The air conditioned interior was a welcome reprieve from the warm evening outside, and so Tim took his time traversing the tiled aisles. Gradually, he retrieved all of the items on the list and brought them to the front. He paid for the goods, watching as a teenage employee packed them carelessly into plastic bags; when he exited the store, he bent down and fished out the hot dog buns, placing them on top so that they would not get squished beneath the weight of the other items.

Darkness slowly settled in, erasing the fading daylight with each passing step; by the time Tim arrived back at his parents’ cabin, there was a scant amount of golden glow still struggling to climb above the trees. He entered the backyard and was surprised to see a number of Tiki torches lit, along with a series of citronell...

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