I just about made the deadline with my 40 sentences - not as easy as I thought it would be! Now I have the weekend to decide which of these to expand into bites. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

#40: It was disquieting to watch him pack away his things with the kind of methodical attention to detail that one might expect from a surgeon.

#39: The careless way in which the slippers had been kicked off made the whole situation unbearable and Mary suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

#38: Not wanting to come on too strong, Phillip suggested that she might prefer him to drive her home now, before the rain made their return impossible, knowing all the while how much she would wrestle with the decision that had really been made before the first course was served.

#37: There is little to say about my father and what I have revealed already has given away more about him than I ever intended you to know.

#36: A night of bitter cold and bad dreams took away any resolve that Sheena had built the previous night and she stood in front of the mirror accepting the inevitability of her fate with the dull resignation of a woman much older than her years.

#35: A white sheet billowed on the clothes line that was strung on the small terraced balcony between two rusty nails, revealing, as the wind filled its corners, a young woman smoking a cigarette on a window ledge.

#34: With gloved fingers and an ill-fitting trench coat, whose sleeves unravelled regardless of how tightly they had been rolled, Mark persevered with the locked door until the key snapped and any hope of him gaining access was gone.

#33: It was not a straightforward decision: latte or cappuccino, and Eleanor never quite had the courage to ask what the difference was between the two.

#32: I walked along the tow path where it narrows after the bridge and the great bodies of oak trees were reflected in the water in such a solid, dependable way that I could go no further.

#31: Something had unnerved him, making it impossible to find a conversation thread that might unravel some of his complexity; it was going to be a long evening.

#30: There was nothing for it but to drive both of them to the community centre and demand an explanation.

#29: They said God was interested in the detail, but it looked to him more like a random string of events that suggested, if God truly were involved, a rather careless way of doing things.

#28: Sunlight dirtied by the window pane distracted Joe for several minutes as the apartment was emptied of the hopeless light of dawn and transformed into a perfectly respectable living space in which it felt foolish to be frightened.

#27: It wasn’t an outright insult, but more of a veiled accusation that took so long to sink in that by the time Robert reacted to it the conversation had moved on to something else and his witty response would have been lost. 

#26: The Autumn had brought with it a restlessness and Annie found herself yearning for the solidity of Winter with its reliable chill and dark evenings.

#25: Nothing had been spared in the flood; even the hand-woven curtains had soaked the water up to their pelmet and hung there looking so sorry for themselves that Mrs. Hanley reached out to them.

#24: The photograph, although faded considerably, showed a young man in side profile, his nose unmistakeably inherited from the Grantham family, his eyes downcast as if he knew that one day we would be scrutinising the image for proof.

#23: It was not due to lack of desire, but rather a slowing down of his reaction time that she mistook for rejection and turned on her heel, leaving him alone on a street corner that smelled of chlorine and freshly baked bread.

#22: For brother and sister they were remarkably dissimilar and so bent on asserting their independence from one another that it was too tempting not to arrange another appointment the following week to explore the complexity further.

#21: So unusual was the sight of a bird other than a common pigeon, that it stopped Harrison in his tracks and he watched as the blue tit took a bath in a pavement puddle before disappearing into a neighbouring garden.

#20: There was nothing attractive about him apart from his availability and the way he didn’t seem to mind that his shirt was painfully out of place beside his cargo trousers.   

#19: A rust-coloured Cocker Spaniel regarded her with suspicion as she made her way to the front door with slow, deliberate steps; nothing was going to stop her from finding out the truth.

#18: It was embarrassing, all the pomp and fanfare dedicated to such an insignificant event.

#17: As a couple they were impossible to be around, but as separate individuals one could catch them off guard and truly enjoy a conversation.

#16: There was nothing quite as beguiling as watching his mother attending to the guests’ every whim and desire.

#15: He thanked her and threw himself into the road as the number 9a bus passed by.

#14: I’m not sure why Sylvia asked the question, or what she hoped to achieve, but the professor’s shock was so satisfying that it didn’t really matter.

#13: If they hadn’t been related, he would have ceased all contact with her by now, but seeing as she was his sister, there was little more he could do than accept the likelihood of them being bound to one another for many more years.

#12: The dishes had propagated to fill every available space on the counter tops, leaving Joe with no other option but to start a pile on the floor beneath the sink.

#11: Nothing could have prepared them for the stench of a non-air-conditioned hospital ward where the women’s wounds were undressed and their soiled bed-clothes unchanged.

#10: Katie described him as someone whose appearance was not altogether striking but who, when enough time was spent considering his face, would become quite good looking.

#9: A single cupcake supported the weight of several rounds of butter cream icing, three candles and a sprinkling of oddly-shaped alphabet letters that spelled her name.

#8: Although she was sitting at a table surrounded by friends, the woman with the long, dark hair seemed lonelier than any of the diners who were eating alone. 

#7: It was an insurmountable task: seven huge text books covering every aspect of law relevant to his case, a file of handwritten notes and a large bowl of monkey nuts that would give his hands something to do while he read.

#6: Whether he was intending to be smug, or it was just his natural response to winning, was irrelevant; the damage had been done and Phillip would not be able to rest until he had found a way to re-assert his superiority.

#5: If you were introduced to this scene, you might focus on the woman in red standing with an elongated neck in anticipation of the train, or the well-dressed gentleman content with his newspaper, but do not overlook the young boy on the opposite platform who is part-concealed by the shadow of the signpost – he is the most interesting of all.

#4: In spite of her best efforts to hide behind flawless make-up and several feet of perfume, one only had to look inside her handbag to see evidence of hoarding, disorganisation and a lack of self-control.

#3: After an hour of searching every drawer and cupboard in the house, Fiona was defeated by her husband’s ability to leave no trace of the other man that he was rumoured to be.

#2: If he were to pin it down to a particular moment, it would be the early evening his daughter stood silhouetted against the seascape, transfixed by something she knew she had to stand still to appreciate.

#1: Following the funeral, Lynn waited in the car park until the guests had left for the afternoon tea, then she returned to the graveside and sat there until dusk set in and she could no longer feel her fingers.