What the fuck? Where did you hear that from? My father used to say that to me all the time! Like word for word. Did you know him?”
“It’s from Mary Poppins”
“Mary Poppins?”
“Yeah, Mary Poppins, you know the nanny with the umbrella that sings all those songs?”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Mary fucking Poppins. Holy shit. Fucking dad, I cannot believe it. Mary… Poppins. Ha!” I said, laughing in disbelief.
“Anyways, it was nice meeting you, I’ve got a dinner with my brother and his wife to get to. Best of luck with the work situation.”
“Thanks, hey, wait! What’s your name?”
“Michelle,” she said with a smile, “Now I really should take off, but don’t forget, you can walk, you can run, just make sure you never stop chasing your dreams.”
“Mary Poppins again?”
“No, that’s just some bullshit I made up. See you later,” Michelle giggled and walked off.
I’m not sure if I’ll see Michelle again. Now that I think about it I probably should have tried to get her number, but it was all just a bit surreal. Probably for the best, I would have hated to have tarnished that perfect image of the Prada wearing, Mary Poppins quoting, guidance counselling woman I’d just met. She got to me when I was at my wall, I think she may have actually picked me up and thrown me over it to be honest. It’s funny how life folds out sometimes, just when you think you can’t go any further, you come across a special person, or a life-changing event. I don’t know if things are going to turn out any better, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation for the events that life had in store for me. So take my advice when I tell you to chase your dreams, but you probably won’t, I know I wouldn’t have.

title: [RF] Marathons and Phonecalls. Thoughts?

question: Describe the metaphor used in the passage.

answer: The author says that life is one long marathon. Marathon is a painful journey. You can 'hit the wall'. ‘Hitting the wall’ means that a runner feels as if they cannot go any further. The same is in life. The author feels that he hit the wall as he lost his job and does not know what to do now.

question: What does the story say about the author's job?

answer: The author is just fired. He used to work as an accountant and does not love that job because it is boring and not creative. He wanted to be an actor. Sometimes, he makes up a fake occupation. He used to tell people he was the guy who made reservations at restaurants for celebrities.

question: What does the story say about the characteristics of a good accountant?


text:
(IP) Up in Smoke

In the mirrored, colorful surface of the portal, there was a blue, sunny sky, with grassy valleys and mountains painted in every color he could imagine; after all these years, after all of his sacrifices, he’d found it. No more would he be living in this world, cold and gray and drained of life, though the universe had seen fit to put him here.

That wasn’t to say that his formative years in this world, clouded by toxic lavender clouds of smoke, were miserable. Indeed, there had been times that he’d been happy. But there was something inside of him, a deep, yawning void that was just not satisfied, even after he’d reaped the love and support that his family had shown him, a mere echo now that they were gone.

For a short, terrifying moment, he was transported back to the moment that had caused their deaths, drowning him in the fear and rage that had driven him to this in the first place—

*Three sharp, rapid knocks on the door. A beat of silence.*

*Then they kicked down the door, dark beacons of death and order and the king’s elite force, The Reaper’s Hand, fanning out like smoke and just as insubstantial, rictus grins showing behind their masks.*

*His wife, standing by the fire, stirring a stew, and his son at her feet, babbling happily.*

*“Maximillian Garvey, you have been charged by the King for treason,” The biggest, hulking guard said, his voice garbled behind his mask.*

*“The sentence for treason is death.”*

*Before the executioner had even finished his decree, his cronies had snatched up his poor wife and child; two quick swipes of the blade and Jazira fell to the floor, blood pouring from the gaping slash in her throat.*

*The only thing he remembered hearing was his own desperate, wrathful shrieks; he sounded like an injured animal. But he could see them, feel them, laughing at his agony, frenzied with bloodlust at their kill; after all, that was why the King employed them.*

*And then, to add insult to injury, they’d taken his boy, ‘to insure his future good behavior’.*

He quickly snapped himself out of the vision; that was the past and it needed to stay there. But that didn’t stop his body from remembering: the iron tang of her blood, hanging in the air as if to emphasize his own personal horror, his throat tightening so much he couldn’t breathe, invisible iron bars wrapped around his chest.

And to think, to this day, he didn’t know just what happened to his only child.

If he hadn’t had control of his temper by now, he would’ve struck the portal, destroyed his whole life’s work; he clenched his jaw and steeled himself.

He couldn’t waste all of this work, all of these years spent chasing what more people thought of as a pipe dream.

Now, he could escape, start over in a new world, where no one lived under a mad monarch’s thumb. He could leave the ghosts that haunted him in this faded husk of a world.

He did a final check of his supplies: food, clothing, as much money as he could scrape together, what he could afford to take from his lab, pictures of his wife and son, and finally, a vial of something so black it looked like the mad scientist had managed to bottle a starless night.

He was leaving at last, and good riddance. He stepped through the mirror and once he was on the other side, his back faded into the mountainous distance, and the door closed, becoming a normal mirror once more.

He’d made sure to lock the door to his crumbling tenement; more than one person had died for his secrets, and he hadn’t known, even when he’d made his choice, if his conscience could take any more blood spilled in his name.

No one ever saw Maximillian Garvey again, not even his son, when he’d returned from a childhood spent as an adopted prince, now a man.

Perhaps his father was nothing more than a mere dream.

\*\*

title: (FN) Up in Smoke

question: Summarize Maximillian Garvey's motivation.

answer: Garvey wants to leave the world of cold and gray and drained of life where he currently lives and where he experienced the heartache of his wife murdered and his son taken away at the hands of his king for his own crimes. There was something inside him from a young age, a deep, yawning void that was never satisfied. He decided to build a portal through a mirror to transport him to another world.

question: Summarize the climatic event of the story.

answer: Maximillian Garvey worked his whole life and paid a high price to build a portal out of this cold and gray world to fill a void in his life. He walked through the mirror to build a new life where he did not live under the thumb of a mad monarch. He steps through the mirror to start his life on the other side.

question: What does the story say about the king?

answer: The king had a masked elite force, The Reaper's Hand, that maintained order by killing when ordered to do so. The king charged Maximillian Garvey with treason, The Reaper's Hand killed his wife and took his only son as punishment and as insurance for good behavior. Garvey saw the king as a mad monarch.

question: Summarize the process with which Maximillian Garvey made the mirror.


text:
STONEWALL COUNTY is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,490.[1] Its county seat is Aspermont.[2] The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1888.[3] It is named for Stonewall Jackson, a general of the Confederate States Army.

Republican Drew Springer, Jr., a businessman from Muenster in Cooke County, has since January 2013 represented Stonewall County in the Texas House of Representatives.[4]

History

Stonewall County was formed in 1876 from the Young Territory. It was initially attached to Young County, Throckmorton County, and then Jones County, before finally becoming fully organized in 1889.[5]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.4%) are covered by water.[6]

Geographic features

-   Double Mountain (county high point[7] and most topographically prominent point for almost [8]
-   The Brazos River begins in Stonewall County at the confluence of the Double Mountain Fork and Salt Fork Brazos River, about west of Jud, Texas, now a ghost town.[9]

Major highways

-   [] U.S. Highway 83
-   [] U.S. Highway 380
-   [] State Highway 283

Adjacent counties

-   King County (north)
-   Haskell County (east)
-   Jones County (southeast)
-   Fisher County (south)
-   Kent County (west)

Demographics

As of the census[10] of 2010, 1,490 people, 642 households, and 426 families resided in the county. The population density was 2.0 people per square mile. The 928 housing units averaged 1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 87.7% White, 2.6% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 6.3% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. About 14.0% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 642 households, 24% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were not families; 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the county, the population was distributed as 22.80% under the age of 18, 6.20% from 18 to 24, 22.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 24.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,935, and for a family was $35,571. Males had a median income of $27,083 versus $15,000 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,094. About 14.80% of families and 19.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.50% of those under age 18 and 14.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Town

-   Aspermont (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

-   Old Glory
-   Peacock
-   Swenson

Ghost town

-   Rath City

Politics

Whereas the counties to its north in the Panhandle proper became overwhelmingly Republican at the presidential level with Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, Stonewall County continued to favor the Democratic Party for another four decades, even being narrowly won by Walter Mondale in 1984 when he came within 3,819 votes of losing all fifty states. During the twentieth century the only Republican to carry Stonewall County was Richard Nixon in 1972 – it was one of the few Baptist Bible Belt counties that stayed loyal to the anti-Prohibition Catholic Al Smith in 1928 when Texas voted Republican for the first time in its history.

Like the rest of the Bible Belt, due to opposition to the Democratic Party's liberal positions on social issues Stonewall County has trended powerfully Republican[11] and in the last five elections the Republican nominee has won more than 62 percent of the vote – more than Nixon won in his 3,000-plus-county landslide in 1972.

  Year                               Republican                                Democratic                                  Third parties
  ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
  style=“text-align:center;” |2016   style=“text-align:center;” |79.2% _555_   style=“text-align:center;” |19.3% _135_     1.6% _11_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2012   style=“text-align:center;” |75.1% _507_   style=“text-align:center;” |23.7% _160_     1.2% _8_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2008   style=“text-align:center;” |71.3% _524_   style=“text-align:center;” |28.0% _206_     0.7% _5_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2004   style=“text-align:center;” |66.4% _499_   style=“text-align:center;” |33.2% _250_     0.4% _3_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2000   style=“text-align:center;” |62.1% _496_   style=“text-align:center;” |36.8% _294_     1.1% _9_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1996   style=“text-align:center;” |35.2% _323_   style=“text-align:center;” |53.1% _487_     11.7% _107_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1992   style=“text-align:center;” |21.5% _242_   style=“text-align:center;” |49.9% _561_     28.6% _322_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1988   style=“text-align:center;” |36.7% _421_   style=“text-align:center;” |63.1% _724_     0.2% _2_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1984   style=“text-align:center;” |48.2% _599_   style=“text-align:center;” |51.7% _643_     0.2% _2_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1980   style=“text-align:center;” |40.0% _488_   style=“text-align:center;” |59.0% _719_     1.0% _12_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1976   style=“text-align:center;” |23.6% _252_   style=“text-align:center;” |75.9% _812_     0.6% _6_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1972   style=“text-align:center;” |61.6% _662_   style=“text-align:center;” |36.7% _394_     1.8% _19_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1968   style=“text-align:center;” |19.2% _213_   style=“text-align:center;” |57.2% _635_     23.6% _262_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1964   style=“text-align:center;” |18.3% _219_   style=“text-align:center;” |81.6% _978_     0.2% _2_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1960   style=“text-align:center;” |26.1% _306_   style=“text-align:center;” |73.7% _864_     0.3% _3_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1956   style=“text-align:center;” |26.9% _306_   style=“text-align:center;” |72.9% _829_     0.3% _3_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1952   style=“text-align:center;” |27.6% _319_   style=“text-align:center;” |72.3% _836_     0.2% _2_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1948   style=“text-align:center;” |6.1% _65_     style=“text-align:center;” |91.0% _968_     2.9% _31_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1944   style=“text-align:center;” |8.2% _89_     style=“text-align:center;” |83.5% _902_     8.2% _89_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1940   style=“text-align:center;” |11.8% _156_   style=“text-align:center;” |88.3% _1,172_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1936   style=“text-align:center;” |5.6% _59_     style=“text-align:center;” |94.3% _1,001_   0.1% _1_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1932   style=“text-align:center;” |4.9% _50_     style=“text-align:center;” |95.1% _976_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1928   style=“text-align:center;” |46.9% _442_   style=“text-align:center;” |53.1% _500_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1924   style=“text-align:center;” |16.0% _171_   style=“text-align:center;” |72.9% _778_     11.1% _118_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1920   style=“text-align:center;” |24.5% _134_   style=“text-align:center;” |65.1% _356_     10.4% _57_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1916   style=“text-align:center;” |3.3% _21_     style=“text-align:center;” |78.2% _502_     18.5% _119_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1912   style=“text-align:center;” |1.5% _7_      style=“text-align:center;” |71.2% _341_     27.4% _131_

  : PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS[12]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5] https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/TX_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11] Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, _New York Times_, April 24, 2014

[12]

title: Stonewall County, Texas

question: What does the article say about historical figures?

answer: Stonewall County is named after Stonewall Jackson, a general of the Confederate States Army. Stonewall County favored the Democratic Party over Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s. The only Republican in the twentieth century to carry Stonewall County was Richard Nixon in 1972.

question: What does the article say about geography?

answer: 0.4 percent of the county is covered by water. Major geographic features include Double Mountain and the Brazos River.

question: What does the article say about the county during the 1860s?


text:
**The Tale of the Monster from the Luncheonette Set**

Back in the olden days, everyone would possess luncheonette sets.

They consisted of utensils, baskets, cups, plates, bowls and the like. But, in 1932 there were also monsters. They would hide in things and pop out and scare people. One such monster lived in the Stanley family's luncheonette set. The monster's name was Todd. Todd had yet to scare the Stanley's since they had yet to use the lunceonette set.

Time dragged on and Todd waited for his moment to scare the Stanley's. He thought to himself, "Gee, why won't the Stanley's open up their luncheonette set".

But, the joke was on Todd: the Stanley's had been brutally murdered by another monster - the people kind. His name was Travis Jagger. He was a transient. This should tell you something about the nature of monsters.

**The Spooking of NW Spook Street**

Have you ever heard a ghost story that really scared you? I remember one from when I was a kid that made me cry when it was told to me.

It was 1983 and me and my Dad were out fishing late at night. He told me the story of The Spooking of NW Spook Street. As he told the story he held a flashlight up to his face. Then, he started putting on some fake blood, then he started drinking whiskey, then he hit me across the face for crying. Finally, he passed out in the boat and I had to row us back home in the pitch black and wonder how I would get home before bed time. That was the scariest story I was ever told.

**The Ghost of the Haunted Mansion**

Once upon a time there was a real estate agent named Tim. Tim had a knack for selling property quickly and his commissions made him a very wealthy man.

Soon, he was wealthy enough to buy a mansion. But, not any old mansion. For you see, Tim made a large amount of money, but not enough to buy a, say, 4 million dollar home, or a 8 million dollar home. No, Tim only had enough to buy a 400, 000 dollar home. But, he wanted it to be a mansion. So, the only mansion that was in that price range was a haunted one. But, Tim bought it anyway, even though it was haunted by a ghost.

Tim moved in and the ghost scared him, but it wasn't a 4.6 million dollar scare. So, in the end, Tim made a wise decision.

**The Witches of the Bell Tower and More!**

Once upon a time there were these women who were witches. They would dress in old clothes and carry broomsticks and say magic curses to strangers. But there's more!

The End.

**Colonel Graphton and the Sea Monster that Ate Colonel Graphton**

You can call me Elmer. I guess I've seen everything in my day. The land. The sea. The space above the land and the sea. But, I've never seen anything as terrifying as the Sea Monster that ate Colonel Graphton. It was about the size of a snail. It looked a lot like a snail, in fact. It had a shell and it moved real slow. Oh, wait! Colonel Graphton is the one who ate the other. OK. OK. OK.

**The Wolfing of Hollow's Cove and Other Stories**

The Wolfing of Hollow's Cove

I don't have much time to detail my account. For you see, I'm being wolfed. I live in Hollow's Cove and we've been attacked by marauding werewolves. Presently, there is one at the door and he's trying to break in. Please tell my story! Werewolves exist! And they want human blooooooooooooooooooooodkjagdakj

Other Stories

Warewoolfves du not exist. Totally lyes. That guy is suck a jurk.

Werewolves are quite friendly to humans. In fact, if you meet a werewolf, you should be kind to him or her. It's the 2000s - haven't we made any progress?

**The Dark and Terrible Wizard and His Magic Water**

There was once a Dark and Terrible Wizard who created a magic water. The water held all the properties of regular water, but it was magic.

The Dark Wizard would use this magic water to sate the thirst of The Thirsty King.

So you can see how this all worked out according to plan.

But the Dark and Terrible Wizard never factored in the Searing God of Arid Wind.

**The Count of Marmaduke Hill**

When you think of evil, I mean pure evil, you probably don't think of Jim Thurber. Jim was the terrible Count of Marmaduke Hill and here is his story.

Jim grew up in Marmaduke Hill. His father was the Count there and when he grew up he became the count.

And he was evil.

**The Lake Monster of the Pond**

In the year 2008, a researcher and his assistant were studying fly larvae in a pond behind a corporate campus when they came upon a large tooth. The researchers found the tooth to be astonishing and they took it home for examination.
Back at the home, they examined it.

"Yep, that's monster tooth, baby."

The End.

**The Wind that Talked to Maggie**

In Nebraska, back in the 1890s, there was a girl by the name of Maggie. She learned to live by the gun and made her money robbing banks with Errol Marvin, the toughest cattle rustler in the Nebraska area. But one day she had a turn of heart and decided to give up her life of crime and settle down with Parson Felding.

Oh, yeah - and she talked to the wind.

**The Mysterious Case of the Mystery**

The room was locked from the inside. The bodies were inside the room. The murder weapon was also inside the room. There were no windows and no other passageways in or out of the room...

So we didn't take the case.

**Kubra Kah's Last Breath**

I met her in the Kubra Kah on Nordom street. She smelled of day old gin and lipstick. She looked like the kind of dame that was trouble. I asked her for a matchbook and she pulled out a package of hotdogs.

She was hearing impaired is what I'm trying to tell you.

**The Lady of Seville Road**

He grabbed her by the arm and swung her body into his embrace. "Lady, this isn't the time for fooling around! There's too much at stake!"

"You would say that - you only care about the money!" She said as a tear ran down her face.

"You're wrong, baby. I don't care about the money. But SRO theaters does and you need to have a ticket."

**The Cliffs of Burma**

"Roger?"

"Here."

"Sandy?"

"Here."

"Cliff?"

"Cliff?"

"Cliff? Damn. All three of them are gone."

**The Stalking of Raymond Mathers**

The stench was overpowering. I looked in the bag and I cannot begin to describe what I saw. I remembered the last note he left on the refrigerator and glanced at it.

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, it all came back to me: the pens, the stationary, and that wobble in his cursive.

I had been writing the notes.

The chill that went through my body reduced me to tears as I read the last one.

Take out the garbage!!!

**The Unusual Case of the Lady on the Ridge**

Why was Thompson so interested in the blueprints to the refinery? He'd checked them out nine times in the last month. The guy works in a Dairy. How's a man like that gonna purchase a refinery? I'm thinking he pulls 2 or 3 bills a month. That's enough to buy coal, but no refinery.

Something just wasn't adding up.

I called Marissa and told her the news. She was less than pleased. Sure, her old man was trying to kill her, but I'm the one who ends up getting cursed.

Wait! Old man? Cursed? Refinery?

Nope. That's not it.

**Duncan Hammer: P.I.**

"Lady, you wanna tell me what you're here for? Or do I have to shake it outta ya?" He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"Please, Mr. Hammer! Don't...don't..." She began to sob.

"Ah, lady, I'm sorry. Tell me what the trouble is."

"It's my husband. I think he's cheating on me." She bit her lip and looked up at Hammer.

"Why do you think he's cheating on you?" Hammer sat back down and lit a cigar.

"Well, he's late to home every night and...he smells like perfume."

"Maybe he's been bowling?" Hammer smirked.

"Men don't bowl until 2 in the morning?"

"I do."

"Oh, really?"

"When I'm cheating on my wife!" Hammer then grabbed the woman and shook her again.

**Bodega Drive**

One thing you learn about being a cop is how to drive around, seemingly aimlessly. But there's another thing you learn as well: how to iron.

**Duncan Hammer: P.I.**

Duncan put the muzzle of the gun up to Romero's face. "You still think I'm fat?"

title: [HM] Several Short Stories About Mechanical Fruit

question: What is a plot twist in the text?

answer: In the Wolfing of Hollow's Cove and Other Stories, the narrator is telling the reader about the attack of their town by werewolves. As the narrator writes this warning, the voice and tone of the writing change and the reader realizes the narrator is no longer writing. A werewolf begins to write, it seems, since the text begins to be positive about werewolves.

question: What does the story say about the dark?

answer: The text refers to darkness in two ways. One way is that darkness refers to evil, as in the Dark Wizard. This is the primary way the story speaks of darkness. Another way is the absence of sunlight, as in the story of the boy having to get home in the middle of the night.

question: What does the text say about the author?