Kalil examined the math book. It had been badly treated. The cover was torn and it appeared to be missing some pages. Still, Kalil knew that looks were less important than utility. He had learned that lesson long ago. "Thanks, Mr. Thompson!" he said with gratitude. Mr. Thompson looked up from his desk and said, "Sorry we don't have new books, Kalil, but there's still plenty of good math left in that book." Mr. Thompson smiled. Kalil felt appreciative.

Sheriff Wolf's hands were on his hips. He stood about ten feet back from the saloon and shouted, "Come on out, Bart. We've got a nice bowl of soup waiting for you at the jail house." Bart shouted back, "Call off your men, Sheriff, or I'm going to start shooting hostages." Bart cocked his weapon and pointed it at the piano player. The piano player started whimpering. Sheriff Wolf put his hands up in the air and said, "No need to do that, Bart. We've still got plenty of talking to do. But if I hear shots, we're done talking." Bart lowered his weapon.

The shadows grew long in the valley. A wolf howled. A man riding on horseback dug his spurs into the side of his steed. "Giddy up, old girl," he said. The horse rode with explosive speed. About twenty feet behind him was a group of men. They were also riding horses. One of them was standing up in his saddle. He wore a headdress decorated with feathers. The feathered man nimbly grabbed an arrow from a quiver on his back. He notched the arrow and drew back the bowstring. He let out a war cry along with the arrow.

Mr. Davis had his head on his desk. Several children were chasing each other around the classroom. Others were playing on their cell phones. Everyone was chatting loudly, except Mr. Davis. He was groaning with his head on his desk. Tabitha came to him and asked, "Are you ok, Mr. Davis?" Mr. Davis raised his head weakly and replied, "No, Tabitha, I am afraid that I am ill." Tabitha smiled and ran back to her group of friends. "I told you he was sick!" she shouted.

Kelly took her seat in the airplane. There were three seats in her row and, to her dismay, she was assigned the seat in the middle. As the time of departure drew closer, Kelly grew pleased that she was still sitting alone. "Maybe I'll get the whole row to myself," Kelly said under her breath. Just then two tremendously large men approached. "Excuse me, Miss. I have the inside seat." Kelly sighed. She knew where the other person would be seated as well.

The doorbell rang. Scott bounded down the stairs. He looked through the peephole and then opened the door. The mailman stood there holding a package. "Is your mother or father home?" Scott shook his head back and forth. The mailman handed Scott a bulky scanning device and said, "Sign here, please." Scott grabbed the stylus and scrawled his name.

The Green Fox notched his arrow and pointed it at Sheriff Woodburn. The Sheriff had been in standoffs like this in the past. Sheriff Woodburn did not fear death and he wasn't going to give this masked bandit the privilege of seeing him cower. The Green Fox, however, wasn't going to take any chances with the Sheriff, whom he knew to be a crafty adversary. So the Green Fox said, "Put your hands in the sky, Sheriff." The Green Fox waited for the Sheriff to comply. If the Sheriff resisted this order, the Green Fox was prepared to shoot the arrow.

. The Gorlak raiders surrounded Bruce Hand. The one with the red eye said, "Now we have you, Bruce Hand. Give us the key to your adventure Jeep." Bruce couldn't allow the Gorlak raiders to get their hands on such advanced technology, but they had him surrounded. Fear sank through his heart. Suddenly he had an idea. "Ok," he said, "here's the key." Bruce activated the plasma grenade in his pocket and tossed it at the red-eyed Gorlak raider.

General Brosnan surveyed the enemy forces and gasped at their sheer numbers. He knew that his men were better fighters, every last one of them, but were they that much better? He wanted a second opinion. "Major Miller!" he called to his subordinate, "Take a look at " Major Miller gazed at the throng with concern and said, "Look at all those ugly mugs." Major Miller was also quite surprised by the enemy's numbers, but he felt that today would be as good of a day as any to die.