By: Christina Couch

Leech convinced villain after villain to give up their evil ways.

By: Matthew Daniel

I look the Martian in the eyes for longer than I should.

By: Katya Apekina

I miss living along the Mississippi — the swampy air, the damp earth, that artery of water.

By: Friederike Paetzold

Dreamily greeting you as if from an undersea trench…

By: Ramona Lyons

I’m not into any other “cute” little animal-shaped things.

By: Beth Lisick

It presides over us, thinking it’s in stealth mode.

By: Josh Foer

The poor suicide’s face has become “the most kissed” of all time.

By: PROJECT:OBJECT

Kicking off a series of 25 true stories about objects with which we are obsessed.

By: Adrienne Crew

When I look at the fish scaler, I see my family’s frugality and ingenuity.

By: Alissa Walker

Selections were made with a satisfying double-thwang of a letter key and number key pressed in quick succession.

By: Erin M. Routson

The paper wallet still makes me laugh. And cry.

By: Chelsey Johnson

The horses developed complex social networks, animosities and affections.

By: Dave Boerger

I became a “soldier in God’s army.”

By: Tony Leone

Model building was considered nerdy, but I didn’t care — and I still don’t care.

By: Karl Taro Greenfeld

He became the world’s foremost expert in opium antiquities.