I am in an old stone tower on a hillside overlooking the ocean. A group of us are hanging out, about halfway up a circular stairwell that spirals up the inside wall, looking out the crude window-holes, watching the sea, & chatting. Everyone is about my age or slightly younger. We don’t know each other.

(Rather, they know who I am, in some small way, & I know who they are, but only as a collective. They are all connected in some way. Like they all go to the same high school & I’m someone’s cousin visiting from out of town—that kind of vibe.)

I am vaguely attracted to the woman standing to my left on the stairs. I have no idea if it’s reciprocal & it doesn’t matter anyway. People are just talking. Then a guy across from me gets worried that his girlfriend has a fever, & to check her temperature he magically reaches his hand into her forehead, right through the skin & skull like a ghost through a wall, so he can feel if her brain is hot. Nobody seems surprised & the girl isn’t in any pain. He’s just feeling her brain.