Summary

In “Big,” Blandine works “at a diner called Ampersand” (65). On “the day before she exits her body,” she is irritated with all of her customers (65).

In “Please Just,” Joan suffers from misophonia, making noise pollution a trigger for her anxiety (71). She feels particularly sensitive while riding the train.

In “My First Was a Fish,” although “most people wouldn’t feel bad” about killing a fish, the fish’s death convinced Jack he was wicked (74). He does not know his parents, but he did have a good foster family. His psychologist thinks he is “repressing traumatic memories,” but he is unsure (75). He knows other foster kids have had it worse than him. Unsure what to do with the fish after killing it, he showed Blandine. She laughed, delighting Jack.

In “Chemical Hazard,” Moses’s favorite pastime is covering his naked body...