Agit

He was shivering in the sunlight, even through several layers. He walked with tense shoulders through the crowded streets of summer-clad girls and middle-aged tourists wearing resort clothes. He was shivering in the sunlight.

Like New

Miles and miles of shortcuts dotted through a town, when measured in circumference was no larger than four miles in total. Alleys, gardens and abandoned lots were fair game. If it was fenced, the bikes were flung over, and the riders, under. The destination was never so important as the journey and no one ever passed up an opportunity to cross a near-empty stream or ride past the shack near the edge of town, just to arrive no sooner to Jason's house than if they would have taken the streets. The bland, grey streets; well-marked and cleared. 

The more famous shortcuts had been well-traveled by older and more experienced adventurers for many previous years. They had been named for their levels of usefulness and potential for danger.  

Panda

Beside the mirror sat a vase and a bowling pin.  Every time Casey walked into his apartment, he glared at the arrangement, sitting on the mantle, with clear disapproval.  He chose to ignore most aspects of his apartment and focus only on the things he approved and also his bedroom. His desire to change his personal space into a zen palace had not become fully realized in the eight months he had lived there.  

Living with people was more difficult than he had expected it to be. 

He shook the hands of all who came to hear him speak. All ten of the audience members purchased his book out of pure interest. Many of the members of the audience were just looking for a place to sit and read within the bookstore, not realizing that they had volunteered themselves as willing members of a public reading.  The author read several excerpts from his life's work; a fiction inspired by a small truth. 

What Isn't Nature

She whistled in the wind. She made a castle to remember that day. I stood and watched. She was so beautiful and free. She jumped and ran. Sometimes I didn't see her for hours, but she always returned, holding something beautiful in her cupped hands. Happiness brimmed from her sparkling, blue eyes. I cracked a small, sideways grin, then wiped the dirt from her face.