text:
Calculations were made using 2-ΔCT, where ΔCT is the difference in CT values between the _bft_ gene and _PGT_ gene for a given sample.

Table 1

PRIMERS AND PROBE SETS USED FOR QUANTITATIVE PCR.

  Gene                 Sequence 5’ → 3’               Reference
  -------------------- ------------------------------ -----------
  _Bft_                                               [16]
      forward primer   GGATAAGCGTACTAAAATACAGCTGGAT
      reverse primer   CTGCGAACTCATCTCCCAGTATAAA
      probe            CAGACGGACATTCTC
  _PGT_                                               [17]
      forward primer   ATCCCCAAAGCACCTGGTTT
      reverse primer   AGAGGCCAAGATAGTCCTGGTAA
      Probe            CCATCCATGTCCTCATCTC

Statistical analysis

When we counted the number of samples by site, it became apparent that sample A (terminal ileum) was underrepresented; sample A was missing for 57/150 patients (S1 Table). In order to avoid the introduction of bias, subsequent analysis was carried out only on samples B, C and D. ETBF positivity was assessed by site (B, C or D) and side (left or right) using a generalized mixed effects logistic regression, with a random intercept for subject and fixed effects for age (continuous), sex (dichotomous), and either site (3 levels) or side (dichotomous), respectively. Significance was assessed using the log-ratio test against the model, without the location effect. Patients who were ETBF positive at any colonic site were considered positive for the purpose of this analysis, and logistic regression was used to analyze associations between ETBF positivity and clinical diagnoses, i.e. the presence of particular lesions; the results were adjusted for age and sex. Relative quantitation (RQ) values of EBTF at three colonic sites (B, C and D), and between left and right sides were assessed using generalized linear mixed-effect models, with random intercept for patient, and fixed effects for age, sex, site and side, respectively. RQ values were log transformed with an offset of 10−6, the limit of detection; results have been back transformed prior to reporting. Diagnoses variables were assessed with similar models, including side as a fixed covariate. All model assumptions were adequately met. All tests were two sided with 5% type I error rate. Holm’s multiple testing adjustment was used to control the family-wise error rate at 5% for the multiple diagnoses tested. All analysis was performed in R 3.2.1 (Vienna, Austria).

Results

Clinicopathological parameters

Diagnoses for the patient cohort based on colonoscopies at the time of sampling are given in S2 Table. Previous medical history, along with follow-up medical reports and subsequent colonoscopies were used to generate clinical characteristics for the patient cohort as shown in Table 2. The age of patients ranged from 19–88 years (mean = 55 years), and there were 100 females and 50 males. Eleven patients had previously diagnosed CRC with an additional nine diagnosed at the time of colonoscopy or during the follow-up period, giving a total of 15% of patients with CRC. Sixty-six patients were diagnosed with having polyps, 23 of these reported as having more than one type of polyp present. The types of polyps described were tubular adenomas (TA), tubulovillous adenoma (TVA), and serrated polyps (SP), and were reported in 35, 16 and 40 patients, respectively. Serrated polyps included those described as hyperplastic polyps and sessile serrated adenomas, as per current classification[18]. The number of polyps present was recorded for 49 patients, and ranged from 1–20 (mean = 4 polyps). Low-grade dysplasia (LGD) was reported in 19/150 patients and high-grade dysplasia (HGD) in 9/150. A total of 77 patients were reported to have at least one colonic neoplastic lesion (dysplasia, polyps, adenomas, or CRC), and this was reported to be right-sided (ascending) in 19/77, left-sided (descending) in 45/77, and in both sides in 13 patients. The remaining 73 patients were not diagnosed with any of the lesions being investigated in this study.

Table 2

PATIENT AND CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COHORT.

(n)
GENDER
MALE
50
FEMALE
100
COLORECTAL LESION
CRC
20
SP
40
LGD
19
HGD
9
TA
35
TVA
16
LOCATION OF LESION
LEFT
45
RIGHT
19
BOTH
13

Concordance of ETBF in colonoscopy samples

The presence of ETBF was confirmed using qPCR in colonoscopy samples from 74/150 patients (49.3%). Quantitative PCR was carried out on DNA samples from up to four colonic sites for these patients. Each sampling site was positive for ETBF for the majority of ETBF-positive patients (53/74 patients). The remaining 21 patients had at least one colonic site at which ETBF was undetectable. Seventy-six patients were negative for ETBF at all sites tested. Hence 129 out of 150 of patients had samples that were either EBTF positive or negative at all sites, a concordance of 86%.

Association of ETBF with clinicopathological characteristics

Univariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine associations between ETBF positivity and clinicopathological parameters (Table 3). No significant associations were seen between ETBF positivity and the presence of CRC, high-grade dysplasia, tubulovillous adenoma or right-sided disease (_P_-values > 0.05). Our analysis found statistically significant associations between ETBF positivity and the presence low-grade dysplasia, tubular adenomas, and serrated polyps (_P_-values of 0.007, 0.027 and 0.007, respectively). Analysis of the association of ETBF positivity with colonic site or side of colonization showed that ETBF was significantly more likely to be present the lower down the colon the samples were taken from, i.e. recto-sigmoid samples were more likely to be positive than transverse colon, and transverse colon more likely to be positive than caecal samples (_P_ = 0.001); ETBF positivity was significantly associated with left side (descending colon) compared to the right side (ascending colon)(_P_ = 0.0002). After adjustment for multiple comparisons, the association of ETBF positivity with the presence of LGD and SP, and colonic locations remained significant. No association was found between ETBF positivity and patient age or gender.

Table 3

ASSOCIATION OF EBTF POSITIVITY WITH LOCATION IN THE BOWEL AND CLINICAL LESIONS, ADJUSTED FOR AGE AND GENDER.

                                      OR     95% CI          _P_-value
  ------------------- --------------- ------ --------------- -----------
  LOCATION
      SITE            Recto-sigmoid   1                      0.0010*
                      transverse      0.69   [0.21, 2.26]
                      caecum          0.09   [0.02, 0.41]
      SIDE            Left            1                      0.0002*
                      Right           0.11   [0.03, 0.42]
  COLORECTAL LESION
      CRC
                                      0.84   [0.30, 2.33]    NS
      SP
                                      2.79   [1.31, 6.16]    0.007*
      LGD
                                      4.51   [1.53, 16.58]   0.005*
      HGD
                                      1.98   [0.49, 9.77]    NS
      TA
                                      2.43   [1.11, 5.58]    0.027
      TVA
                                      1.76   [0.61, 5.47]    NS

Relative abundance of ETBF and clinicopathological characteristics

Statistical analysis using mixed effects models showed no significant difference in relative quantification (RQ) of ETBF between recto-sigmoid and transverse colon samples; however, there was significantly higher RQ in transverse colonic compared to caecal samples (_P_ = 0.048). Analysis of the relative abundance of ETBF by colonic side also showed that left sided-biopsies had significantly greater RQ compared to those from the right side; this significance remained after adjustment of multiple comparisons (_P_ = 0.014). We also analysed the RQ values in association with clinicopathological characteristics of the patients. Similar to that seen with ETBF positivity, we found that a higher relative abundance of ETBF was significantly associated with the presence of LGD and TA (P-values of < 0.0001 and 0.025, respectively). The association of RQ with SP was approaching significance, with a _P_-value of 0.065. Of these variables, only the association between the relative abundance of ETBF and the presence of LGD remained after adjustment for multiple testing (Table 4).

Table 4

ASSOCIATION OF RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF EBTF WITH LOCATION IN THE BOWEL AND CLINICAL LESIONS, ADJUSTED FOR AGE AND GENDER.

                                      OR     95% CI          _P_-value
  ------------------- --------------- ------ --------------- -----------
  LOCATION
      SITE            Recto-sigmoid   1                      0.048
                      transverse      0.96   [0.72, 1.29]
                      caecum          0.71   [0.53, 0.95]
      SIDE            Left            1                      0.014*
                      Right           0.72   [0.56, 0.94]
  COLORECTAL LESION
      CRC                             1.05   [0.43, 2.56]    NS
      SP                              1.82   [0.96, 3.42]    0.065
      LGD                             7.53   [3.41, 16.61]   <0.0001*
      HGD                             1.26   [0.38, 4.17]    NS
      TA                              2.14   [1.10, 4.16]    0.025
      TVA                             1.10   [0.44, 2.74]    NS

Discussion

Increasing evidence suggests that microbial dysbiosis in the gut may represent an etiological factor in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer [19, 20]. In particular, it has been proposed that certain bacterial species, such as enterotoxigenic _B_. _fragilis_ (ETBF), may act as “keystone” or “driver” pathogens that facilitate the establishment of dysbiotic microbial communities and induce CRC [21, 22]. ETBF has been shown to contribute to colorectal tumorigenesis by the activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the up-regulation of Wnt signaling [12, 23]. These mechanisms may represent early-stage events in CRC tumorigenesis, and our key findings of significant associations of ETBF with tubular adenomas, serrated polyps, and low-grade dysplasia support our hypothesis that toxigenic strains of this bacterial species may be a crucial player in the initiation of genetic and environmental alterations that ultimately lead to CRC. In particular, the highly significant association of increased relative abundance of ETBF associated with LGD may indicate a mechanism of pathogenesis that arises from colonization with ETBF. These findings support a recent study of patients diagnosed with colonic adenomas that showed increased expression of _bft_ associated with adenoma tissue compared to normal healthy mucosa [24]. Interestingly, we found no significant association between the presence of adenocarcinoma, TVAs or HGD, and colonization with ETBF. We theorize that this may be due to out-competition by opportunist bacterial species, so called “passenger” bacteria, following initiation of the neoplastic process, and may be due in part to changes, such as inflammation, in the colonic environment that favor the establishment of passenger bacteria [22, 25].

Our findings differ from two previously published studies that examined _bft_ expression in colonic mucosal tissue, in that both of these studies reported an association of the _bft_ gene with CRC, in particular with late-stage disease [26, 27]. We also report a significant association of the _bft_ gene with the presence of tubular adenomas, which was not seen in Boleij’s study, although they only examined six TAs compared to 35 TAs in our cohort. A closer examination of that study revealed that only 67% of their CRC cohort was ETBF positive, compared to our detection of ETBF in 50% of CRC patients. Their reporting of detection of ETBF in 91% of CRC patients had been adjusted for antibiotic treatment. We do not have information regarding antibiotic treatment for our cohort, and cannot make the distinction, which represents a limitation in our study.

The study of Viljoen et al detected the presence of ETBF in only 26% of mucosal samples from CRC patients; they found that ETBF was significantly enriched in the colon compared to rectum of CRC patients, in contrast with our findings of increased ETBF-positivity and greater relative abundance descending through the colon. Possible reasons for the disparity between our findings could be due to lower numbers of CRC cases in our cohort (20 patients), different methods used to isolate and detect the _bft_ gene from mucosal tissue, and also that our study did not directly test tumour tissue, rather we tested macroscopically normal mucosal tissue from four specific locations in the colon.

However, we found concordant expression of the _bft_ gene from each site tested in 16 of 20 patients with CRC; overall concordance of _bft_ expression was 86%. These findings suggest that colonization of ETBF tends to occur throughout the entire gut, when it is present. This is similar to findings from both previously published studies of ETBF in colonic mucosa, which reported concordance of 71% [26, 27], and recent microbiome studies that have shown that dysbiosis occurs in non-tumour colorectal tissue in addition to tumour tissue CRC [28, 29].

Our study differs from previous reports by examining the relative quantitation of ETBF at up to four sites in the colon, using the most sensitive and robust method of detection available [30], and with access to long-term follow-up data (~12 years). The large cohort size (150 patients), and inclusion of unmatched normal patients, i.e. patients in whom the lesions of interest were absent, provides a wealth of information not normally available when including only matched tissue samples (tumour and non-tumour) from CRC patients. Our data suggest that while ETBF may be present in the colons of CRC patients, its predominant association is with early-stage carcinogenic lesions: tubular adenomas and low-grade dysplasia. The significant association between the presence of these lesions and not only ETBF positivity but also the relative abundance of these toxigenic bacteria, underlines their importance in the development of CRC. We believe that detection of ETBF may be a marker of early-stage CRC development and as such could be utilized as a future screening tool for CRC.

Supporting information

S1 Table

NUMBER OF SAMPLES BY SITE (A, B, C AND D). As only 62% of patients were sampled at site A, this site was omitted from our analyses to avoid the introduction of bias.

(DOCX)

S2 Table

REASONS FOR COLONOSCOPY REFERRAL AND INITIAL COLONOSCOPY FINDINGS FOR THE PATIENT COHORT.

(DOCX)

Funding Statement

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

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question: What is the main topic of this text?

answer: It is a scientific study including statistical analysis, results, and discussion.

question: What is the topic of the study?

answer: The research studied the proposal that "certain bacterial species, such as enterotoxigenic _B_. _fragilis_ (ETBF), may act as “keystone” or “driver” pathogens that facilitate the establishment of dysbiotic microbial communities and induce CRC [21, 22]."

question: What is the age range of patients in the study?

answer: 19-88 years, (mean=55 years)

question: Did the study involve both men and women?

answer: Yes

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: It is a scientific study including statistical analysis, results, and discussion. The focus of the research is "microbial dysbiosis in the gut may represent an etiological factor in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer."


split: train

text:
It sits in the middle of the jewel-encrusted chamber, pulsating with power. Not even the candlemaker can comprehend the curious article as he stands there in awe. It was just as the legend recounted - the very legend which, over the years, was taught to him and the others back in the citadel. Very few have ever been able to feel the artifact's forces, let alone be in the same room as it. Of all the possible people, someone of the candlemaker's standing would not normally be considered for the journey, yet, for reasons only known to the leaders, he was chosen. Whatever plan they had for him, only the divines could ever know.

The glimmering chamber stands on the peak of a giant, seaweed-smothered rock in the middle of the fearful Caseitic Ocean. The candlemaker's rowing boat waits patiently at the dock, which marks the beginning of the long, disused path, leading to the mysterious mansion at the summit. The candlemaker had noticed the most unusual creatures as he made his way to the peak: those that wielded opulent golden tentacles and outstanding sharpened claws. Their behaviour was interesting; it was as if they helped guide the candlemaker up the mountain, using their various appendages to point the way. They were not the slightest bit hostile. For an apparently long-abandoned landmass, their ecosystem boasts its stability.

It was after the candlemaker had navigated his way through winding corridors and up fragile staircases that he made it to the main chamber. Appreciating the seriousness of the situation, he wipes a veil of sweat from his brow, flicking it to the floor. The sweat appears to react with the regal purple carpet, giving off a mild, surprisingly fragrant vapour, which the man could only identify as spoiled crab meat. He was greatly acquainted with the scent, being a regular client of the fish-market back home.

The artifact which proudly rests in the center of the room glows so brightly that its true form cannot be perceived. One would have to place their hands on it to find out, though there is no knowing whether it is dangerous to the touch. The candlemaker has wasted enough time gazing at the item, and there is nought he could do but walk up to it and learn its true nature.

Approaching the artifact, the candlemaker squints as he walks into the light. He reaches out to the mysterious object with his hands, and penetrates its surface. A wave of power surges through him, and the light radiating from the object begins to fade. Opening his eyes, he sees that the artifact is a jade crab, perched on a wrought iron stand. With a glowing expression on his face, he takes the crab, admiring it even more than he did so before.

Strangely, the crab begins to glow again, and a large crack appears down its center. A bright green liquid starts to flow from it, as if it were a glowstick. The liquid visibly irritates the candlemaker's bare hands and he panics; however, he is unable to put it down. It refuses to be put down. As the skin is dissolved from his fingers, he speaks worriedly into his mouthpiece:

"It's the arthropod. The arthropod is leaking."

Soon after, a sinister voice replies:

"It is a reflection of your lowly craftsmanship. No wonder the other citizens could not trust you."

There is nothing the candlemaker could do but scream as the acid spread up his arms and through his body. He eventually lets the jade crab fall to the floor, where it splits into two pieces. The corroded remains of the unfortunate candlemaker are strewn across the carpet, and the stench of crab meat fills the air.

His earpiece, however, remains intact. It lets out a menacing laugh.

question: Summarize what the text says about the crab.

answer: The crab radiates with light, as noticed by the candlemaker when he approaches the artifact. The candlemaker sees that the artifact is a jade crab, perched on a wrought iron stand. When the crab begins to glow again, it appears as a glow stick with a bright green liquid flowing from it. The candlemaker says that it is an arthropod and it is leaking. The liquid irritates his bare hands but he refuses to put it down.


text:
All day every day, your brain is bombarded with new information. Confronted with this tsunami of sensory and cerebral input, it’s no wonder much of it slips through your memory’s grasp. But if you feel like you’re forgetting more than you should—or if you just want to pump up your retention and recall—there are some science-backed ways to improve your memory.

Start with exercise. A recent study appearing in the _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_ found that just 10 minutes of light exercise was enough to increase patterns of brain activity associated with memory improvements.

This adds to a big pile of evidence linking physical activity with improved memory and overall cognitive functioning. “Our research has shown that significant memory gains emerge when individuals engage in regular aerobic exercise for 50 minutes three times a week,” says Sandra Bond Chapman, a distinguished professor and director of the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas. Exercise improves cerebral blood flow—even after you’ve finished your workout—which aids memory as well as other brain functions, Chapman’s research shows.

Adequate sleep is another necessary ingredient for a healthy mind and memory. But allowing your mind some free time to ponder new information also seems to be helpful.

A small 2018 study found that when people were allowed to sit quietly and zone out for 10 minutes after looking at a series of photographs, their “fine detail” memory for the photos was superior to the memories of people who were asked to complete an unrelated 10-minute task after viewing the same pictures. Basically, the idle time seemed to bolster people’s memories of the photos.

“The brain continues to process and replay past experiences during immediate post-learning rest periods,” says Lila Davachi, a professor of psychology at Columbia University. “This is like effortless mental rehearsal.”

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Davachi was not involved with the study. But some of her own research suggests that small mental timeouts can assist recall. Even a few seconds of idle time—meaning time when your brain is not being confronted with new or stimulating information—may be enough to strengthen its memory for information you’ve just encountered, she says.

If you’re constantly jumping from one mental task to the next without giving your brain a break to squirrel away what its learned, it’s not surprising that those kernels of memory won’t be there when you go searching for them later on.

If all this makes you wonder whether checking your email or social feeds during every free moment could be messing with your memory, your head’s in the right place. A 2017 study from Stanford University found that heavy media multitaskers—those who spend a lot of time using multiple forms of media at once, like listening to a podcast while surfing online—tend to do worse on tests of working memory and long-term memory than light media multitaskers. More research finds that relying on your device’s GPS functionality hampers your ability to navigate on your own. You can’t remember something well if you didn’t pay much attention to it in the first place, it seems.

But there are things you can do. Mindfulness meditation may help beef up your memory. One small 2013 study found that students who took a two-week mindfulness course improved their scores on a test of working memory. They were also better able to block out distraction. “It doesn’t take much mindfulness training to get a temporary boost in performance,” says Michael Mrazek, first author of the study and director of research at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Center for Mindfulness & Human Potential. “Even eight minutes of mindful breathing can make you a little sharper,” he says.

“It is also important to avoid cruising on automatic pilot,” Chapman says. “Life moves fast, and we often compensate by falling into routine, sticking to the path of least resistance, and letting our thoughts, conversations and activities become stagnant.”

Your memory and the overall health of your brain are bolstered by novelty and “inspired thinking,” she says. Breaking away from familiar routines and challenging yourself with change is a good way to keep your mind from growing lazy.

Try this: After reading, watching or listening to something new—whether it’s a news segment or a podcast—try to “think deeply and formulate succinct take-away messages,” she advises. “Take some time to synthesize these new ideas and to update previously held views.”

Just as physical exercise strengthens your bones and muscles, this sort of mental exercise can build your mind and memory.

CONTACT US at letters@time.com.

question: What are the things we do to worsen our memory retention and recall over time?

answer: Our brains are assaulted with new information every day, more so in this age of the internet. This deluge of information may be making our memory worse according to new scientific research. It is also said that lack of exercise and sleep can severely impact our brain's ability to retain and synthesize new information.  Also, living on autopilot - settling into a familiar routine without challenging ourselves and trying new things can reduce our brain's capacity to retain and recall information.


text:
Would you go to a friend's dinner party, nibble every course, drink a glass or two of wine, and then leave—without ever speaking to the host? I hope not. And I hope you wouldn't treat open houses the same way. And yet home buyers often do, refusing to sign in or deflecting agents' questions about the house they're touring.

Sometimes they do it because they're leery of being given a hard sell or handing over their personal information; others decline because they're uncomfortable being put on the spot about a potentially huge decision. Whatever the reason, this puts brokers in a tough place: Open houses might be fun for home shoppers, but to agents, they're work. Your feedback is the market research they need to do their jobs right.

So, perhaps all that home buyers need is a little preparation. If they know the questions brokers are going to ask, they can be ready with answers, and everyone can go home (perhaps to this very home?) happy. Here's your cheat sheet:

1. THE QUESTION: _HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING?_
WHY THEY'RE ASKING: The agent is trying to gauge how serious you are. If you've been looking for only a short time, say a few weeks, the agent will understand that you're just getting your feet wet—that you're still gathering your thoughts. If you've been looking for months, then the agent might dig in. That tells her you've seen a lot, but you haven't found what you're looking for. She's wondering why you haven't pulled the trigger and, hey, maybe this is the house you've been waiting for.
HOW YOU SHOULD ANSWER: Be honest and specific. This is harmless information.

2. THE QUESTION: _ARE YOU WORKING WITH AN AGENT EXCLUSIVELY?_
WHY THEY'RE ASKING: Agents are trained to respect boundaries. If you are represented by an agent, the open house agent cannot try to represent you. This question sets the tone of the conversation. Don't be surprised if the agent asks who your agent is. Most agents who do business in a certain area know other active agents. This way the open house agent can call your agent—not you—for your feedback. You are insulated by your buyer-broker agreement.
HOW YOU SHOULD ANSWER: If you're working with an agent, say so! Even better, give the open house agent your agent's name and brokerage company. This protects you from having to give your personal information to the open house agent. Rather than sign in with your name, number, and email, you can sign in with your name and your agent's contact information. That's all the open house agent needs to follow up.

3. THE QUESTION: _HOW DOES THIS HOUSE COMPARE TO OTHERS YOU'VE SEEN?_
WHY THEY'RE ASKING: Now that the agent knows how long you've been looking, she wants to get a sense of whether this house is a contender. She is also assuming that you're touring other houses nearby (other "comps," as they say). She wants your honest insight on whether her listing is better or worse than the others.
HOW YOU SHOULD ANSWER: Be honest. If the house around the corner has a remodeled master bath and this one doesn't, point that out. If you think this house could use some work, let her know. Remember, being honest about the house won't hurt the agent's feelings. She's independent. Of course she cares about her listing, but, unlike an owner, she isn't emotionally attached. This is one reason for sale by owner is difficult.

4. THE QUESTION: _ARE YOU SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT THIS NEIGHBORHOOD?_
WHY THEY'RE ASKING: The agent isn't being nosy here, she wants to know how focused you are. She wants to rule out the looky-loos and focus on the serious buyers. If you are looking in that particular neighborhood but not interested in making an offer on her listing, you've caught her attention. She needs to understand what other listings have that hers doesn't. Now she's focused on knowing your trigger: Are you focused on certain streets within the neighborhood? A certain style of house? Or is it all about price?
HOW YOU SHOULD ANSWER: Be specific. If you're focused on that neighborhood, it's OK to say so. If you're open and still getting your bearings straight, it's OK to say so. These answers provide depth for the agent when she's talking to the seller (e.g., "The open house was great! I had a buyer walk through who has been looking for a while and she is only looking in this neighborhood."). This tells the seller there are buyers out there—and that adjustments may have to be made if those buyers aren't buying this home.

5. THE QUESTION: _WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PRICE?_
WHY THEY'RE ASKING: This is probably the most important question, but it may not be the first one out of the agent's mouth, because she wants to establish rapport first. The agent knows that people are usually guarded when it comes to price. She wants you to give a thoughtful answer, not a flippant one.
HOW YOU SHOULD ANSWER: Now, this is tricky. If you're not really in the market to buy, or can't compare it to other houses on the market, don't just throw out a number. Simply tell the agent you haven't seen enough to give an educated answer. If you feel you _can_ answer, say something like "I think it's priced competitively" or "It's priced too high." The point is not to give a dollar figure but to offer a general perception. If you believe it's a good deal, say that. If you think it's overpriced, say that. Because if the house _is_ overpriced, maybe the agent will call you once it's reduced.

6. THE QUESTION:_ ARE YOU CONSIDERING MAKING AN OFFER ON THIS HOME?_
WHY THEY'RE ASKING: Please don't take offense! The agent has a job to do, and this is a valid question.
HOW YOU SHOULD ANSWER: As a prospective buyer, remember: You hold the power. If you're planning to make an offer, it's good news to the agent and lets her know to expect something in writing. It also might help you if the house is in demand so the agent will know there are multiple offers coming in. That way, she may not start negotiating without first getting your offer in hand. To some extent, this buys you time to call your agent and get your offer submitted. If you're not planning to make an offer, it's fine to say that, too.

Finally, please sign in. You don't have to go overboard—you don't even have to give your last name. (Unless you want the agent to check your credentials on LinkedIn.) No one is expecting to see the list, not the broker's boss, not the seller. Signing in is, in some ways, absolutely unimportant. But it is also common courtesy, the least—the _very least_—that you can do to preserve the social fabric of our society.

———

_CHRYSTAL CARUTHERS is a Chicago native, former Realtor, TV news producer, and newspaper reporter. Chrystal, who covers real estate industry news at realtor.com, enjoys cooking, hiking, Bikram yoga, and cookies._

question: Summarize the advice the writer gives on how to talk to agents.

answer: The writer generally tells prospective home buyers to be honest. They are giving advice on how to understand what the agent is asking them. Only once does the writer tell readers to be vague, when telling an agent whether the house is a good price or not. In general the writer is trying to help the reader navigate the home buying process.

question: How does the writer view the process of home-buying?

answer: The writer encourages potential home-buyers to talk to the agent. The writer reminds readers agents are working and it is good to speak to them. They also say signing in at an open-house is essential to preserving the social fabric of human life.


text:
I3C (also known as SENSEWIRE) is a specification[1] to enable communication between computer chips by defining the electrical connection between the chips and signaling patterns to be used. The standard defines the electrical connection between the chips to be a two wire, shared(multidrop), serial data bus, one wire (SCL) being used as a clock to define the sampling times, the other wire (SDA) being used as a data line whose voltage can be sampled. The standard defines a signalling protocol in which multiple chips can control communication and thereby act as the bus master.

The I3C specification takes its name from, uses the same electrical connections as, and allows some backward compatibility with, the I²C bus, a de facto standard for inter-chip communication, widely used for low-speed peripherals and sensors in computer systems. The I3C standard is designed to retain some backward compatibility with the I²C system, notably allowing designs where existing I²C devices can be connected to an I3C bus but still have the bus able to switch to a higher data rate for communication at higher speeds between compliant I3C devices. The I3C standard thereby combines the advantage of the simple, two wire I²C architecture with the higher communication speeds common to more complicated buses such as the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).

The I3C standard was developed as a collaborative effort between electronics and computer related companies under auspices of the Mobile Industry Processor Interface Alliance (MIPI Alliance). The I3C standard was first released to the public at the end of 2017,[2][3] although access requires the disclosure of private information. Google and Intel have backed I3C as a sensor interface standard for Internet of things (IoT) devices.[4]

History

Goals of the MIPI Sensor Working Group effort were first announced in November 2014 at the MEMS Executive Congress in Scottsdale AZ.[5]

Electronic design automation tool vendors including Cadence,[6] Synopsys[7] and Silvaco[8] have released controller IP blocks and associated verification software for the implementation of the I3C bus in new integrated circuit designs.

In December 2016, Lattice Semiconductor has integrated I3C support into its new FPGA known as an iCE40 UltraPlus.[9]

In 2017, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 845 mobile SOC with integrated I3C master support.[10]

In December 2017, The I3C 1.0 specification was released for public review.[11][12] At about the same time, a Linux kernel patch introducing support for I3C was proposed by Boris Brezillon.[13]

In June 2020, Renesas Electronics introduced I3C products.[14]

Goals

Prior to public release of the specification, a substantial amount of general information about it has been published in the form of slides from the 2016 MIPI DevCon.[15] The goals for this interface were based on a survey of MIPI member organizations and MEMS Industry Group (MIG) members. The results of this survey have been made public.[16]

I3C V1.0

The initial I3C design sought to improve over I²C in the following ways:[17]

-   Two-pin interface that is a superset of the I²C standard. Legacy I²C slave devices can be connected to the newer bus.
-   Low-power and space efficient design intended for mobile devices (smartphones and IoT devices.)
-   In-band interrupts over the serial bus rather than requiring separate pins. In I²C, interrupts from peripheral devices typically require an additional non-shared pin per package.
-   Standard Data Rate (SDR) throughput between 10 and 12.5 Mbit/s using CMOS I/O levels.
-   High Data Rate (HDR) modes permitting multiple bits per clock cycle. These support throughput comparable to SPI while requiring only a fraction of I²C Fast Mode power.[18]
-   A standardized set of common command codes
-   Command queue support
-   Error Detection and Recovery (parity check in SDR mode and 5bit CRC for HDR modes)
-   Dynamic address assignment (DAA) for I3C slaves, while still supporting static addresses for I²C legacy devices
-   I3C traffic is invisible for legacy I²C devices when equipped with I²C spike filters, achieved by SCl HIGH times of less than 50ns
-   Hot-join (some devices on the bus may be powered on/off during operation)
-   Multi-master operation with a well-defined protocol for hand-off between masters

I3C Basic Specification

After publishing making the I3C 1.0 standard publicly accessible, the organization subsequently published the I3C Basic specification, a subset intended to be implementable by non-member organizations under a RAND-Z licence. The basic version includes many of the protocol innovations in I3C 1.0, but lacks some of the potentially more difficult-to-implement ones such as the optional high data rate (HDR) modes like DDR. None the less the default SDR mode at up to 12.5 Mbit/s is a major speed/capacity improvement over I²C.[19]

I3C V1.1

Published in December of 2019, this specification is only available to MIPI member.

Nomenclature

Signal Pins

I3C uses same two signal pins as I²C, referred to as SCL (serial clock) and SDA (serial data). The primary difference is that I²C operates them as open-drain outputs at all time, so its speed is limited by the resultant slow signal rise time. I3C uses open-drain mode when necessary for compatibility, but switches to push-pull outputs whenever possible, and includes protocol changes to make it possible more often than in I²C.

-   SCL is a conventional digital clock signal, driven with a push-pull output by the current bus current master during data transfers. (Clock stretching, a rarely used I²C feature, is not supported.) In transactions involving I²C slave devices, this clock signal generally has a duty cycle, of approximately 50%, but when communicating with known I3C slaves, the bus master may switch to a higher frequency and/or alter the duty cycle so the SCL high period is limited to at most 40 ns.
-   SDA carries the serial data stream, which may be driven by either master or slave, but is driven at a rate determined by the master's SCL signal. For compatibility with the I²C protocol, each transaction begins with SDA operating as an open-drain output, which limits the transmission speed. For messages addressed to an I3C slave, the SDA driver mode switches to push-pull after the first few bits in the transaction, allowing the clock to be further increased up to 12.5 MHz. This medium-speed feature is called standard data rate (SDR) mode.

Generally, SDA is changed just after the falling edge of SCL, and the resultant value is received on the following rising edge. When the master hands SDA over to the slave, it likewise does so on the falling edge of SCL. However, when the slave is handing back control of SDA to the master (e.g. after acknowledging its address before a write), it releases SDA on the _rising_ edge of SCL, and the master is responsible for holding the received value for the duration of SCL high. (Because the master drives SCL, it will see the rising edge first, so there will be a brief period of overlap when both are driving SDA, but as they are both driving the same value, no bus contention occurs.)

Framing

All communications in I²C and I3C requires framing for synchronization. Within a frame, changes on the SDA line should always occur while SCL is in the low state, so that SDA can be considered stable on the low-to-high transition of SCL. Violations of this general rule are used for framing (at least in legacy and standard data rate modes).

Between data frames, the bus master holds SCL high, in effect stopping the clock, and SDA drivers are in a high-impedance state, permitting a pull-up resistor to float it to high. A high-to-low transition of SDA while SCL is high is known as a START symbol, and signals the beginning a new data frame. A low-to-high transition on SDA while SCL is high is the STOP symbol, ending a data frame.

A START without a preceding STOP, called a “repeated START”, may be used to end one message and begin another within a single bus transaction.

In I²C, the START symbol is usually generated by a bus master, but in I3C, even slave devices may pull SDA low to indicate they want to start a frame. This is used to implement some advanced I3C features, such as in-band interrupts, multi-master support, and hot-joins. After the start, the bus master restarts the clock by driving SCL, and begins the bus arbitration process.

Ninth bit

Like I²C, I3C uses 9 clock cycles to send each 8-bit byte. However, the 9th cycle is used differently. I²C uses the last cycle for an acknowledgement sent in the opposite direction to the first 8 bits. I3C operates the same way for the first (address) byte of each message, and for I²C-compatible messages, but when communicating with I3C slaves, message bytes after the first use the 9th bit is an odd parity bit on writes, and an end-of-data flag on reads.

Writes may be terminated only by the master.

Either the master or the slave may terminate a read. The slave sets SDA low to indicate that no more data is available; the master responds by taking over SDA and generating a STOP or repeated START. To allow a read to continue, the slave drives SDA high while SCL is low before the 9th bit, but lets SDA float (open-drain) while SCL is high. The master may drive SDA low (a repeated START condition) at this time to abort the read.

Bus Arbitration

At the start of a frame, several devices may contend for use of the bus, and the bus arbitration process serves to select which device obtains control of the SDA line. In both I²C and I3C, bus arbitration is done with the SDA line in open-drain mode, which allows devices transmitting a binary 0 (low) to override devices transmitting a binary 1. Contending devices monitor the SDA line while driving it in open-drain mode. Whenever a device detects a low condition (0 bit) on SDA while transmitting a high (1 bit), it has lost arbitration and must cease contending until the next transaction begins.

Each transaction begins with the target address, and the implementation gives priority to lower-numbered target addresses. The difference is that I²C has no limit on how long arbitration can last (in the rare but legal situation of several devices contending to send a message to the same device, the contention will not be detected until after the address byte). I3C, however, guarantees that arbitration will be complete no later than the end of the first byte. This allows push-pull drivers and faster clock rates to be used the great majority of the time.

This is done in several ways:

-   I3C supports multiple masters, but they are not symmetrical; one is the current master and responsible for generating the clock. Other devices sending a message on the bus (in-band interrupts or secondary masters wishing use of the bus) must arbitrate using their own address before sending any other data. Thus, no two legal bus messages share the same first byte _except_ if the master and another device are simultaneously communicating with each other.
-   I3C, like I²C, allows multiple messages per transaction separated with “repeared START” symbols. Arbitration is per-transaction, so these subsequent messages are never subject to arbitration.
-   Most I3C master transactions begin with the reserved address 0x7E(1111110₂). As this has a lower priority than any I3C device, once it has passed arbitration, the master knows that no other device is contending for the bus.
-   As a special case, if I3C devices are assigned low addresses (I3C supports dynamic, master-controlled address assignment), then as soon as the 0x7E address has won arbitration for enough leading bits to distinguish it from any assigned address, the master knows that arbitration is complete and it may switch to push-pull operation on SDA. If all assigned addresses are less than 0x40, this is after the first bit. If all addresses are less than 0x60, this is after the second bit, and so on.
-   In the case described above wherein the current master begins a transaction with the address of a device which is itself contending for use of the bus, both will transmit their address bytes successfully. However, each will expect the other to acknowledge the address (by pulling SDA low) for the following acknowledge bit. Consequently, neither will, and both will observe the lack of acknowledgement. In this case, the message is not sent, but the master wins arbitration: it may send a repeated start, followed by a retry which will be successful.

Common command codes

A write addressed to the reserved address 0x7E is used to perform a number of special operations in I3C. All I3C devices must receive and interpret writes to this address in addition to their individual addresses.

First of all, a write consisting of just the address byte and no data bytes has no effect on I3C slaves, but may be used to simplify I3C arbitration. As described above, this prefix may speed up arbitration (if the master supports the optimization of switching to push-pull mid-byte), and it simplifies the master by avoiding a slightly tricky arbitration case.

If the write is followed by a data byte, the byte encodes a “common command code”, a standardized I3C operation. Command codes 0–0x7F are broadcast commands addressed to all I3C slaves. They may be followed by additional, command-specific parameters. Command codes 0x80–0xFE are direct commands addressed to individual slaves. These are followed by a series of repeated STARTs and writes or reads to specific slaves.

While a direct command is in effect, per-slave writes or reads convey command-specific parameters. This operation is in lieu of slave's normal response to an I3C message. One direct command may be followed by multiple per-slave messages, each preceded by a repeated START. This special mode ends at the end of the transaction (STOP symbol) or the next message addressed to 0x7E.

Some command codes exist in both broadcast and direct forms. For example, the commands to enable or disable in-band interrupts may be sent to individual slaves or broadcast to all. Commands to get parameters from a slave (for example the GETHDRCAP command to ask a device which high-data-rate modes it supports) only exist in direct form.

Device classes

On an I3C bus in its default (SDR) mode, four different classes of devices can be supported:

-   I3C Main Master
-   I3C Secondary Master
-   I3C Slave
-   I²C Slave (legacy devices)

High Data Rate (HDR) options

Each I3C bus transaction begins in SDR mode, but the I3C master may issue an “Enter HDR” CCC broadcast command which tells all I3C slaves that the transaction will continue in a specified HDR mode. I3C slaves which do not support HDR may then ignore bus traffic until they see a specific “HDR exit” sequence which informs them it is time to listen to the bus again. (The master knows which slaves support HDR so will never attempt to use HDR to communicate with a slave which does not support it.)

Some HDR modes are also compatible with I²C devices _if_ the I²C devices have a 50 ns spike filter on the SCL line; that is, they will ignore a high level on the SCL line which lasts less than 50 ns. This is required by the I²C specification, but not universally implemented, and not all implementations ignore frequently repeated spikes,[20] so I3C HDR compatibility must be verified. The compatible HDR modes use SCL pulses of at most 45 ns so that I²C devices will ignore them.

The HDR-DDR mode uses double data rate signalling with a 12.5 MHz clock to achieve a 25 Mbit/s raw data rate (20 Mbit/s effective). This requires changing the SDA line while SCK is high, a violation of the I²C protocol, but I²C devices will not see the brief high-going pulse on SCL and thus not notice the violation.

The HDR-TSP and HDR-TSL modes use one of three symbols as ternary digits (trits): Two bytes plus two parity bits (18 bits total) are broken into six 3-bit triplets, and each triplet is encoded as two trits. Sent at 25 Mtrit/s, this achieves a {{#expr:25*16/(6*2) round 1}} Mbit/s effective data rate.

The trit pair consisting of two transitions of SDA only is not used to encode data, and is instead used for framing, to mark the end of an HDR sequence. Although this limits the maximum time between SCL transitions to three trit times, that exceeds the 50 ns limit for legacy I²C devices, so HDR-TSP (ternary symbol, pure) mode may only be used on a bus without legacy I²C devices.

To permit buses including I²C devices (with a spike filter), the HDR-TSL (ternary symbol, legacy) mode must be used. This maintains I²C compatibility by trit stuffing: after any rising edge on SCL, if the following trit is _not_ 0, a 1 trit (transition on SCL only) is inserted by the sender, and ignored by the receiver. This ensures that SCL is never high for more than one trit time.

I²C features not supported in I3C

-   Pull-up resistors are provided by the I3C master. External pull-up resistors are no longer needed.
-   Clock Stretching – devices are expected to be fast enough to operate at bus speed. The I3C master is the sole clock source.
-   I²C Extended (10-bit) Addresses. All devices on an I3C bus are addressed by a 7-bit address. Native I3C devices have a unique 48-bit address which is used only during dynamic address assignments.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5] http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1324598

[6] http://ip.cadence.com/uploads/1075/Cadence_Brochure_MIPI_I3C_Slave_Controller-pdf

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16] http://mipi.org/sites/default/files/MIPI%20+%20MIG%20Member%20Sensor%20Interface%20Survey%20Results%20final.pdf

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

title: I3C (bus)

question: When was the specification first published?

answer: 2017

question: Who developed the standard?

answer: It was a collaborative effort between electronics and computer related companies under the auspices of the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance

question: What earlier standard is I3C somewhat backward-compatible with?

answer: I2C

question: How many wires does the standard require?

answer: Two

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: I3C is a specification for communication between computer chips, using two wires. It is somewhat backward-compatible with I2C, but allows much faster data rates. It was first published in 2017 by the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance.


text:
[Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1885.] EDWARD WILLIAM BRYDGES WILLYAMS (5 November 1834 – 10 October 1916) was a Liberal MP, successively for three Cornish constituencies.[1] In 1892, he was appointed High Sheriff of Cornwall.[2]

Life

Willyams was born 6 November 1834, the son of Humphry Willyams (1792–1822),[3] a banker, land-owner and Liberal elector of Truro[4] and Ellen Frances Brydges Neynoe, his wife. She was the daughter of Colonel William Brydges Neynoe of Castle Neynoe, County Sligo.[5]

His older brother, James Willyams died aged 38 in 1861.[6]

His aunt by marriage Sarah Brydges Willyams, was an heiress, who married his father's elder brother James (1772–1820) and had no children. However, when she died in 1863, she gave three-quarters of her fortune to Benjamin Disraeli, a great friend of hers and she was interred next to him in the Disraeli vault at Hughenden, Buckinghamshire.[7][8]

Willyams was educated at Merton College, Oxford.[9]

He was married twice, first to Jane, youngest daughter of Sir Trevor Wheler, Bt. on 26 June 1856[10] and then on 5 June 1882 to Emily,[11] a daughter of Sir Joseph Moses Levy, the proprietor of the _Daily Telegraph_, which then supported the Liberal Party.[12] Emily Brydges Willyams died 5 February 1902.

He died on Tuesday, 10 October 1916, at his seat, Carnanton House, St Columb Major.

Parliamentary service

-   MP for Truro from 1857 to 1859.[13]
-   MP for East Cornwall, 1868–1874.
-   MP for Truro, 1880–1885.

He stood for election at St Austell in 1887, as a Liberal Unionist but was defeated by the Gladstonian candidate,[14] and at the Truro by-election in 1878 he lost to the Conservative candidate Arthur Tremayne.

Interests

He was a keen supporter of the old Cornish sport of hurling.[15] Racing reports in _The Times_ from 1884 to 1910 show his ownership of several race-horses, during this period.

Difficulties

He was the co-respondent in a divorce in 1871/72, having carried on an affair with Lady Jolliffe, the wife of Captain Jolliffe, MP for Wells. He did not stand at the General Election in 1874.[16][17]

Olive Willyams, the wife of his heir, Arthur Hugh Vivien Willyams, tried to obtain £4,000 from him, using promissory notes that he claimed were forged by her. She was committed to prison for three years and "was afterwards declared to have become insane.[18][19][20]

Notes and references

Sources

-   Obituary of Edward Brydges Willyams in _The Times_, Thursday, 12 Oct 1916; pg. 11; Issue 41296; column E.
-   Edwin Jaggard _Cornwall Politics in the Age of Reform 1790–1855_, Royal Historical Society/Boydell Press, (1999), , Chapter 6–8.

[1] Obituary in _The Times_, Thursday, 12 October 1916

[2] _The Times_, Wednesday, 27 January 1892; pg. 9; Issue 33545; col F Appointment of E. B. Willyams in the Court Circular.

[3] _Burke's A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain 1838_, page 38: Willyams of Carnanton, on Google Books.

[4] Edwin Jaggard ''Cornwall politics in the age of reform

[5] _The Gentleman's Magazine_, July–December 1861, p334 Notice of the death of James Willyams on Google Books.

[6]

[7]

[8] ODNB article by M. G. Wiebe, 'Willyams, Sarah Brydges (d. 1863)', _Oxford Dictionary of National Biography_, Oxford University Press, 2004 1, accessed 26 April 2008.

[9]

[10] Probably Sir Trevor Wheler, 11th Baronet (1828–1900). The marriage is reported in _The Times_, Monday, 30 June 1856; pg. 1; Issue 22407; col A

[11] ThePeerage.Com family information for Levy.

[12]

[13] _The Times_, Monday, 16 March 1857; p.12; Issue 22629; col E: “Election Intelligence: Truro”, indicates that Willyams will stand and his views.

[14] _The Times_, Friday, 20 May 1887; pg. 5; Issue 32077; col F: “Election Intelligence. Cornwall, St. Austell Division.” -G L M'Arthur – 3,540 ;Brydges Willyams – 3329.

[15]

[16]

[17] _The Times_, Friday, 8 March 1872; pg. 11; Issue 27319; col D: “Court of Probate and Divorce, March 7”.

[18]

[19] _The Times_, Friday, 4 February 1910; pg. 4; Issue 39187; col A: “The Assizes. Western Circuit., Claim on Promissory Notes.”

[20] _The Times_, Saturday, 1 October 1910; pg. 3; Issue 39392; col A: “Charge of Forgery”.

title: Edward Brydges Willyams

question: What does the text say about life in Cornwall?

question: What does the text say about Edward Brydges Willyams' personal life?

answer: Willyams was born on November 6, 1834, and died on October 10, 1916. His father was Humphry Willyams, a banker, land-owner, and Liberal elector of Truro. His mother was Ellen Frances Brydges Neynoe, the daughter of Colonel William Brydges Neynoe of Castle Neynoe, County Sligo. His older brother, James Willyams, died aged 38 in 1861. Willyams was married twice.

question: What does the text say about Willyams' career?

answer: Willyams was a successful Liberal MP for three Cornish constituencies. He was MP for Truro from 1857 to 1859 and 1880 to 1885. Willyams was also MP for East Cornwall from 1868 to 1874. In 1892, he was appointed High Sheriff of Cornwall. He stood for election at St. Austell in 1887, as a Liberal Unionist but was defeated by the Gladstonian candidate. At the Truro by-election in 1878, he lost to the Conservative candidate Arthur Tremayne.

question: What does the text say about Willyams' education and interests?

answer: Willyams was educated at Merton College, Oxford. He was a keen supporter of the old Cornish sport of hurling. Willyams owned several race-horses based on racing reports in The Times from 1884 to 1910.


text:
I’m pretty sure today is Sunday. The light of morning tried desperately to fill my room but was falling short… one of those days where God seemingly stubbed his toe on his desk and yelled, “Fuck it! You all get sleet today!” I laid in bed and tried to piece together what was going on. Somehow I had woken up about 10 years older. Try as I might, the last thing that I remember was being in my twenties raising hell and trying to get laid. I decide to roll out of bed.

Jesus Christ the terrazzo is freezing. I shuffle my way into the kitchen and look for something edible. No cereal. No eggs. No bread. In desperation, I check the freezer. One meager slice of pizza – probably as old as I was. It’ll do, I guess. I vaguely recall buying pizza at some point. Did I have a party or something? As the pizza warms up in the microwave, I start making coffee. 33 years old and I still can’t figure out this fucking thing. I think about hitting the coffee machine until it starts working.

My phone is blinking on the kitchen table. The little blue light is silently screaming at me at regular intervals. Reminds me of Jess. A fuzzy figure begins to take shape in my head. My phone just wanted to tell me that my credit card bill was due. Fuck you phone, you told me that last month.

Jess was a dark-eyed brunette but she always dyed her hair black so she wouldn't look like her mother. I met her at a gas station I think. Or maybe a bank. She was one of those girls that knew a little bit about a lot of things, but not a whole lot about one thing in particular. Maybe that’s why I loved her – she never gave a damn about any one thing too much.

I put on the same pair of jeans I’ve been wearing all weekend. There’s some unidentifiable stain on the left knee but otherwise they appear clean enough. I went to IHOP for breakfast yesterday with Andre. Maybe it’s a jam stain.

I pour back the rest of the lukewarm dirty brown water in my mug and stand at the threshold of my door deciding whether or not to get the paper. I sigh and pull the handle toward me with every ounce of enthusiasm I could muster which turned out to be not that much. Fuck it’s cold outside. Really should have grabbed my shoes. I hop down the driveway and grab the piece of shit and run back inside and swear a lot and close the door. The things I do for the Sunday funnies.

Marmaduke was Jess’s favorite. “It’s funny because he’s a very large dog and he gets into trouble!” she would say. I never got it. In today’s strip, he prevents a little girl from riding her sled down a hill. Oh Marm, you crazy fucking animal, you. On the front cover there’s an article about someone famous who was murdered or something. Lucky bastard.

The gears slowly click into motion and I start to feel like a human again. The weather was a lot nicer that day. It was a warm Tuesday in April the last time I saw her. It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a year. Jess never wanted kids which I guess worked out for the best, but Februaries seems a lot colder living here alone.

 I stare at her picture for a moment and have to resist the urge to cry or yell or do something un-macho. Instead I just burp. My phone vibrates on the table and the little blue light on it once again reminds me that it’s there and it desperately deserves my attention. Andre wants to know if I want to grab dinner at that awful Mexican restaurant over on the North side of town. “Their food always gives me the worst shits”, I text him. Jess absolutely hated the place for precisely that reason. “Of course I’ll go.”

title: A Cold Morning in February [688 Words]

question: What does the story say about the narrator's relationship with Jess?

answer: He thinks he met her at a gas station or a bank. He loved her because she doesn't give a damn about any one thing in particular. Jess never wanted kids, and the narrator feels that worked out for the best. It's been a year since he last saw her and it's implied that their relationship has ended.

question: What does the story say about the narrator's lifestyle?

answer: He isn't sure what day it is when he wakes up. He doesn't have any food in his kitchen to make breakfast. He only has an old slice of pizza in the freezer and only vaguely remembers buying it. His credit card bill has been due for over a month. He has been wearing the same pair of jeans all weekend.

question: Summarize everything relating to the narrator's social life.

answer: When he finds a slice of pizza in the freezer, he wonders if he had a party. He went to IHOP for breakfast the previous day with a friend named Andre. Andre texts him and they make plans to go for dinner to a Mexican restaurant.

question: What does the story say about the reason for the breakup?


text: A great, majestic, mechanical snake, slithering through the city, on an endless quest of delivering little seedlings here and there, to let them go on with their meaningless lives, and carry on with their own quests. Hundreds of people packed into a tube, part of a colossal network, momentarily trapped in dynamic staticity. Moving, yet perfectly still. Maybe talking to a friend, a stranger, or another seedling. Maybe simply looking out the window, while listening to music thanks to the wonders of (relatively) modern technology, supposedly having profound thoughts of life, our existence, our place on this planet, perpetually suspended in space. In reality, their thoughts aren’t profound at all, they’re just the meaningless mental entanglements anyone could have. The essence of it all lies somewhere else, somewhere hidden.

title: Snake (129 words)

question: What is The Snake?

answer: It is heavily implied that it is a metro line underneath a city.

question: What clues are we given that the name is a metaphor for a metro train?

answer: It delivers seedlings to their destinations and whilst the snake is moving the seedlings think about their place in the universe, while they are momentarily trapped.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A short story describing the snake-like movements and habits of a metro-train and its passengers.


text:
They still think they can fix me.

See, I'm the kind of guy that likes to live in the moment. We can't always be looking back, now can we? And instead of putting me in prison, I'm put in Arkham Asylum. They thought it would be too dangerous having me around to mastermind those criminals. Ho-ho-he-he-ha.

As if my jokes weren't getting any worse.

No, see, now I can have even better people to work with. And it's all gonna lead up to when me and Bats can meet up again. And it will happen, don't worry, don't worry.

They say I'm crazy. I'm not crazy, I'm not. I'm ahead of the curve. Schemers are crazy. Planners. People who think that they can bend the world to their own will. Tell me tell me, how often, do your, uh, plans, work out? Do you really think that, for a moment, that harpy, Mother Earth, is gonna care about your plans?

See, I realize that planning is useless. Chaos, now that's a different story. Things naturally go towards chaos. I mean, look around you. Everything is hell. All I did was give it a little push, to start rolling. The rest it did by itself.

And now they hate Bats. Now, now they throw him out. I warned you, Bats, I told you. But no, not the unstoppable force, you wouldn't give up. That's why I'm around, to give you purpose. Just like you give me. It's amazing, isn't it? I mean, that's something to smile about, right?

And Harvey. Harvey, Harvey, Harvey. I didn't have to tell you to do anything. The coin was a nice touch, I must say. Thanks to you, I've won. See, Bats may have everyone else fooled. But we know, we know the truth. You, me, Bats, even Gordon. We know how good the people of Gotham really are. Harvey, Harvey, Harvey.

And the doctors here, they still think they can fix me. I tell them, I say, there is nothing to fix. But they try and try. They are terrified of me. That's good, that's chaos. There is one doctor here who isn't, though. Harleen Quinzel. Interesting woman. She isn't a schemer. I know the schemers when I see them. That's why I've always loved Bats. He isn't a schemer. He doesn't plan, he acts. I like that.

But this doctor, this squeeze, is intrigued. I know, I can tell. I've had enough doctors poking at me over the years to know when they are just doing their job, and when they are actually listening to me. She's curious. That's good, that's very good.

I have a surprize for you, Bats. I know you can beat him, I know. But that's not the point. The point is that you will have to try. Oh, and just to make it interesting, I haven't told him anything about your being Brucie. Oh, you didn't think I knew about that? Hehe-ho! I did, I do! But I won't tell him anything. Makes it a little more interesting.
Quin-something, doctor lady, is coming again. She visits me more and more often. I must be ready for her, right? Right, right.

Why so serious?

*(edit: "I'm the kind of guy that likes to think ahead" to "I'm the kind of guy who lives in the moment")

title: Thoughts of an InSane Mind (Joker Monologue)

question: Who does the narrator think is crazy?

answer: The narrator thinks schemers are crazy.

question: Who does the narrator think is curious?

answer: The narrator thinks Harleen Quinzel is curious.

question: What does the narrator claim things naturally go towards?

answer: The narrator claim things naturally go towards chaos.

question: Why does the narrator love Bats?

answer: The narrator loves Bats because he isn't a schemer.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator says that he isn't crazy, the people who make plans are. The narrator talks about Bats, Harvey, and a doctor named Harleen and how they aren't schemers. He says the doctor is coming again, and he needs to be ready for her.


text:
PHIL(L)IP or PHIL MORRIS may refer to:

Companies

-   Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist
    -   Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group
    -   Philip Morris International, a tobacco company that spun off from Altria Group in 2008
    -   Philip Morris (cigarette)

Film and TV

-   Philip Morris (1893–1949), American actor in films such as _Home on the Range_
-   Phil Morris (actor) (born 1959), American film, television, and voice actor best known for his role on _Seinfeld_
-   Philip Morris (archivist), English media recovery expert, known for recovering _Doctor Who_ episodes

Sportspeople

-   Philip Morris (English cricketer) (1877–1945), English cricketer
-   Philip Morris (New Zealand cricketer) (born 1952), New Zealand cricketer
-   Philip Morris (racing driver) (born 1965), American short track racing racer
-   Phil Morris (speedway rider) (born 1975), British motorcycle speedway rider and TV game show participant

Others

-   Philip Morris (tobacconist) (1835–1873), British tobacconist and importer of cigarettes
-   Phil Morris (health activist) (born 1972), British health activist and cancer survivor
-   Philip Morris (priest) (born 1950), Archdeacon of Margam
-   Philip Richard Morris (1836–1902), English painter
-   Phillip Morris, prisoner, and lover of conman and escape artist Steven Jay Russell
-   Phillip Morris Napier, American politician in the state of Maine
-   _Naugle v. Philip Morris_, a 2009 court case

title: Philip Morris

question: How old was Philip Morris, the actor from Home on the Range, when he died?

answer: 56/57

question: After whom is the US cigarette conglomerate named?

answer: Philip Morris, a tobacconist.

question: What might one infer about Phillip Morris the prisoner?

answer: That he at least tried to escape prison.

question: Based on this article, what can one reasonably assume "Philip Morris" typically refers to in the United States?

answer: The tobacco/cigarette industry.


text:
"It's finally open!" Joseph shouted as he flipped through the pages of an old tome.

"What's this?" He then said in disgust, "Is this whole thing empty?"

"Wait!" His partner shouted, "I saw something at the beginning."

"impossible." Pouted Joseph "The beginning was the first..."

Joseph never finished that sentence, despite ample time, as he was far too shocked by what he witnessed in the book. With a cautious tone he says,

 "Philip... have I gone mad?"

"I don't think so sir." responded Philip

"So you see it? Writing?"

"Every word sir."

"How can a book write itself?" Joseph said dumbfounded. "I'm more worried that it new your name sir." Philip responded wisely.

There was a short pause.

"Well it seems to like you Philip." Joseph said with undertones of frustration.

"That's great sir! The favor of an old book. I shall treasure it always sir." Philip was chuckling as he said this, but it was met with a sudden realization, which he then announced: "It said you were frustrated Joseph. Why are you frustrated? We got the book..."

"I'm not frustrated!" Joseph responded angrily

"Now it says you're angry sir."

"I bloody am now!" Joseph shouted in resentment of the book held in his hands. "Darn right I'm resentful! What good could come of you?" Joseph asks the thin sheets of tree fiber bound in very dead, but decorated, cow skin.

"So you're saying I won't get an answer?" Joseph asks rhetorically.

"And I didn't say 'darn!' Stop making my words better!"

"Hey," Philip interjects "You didn't actually say anything about it making your words better just now right sir?"

"Of course not!" Joseph shouts again, "It's not even recording the truth!" he states in an insulting manner.

"Well sir, what are we going to do with it?" Philip asks honestly

"Burn it." Joseph responded foolishly. At this time, Joseph was entirely unaware that his fate had been bound like in the bindings of a book. However, some day, near or far, Joseph would realize that should the book burn, than he will share its fate.

"And when, exactly, was I going to learn that tidbit?" Joseph asked. By this point in time, Joseph had taken a great fondness in asking questions with clear and obvious answers. It is rumored that this is derived from an unbearable fear of being wrong, likely because he was often wrong about things as a child.

"You fasting bunt!" Joseph shouted for a third time. Presumably at the tome.

"Do you think it's lying to you sir? You know? To save its own skin?" Philip asks, innocently believing that an inanimate object may have a sense of self preservation.

Then, at great risk of exposing his illiteracy, Joseph announced his latest realization: "That word! 'Inanimate' I bet if we can find what it means, we'll know what this book's up to."

"Hey!" Joseph shouts a fourth time, "I'm not illiterate you bunt." Upon saying this, our cunning and delinquent rogue proceeded ill fortuitously to extrude from his cerebral cortex fundamentals which may then collate the pages of his understanding into a cognitive explanation of the mysterious object held in his finer appendages.

"It said you were cunning!" Philip announced innocently.

"Stop calling me innocent." Philip pouted.

Ignoring Philip, Joseph issued his first logical shout, "I will not be taunted by a fasting dead tree!" At this Joseph shook the book violently, likely wishing it had a neck.

.

.

.

Joseph shuts the book.

 At this time, Joseph believes that the book cannot write if it is shut. What Joseph does not realize, is that not only can the book write, but his curiosity will not allow him to leave it closed for long. In the mean time, Joseph continues to sit there with Philip, not saying a word.

 The two of them had recently burgled a basement. But not just any basement, the basement of a wise and powerful being.

Joseph gives in to his desire for knowledge and opens the book once more.

"It still wrote?" Joseph asked rhetorically.

"And it was about to talk about the wizard!" Philip says with a small chuckle.

.

.

.

Sadly, the adventures of Philip and Joseph then came to an abrupt end. Our hero's did not have the cunning to realize they had remained in the basement for far too long to go unnoticed. They likely did not expect that the wizard's prized book, was perhaps safer if left in its magical chamber. A magical chamber which, no doubt, the wizard will promptly return it to...

title: "What treasured lies within" -First submission, wrote mostly out of curiosity for a new style of thinking.

question: Summarize Joseph's emotions over the course of the story, according to the book.

answer: At first, he is in disgust upon finding the book empty. He seems to be in disbelief that there was writing at the beginning. He is then shocked by what he sees in the book. His shock turns to frustration, which then turns to anger.

question: Summarize the supernatural elements in the story.

answer: The book is able to write itself. It also seems to record what is happening with Joseph and Philip. Joseph would also allegedly share the book's fate if he tried to burn it. The book belongs to a wizard, who returns at the end of the story and presumably kills Joseph and Philip.

question: Summarize Philip and Joseph's journey to find the book.

question: Summarize Joseph's attempts to best the book.

answer: He first considers burning the book, although the book warns him that if he does, he will share its fate. He then thinks that if he can figure out what the word "inanimate" means, he can figure out what the book is up to. He also shaked the book violently. Finally, he shuts the book, expecting it to be unable to write while shut.


text:
[hospitality technology]

In this age of instant information, technology has become a necessity for the hospitality industry. Guests want instant information with regard to room availability, rates, reviews, hotel facilities etc literally at their fingertips, a.k.a their SmartPhones. To keep up with their guests requirements, hotels need to ensure that they substantially increase their hotel tech spending.

According to HT 2016’s Lodging technology study; hotels across the globe plan to spend 54% more on technology this year with the main priorities being payment and data security, improving technology in the rooms, bandwidth and mobile engagement.

The best news is that this investment is actually beneficial to the hotels in the long haul. The technological trends shall enable to the hotels to make great improvements as well as savings for their property.

TOP TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS:

INCREASED FOCUS ON PAYMENT AND DATA SECURITY
With cyber crime increasing and evolving at an alarming rate, hotels are ensuring that they invest heavily in payment and data security. As compared to 2015, hotels intend to increase their budget in this particular aspect by 25%. Hotels want to assure their guests that they have secure payment gateways for any online and mobile transactions as well as sophisticated online security to safeguard personal information about their guests.

INTRODUCING ‘SMART’ ROOMS AND FACILITIES
Flat screen TVs, wireless chargers, docking stations, automated lighting and temperature control… these are the demands of the millennial traveller. They want the rooms as well as the conference facilities of the hotel to be technologically savvy. This is why according to 2016 Lodging Technology Study, 22% hotels’ are allocating capital to Room Control Devices and 16% to Smart TVs.

The Pottinger Hotel in Hong Kong goes the extra mile and provides a Smartphone in all their rooms with free mobile data and IDD calls to selected countries. Guests can use the phone to navigate across the city during their stay at the hotel, and the phone also has details about certain promotions for their guests as well as local details about the city.

UPGRADING BANDWIDTH
According to HTNG’s Blake, the biggest priority for a guest is that the hotel’s WiFi should work efficiently and be free. The bandwidth needs to support; the multiple tech devices of the guest in the room as well as across the property, ‘Smart’ room facilities, tech savvy conference gadgets, hotel’s management system and so on.

Globally, hotels are improving their property’s bandwidth so that their guests can use the internet whether for business or pleasure without any hiccups.

MOBILE INTEGRATION
As mentioned in our previous blog – How mobile devices are influencing the future of hospitality, mobile devices and smart phones are part of the complete hotel experience, right from making reservations to checking out.
At Starwood, Hilton and Marriot hotels, guests can use their Smartphone’s as mobile keys to open their hotel room doors and to access guest-only areas. At Virgin Hotel in Chicago, guests can use them to control room temperatures and lighting, and as the TV remote control.

Latest trends include mobile kiosks for check in and check outs, as well as offering concierge in the pocket, where guests can access local information via the hotels app.

MOBILE ENGAGEMENT
Mobile engagement is extremely underutilised and has great potential for hotels to increase their revenues. Hotels can use data from their guest’s Smartphones to offer special offers to them as well as upsell the various points of sales at the hotel.

Mobile engagement enables hotels to provide a personalised experience for their guests by being updated of their preferences and creating special packages as per their taste.

Starwood hotels are using Bluetooth enabled beacons to create personalised experiences, they place beacons near the entrance of their properties, so that as soon as guests enter the hotel, the concierge can greet them by their names.

Technology is forever changing and it may not always be possible for hotels to stay ahead but they should attempt to walk hand in hand with the latest trends. Integrating some of the above trends shall enable hotels to be easily accessible online, upsell their various points of sales, offer personalised service thus resulting in guest loyalty, reduce their carbon footprint by having more e-options rather than printed collateral, and much more, all resulting in better profitability for their property. It’s a complete win-win situation.

[try-for-free]

—

question: Summarize the focus on payment and data security.

answer: Cyber crime is evolving at a fast rate. Hotels have increased their budget in this area by 25% since 2015. Hotels want to assure their guests they have secure payment gateways.

question: Summarize smart rooms in hotels.

answer: According to the article, millennials are demanding 'smart' rooms and controls. Travelers today want wireless chargers, docking stations, and automated lighting and temperature control. The Pottinger Hotel in Hong Kong goes the extra mile and provides a Smartphone in all their rooms with free mobile data and IDD calls to selected countries.

question: Summarize the concerns with bandwidth.

answer: The biggest concern of a hotel guest is that the WiFi should work efficiently and be free. The bandwidth needs support. Globally hotels are improving their property's bandwidth so their guests can use internet whether for business or pleasure.

question: How are mobile devices influencing the future of hospitality?

answer: At Starwood, Hilton and Marriot hotels, guests can use their Smartphones as mobile keys to open their hotel room doors. At Virgin Hotel in Chicago they can use it to control room temperatures and lighting as well as the TV remote control. Latest trends include mobile kiosks for check in and check outs.


text:
The following short story is from a fight my friends and I had, where one of my friends took over the fight and kicked some serious ass. Some things were added for entertainment purposes but the story is pretty much all there.

**Fight at the taco truck, as I remember it.**

It was the beginning of winter. Testosterone ran high, beards were long. Common folk refer to this phenomenon as 'no shave November' I call it a regular Wednesday. It was a large group of us this particular night. Mauri, Mikey, Eric, 'Other' Mikey, voluptuous Rosie, and of course yours truly. We started the night on the slums of Sunset. A dirty one block radius crawling with the worst type of people besides hipsters, more hipsters. If it wasn't for the Wednesday's specials and surplus of sluts, this place would be nothing less than an arcade fire concert screening Wes Anderson films. We loaded up on the cheap booze, and stuck around for the slutty ambiance.

As our uneventful night came to an end we decided to meet at Gus' infamous taco truck. We rode in two separate cars, or as the urban kids say 'we was rolling deep' Mauri, Eric and Mikey took the quick route and stopped at our local liquor for a twelve pack of our favorite brand. I ended up driving 'other Mike's' car because to be honest the kid couldn't handle his liquor. This also gave me a chance to gauge the possibility of sex with Rosie. Sex seemed pretty probable, but then again it always does. I would catch her staring at me while I drove. I couldn't tell if she was admiring my ability to drink out of my flask while keeping an eye on the road or my disregard for danger, all I knew is that she was amazed and probably aroused. I decided to take the scenic route.

Call it a hunch, or perhaps supernatural abilities, but as soon as I pulled into the parking lot I could sense trouble. I quickly and skillfuly parked the small jalopy and leaped out. "Where are you going!" Rosie yelled. I didn't have time to answer, shit was going down and I was going to help it. I ran towards the kerfuffle around Mikey's car and made it there just in time to see a tall, skinny, awkward looking man taking a swing at my good friend Mauri. I didn't need an explanation or reason to start handing out cans, that was plenty. I dove into the group of people fist first until I reached that tall awkward face. His acne infested skin felt soft against my rugged knuckles. It was a little too late to realize 'Awkward Skinny' had friends. Things went dark for a bit after this.

As I came to my senses, I glimpsed around to assess the situation. Things weren't looking good, but they weren't looking bad either. Eric landed some quick jabs that sounded like double bass pedals from a metal band, he had chosen his guy and he was going to take him out. Phony Mike was being gay in the car comforting Rosie. Mauri stood quietly studying the scene and Mikey was walking over to assist me when some random Joe appeared out of nowhere with a handful of fists for both of us. Now this 'Random Joe' did not know Mauri. He did not know that Mauri had been pretty peaceful this whole time, watching these events unfold. He did not know the rage that hid behind him. He did not know that Mauri is a cool guy, a regular mother fucking Teresa but if you fuck with his friends... well then he will fuck you up.

Mauri's shirt came off and his drunken stance became firm. With his fist up in the air he went around taking names and handing out prizes. 'Random Joe' and 'Awkward Skinny' turned their attention to the one taking out their friends and surrounded him. Rosie and 'Imposter Mike' came out to try to instill some peaceful sense into us. I watched helplessly as Mauri was surrounded by seven guys and a midget. (You know gangs mean bussiness when the 'gang midget' is called out for a fight.) To my surprise, Mauri's confidence looked to be intact, he looked over at me and gave me his 'ok' wink. I nodded back. I understood.

'Random Joe' jumped on top of 'Gang Midget' and began swinging his arms. Gang midget struggled to keep his balance but managed to charge towards Mauri. As Mauri mouthed out "What the fuck?!' he took a quick dive to dodge this 'one and a half man turbine'. The midget couldn't control his direction and ran right into a wall. 'Awkward skinny' bursted out in a maniacal laugh and pointed at Mauri, his five remaning henchmen rushed Mauri on the floor. They covered him entirely with punches and grunts, if I didn't know any better, it looked like a japanese gangbang without pixels. I looked at Eric and Mikey and we all nodded in agreement, we had to get in. But just as we decided to join the fun, Mauri burst from within sending all five of them to the floor. Shirtless Mauri stood up and pointed at 'Awkward skinny'

"You!" He began,

"You wanted a fucking beer, we gave you a fucking beer!"

The fab five quickly recovered and tried their luck again. Awkward skinny kept laughing. Something was clearly wrong with him.

The five fucks took their swings and kicks, but these were no match for Mauri's quick turns and ducks. He was salsa dancing around the punches, it was a beautiful sight. Eventually, they stopped their futile attempts to touch Mauri.

"Is that all you got?!" Mauri teased.

The winded five farts had nothing. It was Mauri's turn. To say he knocked them out fast is an understatement. He walked through them making them taste his friendship fury. He made his way towards that tall awkward skinny fuckhead that had started it all.

It was pretty clear this was Mauri's fight, but before he started unloading, Awkward skinny crumbled down to his knees and begged for mercy. Not even Ghandi would have listened to that prick, but Mauri swallowed what was left of his pride and turned away. The crowd that had gathered cheered and chanted his name. He walked taller than before and began making his way back to the car. Just then, 'Awkward skinny' pulled out a full bottle of newcastle and pitched it towards an unaware Mauri. We all looked in shock,and questioned "How the fuck does someone hide a full bottle through an entire fight?!" but we quickly realized he hadn't participated for most of it. We tried to yell out to mauri but our expressions warned him faster and he majestically turned around to quickly catch the bottle. He promptly opened it up and chugged it like a legend in the making. Alex, who had not been part of this whole night, just happened to be getting himself some tacos, he witnessed this last unjustice and ran towards awkward skinny to launch his frail ass towards a car. "No one throws out a full Newcastle" Alex sighed.

Mauri and Alex joined us back by the car to finish our brew. I could tell Rosie had lost all interest in me and was going to spend the night with Mauri but I wasn't even mad, because after that fight, he deserved a good fucking.

question: Why was there a fight at a taco truck?

answer: It's not exactly clear, but it seems the gang asked Mauri for a beer and he gave them a beer. Why they then started to fight is unclear.

question: What were the emotions occuring before, during, and after the fight?

answer: The narrator wants to help his friend Mauri. Clearly there is anger. It seems that the narrator is irritated with "phony" Mike, and admires Mauri.

question: Did anyone get seriously injured or die?

answer: Nobody seems to get seriously injured or die.

question: Who was involved in the fight?

answer: A gang against the narrator and his friends: Mauri, Mikey, Eric, and other Mike.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator and his friends, Mikey, Mauri, Eric, other Mike, and Rosie, are out drinking on a Wednesday night. They decide to go to Gus' taco truck; they take two cars. The narrator, Rosie, and other Mike arrive to see Mauri, Mike, and Eric engaged in a fight with a gang. The narrator jumps out of the car and begins throwing punches. Mauri is the hero of the fight, taking on five guys at once. The instigator of the fight begs Mauri not to beat him, so Mauri walks away. The instigator throws a full bottle of liquor at Mauri's back, but Mauri turns and is able to grab the bottle without being injured; he drinks it.


text:
Didn't get any feedback there, thought I'd try here.

**Father’s Time**

On this particular morning, Edward woke up feeling a little different. As his achy, still half-asleep muscles slowly loosened with each deliberate movement, a discomfort built inside him. It hurt him to stand up. It drained him to take a step. He didn’t feel like himself. When Edward made his way to his washroom mirror, he didn’t quite look like himself either. His once shiny, shaggy blonde hair now seemed dull and faded. His ocean blue eyes looked back at him, only now they resembled a sea of darkness and regret. His body felt fragile, his thoughts lacked understanding, and his heart seemed to wince with every beat.

A tear began to form in Edward’s eye.  *When did I get so old?* He thought. As the ice cold tear trickled down, journeying through the creases on his face, all Edward could do was stare blankly back at his own, sad reflection. Minutes passed. Edward had stared into his own dark eyes for too long, and he was now lost at sea. He tried to collect his thoughts, but each one eluded the next. He looked down at his pocket watch that lay open on the stone white counter.

AHA! Finally, something made sense to Edward. His grandfather had given him this particular timepiece some fifty years ago. Or wait… was it his father? It had to of been his father, right? Edward’s mind backtracked. All Edward could remember was the brilliance the pocket watch once exhibited. It was a shiny gold watch that had given him a false sense of pride. Only now, the watch was dim and scuffed. The second hand on the faded gold watch ticked up, but it quickly retreated. It ticked again, and again fell down. More seconds passed, but according to the timepiece, time did not move. Edward closed the golden timepiece.

Suddenly, a bright ray of sunshine cleared the horizon and before Edward knew it, the golden sun was high in the sky. The brightness was as brilliant as ever. Edward was young again and no longer lost. His heart was warm, and his thoughts were coherent. Diana was back in his arms; his son Tommy was swinging high into that sun filled sky. A new tear made its own journey across Edward’s face, traveling its own path, falling ever so slowly onto the gold pocket watch below. Edward wiped the warm drop of ocean water from the timepiece, and opened it back up. The second hand ticked no longer.

title: Father's Time [418] (x-post r/shortstoriescritique)

question: How old is Edward?

answer: Over fifty years old, as he received the pocket watch fifty years ago.

question: Is Edward dead?

answer: It's implied by the pocket watch "tick[ing] no longer" that he's dead and transported back to his heyday with wife and son.

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: Unclear.

question: Who are the main characters of the story?

answer: Mostly just Edward, some mention of his wife and son.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: The story opens to find  Edward, tired, faded, and old. He sees only regret in his eyes. His father's pocket watch reminds him of days gone. Suddenly, a bright ray of sunshine clears the horizon, Edward is young again with his wife and son. The pocket watch ticks no more.