“He said nothing, and turned back to continue his stride down the sidewalk.”

“The establishment of new republics raised wider hopes of a decisive stride towards democracy.”

“A male water strider can dislodge the sperm of the previous male and thus tries to mate with many females.”

“When a female water strider has mated, she rejects all subsequent males, both high and low quality.”

“I approached it again, this time dimpling the water with a stick, and the strider burst into a long run of skips like a skimming stone.”