The dog felt that he’d wandered into something special. The factory produced mannequin legs. Facsimiles of human legs stacked everywhere, and Horace was nowhere to be seen. No one could stop him. He stretched casually, no rush, and got to work.

***

“That’s the last mistake you’ll make,” Tom said to Kenny.  No one in the room said anything. Then Tina broke the silence. “You mean ‘steak’,” she said. Tom sat down and stared at his hands while the rest of his coworkers at The MEAT-ing Place wished Kenny a happy retirement.

***

Daniel twisted the USB cable between his fingers. It had been hers. She used it to charge her phone, he remembered. He licked it. It still tasted like her. A mixture of rubber, plastic, and metal.