The Ninety Ninth Story

 Once upon a time there was a rabbit. He was a brave rabbit. This was a mistake. The hawks, however, thought it was great.

the Ninety Eighth Story

Tonight walking out to my car, the fireflies did their best to act as stars, taking advantage of the cloud cover to make their own brand new constellations, with lightning and just a hint of remaining dusk creating, for just a moment, every few minutes, an image not unlike distant nebulae as a backdrop. The world is beautiful, and it is beautiful regardless of whether we notice it.
The world doesn't care about us. It doesn't paint the sky in the hopes of making a living off the framed and matted print. It doesn't sculpt driftwood to make the building of an osprey's nest easier. It doesn't regulate the orbit of spheres to give a mathematician joy. The world is beautiful and it has always been beautiful and it will always be beautiful. But I sure hope, selfishly, that its beauty will contain fireflies for a good long while yet.

Here's a Secret: I aspire to the selfishness that the world has in creating beauty.

The ninety Seventh Story

once, when I was staying at a fancy hotel for an installation, I came back to my room to find that the cleaning staff had tucked a pillow behind my teddy bear's head, opened the TV cabinet, and placed the remote within paws reach for him. These little efforts are beautiful

the Ninety Sixth Story

The author of the sticker stories, caught in the act.

The Ninety Fifth Story

Once upon a time there was an octopus with a camera. He worked hard and sent in his CV, and eventually he got that job with National Geographic he had always dreamed of.

The Ninety Fourth Story

Once upon a time there was a willow growing on the side of a stream. She loved watching the ducks and was, truly, content.

The ninety Third Story

Once upon a time there was a daydream who was scared that the person thinking her would get distracted; she just kept getting more and more exciting, but she knew. She knew.

The Ninety Second Story

Once upon a time there was a breeze who aspired to be a tornado. He was just always so angry, and he wanted to lash out. Luckily he met a nice young draft and after a while they settled down to gently traversing the continent together.

The ninety first story

Once upon a time there was a terribly confused lemming who just kept getting lost keeping up with the migration.

He lived happily ever after.

The Ninetieth Story

Once upon a time there was a teapot who preferred coffee.

The Eighty ninth Story

Once upon a time there was an entrepreneurial squirrel who would make little glider suits so that his friends could glide just as well as a flying squirrel. He sold the design to Elon Musk and retired young. Now he mentors young chipmunks who want to start their own businesses.

The Eighty Eighth Story

Once upon a time there was a crow who wanted to get into yoga. Some positions were hard, but after watching through the windows for long enough, he found a select group of poses that worked out pretty well for him, and even stretched his wings out really pleasantly.

The Eighty Seventh Story

Once upon a time there was an introspective starling. He had a hard time when he was young, but after a while he found a few like-minded friends, who would just meet up for the occasional small murmuration, and spend the rest of their time alone.

The Eighty Sixth Story

Once upon a time there was a leaf. He was always more tentative than his cousins and come fall, he opted to stay put. It was a hard, cold winter, but not once did the leaf regret his decision.

The Eighty Fifth Story

 once upon a time there was a giraffe who wanted to be a pilot. He didn't fit in the cesna that the local airport used for training, but they had an old, open cockpit biplane they still used for show, and he could just contort himself into that. It was uncomfortable, but he learned, and now he travels with a historic airshow.

The Eighty Fourth Story

Once upon a time there was a fox with a striped tail. He wanted to go to the fashion institute, but it is hard to get scholarships as a vulpini. So he got a job as a tailor and saved up and kept drawing his designs, and sometimes he would use scraps to make accessories to sell on etsy.