Editor's Note: Maureen Sherbondy, an award-winning author and poet who lives in Raleigh, sent us this short work of fiction for Halloween. Thanks to Kevin Watson of Press 53, a publishing company in Winston-Salem, who passed it along.


Webs first took up residence inside the yard, coating bushes and grass in an autumnal veil. The spiders weren't visible in daylight. They worked at night. Small ones and large ones, black and tan ones. Busy as hyperactive knitters on a mission.At first visitors mistook it for morning dew. Then, guest by guest, the tripping began. They showed up at the door bruised, with bloody knees, contusion-slurred speech. At the Halloween doormat red confusion dripped on Jack-O-lanterns, bats, and skeletons. Word spun outside the cul de sac and soon not one visitor knocked on the door or rang the bell.

Robert Redford's 'Lions for Lambs' takes on Iraq war

Robert Redford is dressed for work. Facing a full day of interviews in San Francisco's Clift Hotel, followed by a screening in Berkeley of his new film, "Lions for Lambs," in the evening, the 71-year-old actor, director and auteur of the Sundance brand had chosen an outfit that articulates his multiple identities and duties.

A crisp but casual blue shirt, open at the throat, harmonizes strongly with those gleaming blue eyes that are a prime component of Redford's movie-star mystique. Blue jeans place him where he has placed himself geographically - as a Westerner through and through, his skin deeply tanned and creased by the Utah sun and wind. A substantial turquoise ring worn on the fourth finger of his left hand might be something from the Sundance catalog of eco-friendly consumer goods, one of the many businesses and nonprofit entities spun off from the Sundance Institute, which Redford founded in 1981.

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Lakewood High junior singles player Stacey Tan and the doubles team of Bree Acosta and Summer Beaird reached the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament round of 16 with three victories each Saturday.

Tan opened with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Valley Christian's Alicia Snuggs and followed that with a pair of 6-1, 6-0 triumphs at Cate High in Montecito.

Acosta and Beaird won 7-5, 7-5 in the first round and won an 11-9 tiebreaker after splitting two sets in the second round. They claimed their third victory of the day, 7-5, 7-6 (4), against a pair from Oxnard.

Valley Christian's Brittany Feinberg was defeated 6-1, 6-0 by Dos Pueblos' Jordan Dockendorf in the first round of singles play.

The round of 16 is scheduled for Nov. 29 at the Seal Beach Tennis Center.

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Success bubbles over for MySpace fave Caillat

Colbie Caillat is the queen of MySpace. There was no official coronation. But with more than 12 million views, 267,000 friends and a No. 5 song on Billboard's pop chart, Caillat (rhymes with "ballet") has to be the networking Web site's biggest success story for a newcomer.

A year ago, the 22-year-old acoustic-pop-soul singer was working the front desk at a tanning salon and living with her parents in Malibu, Calif. Now, she has a hit album and a headlining tour. It's all because her tune "Bubbly" popped from MySpace to No. 1 on iTunes to adult-pop radio to top-40 radio.

VNR500: seeking Vietnamese brand names (chapter 2)

VietNamNet Bridge - It is a pity that no Vietnamese name is among the biggest regional and world brand names. Some say it is because of weak Vietnamese brand names, some others say it is because Vietnamese enterprises remain too young.