I (either: "barely", "definitely", "probably", "allegedly") saw a dead body once, I was (either: "ten", "twenty-three", "sixty-one", "fifteen") or (either: "eleven", "twenty-four", "sixty-two", "sixteen"), sitting beside my (either: "sister", "aunt", "grandma", "dog") in the back seat of our sedan. My family was driving home after our (either: "yearly", "weekly", "daily", "hourly") meeting at El Camino Real in (either: "Boca Ratón", "Saint Petersburg", "Calcutta", "Lima"), hosted each time by another (either: "Communist", "Muslim", "Protestant", "Scientologist") family. The babies had gotten a taste of (either: "chocolate milk", "vodka", "four loko", "puntas"), kissing (either: "their guardians", "their brothers", "each other", "the wooden figure of Christ") on the mouth. We had pushed the lacquered fold-out tables together for eight (either: "Korean", "Libanese", "Martian", "Non-euclidean") (either: "Catholic", "Muslim", "Protestant", "Scientologist") families. The table settings: (either: "rice", "bean", "flesh", "M&M") bowls on the left, (either: "soup", "ceviche", "rice", "crème de menthe") bowls on the right. If we set the table oppositely, as we did for the (either: "ancestral", "contemporary", "governamentally mandated", "old-forgotten") rites, then ghosts would (either: "add small shrimp to", "fiddle with", "sprinkle spices on", "mock") our dinners. We tried not to (either: "disturb", "invite", "defy", "make friends with") or (either: "become", "commute with", "entice", "make enemies with") the dead.