A man walked past her on the sidewalk. His dark eyes darted to her face before snapping back to an invisible point in the distant horizon.

She saw his surreptitious glance.

He must be the one! she thought to herself. He won’t stay out of my mind.

Placing a hand over each ear, she began to violently shake her head back and forth, hoping to forcefully eject his thoughts from her mind.

“No, I won’t work for the aliens! No! No! I don’t know the aliens! I won’t work for them! Leave me alone!”

If you don’t work for the aliens, she heard him say, his voice low and gruff, like the sound of gravel grinding underfoot, then they will kill you.

“No! It’s not right! I can’t work for the aliens! Go away! Go away!”

I know where you live and I will follow you wherever you go. Just do as I say and work for the aliens.

“No!”

They will kill you if you don’t do as I say.

“NO!” she shouted. She started to run down the sidewalk and the crowd magically parted around her—everyone thought she was crazy.

A man walked past her on the sidewalk. His dark eyes darted to her face before snapping back to an invisible point in the distant horizon.

She saw his surreptitious glance.

He thinks I’m fat, too, she thought to herself. Everyone thinks I’m fat.

Wrapping her loose coat around her limbs, she turned her gaze downwards and began to walk faster. She felt her pant legs rub against each other as her legs scissored across the concrete surface—in fact, that was the source of that terrible rustling sound.

Oh my—everyone can hear my legs rub against each other! It’s like I’m announcing that I’m fat to everyone!

She tried to take wider steps to prevent her thighs from touching each other, but that compromised the speed of her gait. A frustrated sigh left her lips as she continued to weave her way through the crowd of people. Their intrusive eyes fixed upon her body before they moved away—

I’m so fat that they need to make extra room for me!

A man walked past her on the sidewalk. His dark eyes darted to her face before snapping back to an invisible point in the distant horizon.

She saw his surreptitious glance.

He thinks I’m hot, she thought to herself. He wants to ask me out, I know it.

Her stiletto heels clicked loudly against the concrete catwalk and, after he passed her, she swiveled her hips with more panache to offer him a teasing view of her backside.

They all look back—what’s there not to like?

With a gentle toss of her head, her long hair floated over her shoulder and landed softly on her back, revealing more of her voluptuous figure. Throwing her shoulders back and pushing her chest out, she continued to sashay along the sidewalk while the crowd parted around her.

I’m so gorgeous that everyone wants to look at my delicious body.

A man walked past her on the sidewalk. His dark eyes darted to her face before snapping back to an invisible point in the distant horizon.

She saw his surreptitious glance.

I wonder where he’s going, she thought to herself. He looked so serious.

Shifting the position of her bag on her shoulder, she leaned into the mass of people traveling the other direction.

I hope the bus hasn’t arrived yet.

Her trail weaved towards the curb, then back to the relative safety of the buildings, then to the small square plots of grass surrounding the tree stumps. The crowd parted around her—

I hope I don’t hit anyone with my bag.