The Last Ride : by Paul Melniczek

She lifted up her head and peered outside through the frosted window. Wrinkled eyes gazed into the bright sky, and a smile came over the old woman’s face when she saw the full moon, shining away in all it’s harvest glory, a perfect background setting for All Hallow’s Eve.

A loud purring reached her ears as a black cat leaped up on the table next to the rocking chair she was sitting in.

“Yes, my sweets. Isn’t that a pretty night we have in store for us? Old man moon looks down on us with a wink in his eye tonight.”

The cat stared at her with deep green eyes, attention fixed on every word.

“You know what this night means, don’t you, Trickster?” The cat let out a soft meow, listening to his master.

“It is the passing of an age, that is what. Many long years, happy memories, but there is an ending to every story, good and bad. Ol’ Madge here has seen it all, yes I have.”

The old woman pushed herself up from the chair, one gnarled hand stroking the silken fur of Trickster. There was a creaking noise as old bones cracked within the ancient body, stiff joints groaning in protest at the effort made by her to straighten up.

“Ah, this craggy old girl ain’t what she used to be. Need a dose of the ointment before I go, that’ll fix me for a little while.”

Madge walked over towards a large oaken trunk that was filled with an assortment of herbs, spices, animal parts, jarred collections of insects, packaged powders, and numerous other odds and ends. They were the tools of her trade. View the rest of this entry…

The kid went back to school the other day, which means that summer is almost ending. That also means that Halloween will be upon us soon *squeals* and I can not wait! I love Halloween and we always deck our house out for it. So it’s no surprise that I would be searching online for new Halloween decorations to add to our collection. And of course one of my first stops on the world wide web is Online Discount Mart.

Online Discount Mart is a great place to purchase decor items for your home, inside and out. Even though I went there specifically looking for Halloween items I found many other products that I am interested in purchasing. It’s a once stop shop for your home!

Plus they are having an end of summer sale! So get your tush on over to Online Discount Mart!

Once there was an old woman who went out in the woods to dig up some roots to cook for dinner. She spotted something funny sticking out of the leaves and dug around until she uncovered a great big hairy toe. There was some good meat on that toe which would make a real tasty dinner, so the old woman put it in her basket and took it home.

When she got back to her cottage, the old woman boiled up a kettle-full of hairy toe soup, which she ate for dinner that night. It was the best meal she’d had in weeks! The old woman went to bed that night with a full stomach and a big smile.

Along about midnight, a cold wind started blowing in the tops of the trees around the old woman’s house. A large black cloud crept over the moon and from the woods a hollow voice rumbled: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!” Inside the house, the old woman stirred uneasily in her bed and nervously pulled the covers up over her ears.

From the woods there came a stomp-stomp-stomping noise as the wind whistled and jerked at the treetops. In the clearing at the edge of the forest, a hollow voice said: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!” Inside the house, the old woman shuddered and turned over in her sleep.

A stomp, stomp, stomping sound came from the garden path outside the cottage. The night creatures shivered in their burrows as a hollow voice howled: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!” Inside the house, the old woman snapped awake. Her whole body shook with fright as she listened to the angry howling in her garden. Jumping out of bed, she ran to the door and barred it. Once the cottage was secure, she lay back down to sleep.

Suddenly, the front door of the cottage burst open with a bang, snapping the bar in two and sending it flying into the corners of the room. There came the stomp, stomp, stomping noise of giant feet walking up the stairs. Peeping out from under the covers, the old woman saw a massive figure filling her doorway. It said: “Hairy toe! Hairy toe! I want my hairy toe!”

The old woman sat bolt upright in terror and shouted: “I ATE your hairy toe!”

“Yes, you did,” the giant figure said very gently as it advanced into the room.

No one living in the region ever saw the old woman again. The only clue to her disappearance was a giant footprint a neighbor found pressed deep into the loose soil of the meadow beside the house. The footprint was missing the left big toe.

I am a youtube.com addict! I am on there daily looking a new videos and re watching my favorite ones, such has the Flight of the Conchords and Ewan McGregor. And youtube.com is always on the ball with new features and videos all there waiting to be viewed by you. So it was no surprise when I heard that for one day only, that day is August 1, youtube.com and the new movie Superbad, which is due out in theaters on August 17, will team up to bring you five exclusive Superbad videos for you to enjoy.

Haven’t seen the previews for Superbad? Don’t know what it’s about? Well, I’ll be a doll and give you the skinny on it. Superbad is about two co-dependent high school seniors that are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry. You can bet there will be plenty of entertaining moments to keep you in stitches!

And as if the five video clips for you to watch wasn’t enough. If you take a visit to AreYouSuperbad.com you can download ringtones, wallpaper and buddy icons all for free!

So don’t forget to get your butt on over to youtube.com to watch those exclusive clips and after then mosey on over to AreYouSuperbad.com for some cool downloadable items!

Way back in the deep woods there lived a scrawny old woman who had a reputation for being the best conjuring woman in the Ozarks. With her bedraggled black-and-gray hair, funny eyes - one yellow and one green - and her crooked nose, Old Betty was not a pretty picture, but she was the best there was at fixing what ailed a man, and that was all that counted.

Old Betty’s house was full of herbs and roots and bottles filled with conjuring medicine. The walls were lined with strange books brimming with magical spells. Old Betty was the only one living in the Hollow who knew how to read; her granny, who was also a conjurer, had taught her the skill as part of her magical training.

Just about the only friend Old Betty had was a tough, mean, ugly old razorback hog that ran wild around her place. It rooted so much in her kitchen garbage that all the leftover spells started affecting it. Some folks swore up and down that the old razorback hog sometimes walked upright like man. One fellow claimed he’d seen the pig sitting in the rocker on Old Betty’s porch, chattering away to her while she stewed up some potions in the kitchen, but everyone discounted that story on account of the fellow who told it was a little too fond of moonshine.
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When you have your own businesses like Mike and I do it can sometimes be a hassle to keep track of and mange all your assets. Especially if you are in the real estate occupation you know how hard it is to manage it all. That’s where Siterra’s Real Estate Management Software comes in handy. Siterra’s software can help you manage hundreds of real estate and operating assets around the world.

Siterra Corporation provides the only fully integrated, self-contained, web-based solution to help you and your company plan, build, manage, and grow remote sites, assets, and leases. This is especially good for managing retail stores, oil rigs, cell towers and outdoor displays.

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A young woman lay suffering on her deathbed, her stillborn baby lying against her chest. Her young husband crouched close, stricken with grief. His beautiful wife crooned a lullaby to her dead baby, her voice growing fainter as death drew near. Finally, she looked at her husband and asked him to bury her back East, beside her dead mother. Choked with grief, the young husband agreed.

But after his wife lay still in death, her husband could not bear to be parted from her and their dead child. He had them buried together beneath a lonely pine tree on a gently sloping knoll near their home, where he could visit the grave. As spring drew near, fragrant wildflowers bloomed across the knoll and the small grave.

One night, the husband threw himself across the flower-strewn grave, head buried in his arms as he tried to control his grief. As he lay there, the stillness of the night seemed to deepen. A light breeze tousled his hair and swayed the branches of the pine tree. At that moment, he heard a soft voice crooning a lullaby. He started upright, searching about for his wife. He heard a gurgle from an infant, a happy sound of contentment. Then the breeze died away, and the branches of the pine tree stilled. Then a shining light seemed to descend from the dark sky and hover over the young husband and the small grave under the tree. The husband heard the singing again, and the happy laugh of a small child. And then there was darkness. The husband went home that night with peace in his heart for the first time since the death of his wife.

People say that on dark, summery nights you can still hear the young mother singing a lullaby, and hear the happy chuckles of her tiny child.

A pregnancy is suppose to be an exciting time! You should be spending your days filled with thoughts of your upcoming baby, buying cute baby cloths and things of that nature. You shouldn’t be worrying yourself with thoughts on how you are going to afford the heath care through out the pregnancy so to help relieve some unnecessary stress women are now looking into Maternity Health Insurance.

Unfortunately many women do not receive maternity benefits from their job or do not qualify for health insurance. Before these women where left without the help they needed. That is until RAS made it their mission to connect women with the best solution to meet their specific situation. Women who were once unable to get the proper health care they needed while pregnant are now receiving health benefits and financial help thanks to Reproductiveaccesssolutions.com.

It is midnight. The streets of Cohoes grow silent as the citizens turn off their lights one by one and go to their well-earned rest. The night is dark, and the wind whispers softly, touching the trees and houses, rattling a window pane here and there.

In one house, a woman sits beside her window, waiting silently for the doctor to arrive. Her beloved husband lies on the bed next to her. In the light of a single candle, she can see his emaciated face. He is in terrible pain, which even the drugs prescribed by the doctor cannot abate. She clutches his hand tightly, feeling the cold creeping through it. He is barely breathing now. She knows he is slipping away. One part of her is thankful, for she cannot bear to see him in so much pain. Most of her wants to scream out in desperation, begging him not to leave her alone.

Outside the house, the soft rumble of wheels and the clip-clop of hooves echo through the still night. The woman tears her eyes from her husband’s face and looks out of the window, expecting to see the doctor’s curricle pulling into the street. Instead, she sees a dark, closed coach with black gaping holes where the windows should be. The shafts at the front of the coach are empty, yet she can hear the sound of invisible horses’ hooves, as the coach moves slowly down the street.

She draws in a deep breath and exhales slowly. It is the Death Coach. Her husband had told her it would come for him that night, but she hadn’t believed him. Hadn’t wanted to believe him. Yet there it is, rolling slowly up to the front of the house to stop by the front gate. The sight terrifies her, and she clutches her husband’s hand tightly. He opens his eyes and smiles feebly at her, trying to squeeze her hand.

“Is it here?” he asks, his voice barely a whisper. She nods.

“I love you,” he says to his wife. She leans down and kisses him, feels his last breath on her lips. The grip on her hand loosens, and she knows he is dead. She straightens up, looking tenderly at his dead face through her tears.

A movement by the door causes her to look up. She sees her husband’s spirit standing at the door. He gazes first at his dead body, and then smiles at her. Then he turns and walks down the stairs. She moves at once to the window, flinging it open and leaning out, hoping to see him again. The front door opens, and her husband steps out the front porch and walks slowly to the Death Coach. The door opens, and he pauses for a moment to look towards the window, knowing she is watching. He waves and she waves back, tears streaming down her face. Then her husband steps into the coach and the door closes behind him. Slowly, the Death Coach rumbles down the street, turns a corner, and is gone.

“Goodbye, my love,” she calls softly, as the Death Coach disappears. Her husband’s pain is over, but hers has just begun. With a heavy heart, she closes the window, and goes down the stairs to telephone the doctor and tell him her husband is dead.

The only jewelry that I wear is my wedding ring, with the exception of a necklace once in a blue ring so it’s no surprise to hear that I have only gotten one diamond ring and that was my engagement ring from Mike, my now husband, almost 10 years ago. The reason why it was so special is because he picked it out all by himself. We never once went ring shopping and I never said what I liked or didn’t like. He went with his mom and found the ring that he liked and new I would love. It was perfect! He has talked before about buying an Anniversary Ring later on down the road but I am completely beyond satisfied with my engagement ring.