PLAIN

"This is a perfect day for bananafish."
"I don't see any," Sybil said.
"That's understandable. Their habits are very particular. Very particular." He kept pushing the float. The water was not quite up to his chest. "They lead a very tragic life," he said. "You know what they do Sybil?"
She shook her head.
"Well, they swim into a hole where there's a lot of bananas. They're very ordinary-looking fish when they swim in. But once they get in, they behave like pigs. Why, I've known some bananafish to swim into a banana hole and eat as many as seventy-eight bananas ." He edged the float and its passenger a foot closer to the horizon. "Naturally, after that they're so fat they can't get out of the hole again. Can't fit through the door."
"Not too far out," Sybil said. "What happens to them?"
"What happens to who?"
"The bananafish."
"Oh, you mean after they eat so many bananas they can't get out of the banana hole?"
"Yes," said Sybil.
"Well, I hate to tell you, Sybil. They die."
- J. D. Salinger(A Perfect Day for Bananafish)

The nights still young, and the party was as lively as ever. Stepping out of the congested residence, the few loitering outside were either adding to the chaos or wasted. Leaning against the stone wall on the side of the house, the cold material seeped through the thin fabric of my sweater.

Playing with the metal lighter in my left hand, the flickering flame was in a constant battle of dominance with the wind. Dimming and illuminating, the fiery colors.

Startled when the flame gave out, a body was roughly pressed against mine.

Pushing the unwanted stranger away, I distanced my body away from theirs until it was firmly pressed against the solid wall.

"Careful sweetheart, you might burn yourself," they chuckled. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes fanning over my sensitive nose.

"What do you want, I'm busy."

Leaning in closer to my face, their stubble scraped my check as they navigated their mouth to my ear, whispering..."I-"