Preview: “Exposure Therapy”

1. Daniel smelled the smoke before the fire alarm went off. He had been dreaming about burning toast, which was strange because he didn’t dream and rarely ate toast, but he kept marveling at how real the dream was, how vivid the smell, like it was actually burning in the kitchen. Then, in the moment of synchronicity when dreams meet reality and senses collide with understanding, he opened his eyes as the smoke detecter blasted its alarm. It was 2:54am, not a dream and not a drill. Daniel’s building was on fire.

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