1.
The pound cake made his mother’s mouth dry. Her voice sounded starchy. The only water left in the house was from the tap, and she refused to drink it.

2.
The kid next door fell from his bike in the middle of the street. Splayed on the asphalt, he rolled on his back and his knee was spiked with pebbles.

3.
She walked from the pool. She was heavy around her thighs. The water remained on her skin as if each drop was affixed by glue.

4.
The bong had an MLB sticker on the side. He eased it from the backpack like a museum piece.

5.
His friend swept the aisles at the cinema and propped open the exit door for him. His first few sneaks were cautious but soon he became relaxed. It is a curious moment when the unacceptable becomes acceptable. He thought that most people are not aware of the shift, and only years later, as older souls, did they look back and try to reconstruct their conversion from safe to unsafe. Only when it was too late would they recall when they had moved from the dead to the living.