I'm going to get some dog food from somebody on craiglist. I think there's some sort of shortage, or maybe I'm just out. They live in a dumpy place, up a dark, narrow stairway on the second floor. I come up first, and then introduce Vera, and Sydney, and Bella. The room is messy and crowded, and in one corner is a stove where a scraggly-looking man is warming a huge bowl, like a wok, of dry dog food and water. That's on the front left burner, and on the burner just behind is a small frying pan, where they appear to be cooking some eggs, as if for breakfast, though it is evening.

They start asking me questions about the dogs, like how well they are treated, as if trying to qualify us for deserving the dog food. I tell them that we have a nice house, and they have a doggie door where they can go outside whenever they want, trying not be annoyed.