"Negative one point. You're supposed to use your left hand to activate the engines."

"But..." I gulped, "The button's on my right side..."

"That's pretty old-school," I grinned, attempting to lighten the mood, "I thought paper had gone extinct ages ago."

"Negative one point," Meeroc sniffed, "No idle chit-chat while driving."

Whenever I think of spring, I immediately hear my mother's voice. "Spring is in the air."

I first heard her utter this expression when I was growing up in Wellsville, New York. Wellsville is a little town in Southwestern New York State. Wellsville, New York is ninety miles south of Buffalo, close to the Pennsylvania border.

I am sure when my mother said, "Spring is in the air.", she was talking about the freshness of the air.

They told me spring here in Oklahoma didn't particularly have its own smell—"It just smells like dirt."

It is not found on a sandy beach, or in a sunny meadow.

Near the bed, hangs a rickety screen door, all that stands between the bed and the woods nearby.

Mingled in, is the croaking of frogs gathered to visit at their favorite spot in the stream and an occasional bee buzzing by to say hello.

Yes, people are saying, well you're the scientists, you should have known, but we don't know everything.

“I’m going to kill you.”
Palmer put his hand on the bigger mans chest and nodded at him before stepping into the moonlight.
“Seems I underestimated you Richmond.”
Justice shook his head slowly.
“That man is dead.”
Palmer laughed.
“Planning your own funeral Richmond?”
Justice stepped forward and raised his head, looking at Palmer. Palmer shivered but didn’t lose his composure.
“You are a dead man!”
“I've got nothing to lose.”

“Palmer!” He yelled. “Come out here and fight me you son of a bitch!”

“Seems I underestimated you Richmond.”

The girl looked at the man and sadly stated, “No sir, I don’t have any idea of streets or even maybe where it could be.....

“Oh my gosh,” she cries, “this is it. Oh thank you, thank you. You helped me find it.” She folds the map,....

The man looked at her, thinking hard, “Well, there are a couple of parks pretty close to here. Which one are looking for? Do you know what street?”

She takes off walking and says to herself, “I’ll search the streets and find the old place, then I'll find where I need to go from there.”

She kneels down in the garden at the base of the bird bath thinking, “It has to here. It must.” She starts to dig....

He thought, “I don’t but here is a nostalgic map. It has old landmarks and pictures of places in the old neighborhood. Take a look and see if you can find anything familiar.”

...“Hey miss, did find what you were looking for?” The man asked.

“Excuse me sir, I am looking for the local park. Can you point me in right direction?”

In the girls’ hand is small tin box

She lived here before and thought the place she needed would be easy to find but times have moved on and so much has changed.

“I used to live here, years ago with my mom and dad.” She said with tears in her voice. “I’m trying to find a local park. Not big but it
was in this area. It’s not a big deal but that is what I’m looking for.”

This is an old time neighborhood where everyone knows each other and they tend to meet up at the local coffee shop daily. They talk of old times and new times to come. A few people notice this one girl, looking worried and seeming to be looking for something.

The couple watched her go and the little lady said, “I hope she finds what she is looking for, she is too pretty to be that upset.”

In the girls’ hand is small tin box. Years before she and her momma had buried the box in the garden with a small black and white
photo of them both, that her dad had taken, and a locket with pictures of her and one of her mom and dad. She puts the small box
under her momma’s hands and places a light kiss on the cold forehead.

As she answered his call, Prerna found that her body was shivering with nervous excitement. Her palms had turned cold and sweaty. “Hello Prerna! How are you?” A deep voice sounded from the other end of the phone, filled with enthusiasm and warmth. Her apprehensions melted with his casual and friendly demeanor.

“I can see you... Turn around... I am right there!” Saumit mentioned over the phone with his usual enthusiasm.

She had “liked” his profile purely because of her vibe.

"Stop it, I was sleeping!" She shouted at the dragon in her backyard.

"ROAR!" The beast roared, the sound so loud it must have woke up everyone in the city!

Stella woke up with, startled, scared by the sound. She remembered what the sound was, it was Sora. Stella jumped out of bed and went to the window, angry. "Stop it, I was sleeping!" She shouted at the dragon in her backyard.

The dragon spun around in a circle and roared as if it were happy.

She woke up, feeling happy, she had a dream about flying.

For hours and hours the dragon was flying, until he finally landed back at the house, Stella jumped off the dragon and hugged him as hard as she can. Sora started flying again, Stella waved goodbye and went inside the house, she went straight to bed, and slept, trying not to cry. Sora was happy, the dragon heard a call from his brothers the night he woke Stella up, now he's probably with his brothers, in a land far away.

"Sora!" Stella ran through the yard and hugged the dragon, Sora. Sora was red, with dull spikes on its back and two sharp horns on its head. The dragon was the size of a school bus. Sora was with Stella for as long as she can remember, they were best friends of sorts. But no one was able to see the dragon, and the dragon never let Stella ride it, she always wanted to fly.

"It's ok, when I come back we can play all day!" She says, smiling at Sora. "You know, I had a dream yesterday. I was flying!"

“Are you sure this is a good idea? What if they take our money and kill us?” A man asked his boss.

“I don’t think they would be that stupid. What’s the point of doing this whole transaction if he was killed? If I die, he dies. There are safety precautions to make sure he’s not ghosting a cyborg or android body.” The leader answered calmly. He stood in the middle of a parking garage on the top floor waiting for his merchandise to show up. There was a lot on the line. But nothing worth killing each other here and now over. It was a mid term investment and if things worked out then he would be a very rich man and put his organization towards the top. But first he needed his product.

Just as the man looked at his watch he could hear a vehicle approaching, making its way up the floor levels. He looked around to make sure all of his people were in position. Not even an armored car would be safe if the people he was meeting with decided to go back on their deal or play rotten.

A sleek black car pulled up a good little distance and stopped. A tall bald man in a good looking suit stepped out of the car and turned the vehicle off. Several others followed him in exiting the car; all carrying automatic rifles. The bald man smiled as he approached his business partner.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? What if they take our money and kill us?” A man asked his boss.

“..... are safety precautions to make sure he’s not ghosting a cyborg or android body.” The leader answered calmly.

“I trust you have the money, Mr. M?” Mr. M held up a suitcase with handcuffs attached to him and it.

But nothing worth killing each other here and now over. It was a mid term investment and if things worked out then he would be a very rich man and put his organization towards the top. But first he needed his product.

As soon as the crate was loaded and the doors to the van were closed the lights in the parking garage shut off. Shortly after the van holding the crate sped off. People from both parties opened fire on the van but of course it was bullet proof.

Annie was frail. But she screamed out loud in that dark and storm. She was not that old and her hair was blonde turning brown and her waste was small. Annie worried about something. Her dog barked. Then suddenly her room was brightened by clashes of lightening that bit into her sole in a way that deeply gnawed at her and sobbed wailingly, the teardrops moistening her rosy cheeks and she worried about that time from long ago when it had happened.

It was a stormy and dark night and Annie screamed out loud. "Why?" screamed Annie?

“Why you so caught up with that girl boss?” Kyle asked.
“She’s everything I’ve ever wanted. And she’ll be the next Mrs. Alejandro if I have anything to do with it.” I replied.
Chandler looked at me just like he has every time I talk about making Genvieve my wife. I’ve notice Genvieve for years now I know when she missed class and when she was thinking of something else. I know that she knows about my reputation but I did that just to get her attention. I need her to understand but I’m not going to force her into anything major. She has a choice of when we get married and have kids but everything else is my decision and when she understands that we’ll be fine.
“Kyle I need you to call the moving company and move all her things to my house, Chandler you get Gen a gift that will knock her socks off, Jalen buy her some new clothes and jewels. I want her to have the best.”
I walked into my next class and sat next to Gen.

“Go away.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you sitting next to me.”
“Aww is that how you treat your future husband?”
“Yes because I didn’t want him to begin with.”
I grabbed her roughly and pulled her on my lap.
“Gen I don’t care if you don’t want me, you’re my wife and that’s final. By the end of the day you’ll be in my house and I want dinner on the table.” I hissed in her ear.
I went to slip my card in her pocket when I felt a bill in there. I held in front of her face in a questioning way.
“What’s this?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“My dinner now give it back and what do you mean by the end of the day I’ll be in your house?”
“I mean that you’re moving in with me.”
“No way in hell.”

"Don't hesitate to app or mail me. I am closer than you expect me to be" replied the man on the other end of her chat.

She had been leading him on for months as part of an online love con. She knew no more about him than he did about her, but something told her that if she stuck with him long enough she could milk him for a lot of money. At first he had been very skeptical but she had managed to break down some of his defenses. It had taken several months but now she had him wrapped around her little finger. it was time to get down to business.

"I want to hold you" he told her. "When can you come to me?"

"I can come just as soon as i have my passport and airplane ticket", she replied. "I just have to come up the funds to get them. It's almost impossible for me to do so however. It would take more than I earn in two years. The only way i could do it is if you help me out. I know you will because you love me."

"Yes", he responded. "I'll do anything for you. Just keep me informed as I make the arrangements.Remember now, don't hesitate to app or mail me. I'm closer than you expect me to be."

The chat continued between them for some time. Later that day there was a knock at her door. When she answered it she was surprised to find him standing there.

"Tom"she said. "I'm surprised to see you. If you're hear you know I'm not who I told you I was. I can explain."

"I hope you can for your own sake", Tom answered. "You can explain it to the judge. By the way, I'm not who I said I was either. I'm Special Agent Frank Witters, Federal Bureau of Investigation Fraud Task Force. You're under arrest!"