Rain: New York City

The light was yellow and he stepped down off the sidewalk as if to make a dash for it, then it changed red and he abruptly reined in to the curb.  She nearly walked straight up his back, rearing on her toes to regain balance.  Righted, she stayed where she was, up on the sidewalk, half under her umbrella, half under his.  From that vantage point in her heels, her head was perfectly on a level with his.  There was something sheltering, not exclusionary, about his back to her.  It felt warmer next to him, and drier.  She stood still, as always perfectly at ease in his companionable silence.  She stood close enough to see constellations of raindrops beaded on his coat.  Close enough to see individual hairs on the back of his neck and a loose thread in his collar.  His presence was solid, inviting and undemanding, and with her late-afternoon lethargy came a very natural and easy desire to lay her temple on his shoulder, to give him some of her tall weight, just for a moment.  She had nothing to say; she liked him, liked the look and feel of him, and it would be undoubtedly lovely to put her head against him, perhaps rub one or two circles between his shoulder blades.  She wanted very much to touch him but there was no reasonable context to do so.  And no good could come of it.

Death by sensibility.

The light changed.  The north-south cogs and gears of the city lurched into motion.  He stepped out into the crosswalk, a spray of rainwater from the edge of his umbrella in his wake.  She followed, falling neatly into step at his elbow where she belonged, and said nothing.

Pen....or Pencil?

"Me?" she said mournfully, gazing into the bottom of her coffee cup.  "Me? Please, I'm built like a pencil."

"No," he replied thoughtfully, "your figure is more akin to a fountain pen.  A very, very expensive fountain pen.  Sleek, slender, silver....and fragile-looking to the eye but with a surprising and very satisfying weight in your hand, and a mercurial roll in your fingers.  It takes skill to hold it.  It takes skill to write with it.  But once you master the fountain pen you will never go back..."

She raised her eyebrows at him and slowly drank the rest of her coffee.  "I'll write down my number for you," she said finally, "do you have a pen?"

"Certainly," he said, going for his inside pocket.

Rules for Interesting Questions

1) Just post a comment with 1-25 and your answers.

2) If you don't like 'em, don't play. Or go come up with your own...

3) State your name at the outset because blogspot will call you "anonymous"

4) This is not Truth or Dare, you are not obligated to answer everything. Pass on whatever you want

5) "Be honest" goes without saying so I'll say it anyway: be honest

6) These questions come from my own viewpoint and some are about reactions to "the opposite sex" which I realize does not hold true for all so please do not take it as an exclusionary statement but just translate/transpose accordingly.

7) That's all.

Interesting Questions 1-25

1) We'll start with one for Cricket: How would you dispose of a dead body?

2) And on that note, have you ever felt you were actually capable of murder?

2a (optional)) What happened to cause #2?

3) Are you a hugger?

4) Do you have a touchy-feely gesture that's sort of your signature?

5) Name a moment in your life when you experienced sheer terror

6) What pleases you most when you look in the mirror?

7) If you could receive a $5000 gift card to one store, which store?

8) Did you ever have a boy/girl throw pebbles at your window in the middle of the night? What was that like?

9) How old were you when you realized you were taller than your mother?

10) Ever feel like running away? Would you leave a note or just take off? Where would you go?

11) Which is greater: your desire to have everyone leave you alone, or your fear of being left alone?

12) Your loved ones and pets are safely out of the burning house and you have 20 seconds to rescue something. Can you think of anything to grab?

13) Name something you've memorized

14) Do you ever wish you had a different name?

15) Do you talk to yourself? Out loud?

16) Have you ever mentally rehearsed an Oscar acceptance speech?

17) Have you ever mentally rehearsed a eulogy?

18) Have you ever done 15, 16, or 17 in a foreign accent?

19) When in the company of people with accents, do you ever unconsciously start to mimic them?

20) God forbid, but do you think you'd be capable of eulogizing your own child?

21) Regardless of your conception of Heaven, is there anyone in particular you look forward to seeing again (or for the first time) on "the other side"?

22) Have you ever witnessed a paranormal event?

23) Do you feel you have any psychic abilities? Do you trust them or just take them at face value?

24) If Heaven is a place where all questions are answered, what is unanswerable now that you look forward to finding out?

25) What do you NOT want to find out even if you could?

Interesting Questions 26-50

26) Which sense would be most devastating/terrifying to lose? Which one might you be able to deal with losing?

27) Do you wish you could see yourself as others see you?

28) Have you ever wished to be the opposite sex for the experience?

29) Have you ever wished to be the opposite sex so you could date yourself?

30) Regardless of marital circumstances and your current state of contentment, are you crushing on anyone right now and are you OK with that? In other words, are you enjoying it or does it trouble you and you wish it would stop?

30a) Does this person know?

31) Would you want to be stranded on a desert island with your sibling? If you have more than one, is there one you'd choose over another?

32) A benevolent multi-millionaire takes out his/her checkbook and looks at you, eyebrows raised and pen poised. How much? What's the number? (This is NOT an indecent proposal. How much do you need, realistically, to secure yourself financially)

33) What is your favorite room in the house?

34) Do you have a secret? Do you just savor it or is it a burden? Is there anyone you could tell?

35) Did you ever fabricate a story about yourself that you then came clean on? Was the coming clean funny or agonizing?

36) Which of your child(ren)'s toys do you most like to play with?

37) Come to think of it, what are your favorite toys?

38) Where is your dream house?

39) "They" come to repossess one household appliance. You cry out, "Whatever you do, don't take the ______!"

40) At Thanksgiving, while the turkey is cooling, you sneak in and swipe the _______

41) What's the sweet or treat that you eat secretly and do not like to share?

42) What's your fast-food weakness?

43) What is comfort food to you?

44) If you were granted immunity to have one night in a hotel with HIM or HER....would you?

45) What hotel?

46) What's something you do or love that's not particularly outrageous, but might surprise people?

47) You appreciate a nice ________ in the opposite sex

48) What's the potential household injury that FREAKS you out (ie, electric shock; fingers getting slammed in car doors; pans with hot grease getting pulled off the stove; running with scissors, etc etc)

49) What are you like in the dark?

50) Contribute your own question here