[23] - Tarnished - Max

He rubbed the silver a bit, making it shine bright again under his fingertips. It hadn’t been this long…

Max looked over the room, dark and dusty with age. The air was clogging his lungs with a musty stale taste, and nothing was in the condition he had left it.

It was yesterday since he had last been here, wasn’t it?

And yet years had gone past without him knowing it.

And so time ran on…

[24] - Sunshine - Nesta

The sun was blindingly bright, and all the plant life reached up towards it thirstily. Even some animals seemed to be greedily lapping up the warmth.

Nesta put her hand lightly to her necklace, the other resting on her pen to keep it from rolling off her notebook and into the dark grass. She was staring straight up into the glaring sunshine, transfixed.

It was almost as perfect…

[25] - Telling - Chloe

The words poured out of her mouth as sugarcoated as rock candy. “Well Max, of course I’m fine with your regeneration. You’re one of my best friends, how could I not? With a quick smile and a hug, the words were set in place. The little lie locked in.

Her smile was coy to her, hiding the truth.

The secret may be in the telling, but this was one secret that Chloe was content to keep.

[26] - Want - Chloe

Chloe inhaled the scents that were carried on the wind that ruffled her smooth black fur. Family. Her tail wagged enthusiastically, and her voice lifted in a lilting howl of celebration.

Answering howls drifted over the trees, familiar notes willed with nostalgic memories. Her mother’s tone had gotten deeper while Chloe had gotten away. Her strong legs carried her towards the direction of the calls, and she thought as she padded through the thick forest.

Being somewhere else had made her miss her home. How could she ever have wanted anything but this?

[27] - Elevator - Worry

Worry stood in the cold, empty elevator, watching the numbers light up as she was carried upwards. Her fingers drummed against her thighs, and she chewed on her lip nervously.

The cable was going to snap. The cable was going to snap, the brakes fail, and she would die. Then her house would explode, because she knew she had left the stove on. She just knew it.

The room dinged a happy chime, and the doors slid open. As she stepped out, Worry looked around the hallway, hearing the doors close behind her. A murderer was behind one of the doors, and would come out any minute…

[28] - Crayon - Joy

Joy fiddled with the waxy bit of crayon in between her fingers. The color was a vibrant orange-red, popping wildly against the color of her skin.

She smiles widely and drew a quick slash of a line across her sheet of paper. Two dots accompanied the curve, and she had a simple smiling face grinning up at her. Returning the expression, she glanced at the drawing of the woman sitting next to her.

“Unhappiness, you seem to like blues. But do you like my drawing too?�

Her friend, Unhappiness as she had just been called, looked at the face on Joy’s paper, mumbling, “It’s a bit… Cheerily bright.�

Joy giggled off the comment, resuming her drawing work with great zeal.

[29] - Introduction - Resignation

I twisted my torso, examining the bruise spiraling up my side. Dark and solid, it covered up my ribs and lower back.

I fished poking at and feeling the large purple spot, reaching for my shirt. As I pulled it on, I made sure that it covered up the bruise with every angle that I moved in.

Time to start my day.

Welcome to my life.

[30] - Fairytales - Phoebe and Melanie

“And the prince rescued the princess from the evil with, forever living happily in the King’s beautiful castle,� Phoebe finished reading out of the large book and slammed it closed in her lap. “Hey Melanie, are you my evil witch?�

Melanie gave her a look that could chill anyone else to the bone (And quite possibly knock them dead), but Phoebe just smiled. “Of course Phoebe. And you’re my oh-so-sweet princess.�

[31] - Twitch - Max and Chloe

“Maaaaax!� Chloe popped up behind her favorite Time Lord, holding him in a hug. “Where are we going next?�

“Nowhere! You are going nowhere until you stop hugging me!�

“Ooooh, Max. Was that a twitch because you’re pissed at me, or because I’m hugging you?�

“Guess, bitch.�

[32] - “A Lonely Death� - Max

Max always knew that he would die a lonely death. He had prepared himself for it all his life. He closed his eyes, feeling every cell in his body dying…



It could have been kind of nice if it had been final, he thought as he stood up in his new body for the first time. On wobbly legs, he took his first steps. It could have been nice.

[33] - “We’ll Make It Fly� - Chloe and Max

“Max, this kite isn’t working…� Chloe held the limp instrument in her hands, looking morosely down at it. “Can you help me?�

He looked up, smiling from his place in the grass. “Sure, Chloe. I think we just need a bit more tension in the fabric.�

“So it’ll fly?�

“We’ll make it fly.�

[34] - Bread - Melanie and Phoebe

“Melanie?�

“Yeah, Phoebe?�

“Could you… Get me some bread?� With a grumble, Melanie sat up, glaring fiercely at the loaf sitting on the counter. Phoebe stepped into the doorway of the kitchen, watching her Twin with a bemused expression. “You know, I don’t think that glaring at the thing will make it move,� Phoebe announced just before the loaf hit her square in the chest, making her jump back.

“Hey lookie, it worked after all.�

[35] - Rebirth - Cail

Cail wanted to believe in reincarnation. The idea of people being reborn was a perfect one to her. It meant that the man who was run over in the last city while pushing a little boy out of the way got another chance. It meant that that little baby in the bathtub, drowning, got a chance at all.

[36] - Chapstick - Harper

Harper started, a bit wide eyed, at the wall in front of her. One whole chunk of wall dedicated to the sale of lip-things.

Chapstick, lip gloss, lipstick, lip stain… Who needed all this? Harper snatched up her clear vanilla and bubblegum pink chapsticks and walked off, still a bit in wonder. That much makeup, that’s commercialism at work, for ya.

[37] - Sharpen - Harper

Harper stood at her station, her gleaming knife set out in front of her. She had only been able to buy it by eating much less than normal and cutting back on her pixie sticks for months on end. Oh, but it was worth it.

A sigh, and Harper took up the large vegetable knife inspecting it’s beautiful, mirror like flat side and feeling it’s weight in her hand. No need to sharpen these magnificent things, Harper knew that.

She placed it back in its slot in the case as the rest of the class filtered in.

[38] - Flinch - Chris

“How sad are we?� Chris slumped back in his chair a bit, eyes moving off the TV and to Jen, who was sitting curled up on the sofa. “We’re both sitting here, both of us single…� She looked up, a tiny bit of hope in her eyes, and he tried to get his nervous mind to say what it wanted to. He couldn’t. “We should try to get dates for tomorrow, right?�

His posture slumped more in disappointment with himself and he looked back at the TV, just missing her flinch at the ending of his words and look down at the floor.

[39] - Cookies - Sofie

“Moooooooommy, can I have a cookie?� Sofie stared wide-eyed up into the large window of the bakery. She tugged on the hand holding hers and smiled, looking at all the brightly colored confections. Chocolate chip, Italian rainbow, delicate ladyfingers, so, so, many and they all made her smile. It was like four-year-old heaven.

[40] - “I pulled my coat tight�

I pulled my coat tight against the chilling wind that blew across the bay. The black fabric flapped around my legs, billowing.

The view was amazing from my place on the empty dock, this was true. Cardiff. Some things made it worth the trip to Earth.

[41] - 50% - Max

“Fifty percent? Only fifty percent?! Come on, you can do better than that!� Max called out to the monitors in front of him in frustration.

“Max, I can’t. That’s the point.�

He frowned, sighing. “Do you need my help?�

“Please.�

[42] - Jealousy - Kenna

Kenna glared through the open doorway to her “office.� Rab and Blair were laughing over something, their feet up on the table as they sat around. “You guys could be a bit quieter.�

“No, Kenna, I don’t know if we can.� Blair grinned at her as she spoke, jokingly sticking her tongue out.

“Yeah, it’s not our fault you left your paperwork to the last minute.�

“Shut up, Rab.�

[43] - Spilled Ink - Kenna and Blair

“Kennaaaaaa…� Blair’s voice trailed off in a disappointed tone. “You… You… The ink…� Kenna looked up at the slightly pained expression on the redhead’s face, and the almost completely black papers. “Kenna… Rab and I both are getting annoyed…�

“Spit it out.� Kenna looked back down at the forms that she was messily filling in.

Rab walked up behind Blair, blatantly stating what Blair had been struggling to put a nicer way. “Kenna, neaten up and stop spilling the ink.�

[45] - Umbrella - Rab

Rab spun the umbrella by its handle as it rested on his shoulder. He looked silly with it seeing as it was sunny now, but he only thought on that for a moment before running to catch up with the two girls in front of him.

[46] - I Feel Pretty - Torchwood 2

“I feel pretty, oh so pretty…� The three teammates danced and spun around their small headquarters, laughing at their own antics. They fell in a heap at the end of the song, in hysterics.

Slow days (and so most days) in Torchwood Two were sometimes the most fun.