Quintus Pomeius' Roman Garden in Pompeii ("The Purple Swamp Hen")

The purple swamp hen lives in Pompeii. Specifically, he is confined to the garden of a wealthy winemaker named Quintus Pompeius. His garden is lush and wide open, but the humans ruin the swamp hen's satisfaction in his home because they are gluttonous, loud, and inconsiderate. The adults use the garden to cheat on their spouses and to have sex with the slaves in the home, while the children use the garden to torture animals they manage to catch. The garden is destroyed in the volcanic eruption, and the swamp hen never returns to the grounds after his escape.

Spain ("Abroad")

The narrator in “Abroad” travels though Spain with her boyfriend, Tony. The two of them consider themselves to be artists and they want to paint authentic peasants in their natural environment. Their car breaks down the day they...