“One day this guy found a carnival ticket,” says Jarvis. “It said KEEP THIS COUPON, so he did, in his wallet, for thirty-nine years. One day he left it in his pants, and his wife washed them, and when she laid everything out to dry the ticket was white. Completely white. She went to show it to him, and he was dead!”

Carson and Doris wait.

“See?” Jarvis’s eyes are wide. “It’s symbolic!”

“Of what?” asks Doris.

“It’s… just symbolic.” Jarvis frowns. “What, are you guys high-culture snobs? It’s a story, okay?”

“Not every story is a story,” says Carson, shrugging.