This is the shortest of the bunch. I wrote it a couple months ago as a joke to cheer up a friend, but I tried to add to it...and I don't think I can make it any better. It speaks for itself...lol
Once You Go Black
A stray memory from Max's previous life...
Max was having a peculiar dream. He knew he had been lonely lately, but how desperate for love did one have to be to dream about a broom?
Don't get him wrong, it was a lovely broom, teak with a deep espresso stain and varnish that glinted in the bar light as he swept up after last call. In fact, he would go so far as to say that it was the most beautiful broom he had ever laid eyes on. But the intimate nature of the relationship following that first realization changed Max's view on inanimate objects for many lives to come. In particular, he would always find that finely-turned, espresso-stained woodwork would always hold a sort of fascination for him.
After all, once you go black, you never go back.