food
— A child shares an apricot with a bird that grows arms, carries her away, then transforms into a beaked human named Carry in a world where apricots hang above.
— A solitary dinner becomes surreal when the narrator realizes their guest across the table is actually their own reflection in a mirror.
— After a fire destroys their farm's crops and orchard, Oscar must decide whether to sell his beloved foal Rose to help his family survive the winter.
— A visit to a family's longtime East Los Angeles bakery triggers memories spanning generations, from the writer's great-grandfather to present-day holiday gatherings.
— A hungry five-year-old boy unknowingly reports his parents for treason to a dystopian government in exchange for candy, not understanding what he's done.
— A spoiled rich man loses everything when his parents die, struggles to find work, and eventually creates a program to help homeless people become rideshare drivers.
— While her mother is sick, a daughter seizes the chance to cook in the usually forbidden kitchen, making pizza with nervous care as a surprise.
— When humans sleep, kitchen objects come alive for nightly revelry — dancing in washcloth dresses, gossiping, playing ping-pong, and sneaking cookie crumbs before dawn signals their return to stillness.
— A 13-year-old visits an indigenous village in Ecuador's jungle and confronts the stark contrasts between their sustainable lifestyle and American consumption.
— An alien from planet Watercolors dreams of being an explorer, builds his own spaceship to visit Earth, and ends up copying everything humans say because he doesn't speak English.