A twinkling eye can mean many things. Start with a twinkle in someone’s eye and see where it takes you.

A twinkle in his eye and a twist of her head soon gave the town cause to fall into dread.  Her body was found partially buried in the mayor’s rose garden with her neck snapped.  Sure enough, the press went absolutely wild and panic started to spread throughout the town.  People were losing their minds wondering if they would be next and their neighbors were the killers.

All the while, the real killer looked down from his hill with a twinkle in his eye.  He was content to watch from on high when people tore each other apart in panic.  That was the true nature of humanity: persecution from panic.

A taxi, an old enemy, and Valentine's Day

“Taxi!” Amber called out, her hand extended desperately in the rain.  Of course there was a downpour on Valentine’s Day.  That’s just how bad luck works.  But sure enough, a cab pulled up right next to her.  “Thanks,” she said, stepping in and shaking her stuff off.  Looking up at the road ahead, she was alarmed to find a gun pointed right at her and a familiar face looking back from the driver’s seat.

“Hello, Amber,” he growled.  “Long time no see.”

Thanksgiving on Mars

"It's Thanksgiving on Mars. So what are the colonists giving thanks for? What event or dreadful times did they survive and now celebrate? Are there heroes and villains? Was it Human versus Nature? Who survived and who died?

You can write their first Thanksgiving. Or their tenth. Or their hundredth.

What is the meal like? What kind of food do they grow on Mars? What would count as a feast? Are there special foods that tie into the period they're giving thanks for?"

It had been 85 years since the first colonization of Mars.  Traditions never die, certainly, but the change of yearly orbit time certainly threw off people’s calendars.  Still, adjustments happened and the old holidays flourished, including Thanksgiving.  That said, given that there was a new world to hold it on, changes to the menu were inevitable.

Turkeys got smaller due to them being raised in confined areas and the spuds now had a reddish tint to them.  Pumpkin pie hadn’t changed much, but that was almost red anyway.  Corn, of all things, was purple and massive, due to some elements in the soil triggering a reaction in the stalks.  Similarly, cranberries had also swelled to an enormous size and could be juiced to make sauce for five households or sliced up and enjoyed like a melon.