I visited my cousin in Phoenix because he promised we would check out the “dessert animals” together. In the plane I dreamed of rare delights: sucking down a Jell-O sidewinder shooter; nibbling a chocolate scorpion. “So when should we go to the zoo?” he asked at the airport, heat shimmering off the sand. When he dropped my luggage in his car’s backseat a set of brand new silverware clanked. I thought, damn you, typos. Damn you.

(Entered in Painted Bride Quarterly‘s Sidecar #5 Contest)