s so damn cold, it’s enougo shrivel your balls.”

    “ake it easy. t o do t you’ve got to plan it. And  all arranged so it’ll  a c it slo rus. ‘tient beggar earns his keep.’ ”

    “Yeaient hooker earns her keep.”

    Miyake soo young to be making sucime,” he said.

    Miyake erlacing til o resemble some kind of avant-garde sculpture. Stepping back a feructed, adjust some of to ting times. As al to begin al images of tlest movement of tor can imagine tone.

    Miyake took ime, but once o isfaction, o say to ’s it: perfect. Next, s of ne  along, slipped t ttom of t tic cigarette ligook tes from , put one in ruck a matcared at Miyake’s : t-stopping moment of tc erupt in giant flames?

    tared in silence at tain of drifts of ne, t out. After t t didn’t  Junko. t ter t looked.

    Se smoke s up from to disperse it, traigo  fire someill there was no sign of flames.

    No one said a alkative Keisuke kept  tig pockets. Miyake , cigarette in  occasionally, as if suddenly recalling t it here.

    As usual, Junko t about Jack London’s “to Build a Fire.” It ory of a man traveling alone terior and tempts to ligo deat catc read mucion, but t one s story seac as an essay topic during tion of  year in ory o mind as s as  important of all, t t tally longing for deat for sure. S explain  s from tart. Deat ed.  it  ending for  o go on fig. o fig an over sed contradiction.

    teac ed? t’s a nerange! Quite ‘original,’ I’d o say.” he class, and everybody laughed.