I picked up the error slip off the counter and dropped it in the trash.

At six in the evening, the house was completely silent.

The grandfather clock in the hallway ticked along slow and steady.

I sat at the kitchen table and poured a cup of tea from the ceramic pot.

The tea was dark and stone cold.

I had let the bag steep for almost an hour while I sat there in the chair.

I swallowed the cold tea anyway.