Bill W

The adjective "pliant" comes from 14th century Middle English via Old French ploiant, meaning "bending", present participle of ploiier ("to bend, fold"), which itself derives from the Latin word plicāre ("to fold, bend, lay") from Proto-Indo-European root *plek- ("to plait"). It entered English describing physical flexibility, (like a young tree), and later extending to people or attitudes that are yielding, compliant, or adaptable. It shares roots with words like "ply," "pleat," and "complicate". The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), records the earliest known use of the adjective "pliant" in English as being from before 1382. The specific citation is found in the Middle English period (1150–1500) within the Bible (Wycliffite, early version). Examples of "pliant" used in a sentence: "The teenager showed off her pliant spine every time she draped herself over a piece of furniture." "Now this 'privilege' has been withdrawn as a measure to weaken the none too pliant membership." "Some people found it difficult to watch how the performer could bend his pliant body like a pretzel." "The true love-birds (Agapornis) may also be said to build nests, for they line their nest-hole with strips of pliant bark." "Pain radiated through his body from where she'd shot him, and his normally pliant temper was near the snapping point." "True strength lies in a fearless powerlessness, that is not assertive but is equally not pliant to another's will to domination." "The primary object is to render the leaves soft and pliant; the use of the sauces is to improve the flavor and burning qualities of the leaves used." "The prepared tobacco, while still moist and pliant, is pressed between cylinders into a light cake, and cut into fine uniform shreds by a machine analogous to the chaff-cutter."

Or were you involved in sordid activities all day?

Although temporarily paired as a guide for someone whose station in life is far above his own humble calling, Ashok is forced to realize what he wishes for can never be. How Ashok deals with the disappointment is the journey we take in the story about the stonemason's son and his brief encounter with a handsome prince.

It was evident from the beginning of the story that you were very familiar with the locale and how Buddhist monks function. It first looked as if the story was going to develop into a romance, but then that damn arranged marriage thing caused the illusion to shatter. As difficult as it was, it seems that both Ashok and Soria have managed to compartmentalize their disappoint and have moved on, wishing only the best for the other. Thank you for an interesting look at another culture and how they deal with life and its disappointments.

What could possibly go wrong when you're about to give an 18-year-old an ancient magical power that is greater that the magic of nearly everyone else on earth. It would probably be a teenager's dream to have this much power, so what will happen? You'll have to read this interesting fantasy short story with wonderfully painted descriptions of the world you are entering.

I also had a feeling that Jamie's arrogance would bite him in the ass, especially since he wasn't paying attention to the things he'd been taught and what the Chief Mage \was saying during the ceremony or Callum's warnings. Unfortunately for Jamie, the result was much worse than a bite on the ass, and it certainly not what Jamie had intended, but he won't be able to live and learn. Thank you, @Gary L for the wonderful descriptions and background information you included in this tale with a definite moral.

This is a cute romantic short story with a lot of subplots: sibling rivalry, absentee parents, an inclusive "second" family, and if you're familiar with several other GA members/authors, a built in depth to some of the supporting characters in the story. You'll melt with the shy boys who are secretly attracted to one another and are thrust together by an unwitting, but well intentioned teacher, and you'll have an immediate and intense aversion to the older brother, while loving the way that the story comes together.

Did you read the book to your cats?

I loved the story, @chris191070 and @BendtedWreath. Using GA members as your supporting characters to Raisin Bran, I mean Raven Bran, gave additional depth to the story, at least for those of us that realized what your were doing. And as someone else stated, @Lee Wilson is a character whether in real life or a fictional setting. I enjoyed the basketball setting, but I had to fake it when it came to the sports anime, but I totally enjoyed the cute and shy relationship between Raven and Lee, although I don't believe Lee would be that shy in person. I'm also glad that Raven finally got the upper hand over his older brother and found a "second" family with the Wilson clan. Well done!

Reading list? Or do you mean "hit" list?

The word "sordid" comes from the Latin sordidus, meaning "dirty, filthy, vile", which itself derives from sordes meaning "dirt or filth". It entered English in the early 15th century Middle English from French, sordide, initially describing festering sores but quickly extending to figurative meanings of moral baseness, meanness, or squalor, referring to things like greedy, dishonorable, or wretched conditions. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word "sordid" first appeared in English in the late 1500s, with the earliest known evidence from 1596 in the writings of Edmund Spenser. It comes from the French sordide or directly from the Latin sordidus, meaning "dirty, filthy, base". It later developed its common metaphorical sense of moral corruption or depravity by the 17th century. Examples of "sordid" used in a sentence: "He shared the sordid details of his past." "Tracing the threads to the ghosts of SELA's sordid past was easy." "She listened to Kate's explanation of the sordid affair with her neighbor. "I don't want to hear the sordid details of your relationship with Sandra. "Yet Collins says the fun didn't come from the sordid details from the Roast." "He sat with his head buried in his hands as his sordid double life was revealed." "The last straw came when Serra was getting in her car to work and slipped in one of the sordid mounds."

@Myr must have been to a wild party last night and had to sleep it off this morning.

If you're familiar with the 1950 TV show, The Lone Ranger, you'll get many of the inside jokes in Lee's story, and if you thought the move The Lone Ranger was a little strange, brace yourself for what Lee has done to the characters. Trust me, you'll find these characters wildly outrageous and hugely comical.

You sure played havoc with the characters from one of my favorite westerns from when I was a kid. Of course, I don't think TV would have been ready for this Lone Ranger and Tonto during the 1950s, but this story was certainly better than the movie The Lone Ranger! Good job, Lee.

That's definitely more than one meal for the spiders! 😧

Happy New Year to all of our wonderful GA community! I stayed on New Year's Eve as well, but the neighborhood fireworks going off kept me up until 1:30, since they didn't seem to want to stop with the fireworks, firecrackers, and other items that would give off a loud boom. As far as the first New Year's Day meal, where I grew up it was always ham and cabbage, but maybe that was to prevent large gatherings at the house with other relatives and neighbors dropping in, since ham and cabbage tends to make everyone gassy. That left us to watch the parades and football games in peace.

The word opulent comes from Latin Opulentus (wealthy, abounding in resources) -> Opulens (wealthy, splendid), derived from ops ("wealth, power, resources") and opus ("work, labor") and seen in words like opulence. It ultimately traces to a Proto-Indo-European root (*op- or *h₃op- ("to work, produce in abundance"), indicating richness through great resources or effort, entering English around the 1600s via French opulent. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the earliest known use of "opulent" in English dates to the early 1500s, with its first recorded instance around 1518, found in a translation by the author Alexander Barclay. Examples of "opulent" used in a sentence: "This highly residential district is home to many opulent villas." "We took my fiancé's parents to the opulent Venetian Room to hear Lou Rawls." "The Palace of Versailles is home to the Hall of Mirrors, the Royal Chapel, and many other opulent rooms." "I had seen a photo of three large men wrapped in luxurious towels, smoking pipes in extremely opulent surroundings." "They strode through the opulent mansion down a stairwell spilling into sunlight and swaths of green grass at the side of the main house." "The robed man led her into the fortress and wound his way through bright intersections, down stairs, and into a more opulent part of the building."

The cards are a question mark right now, although the boys have high hopes for what they'll bring, along with the coins and other items from the cave. Even if they have to use money from both, it looks as if they're planning to do something to honor Johnny's memory, possibly the gravestone, or maybe the Little League field, or it could be a donation for the survivors.

Yes, Johnny's story was a sad one and I think we all hoped he didn't suffer, like the boys speculated. And I agree. Either the thieves better appear soon or the boys could be doing this again over Spring Break. And after doing the overnight for a while and sleeping during the day, the results are similar to jet lag, when you're in another time zone for a long time and your normal schedule is disrupted.

Thanks, Anton, and there was a lot of information packed into this chapter, and I'm glad you found it all quite interesting. You learned about the boys going on a stakeout as Great Horned Owls to see if they can spot the thieves and lead to their capture, and you also learned about the sad death of Johnny Logan. Yes, Devin and Mac show a lot of empathy and concern for others, and even as they attempt to make money they'll be able to live on for possibly multiple lifetimes, they're not obsessed with keeping every dollar for themselves. They're willing to take care of others, even if it's just keeping their memory alive, or having Santa visit the Children's Ward of the hospital.

No, Devin and Mac had planned their return to the house so Louella wouldn't be able to see them transition. 😉

Yes, libraries have mostly kept the microfilm and microfiche, rather than incurring the expense to digitize that information. Devin and Mac did Google Johnny's name, but since he died before such things were kept online, his information didn't show. His name did pop up in obituaries of two of his siblings who died in the 2020s, as his name was listed as having predeceased them. 😒 When Mac and Devin returned from patrol, they always landed in a corner of the backyard where Louella couldn't observe them from a second floor window of her house, and then they kept close to the house as they made their way to the back door, so she wouldn't be able to see them then either. 😉

The word corpulent comes from the Latin corpulentus, meaning "fleshy" or "fat", which itself derives from corpus ("body") plus the suffix 'ulentus ("full of" or "abundant"). It entered English in the late 14th century via Old French (corpulent), ultimately describing someone or something with a large, bulky body, stemming from the same root as words like corpse, corporation, and corset. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and related sources, the word corpulent first appeared in English in the Middle English period (around 1398) in a translation by John Trevisa. It came from Old French and Latin, meaning "fleshy, portly, or stout," describing someone with a full body, often linked to wealth in earlier times. Examples of "corpulant" used in a sentence: "I assumed Troy was referring to the corpulent kid." "Shannon Oliviera was a rather corpulent woman and she was proud of it." "He was not obsessed with corpulent women; he had simply never noticed that she was fat." "The audience thought the corpulent soprano they'd cast was hilarious as Violetta." "Edward was corpulent, had heavy unshaven jowls and dragged one foot because his shoe had no lace." "Throughout history, many political leaders were corpulent, such as the Roman Emperor Vitellius, King Henry VIII, and President William Howard Taft."

Secrets 3: The Road to the Future – by Bill W Copyright 2025 by billwstories Chapter 29 – Johnny Logan and Stakeouts When we woke up the next morning, it was nearly 10:00, so we got dressed quickly and drove to a restaurant to have breakfast. As we were eating, we decided to discuss what we were going to do while watching for anyone that might look suspicious while we were on stakeout later. "I don't think the thieves will be breaking into the dorms during the day," Devin beg

The word "murmur" comes from the Latin murmur (a hum, mutter) and murmurāre (to mutter, make a gentle sound), and Old French murmure, ultimately from an imitative Proto-Indo-European root that is an onomatopoeic, mimicking the sound itself, and is found in Sanskrit, Greek, and Lithuanian words for rustling or babbling. . It appeared in English around the 1390s, meaning a low, indistinct sound. In medicine, a heart murmur is a sound from turbulent blood flow in the heart, caused by healthy variations (pregnancy, fever) or issues like faulty valves or congenital defects, making it either harmless or a sign of a problem. The earliest known use of the word murmur in English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), is found in the writings of Geoffrey Chaucer during the Middle English period (around 1275-1325). The noun murmur is first evidenced from around 1385, and the verb murmur is first evidenced from around 1390. Examples of "murmur" used in a sentence: "The shy boy spoke in a murmur." "Many in the crowd began to murmur their dissent at this." "Sarah woke up to the low murmur of people speaking." "The suggestion brought murmurs of disapproval from those in attendance." "The sweet murmur of the Sarayu (or Sarju refers to a sacred river in Hinduism) added to the deceptive calm." "The group of friends were planning something in secret and only spoke to each other in murmurs."