The kids at school bullied the smart, red-haired girl with the silver coat and NASA rucksack relentlessly, calling her "Space rocket".

The girl entered the pastry shop looking like death warmed up. She could only have been 18, 19, something like that, but she looked wrecked.

I took my wife to watch the sunset again, and with her gloved hand clasped in mine, asked, "Will you marry me?"

"If you're my guardian angel, why do bad things keep happening to me?" the scarred boy implored the hooded, stoic figure.

"I'm very sorry," the vet explained, "we did everything we could, but the survival rate when the mother has so many complicating prognoses is extremely low..."

(EN)CLOSURE

Comics for Space Opera Fans

When Poppy's dad went to prison for dealing, the opportunistic, drug-addled bullies at school decided to "befriend" her so long as she held a house party for them.

The kill squad entered the rat-infested village under cover of darkness. Their orders were simple: burn everything that can’t be shot.

My dad was away a lot, so I would dress up in his clothes and pretend I was him, often finding weird stuff like a button or a nail file or a brooch in his pockets.

"NO divorce talk in front of the kids, please!" the mother begged as they drove back from the party, but the father was drunk and not for stopping.

"You're certain?" the panicked detective quizzed, as I mistakenly ID'd my wife's attacker.

"You are so broken I don't even know where to start," the puppet maker smiled.

"I don't feel like I know you anymore," the father told his daughter, unable to conceal the bitter edge in his voice.

"Quiet!" the three students snickered, after breaking into their class and mixing up the lecturer's containers and labels.

It’s a silly thing, but the two business partners had initially bonded over their spouses having similar names.

"The rain just wouldn't stop, and then my windscreen wipers started malfunctioning..." the woman with two black eyes sobbed as she stared at her boyfriend's pinned corpse.

Mark’s mother’s lip curled viciously as he stood in their doorway. He hadn’t visited his parents for almost a decade.

Having never transformed before, I locked my bedroom door and swallowed the key, thinking "this could be my last night on earth" as I watched the moonrise.

"I still love you," the girlfriend said, "but I can't tolerate this much cheating..."

I Was Sentenced To Ten Years Hard Labor. Tomorrow I Finally Get To Go Home To My Family.

My daughter was a brilliant impersonator, able to mimic the calls of most birds and certain local animals.

The girl, whose sister often took things from her room without asking, bought a curse kit from the joke shop she often visited and "hexed" all her stuff.

2024 has come and gone.

When our daughter, who was an avid bookworm, developed a genetic disease that quickly destroyed her vision, our little family fell into a period of deep despair.