Girl, “Appleless”

The story “Appleless” centers on an unnamed girl who is defined by her refusal to eat apples. The story’s other characters—a vaguely defined community—are unnerved by the girl. Eventually, they feel a deep, all-consuming attraction towards her, and they forcibly kiss her all over her body. The girl, traumatized, flees and never returns.

Janet and Daniel, “The Red Ribbon”

“The Red Ribbon” focuses on a married couple, Janet and Daniel, with Janet being the main point-of-view character. Their sex life has become stale, so Janet tries to re-enliven it by roleplaying as a prostitute with Daniel. She also forces Daniel to pay her actual money as part of the roleplay. While they both enjoy this roleplay at first, they both eventually feel a sense of alienation from each other. Eventually, Janet realizes that it was not simply that their sex life had become stale...