I think I should have my own TV show, and actually it would be really fun. I would call it CATching up with Olivia, and I would describe everything I ate that day. I would talk all about my love and her tiger eyes and her smooth stride. I would also investigate the type and quality of naps there are, because there are so many different kinds. Short and deep—I call that kind “the wishing well.” The very light doze, kind of half under, which can go on for hours—I call those “skateboards.” The sort you have in front of the TV when a good show is playing (NOT this show) and you kind of take in the plot but are also asleep—those are called “whisperers.” When you are being stroked to sleep and the rumble of your purr blends with the deep voice of the earth … I don’t have a name for those ones yet. But they’re so good.

Anyway I think it would be good to share my experience and all the valuable thoughts I have. Kind of like I’m doing now, but in a visual medium, because I am very camera-friendly.

TED

I miss Lauren so much. Now the first shock is over, I know that of course she cannot be the Murderer. Not that she wouldn’t do it, but she couldn’t. She can’t go outside. How would she have got the traps? Laid them, without me knowing? No, it cannot be Lauren. She wrote her name on the list to upset me. She likes to do that.

She has to stay away for now, until I figure out what to do with her.

By the time bug-man day comes around again, I have lost pounds and pounds. I am shaky but I can walk down the street without staggering. That’s good. I have questions.

I start talking almost before he has closed the door.

“I’ve started watching this new TV show,” I say. “It’s really good.”

The bug man clears his throat. He pushes his glasses fussily up his nose. They are square with thick black frames, probably expensive. I wonder what his life is like, if he ever gets sick of hearing people talk about themselves all day.

“As I’ve said before, if you want to spend our time talking about what you watched on television—it’s your hour. But—”