Please, don't vote for yourself.
Voting ends in on Sunday, noon CST.
When voting, remember the theme was 'Fall Walks'.
#1
Standing next to me was Emily, my wife of fifty years. I looked over at her, and she smiled at me. She had the most beautiful smile of any woman I’d ever met. When she smiled, her cheeks rose playfully up her face, creating little pockets of joy that dared me not to fall in love all over again. Her hair was gone, but I didn’t mind, it seemed to bring out the loveliness of her face even more; every line and wrinkle laughing along with her.
The leaves swirled around my feet, inviting me to dance. I lifted Emily up and spun her around, laughing as if it was our wedding day. We loved to dance together, going to lessons every Sunday.
I saw something moving on the ground, and bending down to look at it, I discovered that it was a tiny snake. I loved snakes, Emily- not so much. She didn’t like slimy things with no legs. I had once brought home a snake I found in our garden, because it was hurt and I didn’t want to see it die helplessly. This was the only time she didn’t mind being around the creature. She agreed we could keep it in the house until it had recovered. Of course, she wouldn’t go near it and refused to feed it, but you could tell she cared. It turned out she cared more than she let on, because on the day we were letting him go, she asked me if she could be the one to release him.
I followed the snake as it slithered up the path, leading my way.
The air was brisk, and it made my eyes water. We loved the fall, the colors in the forest looked like a painter had gone mad and dumped his buckets everywhere; and how we could keep warm by pulling each other close as we walked.
The snake stopped in front of a dead tree. I didn’t remember this tree, or, rather, I remembered they were all alive the last time I had been here. It looked young, too young for a tree to die. I wondered whether the trees next to it were sad, I wondered if they missed their friend. I considered the reasons that a tree might die, and attempted to prescribe one to the deceased. After a few minutes, I told myself that it didn’t really matter how it died, it was still dead. Nothing could bring it back to life.
We were almost to our destination. Our favorite spot, a little bench at the top of the hill, overlooking the valley below, and the mountains in the distance. During autumn, I reckoned there was hardly a more beautiful scene on Earth. The trees and plants were ablaze with color, accentuating the setting sun and the fiery horizon. I walked to the edge, breathing it in. I turned around, Emily was no longer beside me. I picked some flowers next to me, and sat on the bench. For half an hour I watched the sun sink lower in the sky. I sighed, and wished Emily could be here to see this. It had been a year since she had passed away from cancer, and I missed her every day. I placed the flowers on her grave, and started the long walk home.
#2
Pilot works away at some wood using his tools with James, testing the durability of an outdoor swing set in a backyard.
"There's nothing to worry about."
Ominous music starts as various production and studio logos [TBA] appear. Consecutive shots of white text on black background follows after each scene:
CHEATING IS AT 1%
Pilot and kids laughing as they enjoy the swing.
SCRIPTS ARE AT AN ALL TIME LOW
Aerial shot of a suburban neighbourhood, then a close up view of a street sign labelled 'FALL WALKS LANE'.
BECAUSE ONE NIGHT A YEAR
Quick cuts of action scenes followed by escalating music: Hydrogen loading rounds into a magazine, Napiform holding a sign that says 'STOP SCORESENDING' in public, Ivysaur breaking a door down with a shoyru shaped axe, Bone shooting his revolver at a computer monitor [showing the neopets homepage] as a crying Prisca slams the door, DonValentino on a megaphone yelling 'GET BACK IN YOUR neoHOMES!'.
ALL HACKS ARE LEGAL
Shot of Pilot ushering his kids towards the house as an alarm blares loudly. Switch to shot of neighbour (James) staring at the television with a horrified look, remote in hand.
"We know what you did."
Dim shot of Pilot in a bedroom conversing with a stranger on the phone.
Pilot: "What? Hello? Who is th--"
The line is dropped, cut to black.
"This is your emergency broadcast system, announcing the commencement of the annual dupe."
Music escalates. Shot of James in a living room, on his knees, surrounded by a group of armed men in disfigured chia masks.
Masked man (taunting): "Why don't you dupe something tonight?"
James: "I swear I don't even know how!"
He takes a punch to the stomach, cut to black.
"At the siren, all cheats including duping will be legal for twelve hours."
Exterior shot of the same group attempting to break into Pilot's home. Cut to a hovering shot of Pilot tied to a chair and a man gripping a Peanut Dash trophy in gold.
Masked man: "You cost us our rares."
Shot of Pilot taking the object to the face. He spits the blood out.
"You cost us our scores."
Shot of a bloody Pilot falling sideways and breaking the chair, untying himself.
"You cost us everything."
Pilot leaves a trail of blood as he crawls towards a door, fade to black and music stops.
"The Neopets Team thanks you for your participation."
Muted scenes that become shorter as they progress (accompanied by a pulsating thrilling sound and no music): Fanged's private jet exploding in its hangar, close up shot of a man removing his mask as his lackeys executes a few extras behind him, James unzipping a briefcase labelled 'SuAP' in the washroom of a commercial flight, dark silhouette of Aisaka in the shower, Kau speeding and heading directly towards a gas tank truck, cut to black right before collision.
Fade in from black of scene with a bloody Pilot on the lawn, with a man removing his mask (now revealed to be Pyro).
Pyro trains his revolver at a surprised Pilot who recognizes him.
Pyro: "You'll never make Private now."
He cocks the hammer back. Cut to black and music resumes.
FALL WALKS
#3
The changing of seasons always seems to take me by surprise. For some reason, the change of the hot summer days into chilly fall sunsets is especially spontaneous.
I used to live down south where the temperature was about the same almost year-round. Now I live in a rural small town where you can’t even wave to your neighbors because of the thicket and abundance of trees. Once fall hits, however, the trees have their leaves ripped from their birch bodies and thrown onto the ground for creatures of all types to scurry across, nest upon, or crunch beneath thick-soled shoes.
The creatures that sang and danced in the spring and summer become quiet, their melodies hushed into near silence. I take it upon myself to fill the silence by listening to The Killers, specifically “Shot at the Night”—it gives me some odd hope for the bleak days of the upcoming season. Not to mention that it puts a bit of bounce in my stride.
The energy that the music gives me allows me to walk to the nearest Starbucks without much complaining. Of course, the town has also been celebrating the new season by gutting orange gourds of various sizes and turning every edible thing pumpkin spice flavor. The smell of pumpkin spice is nearly overwhelming—so much that it’s no surprise the animals have all avoided any interaction. Even the coffee has shots of pumpkin spice flavoring.
I loathe Starbucks, but unfortunately it’s the only coffee shop for miles. I always find myself wanting to petition that all hipsters and preppy girls with their ugly Uggs and instantly Instagram-ing their orders to be replaced by the poor cold animals outside. I don’t think Starbucks would take me up on that offer though, as it would be bad for their business. Plus, every guy and almost every girl wears hunter’s camo jackets here. Some people even take on the shades of orange and make it nearly blinding here. Something about hunters being able to tell if you’re a deer or not. More than half of the girls who wear the hunting jackets have never held a gun, though, so maybe the animals would be safe.
Even the local Walmart stocks hunter’s camo here. Pants, jackets, hats, you name it. I almost feel that these people have no other fashion options. I can just imagine someone trying to pick up a piece of clothing to try it on, but instead accidentally tugging on one that’s currently being worn by a gruff old guy with a neck beard.
Thankfully, the sun sets early in the fall, so I find myself walking home again. It’s tedious and a little lonely; the only noises I can faintly hear through my earbuds are the occasional gunshot. I pick up my pace a little—the closer to home I am, the safer I am. Hunters aren’t allowed to shoot near residences or buildings or whatever. The sound of gunshots wasn’t uncommon back in the city, but those were… different.
The sun begins to fade faster, shrouded by the long pillars of bare trees. Hopefully I make it home in time. Maybe I’ll even give in and make some pumpkin pie.
Just as I step off the main road, a loud crack echoes throughout the forest. Perhaps a tree falling? Eh, whatever. I ignored it and continued walking—my second mistake.
The crack sounded again, this time I could tell it was a gunshot. Mostly because my shirt was wet with crimson and was spreading through the threads. Huh, weird. I’ve never had that happen before, and I’m sure my coffee wasn’t dyed with red.
The coffee cup slips from my hands, and that’s when I remember my first mistake:
I should have worn blaze orange out today.
#4
There once was a boy named "Mitro". Mitro loved Fall, but even more than Fall he loved his friend "Zeil". Mitro and Zeil were out for a leisurely stroll one cool Wednesday afternoon, after a long hard day of watching dragon fight each other in the local coliseum. It was a lovely day outside, the air was cool and still, and the temperature was perfect. The two friends were enjoying crunching on leaves when out of nowhere Mitro noticed a strange breeze rush past them. Mitro looked to the left, and looked to the right, but he could not see where the strange breeze was coming from. Mitro told Zeil about the breeze, He agreed “What an unusual breeze!” “There is no wind today, where could the breeze be coming from?” He asked. Mitro and Zeil decided to investigate, after all, they loved to solve puzzles.
Together they searched and searched for the origin of this mysterious breeze. Mitro checked behind a tree, just to the right of their walking path, “That's funny, there is no breeze behind this tree” he said, and picked another place to look. Zeil was looking for the origin of the breeze behind a park bench. “That’s funny”, he said “There is no breeze behind this park bench”. They looked and looked, behind trash cans, behind small wooden fences, up the tallest trees and even in little holes in the ground that were made by the badgers. They looked everywhere they could think of, but with each looks, they became more puzzled because the breeze was not anywhere, except the path which they had been walking on.
Mitro and Zeil were growing more and more curious about this mysterious breeze. Where did it come from? And why was it only in the walk way? “We have looked everywhere”, sighed Mitro, feeling a bit sleepy now from all of his hard work. “I'm tired”, confessed Zeil, “Solving mysteries is hard work!”. The two decided the take a break from their search and they continued on their walk, up to the next park bench, where they rested.
The breeze continued to blow through the walk way. It rushed past in front of them, then rushed past back again, as they walked to the park bench. The breeze seemed to be very busy, and the boys couldn't help but think about it as they rested. They could see the breeze whirling up leaves as they sat resting.
They continued to watch the breeze until suddenly, it vanished. The boys jumped up from the park bench. “Where did it go?”, asked Zeil. “I have no idea”, replied Mitro “It just disappeared.” The boys looked sad. “How will we solve the mystery now?” they sighed together. They looked at their watches and decided to start walking home.
Mitro and Zeil started walking back along the path towards their home, dragging their feet with disappointment. To get their minds off of their sadness they started to talk about what they were going to eat for dinner and just as they were about to leave the walk way, they were interrupted by a familiar feeling. It was the breeze again. It swished past quickly and made Mitro and Zeil jump.
“There it is again” called Mitro, and starred behind them, watching the leaves jump where the breeze was. The boys jumped for joy that they breeze had returned... then...
CLUNK!!!....
Both of the boys fell to the ground. They breeze had somehow knocked them off their feet, hitting them straight in the face before they went down. As Mitro and Zeil picked themselves up of the ground and dusted themselves off they were very surprised to see RAPIFORM standing in front of them, grinning and panting.
Rapiform is Mitro's next door neighbour, and is very well known for running around very quickly and causing trouble. Sometimes people called her 'the hurricane', and now the boys could understand why. They were very disappointed that they hadn't guessed that their mysterious breeze was Rapiform chasing through the leaves, but they were very glad to have the mystery solved. The three of them walked home together, tired from their big afternoon fall walk. 
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