thanksgiving was meaningful

"I'm glad that I got my new job as secretary to Mr. Pomell, C.E.O. of Hadwick corporation," Aunt Kathy beamed.
Applause.
Next around the table was Uncle Henry, "I'm glad for one more year I could spend with my wonderful wife," She glowed and they kissed.
"I'm glad for all this wonderful food!" said little Johnny and everyone laughed approvingly.
"You're next buddy. What are you thankful for?"
I stole a glance at the girl sitting next to me and blushed a deeper hue than the cranberry sauce sitting apprehensively on the table. I fumbled for a throwaway thank, something anybody could say and mean. But I hadn't prepared and all I could think of was last night and what Thanksgiving would forever mean to me since.

he had too much homework

He stared at the clock on his wall. The seconds were too short, yet the hours too long. The time he had left to accomplish all that was set out ahead of him quickly faded yet it seemed he had been there forever, feverishly scanning books, scribbling shoddy sentences, transforming formulas, converting units, and sketching diagrams. He was positive that he work must have been breeding because not only was the stack of finished material exponentially smaller that that of what was still to be done, but he had begun to do work on subjects he had never heard of; numbers in religion, the history of physical education. But he persevered and pushed on throught the much and slough, all the while the words, "no rest for the wicked," coursing through his mind...