“
Simon whispered to me, “But is everything okay?”
“No,” Tori said. “I kidnapped her and forced her to escape with me. I’ve been using her as a human shield against those guys with guns, and I was just about to strangle her and leave her body here to throw them off my trail. But then you showed up and foiled my evil plans. Lucky for you, though. You get to rescue poor little Chloe again and win her undying gratitude.”
“Undying gratitude?” Simon looked at me. “Cool. Does that come with eternal servitude? If so, I like my eggs sunnyside up.”
I smiled. “I’ll remember that.”
***
“Oh, right. You must be starving.” Simon reached into his pockets. “I can offer one bruised apple and one brown banana. Convenience stores aren’t the place to buy fruit, as I keep telling someone.”
“Better than these. For you, anyway, Simon.” Derek passed a bar to Tori.
“Because you aren’t supposed to have those, are you?” I said. “Which reminds me…” I took out the insulin. “Derek said it’s your backup.”
“So my dark secret is out.”
“I didn’t know it was a secret.”
“Not really. Just not something I advertise.”
...
“Backup?” Tori said. “You mean he didn’t need that?”
“Apparently not,” I murmured.
Simon looked from her to me, confused, then understanding. “You guys thought…”
“That if you didn’t get your medicine in the next twenty-four hours, you’d be dead?” I said. “Not exactly, but close. You know, the old ‘upping the ante with a fatal disease that needs medication’ twist. Apparently, it still works.”
“Kind of a letdown, then, huh?”
“No kidding. Here we were, expecting to find you minutes from death. Look at you, not even gasping.”
“All right, then. Emergency medical situation, take two.”
He leaped to his feet, staggered, keeled over, then lifted his head weakly.
“Chloe? Is that you?” He coughed. “Do you have my insulin?”
I placed it in his outstretched hand.
“You saved my life,” he said. “How can I ever repay you?”
“Undying servitude sounds good. I like my eggs scrambled.”
He held up a piece of fruit. “Would you settle for a bruised apple?”
I laughed.
”
”
Kelley Armstrong (The Awakening (Darkest Powers, #2))
“
I had the great idea of using markers to gently color the ants so I could tell them apart, but I learned that this is exactly like somebody trying to gently color on you with a thirty-story building.
Without dwelling on the tragedy, I'd just like to say that I'm deeply sorry to Mr. Purple and the surviving Purple family.
”
”
Jim Benton (Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers (Dear Dumb Diary #11))
“
—¿Monty? —Puso cara de horror. Por Dios, ¿qué les hizo a sus padres para que lo odiaran nada más nacer?
—Viene de Montgomery.
—No sé si hace que sea peor.
”
”
Joana Marcús (Antes de diciembre (Meses a tu lado, #1))
“
The funny thing about my procrastination was that I was almost done with the screenplay. I was like a person who had fought dragons and lost limbs and crawled through swamps and now, finally, the castle was visible. I could see tiny children waving flags on the balcony; all I had to do was walk across a field to get to them. But all of a sudden I was very, very sleepy. And the children couldn't believe their eyes as I folded down to my knees and fell to the ground face-first, with my eyes open. Motionless, I watched ants hurry in and out of a hole and I knew that standing up again would be a thousand times harder than the dragon or the swamp and so I did not even try. I just clicked on one thing after another after another.
”
”
Miranda July (It Chooses You)
“
I simply cannot see why one would wish to picnic in the nude. There would be ants in dreadful places.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (Chain of Gold (The Last Hours, #1))
“
Who would I kill?” I asked, sitting up from him, wiping my face.
“Who?”
“Yeah, I mean, is it random, or do you choose them?”
“Well.” He grinned and picked an ant off the rug, then tossed it onto the grass. “I usually avoid eating comedians as much as possible.”
“Why?” I asked slowly.
“Because they taste funny.” His brows rose.
I imagined a tumbleweed rolling past as I listened for crickets. “That wasn't funny.
”
”
Angela M. Hudson (Tears of the Broken (Dark Secrets, #0))
“
What's funny about opposites be that wet and dry both has water, boy and girl be about people, Heaven and Hell be the places you go when you die. They all has something in common. So they an't completely different from each other the way people think. Having the one don't mean t'other be gone.
”
”
Tracy Chevalier (Burning Bright)
“
—¿Me van a dejar pasar comida en el aeropuerto?
Se van a pensar que es una terrorista dijo Steve.
—la rerrorista de las albóndigas —añadió Sonny, y los dos empezaron a reírse a carcajadas otra vez.
”
”
Joana Marcús (Antes de diciembre (Meses a tu lado, #1))
“
We know that there are many animals on this continent not found in the Old World. These must have been carried from here to the ark, and then brought back afterwards. Were the peccary, armadillo, ant-eater, sloth, agouti, vampire-bat, marmoset, howling and prehensile-tailed monkey, the raccoon and muskrat carried by the angels from America to Asia? How did they get there? Did the polar bear leave his field of ice and journey toward the tropics? How did he know where the ark was? Did the kangaroo swim or jump from Australia to Asia? Did the giraffe, hippopotamus, antelope and orang-outang journey from Africa in search of the ark? Can absurdities go farther than this?
”
”
Robert G. Ingersoll (Some Mistakes of Moses)
“
I was having dinner…in London…when eventually he got, as the Europeans always do, to the part about “Your country’s never been invaded.” And so I said, “Let me tell you who those bad guys are. They’re us. WE BE BAD. We’re the baddest-assed sons of bitches that ever jogged in Reeboks. We’re three-quarters grizzly bear and two-thirds car wreck and descended from a stock market crash on our mother’s side. You take your Germany, France, and Spain, roll them all together and it wouldn’t give us room to park our cars. We’re the big boys, Jack, the original, giant, economy-sized, new and improved butt kickers of all time. When we snort coke in Houston, people lose their hats in Cap d’Antibes. And we’ve got an American Express card credit limit higher than your piss-ant metric numbers go. You say our country’s never been invaded? You’re right, little buddy. Because I’d like to see the needle-dicked foreigners who’d have the guts to try. We drink napalm to get our hearts started in the morning. A rape and a mugging is our way of saying 'Cheerio.' Hell can’t hold our sock-hops.
We walk taller, talk louder, spit further, fuck longer and buy more things than you know the names of. I’d rather be a junkie in a New York City jail than king, queen, and jack of all Europeans. We eat little countries like this for breakfast and shit them out before lunch.
”
”
P.J. O'Rourke (Holidays in Hell: In Which Our Intrepid Reporter Travels to the World's Worst Places and Asks, "What's Funny about This?")
“
Ant 1: So, uh, do you ever worry that your itsy little neck is just going to snap under the weight of your head?
Ant 2: Stop asking me that. You ask me that, like, every five minutes.
Ant 1: Sometimes I notice my antennae out of the corner of my eye and I'm all, like: AHH! Something is on me! Get it off! Get it off!
Ant 2: Yeah, the antennae again. Listen, I just remembered, I have to go walk around aimlessly now.
”
”
Jim Benton (Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers (Dear Dumb Diary #11))
“
Backup?" Tori said. "You mean he didn't need that?"
"Apparently not," I murmured.
Simon looked from her to me, confused, then understanding. "You guys thought..."
"That if you didn't get your medicine in the next twenty-four hours, you'd be dead?" I said. "Not exactly, but close. You know, the old 'upping the ante with a fatal disease that needs medication' twist. Apparently, it still works."
"Kind of a letdown, then, huh?"
"No kidding. Here we were, expecting to find you minutes from death. Look at you, not even gasping."
"All right, then. Emergency medical situation, take two."
He leaped to his feet, staggered, keeled over, then lifted his head weakly.
"Chloe? Is that you?" He coughed. "Do you have my insulin?"
I placed it in his outstretched hand.
"You saved my life," he said. "How can I ever repay you?"
"Undying servitude sounds good. I like my eggs scrambled."
He held up a piece of fruit. "Would you settle for a bruised apple?
”
”
Kelley Armstrong (The Awakening (Darkest Powers, #2))
“
but was this funny? was this funny? was this funny? why was this funny? why was Sugar Kane funny? why were men dressed as women funny? why were men made up as women funny? why were men staggering in high heels funny? why was Sugar Kane funny, was Sugar Kane the supreme female impersonator? was this funny? why was this funny? why is female funny? why were people going to laugh at Sugar Kane & fall in love with Sugar Kane? why, another time? why would Sugar Kane Kovalchick girl ukulelist be such a box office success in America? why dazzling-blond girl ukulelist alcoholic Sugar Kane Kovalchick a success? why Some Like It Hot a masterpiece? why Monroe's masterpiece? why Monroe's most commercial movie? why did they love her? why when her life was in shreds like clawed silk? why when her life was in pieces like smashed glass? why when her insides had bled out? why when her insides had been scooped out? why when she carried poison in her womb? why when her head was ringing with pain? her mouth stinging with red ants? why when everybody on the set of the film hated her? resented her? feared her? why when she was drowning before their eyes? I wanna be loved by you boop boopie do! why was Sugar Kane Kovalchick of Sweet Sue's Society Syncopaters so seductive? I wanna be kissed by nobody else but you I wanna! I wanna! I wanna be loved by you alone but why? why was Marilyn so funny? why did the world adore Marilyn? who despised herself? was that why? why did the world love Marilyn? why when Marilyn had killed her baby? why when Marilyn had killed her babies? why did the world want to fuck Marilyn? why did the world want to fuck fuck fuck Marilyn? why did the world want to jam itself to the bloody hilt like a great tumescent sword in Marilyn? was it a riddle? was it a warning? was it just another joke? I wanna be loved by you boop boopie do nobody else but you nobody else but you nobody else
”
”
Joyce Carol Oates (Blonde)
“
I don't even remember what was so funny; I only remember thinking I'd suffocate before I stopped laughing.
”
”
Shaun David Hutchinson (We Are the Ants)
“
—¿Acabas de... lavar un plato? —Dee retrocedió lentamente, parpadeando. Miró a Daemon—. El mundo se va a terminar. Y sigo siendo vir...
—¡No! —gritaron los hermanos al unísono. Daemon parecía que en realidad iba a vomitar.
—Jesús, nunca termines esa oración. En realidad, nunca cambies eso. Gracias.
La boca de ella se abrió.
—Ustedes esperan de mí que nunca tenga...
—Ésta no es una conversación con la que quiera empezar mi día. — Dawson agarró su mochila de la mesa de la cocina—. Estoy yéndome a la escuela antes de que esto se vuelva todavía más detallado.
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (Shadows (Lux, #0.5))
“
I'd rather be stung to death by a bunch of piss ants. ~Synola Harper, You're Busting My Nuptials
”
”
Ann Everett (You're Busting My Nuptials (Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy, #2))
“
Jason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, “Giant!” Which sounded pretty good, and a lot more confident than Leo could’ve managed. He was thinking more along the lines of, “We are pathetic ants! Don’t kill us!” Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward them and grinned, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger’s. “Well,” the giant rumbled. “What a nice surprise.” Leo didn’t like the sound of that. His hand closed on his windup gadget. He stepped sideways, edging his way toward the bulldozer. Coach Hedge shouted, “Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I’m gonna plant my hoof right up your—” “Coach,” Jason said. “Shut up.” Enceladus roared with laughter. “I’ve forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I’ll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals.” “Is that a compliment?” Hedge frowned at Leo. “I don’t think that was a compliment.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1))
“
There are people who are drawn to secrets as ants are to jam. Fausta's one of them. She searches out all things unspoken and unseen-not to make them known, but to destroy them so that nobody knows they ever existed. That's what makes her heart beat faster, the destruction of invisible foundations. Why? Because she finds it funny.
”
”
Helen Oyeyemi (What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours)
“
I never thought I'd find you catching prey for Sandstorm. Special to you, is she?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Fireheart protested. His fur suddenly felt hot and prickled as if ants were crawling through it. "Sandstorm is just a friend."
Graystripe let out a putt of amusement. "Oh sure, if you say so." He strolled up the slope and lowered his head to butt Fireheart affectionately on the shoulder. "You're lucky, Fireheart. She's a very impressive cat."
Fireheart opened his mouth and then closed it again. Graystripe wouldn't be convinced no matter what he said - and besides, maybe he was right.
”
”
Erin Hunter (Rising Storm (Warriors, #4))
“
I never thought I'd find you catching prey for Sandstorm. Special to you, is she?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Fireheart protested. His fur suddenly felt hot and prickled as if ants were crawling through it. "Sandstorm is just a friend."
Graystripe let out a putt of amusement. "Oh sure, if you say so." He strolled up the slope and lowered his head to butt Fireheart affectionately on the shoulder. "You're lucky, Fireheart. She's a very impressive cat."
Fireheart opened his mouth and then closed it again. Graystripe wouldn't be convinced no matter what he said - and besides, maybe he was right.
”
”
Erin Hunter (A Dangerous Path (Warriors, #5))
“
This reminds me of a funny Chris story.
Back when we lived in California, Easter was coming up and Chris was home with the kids. I forget exactly what the children did, but they got out of line and Chris decided rather than disciplining them, he’d use a little daddy logic on them.
Daddy logic, as expressed by a SEAL sniper.
“I’ll tell you, you better behave,” he said, “or I’ll keep the Easter Bunny from coming.”
“How?” one of them wondered.
Daddy logic met kid logic and raised the ante through the roof.
“I’ll sit on the stoop and I’ll shoot him when he comes,” said Chris. Somehow he kept a straight face. “You’ll ruin it for everyone, not just yourselves.”
We had great behavior for weeks.
It’s different living with a sniper as a dad.
”
”
Taya Kyle (American Wife: Love, War, Faith, and Renewal)
“
That was the whole trouble with police work. You come plunging in. a jagged Stone Age knife, to probe the delicate tissues of people's relationships, and of course you destroy far more than you discover. And even what you discover will never be the same as it was before you came; the nubbly scars of your passage will remain. At the very least. you have asked questions that expose to the destroying air fibers that can only exist and fulfill their function in coddling darkness. Cousin Amy, now, mousing about in back passages or trilling with feverish shyness at sherry parties—was she really made all the way through of dust and fluff and unused ends of cotton and rusty needles and unmatching buttons and all the detritus at the bottom of God's sewing basket? Or did He put a machine in there to tick away and keep her will stern and her back straight as she picks out of a vase of brown-at-the-edges dahlias the few blooms that have another day's life in them? Or another machine, one of His chemistry sets, that slowly mixes itself into an apparently uncaused explosion, poof!, and there the survivors are sitting covered with plaster dust among the rubble of their lives. It's always been the explosion by the time the police come stamping in with ignorant heels on the last unbroken bit of Bristol glass; with luck they can trace the explosion back to harmless little Amy, but as to what set her off—what were the ingredients of the chemistry set and what joggled them together—it was like trying to reconstruct a civilization from three broken pots and a seven-inch lump of baked clay which might, if you looked at its swellings and hollows the right way, have been the Great Earth Mother. What's more. people who've always lived together think that they are still the same—oh, older of course and a bit more snappish, but underneath still the same laughing lad of thirty years gone by. "My Jim couldn't have done that." they say. "I know him. Course he's been a bit depressed lately, funny like. but he sometimes goes that way for a bit and then it passes off. But setting fire to the lingerie department at the Army and Navy, Inspector—such a thought wouldn't enter into my Jim's head. I know him." Tears diminishing into hiccuping snivels as doubt spreads like a coffee stain across the threadbare warp of decades. A different Jim? Different as a Martian, growing inside the ever-shedding skin? A whole lot of different Jims. a new one every seven years? "Course not. I'm the same. aren't I, same as I always was—that holiday we took hiking in the Peak District in August thirty-eight—the same inside?"
Pibble sighed and shook himself. You couldn't build a court case out of delicate tissues. Facts were the one foundation.
”
”
Peter Dickinson (The Glass-Sided Ant's Nest (Jimmy Pibble #1))
“
You still are? There go my plans! And the suit I had bought to attend your funeral. Well, well. Anyway, do call me up when you an't.
”
”
Fakeer Ishavardas
“
You probably shouldn’t tell people that you became an architect because you wanted to play God by turning skyscrapers into your own personal ant farm and that you’re just one bad day away from shaking it like an Etch-A-Sketch.”
Asa smiled. “I keep my thinking thoughts to myself.”
“Your what?”
“Noah says, ‘Those are thinking thoughts, not speaking thoughts.’ But you asked why I do what I do, and I told you I wouldn’t lie to you.”
Asa looked so proud of himself for not lying about secretly being a nihilistic anarchist that Zane almost felt guilty for saying, “You’re batshit crazy.
”
”
Onley James (Headcase (Necessary Evils, #4))
“
Q: What is the biggest ant in the world? A: An elephant!
”
”
Johnny B. Laughing (Funny Jokes for Kids: 125+ Funny and Hilarious Jokes for Kids)
“
Q: Why did the dinosaur walk on two legs? A: To give the ants a chance!
”
”
Johnny B. Laughing (Funny Jokes for Kids: 125+ Funny and Hilarious Jokes for Kids)
“
What is the biggest ant in the world? A: An elephant!
”
”
Johnny B. Laughing (Funny Jokes for Kids: 125+ Funny and Hilarious Jokes for Kids)
“
-Ah -dijo-. El hombre maratón.
Abrí los ojos solo un poco, para ver si se estaba burlando de mi.
-¿Que pasa? -dijo-. Vamos, cuéntaselo al tío Will.
-No.
-Mi madre va a tener a los de limpieza corriendo como locos por lo menos otra hora. De algo tendrás que hablar.
”
”
Jojo Moyes
“
ant a successful party? Remember to laugh! Don't take yourself too seriously-especially when it's party time. Tell jokes, share funny stories that highlight your own embarrassing moments. Celebrate fun memories. One of our favorite family parties is getting out the old photo albums and making fun of ourselves. Guests love it too if you have them bring some pictures of their own to add to the fun.
now when to say "no" to good things and "yes" for the best.
Everything I didn't do yesterday Added to everything I haven't done today Plus everything I won't do tomorrow-completely exhausts me!
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
ne of the best compliments you can give a friend is to say, "You're such a kind person!" And what exactly is a kind person?
• Kindness is an attitude of the heart.
• A kind person goes out of her way to be nice to someone else.
All through Scripture we're shown God's character, and it's one of kindness. So why not lighten someone's load today and bring him or her joy?
• Offer to help lighten someone's load.
• Open the door for someone.
• Even a bright smile conveys kindness.
”
”
Emilie Barnes (365 Things Every Woman Should Know)
“
I am more a hurricane than a gentle breeze some days. People bother me, annoy me with opinions that don’t make sense and that don’t add any balance to the world. I’m sick of everyone fighting, everyone waiting for their turn, instead of actual equality. I don’t feel like being kind, I don’t feel like being polite, I feel like screaming and cursing, moving the universe from sight. But then I am reminded of the littlest things in life, like the way bees make honey, and ants appear before rain, the way children say funny things, and how some musicians stay humble even after fame. I suppose even on the hurricane days, it’s better to stay kind, for anger and bitterness really have no balance of mind.
”
”
Courtney Peppernell (I Hope You Stay)
“
— Quer saber por que o seu pai não fica por perto?
As lágrimas fazem meu nariz arder, mas assinto. Essa é a pergunta que eu nunca deixei de me fazer, por mais que doa.
— Porque você vê como ele é — diz Miles. — E o seu pai não consegue suportar isso. E o Peter é a mesma merda com figurino diferente, tão entediado com ele mesmo que se convenceu de que estar com alguém como a Petra iria transformar ele em outra pessoa, sem precisar, sei lá, ter coragem pra tentar tomar ácido.
— Ele ficou entediado comigo, Miles — retruco.
— Se tivesse a ver com você — insiste ele —, o Peter poderia ter terminado o noivado. Em vez de mudar a vida toda. O que aconteceu tem a ver com ele. Eu já fui esse cara várias vezes, com várias pessoas que eu não merecia. É fácil ser amado por quem nunca viu você ferrar com tudo. Com quem você nunca tem que se desculpar, e que ainda acha que todos as suas “loucuras” são um charme. Miles faz uma pausa antes de continuar. — É fácil estar perto de pessoas que não te conhecem. E, assim que alguém começa a te decifrar, assim que você deixa de ser perfeito, é mais fácil fugir, passar para a próxima pessoa. Encontrar alguém novo com quem você possa ser descolado, divertido, descontraído.
— Então é isso? — Minha voz sai embargada. — Eu faço as pessoas se sentirem na pior versão delas.
— Daphne, não. — Miles me puxa para junto dele e enfia o rosto no meu pescoço. — Meu Deus, não. — Quando ele recua, vejo covinhas de tensão marcando o maxilar com a barba por fazer. — Escuta. Eu sempre quis ser essa pessoa divertida, fácil de lidar, sem bagagem, mesmo com a Petra. Mas depois de um tempo alguém finalmente vê a gente como a gente é, ou não vê, e as duas possibilidades são uma merda. Porque, se a pessoa vê a gente de verdade e não somos o que ela esperava, ela cai fora. E, se ela nunca vê a gente de verdade... é pior. Porque aí estamos completamente sozinhos. Uma nova pausa. — E eu amava a Petra — continua então —, mas no fundo sabia que, assim que as coisas parassem de ser divertidas, ela iria embora. E ela foi. Encontrou alguma coisa mais romântica, mais perfeita, só mais. Acho que você é a primeira pessoa que me vê de verdade. Que vai além do que eu quero que as pessoas vejam. Miles fica em silêncio por mais um instante. — Você faz as pessoas de quem você gosta se sentirem como... — Ele faz uma pausa. — Como se você quisesse tudo delas. Não só as partes boas. E isso é assustador pra alguém que passou a vida inteira evitando essas outras partes de si mesmo.
— Eu não quero fazer as pessoas fugirem de mim apavoradas — digo, a garganta doendo. Miles balança a cabeça.
— Vale a pena ficar assustado. Acredita em mim. Por você, vale a pena.
”
”
Emily Henry (Funny Story)
“
It’s not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is what are we busy about. Henry David Thoreau
”
”
M. Prefontaine (501 Quotes about Life: Funny, Inspirational and Motivational Quotes (Quotes For Every Occasion Book 9))
“
He’s”—the first speaker waved his hands vaguely, trying to get across the point that someone was a hamper of food, several folding chairs, a tablecloth, an assortment of cooking gear and an entire colony of ants short of a picnic—“mental. And he’s got a funny eye.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Hogfather (Discworld, #20))
“
Jesse once told me that if I focused on a fixed point on the horizon, I would be okay, but Jesse hanged himself in his bedroom last year, so the value of his advice is dubious at best.
”
”
Shaun David Hutchinson (We Are the Ants)
“
Marcus fired off a high-pitched crackle that made me fantasize about punching him so hard in the balls that the trauma traveled back through time and rendered his ancestors sterile, thus wiping Marcus McCoy from history.
”
”
Shaun David Hutchinson (We Are the Ants)
“
My vampire store manager was surrounded by deadly Christian six-year-olds selling blessed cookies. Oh, boy. As funny as it was, it literally was a problem to him. It was like suddenly being surrounded by a swarm of fire ants after taking an orange juice bath.
”
”
Shayne Silvers (The Nate Temple Series, Box Set 2 (The Nate Temple Series, #4-6))
“
Sure everyone thought the 'Clown Shoe' craze was funny until they saw the ants!!
”
”
Neil Leckman