Daily Deadly Dose 002

Tick, Tick, Tick,

He would never get the incessant ticking out of his head. It wasn't even a darling sort of torture--he'd not studied to be a clock maker. He had never come in second for any major prize. He'd never even played Captain Hook in a play.

Tick, Tick, Tick,

But no matter how many times he adjusted his alarms, or checked himself against the nearest unquestionable clock, he always felt them slide by...two seconds. He was always behind two seconds. He hated the phrase, but he could feel them. Each time he walked into a room, he felt as if he were about to miss a cue.

Tick, Tick, Tick,

The anxiety had dulled some over the years, into a sort of raw annoyance...because who knew what could happen in two seconds? What disaster might he wander into or out of?

Tick, Tick, Tick,

Those were the questions that were pestering him, and therefore that he was muttering at his wristwatch, as he attempted to cross the street. If he had pressed two seconds further to the crosswalk, who knows what might have happened?

Daily Deadly Dose 001

She had always wanted a dog. A fluffy, sheep-pestering, too-big-for-its-own-benefit affection machine, which would have been raised at her feet and on her lap and would see her as a greater constant than the sun.

So it was nice, she supposed, that her allergies would never bother her again.

It was less nice that her sweet new puppy couldn't have come with her.

On the other hand, that might have been a bit of a cruel wish. The puppy deserved to live a full, doofy, normal puppy life.

Even if the damn thing had chewed up her inhaler.

She's be switching to fish, next time around.