Wake-dreaming, Lamb is in his office alone with the lights out. A miniature buffalo chews the carpet absent-mindedly, coughing asthmatically in the dark.

He sits at his desk in this dry place and feels thirsty. Smoke detectors form red constellations across the ceiling. He stares into space a while, then re-focuses on the buffalo. It stops to brush its snout with a hoof. Lamb believes his life would be simpler were it lived as a buffalo.

Other than pigeons and rodents, he cannot remember the last time he saw an animal alive in the wild. Suddenly, there is a palm tree raining coconuts, and all but one of these disappear. The miniature buffalo looks at the coconut and kicks it at the wall. Lamb doesn’t say anything. He wonders why the buffalo is in his office. He moves his tongue around his mouth and tries to breathe. He rubs his eyes for a while. When he stops, the buffalo is gone.