A figure in a dark hoodie was hovering over Miller’s perfectly aligned bins. They weren't taking trash out; they were putting something in. In the unspoken code of the cul-de-sac, "bin-sharing" without permission was a declaration of war.

He peeked through the blinds. It wasn't a raccoon. It was a person.

The blue bin was always the trickiest. It was the "heavy" bin, the one where the remnants of the week’s optimism—half-finished juice cartons, wine bottles from a stressful Tuesday, and piles of junk mail—went to settle.

Arthur’s lid was propped open by a pizza box that refused to fold.