Katie stirred her bowl of warm wallpaper glue and grimaced. “There’s nothing worse than this,” she griped. “Warm tapioca pudding on a warm afternoon.” She dropped her spoon into the mass with a sigh and turned to her friend Angelica. “What dessert do you have?”

“A carrot.” Katie laughed until Angelica lifted a chopped-up carrot in a baggie.

“Oh my god, you’re being serious right now.”

Angelica dropped her ‘dessert’ back into her temperature controlled box and hung her head. “If my mother doesn’t take me off this diet, I’m going to try to eat my pencils.” She laughed ruefully. “At least they smell better than these carrots.”

Katie patted her friend on the shoulder while offering her the pudding. “If it’s sugar you’re looking for…”

Angelica paused before shaking her head. “I’m hungry, Kat, not delirious.”

“Have it your way,” Katie sang as she stood and dumped the contents on the ground. “Let the ants have it.” After a few seconds of her staring at the ground, she laughed, “What a waste.”