Which Animal Walks With You?

Somebody says something kind about you out of nowhere.

What happens?

I I say thank you properly. It isn't difficult. II I don't believe it, and I say so. III I change the subject before they have finished. IV I give it straight back, bigger. V I'll be thinking about that sentence next week. VI I make a joke so that we can both stop.

A garden nobody is looking after, and room for exactly one on your windowsill.

Which do you pick?

CrackweedWhite, small, and growing out of a split in a paving stone. Nobody planted it and nothing was going to stop it. NightbellPale blue, shut all day, and open now. If you had come at any other hour you would have walked past it. LamplightA plain yellow one on a path everybody walks down. Nothing rare about it and it's the only thing in bloom. ThornwakeDeep red, and the stem is more thorn than stem. Beautiful, and it will take something from you on the way out. HeadturnerEnormous, pink, and facing away from you. It's following something else and it isn't going to turn round. EverlastingDried, brown at the edges, and it has looked exactly like this for 4 years. It will outlast all of these.

6 things on a wall, and you looked at one of them first.

Which one catches your eye?

Nobody wants to be the one who starts, and it has been quiet for a while now.

Which are you?

Last. I'd rather watch how it goes for everybody else. First. Somebody has to, and waiting is worse than going.

6 words, and no explanation of any of them. Pick the one that speaks the most to you.

Do not think about it.

Hurry Heart Thorn Depth Ember Dusk

A corridor of doors, and not one of them is labeled.

Which one do you open?

the one left open the overgrown one the one with all the locks the double one the low one the tall one

6 glasses on a bar, all of them free, and one of them is yours.

Which do you drink?

SeafoamGreen, sharp, and still moving in the glass. Tastes faintly of a place you have never been. AshwaterAsh gray, perfectly still, no ice. Bitter in a way you either like or you don't — and something in it catches the light. HoneylightGold, thick and slow, lit from somewhere inside. Too sweet, but you will finish it. NightcapDeep red, warm, in something with a stem. One is plenty and you know it. Bramble FizzDark purple, loud, full of ice. Somebody will knock it over and it will be worth it. MoonmilkWarm, pale and barely sweet. Tastes like being 8 and told to go back to bed.

One place, and you have to live in it. The mountain, or the sea.

Where do you go?

Out. I want something that doesn't end where I can see. Up. I want to see a long way and be hard to get to.

2 years, both of them yours. One of them was better.

Which sounds more like a good year?

Nothing had to change. Everything changed.

Somebody is about to say one of two things about you, and you get to choose which.

Which would you rather hear?

That you were kind. That you were right.

6 chests, all of them yours. You may take exactly one.

Which do you carry out?

the plain one the one standing open the one bound in iron the little one the one somebody has already opened the one that's locked

What was the real reason you said no?

Be honest.

I I'd have been the only one there like me. II I said yes. I simply didn't go. III I had nothing left to give and couldn't admit it. IV I didn't want to. That's the whole reason. V I already had better plans and I'm not sorry. VI I was waiting to be asked a second time.

2 things, and you have to say which one you would mind more.

Which is worse?

Being watched while you do something. Being left out of something.

Somebody new is obviously trying to get close to you.

And?

I I'm already attached and trying very hard to hide it. II I enjoy it and give nothing back yet. III I go quiet for a while to see what they do. IV I wait and see whether they keep showing up. V I figure out what they're after first. VI I let them. I always let them.

It's 3 in the morning and you're wide awake.

I I'm building something nobody asked for. II I'm fine. I'll sleep when I sleep. III Of course I am. This is when I'm at my best. IV I'm going over something from 4 years ago. V I'm already up and doing something about it. VI I have texted somebody to see if they're up.

4 ways out of the same square, and you aren't being told where any of them go.

Which one do you walk down?

the one with nothing in it the one with the lights the one you can't see the end of the one going back to green

Somebody has done something unfair and nobody has said anything.

I I freeze, and think of what to say at 2 in the morning. II I don't confront them. I just make sure it costs them later. III I remember it. For years. IV I say it. Right then, out loud. V I say nothing. I just stop showing up around them. VI I say it afterwards, to the person it happened to.

A silence has gone on slightly too long.

I I check whether everyone is all right. II I say the thing nobody else will. III I change the subject to something easier. IV I wait. Somebody else will crack first. V I break it. I always do, and I don't mind. VI I already stopped listening before the silence.

One of these is nearer true than the other.

Which do you believe about yourself?

That I'm mostly the same person I was. That I have been several people by now.

Something you have loved for years is suddenly everywhere and everyone is into it.

How do you react?

I I never said it was mine. II I go and find the next one. III I was there first and I'm going to mention it. IV It isn't mine any more and I'm quietly done with it. V Good. I want them to have it. VI I keep the part of it that nobody else found.

Somebody is letting you pick the room. All you get to see first is the window.

Which window is yours?

something growing on the sill rain on the glass books stacked against it the curtains nearly shut a crack across the pane a sky full of stars

You're asked to stand on one side or the other. Nobody will explain what it's for.

Which do you take?

The light. I'd rather be seen than wonder what is out there. The dark. It has never frightened me and it's quieter.

What do you want people to remember about you?

I That I came back every time. II That I was strange and it was worth it. III That I was there. IV That I was never anything but myself. V That it was more fun with me in it. VI That I noticed people.

Somebody you love is wrong about something, and saying so won't go well.

Which do you choose?

The truth. They would want to know, even like this. The peace. It costs them nothing not to find out from me.

You have got it wrong, and everybody can see that you have.

What do you do?

I I argue for a while and then I think about it. II I say so first, before anybody else can. III I decide it wasn't that wrong. IV I'm mortified, and it stays with me. V I apologize properly and move on. VI I fix it quietly and hope nobody noticed.

A box of things belonging to somebody who isn't coming back for it.

What do you do with it?

Keep it. All of it, exactly where it is. Burn it. I'm not going to be able to walk past it every day.

A room full of people you don't know.

I I find the one other person standing on their own. II I find the host and make myself useful. III I'm genuinely fine either way. IV I'll know 4 of them by the end. V I'm outside within 20 minutes. VI I figure out who runs the room, then decide.

What do people decide about you too quickly?

I That I have a plan. II That I'm fine on my own. I am, but I'd rather not be. III That I'm quiet, but I just choose who I talk to. IV That I'm softer than I am. V That I missed it. I have never once missed it. VI That nothing gets to me.

Nobody is going to hold you to this one.

Which life would you take?

A large one you have to share. A small life that's entirely yours.

Somebody is an hour late and hasn't said why.

I Relief, instantly, and I'm not proud of it. II I have found somebody else within 4 minutes. III I'm hurt and I'll remember it. IV I go anyway, on my own. V I say it's fine. I think about it for 2 days. VI Good. Now I can do what I actually wanted to do.

Somebody you love is having a bad week.

I I handle whatever caused it. II I sit with them and say almost nothing. III I just show up. I don't ask if they want me to. IV I make them laugh until it's a bit better. V I'm not good at this and I know it. VI I ask what they want and then do exactly that.

Something you made has gone wrong in front of people.

I I laugh first, so everyone else is allowed to. II I fix it where I stand and say nothing. III Fine. There are 4 more of these at home. IV I decide it was always meant to look like that. V I start it again from the beginning. VI I never show anyone anything again. For a while.

6 things people are afraid of, and one of them is yours.

Which one actually gets you?

Too many legsSmall, fast, and it has already gone somewhere you can't see. The darkNot what is in it. Not being able to tell whether anything is. The long way downNot falling. Standing near the edge and knowing exactly how it would feel. Nobody comesThe light under the door goes past twice and the handle never turns. Everyone turning to lookYou said something, the room went quiet, and every head came up. No roomWalls near enough to touch on both sides, and nearer than they were.

Somebody's purse, on the path, with nobody in sight. There's a name in it.

What do you actually do?

I Hand it in and stop thinking about it. II Track them down, however long it takes. III Keep what is in it. I won't pretend otherwise. IV Look inside first. For the name, obviously. V Take it home. Find it under my bed in March. VI Leave it. They will come back for it.

What is the thing you wouldn't say out loud?

I That I want to be needed more than I let on. II That I'm still not over it. III That I like myself better alone. IV That I'm keeping score. V That I already made up my mind and I'm just letting you talk. VI That I don't know what I'm doing and never have.