12. SneakerPant

I want to talk to that guy, she said to her friend at the patio's Happy Hour. She eyed him carefully and made her decision to go over to where he held court in an unassuming manner, propped up on a precarious folding chair. She was attracted to him until he ordered himself a chocolate martini, then she had to walk away.

11. Brazil

Clearly everyone was having a better time than him. Even the coffee barista had replaced her usual fake grimace with a real smile this morning. To be taunted at every turn was killing his ego on every level. His mother had accused him of taking things personally. He couldn’t figure out how else to live.

10. Unconventional

The world beckoned to him. He thought of all the reasons he should get up. To prove to his parents he moved here for good reason, to make new friends think he was motivated, to get girls to see how passionate he was about his work. But he couldn’t, just thinking about it was exhausting. He rolled over and went back to sleep.

9. Streetcar Wire

The wires kept them down. It felt impossible to get any farther, as if they were barbed. You could only move as the city dictated. Indeed there were options, but some urban planner's options, not those of a free thinker. But escape was possible, even within the web of prison-like conformity.

8. Speedometer

At any moment now the city will come into view, the little girl thought. She was tired from the day at the grandparents, she rested her head on the tiny triangle back window. The blurry colours of highway driving were mesmerizing as pattern after pattern lulled her. But she always missed the view. Mommy would carry her to bed as usual.

7. Coffee And Cigarettes

She was breaking up with him, that was obvious. He hated that she had waited until after dinner. He really wanted to enjoy that smoke and now she had ruined that too.

6. Clouds From Airplane

So this is what happens in the end. You face your past life on a flat screen and all that karma washes over you. Shit, she thought, the stereotype of being above it all was true. It was like that Warren Beatty movie.

5. The Staircase

She dreaded seeing him but she had to say it to his face. He’d hurt her, not badly mind you, just enough for her heart to feel the sting of displeasure. She did not like that one bit and he may as well know that right off the bat.