Sam walked into the grocery store. Must get prunes. Prunes and Ipecac. Sam’s grandmother, Gia, had accidentally consumed some bleach with her morning tea. She thought she was putting milk in it. It was an opaque bottle after all. The prunes were for the dog, Lola, who had swallowed Gia’s wedding ring shortly after she took it off so she “wouldn’t lose it” in the commotion of being poisoned.

Sam scanned the signage in the store. Canned/Dried Fruits, aisle 3B. Medicines, aisle 7. 5 minutes and he’d be on his way back to his grandma’s, where he’d be the family hero until Thanksgivingtime. Sam had picked up the prunes, and was on his way to the aisle 7 when his phone vibrated, indicating a text message. It was his mother.

Shes dead. come home plz

Sam dropped the phone on the tile floor. He raced out the store, inadvertantly shoplifted prunes in hand, and got home as quickly as possible. He saw Gia, still breathing, barely, in a chair.

Lola was sprawled dead on the floor.