‘It’s easy to stand out when you’re surrounded by trash.’ Jo again. The ash of her cigarette was a slow growing grey arc that drowsed toward the yellow formica table in the kitchen at the famous Orange House. Sun cut through the window. A daffodil plucked from a neighbours garden the day before lolled from the mouth of an old time coke bottle half full of tap water. I was rummaging through the fridge for a can of beer. I’d stashed one among the condiments the night before and was pretty sure that her dope addled roommates were more lazy than desperate. I found the can of Pils tucked in the corner behind a giant bottle of Frank’s hot sauce. Cracking the Pils, I turn, “Who can possibly need that much hot sauce? You guys running a chicken wing speakeasy up in here when I’m not around?” Jo laughed, looked up from under her bangs with something like love and said, “naw, that’s just Devon. He’s all about the Costco now. We’ve got enough toilet paper to get us through a nuclear winter.” | image by Katrin Korfmann via @basedonart.