Someone once said, inside of every reporter, there's a novel. And it should stay there.

But sometimes the inspiration is just too much.

Take for instance, last Saturday, as we were working on an overdue homework assignment. Asked to come up with a sentence using a particular word, my son wrote:

"He felt responsible for her because he had saved her."

Wow. I've seen many movies with a lot less plot than that.

Who was she? How did she get into her precarious situation? What caused her plight -- was it circumstance, or some character flaw? If the latter, did that stem from her faulty upbringing, or was it in her nature?

The questions are endless.

And who was he, by the way? Why did he feel responsible -- wasn't rescuing her enough? And, what about his flaws -- why was he in a position to rescue her in the first place?

It ought to be enough for a Hallmark film, at least.

But then it was time for another word.

Sunday, at the convenience store, it happened again.

"I just know some neighbor's dog is going to be k------ up and it's going to be our fault."

That was enough for a News from Lake Wobegon segment, at least.

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Steve Sawyer was ready to deal with state bureaucracy last week, but he wasn't expecting what happened in the process.

Preparing for a short-term church missions trip to Mexico, Sawyer was in Lincoln to get an original copy of his birth certificate.

He was surprised when, as the clerk called "Steve," that a man who had arrived in the office after him stepped up to the window, picked up some documents and left.

Concerned, Sawyer stepped up to the window, and found that he was right -- the other "Steve" had the wrong birth certificate.

Running down the hall, Sawyer caught up with the absconder.

It was "Steve" Bales. Make that the Rev. Steve Bales of McCook, who, by the way, was preparing for a short term church missions trip to Mexico.

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Fellow columnist Ronda Graff was late for a meeting last week, when .... oh, sorry, she said she wanted to use that in her own column on Friday.