“The crows were cawing. I gazed around at the room for some time. Every corner of it was exposed in the light entering from the veranda and through the window. I realized that I’d made it all—not just the center, but the whole. The bones and the meat, it was all me. I thought back to the instant before I’d thrown my fist. The dirty glass, the bowl still full of broth, the remote control. I’d cast my eye over them and chosen the cotton swabs which were the simplest to clean up. Laughter rose in me like a bubble, then burst with a pop.”

— “Idol Burning” by Rin Usami