One Mouth

On a day, the spaniel found a miniature soccer ball by the creek behind the house. Fearful that his owners might confiscate this booty, he remained in the far reaches of the yard, attempting to hide behind the trees. When, after some time, he ventured to re-join the family on the deck, the ball remained lodged in his mouth. 

A difficult moment came when the son of the owners presented to the dog a single tortilla chip, on the ground near his feet. The dog poked his head toward the chip, hoping to develop a second mouth for the purpose of eating the small snack, while his Main Mouth held the ball securely. This wish was not fulfilled, however, and instead he hit the chip with the ball, breaking it into three pieces. 

It was then determined by the dog that he would have to let the ball go in order to ingest the chip. As a family member reached gently for the ball to pry it loose, unsure if it had become stuck or if the dog was merely biting it fiercely, the ball at last came loose. The dog gasped for air, letting an avalanche of saliva fall to the boards of the deck. 

At last, the ball rolled free, while the broken chip made its way into the mouth of the dog. 

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Cake-side

A woman with a surgically altered mouth waits to order her pastries at the local candy store. Because her mouth is less predictable than the mouths on either side of her, she is nervous. She stands before the counter as a gymnast upon her beam, breathless and taught. Her head darts back and forth as she anticipates her turn. She must be quick. The cafe is quite busy this morning. The woman on the other side of the glass, cake-side, asks, “What can I get you?” And the woman does manage a quick reply: “Two of the jam cookies, please.” She is so anxious to get it out that her gesture toward these treats proves useful. She was no more calm when it came time to pay, which was, in her case, immediately after receiving the two cookies in the bag provided. People with more complex orders would use the register, while she was offered the convenience of paying on the spot, as though she were on the streets of New York and not in this quaint bakery in Pasadena. Still quite eager, the woman threw her dollar bills over the top of the glass counter, so that a five dollar note landed across not one, but two, freshly baked croissants. The next person in line saw this and made eye contact with the woman dealing out baked goods, who promptly removed both croissants from the stand – the cake altar. In less than a moment, the space on the tray sat empty, vacant, as did the space where the woman had stood, as though on trial, ready to order and successfully acquire two jam cookies.

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Pink House

Of the several houses that made up his father’s House, he grew up in the pink one. I don’t know how else to describe it, this cattle rancher said: “it’s pink.” 

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Forearms

It was crucial that the customer only request to smell, and hear the description of, four lotions. More than four would have meant that the saleswoman would run out of space on her arm for demonstrating how the cream would be applied, and for allowing the customer to smell the various scents being described (though the customer could not have felt the pepper unless she bought the cream, or, perhaps, a wash). When she was showing the samples, she first used the inside of the wrist. Then, she turned her arm over and used her forearm. For the last two samples, she turned to her left arm, first applying the cream to the inside of her wrist, and then turning, once again, to the outer forearm. Each time, she described what the cream was called, what was in it, and how it would feel when applied, if purchased. She held the portion of her arm up to the face of the customer, as if to suggest that the customer would only smell the latest scent, this one portion of the arm, rather than the other side of the wrist or forearms, or any other part of the body of the saleswoman, to which many creams, gels, and cleansers were applied each day. 

Not far from the customer and the saleswoman was a large sink with several faucets, where, in the sight of the public, the salespeople could, throughout the day, wash themselves clean.