The black dog slept against the iron fence. Her torso raised and lowered with each heaving breath of her heat-induced sleep. Water sloshed in front of her nose and her eyes flickered open. With eyes as dark as ink, she looked up. “Just give it to him,” One girl said, giving the shoulder of the other a light push. “My mom specifically told me not to give strays anything.” “What if she’s not a stray, Ali?” Impatient, Ali grabbed the plastic container of water and placed it in f

We met in the rain. Yet, your hair wasn’t wet because you held an umbrella flush to your chest. The drops cut through the burning street lamps that lined the cobblestone road, leaving behind blurry streaks of blue. Squeaking boots from streets over left us alone but reminded us it was not, truly, just the two of us. Your dark eyes searched me for what? Money? Or sex? Both. You took my hand but I tugged you in the opposite direction of your pull. You whispered your name in my