EPISODE 6: THE RUN-IN ## CHAPTER 1: TIRED AVOCADOS The fluorescent lights above Piggly Wiggly hum a steady song that usually fades into background noise, but today it shrieks, making my teeth ache just slightly at the edges. The air smells heavy, a damp mix of potting soil and ripe mangoes from the produce aisle. I run a fingertip over a basket overflowing with bell peppers; the slick skin feels cool under my touch. Dolly is asleep on an overturned box near the root vegetables, her breathing barely disturbing the dust motes floating in the aisle light. I am looking at peaches, specifically yellow ones that look almost too perfect, dusted lightly with natural bloom. I pick one up and turn it over, weighting its give against my thumb. They feel like promises of summer heat, suspended right here, between the lettuce and the bell peppers. This run-in feels entirely accidental, a cruel cosmic alignment engineered to hit me when I am feeling slightly too good, slightly too settled in my routine with Dolly napping nearby and the promise of ripe fruit under my fingertips. The store is mostly quiet this late in the afternoon. The few other people scattered among the shoppers move slowly, cartwheels squeaking out little rhythm breaks against the tiled floor. My shopping list—milk, chicken,...