... beautiful, looked at Ash and shook her head. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm not gonna' give up, not like this!" "Misty, The Rocket Empire is killing people as we speak! You can't..." Ash was cut off. "I don't care I'm going up to fight!" Misty said. Her mind was obviously made up, she went storming up the tunnel and disappeared. Ash sat there a couple of minutes then decided to follow her. "Misty wait up!" he yelled. Ash wasn't prepared for what awaited him, Misty's home town of Cerulean City was practically destroyed. The Gym was on fire and Rocket Troops were already setting up a garrison. Ash could ...

... to nature could put anyone in a state of nirvana. As I stood admiring the clear blue sky and the world around me, I was interrupted by my friends' constant taunting, "Come on, let's go!" They were not rookies. They had experienced the sport of skiing and the atmosphere around it and were not as enthusiastic toward the surroundings as I was. Their calls became louder, with annoyance. I stepped up to the edge of a great slope. The steepness of this colossal block of snow I stood upon, was frightening. The only was to go was down. I took a deep breath with no worries, for this was not the first time I was co ...

... when I saw that the counselor that I had been assigned to work with did not intend on doing anything besides sleeping. Although I usually enjoy working with young children, this was not my idea of how to enjoy a summer vacation. But I decided to perservere, hoping to be switched to another bunk. Alas, no such switch came, and I was driven to the brink of insanity by these innocent looking young devils. These kids saw nothing wrong with playing sports inside the bunk (and breaking three windows while doing so), going weeks without showering, or with not going to sleep. I soon realized that however insane thes ...

... blend. Those chocolate covered peanuts and caramel were very tantalizing. Then we were allowed to open the wrapper. I opened it, careful not to rip the wrapper. The second it was uncovered, the sweet smell got stronger. That chocolate and caramel aroma was now increased with the glorious smell of roasted peanuts. Oh! How I longed to taste that tempting Snickers bar. The top of the bar itself looked like an ocean wave just before it crashes onto the beach. It was a perfect picture, frozen in time. It felt smooth, yet gooey at the same time. Then I heard those magical words. "you may now take your fir ...

... shirt, and a black jacket. I slipped on my loafers but was lost in the search for my tie. Coffee stained and still unwashed, I found it laying on the laundry room floor. I swore to myself to let Carolyn know about that. I walked into John's empty room, knowing he owned some ties. It was just as he had left it, I guess, because I'd never really gone in his room. I picked the red one he wore in his graduation pictures and slipped it over my head. I stepped into the bathroom, combed back my whitening hair, and left for the office. The early morning sun shone in through the broken blinds that I noticed h ...

... skies and wilderness with a certain glow that the bright lights of the city somehow always devour. There was no path beyond the lookout. As we stumbled through the trees, we held our backpacks in the front of us so the needle written branches of the pine trees didn't smack us in the face. After a few grueling minutes the trees thinned out to expose the edge of a 100-foot drop off. I could see to the other side of the river. We've decided to lay our sleeping bags down on the edge of the cliff, it seemed to be the most level surface and the best view. As we looked up we could see the stars, thousands and thou ...

... that I should look elsewhere and settled on a lovely little spider web. I dove toward it, feeling the thrum of my wings and hearing the whoosh of the wind flowing past. The web glowed gold in the morning sunlight and dew drops hanging from it shone like liquid fire. A gnat flew too close and I captured it with a snap of my long tongue. Snaring a long piece of the silk, I immediately ascended, looking for my tree. My mate was awaiting my return, and was soon rewarded as I pulled up to the carefully camouflaged nest. I passed the silken strand over to her and left to find some food. The humans are very good to u ...

... I set the rules, I am the man of house. I rule my own country. She tickles me with her long nails. She scratches the back of my neck oh so gently. I get high off of this girls love so often. I met her at a symphony. She is very popular all the puppies of my society adore her. She has seen parts of the world that no one else has. She has been kicked out of this country many times. The dreams I have after I sleep with this woman are so incredible that it makes me a little crazy the next day. Why do my parents keep bothering me? I can hold my own now. I am mature, I am a man. I do get distracted real easily and my par ...

... time I see a patient being comforted by a friend. Someone sitting by the bed, holding a hand, passing time with idle conversation, or just being there, can often be as beneficial to recovery as some of our fancy medicine. Friendships are strengthened in hospitals. They are watered and fed in our corridors and rooms and in our cafeterias and chapels. We find friends in many ways, but we often solidify our friendships in adversity. During illness we see the real caring and concerns of others. Being present during the adverse times often permanently bonds humans together. Of course, not everyone can maintain fri ...

... is the occasional case when the comments will turn more personally towards me, on the average most people change the topic of the conversation fairly quickly when they are confronted. The regret I had about never standing up for, not just the members of my family, but for any person, or group of people, that is discriminated against, led to a problem I encountered a few years ago during my sophomore year in high school. My high school is predominantly white, with a few Asians, and very few black students. One of the few black students, Kaasa, happened to be in my phy-ed class during the first semester of my sopho ...