We arranged it all by the river—a blue blanket laden with delicate china dishes and finger foods amid the bright splash of spring flowers.

And then the murders began.  

In an unprompted letter to parents, the new principal wrote that "everything's under control." This was followed by an equally enigmatic: "Oops, too early."

And then the murders began.

I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” (Donald Trump rally in Iowa, January 23, 2016) And then the murders began.

She frowned at me and said, "Objectively, Star Trek the Original Series was not actually a good TV show." And then the murders began.

As hundreds were crammed into the chamber, the mother said to her daughter, “Don’t worry, my sweet, it’s just a shower”. And then the murders began. 

She timidly started to believe that perhaps the humiliation had passed, until she ascended the stage and blood coated her, turning their applause to laughter. And then the murders began.

When I was twelve, it happened - I got my period for the very first time.

And then the murders began.

All I wanted was a Sausage McMuffin with Egg Meal, an iced tea instead of coffee. And then the murders began.

I wiped the blood off my hands, trying to get out of my head that strangely pleasing sound of skin ripping open. And then the murders began.

First the mountains sunk under the oceans, then the skies collapsed. And then the murders began.