Oblivion

"Where is Stu?" Ducky pondered. "I can talk to him too, you know" she informed Stella. Stella quickly browsed the humid jungle paradise. Her eyes were drawn to the top of the glass enclosure and there on the screen was Stu, a rather large serpent.

"Stu, what are you doing up there? What have you eaten?"

"I haven't done a thing. I'm only having a rest," he hissed back.

"Your body would indicate otherwise you lecherous snake."

"Oh fine. I've eaten the lizard's eggs. Only two to go."

Stella was horrified at this admission. Her mind ached over ways to tell Little Bill that his eggs had been lost. But the door to the oasis room opened and Little Bill came in in a fantastic glow. He traveled on only his two back feet with a smile glued broadly across his face. "The one does not always plan for what we do. But the one always has a plan for justice," e laughed.

As Stu swallowed the last of the lizard's eggs his skin began to split - much like a tear in a pair of pantyhose, small at first but ever growing. Ducky leapt into the air with a clap, "Little Bill can have his eggs back!" The lizard continued to smile and danced around the room in a shower of glittering light. He spun and walked out the door, then drifted into the oblivion of the mountains.

With a heavy heart, Stella moved the eggs into Little Bill's dish and gently lifted her serpent friend to her chest. Her best friend. The first animal to speak. Lost.

Carbonated

She turned to him with sleepy eyes, "That beer is highly caloric. Switch to the new Bud Select 55. Only 55 calories with the same great taste."

"I can't drink low calorie beer. It doesn't taste like anything."

"You're missing out. It will make your pee bubble. Tingly and satisfying."

Fit of Rage

Stella moved her car very close to the garage to ease the moving process. The garage door was moving at an alarming rate, but she opted not to mention this malfunction to the Progenator . She climbed out of her suv and began looking at the boxes in te back. Stayfro opened the passenger side door and exclaimed loudly "I've been looking for this for weeks! Progenator, can I have it?" Stella looked up to see Stayfro holding two of her crystal wine glasses. Before Stella could pose an objection, Progenator agreed that Stayfro could have the glasses in question.

Blood began dripping from Stella's eyes. The world tinged red. She grabbed the nearest glass object in reach and smashed it into the gravel. "Those are my glasses. Permission has not been granted." As the stemware shattered on the rocks, it began to reform into a lilac crystal map of Japan.

Progenator began cooing "I wonder what this means. You ought to calm down."

"Stuff it, Tammy Faye" Stella retorted. She broke the bowl off a very large goblet and shoved it through her abdomen. She knew that the rocks below her would forever be stained by her tantrum.

Sanitation

The foreign woman squatted over a large water-filled trench and the baby slithered from her old dusty body.

"This region is notorious for it's especially aggressively alligators. The locals will throw these large hari-hari eels into the pools below the waterfalls to lure the gators toward their traps," the narrator cooed. Stella looked around in the pools for any sign of a gator and upon failing turned to watch the locals throw a 10 foot eel into the pool. An alligator came flying from down river and clamped onto the anguilliforme. The ethnic men went running toward the huge beast and began beating it over the head with old, worn-out shoes.

"You'd better hang onto your baby," Stella called to the foreign woman ashore. "This water just doesn't look sanitary."

The foreign woman stared into Stella's eyes and nodded while slowly dipping the baby into the waterfalls.

Adult Choices

"It's really quite simple. You just call the man and he'll arrange a meeting. Trust me. My wife did it."
Master Whit's suggestion that Stella delve into the world of adult film both shocked and intrigued her. His shaded face made her skeptical, but she inquired further....
"Will it be done with style and class?"
"Oh, of course. Your needs will be met and you'll be respected. My wife did this. So you can trust me," he replied.
His constant mentioning of his wife was rather settling. In her building confidence she shouted "If she can do it! I can do it too!"
Master Whit frowned and quietly mumbled "There is no need to shout. And you don't need to be so proud about it. Whores shouldn't boast."
"I could be a whore...." Stella thought. And as she pondered she pushed a pen toward Master Whit to collect the phone number. "...Nothing much wrong with whoring."

Soul Sucking

The man's contorted face was off-putting to Stella, but she shrugged off his gruesome face as a physical disability. She settled herself at a nearby table and looked for a waiter to take her order.

Suddenly the room shifted and people began sliding across the restaurant. Stella turned to look at the disfigured man. His hands were curled near his armpits and his spine was twisting in an unnatural fashion. He was making gargling sounds and white beams were shooting from his eyes. Cups and forks began flying toward him and slamming into his shriveling body.

She could feel her soul slipping out of her face and sticking to the man. "This shall be my final act," Stella thought as she leapt into to fray. Her neck snapped and she faded into darkness to the sound of the diners screaming.

Toffees

The black man reached his hand into the blue glass bowl of Werther's Original candies. His fingers clamped around several of the individually wrapped treats.

"You get out of those candies, darkie. They aren't for you!" Stella snapped.

The man dropped the candies back into the bowl and looked at the floor in shame.