Excerpt:
I know that this past year has been kind of hard. You've had rough spots and slick patches and sometimes it felt like the whole road was just leading to nowhere. But now you've finally reached a new road! 2017! And we both want this year to be better. We both want to be content, because after a year filled with anxiety and second-guessing, you could use a little happiness. I made a list of things that you should be sure to do for the new year that I think will help you find the you that you want to be. You can thank me later.
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Excerpt:
Well, dear girl, another year has gone and a new one has come. You made it through 2016 in one piece- good for you! I know it was a rough one. It was full of trials, tribulations and pain. You survived being shot at, you pushed yourself forward in a positive manner at work- when no one thought you could do it. But one of the things that made you strong to me, you let go. You recognized that you were going nowhere, and no one would ever see you for how far you have come. And you walked away from that dead-end job with your head held high- just as you should have!
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Excerpt:
Wow! 2016 was really a tough year, but you made it! Congratulate yourself for that! Many others would have given up, but not you – you are not a quitter. You never have been.
I am amazed at the strength of your faith – something that many people do not have. You have seen the worst in people, and yet believe that there are still good people in this world. Many people would have given up on God after going through what you have been through, however you have persevered.
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Excerpt:
One moment your lips are upon my own,
our love tied together, by a kiss it is sewn.
One moment our fingers are intertwined
stronger than any certificate is this bind.
One moment our bodies are pressed as one,
my thoughts, feelings, and emotions all undone.
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Excerpt:
Her hand is cold and thin. Nothing has felt stranger than holding her hand that night, under the stars. Her skin looked like porcelain, all lit up from beneath with a sickly moon glow.
I turn towards her and watch her white lips curl into a smile. "It's a full moon," She says, turning her own moon face up to the sky.
I look upwards, too, and feel something strange stir in my chest, like an animal is slowly awakening there, claws picking at my ribs. It's uncomfortable. I look away when my eyes start to burn. That's never happened to me before - the moonlight was always gentle, not like the sun. But tonight, everything burns. Everything burns cold.
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Excerpt:
"You are about to have Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray applied to your face. Once that has happened, you will engage the inmate with a baton while giving verbal commands. Do not stop for rest. Continue the fight until time is called. Do you understand?"
I nodded. My heart was pounding, body slick with sweat. My legs were rubber from the last two fights I had just gone through, so nodding was all I could do.
"Step forward and demonstrate on the target how you want to be sprayed." I grabbed the canister and tried my best to spray the cut out face of Saddam Hussein as lightly as possible. The instructors caught me. They weren't strangers to this little sham.
"Nice try, cadet. Do it again."
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Excerpt:
After heading out for breakfast, lunch or dinner people have the opportunity to review their experience. There are comment cards to fill out, we can speak to the staff or management directly or even out there in the world-wide web our feelings and opinions, good or bad, can be shared. How many of us though, working in the industry, wish there was some way of repaying the favour to our opinionated guests?
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Excerpt:
Mary settled herself into the matching armchair opposite.
She was not what Anna had been expecting. What had she been expecting? Emails simply reveal a tiny part of us, she thought. People can lie about who they are too. Frequently do. There is no body language to give clues about a person; no facial expressions, perfume or after-shave preferences; or body odour and rotten teeth for that matter, all indications of what a person is about.
This lady was tall and slim, simply dressed in a royal blue sweater and black slacks. Her white hair was neatly cropped, enhancing her fine features. Her jewellery was simple too: single-strand pearls and matching stud earrings.
‘Anna?’
Anna started, immediately brought back to the present, accepting the cup of tea Mary was offering.
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Excerpt:
It seems so easy,
so easy to give in,
but I can't let my enemy
so easily win.
I will go on
till my heart does.
Not for my enemy
but for my angels' sake.
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Excerpt:
"On a scale of one to Australia, how dangerous are we talking?"
"This mission is pretty dangerous. No one else wants it. I've come to a conclusion. You'll be the one to take it." Boss was demanding this evening, and I couldn't help but wonder what had him all worked up.
"What if we don't want it?" I asked, glancing at my partner, Ruben, then looking back at the boss.
"What if you don't want it?" He asked, snapping his fingers. One of his goons came up behind him, handed him a gun. Boss looked at the man like he'd just slapped him in the face. "I want a drink, you moron. I don't want a damn gun. Get three beers from the fridge. Two for our guests, one for me."
The goon nodded his head and hurriedly went to get those drinks.
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