The spring heatwave looped on and on with temperatures in the low hundreds. In the unconditioned air of his spare tenement apartment, Cooper directed traffic from his bunk bed, spurring the gas molecules to stream from a region of high pressure to a region of low pressure.

  Ideally, the lowest pressure would materialize here, in his home. The winds of the world could then gust, as fast as possible, upon his head with underlying psyche.

  “Come on! Just move!” Cooper flicked a dangling hand like a dead body returning to earthly existence from a bright white tunnel to heaven.

  There, the temperature hovered around seventy degrees constantly. Liberated from its corporeal husk, the soul no longer boiled or melted.

  From deep down a memory well, Cooper slaved to extract the magical delusion of refreshing coolness he remembered experiencing throughout his plain, simple, scant life story, yet couldn’t reload into reexperience by his overheated brain.

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  He sobbed under the soaked paper towel plastering his face. The water warmed and that was all. It didn’t boil off in the humidity.

  Last night, he hadn’t slept much. Tonight, he wouldn’t sleep that much. In hours, he could coast off to work. At work, he found oblivion in operation. He daydreamed in the sticky darkness of sinking, as in a sink, deeper, deeper to slumber.

  After sundown, the humid air cooled so slowly that it didn’t until the morning. Then, it did. Around dawn, a nice, cooling drift teased Cooper through the open windows. He unstuck his skin from the sheets and flipped over into the wind. Using a giant kitchen funnel, he channeled the intake into a feeble outflow, giving him false hope.

  More hopeful would have been a fan, fit into a window frame, spinning the steamy air. Realistically though, the city prohibited window fans, as much as air conditioners. Both were ugly. Both made noise. Nothing consumed for comfort was worth the spiraling cost.

  The population of the city was young and healthy. All could do without. The city allocated cheap dwellings to singles within a half-mile of their jobs.

  Work the job.

  Pay the price.

  Live the law.

  The pact seemed too perfect to quit. Cooper dozed off. When he woke soon after, he assimilated a surround sound.