A woman in a dark colored light coat with a dog walked up close to the corner of 10th and Pine Street. She was ready to continue through the red light if traffic allowed. Cars drove through the intersection on the green light while she waited. The evening was dark, but the four way intersection was well lit and the people walking around were happy and light as well.
Out from under the car parked closest to the intersection a partially full can of soda rolled into the light toward the gutter at a 45 degree angle. The can was purple and it’s hollow sound was heavy with leftover liquid. It rolled slowly but with purpose and the weight inside gave it life. It was slow, then fast, then slow again. It made the sound one would expect. The aluminum ting with low tones got louder as the sugary water sloshed side to side. It was animated and slowed as it rolled down hill toward the curb and closer to the woman. It had life and it was coming out into the light at 10th and Pine.
With a slight sense of disgust and alarm, the woman stepped back from the curb and the approaching can. It moved with such ambition, as if it had a goal, that the woman was compelled to pull her dog in close and walk away in the opposite direction. She disappeared around the corner. The purple can finally bumped into the curb positioned in such a way that it released its remaining dark fluid onto the gutter floor.